It adds up. The United States trades $1.9 trillion a year — $5 billion a day — worth of goods and services with its neighbors, Canada and Mexico. They have supplanted China to become America's top two trading partners.

So the stakes are high when it comes to fiddling with the rules that govern trade between the three countries. And after a year of President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policies, many U.S., Canadian and Mexican businesses would welcome the return of stability across North America.

They are not likely to get it.

The regional trade pact — the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA — that Trump negotiated and boasted about in his first term comes up for renewal Wednesday, a process that is likely to last months, maybe longer.

And the path forward is lined with landmines.

"There’s going to be a lot of drama this summer," Diego Marroquín Bitar, a fellow in the America’s program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said last week at a USMCA forum sponsored by the Cato Institute.

A bumpy road ahead for North American trade

The U.S. is making demands that could effectively force Canada and Mexico to surrender some automaking production to the United States. That might bring more auto factory jobs to the United States. But it would also upend established supply chains and would push up U.S. prices for new cars that now average nearly $50,000 at a time when American consumers are already frustrated about the high cost of living.

Trump, characteristically, has added to the tension by threatening to pull out of his own agreement altogether.

In 2020, the USMCA replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, which tore down most trade barriers between the three North American countries.

Trump and other critics had called NAFTA a job killer because it encouraged U.S. companies to move factories south of the border to take advantage of low-wage Mexican labor, then ship goods back to the United States duty free.

His USMCA ended up being similar to NAFTA — though it pressured factories to pay higher wages and make sure that more of what they made originated in North America in an effort to prevent Chinese products from slipping across regional borders duty free.

North America trade deal is up for renewal

The USMCA included a novel provision requiring the pact to be renewed every six years. That deadline is Wednesday, but “nothing is going to happen July 1,” said Oscar Ocampo, director of economic development at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.

Negotiators could agree Wednesday to renew the USMCA as it is for another 16 years — until 2042. But that is considered highly unlikely. Instead, they are expected to keep working on ways to improve it; they have until the current term ends in 2036 to reach an agreement. Otherwise, the pact expires.

Meantime, any USMCA country can pull out of the pact provided it gives its two partners six months’ notice — a red buzzer that Canada and Mexico, dependent on trade with the United States, fear Trump just might push.

Trump, after all, said in June that he was “not looking to renew’’ the trade pact with Canada and Mexico. "We don’t need anything that they have,” he said.

Ocampo suspects that Trump doesn't really want to drop the treaty; he just wants to use the uncertainty to keep pressure on Mexico over security and immigration issues.

Canada is out in the cold — so far

The United States and Mexico have held talks on renewing the trade agreement. But Canada has so far been stuck on the sidelines.

Patrick Childress, a partner at the Holland & Knight law firm and a former U.S. trade negotiator, said: "The danger for Canada is this: that the U.S. government and the Mexican government reach agreement on changes to core provisions of the treaty and then show up in Ottawa and say: ‘Here’s what we’ve agreed to. You can take it or leave it.’’’

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that the three trading partners plan to meet virtually on Wednesday, adding: “I’m not looking for my pen.”

Carney later said in French his priority is to update the USMCA and that it is impossible for the U.S. to have a new agreement without the approval of Congress.

Pushing production to the United States

The U.S. wants a refreshed trade pact to do more to make sure that Chinese goods don’t get in through the back door. But the most contentious issue is a U.S. push to require that more products are made in North America — and specifically the United States.

The USMCA included a requirement that automotive products must be 75% made in North America — up from 62.5% under NAFTA — to qualify for duty-free treatment.

The U.S. wants to push the 75% threshold even higher but it won’t be easy. Automakers already "have been fine-tuning their supply chains for years to be able to hit that 75% mark," Childress said. They would need time to meet the higher standard.

The U.S. is also seeking a brand-new requirement: that 50% of cars be made in the United States, Carney confirmed in early June. Currently, none of the USMCA countries gets a guaranteed share of production. "It’s a red line for both Mexico and Canada, and it goes against the spirit and the letter of regional integration," Ocampo said.

Marcos Carias, an economist at the credit insurer Coface, said only 1 in 5 Mexican and Canadian cars imported into the United States would currently meet the 50% standard.

Vehicle models likely to be hit with higher costs under the plan, he said, include Ford’s Maverick compact pickup truck, Chevrolet’s mid-size Equinox SUV and some Nissan sedans — all made in Mexico. Carias’ "back of the envelope" calculations suggest that prices could increase 5% to 7% on the most-affected models.

Businesses want stability

A lot of companies just want relief from Trump’s ever-changing tariffs. “My interest in this USMCA renewal is just consistency, right?" said Shawn Miller, co-founder of PKGD Group, which imports agave spirits (tequila, mezcal and raicilla) from family producers in Mexico. “If the rules change, the rules change. But we’d really like to know (what they're going to be) and we’d like them to stay that way for a while."

Business is booming for PKGD. Sales at the Holland, Michigan-based firm are up 62% so far this year after surging 100% in 2025 and 300% in 2024.

But last year was chaotic.

Trump hit Mexican and Canadian goods with a 25% import tax in February only to turn around a month later and exempt products that were eligible for preferential USMCA treatment. The USMCA allows the Mexican spirits into the United States duty free.

Amid the tumult, three truckloads of Mexican spirits imported by PKGD crossed the border into the United States and got hit with the 25% tariff. The cost came to $105,000. "For us, it was one unfortunate day!'' Miller said.

Not knowing what tariffs Trump might conjure up next, PKGD huddled with its Mexican producers to figure out how to respond. “What can we absorb? What can they absorb?" Miller said. “How can we mitigate this?"

Miller said he and his Mexican suppliers “are not large multinational corporations with dedicated trade departments, teams of lawyers, or lobbyists focused on trade policy."

Kerry Mellin can sympathize.

In 2014, the veteran Hollywood costume designer started a business in Ventura County, California, selling silicone grips that enable people with disabilities (such as cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s) to hold things — spoons, cups, pens, toothbrushes.

But sales floundered when she introduced her EazyHold grips in Canada, where she has dual citizenship. She thinks it’s because the silicone she imports from Asia kept her grips from having enough North American content to qualify for USMCA’s duty-free treatment when they crossed the border from the United States.

Mellin suspects EazyHold could meet the USMCA standards, “but the rules are complex and unpredictable enough that I genuinely can’t be sure without hiring a trade attorney."

Mellin believes the USMCA’s rules of origin should be loosened, not tightened, to help small businesses that can’t afford costlier raw materials from North America.

“I do understand why the rule exists -- to stop companies from routing Chinese goods through Mexico," she said. “I just wish it could tell the difference between that and a small family business in California making grip aids for people who can’t hold a fork. I’m not the problem they were trying to solve."

____

AP Writers Maria Verza in Mexico City and Rob Gilles in Toronto contributed to this story.

Fuel rationing has been introduced in many regions, with hourslong queues of cars snaking beside roads. Social media videos show drivers aghast at the lines or swearing at empty gas pumps and rising prices. The mayor of the Siberian city of Irkutsk even ordered portable toilets brought in to accommodate those in line.

The fuel crisis — unprecedented for a nation that is one of the world's biggest energy producers — has brought Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine home to ordinary Russians like few other events in the war, now in its fifth year.

It drew a rare admission from President Vladimir Putin, who acknowledged “problems persist for both motorists and businesses,” and “there are still queues at petrol stations, and finding the right grade of petrol isn’t always easy.”

He insisted the shortages are “not critical” and “temporary.”

But that appeared to do little to reassure at least one motorist in Moscow, the wealthy capital typically better-insulated from economic shocks than the rest of the country.

“I think the situation is not very good,” the motorist waiting in line told The Associated Press on Monday, the day after Putin's televised remarks.

“They say one thing on television, and in reality it’s another. ... People are queueing everywhere,” he added, declining to give his full name out of safety concerns.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday echoed that sentiment, writing on Telegram that “Putin can go on and on, claiming on TV that he supposedly has everything under control," but Russians can see that the war "has reached the point where even an oil state -- a gas station, as Russia used to be called -- is now facing gas shortages.”

Ukraine hits energy targets multiple times

An AP count shows over 50 reported attacks by Ukraine on oil refineries, depots, terminals and other energy infrastructure in Russia and the illegally annexed Crimean Peninsula since March. Often, the same facility was hit more than once -– such as the refinery in the Black Sea town of Tuapse that was struck four times.

The amount of crude oil Russia processed into fuel in June was down 25% from a year ago, to 3.95 million barrels per day — the lowest level in over two decades, said Gary Peach, oil markets analyst at Energy Intelligence.

“The outages are extraordinary,” he said.

Gasoline production has fallen 17% to 850,000 barrels a day, from 1.03 million a day a year ago — far short of what the domestic market needs. Russia exports relatively little gasoline.

About a third of Russia's oil refining capacity is offline, said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. Consultancy, noting that because refineries don't publicly confirm the extent of the damage, his estimate comes from anecdotal evidence and oil industry sources.

“It comes at a very critical time for the Russian economy, in that the agriculture season, particularly the harvest season, is now starting to ratchet up,” increasing demand, Weafer said.

Ukrainian officials describe the strikes as a campaign to pressure Moscow to end the war by undermining military logistics and supply lines and weakening its ability to mount front-line assaults.

In particular, Kyiv has sought to isolate Crimea, which was seized from Ukraine in 2014 in a move most nations don't recognize. Attacks this year forced the Moscow-installed authorities to enact fuel rationing on the peninsula in May and halt sales to civilians there altogether. Limited sales later resumed in the city of Sevastopol.

Attacks — and fuel shortages — spread

Ukraine carried out major drone strikes on Russia’s two largest cities, embarrassing the Kremlin with images of black plumes of smoke that circulated widely online, despite regulations restricting their publication.

A June 3 attack on a St. Petersburg oil terminal darkened the sky as Putin prepared to host his annual economic forum to attract foreign investment. On June 18, a similar cloud rose from the Moscow Oil Refinery on capital's outskirts, with greasy black droplets raining down.

By late June, some form of rationing was reported in over half of Russia's regions. Some slapped strict limits on all gas stations; in others, gas station chains limited how much fuel could be bought.

Officials blamed hoarding and panic-buying, urging motorists to fill their tanks only when needed.

Exports of gasoline and aviation fuel have been restricted, and authorities weighed banning diesel fuel exports, too.

Importing fuel was being considered. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said contacts with some countries were “underway,” calling the move “another step toward stabilizing the market and aimed at reducing panic-buying.”

Shortages in Siberia

The shortages have reached distant regions where no refineries were attacked by Ukraine.

Viktor Shkurenko, who owns retail stores and other businesses in the Omsk region, called announced limits on gasoline sales there to 40 liters (10.5 gallons) per vehicle “unexpected.”

“Nothing was bombed here. We have the biggest oil refinery in Siberia right here, and it gave us confidence that this fuel crisis won’t come to us,” he said, expressing worry about how limits could affect his businesses. As of Saturday, however, he said his company has not had any problems refueling its vehicles.

In the Siberian region of Zabayakalye, east of Lake Baikal, media reports said a garbage hauler suspended pickups and some bus services were curtailed.

In addition to ordering portable toilets outside gas stations, the city of Irkutsk raised public transport fares as of Wednesday, citing higher fuel costs.

Pavel Kharitonenko, acting head of Irkutsk's branch of the opposition Yabloko party, told AP he finds it easier to walk or use public transportation.

“I don't have the fuel, and I don't want to queue at gas stations,” he said. The Irkutsk region, home to a Rosneft oil refinery, has experienced acute shortages for several days, with lines growing, Kharitonenko said.

Repairs will take time

Putin said Russia's gasoline stockpiles are only 4% lower than what it had the same time last year. Weafer, the analyst, says that "reportedly, there are good supplies of fuel around the country. The problem is it’s in the wrong place."

Supplies need to be reallocated to regions experiencing shortages, and in a big country like Russia, “it's not something that can be done overnight," Weafer said.

“There should be enough, but it will take several weeks to get it from where it is to where it’s needed,” he says. “It’s just a huge logistics operation to do that.”

Fixing the war-damaged refineries is complicated. Ukraine's attacks damaged specialized equipment that is often imported, making repairs time-consuming and expensive as workarounds or replacements are sought by evading sanctions.

“They manage to get these things up and running, not necessarily at full capacity,” Peach said. “But the extent of the damage this time is so extensive that they won’t get back to winter levels of refining this summer.”

Some refineries aren't worth repairing until a ceasefire or armistice, he said, because they will just "get knocked down again.”

Repairing the Moscow refinery that supplied 40% of the fuel for the capital and the surrounding region is expected to take at least three months, Weafer said.

If there's no further damage to Russia's oil infrastructure, he estimated the shortages will last “probably throughout the summer" because demand from agriculture will likely remain high into September.

———

Associated Press writers David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Newscast Producer at WSLS will be at the helm of evolving news content for our diverse audience. This creative role involves overseeing all major aspects of newscasts, including story development, writing, and coordination between field crews, fellow producers, content center staff, video editors, the digital team, and directors. This position aims to break out from the traditional newscast mold, focusing on crafting creative, memorable newscasts that resonate with our community.

PAY RANGE: $45,000- $60,000

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop original content ideas that cater to the interests and needs of our consumers, ensuring alignment across all platforms.
• Showcase our team outside of the studio, identifying engaging storytelling opportunities within the community to strengthen connections with viewers.
• Create moments for on-air talent to share their expertise and community connections, utilizing process language to provide clarity and transparency.
• Utilize modern and clean graphics to enhance storytelling, removing any distractions that may detract from the content.
• Maintain consistent communication with team members to ensure a seamless news delivery process.
• Oversee newscast preparation, including writing for on-air products and creating graphics.
• Produce breaking news and weather cut-ins as needed and generate content for our website and digital platforms.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• Prior years of experience as a producer in a news operation.
• Strong writing, proofreading, and critical thinking skills to quickly ascertain the impact of a story.
• Ability to work in a high-pressure, fast-paced environment, managing deadline pressures and frequent changes.
• Demonstrated ability to break out of the traditional newscast mold, with a passion for exploring innovative production and distribution methods.
• Extensive knowledge of television news production techniques, with experience in line producing and confidence in a control room environment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively across work groups.
• A visionary in the use of graphics and video to tell stories, understanding the importance of aligning content with consumer needs and platform strengths.
• Must embrace a multi-platform approach to news.
• Willingness to work flexible hours, including mornings, nights, and weekends.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Proficiency with newsroom and digital content systems.
• A college degree in journalism or broadcasting.

Additional Information:

WSLS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, WSLS will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

Contact Details:

Interested candidates, please submit your resume and cover letter detailing your relevant experience to: Manager of Content and Coverage, Erika Adolphus at eadolphus@wsls.com.

In remarks at a central bank conference in Sintra, Portugal, Warsh said that if businesses or households thought the Fed would accept inflation above 2%, “I guess they'd be disappointed. We're going to deliver price stability.”

The Fed typically combats inflation by raising borrowing costs. When asked about Trump's oft-repeated desire for lower rates, Warsh underscored the Fed's independence from day-to-day politics.

“We’ve been an independent central bank for a very long time," he said. "We’re going to be an independent central bank at this moment and you’re going to see no changes to that.”

Such comments suggest that Warsh has shifted his views since replacing Jerome Powell as chair May 22. He called for lower rates last year as he essentially campaigned for the job of Fed chair. Since becoming chair, however, Warsh has appeared to shift away from that stance and instead has signaled a focus on getting inflation down.

On Wednesday he declined to signal what steps the Fed would take to fight inflation, consistent with his opposition to so-called “forward guidance,” in which central bank leaders foreshadow their next policy moves.

“The tactics, the strategy, and the rest, that's still to come,” he said.

At his first news conference last month, Warsh also emphasized his goal of getting inflation back down to target. Wall Street investors expect the Fed could hike its key interest rate as soon as in September, from its current level of about 3.6% to roughly 3.9%.

At WSLS, a proud member of the Graham Media Group, we uphold our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Innovation, and Passion as the driving force behind everything we do. As a leading television station serving the vibrant community of Roanoke, Virginia, we’re committed to excellence and seeking a dynamic individual to join our technical team as a full-time Broadcast Maintenance Engineer.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Embody our core values by ensuring Integrity in all aspects of your work, from meticulous equipment maintenance to transparent communication.

Foster Teamwork by collaborating closely with colleagues across departments to deliver high-quality broadcast experiences.

Drive Innovation by staying ahead of the curve with cutting-edge broadcast technology and IT systems, enhancing our ability to serve our community.

Infuse your work with Passion, demonstrating dedication and enthusiasm in every project you undertake.

PAY RANGE: $22 -$33 hour

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• Possess a minimum of three years of experience in broadcast maintenance and/or broadcast IT, aligning with our commitment to Integrity and excellence.
• Preferably hold a technical or bachelor’s degree with a strong foundation in electronics or IT, reflecting our dedication to fostering Innovation through expertise.
• Exhibit self-starting initiative and the ability to adapt swiftly to a dynamic, fast-paced environment, while embodying our values of Teamwork and Collaboration.
• Demonstrate excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, coupled with confident presentation abilities, reflecting our commitment to Integrity and transparent communication.
• The willingness and desire to learn, explore ideas and a good knowledge of basic troubleshooting.
• Proficient in MS products and Windows OS.
• Use of CAD software such as Visio and WireCAD.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Ability to read and understand wire schematics.
• Proficient use of broadcast testing equipment.
• Capable of physical tasks including lifting up to 50 lbs., climbing ladders, working on elevated surfaces, installing wiring, using hand and power tools, and handling small components, embodying our Passion for delivering excellence in every aspect of our work.
• Available for flexible hours, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, and holidays, to meet operational demands, demonstrating your dedication to our shared goals and values.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Install, support and maintain technical broadcast equipment, including but not limited to Production and News automation systems, HD cameras, video servers, ENG and SNG equipment, video routers and bonded cellular equipment.
• Experience in troubleshooting methodologies that apply to the above listed systems.
• Self-starter, able to work without direct supervision.
• Effectively work with all departments, receive and communicate instructions via phone, electronic or in person.
• Able to read and understand technical materials.
• Able to set priorities under pressure of deadlines.
• Working knowledge of broadcast station operations.

WHY JOIN US

• Innovative Environment: Be at the forefront of cutting-edge broadcast technology and IT systems in a dynamic media landscape, where our commitment to Innovation drives continuous improvement and growth.
• Professional Growth: Access ongoing opportunities for learning and development, expanding your skill set and advancing your career in an environment that values Integrity and excellence.
• Community Impact: Contribute to serving and engaging with the vibrant Roanoke community, making a meaningful difference through your work and embodying our shared values of Passion and Dedication.

Apply Now to Ignite Your Career! Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to join a passionate team at WSLS, where our core values of Integrity, Teamwork, Innovation, and Passion shape everything we do. If you’re ready to take your career to new heights and make a real impact, we want to hear from you! Apply today to embark on an exhilarating journey with us.

Interested candidates, please submit your resume and cover letter detailing your relevant experience to Director of Technology, Josh Hall at jhall@wsls.com.

Click HERE to download an application.

Graham Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, GMG will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

If you possess the innovative skills necessary to thrive in a directing role and are eager to be part of our journey toward continued success, we invite you to join us.

POSITION OVERVIEW 

The Director is responsible for managing the technical and visual aspects of newscasts and other live, streaming or recorded broadcasts. Utilizing an automated production control system, the Director works closely with editorial and production personnel to execute broadcasts with precision. This role also requires flexibility to operate other production equipment as needed, both in-studio and during remote productions. With a mandate to deliver high-quality broadcasts under tight deadlines, the Director must exhibit strong leadership, excellent communication skills, and an ability to work a flexible schedule. 

Pay range: $55,000- $80,000

Responsibilities:

• Design and execute rundowns for live and recorded broadcasts, ensuring a clean and technically flawless output. 
• Operate Control Room computer, directing automation systems (we currently use Ross Overdrive), and other production equipment to enhance the newscast’s visual and audio features. 
• Collaborate closely with the news, programming, and engineering management teams on all station projects, ensuring innovative and creative production value. 
• Duty to direct not only newscasts but also special events, contributing to content creation for streaming and web platforms. 
• Engage in editing as necessary, maintaining the overall aesthetic quality of the newscast and streaming programs. 
• Ensure effective communication within the crew and with producers to facilitate clear direction and a collaborative work environment. 
• Other related duties as assigned. 

Key Qualifications:

• Prior years of experience in directing newscasts within an automated production environment. 
• Comprehensive experience with studio camera operation, teleprompting, floor directing, lighting, and other TV production facets. 
• Demonstrated ability to manage the stress of live broadcasts, streaming broadcasts, meeting strict deadlines, and adapting quickly to breaking news and unexpected events. 
• Proficiency in Ross Overdrive, Sony ELC, or similar control room automation system. 
• A passion for news, a commitment to quality journalism. 
• Ability to work well under pressure, think quickly, and contribute to a positive and collaborative work environment. 
• Flexibility to work various shifts, including early mornings, evenings, and weekends, sometimes with short notice. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Degree in Communications, Broadcasting, or a related field. 
• Strong knowledge of production equipment and software, including ENPS. 

Location:

WSLS - TV

821 5th Street NE

Roanoke, Virginia 24016

To apply: Interested candidates, please submit your resume and cover letter detailing your relevant experience to: Amit Patel, Lead Director apatel@wsls.com

WSLS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, WSLS will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The News Anchor/Reporter will be a central figure in our newsroom, engaging our communities with accurate and compelling storytelling. This role demands a professional with a dynamic on-air presence, strong news judgment, and versatility to cover impactful news both on the anchor desk and in the field. We’re looking for a leader who can liaise with producers, mentor reporters, and immerse themselves in the community to enhance our connection with our consumers across multiple platforms.

PAY RANGE: $50,000 - $85,000

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Deliver accurate, urgent, and compelling newscasts, reacting quickly to breaking news both on-air and across digital platforms.
• Engage viewers with compelling storytelling across all platforms, prioritizing clarity, engagement, and innovation.
• Report live in scheduled newscasts, during unscheduled cut-ins, online, and on social media.
• Act as a “guide” in stories, demonstrating a strong connection to the community through active and engaging reporting.
• Consistently attend editorial meetings and contribute multiplatform content and coverage ideas.
• Enterprise big stories, hold people accountable, and summarize complex information while remaining calm under pressure.
• Collaborate with news management, producers, and other team members to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive news coverage strategy.
• Foster community connections, leveraging those relationships to cover important stories.
• Serve as a mentor within the newsroom, guiding producers and reporters to improve content and presentation.
• Participate actively in the community and interact with the audience on multiple platforms.
• Other duties as assigned.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS

• A proven track record in handling breaking news coverage with a dynamic on-air presence and conversational presentation style.
• Ability to work well in a fast-paced, high-pressure, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to enterprise thoughtful and impactful stories for broadcast and digital platforms.
• Self-motivated individual who can work well with a team of high-energy journalists.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Previous successful anchoring and reporting experience in a news environment.
• Proficiency in newsroom computer systems
• Ability to shoot and edit video as needed
• Experience acting as a newsroom leader, with engagement in digital and social media platforms.
• College degree in Journalism/Communications

Pay range for this position is $50,000 - $85,000

Interested candidates, please submit your resume, cover letter and application detailing your relevant experience to: News Director, Mike Lopez at mlopez@wsls.com.

Click HERE to download the employment application.

WSLS is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, WSLS will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

POSITION OVERVIEW

As a Multi-Media Journalist for Graham Media Group, you’ll need keen news judgment to identify stories in our communities with real audience impact. With a focus on innovative storytelling, you will shoot and edit your stories to add value to all of our station’s linear and digital platforms. An understanding of the kind of content audiences seek out is paramount. Passion and creativity are also vital for this role and our newsroom. The ideal candidate is passionate about connecting with the community and using transparency and authenticity to build trust and rapport with viewers. This position offers exciting opportunities for growth within an organization committed to reinventing how news is delivered.

PAY RANGE: $45,000-$65,000

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Engage viewers with compelling storytelling across all platforms, prioritizing clarity, engagement, and innovation.
• Generate unique story ideas daily, demonstrating a keen understanding of the community’s pulse and what resonates with viewers.
• Showcase exceptional reporting skills, responding promptly to breaking news with accuracy and poise.
• You aim to act as a “guide” in stories, demonstrating a solid connection to the community through active and engaging reporting.
• Employ a transparent reporting process, weaving behind-the-scenes content, when possible, into storytelling to enhance viewer understanding and trust.
• Participate in editorial meetings with potential lead stories, ready to develop them from conception to on-air presentation.
• Collaborate with news management, producers, and other team members to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive news coverage strategy.
• Maintain a robust network of contacts, leveraging these relationships to break exclusive news and provide depth to your reporting.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS:

· You should have at least 2-3 years of experience in a TV news setting, where you’ve honed your storytelling, live reporting, and news-gathering skills.

· We prefer that you have a college degree in Journalism, Communications, or a related field.

· You should have a clear, energetic, and engaging presence on camera.

· You need sharp interviewing skills and can jump in to shoot and edit videos when needed.

· You’re skilled with the latest computer software, newsroom systems, smartphone tech, and social media platforms.

· Ability to effectively work with tight deadlines.

· A valid driver’s license and a driving record considered acceptable by the company.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• A college degree in Journalism, Communications, or a related field.
• Experience in various reporting formats, including experimental video strategies and non-traditional storytelling techniques.
• A history of original enterprise reporting that demonstrates an impact on the community.
• Familiarity with multimedia storytelling, including using graphics and data to enhance stories.

Interested candidates, please submit your resume and cover letter detailing your relevant experience to Regina Bratton here.

Graham Media Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In addition to complying with the requirements of federal law, GMG will comply with applicable state and local laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a pre-employment drug screening, investigative background check, employment/education verifications and reference checks.

Click HERE to download an application.

Almost daily long-range attacks on Russian oil facilities have created a fuel crisis and heaped political pressure on the Kremlin as its all-out invasion of Ukraine stretches into its fifth year.

The Ufa refinery is one of Russia’s largest producers of lubricants and is located more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Ukraine, Zelenskyy said on social media.

Ukraine also struck a plant producing missile components in Russia’s Penza region southeast of Moscow, some 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

Russian officials did not confirm the strikes, which could not be independently verified. The Russian Defense Ministry reported intercepting 179 Ukrainian drones over 16 Russian regions, the annexed Crimea and waters of the Azov and the Black Sea.

Penza regional Gov. Oleg Melnichenko said that Ukrainian drones struck two industrial plants in the city of Penza, injuring two people at one of them. He didn’t name the plants or describe the damage.

The explosions shattered windows in two apartment buildings in Penza, Melnichenko said, while downed drone debris damaged a power line and fell on a building under construction.

Ukraine says drone strikes slow Russian advance

Ukraine’s domestically developed and manufactured drones and missiles have been hammering Russian oil facilities, including refineries, terminals, storage depots and pipeline pumping stations, for months.

Many regions of Russia, one of the world’s biggest energy producers, have introduced fuel rationing.

Ukraine has developed new weaponry and in recent months has gained an edge, according to Western officials. Its strikes on supply routes behind the front line have robbed the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield, officials and analysts say.

“Russians now have great problems with delivering infantry to the front line and supplying it,” Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov said Wednesday.

Ukraine sees growing interest in its military technology

Ukraine has become a provider of military technology sought by countries around the world, especially drones.

With European countries fearing what Moscow’s territorial ambitions might lie beyond Ukraine, leaders have described Kyiv as a bulwark against Russian advances.

Ukraine is “becoming a security provider for the whole of Europe,” Swedish Minister of Defense Paul Jonsson said in Kyiv, where he held talks with Fedorov.

Ukraine signed an agreement on Tuesday for Sweden to provide Kyiv with Gripen fighter jets. They will help Ukraine stop Russian aircraft carrying powerful glide bombs, Fedorov said.

Jonsson said European countries want Ukraine to be integrated into Euro-Atlantic defenses, although Ukraine’s NATO membership has been a contentious issue and likely will be discussed at an alliance summit in Turkey next week.

“The sooner it happens, the better it is for you, the better it is for our security and prosperity as well,” Jonsson told a press conference.

Ukraine also wants to join the European Union, though the process could take years. Zelenskyy arrived Wednesday in Ireland, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

“Ukraine proves every day that it deserves to be an equal partner of our common European home. And we hope that during Ireland’s presidency of the EU Council, we will be able to achieve tangible progress on the path to membership and open all negotiations clusters,” Zelenskyy said.

Russian attacks kill three Ukrainian civilians

Russian long-range attacks on Ukraine continued, with three civilians reported killed Wednesday.

A Russian drone struck a bus in the southern Kherson region, killing two people and injuring six others, regional head Oleksandr Prokudin said.

A 43-year-old woman was killed and three were injured, including a 35-year-old pregnant woman, when Russia attacked five gas stations in the central Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, according to regional authorities.

Russian forces have increasingly targeted Ukrainian gas stations.

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

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% and was heading toward its eighth loss in the last 11 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 249 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% lower.

The heaviest weights on the market were stocks that had soared earlier in the euphoria around artificial-intelligence technology, including drops of 3.2% for Nvidia, 7.5% for Micron Technology and 8% for Applied Materials. Such stocks have been zigzagging in recent weeks because of worries that they had become too expensive.

AI stocks have grown so big that they’ve become some of the most influential on Wall Street, and their drops helped drag the S&P 500 lower even though the majority of stocks within the index rose.

Among the winners was General Mills, which climbed 6.2% after the company behind the Cheerios and Progresso brands reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also announced a plan to cut $3 billion in costs over four years.

Stocks meanwhile felt pressure from rising yields in the bond market, which make it more expensive for businesses and households to borrow money and in turn can slow the economy. Higher yields also tend to undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.48% from 4.44% late Tuesday and from 4.38% the day before. Yields have been on the rise since the war with Iran began because of worries about high inflation caused by expensive oil. The concern is that the Federal Reserve may have to hike interest rates several times this year to keep a lid on inflation.

When Treasurys are paying more in interest, investors become less willing to pay high prices for things seen as riskier bets. Gold, for example, pays its holders nothing. And rising yields briefly knocked its price below $3,980 per ounce overnight before it bounced back to $4,055.20. Earlier this year, it was fetching more than $5,300 per ounce.

For their part, oil prices eased Wednesday as hope remains that the United States and Iran may ultimately end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers delivering crude. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 1.5% to $71.82.

On Wall Street, Kroger sank 1.3% after the grocer said it agreed to buy Giant Eagle for $1.25 billion in cash. It will also take on $400 million in liabilities to buy the food and pharmacy retailer with stores stretching from Indiana to Maryland.

Nike slipped 1.4% even though it reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The athletic-gear giant is in the midst of a turnaround attempt by CEO Elliott Hill, and he said it’s still facing headwinds dragging on its revenue.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped in Europe following a mixed finish in Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 2% for one of the world’s biggest moves. It’s been one of the world’s brightest stars thanks to euphoria around SK Hynix and other stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry, and the index is still up 97% for the year so far.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.6% after the Japanese yen fell to a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar.

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AP Business Writer Yuri Kageyama contributed to this report.

Saturday's official opening coincides with July Fourth celebrations honoring the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump is coming early to see the $450 million project, a boost for Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a former governor of North Dakota, while also bringing the nation's birthday festivities to a region synonymous with its westward expansion.

The Republican president made the trip aboard his new Air Force One, a Boeing 747 given to the United States by Qatar. Trump said he asked Boeing, which is set to deliver new planes for the president's service in 2028, if there were any counties that had potential substitutes in the interim.

“I said, ‘Who has the best one?’ They said, ‘Qatar," Trump said, adding that he was assured, "'There’s never been a plane like it.'”

All living presidents were invited to the grand opening of the library, which joins more than a dozen throughout the country examining the lives and legacies of U.S. presidents from Ronald Reagan in California to Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York and Herbert Hoover in Iowa. The Obama Presidential Center recently opened in Chicago, bringing together four former presidents for the occasion.

Trump will be the library’s first official visitor, according to the library's executive director, Robbie Lauf. Trump will speak at a nearby Western-themed amphitheater at an event run by Freedom 250, the Trump-created group billed as nonpartisan that he has tapped to organize the festivities he will participate in this week.

On Friday, the president plans to visit South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore for Independence Day fireworks, as he did in 2020.

Trump has often praised Roosevelt and has compared himself favorably to the late president. Trump began his second term last year by trumpeting construction of the Panama Canal during the Roosevelt administration.

Trump even said the U.S. might seek to take back the waterway from Panama to curb influence from China. That is a goal overshadowed by his suggestions that Washington might seize control of Greenland or that Canada could become America's 51st state.

In the run-up to staging a UFC fight on the White House lawn for his 80th birthday, Trump said he was aware of Roosevelt holding far lower-key boxing matches in the White House. Trump made no mention of Roosevelt having detached the retina of his left eye during one such sparring session.

The trip also underscores the president's esteem for Burgum, who has become a key face of and cheerleader for the president’s expansive renovation projects around Washington.

Roosevelt was a New York native with a strong North Dakota connection

Roosevelt visited Dakota Territory in 1883 to hunt bison. On Valentine's Day the next year, his mother and wife died hours apart in the same house in New York.

Devastated, Roosevelt came to Dakota where he ranched cattle and hunted big game in the West during visits mostly from 1884 to 1887.

He underwent deep personal growth from his experiences, including chasing boat thieves down a river, standing up to a bully in a bar and working alongside cowboys who ridiculed him for wearing eyeglasses.

Roosevelt, who served as president from 1901 to 1909, later said he never would have been president were it not for his experiences in North Dakota.

Near the library is Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Visitors can hike trails and drive a scenic route through the colorful, rugged Badlands where bison and wild horses roam.

In 2019, Burgum championed the library to North Dakota's Republican-led legislature when he was governor, touting its tourism potential. The legislature approved a $50 million operations endowment, requiring library planners to raise $100 million in private donations, a goal met in 2020. Donations total about $354 million as of early 2026.

Donors include oil executive Harold Hamm, the Waltons of Walmart fame, Kenneth Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, a hedge fund, and Burgum himself.

Burgum also has lobbied for Roosevelt’s induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Roosevelt became alarmed at the number of injuries and deaths of college football players and convened a 1905 White House meeting featuring the presidents of Harvard, Yale and Princeton to urge safety improvements. That helped sparked the founding of the NCAA, college’s sports governing body.

The library will showcase Roosevelt's ideas and artifacts

Visitors will learn about Roosevelt's conservation ideas and his Rough Riders regiment of the Spanish-American War, but also his “horrific comments” about Native Americans and other issues "that have obviously aged poorly," Lauf said.

Artifacts, many of them out of public view for decades, will tell Roosevelt's story. Visitors will see his Rough Riders uniform; the 1884 diary grieving his terrible loss; and the eyeglasses case, speech and shirt from the 1912 assassination attempt against him.

Organizers hope the library draws families and thousands of school children from the region, as well as some of the millions of motorists who travel to Yellowstone National Park and the Black Hills.

“It's a feature, not a bug, that we are in a county of 1,000 people and a town of 120,” Lauf said. “TR came here for that purpose.”

The Dakota Resource Council on Tuesday hosted several conservation leaders who criticized Burgum and Trump for policies they say contradict Roosevelt's conservation principles, such as cutting staff and budgets and prioritizing energy development on public lands.

Last year Burgum signed an order prioritizing the openness and accessibility of parks to the public amid the workforce cuts. He has compared America's public lands and natural resources to “assets” that should be responsibly developed to exert “energy dominance.”

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Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.

The Society of St. Pius X, which opposes modernizing reforms in the Catholic Church, went ahead with the five-hour ceremony at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, despite a last-ditch appeal by Leo to call it off. The American pope warned in a letter Tuesday that consecrating bishops without his approval amounted to a “sin of extreme gravity” that will actually harm their faithful.

The consecrations amounted to a crisis for Leo, who has prioritized church unity and healing tensions with traditionalists that worsened during the Pope Francis pontificate.

The SSPX, as the society is known, is a threat to the Holy See because it represents a parallel, ultra-Catholic faith. It now has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians training in five seminaries, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, according to SSPX statistics.

Bells tolled through the misty Alpine mountain valley as hundreds of priests walked two-by-two to the altar under a tent to start the service and then again at the end. An estimated 16,500 faithful who prefer the traditional Latin Mass over modern liturgies attended, sitting in a field through a downpour alongside their children who were too numerous for organizers to count.

The Mass, rich in velvet and gold-trimmed vestments, chanting and incense, was livestreamed on the society's YouTube channel, with simultaneous explanations in several languages. The highly organized religious extravaganza underscored the society's international reach, despite its schismatic outsider status, and appeal to conservative, traditionalist Catholics wary of the modern, secular world.

At the start of the Mass, a priest read aloud a statement justifying the consecrations as a necessary “sacred duty” and dismissing the resulting penalties. “We consider every punishment and censure brought to bear against this step will have no validity,” he said.

Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who himself was excommunicated after being consecrated without papal consent in 1988, placed his hands on the head of each of the four new bishops. The ritual confers the Holy Spirit from one bishop to another and recalls Christ’s gesture to his apostles. After they received their miter hats, gloves and pastoral staffs, the four made a procession through the crowd, blessing the faithful as bishops.

According to church law, consecrating a bishop without a papal mandate incurs the harshest penalty in the Catholic Church: automatic excommunication for the four new bishops and the bishop administering the rite. It also amounts to a schismatic act, an intentional rupture of church unity.

The society was founded in opposition to Vatican II

French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the SSPX in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Among other things, the 1960s meetings known as Vatican II revolutionized the church’s relations with other Christians, Jews and people of other faiths, and allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

In 1988, Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four bishops and declared the consecrations a “schismatic act.” Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lifted the excommunications, but the SSPX today has no legal standing in the church.

The SSPX has accused the church of being rife with heresies and errors, and that only it is upholding the true faith of Christ. It has justified the consecrations, citing a “state of necessity” to minister to its faithful.

It identified the new bishops as Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade of the United States, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry of France and Marc Hanappier, also of France.

The Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX superior, said in his homily that the consecrations were necessary for the salvation of souls, but he also insisted they served Leo and the church.

“We are accused of not respecting the pope," he said. "But it is precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ, as the head of the church, that we don't want to see the pope humiliated anymore, on the side of false shepherds representing false religions.”

The Vatican didn't immediately comment and it wasn't immediately clear how it would communicate the excommunications or any other penalties.

The ritual had a joyous air

And yet everything about Wednesday’s ceremony had the air of a joyous celebration. The SSPX website has had a countdown clock running for days ahead of the consecration. Participants received a baseball cap with the “Econe2026” seal on it.

And in perhaps the most obvious sign of a celebration, registered participants could buy a souvenir set of wine to commemorate the “historic” event for 75 Swiss francs ($92.50). The “Cuvee des Sacres” gift box featured pinot noir, syrah, Petit Arvine and Fendant, each bottle with a label depicting a bishop’s miter, his ring, a cross or crozier staff.

The field, located under giant power lines, was awash in smiling nuns, priests posing for photos, youths handing out bottled water, black-clad security guards with earpieces and orange-vested volunteers who occasionally cut short journalists' interviews with the faithful. During the downpour, priests administered Communion under yellow and white umbrellas, the colors of the Holy See.

Arlina Onglao, a 71-year-old travel agent from the Philippines, said she wanted to be on hand for the “historic event” and didn't care about the prospect of excommunications. She said the Vatican had “lost credibility.”

“I don’t think it’s going to scare any of us. Me, I’m not scared,” she said. “I feel like I’m on a safer road to heaven.”

Medical researcher Wulfran Lindzondzo, 42, a native of Gabon who lives in France, said he wanted to “rediscover tradition” through the society, noting its presence in the African country.

“The Holy Father doesn’t really agree with it, but I hand over –- I will pray to the Good Lord that the authorities in Rome can one day accept coming back to the church’s traditions,” he said before the Mass.

Eduardo Limón of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, lamented that Leo had asked the SSPX to halt the consecrations at the last minute. He prayed that "God illuminate him so he sees that the fraternity is an institution that has defended the faith,” he said.

“I’m both sad and content at the same time," he added. "Sad because again Rome closes itself in accepting that the tradition is the only hope for faith. And happy because the father superior (Pagliarani) has said courageously we are going to go ahead with the consecrations.”

But many Catholics not in Econe, including conservative and traditional ones, opposed the consecrations as an act of severe disobedience to the pope that hurts the church.

“You can’t serve tradition while disobeying the church and her authority,” said the Rev. Robert Gahl, an ethics expert at the Catholic University of America.

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Winfield contributed from Rome.

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

Contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union and Canadian public broadcaster CBC announced that Canada will send an act to the 2027 contest in Bulgaria in May. Canada is the first new country to join Eurovision since Australia entered in 2015.

The announcement was made on the Canada Day national holiday. It comes shortly after Canada joined the EBU, an association of national public broadcasters that oversees Eurovision.

A campy, colorful contest that has been likened to the World Cup with songs instead of soccer, Eurovision has given the world the perfect pop of ABBA’s “Waterloo” – the winning song in 1974 – and a host of Euro-pop party anthems.

CBC President Marie-Philippe Bouchard said participation “will allow Canadian talent to be showcased on one of the most storied music stages in the world.”

Founded in 1956, Eurovision brings together musical acts from dozens of mostly European countries to compete for the votes of professional jurors and international viewers.

Eurovision Director Martin Green said Canada’s accession is “a further sign that, while born in Europe, the Contest continues to welcome the world.”

The CBC said it will announce details of how Canada’s entry will be selected later this year. Some Eurovision countries choose their competitors through televised national selections. In others, competitors are picked by the national broadcaster.

Canadians have entered Eurovision before under different flags — most famously Quebecoise chanteuse Celine Dion, who won the 1988 contest competing for Switzerland.

The 70th Eurovision contest in May featured 35 countries and was won by Bulgarian singer Dara, so next year’s competition will take place in the southeast European country.

Eurovision has been roiled in recent years by protests over the participation of Israel, a competitor since 1973.

Five longtime participants — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — boycotted this year after organizers declined to kick Israel out over its conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The 2026 Eurovision final was watched by 130 million viewers around the world, organizers say, down from 160 million in 2025.

Despite the blows to Eurovision’s finances and viewership from the boycott, the contest is eyeing expansion, with a spinoff Eurovision Song Contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.

The blaze was caused by a technical failure on the ground floor of the building, where more than 200 people live in 80 apartments, in the city’s Linkeroever neighborhood, sending vast plumes of smoke into the air, Antwerp police said in a statement.

The top floors of the 10-story block appeared worst hit. The building was evacuated and nearby residents were warned to keep their windows and doors closed and, if needed, to turn off any ventilators due to the amount of smoke in the air. Those evacuated were taken to a local shelter.

Firefighters battled the blaze in difficult conditions due to its size and intensity, police said. Several teams of first responders and police were dispatched to the site, including a specialized drone unit.

Television images from the scene showed one man on an upper floor enveloped in smoke and hanging over a balcony in an effort to get fresh air, before making his way to a nearby window.

A medical emergency plan was activated to keep the victims from saturating nearby hospitals.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene said that the smoke died down by early afternoon, but that many first responders were still there.

Belgium 's Prime Minister Bart De Wever, a former mayor of Antwerp, said his “thoughts are with the victims and the evacuated residents of the terrible fire on Linkeroever.”

“My deep appreciation goes out to the emergency services who are striving to help the many affected people as quickly and safely as possible, and who are working hard to bring the fire under control,” he said in a post on social media.

Linkeroever, which is located on the eastern edge of Antwerp, is a large residential area dotted by high-rise apartment buildings and bordering a major park where outdoor music concerts are held.

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Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed to this report.

In almost any other conflict, these haunting truths would be seared into national memory. Yet more than 120 days since at least one U.S. missile struck an Iranian primary school, there remains no final accounting of what happened.

The Trump administration has yet to directly accept the blame or formally release findings of a Pentagon investigation into the bombing, even though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site of the school had been struck, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss an ongoing investigation, told The Associated Press.

The AP has reconstructed the story of the attack, beginning in the schoolyard on the morning of Feb. 28, drawing from open-source information, video footage, human rights reports and interviews with researchers and civilians inside and outside Iran to reveal previously unreported details about the bombing in Minab, including the diversity of children killed.

Still, many details about the blast remain elusive, as a lack of information from the Pentagon and politicization of the attack by Iran’s theocracy have complicated independent reporting efforts. That has created an accountability vacuum, leaving the families of the victims without resolution. Among the mysteries remaining are the number of munitions that hit the school and a complete list of the dead.

When asked last week about the incident, President Donald Trump said he hadn't read the Pentagon's report and had seen nothing to make him believe the U.S. had carried out the attack.

“I don’t know that they’re ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault was it, because there were missiles flying all over the place,” he said. “I don’t think it was us."

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

Video evidence, interviews and other sources yield a fuller picture

The reconstruction draws from interviews with U.S. officials, Iranian human rights workers, a resident of Minab, an international representative of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Union and researchers from major international rights groups.

Several people who spoke to the AP were in direct contact with the families of victims and rescuers who rushed to the scene. Most requested anonymity for fear of retribution against them and those with whom they spoke.

Teachers called parents to pick up their kids. Then the bomb fell

Skies over the city of Minab, located in southeastern Iran about 16 miles (25 km) from the Strait of Hormuz, were clear and bright on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 28, a school day in Iran. It was Ramadan.

Students of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school, Farsi for “Good Tree,” jostled past the colorful murals lining the schoolyard and into the building. Boys and girls filtered into separate spaces with brightly painted desks.

The school they entered was one of over 30 with the same name established to serve children from families closely tied to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard or other state institutions, said Shiva Amelirad, the international union representative who also worked as a teacher in Iran for 18 years and has been in contact with people in Minab.

Though most schools in Iran operate within guidelines proscribed by the Islamic Republic, the Shejareh Tayyebeh schools were more explicitly oriented toward reproducing and reinforcing the Guard’s worldview, she said, adding that children are civilians regardless of their family backgrounds, and "any attack targeting a school is unequivocally condemnable."

The school lay within the same walled compound as a Guard base, according to an AP assessment of satellite imagery and open-source mapping. It was once part of that neighboring base, before it was fenced off and converted over a decade ago.

Though some of its pupils were the children of Guard officers working on the nearby base, others were local children from Minab, which is populated predominantly by people of the majority-Sunni Baluch ethnic minority who often face repression from the Iranian government, said the Balochistan Human Rights Group.

Hundreds of students are believed to have been inside the building by the time teachers and administrators received the news that bombs had begun falling on Tehran around 9:40 a.m.

Teachers and administrators thought it prudent to send the children home. They called parents on landline phones, summoning them for an early pickup, two people told the AP. A recently released report by Airwars, a London-based independent group that tracks recent conflicts, also found that parents were called to pick up their children.

At 10:15 a.m., Iran’s state media sent out an advisory, closing schools across the country.

One father, who lived a short distance away, went immediately to pick up his 10-year-old son, said a resident of Minab, who relayed the stories of several families to the AP. The AP verified details of the residents’ stories against available lists of the dead and rights groups' chronologies of the day’s events.

The father noticed his 6- and 7-year-old relatives among the students waiting for their parents, said the resident. He asked them if they’d like a ride home and they said no, that their own father was on the way.

He left with his child and headed to the supermarket. Ten minutes later, he heard the explosions.

Multiple munitions pummeled the compound, striking at least five buildings, according to an AP analysis of satellite imagery. Hundreds of pounds of explosives collapsed the school.

A tiny arm, suspended in the rubble

The father raced back to a scene of chaos, where onlookers gathered, screaming, as men pawed through smoking rubble to dig out bodies, according to video of the aftermath circulated by Iranian state media.

Eventually, the father made out two burned figures he believes were those of his relatives, but he couldn’t be sure.

People kept coming. One man from a nearby Sunni village arrived to search for his nephew after receiving a panicked call from the boy's mother. In the rubble, he found her dead son.

Rescuers found small backpacks and children’s drawings, colored pencils and worksheets. Gently suspended, a tiny arm lay in the wreckage.

Men carried disfigured limbs and torsos to the local hospital, said the Balochistan Human Rights Group, whose staff spoke with two families of those killed. The AP has not been able to verify how many munitions specifically hit the school, but the attack had left flesh so mutilated that many body parts were unrecognizable.

By the end of the day, doctors at the hospital estimated they had at least 108 bodies, but cautioned that it was likely an undercount, said the resident of Minab.

By the next day, state media was saying around 150 had been killed. Soon, it was reporting a death toll of 168.

‘They called the kids martyrs’

Three days after the bombing, state TV showed thousands of Iranians packing a Minab roundabout, where the crowds faced a podium and a large portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic.

The gathering might have been mistaken for a demonstration, if it were not a funeral. All the parents of victims, regardless of ethnicity or religion, had to participate, said the Minab resident. Most women in the crowd donned the black chador garment customary to the Islamic Republic, even though it’s not typically worn by Baluch people at funerals.

Parents were told they'd be permitted to take their children’s bodies back to their villages and conduct their own observances, said the resident. In the end, though, many decided to bury their children together.

In footage captured by drone cameras and circulated by state media, workers broke ground on an earthen lot, creating a grid of tiny, identical, unmarked graves.

“The state media advocated a narrative based on IRGC interest,” said Amelirad. “You can tell because they called the kids martyrs.”

The story grows harder to tell

Strikes continued to ravage Iran, targeting more sites in its opening days than the start of recent U.S. or Israeli military campaigns, including in Gaza, an Airwars analysis found.

Racing to document the ongoing bombardment, journalists and rights groups struggled to verify details from Minab. They had no access to the target site. Government restrictions in Iran prevented most foreign journalists from entering the country. The opening day of the war, Iran shut down the internet, making it nearly impossible to hear from ordinary civilians.

As the war progressed and the Strait of Hormuz became a major battlefield, the situation in the province grew more tense, said the resident. All branches of the military were deployed heavily in the area. Families of the victims feared retribution for speaking out. People were reportedly being detained for trying to communicate with foreign media.

That left Iran's government in control of the messaging around the strike.

Iran’s soccer team wore golden “#168” pins on their jackets upon their arrival at the FIFA World Cup.

The Iranian team negotiating for a pause to the war with the U.S. named itself “Minab 168.”

The children were depicted as animated Lego figures in viral videos made by pro-Iran groups trolling the U.S.

“In the aftermath of the attack, Iranian authorities ... exploited the suffering of victims’ families and surviving children for propaganda purposes,” wrote Amnesty International in a March report investigating the deaths.

Through it all, there remained no public list of the names of the dead.

The Pentagon finds clues in archive

Locked out of Iran, researchers focused on the question of responsibility.

Iran blamed the U.S. Trump cast doubt on American culpability and pointed the finger at Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said only that the Pentagon was investigating.

Internally, the U.S. military knew more than it initially let on. The clues were buried in their archives.

When the news first surfaced, the U.S. military knew they had conducted strikes in the vicinity — though it took the military time to verify the Iranian claims that a school was struck and begin a formal investigation, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing inquiry.

It appears that while the building housing the school was identified as such by one analyst as early as seven years ago, that discovery was not sufficiently made known across different intelligence and military staffs and agencies, the U.S. official said.

Ultimately, the building was not known among target developers as a school, revealing potential systematic shortfalls in the target analysis and review process, they said.

One former Pentagon official, similarly speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bombing came as a natural result of changes made by the Trump administration to reduce staff to mitigate civilian harm and Hegseth’s emphasis on lethality.

When Hegseth took charge, he slashed the size of an office called the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, created at the direction of Congress in late 2022. That stopped the office’s work on updating “no-strike lists,” which are lists of protected sites such as hospitals, schools, churches and mosques, that the Pentagon keeps, said Wes Bryant, who began working at the office in 2024 as the Branch Chief of Civil Harm Assessments.

When he was working at the Pentagon, it was well known that the list was out-of-date, he said.

The search for more answers from Minab

In the last weeks, researchers have made some progress. Airwars, the conflict research group, spent months combing through open-source information to verify the identity of victims. The group determined the names and identities of 157 of the dead, including 123 children, all 13 or younger, and 34 adults. Among the adults are 26 school staff members (one of whom was pregnant) and five parents — each of whom lost at least one child.

The group puts the death toll between 157 and 168 and says between 95 and 111 people were injured.

It’s unclear if the formal results of the military’s Minab investigation will be published. Much of the investigative work has been completed, but the U.S. military’s Central Command, which commissioned the investigation, is currently reviewing the findings.

Findings from similar past investigations have been more timely. When a Hellfire missile killed 10 civilians in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2021, the Defense Department claimed responsibility and gave details on its operations in less than a month.

When asked about the Minab investigation last week, Trump said, “I don’t know that they’re ever going to solve that problem." Hegseth said the report would be divulged “when the appropriate time is right.”

Some members of Congress still push for transparency.

In a recent interview, Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota and a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said Congress has not gotten enough information on the bombing and expected a full report.

The issue “has not gone away,” he said.

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Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin, Mary Clare Jalonick and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Amir Hussein Rajdy in Cairo and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.

Gone is the trademark light blue hull that helped Air Force One blend into the sky. The refurbished jet is painted to Trump’s preferred color scheme of a navy belly and red and gold stripes. It has the luxury features that the president believes a commander-in-chief’s entourage should have — plush carpets, lie-flat seats, wood paneling and a presidential seal on the seat belts, according to reported tours of the plane.

Trump told reporters that he was proud of the luxurious plane. “You can do two things: You can low-key it, or you can show it,” he said.

The jet is carrying Trump to North Dakota to see the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, its first official visitor ahead of its opening on the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The gift from the Middle Eastern power raised ethical concerns, but Trump saw the plane as a necessary replacement to the 35-year-old planes that had previously ferried him as president.

“This is a gift from a country that has treated us very well,” Trump said.

The new jet will only temporarily be in the nation’s service, as Boeing is expected to deliver in 2028 long-delayed planes that will permanently serve as Air Force One. Trump, a Republican, has said in the past that the Qatar plane would end up in a presidential library.

The Air Force has said that it did little to change the cabin layout of the plane and that it spent less than $400 million on security upgrades.

Cleveland's left fielder lost track of the number of outs in the seventh inning and threw the ball into the stands, allowing the Texas Rangers to score the go-ahead run in a 4-2 victory over the Guardians on Tuesday night.

“Obviously, I feel terrible,” Ingle said, his face flushed red on a warm, humid night. "It’s a pretty embarrassing feeling.”

With a runner at second base and one out in the seventh, the 24-year-old Ingle, making just his second major league start as an outfielder, caught a routine fly ball hit by Rangers left fielder Alejandro Osuna off Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee for the second out.

Thinking it was out No. 3, Ingle briefly glanced at the ball in his glove before throwing it over the protective netting to fans as a souvenir.

The umpires immediately ruled the ball was dead and Osuna was awarded home plate.

It wasn't until then that Ingle realized his mistake and he walked back to his position in shocked disbelief. He was charged with an error.

“Yeah, honestly when I threw the ball out, I heard a bunch of yelling,” Ingle said. “Happens sometimes, but just got to learn from it and not make the same mistake."

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who has had to plug rookies into his starting lineup all season, offered his unwavering support to Ingle.

“These things happen,” Vogt said. “Rookie. Nonrookie. It’s happened to Hall of Famers. They’ve done it. We’re going to keep learning. We’re going to keep getting better.”

Vogt was proud of the way Ingle's teammates quickly rallied around him following the bone-headed play.

“It’s a mistake. Lost track of the outs. Pretty big spot,” he said. “We’ll learn from it and can’t control it once it happens. That’s why I was like, flush it. And I just want to give a credit to the dugout. Every one of his teammates, when he came back in, same messaging.”

One of the first to talk to Ingle was Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, who told him to keep his chin up.

“I’ve made so many mistakes,” Hedges said. “I can’t even remember half of them. I’ve embarrassed myself a billion times on the field. I mean, just check my offensive numbers for my career. It’s not super easy to go through that, but that’s the big leagues.”

After his mistake, Ingle said he immediately apologized to Bibee (2-9), who went toe to toe Jacob deGrom for seven innings. Bibee's response to his teammates was to try and make things right.

“I just told him to go tie the game right back up,” Bibee said. “Obviously, we all make mistakes. Everyone in this locker room has made multiple mistakes in the big leagues, whether you’re (rookie) Khalil (Waston) or me or Hedgie. It’s tough.”

Ingle was brought up from Triple-A Columbus last week. He made his big league debut on June 26 and got his first major league hit the next day, a two-run single against Seattle.

After his fielding foible, Ingle came up in the bottom of the seventh and grounded out. He got another chance in the ninth to avenge his gaffe but struck out looking for the game's final out.

What's most important now is that he move forward.

“Obviously learn from it and think about it,” he said. “It’s not something that makes you feel great, but things like that happen for a reason and learning from those things and moving on and getting better from them, it’s pretty much the only thing you can do.”

Vogt said the mistake doesn't affect his belief in Ingle.

“We’re going to help him through it. That’s what we’re here for,” he said. "You’re playing in your second game in the outfield in the big leagues and a mistake like that. Let’s learn. So what? It’s over. Flush it. We’re not going to be mad at him.

“We’re not going to hold it against him. He’s going to be right back out there the next time it’s his turn to play outfield. This was a mistake. This isn’t a judgment or anything like that, but we know how good of a player Coop is and we’re going to stick with him and we’re going to keep helping him.”

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

A police officer was shot and wounded in the neck during the protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown outside the Prairieland Detention Center near Dallas last July 4. The U.S. Justice Department alleges the shooting was carried out by members of the leftist militant group antifa — a claim attorneys for the protesters have denied.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor called the protest an “assault on democracy” before he and another judge handed down lengthy prison sentences to eight demonstrators who were convicted on terrorism charges.

On Wednesday, six more defendants could be sentenced to as much as 15 years in prison after they pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists. One of them testified at the earlier trial that he spray-painted a guard shack and vehicles in the parking lot.

The case has been closely watched by critics who say the prosecution could have serious implications for protesters nationwide and First Amendment free-speech rights.

The protesters' attorneys have insisted there was no planned ambush and that protesters who took firearms with them to the demonstration did so for their own protection. They argue the gathering was planned as a late-night demonstration with fireworks to show support for immigrants detained inside the facility.

Prosecutors told jurors at trial that the group’s actions — including bringing firearms, first aid kits and wearing body armor — signaled nefarious intent.

Benjamin Song, a former U.S. Marine reservist who was convicted of attempted murder in the shooting, was sentenced to 100 years in prison, and seven others received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years.

Another person who will be sentenced Wednesday was convicted at trial. Ines Soto, whose wife was also convicted, could be sentenced to 60 years in prison after being convicted of providing material support to terrorists, riot and explosives. At trial, attorneys for the couple said they arrived late and left the protest when confronted by guards.

“He just started walking,” laughed his mother, 27-year-old Kyra Cornell. She's already plotting her son’s soccer career during a World Cup-themed event for toddlers at a suburban Kansas City library, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the stadium where six matches are being played.

Across the country, experts are watching to see whether the World Cup will give a boost to youth soccer — and mint fans for decades to come.

Soccer already ranks among the most popular youth sports in the country. Among 6- to 12-year-olds, 7.5% played youth soccer in 2024, a slight drop from a decade earlier, but only baseball and basketball recorded higher stats, according to a report from the Aspen Institute.

Youth soccer already has a track record of converting players into fans

Look at Haley Garbowski, a midfielder who has been to more professional women's soccer matches than she can count.

Just days after her private Kansas City, Missouri, high school won the state championship match, the 18-year-old was helping out at a summer camp on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area, leading a gaggle of grade-school girls around a circuit of sports that includes rugby, tennis and, of course, her own beloved soccer.

“We were killing it,” gushed Garbowski, as she recalled the title game victory in the small school division. In the fall, she is headed to San Diego State University as a business major and considering a career in sports marketing.

Are her grandparents soccer fans? She laughs at the thought. Her mother has become a fan but didn’t start out that way, unaware her high school had a soccer team until Garbowski went snooping in an old yearbook.

None of this comes as a surprise to Michael Lewis, an Emory University professor who focuses on the intersection of sports analytics and sports marketing.

“Soccer is a generational story that’s building generation after generation, but it takes a long, long time,” Lewis said.

America’s sports landscape shifts

Overall, soccer doesn’t have the draw of the big three of baseball, basketball and the American brand of tackle-heavy football. Ipsos Sports research shows that only about 1 in 10 Americans consider themselves fans of U.S. soccer or international soccer.

Boomers in particular grew up playing the big three and that influences what they watch now, Lewis said. Ipsos data shows that those 65 and older are especially likely to call themselves fans of the popular trio.

But market researchers see promise with millennials — and Gen Z, those between the ages of 14 and 29.

America’s sports landscape began to change in the 1970s, when the now-defunct North American Soccer League signed greats like Pelé, the winner of three World Cups with Brazil.

By the 1980s, U.S. kids were playing, too, including girls thanks to Title IX, the federal law that bans sex-based discrimination in education.

But the gym teachers and parents who coached this first batch had little experience to draw from. Some learned the rules from books. And those in football-dominated towns sometimes resisted soccer, fearful it would pull talent away from the gridiron. Players faced taunts and slurs, and were even accused of being communists.

“I cannot repeat the things I got called,” said Darin White, 58, who played and then coached at the college level before becoming the executive director of the Center for Sports Analytics at Samford University in Alabama.

But kids kept playing. The U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994. Major League Soccer played its inaugural season two years later. Today's parents frequently have played themselves. There are highly competitive travel teams. MLS has joined the player development effort with its MLS Next program. Its players have gotten better, and viewership is up.

When American sports fans are asked why they became a fan of sports generally, about half say it was because of their family’s connection to the sport, or that they grew up as a fan of a particular team, Ipsos data shows.

The women's game has fueled soccer's rise, too, said Nicholas Watanabe, a professor at the University of South Carolina, whose book “The Beautiful Game?” is about the future of soccer. Girls that play as kids become fans. Their enrollment helps keep youth leagues large and more financially viable, Watanabe said.

“Without the success and long-standing growth, I don’t think you get this side-by-side effect that also I think has helped the men’s team, too,” Watanabe said.

Consider the Kansas City Current, the NWSL team that touts its stadium as the first built for a women’s soccer team. Its owners include Brittany Mahomes, a former college soccer player and the wife of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Current, which is playing host to the Netherlands' team during the World Cup, sent staff to help at the camp where Garbowski was working.

Where soccer goes from here in the US

Make no mistake. Experts are quick to add soccer isn't the NFL, the juggernaut in a saturated U.S. sports market.

“The question isn’t, ‘Why aren’t we as big as football?’ Well, we’re not, but we are way closer than the last time we hosted the World Cup,” said White, who is studying how Americans get hooked on the sport.

There are challenges: Most of the best players still compete in the more storied European leagues. Hardcore American fans frequently follow those European teams, rather than MLS ones, which means less money to grow the sport in the U.S., White said. But on the plus side, American players are increasingly breaking into these top European leagues, White said. And he noted the sport's youthful fan base in the U.S. is one marketers are eager to woo.

“I am more hopeful right now than I’ve ever been in my life,” said White, adding, “And I’ve been a soccer missionary, if you will.”

Back at the Lenexa, Kansas, library, one mother held her 1-year-old daughter's hands as she toddled toward a ball, kicking it with a chubby bare foot.

“Messi,” another toddler practiced saying, repeating the last name of the star of the Argentine team whose tournament home base is nearby.

Jude, meanwhile, was shifting from tossing cones to tugging at his ears, afflicted with the same malady that had landed several of the toddlers on the room’s version of the injury list. Teething.

“Do you want to play soccer?” his mother asked the 17-month-old, noting some programs in town take kids as young as 2. He didn't respond.

“You don’t know,” she said. “Maybe like next spring or summer we start trying.”

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AP journalist Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

The Americans will look to change that narrative on Wednesday as they attempt to win their first World Cup elimination game in 24 years when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, California.

The Americans' last, and only, knockout win came on June 17, 2002, when they defeated Mexico 2-0 in the round of 16 in South Korea.

The good news for the Americans is they should have a healthy Christian Pulisic after the star missed the second game with a calf injury and played only 33 minutes as a sub in the final group match against Turkey.

“I feel good and ready to go for tomorrow,” Pulisic said.

The U.S. will once again play a knockout round match at a home World Cup in the San Francisco Bay area. The 1994 team made it out of group stage and faced Brazil at Stanford Stadium — less than 15 miles away from the site of this year’s game in Santa Clara — only to lose 1-0 to the eventual champions.

Since that round of 16 win over Mexico in 2002, the U.S. is 0-3 at that stage but are favored to advance against Bosnia, according to oddsmakers.

“We understand what it means, you win or you go home. There definitely needs to be a lot of focus and attention detail this week,” Pulisic said. “But I think the vibe feels good. We’ve still kept it light and we still are going to be ready to battle once the whistle blows.”

The U.S. has one win in 21 games against European teams with seven draws and 13 losses since making it back to the World Cup in 1990 for the first time in 40 years.

England will face Congo and Belgium will play Senegal in the other elimination games on Wednesday.

The round of 32 continues on Thursday with Spain playing Austria, Portugal taking on Croatia and Switzerland facing Algeria, and then concludes on Friday with Australia up against Egypt, Cape Verde playing Argentina and Colombia facing Ghana.

The eound of 16 begins on Saturday.

What to watch on July 1

— England vs. Congo, noon EDT in Atlanta (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— Belgium vs. Senegal, 4 p.m. EDT in Seattle (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

— United States vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 8 p.m. EDT in Santa Clara, California (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

England battling mounting injuries entering round of 32

Injuries are mounting for England, which is missing its first- and second-choice right backs for the round of 32 game against Congo.

Reece James is out with a hamstring injury and backup Jarrell Quansah twisted his ankle in England’s 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday.

It could see Djed Spence move over from the left to cover, but coach Thomas Tuchel is confident James and Quansah will both soon return — so long as England can advance beyond Congo.

“They’re getting closer and closer,” Tuchel said. “The race was close even to make it into my squad this time. So we need to make sure that we have more matches. That is the main focus, and then that will be very soon.”

Congo is playing in the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time. It already held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in the group stage and beat Uzbekistan to advance.

“It is true we are looking at a difficult match, but in no way insurmountable. We have proven this against teams that were supposed to be superior to us, that we could actually put in a good performance,” Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said. “So we are focusing on our strengths, we are walking our path and once you get to this point in the competition, it’s difficult for everyone.”

Bukayo Saka, who came into the tournament carrying an injury, is fit to start, Tuchel said.

US coach Pochettino apologizes for curt tone to media after loss

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino opened his news conference on Tuesday by asking the media to forgive him for his curt tone following the U.S. team’s 3-2 loss to Turkey.

The loss came after the U.S. had clinched the top spot in the group.

“I want to apologize to the guys that were in my last press conference,” Pochettino said. “I was so frustrated. I was disappointed. I thank you and am sorry. It was my problem, not your problem. I was upset after the defeat.”

Pochettino called out the media in the post-match news conference last week for not praising him and his team for having already won the group before the loss to Turkey.

“For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters after the game.

Belgium looks to return to 2018 glory when it faces Senegal

By advancing to the knockout round atop Group G, Belgium has already improved upon its woeful performance at the World Cup four years ago.

After a historic third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Belgium did not advance past the group stage in Qatar. With its 5-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday night, Belgium has already achieved what coach Rudi Garcia expected at the bare minimum from his team.

Ahead of Wednesday’s knockout round match against Senegal, Garcia expressed satisfaction, as well as desire for more. Belgium won one game and played to two draws in group play.

“We wanted to finish first in the group stage and we succeeded,” Garcia said in French. “Of course we wanted to win more — we know the story of our World Cup so far. Now it is time for the knockout phase. Senegal is a big team. But, you have to beat them, too, if you want to go far in a World Cup.”

More World Cup news

— France forward Kylian Mbappé scores his 17th and 18th World Cup goals, one back of Lionel Messi

— Haaland scores deciding goal as Norway wins its 1st World Cup knockout game, beating Ivory Coast 2-1

— Netherlands coach Koeman resigns after penalty shootout loss marked team’s quickest World Cup exit

— Iran heads home after a heartbreaking World Cup knockout, but fans say players should be proud

— False hope and schadenfreude: Familiar feelings for Germany after another World Cup flop

— World Cup in photos, Day 20

Stat of the day

— Prior to Monday's loss to Paraguay on penalty kicks, Germany had been 17 for 18 in World Cup shootouts and had converted 15 in a row. In the 1982 semifinals, Uli Stielike was blocked by France goalkeeper Jean-Luc Ettore with Germany’s third shot. But Germany made its next three and won 5-4. Germany was 4-for-4 in the 1986 quarterfinals against Mexico, 4-for-4 in the 1990 semifinals against England, and 4-for-4 in the 2006 quarterfinals against Argentina — winning all of those contests.

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AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, James Dobson and Andrew Destin contributed to this report. ___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman in Washington said that policy violated the First Amendment and he issued a preliminary ruling Tuesday barring the requirement while The New York Times continues its legal battle against the department's restrictions.

The order did not specify whether journalists from other organizations would also get relief from that policy.

The newspaper in May sued the Defense Department for the second time in five months. The lawsuits have played into an escalating tension between the U.S. media and the Republican administration, both in the public arena and the courts.

The Times hailed Friedman’s ruling.

“Today’s well-reasoned decision reaffirms the First Amendment rights of the press to cover the Pentagon without restrictions designed to prevent the public from knowing what the military is doing,” said Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson. “The court recognized that the Pentagon’s hastily implemented new policy was a clear violation of the Constitution.”

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X late Tuesday that the department “strongly disagrees” with Friedman's decision. "This ruling strips away reasonable security measures and will make it easier for sensitive and classified information to reach our adversaries.”

The Times first sued in December over rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seeking to limit media access.

The escort policy was implemented in March after a ruling by Friedman that had struck down earlier restrictions. He said they violated the rights of Times reporter Julian E. Barnes and the paper.

The following month, the judge ruled that the interim policy violated his March order. But the escort policy remained in place when an appeals court stayed part of Friedman’s ruling while the government appealed. The appeals process is ongoing.

The Times and other outlets walked out of the Pentagon in October rather than agree to Hegseth's restrictions. They continue to cover the U.S. military from outside the building. A new press corps approved by the department currently occupies the Pentagon space.

Some were mixed in with washed up kelp. Others were under rocks.

Each month, scientists and volunteers conduct surveys of dead seabirds and find what Russell describes as a grim assessment of the impact of a massive marine heat wave that has lingered for months off parts of the California coast.

The surveys that have been carried out by various organizations for decades help build a baseline of information on beached sea life to detect threats and their impact.

Many seabirds, including California brown pelicans, loons and grebes, starved to death in recent months as record-setting ocean temperatures decreased the band of cold, nutrient-rich surface water where krill, anchovies and sardines thrive near the shore, said Russell, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

“We’ve been seeing cormorants walk to shore and then just die within the hour. I mean one time it happened within 15 minutes, and I’ve never seen that before,” Russell said. “That has been heartbreaking for me and we’re seeing this happening across the whole coast.”

Scientists fear the die-off could worsen with the recently formed El Nino, the natural warming of parts of the central Pacific that alters weather worldwide and spikes global temperatures.

Die-offs of seabirds is happening more with warming oceans

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in June confirmed an El Nino formed and it is expected to grow to historic strength.

Die-offs of seabirds occur periodically, and not all the seabird deaths off California this year are tied to the marine heat wave, scientists and wildlife officials say.

But such die-offs are becoming more frequent as the planet warms and oceans heat up.

‘We don't know how bad this is going to get'

Already a marine heat wave has persisted off parts of the West Coast for the past year, marking only the third time on record that such a large section of coastal waters stayed warm for so long, according to NOAA.

Scripps measures daily ocean temperatures at 10 coastal stations along the California coast, where their records stretch back over a century. This year, saw three stations break records for 40 days or more, said the director Melissa Carter, who runs the program. The samples are taken in a variety of ways, including off piers by dropping an insulated bucket, or by lifeguards in the early morning surf or researchers off rocky shorelines.

Robotic underwater gliders with sensors operating out at sea also recorded high temperatures offshore and at depth during the spring. Dan Rudnick, who runs the Scripps glider program, said the warm temperature anomaly off Southern California this spring was comparable to that during the last El Nino in 2023.

And that was before the formation of this year's El Nino, which could stretch into 2027.

As cold-water species move deeper and farther north, the marine heat wave coupled with El Nino could further disrupt food webs for sea life from gray whales to seabirds. A similar pattern happened a decade ago.

“We don’t know how bad this is going to get,” said Russell, who has written about five species of Booby that are now common off California because of warming ocean temperatures.

Seabirds are seeking food in unusual places

Wildlife rehabilitation facilities treated hundreds of emaciated birds this spring when the marine heat wave intensified.

“It’s not abnormal to see dead birds on the beach, but the quantity of dead birds is unusual,” J.D. Bergeron, the CEO of ⁠International Bird Rescue, a global wildlife conservation organization that runs two aquatic bird rehabilitation centers in California, said in an interview in May.

Brown pelicans are turning up in inland lakes, Bergeron said.

“When birds starve, especially the pelicans, they start to look in unusual places for food,” he said. “They will chase fishing boats, they will go to piers and you end up with birds with fishing line and fish hook injuries.”

Many dead or debilitated seabirds examined this year have been young and emaciated, and most have tested negative for avian flu, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Some had opportunistic infections linked to malnourishment.

Krysta Rogers, a senior state environmental scientist, said there may be factors besides warm ocean temperatures. High mortality rates among young Brandt’s cormorants and common murres began after a robust 2025 breeding season, peaking post-winter, and appeared to coincide with the marine heat wave. Those deaths may be mostly due to chicks simply not surviving on their own, she said.

But she does not discount the marine heat wave affecting some seabirds, considering an increase this spring in reported deaths from other species and not just young ones.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which collects data from the dead seabird surveys and others, said they do not have a comprehensive report ready yet.

Only a fraction of birds that die at sea wash ashore

In 2013, a warm water mass nicknamed “the blob” developed off Alaska and stretched south, lingering for years as it wreaked havoc on marine ecosystems all the way to Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. One of the strongest El Ninos on record overlapped with it in 2015.

Carcasses of emaciated common murres showed up on beaches in what biologists say was the largest seabird die-off recorded in the world’s oceans.

Common murres look like thin penguins. They can fly miles in search of schools of finger-length fish and can dive and swim nearly 600 feet (183 meters) deep to capture them. However, the birds’ high metabolism means they have to eat a lot. If they don’t eat prey matching 10% to 30% of their body mass daily, they can use up fat reserves and drop to a critical threshold for starvation within three days.

Studies show that only a fraction of birds that die at sea wash ashore. It took years for scientists to confirm that more than half of Alaska’s population of common murres, an estimated 4 million birds, died during “the blob,” according to a 2024 study in the journal Science.

The species is still struggling to recover.

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

The Raptors are sending Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two first-round draft picks, two second-round picks and pick swap to the Clippers for Leonard, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has not received the required league approval.

Leonard spent one season in Toronto, and that was the year the Raptors won their lone title. He turned 35 on Monday but is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Clippers in 65 games.

Leonard is a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, a two-time NBA champion (also winning in 2014 with San Antonio) and is generally considered one of the game's top defensive players.

The trade is the latest in what's becoming a long line of huge deals getting made between clubs already this summer, one that has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami, Ja Morant getting moved to Portland by Memphis and now this — one where the Raptors will hope that Leonard can weave his title magic one more time.

Toronto agreeing to make this deal suggests that it isn't worried about the ongoing probe into an endorsement deal that Leonard had with a California-based sustainability services company.

The NBA opened an investigation back in September into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Leonard and Aspiration Fund Adviser LLC — a company that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year — broke league rules, following a report by journalist Pablo Torre. The primary issue for the NBA to decide is if the deal allowed the Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules.

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

“Our patriotism is medieval, outworn, obsolete,” Twain wrote in 1905. “The modern patriotism, the true patriotism, the only rational patriotism, is loyalty to the Nation all the time, loyalty to the Government when it deserves it.”

In these rabidly partisan times, those who think President Donald Trump deserves their support and those who don’t are joining in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Whether all the partying to come gives the nation a breather from disunity or aggravates it is an open question.

It's a proud and loud moment, sown with division and doubt.

Love of country comes in different flavors, of course. Some love it as is. Some love what it could become and press on with their activism and protest in pursuit of history's call for a “more perfect union." Some love what it used to be and might be once more — the underpinning of MAGA.

But overall, belief in American exceptionalism has waned. More people in the U.S. think there are better countries in the world than those who think the United States is the best. That’s according to an April poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that found 44% endorsing the United States as just one of the best.

This is not the America of, say, Teddy Roosevelt, whose presidential library Trump is visiting in North Dakota on Wednesday. Roosevelt mirrored the brashness and ambition of a country surging in innovation, industry, influence, military muscle and spirit.

In its place is a country where the president is his own brand of brash, but millions of the people he leads wonder if it's all coming apart.

Who’s in charge here?

For the 250th, the division starts at the top, with two organizations claiming to be the one leading the commemoration and all but ignoring the other.

A decade ago, Congress created the bipartisan America250 group and charged it by law with planning the country’s local, national and international events for the 250th. Trump stepped on that with an executive order making his Freedom 250 group “the” national organization in charge.

Marquee events like the Fourth of July fireworks at the National Mall, the parade of tall ships in New York and the Great American State Fair along the National Mall are the province of Trump's Freedom 250. Musical stars who had been lined up for the splashy opener of the fair last week withdrew, concerned Trump, a Republican, would make the festivities political and very much about him.

He stepped forward to fill the void, declaring himself the “No. 1 attraction," and he delivered a speech there June 24 on American glory and his achievements. He'll headline the official July Fourth events in the capital as well, for what he called “the most spectacular TRUMP RALLY of them all."

Poems, art and a message in a bottle go underground for 250 years

America250, meantime, put together America's Block Party — a series scheduled simultaneously around the country anchored by a Fourth of July benefit concert in Los Angeles hosted by Queen Latifah, with Chris Stapleton and the Smashing Pumpkins among the acts.

By congressional mandate, America250 also sank a 900-pound (400-kilogram) time capsule in Philadelphia with items from all states and branches of government, to be pried open in 250 years.

The people of 2276 will then see a major league baseball lineup from 2026, poems from Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky and more, postcards from Colorado and Maine, beaded artwork from Montana, an Oklahoma belt buckle, a message in a vintage Coco-Cola bottle, a pocket Constitution signed by the U.S. justices, a George Washington Lord’s Prayer gold medal from Utah given out at the Wedding of the Rails event celebrating completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, and more.

In Philadelphia, where the founders signed the declaration and birthed the nation, 250 people will form the contours of the Liberty Bell in a parade with 50 marching bands and Miss America delegates, formerly called contestants, representing every state.

Ain't that America: Celebrations sprout from the grassroots, too

Though there are official events galore, it's not as if Americans, of all people, need the government to show them a good time.

In one of thousands of gatherings under the national radar, Evans, Pennsylvania, will hear the Circle of Friends Choir perform patriotic songs a cappella in an event also featuring a patriotic trivia contest and a barbershop quartet.

In Pocatello, Idaho, drag queens organized a reading of patriotic picture books for young people, including the story of Katharine Lee Bates. Bates returned from the Colorado Rockies, where the spacious skies, purple mountain majesties and fruited plains inspired her to write the poem that became “America the Beautiful.”

Twain, the scold and satirist of American government and of imperialism, shared Bates' love of his country's natural beauty. He loved the nature of its people, too — sometimes. “We glorious Americans will occasionally astonish the God that created us,” he wrote.

But a century before Make America Great Again grabbed the political zeitgeist by the lapels, he was speaking of good old days lost.

“We are called the nation of inventors," he said. “And we are. We could still claim that title and wear its loftiest honors if we had stopped with the first thing we ever invented, which was human liberty.” ___

This story has been corrected to show the benefit concert host’s name is Latifah, not Latifa.

Day 2 of our heat wave today and we already have alerts in place! A Heat Advisory will go into effect by 11 AM Wednesday morning and expire by 8 PM. This advisory includes the Roanoke Valley, Lynchburg and Southside Zones. Nelson county is the only area within our viewing area, as of this morning, that has a Extreme Heat Watch in place for that same time frame.

Be sure to stay inside if possible today, and if you are outdoors for long periods of time take frequent breaks and stay hydrated.

We will likely tie or break records for most of our area in Southwest and Southside Virginia.

While this Weather Authority Alert Day seems to be for “boring weather” because there is no major storm system, this heat wave is just as important and dangerous as a big storm system. Heat illness can come on quickly without noticing. It is important not just to stay weather aware, but to check in on your elderly neighbors during the heat wave.

We are not looking to see a break from the heat anytime soon. The latest outlook from the Climate Prediction Center shows above average temperatures expected through Mid-July. If we stay above 90 degrees during this stretch, we may see this heat wave lasting through mid July.

Try to stay cool and hydrated today!

Tuesday Morning Update

Tuesday kicks off our heat wave, but when we take a look at heat stress over the next couple of days, today is just the start of a long term pattern.

The heat dome that is building over the east is more focused into the Southeast.

Here in Southwest Virginia we have much higher heat stress Wednesday.

You’ll want to pack the extra water bottle and plan breaks if you are outdoors for a long period of time as the heat stress increases the next several days.

Wednesday, it will easily feel like we are reaching the triple digits, even though our air temperatures only reach the upper 90s. This is because of the combined heat and humidity bringing the heat index values into the triple digits. We will keep the dangerous heat index values around for the latter half of the week and into the Fourth of July weekend as well.

Futurecast shows the high pressure building in the heat dome will stick around for the next couple of days. While we have a chance of a stray shower or thunderstorm in the mountains this afternoon, most of us will stay hot and dry as this high pressure dominates the area.

Please stay weather aware the next couple of days and be safe out in the heat!

Monday Afternoon Update

A Weather Authority Alert day has been issued for the beginning of July due to an expected heat wave that could result in record-breaking temperatures.

A high-pressure system has already formed to our southwest and is already providing above-average temperatures for much of the eastern United States.

That high pressure will hold its position over the next few days, continuing to pull in warm, moist air from the Gulf.

The forecast is currently toeing the line with high temperature records and has the capability to surpass those numbers.

As of now, it seems like the skies will be relatively cloudy over the next few days, meaning it will be hard to break those records; that being said, it is still possible.

Dew points are going to be high, in the upper 60s to low 70s all around. This will mean that it will be exceptionally muggy, raising the heat index into the triple digits for some.

This heat wave has the potential to result in heat-related illnesses, ranging from heat cramps to even a life-threatening heat stroke. It is imperative that you stay hydrated, dress properly, and avoid strenuous activity.

As always, we will keep you updated on this week’s forecast, so stay tuned with your Local Weather Authority!

Giant Eagle, which is privately held, has 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. Kroger has thousands of stores operating under various brands, including Ralphs, King Soopers, Smith’s and Fred Meyer.

The transaction includes $1.25 billion in cash and the assumption of approximately $400 million in outstanding liabilities, the companies said Wednesday.

“Giant Eagle is a well-run, high-quality regional grocer with a strong reputation for fresh products, pharmacy, private label and customer loyalty,” Kroger CEO Greg Foran said in a statement. “We evaluated the opportunity carefully, and the strategic fit is clear."

Foran, a former Walmart executive, was named Kroger's CEO in February. He has a reputation as a tech-savvy and detail-oriented leader.

Kroger and Giant Eagle said that they anticipate having to divest a limited number of Giant Eagle stores in order to receive the necessary regulatory clearance for the transaction.

The deal is expected to close next year.

Kroger's stock fell nearly 3% before the market open.

The 44-year-old Williams did not ask for medical treatment during a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia in the first round on Tuesday.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion who won seven of her titles at Wimbledon, did not meet with media after the match.

“Serena tweaked her right knee at the end of the first set and was therefore excused from her media obligations by the Wimbledon and WTA medical teams,” said Jill Smoller, Williams’ agent. “She left site that night unaided and is doing everything she can to be ready for her doubles match later this week.”

Serena received wild card invitations from Wimbledon organizers to play both singles and doubles with Venus.

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

The report appeared aimed at underlining Tehran’s claims to control the strait, which the world has long considered an international waterway. It saw a fifth of all oil and natural gas pass through it in peacetime.

Iran has used its ability to choke off the waterway as a key source of leverage since the war began, disrupting global markets for energy and other critical goods.

The report came as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, were in Doha, Qatar, for talks over reaching a permanent end to the Iran war. Iran's top negotiator, Kazem Gharibabadi, traveled to Qatar with a team as well.

Technical talks between diplomats began Wednesday in Qatar, said two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door discussions. Negotiators aim to nail down specifics to pave the way for top leaders to seal an agreement, though differences over the strait and Lebanon loom large.

The Strait of Hormuz is a key sticking point in talks

Iran and the United States agreed as part of an interim deal to allow ships to pass uncharged for 60 days, but Tehran insisted it must control the routes of the vessels and later charge fees for passage, upending decades of practice in the waterway.

The U.S. and many Gulf Arab states say they won't agree to the charges. An effort by Oman and a U.N. agency to launch a new route near Oman's shore sparked attacks across the Mideast over last weekend, highlighting the tensions.

Iranian state TV on Wednesday said the ship “ran aground with its cargo because of shallow waters along the route it had chosen and was unable to continue sailing.” It said shippers needed to follow the instructions of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the strait.

The Guard's navy “has repeatedly warned captains, shipowners and officials of shipping companies around the world that any entry or exit through routes other than the ‘Route of Authority’ in the Persian Gulf could lead to irreparable incidents,” it said.

The report did not mention the two ships Iran attacked in recent days for daring to head out through the strait without Tehran's permission, including one carrying crude oil from Qatar.

Qatar meets with both sides

Witkoff and Kushner arrived in Qatar on Tuesday ahead of talks, with Qatar mediating. While Iran has said it planned no meetings with the Americans, there was the possibility of so-called “indirect negotiations,” in which the nations pass messages through Qatari officials. That has happened multiple times during negotiations in the second Trump administration.

Qatar early Wednesday acknowledged a meeting between the Americans and its foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. A readout from Qatar's Foreign Ministry said the men talked about the interim deal “along with the efforts aimed at promoting security and stability in the region through dialogue and diplomacy.”

Sheikh Mohammed also met with Gharibabadi and other Iranian officials. An Iranian statement said they discussed “the implementation process of the memorandum of understanding on ending the imposed war, as well as the existing challenges and obstacles to its implementation.” Pakistani mediators also were on hand.

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator, told Iranian state television overnight that work continues to try to reach a permanent end to the war.

“We are engaged in dialogue, but if they refuse to implement what has been agreed through dialogue, we are prepared for war,” Qalibaf said.

Lebanon is another key point in a final deal. Iran has insisted that all fighting between the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah and Israeli military forces there end.

Iran also has called for Israel to give up the land it occupies in southern Lebanon now. Israel insists it must hold the territory and have a free hand to attack Hezbollah, which has been launching attacks into northern Israel.

More ships get out of Strait of Hormuz

While ship traffic in the strait dropped after this weekend's attacks, more countries say their vessels have gotten out.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that 10 out of 11 Thai-flagged vessels or vessels chartered by Thai operators have departed the Strait of Hormuz safely. South Korean officials say all but two of the country’s 26 vessels that were stranded have left safely.

Iraq shoots down drone over Baghdad

Also Wednesday, Iraqi authorities shot down a small drone over Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, where many embassies and government buildings are located, two Iraqi security officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. One of the officials said the drone was unarmed and likely was being used for surveillance. No group immediately claimed the drone as theirs.

After the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias launched frequent attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic facilities in Iraq. The drone being shot down overnight Wednesday was the first security incident in Baghdad since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire.

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Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Najib Jobain in Doha, Qatar, Jintamas Saksornchai in Bangkok, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad and Tong-hyung Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

That's meant to safeguard the summit, but also to display strength and underscore Turkey’s commitment to the military alliance, even as it is often portrayed as an outlier within it.

On July 7–8, leaders from all 32 member states are expected convene in the Turkish capital, including U.S. President Donald Trump, whose threats to withdraw from NATO and reduce U.S. troop levels have cast uncertainty over the alliance’s future.

Turkey has also unveiled a new VIP airport, converted from a former military airfield, specifically to host NATO leaders.

Allies will aim for unity

At the Ankara summit, NATO members are expected to address questions over defense spending and the U.S.’s evolving role in the alliance.

The main agenda will center on unity after Trump has criticized allies for failing to support the U.S.-led war on Iran and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“The important aspect of the meeting is to what extent the rift between the United States and Europe can be healed or narrowed during the summit,” said Fatih Ceylan, a former Turkish ambassador to NATO and security analyst at the Ankara Policy Center. “We should not expect miracles, but nonetheless if there is a convergence of ideas emphasizing the importance of NATO, that should be seen as a success.”

Turkey's role as host seems to have helped win an appearance by Trump, who has a close rapport with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

“Well, except for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdogan, I don’t think I would have gone to it,” he told reporters following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House.

Turkey has often acted independently in NATO

In the run-up to the summit, Erdogan described Turkey as a reliable ally that consistently shoulders responsibility on NATO’s southeastern flank and will continue to play a leading role in the alliance. He said his country was working to ensure that the Ankara Summit “will stand as a reference point in NATO’s history.”

A NATO member since 1952, Turkey has the alliance’s second-largest army after the United States, a fast-growing defense industry and a strategic location at the crossroads of Europe, the Middle East, the Black Sea and the Caucasus.

Yet it has often acted independently, frustrating allies by refusing to participate in sanctions on Russia, engaging in disputes with Greece, and purchasing Russian missile defense systems — a move that led to its expulsion from the U.S.-led F-35 program in 2019.

Turkey also delayed Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership until it secured concessions on counter-terrorism cooperation and the lifting of arms export restrictions, and blocked the appointments of NATO chiefs Anders Fogh Rassmussen in 2009 and Mark Rutte in 2024 until other demands were met.

But Turkey's independent streak has also enabled it to play a mediating role, from brokering a deal to ship grain across the Black Sea between Ukraine and Russia in 2022 to supporting recent initiatives aimed at ending the war in Iran.

Ankara, too, has at times been frustrated with its NATO allies, particularly over what it saw as the alliance’s lack of solidarity during a failed coup attempt in 2016, and the arms sales restrictions imposed on Turkey after its intervention in Syria.

Murat Aslan, an analyst at the Ankara-based SETA think tank, said Turkey learned to “play it alone” due to its turbulent relations with the United States and Europe, adding that Europe is now also talking about “strategic autonomy” from the U.S.

Turkey can help NATO navigate U.S.–Europe tensions by showing how to “balance” independence with alliance commitments, he said.

Ankara is tilting back toward the West

More recently, however, Turkey has leaned closer to NATO, whose importance was underscored during the Iran war when alliance missile defenses intercepted four missiles fired from Iran into Turkish territory. Weeks before the summit, Italy and Germany deployed air defense systems to help Turkey respond to heightened threats.

“Turkey wishes to distinguish itself as a foreign policy actor that is independent of NATO and the West,” wrote Hamish Kinnear, principal Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, in a note. “While Turkey is not abandoning its balancing approach, it is tilting closer to the West, primarily because of NATO.”

Authorities roll out strict security measures

In Ankara, strict access restrictions will be imposed on several of the city's main arteries, around airports, the presidential complex where the summit will be held, and around hotels hosting the delegations, severely disrupting life in the city of nearly 6 million.

As the country prepares for the summit, Erdogan unveiled a new airport which was transformed from a former military airfield into a modern facility with expanded runways. The new Ankara Airport is expected to remain a VIP airport after the summit and is not expected to serve the general public, officials have said.

Facades of houses along the route from the new airport have been painted over as part of city beautification efforts, the newspaper Cumhuriyet reported.

With a history of terrorist attacks, Turkey's capital is no stranger to tight security, but the measures being taken in connection with NATO appear to go beyond the usual.

Authorities have also banned demonstrations, concerts, and graduation ceremonies during the summit, while nonessential state employees have been placed on leave to ease congestion.

Security units have detained more than 200 people suspected of links to extremist groups, including the Islamic State group, authorities said. Media reports said that several activists, lawyers and an academic were caught up in the sweep.

A Turkish court, meanwhile, blocked access to websites critical of NATO and the summit on security and public order grounds, according to Engelli Web, a website that tracks websites banned in Turkey. Several journalists from Turkish opposition-leaning media organizations were denied accreditation to cover the summit, sparking outrage from media rights groups.

“In the history of the organization, we have never witnessed security measures as stringent and suffocating in a host city for a summit as we are seeing this time in Ankara,” wrote Namik Tan, a former Turkish ambassador and legislator from Turkey's main opposition party.

Personal trainer Selin Karakoc said she breathed a sigh of relief after she was told that her wedding on July 5 falls just before the start of the restrictions.

“Ours could be one of the last weddings in Ankara that week,” she joked.

After lower courts repeatedly ruled against the Trump administration, the nation's top court allowed it to terminate temporary protections for people fleeing war or strife. It gave immigration officers greater leeway in dealing with green card holders returning from abroad, and it allowed the government to limit the number of people who can apply for asylum.

In being asked to serve as an enabler of the Republican president's contentious immigration crackdown, the Supreme Court showed deference to constitutional guardrails in the key case of birthright citizenship that would have redefined who can be an American. In ruling against the administration, the court upheld the idea that people who are born in the United States, regardless of their parents' immigration status, are Americans.

Each decision could have far-reaching consequences for foreigners seeking to live in the country and could help shape public perceptions over whether America remains a beacon for migrants.

Birthright citizenship is upheld, prompting calls for more restrictions

The Trump administration had sought to prevent children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily from being entitled to American citizenship at birth.

A divided Supreme Court upheld the concept of birthright citizenship, with a bare majority of five justices saying that with very limited exceptions the long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, grants citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

It was a blow to Trump's immigration agenda, a centerpiece of his second administration. The president signed the order seeking to restrict birthright citizenship on his first day in office, although it never went into effect due to legal challenges.

The court's decision was praised by advocates but led to calls by some Republicans to try to restrict birthright citizenship by other means.

Mark Krikorian, who heads the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for less immigration, said the decision makes the president's push for large-scale deportations “all the more urgent,” with the goal of removing people in the country illegally before they have children.

Krikorian said the decision means policies governing programs that allow foreigners to come to the U.S. to work or study at university need to be “tightened up” to prevent people from coming to the U.S. and having children who then become citizens. He also suggested the State Department could add a pregnancy question to visa applications of foreigners seeking to get a tourist or other visa to come to the U.S.

“I think it’s going to have real policy impact," Krikorian said.

Temporary protections for Haitians and Syrians removed

The court allowed the Trump administration to end legal protections for migrants who have fled violence and natural disaster in Haiti and Syria. The 6-3 decision announced June 25 potentially leaves hundreds of thousands of more people unable to work in the U.S. and vulnerable to deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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

Republican critics have said that these temporary protections effectively become permanent. But immigration lawyers said countries such as Haiti and Syria remain dangerous.

The court’s conservative majority found that the law doesn’t allow courts to question the process that immigration authorities use to revoke the protections. The high court sided with the administration before and allowed the end of the program for people from Venezuela.

It's unclear how quickly the court's ruling could translate into ICE trying to remove affected Haitians and Syrians from the country although fear of potential deportation has already ricocheted around the Haitian community.

David Bier, director of immigration studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank that advocates for more immigration, said the court's decision has a far wider impact than just the 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians covered by the case. Roughly 1 million others are covered by temporary protected status, or TPS, decisions, and Bier said the ruling leaves them without any meaningful way to challenge the administration's moves.

“It just fully closed the door to any challenges," Bier said.

Limits on asylum applicants allowed

Under U.S. law, migrants who set foot on American soil can apply for asylum. Although the number of migrants coming to the southern border has fallen dramatically during the Trump administration, the numbers of asylum seekers had ballooned under previous administrations.

Started under Democrat Barack Obama's administration and then expanded under Trump's first term, asylum-metering limited how many people could apply for asylum every day at the southern border with Mexico.

The ruling cleared the way for the Trump administration to potentially revive the policy, which isn't in place now, should it choose to do so.

The administration argued that asylum-metering was an important tool and that people turned away at the border could come back later. But advocates argued that at the time the asylum-metering was in place it led to chaos and a humanitarian crisis in Mexico as thousands of people waited for days and months in makeshift shelters in Mexico.

Court allows administration greater leeway with some green card holders

In another 6-3 decision, the court sided with the Trump administration in giving greater power to immigration officers when deciding how to treat green card holders returning to the country from abroad.

In 2012, Customs and Border Protection officers put lawful permanent resident Muk Choi Lau on immigration parole when he returned from a short trip to China and took away his green card. He had been accused of a counterfeiting crime, although not convicted.

Lau argued that the officer overstepped their authority and that when he eventually pleaded guilty to selling counterfeit clothes in New Jersey, the decision gave Homeland Security, then under the Obama administration, an easier path to remove him from the country.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in her dissent, wrote that she was worried that the court had given the government a “massive blank check” in dealing with millions of other lawful permanent residents who want to travel abroad.

The American Immigration Council, an advocacy group, wrote in an analysis after the court's decision that Congress gave lawful permanent residents special protections when they travel that make it harder to detain and remove them from the country.

There are exceptions that limit the special protections that green card holders have, including if the person has committed certain crimes in the U.S., the council wrote.

The council said there were still a lot of questions as to the effect of the court's decision but that it expects the government to argue that the decision can be applied more broadly.

“Today’s change is about restoring fairness for European businesses and better protecting our consumers,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in an online post praising a new 3 euro ($3.42) customs duty on small packages. “The surge in low-value online imports has put our retailers at an unfair disadvantage. Too many of these products also fail to meet EU safety standards, putting consumers at risk.”

The Commission said new rules on steel imports are designed to protect EU plants and jobs from “the damaging impacts of global overcapacity” on “a strategically crucial European industry.” China’s subsidies for steel production have led critics in Brussels and beyond to charge that policy undercuts steel industries from Germany's Ruhr valley to Kyushu Island in Japan.

The EU's trade deficit with China widened in 2025 to around 360 billion euros ($410 billion) — or roughly 1 billion euros a day — and is rising in 2026.

China’s annual global trade surplus reached a near-record $1.2 trillion last year even after higher tariffs introduced by the Trump administration, and despite China’s dependency on Persian Gulf energy, the war in Iran has not destabilized China’s export-led economy with sales of high-tech goods and vehicles abroad having jumped.

Flood of small packages has destabilized main street

From Wednesday, the EU will remove an customs duty exemption called “de minimis” for parcels valued at under 150 euros. Chinese firms like the e-commerce giants Temu and Shien control about 90% of this type of trade, according to the Commission. The U.S. made a similar move last year.

The Commission said 5.9 billion small packages were imported into the EU in 2025, compared with about 1.4 billion in 2022. At roughly 16 million a day, that’s 97% of the traffic, but represents just 2% of import value. A majority of the packages were said to have failed safety tests and triggered environmental concerns on overuse of plastic.

“Europe finally shows teeth against flood of cheap package deals,” said Bernd Lange, the head of the European Parliament’s trade committee in a post online.

Yet the 3 euro tax might “not affect the big picture” as it's minimal compared to the price gap between Europe and China for goods like e-commerce, according to Gary Ng, a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies.

While it may be effective in reducing small orders and impulse purchases, Ng said that customers and e-commerce platforms can still make group orders.

EU steel under threat

The new rules set tariff-free quotas at 18.3 million metric tons annually and imposes an out-of-quota duty of 50% on 26 types of steel imports. It also requires more transparency from importers to trace where the so-called “melt and pour” stage of production takes place to ensure countries like China will not circumvent protections by shipping products to the EU via third countries. The EU had put in new steel tariffs in October to protect the bloc from a flood of steel imports diverted by new U.S. trade policy under Trump.

Europe's steel industry is in crisis, with crude steel output falling to a “historic low” in 2026, according to the European Steel Association.

“Europe’s steel production is shrinking while imports as a share of the EU market are rising,” said the trade group’s director-general Axel Eggert in March. “EU policymakers must therefore agree the new steel trade measure quickly without it being weakened otherwise Europe risks losing more industrial capacity.”

While China producers more than half of the world's steel, the EU imports mostly from trade partners like the U.K., Ukraine, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan and South Korea. The new tariffs could trigger penalties in free trade agreements with nations like Japan but some exemptions have been granted to Ukraine as it battles Russia.

“We will remain open to engage — call it a club, call it an alliance, call it whatever you like — but the idea that we come together with like-minded partners on this global challenge of overcapacity in the market," said a Commission official tasked with communicating policy but not authorized to be named. "In an ideal world there is fair competition and level playing fields. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to live in an ideal world.”

Beijing will oppose the new rules even if they do not directly target China, said Alicia García-Herrero, a chief economist for Asia Pacific and Middle East at the French bank Natixis.

“The Chinese do not want this instrument to work. This could be a springboard for more," she said. “It opens the door to the overall overcapacity instruments to see how it works.”

China’s Ministry of Commerce in May warned the EU against new steel import regulations and said China would firmly respond to “discriminatory measures” against its companies and products.

'Wolf pack effect'

Some experts in China have raised the alarm over growing backlash to mass exports.

In a recent report, the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing identified “ China Shock 2.0 ” — a massive surge of highly subsidized, advanced Chinese manufacturing exports flooding global markets — as one of the top 10 perceived security risks for China. It warned that the EU would likely impose additional tariffs on China that, together with protectionist sentiment in the U.S., might inspire other nations to follow suit with “steep tariff hikes and investment screening” targeting Chinese firms.

"What makes this risk distinctive is that it does not originate from a single adversary. It is the ‘wolf pack effect’ of multiple countries acting in concert, inflicting not only direct economic losses on China but, more profoundly, degrading its strategic environment and international business reputation," the report stated.

Beijing has hit back at the concept of “China Shock 2.0,” defending it instead as an “opportunity” which brings the world wider shared benefits from China's tech innovations.

While the EU has not been as combative with China as the Trump administration, “the direction of travel is clearly shifting in Brussels,” HSBC economists Frederic Neumann and Justin Feng wrote in a research note on Tuesday.

In June, leaders from the Group of Seven nations issued a joint call to develop independent supply chains for critical minerals so crucial for defense and high-tech industries.

'Status quo is not an option'

“China and the EU are partners, not rivals,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday. “The root cause of the EU’s problems does not lie with China.”

China’s recent success handling Trump’s escalated tariff threats last year suggests it “can withstand external pressure,” according to Neumann and Feng, who said Beijing leveraged its control of rare earth supply chains to forge a truce on trade with Washington.

“If China managed a U.S. tariff ramp-up and the global energy shock during the U.S.-Iran conflict, it may show less inclination to make concessions to the EU,” the economists said. “The near-term outlook points to limited progress towards a comprehensive China-EU settlement.”

García-Herrero said that despite the importance of the EU’s common market to China — 90% of battery and 60% of its electrical vehicles exports go to the bloc — there is a perception in Beijing that they can successfully dissuade common action by lobbying national capitals in the EU.

“China thinks Europe has no leverage,” she said. “They do think they have the upper hand, by all means.”

China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao met with the EU’s trade representative Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels on Monday.

“The EU remains open for business but we need to defend our industrial base and keep pushing for a level playing field globally, so our industries get a fair shot at competing,” Šefčovič said after the talks. “That is why today’s talks – and the ones to follow – matter."

He has set an October deadline for meaningful results in rebalancing trade during a visit to Beijing.

“The status quo is not an option.”

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Chan reported from Hong Kong.

Osaka, whose fashion reveals have become an event of their own at Grand Slam tournaments, wore a less elaborate outfit for her walk-on than the “Kill Bill” inspired kimono she sported for her opening-round match on Monday.

It still drew plenty of attention as she made the walk from the locker room to No. 2 Court, trailed by photographers and fans wanting to take their own photos.

This all-white outfit featured a wide belt and a long train that trailed behind her, which the four-time major winner took off as she began warming up for her match against qualifier Anastasia Gasanova.

She went on to quickly dispatch her opponent 6-3, 6-2.

“I'm just trying to mix it up a little bit,” Osaka said about her outfit, adding she had been worried that a loss might have ruined her daughter Shai's third birthday on Thursday.

“I just wanted to be here for longer, I didn't want to make her get on a plane on her birthday,” Osaka said.

Osaka's match was among the early starts on the outside courts as the second round got under way at Wimbledon.

Later, defending men's champion Jannik Sinner was set to play Nuno Borges in the first match on Centre Court. That will be followed by women's French Open winner Mirra Andreeva facing 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova before Novak Djokovic takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faces McCartney Kessler on No. 1 Court before Coco Gauff plays Solana Sierra.

On Tuesday, Serena Williams made her return to Centre Court but lost in three sets to Maya Joint in her first singles match in nearly four years. Williams is set to play doubles with sister Venus later in the week.

___

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

Temperatures inside of a vehicle can climb 20 degrees in just 10 minutes, and children are especially vulnerable to the heat.

“Children have a lower surface area, and they’re not able to dissipate heat nearly as much as an adult. They can end up in situations inside a car that they don’t know how to get themselves out of. If they start feeling hot, they may become sleepy instead of realizing they need to open the door and get out,” said Genon Wicina, MD, a pediatrician with Cleveland Clinic Children’s.

Dr. Wicina explained that the heat can quickly overwhelm a child’s body and lead to heatstroke.

With this in mind, never leave them alone in a vehicle, even if the windows are cracked.

It’s also possible for parents to accidentally forget their child is in the back seat, especially when they’re out of their normal routine.

That’s why Dr. Wicina suggests putting something like your cellphone near them as a reminder.

She also recommends always locking your vehicle.

“Many people don’t think about locking their cars in their driveways, but kids are curious. A neighbor kid could easily get inside the car if it’s unlocked and become trapped inside,” Dr. Wicina said.

If someone else is driving your child, Dr. Wicina said to check in with them or ask them to call once they arrive safely.

Police are investigating whether negligence during ongoing construction work caused the collapse that left another eight children injured and hospitalized in stable condition.

Residents and preliminary police findings indicate the tutoring center was operating in an aging building. Investigators believe the unfinished roof of the second floor may have collapsed because of poor construction.

At least two people, including the building owner, were arrested as investigators tried to determine who was responsible, senior police official Kamran Faisal said, adding that negligence by the owner and construction workers appear to have caused the collapse.

“We are still investigating to determine exactly whose negligence resulted in this tragic incident,” Faisal said.

Funeral prayers for the children, who were up to 14 years old, began before dawn and continued through Wednesday morning. Most of the victims were buried in a local graveyard, while some families planned to take the bodies to their native towns for burial.

Ambulances transported the victims’ bodies overnight to their homes in Kahna, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Lahore. As the bodies were returned to their families, cries echoed through the neighborhood. Mothers and female relatives sat beside the bodies throughout the night while classmates and friends of the victims stood nearby in tears.

The funeral mourners Wednesday morning included Mohammad Ashfaq, a laborer whose 7-year-old son and nephew were killed in the collapse.

“I cannot express my pain and grief in words,” Ashfaq said through tears as relatives tried to comfort him.

Nearby, Muhammad Farooq mourned the loss of his young daughter.

“Yesterday she went to her tuition class at around 4 p.m.,” Farooq said. “Around 4:45 p.m., my family called me and said the roof of the tuition center had collapsed. They told me many children were trapped under the debris. Fourteen children were killed, and the injured were taken to the hospital.”

Local resident Mohammad Tahir said neighbors were the first to respond after the roof gave way.

“Rescuers arrived quickly, but before they reached us, neighbors rushed in with shovels and even dug through the debris with their bare hands,” Tahir said. “We also pulled children from the rubble, but many could not be saved.”

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Structures are frequently built with substandard materials and safety regulations are sometimes ignored to reduce costs.

Grief has turned to anger for some people. Residents blamed the owner of the tutoring center for holding classes in what they described as an old and unsafe building despite ongoing construction and demanded strict punishment for those responsible.

“We don’t know whose funeral to attend first or whose home to visit first to offer condolences,” Tahir said.

At a Paris-region hospital, emergency medics needed it to plunge patients into cold-water baths to speedily bring down their temperatures so they wouldn't join the growing tally of dead from a record-smashing heat wave. But lacking an ice-making machine, where to get it?

A fast-food restaurant helped out last week, saying the hospital could take its ice. Staff also bought ice from the supermarket. The Paris-Saclay Hospital has now ordered its own ice machine, eagerly awaited in the emergency department for a future attack of sizzling heat.

Whether that hits next week, as France's weather service says it might, or in summer months ahead, medics and hospital administrators are acutely aware that the battle they've just endured will, because of climate change, be followed by others. Just as they brace for the annual flu season, they know that fighting heat waves is becoming their new normal.

So as they catch their breath from what the director of the public hospital described as a “horrible" last week, he and his staff are also gearing up for the next round.

“We thought we were ready. We were not actually,” said the director, Cédric Lussiez.

“The hospital was working on a 24-hours-a-day basis because we had to find new solutions in a very short delay,” he said. “We already learned some lessons.”

Hospitals are preparing for more inevitable heat waves

Efforts to plug some of the holes exposed by the heat wave that shifted eastward to other parts of Europe after battering France, the United Kingdom and other countries are accelerating on a national level, too.

When France was baking through its hottest days on record last week, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a 100-million euro ($114-million) spend from this summer on cooling systems for hospitals and other work to keep wards functioning.

And at the latest in a series of heat-wave crisis meetings, he said Monday that the government is buying 30,000 air-conditioning units for health facilities, with the first deliveries expected “at the end of the week, beginning of next week.”

“It's an absolute priority for us that, if the heat wave returns, the hospital situation be a lot less strained," he said.

The World Health Organization on Tuesday described the heat wave as “a dress rehearsal” for summers that “will be harder."

“Europe is warming at more than twice the global average. Heat waves are no longer one-off freak events,” it said. “Every summer we fail to prepare for them is a summer we pay for in lives.”

Heart attacks and other heat-exposure emergencies surge

At the Paris-Saclay Hospital, patients suffering from heat exposure started arriving in a surge on June 20, said Dr. Nicolas Gonzales, head of the emergency department.

“It was like a big mountain,” he said. “It was like that for seven days. So it was very intense.”

“In winter, we know we’ll have influenza epidemics and probably COVID as well. And now, in the summer, we’re going to have the climate crisis," he said.

The first patient he treated in this heat wave was an emergency call-out, for a 50-year-old man in a coma at home and with a temperature of about 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). His family said he seemed fine one minute, but was unconscious the next, Gonzales said. He was rushed to the hospital for critical care.

Then came the flood: heart attacks, dehydration, kidney malfunctions and other heat-related problems, impacting all age groups, from children to older people living alone.

“Heat is a physical assault. It is a physical assault on the body," Gonzales said. “And when the body can no longer adapt — or, unfortunately, is no longer able to fight off that assault — you don’t feel it coming, and the heart can stop beating."

Hospitals are urgently upgrading heat defenses

Paris-Saclay Hospital is new and has air-conditioning, but three older hospitals that are part of its group, which Lussiez heads, aren’t so well defended against the heat. It tested them arduously.

To prevent medicines from spoiling, they had to be cooled with a temporary solution of electric fans and blocks of ice. Student nurses were recruited to help with the work of keeping patients hydrated. The thermometer hit 33 C (91 F) on the top, most exposed floor of a psychiatric unit, Lussiez said.

He's now urgently equipping that unit with a cool room for patients on each floor and organizing other renovation works and changes, including moving a department for elderly patients to the new hospital.

“We’ll be in a better situation next week than we were last week,” he said.

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Associated Press journalist Alex Turnbull contributed.

The expanded ban prohibits businesses from using expanded polystyrene containers, better known as Styrofoam, for takeout and leftovers. The law is aimed at reducing litter and environmental waste. In downtown Roanoke, where takeout is a significant part of daily commerce — from lunch breaks to post-dinner leftovers — business owners say the transition is coming at a cost.

Macado’s counting the cost

Macado’s Restaurants is among the businesses seeing a significant financial hit. R. Harrison Macher, vice president of Macado’s Restaurants, said the numbers add up quickly.

“We have used Styrofoam to-go boxes for decades as they are the most cost-efficient option. Takeout grows as a larger percentage of our business every year. In addition to the rise of delivery services and takeout business, a large percentage of our dine-in customers have leftovers to take home. One of our company slogans is overstuffed and fun. We are proud to provide healthy portions at a reasonable price.

He added, “We used about 1,280,000 to-go boxes last year. The next most economical option that we could find is .09 cents more expensive per box. We are looking at a $115,200 increase in our cost just on to-go boxes.”

“We will figure it out just as we have for the last fifty years since my father started the company, but I’m not going to pretend like $115,000 is an easy pill to swallow.”

That translates to roughly 1.2 million boxes and more than $115,000 in additional annual expenses for the chain.

Businesses react differently to new rules

Reactions among Roanoke business owners are mixed. Scrambled made the switch to alternative containers and says the transition hasn’t been too difficult.

Meanwhile, The Hatch and Three Notched Brewery said they never used Styrofoam in the first place, making the new law a non-issue for their operations.

Cedars, however, told 10 News it is seeing container costs double under the new requirements.

On the Rise Bakery says it understands the environmental reasoning behind the ban but calls it a financial strain — especially as businesses continue to navigate broader rising costs across the industry.

State’s environmental goals vs. business realities

State leaders say the goal of the ban is to keep Styrofoam out of landfills and waterways. For many Roanoke business owners, the environmental motivation isn’t lost — but the financial reality is hard to ignore.

Most say they understand the reason behind the law, even as the transition means a bigger bill each month.

Starting Wednesday, the federal government is offering a selection of the brand name medications to certain Medicare and Medicare Advantage beneficiaries for $50 a month through a new trial called Medicare GLP-1 Bridge.

The temporary program, which runs until the end of 2027, is the first opportunity for most older adults to get GLP-1s, short for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, covered by insurance when used strictly for weight loss. But there are weight and health requirements, and those who already get GLP-1s covered for diseases like diabetes and sleep apnea won’t qualify.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said he hopes the program can help his agency collect data to potentially work toward longer-term coverage, while providing immediate relief to cash-strapped older Americans.

“The sheer cost of these medications is a huge barrier to access,” he said in a call with reporters. “That ends today.”

Eligibility is based on BMI and other conditions

Of the more than 70 million Americans enrolled in Medicare, at least 10 million are overweight or obese, said Juliette Cubanski, vice president and director of the program on Medicare policy at the healthcare research nonprofit KFF. But, she said, a narrower slice of that group will have access to this program.

There's no good data on how many people it can benefit — and Oz declined to speculate on the number with reporters. He said data from the program will reveal how many eligible beneficiaries choose to take the drugs, a number his team is keen to learn.

To qualify, besides having Medicare drug coverage, you must have a body mass index of 35 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher alongside another health condition, such as a past heart attack or stroke, prediabetes or another from a list on the CMS website. BMI measurements are counted at the start of GLP-1 therapy — so even people who fall below the threshold now can qualify if they can show they had a high enough BMI when they began taking the drugs.

Medicare beneficiaries who have sleep apnea, diabetes or fatty liver disease can’t access the program, but their Medicare Part D insurance might cover their GLP-1s separately based on those diagnoses.

If you think you might qualify, the first step is to contact your health care provider, CMS says on its website. The provider must send a prescription for one of the covered GLP-1 drugs to a pharmacy and fill out a prior authorization form.

Only some GLP-1s are included

The covered medications include drugmaker Eli Lilly’s Foundayo tablets and Zepbound KwikPens and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy injections and tablets. Those GLP-1s have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for weight loss, Cubanski said.

For those in the program, the cost is $50 per month, regardless of dosage. But those payments won’t contribute to their insurance deductibles or out-of-pocket maximums. That’s because Medicare, rather than the Part D insurer, is subsidizing the prescription.

Longer-term coverage of GLP-1s remains uncertain

The program is scheduled to sunset after Dec. 31, 2027. And since Congress hasn’t authorized Medicare to cover weight loss drugs permanently, the federal government is limited in its options to keep the access flowing.

Congress could pass a law to allow the drugs to be covered. CMS also could move forward with a different, voluntary pilot program for covering the drugs called BALANCE, which the agency indefinitely delayed earlier this year when many Part D insurers were reluctant to sign up.

Oz told reporters that CMS plans to “carefully track participation and outcomes” to see whether an extension of the Bridge program or another solution is the best way to move forward. He told The Associated Press a federal law permanently allowing the coverage is “not essential right now” but something “for Congress to debate amongst themselves.”

“We can’t decide what’s going to happen long term with Bridge until we see some of the data,” he said, noting that other negotiations with drug companies to lower costs are ongoing.

Program is life-changing for some, frustrating for others

GLP-1s have soared in popularity in recent years, and they've spurred dramatic weight loss in many patients. But their cost — sometimes hundreds of dollars a month for higher doses — has been a barrier.

For 78-year-old California resident Gloria Dralla, who told the AP she’s lost some 40 pounds after buying lower-cost Wegovy in Europe, the Bridge program means being able to continue a treatment that has improved her life.

“This drug should be made available at a reasonable price for everybody who’s got weight loss problems,” she said.

But not everyone will have access to the drugs at an affordable price. Katie Smith, 71, in Virginia isn’t so sure she will be eligible for the program. She has a BMI of 33 but isn’t sure if she has another health condition that would allow her to meet the requirements.

Smith, whose mobility and ability to exercise were severely limited by a spinal cord injury in her 20s, said she has looked into getting the medications but was quoted $700 a month, a price she can't afford.

“I cannot tell you how frustrated I am,” she said. “I have the drive and I have the willingness and I have the motivation, but I have not been able to lose weight in all the conventional ways.”

A search was underway for a suspect who fled on foot after the blast late Monday, Prosecutor Stéphane Thibault said, adding that the motive was unclear.

Media reports identified Ukrainian construction tycoon Vadym Yermolaiev as being among the injured. He has said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship nearly a decade ago, and he was targeted by Ukrainian sanctions in 2023 for ties to Russia. A woman and a child were also hurt.

“It appears that the family was specifically targeted,” said Christophe Mirmand, the minister of state for Monaco. He said the suspect “had walked around the area several times while waiting for the victims,” according to surveillance footage.

It was not clear why the family was targeted or by whom.

Russia has a long history of targeting its enemies abroad, and Western intelligence officials have recently said that a campaign of targeted killings has ramped up since President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine is also believed to have carried out attacks and targeted killings of Russian figures in the course of the war, although those attacks have largely been confined to Ukrainian or Russian territory.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said its embassy in France, which is also responsible for Monaco, was in touch with local authorities. Ukrainian diplomats were at the scene providing assistance, it said.

Attack shocks glamorous Monaco

The attack shocked the country on the Mediterranean coast, one of the world’s smallest sovereign states known for its high concentration of wealthy residents. Monaco’s Prince Albert II described it as “an odious act” and said all public services were mobilized to ensure security.

Monaco police opened an attempted murder investigation, but they did not describe it as a terrorism investigation, Thibault told reporters.

The family members are “regular” residents of Monaco, and authorities did not yet know whether they had been threatened in the past, Mirmand said.

The blast occurred around 9 p.m. Monday at the entrance of a residence near the French border.

Silvano Ippolito, who lives across from the building where the explosion happened, described hearing it and seeing a little boy on the ground being attended to by other people. He then called his wife, a doctor, who provided first aid to the badly wounded woman.

“She intervened very quickly, before the emergency services arrived, to apply tourniquets and perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as the woman was losing consciousness,” Ippolito said.

A man came out of the building covered in blood and staggering. As he tried to go down the stairs, the staircase collapsed, and he fell on Ippolito’s wife and a firefighter, he said.

The woman’s injuries were “a real disaster," Ippolito said. "I’m telling you, she had no foot.”

The woman was in life-threatening condition, Thibault said. He did not provide the identities of the people who were hurt.

The woman was being treated at a hospital in Nice, Mirmand told French news broadcaster LCI. Her partner and the 13-year-old child suffered less severe injuries but were still hospitalized Tuesday, he added.

The suspect got away via steps to a small street to the neighboring French town of Beausoleil, according to surveillance footage.

In a picture captured by surveillance cameras and published by French media, the suspect could be seen in a street wearing a black jacket, light-colored pants, white shoes and a black bucket hat that partly concealed his face.

The three people were “apparently returning home peacefully,” Mirmand said, citing surveillance footage. “They were caught in the explosion as they crossed the threshold of their apartment building."

Ukrainian tycoon is a well-known real estate developer

Yermolaiev, a Ukrainian-born businessman originally from the city of Dnipro, built his fortune through the Alef Group, a diversified business that includes commercial real estate, manufacturing and agriculture. He became one of the country’s best-known property developers, leading projects that reshaped parts of Dnipro’s city center. He has regularly appeared in rankings of Ukraine’s wealthiest entrepreneurs.

In an interview with Forbes Ukraine, Yermolaiev said he renounced his Ukrainian citizenship and became a Cypriot citizen in 2017.

In December 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on Yermolaiev as part of a broader package targeting individuals and companies Kyiv said had business links to Russia or Russian-occupied territories.

The Cyprus Registrar of Companies lists a man called Vadym Iermolaiev as the director of Vespano Ltd., a company in the Cypriot city of Limassol first registered in January 2019. Cyprus’ Interior Ministry told The Associated Press it could not provide information about the man’s citizenship status due to confidentiality rules.

A coastal playground for the rich and famous, Monaco is renowned as much for its tax-friendly incentives and Formula 1 Grand Prix as its glamorous royal family. The small principality is widely regarded as one of the safest places in the world, in part because of its network of thousands of surveillance cameras covering most public spaces.

Monaco’s population of 38,000 is multinational, with only a fifth of the population actually citizens of the principality.

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Associated Press journalists Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine; Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus; and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this report.

Mere startups when he took the oath of office, the new ventures have now eclipsed in revenue much of his vast property portfolio that took him decades to accumulate. Fueling their rise were billionaire investors and Trump’s own move to quash a federal crackdown on the industry.

Trump got more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products, including “governance tokens,” according to the required annual disclosure report with the Office of Government Ethics. It also showed another crypto business, CIC Digital LLC, took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his face.

Both the tokens and the coins have plunged in value since the sales.

Trump also took in millions last year from selling Trump-branded Bibles, sneakers and other small items in another unprecedented move for the presidency. The sale of Trump-branded watches alone brought in $4.7 million.

The 927-page disclosure form paints a stark, if incomplete picture of the massive growth of the president’s wealth since taking office last January through a web of business interests — many of which have benefited from the policy moves of Trump’s own government. Trump has insisted that his sons direct his finances but the arrangement rejects the conflict of interest protections that his recent predecessors in office had instituted.

Forbes estimates Trump's net worth at $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2024.

The Trump business is growing abroad

The rise of crypto relative to Trump’s property is especially noteworthy because he first rode to office boasting of his property wins. It's also remarkable because that mainstay business also boomed last year. Trump took in tens of millions in fees from a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas that amounts to the biggest property expansion ever in the century since the family business was founded.

Many of those countries were negotiating with the U.S. over tariffs, military aid and other important matters while the family business was striking the deals.

A property in the United Arab Emirates generated $10.4 million for the Trump business last year. One in Saudi Arabia being built by a real estate developer close to the ruling family sent the president’s company $9 million. And one in Bucharest, Romania, and another in Qatar sent him $5 million each.

One of his prominent domestic properties, Mar-a-Lago in Florida, notched big growth last year, too.

Trump took in $77 million from the property, a 50% jump from the year earlier when he was just another citizen, as heads of state and business people flocked to it in his new term.

The disclosure report doesn't give profit figures, just revenue, so it's impossible to know how much he is earning.

Trump is now the billion-dollar crypto man

After taking office last year, Trump reversed the Biden administration's tough stance on the crypto industry and pushed policies friendly to the industry.

But regulators still had some concerns. Before Trump's World Liberty began selling “governance tokens,” they issued warnings about this new kind of crypto asset, saying that unlike stocks, the tokens offer no ownership stake in the issuing company, just voting power on certain corporate policies, and are difficult to value.

Buyers pounced anyway, including a Chinese billionaire who spent $75 million on the tokens and $200 million on the souvenir coins. In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging him with duping investors was paused before being settled for a $10 million fine.

The billionaire, Justin Sun, has repeatedly denied his spending on Trump businesses had anything to do with his federal case, while World Liberty has dismissed the notion of a conflict of interest.

Meanwhile, investors have seen the value of their Trump-tied holdings drop significantly.

The price of World Liberty tokens has fallen 80% since they started trading in September. And the Trump souvenir coins that spiked to more than $74 in the days after launching in January 2025 now sell for $1.68.

The White House says Trump only acts in the public interest

The White House has repeatedly said Trump put his business in a trust managed by his sons and is not involved in its decisions and that there are no ethics issues to discuss.

“Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. “All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people.”

The Trump umbrella company, the Trump Organization, has said its deals overseas were with private companies, not with governments.

Still, it is difficult to know what is truly private in countries ruled by authoritarians, royal families and one-party governments.

For a new Trump resort in Vietnam, the report shows Trump took in $5 million last year after the ruling Communist Party sent its deputy prime minister to sign off on the deal and, according to The New York Times, pushed farmers off the land to make way for the construction.

Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know, but the countries did get what they wanted.

Vietnam got tariff relief. Qatar got access to advanced U.S. technology previously off limits, and Saudi Arabia got U.S. fighter jets it had coveted for years.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the disclosure form was released Monday.

The Leaf also faces a familiar challenger. The Chevrolet Bolt is back for 2027 after a three-year hiatus. Its 2027 overhaul adds updated technology features and more range. Both of these small EVs have starting prices around $30,000 and are compelling choices if you can’t commit to pricier picks from Hyundai, Tesla and Toyota. But which is best for you? Edmunds’ auto experts tested them to find out.

Range, performance and charging

The 2027 Bolt is capable of going 262 miles on a single charge, according to the EPA’s estimates. That’s certainly enough for routine driving and to make the occasional road trip feasible. The Leaf holds a potential edge with its EPA-estimated maximum of 303 miles. However, these two EVs were more closely matched in Edmunds’ standardized real-world range test. Here, the Bolt traveled 290 miles and the Leaf covered 310 miles.

Acceleration is similar — both went from zero to 60 mph in about 7 seconds in Edmunds’ testing — but the Bolt is the EV that Edmunds prefers to drive. The Chevy’s nimble handling makes it ideal for threading tight city streets, while the Leaf feels a little too harsh and bouncy over rough asphalt.

If you’re charging at public fast-charging stations, the Bolt will potentially get you back on the road a bit sooner. In Edmunds’ testing, the Bolt was able to regain range more quickly than the Leaf.

Winner: Bolt

Technology features

Gadget-minded drivers will probably prefer the Leaf. It comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen, another 12.3-inch display for digital gauges, and an option to upgrade both screens to 14.3 inches. The Leaf also has wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, allowing you to easily use many of your smartphone’s apps right on the touchscreen.

The Bolt has dual 11-inch displays but no option to upgrade in size. It also lacks Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality and instead uses Google Built-In, an integrated Android-based operating system. Popular apps such as Waze and Apple Music can be downloaded from the Google app store, but overall Edmunds prefers the convenience of having Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

The Bolt does have one potential advantage with its available Super Cruise feature. When active, Super Cruise enables hands-free driving on highways to help reduce driver fatigue during tedious conditions, such as in slow-moving traffic or on long highway drives. But overall, the Leaf maintains its edge here.

Winner: Leaf

Interior space and utility

The Bolt and Leaf share crossover-style designs with tall roofs, ample cabin space and similar headroom. Rear seat passengers can stretch out more in the Bolt thanks to its additional 7.3 inches of legroom compared to the Bolt. That’s also advantageous if you have small kids and need to install a bulky rear-facing child safety seat.

The Leaf compensates with more cargo space behind its rear seats. It has 20 cubic feet behind the rear seat compared to the Bolt’s 16.2 cubic feet. Nissan also includes a handy underfloor storage system, so you can securely stow valuables or smaller items.

Winner: Leaf

Price and value

The Chevy Bolt LT starts at $28,995, including the destination fee, making it today’s most affordable new EV. Chevy includes the basic convenience features plus plenty of standard advanced driver aids such as adaptive cruise control and blind-spot warning and intervention. Go with the Bolt RS for a few thousand more and you get upgrades such as synthetic leather upholstery, a power-adjustable driver’s seat and a heated steering wheel.

The Leaf S+ trim, starting at $31,535, is also a good deal. It has a similar collection of standard features and advanced driver aids. It also has a standard surround-view camera system, which is helpful for parking in tight spots. But typically you’ll be paying more for a Leaf. A fully loaded Leaf Platinum+ will cost you around $40,000 while a loaded Bolt RS will be around $37,500.

Winner: Bolt

Edmunds says

The Bolt and the Leaf are both solid choices for an affordable EV. In fact, they ended up with the same overall score in Edmunds’ ratings. Choose the Leaf for its longer range, more useful tech and bigger cargo area, or go with the Bolt for its better value for the money and more agile handling around town.

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This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds.

Dan Frio is a contributor at Edmunds.

“We're waiting for you Bron,” the tour posted on social media.

Get in line. Every team and every league, it would seem, wants LeBron James.

The waiting-for-LeBron game is on, with the entire basketball universe — and, evidently, the political, entertainment, football, hockey and golf universes as well — waiting to hear what the greatest scorer in NBA history will decide about the 2026-27 season. All that is known so far are two things: He isn't retiring yet, and he won't be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.

James let the world know on Tuesday that he's coming back for at least one more season and that he's decided to move on from the Lakers, those decisions becoming known a few hours before the start of free agency. What happens next, and when it will happen, is anyone's guess. The oldest active player in the NBA is still a guy who moves the needle, and it's not even clear if he knows how long this process will take.

“LeBron James, come on, let's do it again,” DJ Khaled, a regular courtside patron at Miami Heat games, said in a video posting in an effort to recruit James back to the place where he won his first two NBA titles. “Come on, man. Let's do it again. After the game, we'll go play golf. You know Miami's the best city in the world.”

A person familiar with James' planning told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wanted his agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, to take meetings with interested teams — actual NBA ones, which means it doesn't look good for other online suitors such as the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers and soccer's Minnesota United — before reporting back.

For the most part, James and Paul went into this process knowing much of what the teams would say. Cleveland's pitch would be that Northeast Ohio is home, that his career started there and that it would make sense to end it there. Miami's pitch would be that he won two titles there, that it's known he loves the city, that it just landed Giannis Antetokounmpo and James still has deep ties to coach Erik Spoelstra and the front office. Golden State's pitch would include playing with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, two guys who click with James on multiple levels.

Walz wanted James to see a newspaper clip touting that Minnesota has the best quality of life when compared to other states. The New York Jets pointed out that James wore green and white in high school, matching their color scheme. The Winnipeg Jets simply offered to change their name to LeWinnipeg Jets.

“Never say never,” the Bills posted.

Jokes aside, James is obviously worth all the effort that some team will make to get him signed.

He still plays at an All-Star level, even at his age — there have been 24 instances, including playoffs, of someone in his 40s scoring 30 or more points in an NBA game, and James is responsible for 17 of those. No player had averaged more than 15 points per game in a season after turning 40; James averaged 24.4 points in 2024-25 and 20.9 points this past season, even while often being the Lakers' third option.

Plus, James' next home will see an immediate rush of activity.

Season ticket packages, if any are available, will get gobbled up quickly. James' Lakers jersey was the fifth-hottest seller in the league at the end of this past regular season, based on sales from NBAStore.com, Fanatics.com and Fanatics partner sites; his next jersey (even if it is a Cavs or Heat jersey again) will fly off the racks as soon as they can be printed. And it'll probably make fans in that city, whichever city it is, truly believe they have a real shot at the 2027 NBA title.

Only James knows when the waiting game will end.

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

Consumer Reports offers advice and tips on setting parental controls to prevent unauthorized charges and protect kids online.

Lynne Ramsbottom’s grandson loves to play on Roblox. Although the platform itself is free, he took his grandmother’s credit card and spent $2,000 on virtual clothing, accessories, and in-game upgrades.

“Instant panic! How am I going to pay for this? How am I going to fix this?” Ramsbottom said.

Stories like this are becoming more common as games make it increasingly easy for kids to spend money without realizing they’re making a purchase.

“What can be confusing for kids is that it doesn’t always look like they’re spending real money,” Nicohlas de Leon with Consumer Reports explained. “They’re buying in-game upgrades, or Roblox, or Gems, or coins, or any of that type of thing. That extra step can make it difficult to make the connection that they’re making actual real charges to their parents’ or grandparents’ accounts.”

So, what can parents and grandparents do? Consumer Reports’ experts say parental controls give adults more control over their child’s online experience.

“Games like Roblox do offer parental controls that can limit how much children can spend in a game,” said de Leon. “But generally speaking, parents do have to set those up on their own. And because purchases can happen through the game, the app store, a phone, a tablet, there can be more than one layer of protection that parents need to enable.”

Setting up parental controls only takes a few minutes.

On Apple devices, parents can use Family Sharing to set limits on apps, websites, downloads, and purchases.

For Android devices and Chromebooks, Google’s Family Link offers similar controls, while Microsoft Family Safety provides parental control tools for Windows computers and Xbox consoles.

Relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been increasingly tense since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last year implied Japan could intervene if China used military force against Taiwan, an island democracy China claims as its own.

Meanwhile, Japan has accelerated its military expansion, especially by adding offensive capabilities, which Beijing has condemned.

China’s Commerce Ministry on Monday placed 20 Japanese entities, including several subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, on a control list, which prohibits Chinese and foreign exporters from selling to them dual-use items made in China. Dual-use items can be used for both civilian and military purposes.

Additionally, 20 other entities have been added to a watch list for dual-use items, according to the ministry. It includes Mitsui E&S, which makes engines and other equipment for ships, as well as divisions of Fujitsu and Komatsu corporations.

Chinese companies exporting to these firms will be required to apply for special licenses, submit risk assessment reports on the Japanese companies and written pledges that the dual-use items will not be used for military purposes.

Beijing and Tokyo spar over export measures

The export controls are “entirely justified, reasonable and lawful,” the Chinese Commerce Ministry said, adding they are aimed at “firmly deterring Japan’s reckless pursuit of ‘new militarism.’”

“We hope Japan will recognize its mistakes, reverse its wrongful course, genuinely reflect on its past and return to the right track,” it added.

Japan’s top government spokesperson called the curbs as “unacceptable and extremely regrettable,” while calling on Beijing to retract the measures.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Monday that Japan would take necessary countermeasures after thoroughly assessing the curbs and their impact.

Under Takaichi, Japan's military has been equipped with more offensive capabilities, including long-range missiles on remote islands. Exports of lethal weapons are now allowed under a new policy. Japan will revise its defense and security documents by December, which could further increase its defense budget.

On Monday, Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force announced the deployment of a Type-12 missile launcher on the southernmost remote island of Minamitorishima, an apparent response to China’s growing activity expanding into the Pacific.

The curbs serve as a diplomatic message, an expert says

In February, China put 20 Japanese companies on an export control list and 20 others on a watch list.

The Commerce Ministry said that since then, “instead of reflecting on its past and correcting its course, Japan has continued down the wrong path” by accelerating remilitarization, deploying offensive weapons and launching missiles.

The ministry emphasized the curbs affect only a small number of Japanese entities, and the measures only apply to dual-use items. “They do not affect normal Sino-Japanese economic and trade exchanges, and honest and law-abiding Japanese entities have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

The measures function more as a “diplomatic message” as Beijing steps up its pressure on Tokyo, said George Chen, partner for Greater China at the advisory firm The Asia Group.

“From Beijing’s perspective, Japan has not taken meaningful actions to stabilize bilateral ties,” Chen said. “And concerns are growing in China about deeper defense cooperation between Japan, the United States, and potentially other partners.”

In the short term, Japan–China relations will likely remain fragile “and at risk of slipping further if neither side moves to arrest the downward trend,” he added.

For Beijing, the issue of Taiwan is particularly sensitive. China considers the self-ruled island its own territory, to be retaken by force if necessary, and has increased military pressure on it.

Earlier this month, the Chinese coast guard conducted patrols east of Taiwan in what state media described a “pointed warning” to Japan and the Philippines following an announcement that the countries would discuss their maritime boundaries in waters that Beijing views as its own.

The United Kingdom, Germany and France in a rare joint statement last week condemned Chinese activities in the waters east of Taiwan, adding they opposed any change of the status quo between China and Taiwan.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kanis Leung and Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

———

This story was updated and corrected on July 1 to make clear that the Japanese companies placed on a Chinese control list were subsidiaries of Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and not, as previously reported, multiple divisions of Mitsubishi Corporation.

As of Wednesday, July 1, the average price of regular gas per gallon in Virginia is $3.67, according to AAA. Premium averages $4.57 per gallon, while diesel averages $4.80 per gallon.

Taking a closer look at our region, here’s a look at the average price of gas for localities in our area:

• Lynchburg:
• • Regular: $3.55
  • Mid: $4.03
  • Premium: $4.46
  • Diesel: $4.78
• Roanoke:
• • Regular: $3.57
  • Mid: $4.01
  • Premium: $4.45
  • Diesel: $4.82
• Blacksburg, Christiansburg, and Radford (New River Valley area)
• • Regular: $3.62
  • Mid: $4.10
  • Premium: $4.49
  • Diesel: $4.68

Count on 10 News to bring you the latest price at the pump every morning.

To find out where the lowest fuel prices are near you, visit GasBuddy’s website.

On Tuesday in Craig County, U.S. Navy veteran Ronald Parsons received a brand-new roof for his family home at no cost, bringing peace of mind and security to a house he built himself in 1979.

A Roof Over Their Heads, Thanks to Community Support

The sounds of hammers and teamwork filled the air as Vinton Roofing’s crew got to work, honoring Parsons’ four years of military service with an honest day’s labor.

Parsons was on an aircraft carrier, serving from 1966 to 1970. Many Vietnam era vets were slow to be recognized and fair to say, hesitant to ask for help.

But when the roof on his home outside New Castle reached the end of its lifespan, Parsons qualified for two veterans’ assistance programs designed to help with critical repairs.

His wife, Judy, took the lead on the application process and made sure their home was considered for the program just in time.

A Partnership That Makes a Difference

The project was made possible by the Owens Corning Roof Deployment Project, which provides materials, and Vinton Roofing, whose veteran-led crew donates their skilled labor.

Jason Webb of Vinton Roofing said, “When they reached out to us, I was like, yes. It was a slam dunk. It was a no-brainer. Here’s my chance to give back again, and it fell on my lap, and I’m very grateful to be able to do that.”

He added, “He’s a deserving guy. He got a little choked up earlier, and he got me choked up too.”

It’s an honor to give back to those who have given so much for our country. We want to make sure veterans like Mr. Parsons know they’re not forgotten.”

Since the program began in 2016, more than 800 military members across the country have received new roofs, free of charge.

A Lasting Impact

When asked what the new roof meant to him, Parsons said, “It’s hard to explain.” He later told us with a smile that there are no words for it.

For Parsons and his wife, the new roof brings more than just shelter, it brings relief and gratitude.

“It’s been a while, so we’re grateful,” Parsons said. “My kids will enjoy it, and my grandkids maybe.”

Through partnerships like these, communities are coming together to support those who have served. And in a matter of hours, the Parsons family’s future was “nailed down.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a report that the recall includes certain Ford F-150, Lincoln Aviator, Ford Explorer, Lincoln Navigator and Ford Expedition vehicles with model years between 2018 and 2021.

The report states that impacted vehicles may experience temporary engagement of their transmission parking pawl while the vehicle is in motion when certain shifts are commanded by the transmission, potentially damaging park system components.

If transmission park system damage occurs, the ability of the transmission park feature to hold the vehicle if the parking brake is not applied may be affected. Unintended movement in “park” increases the risk of a crash or injury, according to the report.

The NHTSA said that Ford is aware of 24 allegations of property damage and nine alleged injuries, with two of those being allegations of emotional injuries, related to the issue.

Vehicle owners will be notified by mail and told to take their vehicle to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to have their vehicle’s Powertrain Control Module updated to the latest level software. Dealers will also inspect the vehicle’s transmission for park system damage and replace damaged transmission components as needed. There will be no charge for the service.

Vehicle owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332 or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 for more information.

Xi Jinping, now in his 14th year in power, noted that China achieved in a few decades what it took centuries for rich countries to do.

“We advocate the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, providing Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions and Chinese strength for addressing major issues facing humanity,” he said at an event marking the 105th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Communist Party.

China, which has long bristled at U.S. dominance of the international system, has said it doesn't want to replace the global order but change it to better represent the interests of developing countries. Xi's government went head-to-head with the U.S. last year and forced President Donald Trump to scale back import tariffs that he had imposed on imports from China.

The world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation, putting humanity at a crossroads, Xi said. He repeated past pledges to push forward the construction of a new type of international relations to promote world peace and development.

His remarks at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing echoed many of the themes of his speech on the party's 100th anniversary in 2021, including the importance of a strong military and of bringing Taiwan under China's control.

He emphasized the need to elevate the military more quickly to world-class standards, while also upholding the Communist Party's leadership of the armed forces. Several senior generals have been removed in recent years in a corruption purge that is also seen as a way to ensure loyalty in the military.

Here’s a look at where you can find cooling centers in our region. If we missed any in our list, please contact us through our Help Center.

Alleghany County

• The Clifton Forge Fire Department
• • 701 Church Street
  • Tuesday through Saturday
• Clifton Forge Volunteer Rescue Squad
• • 1610 Hickory Avenue
  • Tuesday through Saturday

Danville

• The Redemption Center Church
• • Location: 625 Shelton Street in Danville
  • The Temporary Relief and Counseling Center will open its cooling station when temperatures reach 90 degrees or higher.

Lynchburg

• Department of Human Services Lobby
• • Location: 99 Ninth Street
  • When: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday
• Miller Center
• • Location: 301 Grove Street, 2nd Floor Customer Service Desk
  • When: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday and Friday]
• Miller Center
• • Location: 301 Grove Street, 1st/Ground Floor Entrance to Library Hub (back parking lot)
  • When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday
• Lynchburg Public Library, Downtown Branch
• • Location: 216 12th Street
  • When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday
• Salvation Army
• • Location: 2215 Park Avenue
  • When: 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday-Friday
• The Refuge on Memorial
• • Location: 2220 Memorial Avenue
  • When: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Wednesday-Friday

Roanoke

• Belmont Presbyterian Church
• • Where: 1005 Ninth St. SE
• Belmont Library
• • Where: 1101 Morningside St. SE
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Gainsboro Library
• • Where: 15 Patton Ave. NW
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The Hope Center
• • Where: 510 11th St. NW
  • When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Main Branch Library
• • Where: 706 S. Jefferson St.
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Melrose Library
• • Where: 2502 Melrose Ave. NW
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Raleigh Court Library
• • Where: 2112 Grandin Rd. SW
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Williamson Road Library
• • Where: 3837 Williamson Rd.
  • When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A map of cooling centers throughout Virginia is available on the Virginia Department of Health’s website.

Still in need of plans? No worries - we’ve got you covered! We’re working for you to break down all the Fourth of July festivities that’ll help you celebrate the USA with a bang. If we missed any events, feel free to submit a Help Center ticket to let us know.

HIGHLANDS

• July 4 at 6:30 p.m: Independence Day Celebration: Concert & Fireworks (fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m.); 101 Maury River Drive in Buena Vista

ROANOKE VALLEY

• July 2 at 5 p.m: Rotary Independence Festival and Mullet Competition at the Franklin County High School Football Field
• July 3 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m: Roanoke Freedom Festival: Celebrating 250 Years of Liberty at River’s Edge Park - North (fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m.)
• July 3 and 4: Buchanan Community Carnival at Buchanan Town Park (fireworks at 10 p.m.)
• July 4: Four on the Fourth 4-Miler at 204 W. Lee Avenue
• July 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m: Craig County Independence Day Parade and Celebration on Main Street in New Castle.
• July 4 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m: Salem Fair 250 Celebration and Fireworks - Fireworks display from Williamsburg begins at 8 p.m., and the annual Salem Fair fireworks show begins around 9:30 p.m.
• July 4 at 5 p.m.: Buchanan Fourth of July Parade
• July 4 from 6 p.m.: Town of Vinton Fourth of July Celebration on the front lawn of the Vinton War Memorial (fireworks begin at 9:30 p.m.)
• July 4: 24th Annual Smith Mountain Lake Fireworks and Saunders Volunteer Fire Co Fundraiser
• July 5: Fincastle Celebration and Fireworks at Breckenridge Elementary School (fireworks begin at approximately 9 p.m.)

NEW RIVER VALLEY

• July 2 from 7 to 11 p.m: Fireworks at Mitchell’s Point Marina
• July 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m: Independence Day Celebration at Mountain Lake Lodge
• July 3 at 3 p.m: Independence Day Parade in downtown Pulaski
• July 3 from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m: Radford Spirit of America
• July 3 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m: Olde Mill Golf Resort’s Independence Celebration and Classic Car Cruise-In
• July 3 at 6: Independence Day Celebration at Floyd County High School
• July 3-5: Rural Retreat Liberty at the Lake
• July 4: Independence Parade and Festival - Parade at 11 a.m., festival 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Town Park/1908 Courthouse in Grayson County
• July 4: Carroll Wellness Center’s 4th of July Freedom Run & 1-Mile Fun Run/Walk
• July 4: Christiansburg Fourth of July Celebration and Fireworks at Christiansburg Huckleberry Park (Festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and fireworks at 9:15 p.m.)
• July 4 from 2 to 7 p.m: July 4th America 250th Celebration Cruise In - downtown Wytheville
• July 4 from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m: Downtown Wytheville July Fourth Celebration and Street Festival
• July 4 at 4 p.m: Town of Hillsville Independence Day Parade
• July 4 from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m: Red Hill Independence Day Celebration at 1250 Red Hill Road in Brookneal
• July 4 at 6:30 p.m: Lovingston Fourth of July Parade
• July 4 from 9:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m: Lovingston fireworks at Nelson County Middle School
• July 5 at 3:30 p.m: Ivanhoe Jubilee Park/Show Grounds Red, White & Blue Barrel Race

LYNCHBURG

• July 3: Fireworks on the Riverfront; fireworks begin at approximately 9 p.m.
• July 3 from 8 p.m to 10:30 p.m: America’s 250th in Appomattox at Appomattox County High
• July 3 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m: Freedom Fest at City View Venues
• July 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m: Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest Independence Day Celebration
• July 4 at 6:30 p.m: Hill City Howlers America’s 250th Independence Day Celebration at Lynchburg City Stadium

SOUTHSIDE

• July 4: SoSO Brew Fest 5K & Block Party in downtown South Boston
• July 4 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m: Galax Independence Day Celebration - fireworks at 10 p.m. at Felts Park
• July 4: Danville Celebrates Fourth of July

So have other Venezuelan earthquake survivors.

They, like others across the northern state of La Guaira, have the same question: Who is in charge? Venezuela's self-described socialist government, which long prided itself on being protector and provider, has been neither when it mattered most, many said.

The powerful back-to-back earthquakes on June 24 have brought to the forefront t he inability of the party that has ruled the country for 27 years — now with acting President Delcy Rodriguez at the helm — to carry out basic governmental functions.

“We’ve been abandoned,” Mundrain said, sitting in a chair on the street Tuesday in front of what remained of the 11-story building she once called home. “We feel helpless. What we have seen is a lack of organization, a lack of empathy, a lack of everything.”

In the critical 72 hours after residential buildings, food joints, pharmacies, hotels and convenience stores imploded in La Guaira state, Caracas and surrounding regions, the on-the-ground response was primarily focused on directing traffic, with police officers, intelligence agents and members of the armed forces manning intersections.

Residents take on rescue and recovery amid government failure

Civilians, mostly alone and some with the help of foreign rescuers, searched for loved ones among piles of rubble. Ambulances were stuck in miles-long (kilometers-long) traffic jams. Hospitals were undersupplied and understaffed. Emergency personnel responded with little to no equipment.

A week later, many residents in coastal communities of La Guaira were attributing most rescues and recoveries to fellow Venezuelans and foreign teams with know-how and equipment like thermal cameras and sound detectors as well as trained dogs. They also pointed out that while civilians and foreign rescuers worked, men and women in Venezuelan uniforms stood watching and state workers took selfies.

Tulane University professor David Smilde, who has studied Venezuela for three decades, said the tragedy has made clear that the stunning Jan. 3 capture of then-President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces was not a one-off “in which the Venezuelan state was not able to defend itself at all.”

“It also can’t do anything like get started with digging people out," he said, adding that it should be a worrying concern for Rodriguez, who was sworn in after Maduro was deposed and taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

Smilde said the dismal response is linked to the huge numbers of people who have left the public sector because of extremely low pay as well as corruption, such as the many people who are included in the government’s payroll but who have not worked in months or years. In a functioning government, he added, people have specific duties to design protocols spelling out procedures in case of emergencies, including earthquakes.

“It’s like trying to have a baseball team with three people on the field. You’re not sure who’s going to be the pitcher, who’s going to be catching, and who’s going to be outfielder,” he said of the government's lack of organization.

Wealth and government connections mean some get help

Wealth and government connections also influenced the government’s response, with some sites given preferential treatment.

When one collapsed building was teeming with police and military school students, people accurately guessed that officials or politically connected individuals must have lived there. The police officers from a neighboring state were indeed searching for a captain, while the students and a few members of the national guard were hoping to locate a major general.

A telescopic crane, like the one Mundrain needs for the recovery of her family, was parked for several hours in what was that building’s entrance. The relatives of the well-off families who lived in the building were able to rent it. Mundrain cannot.

“I think that if there were someone in a position of authority in each of these apartments, there would be a well-oiled machine working like they have in other residences,” Mundrain said pointing to her building.

People's anger over the response has also led to altercations between residents and machine operators. In one instance, when a government-provided excavator tried to leave the site of a flattened public housing building, people blocked traffic to keep it in place and even pulled the operator from the cab.

The government has reported that 1,943 died and more than 10,500 were injured in the 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes that struck June 24. Thousands more have been reported missing.

Rescuers on Tuesday continued to free some survivors from mountains of debris, offering anguished families a sliver of hope even as the likelihood of finding people alive diminished with each passing hour. The first 48 to 72 hours after a natural disaster are crucial to rescue efforts, though survival can be extended if people have access to food and water.

Electrician Daniel Castillo was able to pull his mother and son alive from their second-floor apartment in a collapsed public housing building in La Guaira just hours after the earthquake struck. The body of his brother remained inside for another day until he could reach him.

On Tuesday, he decried the government’s response while he waited in line to get a free bag of hygiene products, including toilet paper and soap, from a tent staffed by the Venezuelan armed forces.

“You see the guards, and their uniforms are spotless, not dirty at all,” Castillo said, contrasting members of Venezuela's National Guard with dust-covered civilians and foreign rescuers who have dug through rubble for days. “The government did nothing.”

Lawyers for Carroll filed papers in Manhattan federal court to say Trump is unjustly trying to further delay release of the money after the Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal of the 2023 civil jury verdict.

The amount has grown to nearly $5.8 million with interest and should be required by the court to be disbursed, the lawyers wrote, saying Trump has resumed his defamatory attacks against Carroll as his lawyers considered asking the high court to reconsider its decision.

The jury reached its verdict in a trial that Trump did not attend after Carroll testified that she was sexually abused by Trump in spring 1996 in the dressing room of a midtown Manhattan luxury department store after a flirtatious and friendly chance encounter between them turned violent.

Carroll, 82, first talked about the attack publicly in 2019 while Trump was president. He repeatedly insisted that he never knew Carroll. He also accused her of trying to sell books at his expense and having political motives.

Trump promised on social media Monday to keep fighting what he called a “Weaponization and Lawfare Case” after the Supreme Court's rejection became known.

They said lawyers for Trump contacted Carroll's attorneys minutes after Trump published a response to the high court's action, asking that the payout be delayed while the Supreme Court is asked to reconsider its decision.

But Carroll's lawyers — Roberta Kaplan, D. Brandon Trice and Maximilian T. Crema — said in their court filing that there was no reason to delay the payment, especially since the Supreme Court expressed no division in its decision not to hear the case.

“To date, Carroll has agreed to each of Defendant’s many requests to delay the payment he owes her. Given the extraordinary lengths he has taken to avoid such payments and that each of those efforts has been denied in full, that cooperation ends today. It is time for him to pay Carroll,” they wrote.

Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump is also appealing $83 million in defamation compensation granted to Carroll from a separate Manhattan jury after a January 2024 trial at which Trump briefly testified.

At that trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who is unrelated to Carroll's attorney, required that jury to accept the findings of the previous jury and only determine how much money, if any, Trump owed Carroll for comments he made about her as president.

Kiros, a 29-year-old lawyer turned doctoral student, is the latest candidate to rise from the party's left flank and boot establishment-backed candidates. That includes two self-described democratic socialists and a progressive who won their Democratic primaries in New York last week.

Kiros' victory adds to a nascent but clear uprising, stirred by frustration among some voters, that has vexed party leadership. Colorado's 1st Congressional District covers the dark blue city of Denver, and Kiros is expected to win in November and reach Congress in January.

“We are winning from coast to coast," Kiros said to an ecstatic audience and the blast of air horns. "We are taking back our party and our country!”

There were mixed results for progressives in Tuesday's other races.

Sen. John Hickenlooper fended off a primary challenge from self-fashioned “insurgent progressive” state Sen. Julie Gonzales. And a smaller divide separated the two Democrats competing for U.S. House in the state’s lone swing district, where the candidate considered more progressive, state Rep. Manny Rutinel, won.

Kiros says ‘we are just getting started’

Taking to a stage under a sign that read “Power to the People,” Kiros told her supporters that her win belonged to every one of them.

“This is a movement,” Kiros said. “We are just getting started.”

To an excited crowd, which had been singing and dancing moments before she got on stage, she laid out her plans: taking the fight to “Donald Trump and the oligarchy," abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, passing “Medicare for all” and ending the “genocide in Palestine.”

Those she thanked included DeGette, for standing up for women’s rights, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, who endorsed her.

DeGette — a more progressive lawmaker herself — had comfortably controlled her House seat in Denver for nearly 30 years and was backed by Colorado’s established Democratic House delegation.

The incumbent had argued that experience in Congress is needed right now to combat Trump, while Kiros, a former attorney, accused DeGette of ineffectiveness.

DeGette did not speak or release a statement after the race was called Tuesday night.

Hickenlooper fends off a challenge from the left

His victory didn't come as a surprise to the political world, though it dampened a broader wave of progressive candidates beating establish-backed Democrats across the country.

Gonzales, the state senator who challenged the more centrist Hickenlooper, had attacked him for being an “incrementalist” and had said she previously joined the Democratic Socialists of America but that her membership had lapsed.

After his victory, Hickenlooper quickly turned his attention to Trump and said he'd never lost an election and didn't intend to in November.

“Coloradoans have once again made their voices clear. We are not going to accept Trump’s broken promises and cost of living emergency, or his constant corruption,” he said in a video posted to YouTube.

Rutinel to face GOP Rep. Gabe Evans in race key to House control

Colorado's 8th Congressional District is relatively new, stretching from the northern suburbs of Denver up through farming country, and has flipped party control in recent elections.

Evans now holds the seat, after beating the Democratic incumbent in 2024.

Party leaders thought the more moderate Shannon Bird, a former state representative, was best equipped to challenge Evans. But Rutinel, who had the more progressive record, beat Bird Tuesday night.

The district is heavily Hispanic and poorer than much of the rest of the state, and that's where Rutinel, who is Latino, planted a flag, arguing his personal story and more aggressive economic agenda would be more potent against Evans.

“This is the moment for all the kids out there who had the deck stacked against them,” Rutinel said in his victory speech. “I’m going to work with everything I have so that those kids have the same opportunities to live out the American Dream that I did.”

Progressives could find new ally in governor's mansion

Phil Weiser, the state attorney general, won the Democratic primary Tuesday and will be favored to win come November. Term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis will depart after two-terms governing with a more moderate touch, at times stymieing progressive state lawmakers.

Weiser, who formerly served in the presidential administrations of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, is considered to be more sympathetic to the party's left. Michael Bennet, the U.S. senator who Weiser beat Tuesday, would likely have brought a similar change.

On the campaign trail, Weiser and Bennet struggled to show major differences in their political agendas, and instead often attacked each other over who could better stand up to Trump.

Weiser hammered his point home in a victory speech to ecstatic, sign-waving supporters who crowded around the candidate.

“In the face of a lawless bullying Trump administration trying to intimidate us, rip away our rights and freedoms," Weiser said, “you made it clear that we need a leader who will fight back and never bend the knee.”

After his loss, Bennet spoke to supporters. “Sometimes the harder path is the right path, even when it doesn’t lead where you’d hoped," he said.

The three candidates seeking the Republican nomination included state Rep. Scott Bottoms, a further right state lawmaker. State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer was considered the more conventional Republican, while Victor Marx was something of a wild card candidate with an eclectic past.

Kirkmeyer and Marx were locked in a tight race that was too early to call Tuesday night. ___ Associated Press reporter Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, contributed to this report.

Eight other children were injured and being treated at a hospital, senior police official Faisal Kamran said, adding that the owner of the tutoring center and another person have been arrested.

Kamran said rescuers were searching through the rubble after receiving reports that more children could be trapped beneath the debris. He said the tutoring center was housed in an aging building and that the roof of an unfinished second floor apparently collapsed because of poor construction quality.

Building collapses are common in Pakistan, where construction standards are often poorly enforced. Many structures are built with substandard materials, and safety regulations are frequently ignored to reduce costs.

Witnesses said ambulances and rescue workers rushed to the scene after the roof collapsed. Residents also joined the search, using shovels and their bare hands to remove rubble in an effort to reach children trapped beneath the debris.

Hours later, as the bodies of the children were being handed over to their families, scenes of anguish unfolded outside hospitals and in the neighborhood on the outskirts of Lahore where the private tutoring center was located in a house. Parents wept over the loss of their children, while mothers and other female relatives cried and beat their chests in grief.

Most of the victims lived nearby, and funeral prayers were expected later Tuesday.

Grief was mixed with anger as residents demanded stern punishment for the owner of the tutoring center, blaming him for operating classes in what they described as an aging and unsafe building. Dozens of mourners were seen gathering outside the victims’ homes to offer condolences.

“We don’t know whose home to visit first to offer condolences for the loss of their children,” resident Zafar Iqbal said as he moved from one bereaved family’s home to another nearby street.

Lahore is the capital of Pakistan's most populous Punjab province, where many parents send their children to private tutoring centers in the afternoon and evening.

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed grief over the collapse of the roof of an evening school building in Lahore. In separate statements, they offered condolences to the families of the victims, prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured, and said effective safety measures were needed to prevent similar tragedies.

___

Associated Press writer K.M. Chaudhry in Lahore contributed to this story.

The survey's so-called diffusion index rose to 22 from 17 in the previous quarter, the BOJ said. The index for large non-manufacturers, such as services, edged up to 37 from the last tankan 's 36.

The survey is an indicator of companies foreseeing good conditions minus those feeling pessimistic.

Higher fuel prices due to the Iran war have added to inflationary pressures in Japan, though crude oil prices have fallen since the U.S. and Iran agreed on an interim deal to end the war.

Although a weak yen raises the value of exports’ earnings when converted into yen, a boon for Japan’s giant exporters, that positive is starting to be countered by the big negative of rising energy prices.

Japan imports nearly all of its oil and gas, and the yen’s recent decline to near a 40-year low has added to those concerns given recent high oil prices.

The U.S. dollar was trading at about 162 yen on Wednesday.

Last month the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to 1%, a three-decade high, citing challenges stemming from a weak Japanese yen and higher prices. The central bank has been trying to normalize monetary policy lately after decades of keeping interest rates near or below zero.

Analysts say Japan's economic indicators, such as investments, remain relatively strong despite longer term problems such as a chronic labor shortage due to an aging and declining population.

“Sales remain firm, especially for large enterprises, but profits are expected to weaken,” said Amova Asset Management Chief Global Strategist and Chief Economist Naomi Fink said about the tankan.

“Fixed investment plans are strong for large and mid-size firms but less so for small firms.”

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Hincapié was sent off in the 95th minute of Ecuador’s 2-0 loss to Mexico Tuesday in the round of 32. He was shown the red card following an exchange with Mexico forward Santi Giménez.

FIFA established the new rule to prevent players from hiding abusive comments to opponents by covering their mouth.

Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was the first player to be punished under the new rule when he was sent off in a group stage match against Turkey last week.

While Ecuador’s tournament is over, Hincapié will be suspended for the team's next international match.

___

Jack Little is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

___

See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Police reported that several people were arrested, although they did not disclose how many. At a press conference late on Tuesday, Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi praised the peaceful nature of the protests but warned that anyone involved in violence or other criminal acts would be prosecuted.

“Those who chose to exploit the marches to commit criminal acts will face the full might of the law," she told reporters. "Police will continue to identify, arrest and prosecute all those responsible for criminal conduct.”

Protesters blame migrants, but root of South Africa's problems disputed

The demonstrations come after some protest groups set their own June 30 deadline for the departure of all migrants who are in the country illegally. The activists blame those migrants for causing unemployment among South Africans by accepting low wages, and for other problems, including high crime.

South Africa's government has rejected the deadline, saying only authorities can enforce immigration laws.

The most prominent groups opposing illegal immigration include March and March, Operation Dudula and Progressive Forces. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has challenged the protesters' allegation that migrants are to blame for the country's social and economic challenges, met Monday night with leaders of some of the groups and asked them to conduct peaceful demonstrations.

Ngizwe Mchunu, one of the protest leaders, told The Associated Press that he blamed illegal migration for a proliferation of illicit drugs in South Africa. He also complained about the high percentage of informal neighborhood shops run by immigrants from other African countries, saying they should all be owned by South Africans.

“It's a very sad story that we have been telling our government since the dawn of democracy that illegal immigration here is out of hand,” Mchunu said. “It is time for our government to put South Africa first.”

Amnesty International South Africa said migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are being unfairly blamed for the country’s unemployment, inequality and struggling public services, arguing that those challenges stem from the legacy of apartheid, persistent inequality and failures in the asylum system.

The rights group warned that scapegoating foreign nationals distracts from the government’s responsibility to address those underlying problems and said misinformation and xenophobia risk fueling further violence against migrants, according to a statement from Amnesty International South Africa executive director Shenilla Mohamed.

Demonstrators express frustration

Protesters marching through Johannesburg’s city center Tuesday included young men carrying traditional fighting sticks and women of all ages. Some wore the South African flag and sang liberation songs.

They carried posters with slogans including “SA withdraw from the U.N. refugee convention,” “The future of our kids” and “80% of children born in Limpopo province are born to foreign nationals.”

“Today is the last day,” protester Nkele Thebe said at the start of the Johannesburg demonstration. “After today, we’ll be dealing with our president and our nation. We don’t want an outsider to come interfere.”

Another protester, Bongani Cindi, said groups opposing illegal immigration were being unfairly labeled as xenophobic for raising legitimate issues.

“Our country has got a lot of problems. We have influx of illegal immigrants who are committing crimes that we can’t even take anymore. So we need them to leave us in peace, so we can sort our house. We are not fighting anyone,” he said.

Demonstrators also gathered Tuesday in parts of Durban with reports of more protesters in parts of the North West and Free State provinces.

The South African police deployed hundreds of officers in cities including Johannesburg in Gauteng province and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal province to prepare for potential violence.

Previous marches against illegal immigration have resulted in attacks on migrants and vandalism of foreign-owned businesses. In Johannesburg, most shops owned by both foreign nationals and locals were closed before protesters arrived on Tuesday. In some parts of the country, private security firms were protecting businesses.

Protests fuel an exodus of migrants

Thousands of migrants, primarily from neighboring Zimbabwe and Malawi, gathered at their embassies and consulates to request transport back to their countries.

There has been increased traffic over the past few days at the Beitbridge checkpoint along the Zimbabwe border as buses carrying migrants left South Africa. Thousands of Malawian nationals also have returned to their country from a temporary repatriation center in Durban.

Three groups of Nigerian migrants returned to Nigeria this month amid rising anti-immigrant tensions, including a group of 271 people who arrived in Lagos on Tuesday.

According to Nigerian officials, 632 Nigerians have been repatriated out of the more than a thousand Nigerians who have registered for the voluntary repatriation and more flights are expected in coming days.

Emmanuella Akagbosun, a 44-year-old who moved to South Africa in 2017, said she left because she feared she would be killed. She said the shop that she shared with her sister was ransacked by the anti-migrant protesters and their wares looted.

“We are not safe, so we had to leave,” Akagbosun said in Lagos.

Fintan Opara, another Nigerian national repatriated after 18 years in South Africa, said most Nigerians no longer feel welcome in the country.

According to Justice Minister Kubayi, South Africa has successfully repatriated 4,286 individuals thus far and deported an additional 419 in recent days.

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Associated Press writer Ope Adetayo in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Last month, the Education Department announced it would offload oversight of special education to the Department of Health and Human Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose comments on the limits of disabilities such as autism have drawn sharp rebukes from advocates and lawmakers.

Meanwhile, following a White House push to police homelessness, the Department of Justice released guidance that lowered the barrier to institutionalizing any person with a disability.

Taken together, the actions signal a worrying return to a reality where people with disabilities are pushed to the margins of society, advocates said.

“It’s a direct, frontal assault on the rights of people with disabilities to live their lives the way that people who are nondisabled live their lives,” said Selene Almazan, legal director for the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates. “I can't imagine that as a country, that would be something that we would agree we should go back to.”

The move away from confining people with disabilities

Since the 1960s, legislation and court decisions have progressively expanded supports and protections for people with disabilities to go to school with nondisabled peers and to live and work in their communities. Before that, people with mental illnesses or developmental and intellectual disabilities were largely confined to institutions.

Advocates have pushed back on what's known as the “medical model,” where an individual's disability is viewed as a defect to be cured. Instead, under a “social model” of disability, differences can be accommodated and supported, as people with and without disabilities learn and work alongside each other.

Families and advocates have warned that moving special education to a health department marks a return to the medical model. They've also been angered by Kennedy's attempts to link vaccines to autism, going against decades of research that show no such link, and his framing of autism as a debilitating disease.

Kennedy's comments last year, where he said children with autism would never write a poem, pay taxes or hold a job, raised questions about how he would oversee an agency meant to help students develop those skills. Kennedy later said he was referring to people with " severe autism ″ or those who are nonverbal.

“Many of the things he said autistic people will never do, (special education) is in charge of making sure students with disabilities have the opportunity to do,” said Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. “Will he execute that faithfully, or does he consider disabled students a lost cause until we find some medical cure?”

The Supreme Court weighs in

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that segregating disabled people who are otherwise able to live in their community with proper supports was a form of discrimination. The Olmstead v. L.C. decision led to requirements that government agencies provide disability services in the most integrated setting possible — in mainstream schools, homes and workplaces.

But in a memo issued in June, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel upended that guidance. It argued that neither the Americans with Disabilities Act nor Section 504, two major disability rights laws, requires states to provide services in the most mainstream setting. While the memo does not change the law, it signals how federal agencies may interpret and enforce civil rights issues related to the topic — and it could embolden states or school districts to decline to support people with disabilities in mainstream environments.

The White House has already acted on a similar philosophy. Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on homelessness that endorsed civil commitment, where a court orders individuals into involuntary hospitalization or treatment programs. Trump directed HHS to reduce barriers to institutionalizing people with mental illnesses.

In its memo, the Justice Department acknowledged its interpretation of the Supreme Court's Olmstead decision is “out of step" with the common understanding. If a state starts to provide services in institutional settings, legal challenges likely would follow, the DOJ said.

The Trump administration's steps fit a worldview in which the government has no obligation to support people with disabilities, said Claudia Center, legal director at Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

“It's dark, and it's awful,” Center said. “And I think it's contrary to the majority view in our country. ... It's out of touch with where our society is."

Families say their kids thrive in mainstream classes

The moves have created a deep sense of uncertainty for students with disabilities.

Lindsey Althaus says home and community-based services in northwest Ohio have been instrumental to her family. Her 12-year-old son, Whitman, has autism and a neurological disorder called apraxia, in which the brain struggles to tell muscles how to move to form words or perform other motor skills. For some of his school career, with proper support services, Whitman was able to spend much of his school day in a classroom that included kids without disabilities.

Through a Medicaid waiver program, Althaus pays her mother to care for Whitman in her absence. That allows him to spend time out in the community with his grandmother while Althaus and her husband are working or away with their daughter.

Under the Justice Department's new interpretation of Olmsted, states would have fewer obligations to fund and support those programs. And Kennedy, in testimony to lawmakers on Capitol Hill earlier this year, criticized similar programs as subject to fraud.

“We want to be able to have him in the community,” said Althaus, who works as a disability rights advocate. “It's just starting to feel like Whitman's not going to be welcome anymore. We're going back to this: You're either perfect, or you're not in the light.”

For many students with disabilities, schools are where they receive the majority of support services and where they are integrated among their peers. Before Magda Nakassis's 8-year-old son, who is autistic and nonverbal, started public school in Maryland, his preschool experience had largely been defined by being kicked out of things, she said.

In school, Nakassis said, she found teachers and staff members who understood her son's needs and told her to stop apologizing for them. A program at his school called Fantastic Friends teaches mainstream fifth graders about autism, and they spend recesses with children in the autism program. Every year, Nakassis said, there is a waitlist to be a Fantastic Friend.

Nakassis said that it has been difficult to see the ways autism in particular has become politicized. Every child is entitled to a public education in this country, Nakassis said, and special education is a response to the fact that some children have differences that require additional support.

Regardless of his diagnosis, his right to an education is not a medical issue, she said, but rather a question of equity and access in a society that often pushes disabled people to the margins.

“There are lots of kids like him out there, and I sometimes wonder, ‘what did we use to do?’” Nakassis said. “I can't believe it was better.”

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

Kausen, a chef and cooking teacher in Irvine, California, is more discerning and often uses her sense of smell before deciding what to do with the milk.

“I’ll put some thought into it, and if we’re talking about meat and poultry, I’m very cautious about that and for sure will do the smell test and the touch test,” she said.

The debate playing out in Kausen’s kitchen is repeated in homes across California and the country, where varying phrases on food packaging have long left shoppers unsure whether food is simply past its peak quality or unsafe to eat. The state is aiming to cut down on confusion — and the food waste it creates when people throw away food early — with a new food labeling law starting Wednesday.

It bans the use of “sell by” labels on food packaging, which experts say act as a guide for retailers on how long to display products on the shelves but are not an indicator of whether they are still safe to consume. Now, manufacturers selling food in California must use two standardized labels — a “Best if Used By” label for peak quality and “Use By” label for product safety.

Food manufacturers can choose to use either label or both, said Democratic Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, the author of the bill.

California became the first state in the U.S. to standardize food labels when it approved the law in 2024 that seeks to reduce food waste and the state’s climate-warming emissions. New York state lawmakers recently approved a similar law that's awaiting Gov. Kathy Hochul’s signature.

Legislation addressing food labeling also has been proposed in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and South Carolina, though it has not passed in those states.

Nick Lapis, director of advocacy at Californians Against Waste, which co-sponsored the bill, said food labels are the leading cause of household food waste. The “sell by” date labels have also been a problem for food banks in California because people consider those dates as meaning the food has expired, he said.

“We don’t need to build some kind of huge infrastructure and invest tons of money to solve this. We just need companies to use the same words across brands,” he said.

There are more than 50 different date labels on packaged food sold in stores, according to a 2022 report on food waste published by the University of Maryland. The information in the labels is largely unregulated and often does not relate to food safety.

“Consumers get confused and they just default to assuming that whatever date is on the package means ‘don’t eat it and throw it away’,” said Kumar Chandran, policy director at ReFED, a nonprofit focused on reducing food waste.

Chandran said California and New York’s approval of food-labeling laws has added momentum to the push for a national standard. A bipartisan bill that would establish uniform food labels is pending in Congress. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommended a decade ago that food sellers should switch to “Best if Used By” labeling.

Currently, the only product that is regulated federally with date labels is infant formula.

With no federal regulations dictating what information labels should include, the stamps have led to consumer confusion — and nearly 20% of the nation’s food waste, according to the Food and Drug Administration. In California, that’s about 6 million tons of unexpired food that’s tossed in the trash each year.

Nate Rose, a spokesperson for the California Grocers Association, said some grocers have had to overhaul their labeling systems, but as a whole, the association has been supportive of the change.

The new labels will result in “a win-win where we can reduce food waste and consumers will find these decisions a little bit simpler,” he said, adding that shoppers will still find old labels in stores for months to come as grocers sell through the products that already have them.

The board is proposing paying cash and offering the issuance of new bonds to bondholders that have not settled and are seeking some $8.5 billion in claims.

The proposed settlement represents $1.4 billion more than previously offered.

Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority has been trying to restructure its debt for roughly a decade, after the U.S. territory announced in 2015 that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion debt load. That prompted U.S. Congress to create the federal board in 2016. A year later, Puerto Rico’s government filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Since then, the board and bondholders of the power company's debt have been at odds over compensation, with multiple mediation attempts failing.

“Puerto Rico must be able to close this last chapter of its fiscal crisis and move forward,” said Robert F. Mujica Jr., the board’s executive director.

He stressed that restructuring the company’s debt “is essential to Puerto Rico’s recovery — to the reliable, affordable electricity and the new investment its residents and businesses deserve.”

The board said it has not yet identified the source to finance the proposed settlement.

Some worry that the source of funds could come from an increase in power bills, which already are among the highest in any U.S. jurisdiction as chronic outages persist.

The board noted that previous agreements reached with several creditors and some bondholders in the power company’s case remain in place.

The board said that overall, it has completed 12 debt restructurings for Puerto Rico’s government, eliminating more than $55 billion in debt payments over 40 years.

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

The ministry announced in May that it had acquired the fresco panels, dating from the 4th century, from members of the Torlonia family, one of Italy’s ancient noble families whose vast collection of antiquity has long been kept out of the public domain.

The Francois Tomb was discovered in 1857 by the French archaeologist Alessandro Francois in Vulci, on land owned by the Torlonia family. The frescoes were detached from the necropolis in 1863 and became part of the Torlonia private collection, while the contents of the tomb were divided up among Francois, colleagues and the family.

The Italian government has been trying to get possession of the tomb since 1921, as part of its effort to bring back into the Italian public patrimony artifacts and antiquities that were acquired or looted during the boom of archaeological excavations in the 1800s and beyond.

The Etruscan Civilization occupied swaths of what is today central Italy for centuries was a major Mediterranean trading power. Much of it was destroyed by the subsequent Roman Empire.

The tomb is opening to the public Wednesday at Rome’s Villa Giulia National Etruscan Museum. Alongside the fresco panels are jewels, Etruscan vases and other items that were discovered inside the tomb, now belong in museum collections around the world and were loaned to Italy for the exhibition.

The tomb marks the Culture Ministry’s third major acquisition this year of expensive, culturally important artworks. It paid $14.9 million for Antonello da Messina’s “ Ecce Homo” and around $35 million for a rare portrait by Caravaggio depicting Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII.

The funds have come from the ministry’s annual budget for acquisitions, but Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has prioritized buying fewer, bigger-ticket items of cultural importance rather than smaller, lesser artworks and antiquities, officials said.

“In recent months, the Ministry of Culture has invested a great deal of money in acquiring masterpieces," said Massimo Osanna, director general of Italian museums in the ministry.

Giuli has said the tomb is a “fundamental” part of Italian history that was now being returned to the Italian public to enjoy.

Luana Toniolo, director of the Villa Giulia museum, called the tomb one of the greatest masterpieces of antiquity and Etruscan painting, and one of the best preserved. Among other things, the paintings depict the sacrifice of Trojan prisoners and battles of Etruscan heroes.

“It is a vast book of stone and color that tells us about families, warriors, gods and heroes — both Etruscans and Greeks — and recounts Greek myths reinterpreted through an Etruscan lens," she said.

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Associated Press journalist Silvia Stellacci in Rome contributed.

Cavalli struck out Contreras looking on a full-count pitch in the top of the fourth of what eventually became an 8-1 victory by the Nationals. The 27-year-old right-hander then shouted at Contreras as Contreras made his way back to the Boston dugout.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli yell “Sit down, boy” after fanning Contreras.

Asked what his specific words to Contreras were, Cavalli told reporters, “I don’t know. I just lose my head in it. I’m competitive. I just told him to sit down.”

The term “boy” has a racially charged history in the U.S. Contreras, who is Venezuelan, demurred when asked if he felt there was a racial component to Cavalli's word choice.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” Contreras said, later adding he plans to "let MLB handle that.”

Contreras, who hit a three-run homer off Washington's Miles Mikolas on Monday and celebrated with a massive bat flip that he later apologized fo r, then approached Cavalli on the mound. The two jawed at each other as both dugouts emptied.

“He struck me on a good pitch, I was walking back to the dugout, and then he did what did, and the rest was history,” Contreras told reporters afterward, later adding, "He was like, instigating, and I snapped.”

Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez tried to hold Contreras back, but Contreras broke loose long enough to leap and throw his batting helmet in Cavalli's direction.

Things settled down quickly after that, though the brief dustup ended with Contreras, Boston interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston outfielder Nate Eaton and Mikolas being ejected.

Cavalli pointed to an incident at the end of the top of the first when Contreras nearly ran into the pitcher as both exited the field as the spark that set things in motion.

“He's just been doing stuff," Cavalli said of Contreras. “In the first inning, he just runs past me and brushes me. It's just something you don't do in baseball. I think he knows that. I didn't say anything. I just looked at him. And a few words were said after the strikeout. It's part of the game. And he's going to let everybody run out there and try and do whatever he does, throw a helmet and get himself tossed.”

Cavalli stayed in the game and allowed one run on one hit with 13 strikeouts over seven innings in what became an 8-1 romp.

“After everything that happened, the people that they chose that were going to leave the game, I just felt like the other pitcher should have been one of them too,” Tracy said. "That was my biggest complaint.”

The early exit was the second in as many nights for Contreras, the first time that's happened to a Red Sox player in the club's 126-year history. The 34-year-old Venezuela native — who acknowledged he is having a difficult time while his native country tries to recover from a pair of devastating earthquakes last week — was ejected in the second inning on Monday for mimicking an appeal call after striking out on a checked swing.

“I feel like everything is against me right now,” Contreras said. "I got ejected last night from nothing. I got ejected today even though I was walking back to the dugout.”

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

The school system has exceeded its 2026 budget by nearly $3.5 million. School officials say they were embarrassed and took full responsibility. School officials have also agreed to bring in an auditor so something like this will not happen again.

The meeting also determined that the school district will have to repay the county nearly $2.5 million from its 2026 revenue and just over $1 million from its 2027 revenue.

School officials say their main goal is to make sure teachers and staff get paid.

City Manager Rob Fincher said the city received a show-cause order requiring the building to be brought up to courthouse standards. While the renovation is expected to cost millions, Fincher said it is still significantly cheaper than constructing a new courthouse, which could have cost nearly twice as much.

“I’m hoping that it doesn’t cost that much, but yes, that’s part of the thing is that we’re going to have to consider what are we going to do,” Fincher said.

The biggest issue is the building’s current layout. Court facilities must meet state requirements that include separate entrances and hallways for judges and court officials, the public, and inmates.

Officials say the renovations could be so extensive that an addition to the current building may be necessary. The city will also need to find a new location for its municipal offices as the courts will need to take up the entire building.

“We do not have any set plans on that yet,” Fincher said. “We’re discussing things with different building owners just to try to get conceptual ideas on how to proceed further.”

The announcement comes shortly after Martinsville worked through a budget deficit of roughly $4 million, leaving some council members frustrated about the city’s financial position.

Councilman Aaron Rawls criticized past spending decisions, saying the city now faces difficult choices because of previous financial decisions.

“We bought the PlayStation and the Xbox and the ice cream, but we can’t afford the things we’re actually here to do,” Rawls said.

Councilman Julian Mei said the project will likely force difficult decisions in future budgets.

“This is actually going to be requiring some tough decisions in the future,” Mei said. “We’re going to have to, to quote some people including myself, look really hard at the budget next year.”

Fincher said the project is still in the early stages, and the city does not yet have a final cost or funding plan. Possible options could include taking out bonds or loans, though he declined to say whether tax increases could be considered.

“We still got to look at what ways we can do this because we’re still a ways away in trying to decide exactly how that’s going to take place,” Fincher said.

Fincher said the city has been aware of the issue for about a year after receiving the state order. He said changing court requirements over time made the issue difficult to anticipate when the building was originally constructed in the late 1960s.

The city manager also said Martinsville will not receive financial assistance from the state to help pay for the project.

Officials say they will continue evaluating options as they work toward a plan to meet the state’s requirements.

According to officials, at approximately 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to the report of an armed robbery in the 7800 block of Timberlake Road.

Upon arrival, LPD officers made contact with the store clerk and immediately started searching for the suspect. The clerk reported that one man dressed in black clothing with a face covering entered the business and pointed a firearm at the clerk.

The suspect obtained an undisclosed amount of money and fled on foot; no injuries were reported during the incident.

The suspect was seen entering a vehicle, and officials say a witness was able to provide LPD with a description of the suspect vehicle. LPD officers were notified that the suspect’s vehicle was in the area of Lakeside Drive through the use of FLOCK technology. Following the notification, officers responded to the 1700 block of Lakeside Drive and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.

As a result of the investigation, two suspects were arrested in connection with five armed robberies in the City of Lynchburg.

24-year-old Jaheim Wood of Lynchburg was taken into custody without incident and charged with five counts of robbery, five counts of wearing a mask to conceal identity and five counts of use or display of a firearm in committing a felony.

24-year-old Jalen Brown of Lynchburg was taken into custody and charged with three counts of robbery.

This is an active and ongoing investigation. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Gauthier (434) 455-6230 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 798-5900. Tips can also be submitted online at p3tips.com. Any additional information will be released as an update to this release.

The Panthers sent Evan Rodrigues, Jesper Boqvist and the rights to pending restricted free agent Ben Steeves to the Devils for Markstrom and winger Angus Crookshank. Florida got goalie Akira Schmid from Vegas on Monday night for a 2028 third-round pick.

“Jacob is an established veteran leader in this league who possesses size and a relentless drive to win,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. “We are excited for him to compete alongside our established group and return to South Florida.”

Markstrom at 36 returns to Florida, where he started his NHL career a decade and a half ago. He was one of the top prospects at the position after getting taken with the 34th pick in the 2008 draft and played his first 43 games in the league with the Panthers during their down years, long before becoming a contender again.

Bobrovsky, 37, backstopped Florida to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2024 and ’25 and another trip to the final in ’23. He is expected to be among the top players available when free agency opens Wednesday.

Markstrom is beginning a two-year contract at an annual salary cap hit of $6 million. That was signed in late October by former Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald, who left the organization in April. Moving on from him is the first big roster shakeup for successor Sunny Mehta. New Jersey now has Jake Allen in net and will likely go shopping for his tandem mate in free agency.

Rodrigues, who turns 33 on July 28, gives the Devils another top-nine forward. The Panthers shed his salary of just over $3 million after getting Brady Tkachuk from Ottawa to play with brother Matthew.

The Devils also re-signed forward Arseny Gritsyuk to a three-year, $9.75 million contract. The 25-year-old Gritsyuk is from Russia, and had 13 goals and 31 points in his rookie season last year, and was a pending restricted free agent.

In other moves around the NHL:

— Vegas is re-signing Jeremy Lauzon to a six-year contract worth $24 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the extension had not yet been announced. Lauzon will count $4 million against the salary cap through 2032.

— The New York Rangers agreed to a seven-year contract with newly acquired Pavel Dorofeyev, the high-scoring forward acquired in a trade with Vegas. Dorofeyev, who turns 26 in October, was a pending restricted free agent. He had career-highs with 37 goals and 64 points and scored 12 goals in the playoffs.

— The St. Louis Blues put winger Jonathan Drouin on unconditional waivers to buy out the final season of his contract. They got Drouin at the trade deadline from the New York Islanders as part of the return for Brayden Schenn.

— Utah signed goalie Sebastian Cossa to a two-year, $4 million contract after trading a first-round pick to Detroit for his rights.

— The Minnesota Wild re-signed right wing Bobby Brink to a one-year, $2.75 million contract. Brink, a Minnesota native who was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers before the trade deadline last season, was eligible to be a restricted free agent. The 24-year-old had 15 goals and 15 assists in 68 regular-season games between the Flyers and Wild.

— Fresh off winning the Cup, Carolina reacquired defenseman Kyle Masters' rights from Anaheim for forward Noah Philp. The Hurricanes sent Masters to the Ducks on Saturday along with a sixth-round pick for the rights to pending free agent John Carlson.

— Vegas, which lost to Carolina in the final, made a one-for-one defenseman swap with Pittsburgh, sending Kaedan Korczak to the Penguins for Parker Wotherspoon. Pittsburgh is retaining half of Wotherspoon's $1 million salary in a cap-saving deal for the Golden Knights. ___

AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow and AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

The Ohio Bureau of Investigation and local sheriff's department searched a home in the small village of Hamden, where they found the kids in what officials called “deplorable" conditions."

“Conditions you cannot even imagine people being in, let alone children being in,” Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson said at a news conference.

Law enforcement arrested Gary Siders Jr., Gary Siders Sr., Christina Siders and Elizabeth Siders. They have not yet been arraigned and assigned public defenders.

Vinton County prosecuting attorney William Archer said they were being charged with second-degree felony child endangering because it involves “serious physical harm.”

Officials did not confirm if the children were related but said it was not a human trafficking situation. They said the adults were not locals and appeared to have been traveling.

Hamden has a population of less than 1,000 people and is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus.

The children ranged from ages 1.5 to 18 and included both boys and girls, officials said. Several were in serious conditions when found, and two had to be flown to level one trauma centers because of their injuries.

Wilson said it was the worst scene he had ever encountered in his entire career, describing what he saw as “pure evil.”

Law enforcement were also executing a secondary search warrant at the home Tuesday, and the investigation is ongoing. The four adults will appear in court Wednesday morning.

“Justice will be served for these children,” Wilson said.

Mbappé had his third two-goal game of this World Cup and set a career scoring record for the tournament's knockout rounds, leading Les Bleus over Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a round of 16 match against Paraguay.

“I personally haven't seen a better team,” Sweden coach Graham Potter said. “The quality they have all over the pitch and then the options for them off the bench are very, very strong, so they’ve got as good a chance as anybody, I would suggest.”

France's 27-year-old star scored the go-ahead goal with a brilliant crossover step in the 45th minute and added his sixth goal of the tournament in the 74th to tie Lionel Messi for the tournament scoring lead. He has 18 goals in 18 World Cup games, one behind the Argentine's career scoring record of 19 in 29 matches.

In between, Bradley Barcola had a 53rd-minute goal for France, which became the first nation to score three or more goals in five consecutive World Cup matches.

“I’m very aware of who I am, how I play, what I shall do, but it’s not just about me,” Mbappé said through a translator. "The entire team is aware of what should be done. It is a new competition that has started today. We did play well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning."

Mbappé’s 10 knockout round goals are two more than the previous high by Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo.

France coach Didier Deschamps bowed when Mbappé came to the bench after he was substituted in the 85th minute.

“We’re on a mission — so am I with them,” Deschamps said through a translator.

France has outscored opponents 13-2. Michael Olise has five assists, the most in a World Cup since Germany's Thomas Hassler had five in 1994.

“They are skilled at knowing when to change the pace and increase it, when to possess the ball, went to fall back,” Sweden captain Victor Lindelöf said through a translator.

Seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia. The winner advances to a quarterfinal against Canada or Morocco five days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), sunny and humid at the 5 p.m. kickoff with poor air quality at the site of the July 19 final. Many fans in the club areas stayed inside their air-conditioned suites.

France outshot Sweden 25-7 in the first World Cup meeting between the nations, including 15-3 in the first half.

Mbappé hit a post in the 32nd minute, raising both hands in disgust, and France nearly went ahead four minutes later on Olise’s spectacular bicycle kick from just inside the penalty area, which also clanked off a post.

“I said I think we needed a couple of miracles. We had a couple, but we ran out of them," Potter said. “So we needed a few more.”

Mbappé scored after goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström tipped Olise’s shot just outside the post.

Olise played a short corner kick to Ousmane Dembélé, who passed to Mbappé near the byline. Mbappé took a crossover step to get around Viktor Gyökeres and from just outside the 6-yard box sent a diagonal shot inside the far post.

Mbappé ran up the center of the field to celebrate, colliding with Dembélé, and jogged to the bench to hug Deschamps, who returned for the match after going to France for his mother’s funeral.

“He knows that he will never be alone with us, and we will support him,” Mbappé said.

Gustaf Lagerbielke lost the ball ahead of France’s second goal. Aurélien Tchouaméni passed to Olise, who nutmegged Lagerbielke, and Barcola took a centering touch and sent the ball past Zetterström’s outstretched right hand.

Mbappé entertained the crowd with a backheel pass to Barcola in the buildup to France’s third goal, the 62nd of his international career. Barcola passed to Olise, who sent the ball forward as Mbappé sprinted into the penalty area, took a touch and fired the ball inside the far post.

“We continue to deliver great performances,” Mbappé said.

A crowd of 80,663 raised the record total for the expanded 104-match tournament above 5 million. A majority of fans wore France’s blue, with a pocket in Sweden’s yellow at one end.

“I have no complaints to the players whatsoever. I said to them after the game I don’t think it’s a disgrace to lose to France," Potter said. “For us it’s about using this as a foundation to go forward and to be proud of what we’ve done so far.”

Speaking just after the final whistle, Mbappé wasn't quite ready to turn his attention to Paraguay just yet.

“I’m looking forward to the changing room and the AC," he said.

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

Gov. Spanberger signed legislation into law to lower peak prices for Virginians by setting goals to increase energy storage and reduce heating and energy costs for families who need it most. The Governor also signed legislation to protect Virginia ratepayers from shouldering the cost of new energy infrastructure investments by data centers and other high load energy customers.

“Today is a good day. Virginia is moving forward — for our environment, for our families, and for the Commonwealth we are building together,” said Governor Abigail Spanberger. “We’re investing in energy that is cleaner, more affordable, more reliable, and homegrown. This matters right now as Virginia families continue to feel the brunt of the skyrocketing energy costs driven by the President’s reckless policies.”

“We are also positioning Virginia as a national leader in the ongoing conversation about the future of the data center industry. In addition to the bills we’re signing today, we are setting stricter emissions standards on data center backup generators and giving localities new tools to assess the impact of data center projects on homes, schools, and farmland. And through the budget we just passed, Virginia is implementing a first-of-its-kind energy consumption tax I proposed earlier this spring. This is one part of making data centers pay their fair share of the energy they use,” Gov. Spanberger said.

Gov. Spanberger also signed legislation to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, saving Virginians money by investing in critical energy efficiency and flood programs.

This is a direct credit to ratepayers, and it is built into the budget we just passed. This program is designed to ensure that the monthly charge on utility bills that comes with rejoining RGGI is offset for Virginia families and small businesses. And I want to be clear: our projections indicate that this Consumer Credit will do just that, and then some. There are even estimates that average monthly bills could drop by as much as $36 annually due to the new RGGI Credit," Gov. Spanberger said.

RGGI investments are proven to save Virginians money, decrease long-term costs, and reduce environmental pollution. On average, every dollar spent on energy conservation reduces utility bills by $2 to $4, and every dollar invested in flood protection saves approximately $6 in future damage costs. Across the nationwide RGGI program, the $5.7 billion in auction proceeds invested in energy efficiency and clean energy programs to date are projected to yield $22.6 billion in total bill savings for consumers, according to the governor’s office.

“The RGGI-supported Community Flood Preparedness Fund is critical to ensuring that Virginia tackles resiliency head-on,” said Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova. “Flooding is Virginia’s most frequent and costly natural hazard. For every dollar we spend on flood preparedness, we save six dollars in future flood response.”

“We have built guardrails into this legislation to ensure that the revenue generated from our participation in RGGI is returned to the people of Virginia,” said Chief Energy Officer Josephus Allmond. “The RGGI Credit will insulate our families and small businesses while still leaving record levels of investment into energy efficiency and resilience funding. We are using this program to lower the burden on those who need it most.”

Governor Spanberger signed the following legislation to address high energy costs for Virginians, meet rising energy demand across the Commonwealth, and take steps to make sure data centers do not drive up costs for Virginia families:

• HB2 (Delegate Betsy Carr), SB72 (Senator Kannan Srinivasan) — Reducing heating and energy costs for the most vulnerable Virginians.
• HB284 (Delegate Michael Feggans), SB371 (Senator Jeremy McPike) — Requiring Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power to develop voluntary demand flexibility programs for high energy demand customers. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB397 (Delegate Charniele Herring) — Lowering long-term energy costs by directing Virginia to rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
• HB434 (Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling), SB621 (Senator Kannan Srinivasan) — Optimizing grid utilization to get more out of the current distribution system. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB628 (Delegate Katrina Callsen), SB175 (Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg) — Expanding small-scale solar across the Commonwealth by raising the carveout for projects on rooftops, schools, churches, parking lots, landfills, and brownfields. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB892 (Delegate Irene Shin) — Improving forecasting of power usage to avoid overestimates that cause higher prices.
• HB895 (Delegate Rip Sullivan), SB448 (Senator Lamont Bagby) — Increasing the deployment of energy storage to lower peak prices for ratepayers. Passed with bipartisan support.
• HB1191 (Delegate Irene Shin) — Permitting high energy use customers to invest in new energy infrastructure while protecting ratepayers from increased costs. Passed unanimously.
• HB1256 (Delegate Irene Shin) — Evaluating how to best protect ratepayers from paying excessive costs due to market spikes in fuel costs. Passed unanimously.
• HB1360 (Delegate Irene Shin) — Requiring investor-owned utilities to provide greater transparency on coal and oil generating units in rate proceedings. Passed unanimously. 

Join us behind the scenes as we take a bike ride through the Star City, catch up with leaders in our community, and stop by iconic spots like the Roanoke Star and the Sweet Donkey.

At 10 News, community journalism means meeting you where you are, listening, learning, and, most importantly, bringing into focus what matters most to you today.

We are always working for you to share the stories that matter, highlight issues that affect your everyday life, and be a voice for the voiceless. After all, your stories matter, so let’s put them in focus together.

The team announced his deal Tuesday, keeping Porzingis off the market as the NBA's free-agency period begins. The person provided the terms to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not part of the announcement.

The 30-year-old Latvian joined Golden State at the February trade deadline from Atlanta in a swap that sent Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga to the Hawks.

Porzingis missed significant time last season even after coming to the Warriors. The 7-foot-2 veteran played just 32 games, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks in 24 minutes of action. He appeared in 15 games for Golden State with 11 starts.

The Warriors finished 37-45 to earn the 10th seed in the Western Conference and lost to Phoenix in the Play-In tournament.

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

As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday this weekend, the legislative branch has momentarily called it quits.

The House leadership on Tuesday abruptly canceled votes and sent lawmakers home early for the holiday recess, Speaker Mike Johnson ’s majority once again ground to a standstill by a Republican revolt over their own party’s agenda.

In this case, it's a standoff blocking the annual defense bill — with pay raises for the troops and other matters at a time of war — as the renegade Republicans push to include President Donald Trump’s own priority, the SAVE America Act, a strict voter ID bill. Last week, the Senate similarly shuttered after Trump's demands.

The emptying Capitol provides another snapshot of the imbalance of power in Washington as a headstrong executive confronts a weakened Congress.

For the second time in as many weeks, the House has simply given up.

“It’s a relatively bad time in Congress,” Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said recently. “A lot of my colleagues have forgotten how to govern.”

The scene is far different than last year's Fourth of July

A year ago this weekend brought a wholly different scene in Washington, as Trump gathered Republican lawmakers outside the White House for an ebullient July Fourth ceremony to sign what they called the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts.

It was a celebratory moment for Trump and the slim Republican majority — and for Johnson, who many doubted could pass the bill over the objections of Democrats who viewed it as tax giveaway at the expense of billions of dollars in cuts to health care and food stamps for Americans in need.

Johnson was so reliant on Trump's power to help push the bill to approval that he gifted the president a speaker's gavel, which Democrats and others saw as a worrisome symbol of the transference of power from one branch of government to the other.

“We’re not dealing with Speaker Mike Johnson,” Democratic Rep. Pete Aguilar of California, the caucus chairman, said in a recent interview. “Unfortunately, Speaker Donald Trump does not want us in this week.”

Trump makes conflicting demands on his party in Congress

As Johnson works to keep Trump close, the president's demands seem to grow in ways the Republican speaker can't always deliver.

The president’s insistence on the SAVE America Act, which doesn't have enough support in the Senate to pass, has interrupted almost all other business in Congress. Trump has refused to sign a popular bipartisan housing bill that cleared both chambers until the voting bill is also approved. He calls the housing bill a “yawn.”

Johnson spent four hours last week at the White House and said he spent another two hours with the president this week on a path forward.

“I told him, ‘Mr. President, I don’t have any tattoos, but if I did, it’d say SAVE America on my shoulder,’ OK?” Johnson said over the weekend on Fox News.

“We passed it three times in the House already. We’re going to pass it again.”

But by Tuesday, a House vote to advance the legislation collapsed. Republicans led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida argued that Johnson's plan to attach the voting bill to the defense bill was essentially a doomed strategy that would be rejected in the Senate.

“That’s disappointing,” acknowledged Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who insisted the GOP would try again.

“We’re going to keep trying because we have to,” he said. “We’re not done doing big things.”

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, Congress is adrift

The founders of the new democracy clearly had aspirations for the Congress, putting it first in the Constitution as the Article One branch of government, ahead of the executive and judicial branches.

But as lawmakers face voters this fall, they will have to answer for these dwindling days on their calendar.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said the problem is not the Congress, it's the GOP.

“Donald Trump is fighting with Senate Republicans, Senate Republicans are fighting with House Republicans, and House Republicans are fighting with each other,” said Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control in fall.

“It’s not the Congress that’s struggling. It’s House Republicans who are struggling,” he said.

Jeffries said Democrats are fighting “to make life more affordable for the American people.”

As they left the Capitol for an extended recess, lawmakers voiced frustration with the House’s dysfunction.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the Republican Party to become an independent earlier this year, said the situation in the House is “frustrating.”

“It’s just like déjà vu where many times now we run into some sort of obstacle," he said, “then the solution is just to go home.”

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Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Thriving on a hot, humid afternoon, Mbappé scored his 17th and 18th career World Cup goals in France’s 3-0 rout of Sweden on Tuesday, moving one back of Messi’s record of 19. With six in the tournament, Mbappé tied the Argentina star in the race for the Golden Boot.

Asked coming off the field if he was already looking forward to facing Paraguay, Mbappé quipped, “I’m looking forward to the changing room and the AC.” It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) for the 5 p.m. kickoff, so steamy that Lucas Digne let himself be doused by a sprinkler during the first-half hydration break.

Before halftime, Mbappé scored one for the highlight reel. In the 45th minute, Mbappé engaged in a give-and-go with Ousmane Dembélé, crossed over Viktor Gyökeres and fired his shot past goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström.

“It goes without saying that Mapp is an absolute top, top player,” Sweden coach Graham Potter said. “His goal was a fine example of the speed and the change of direction and the way he can get the shot off quick. It’s an incredibly high level.”

That broke a tie with Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo for the most goals in the knockout stage of the World Cup with nine. Mbappé added to his record with his 10th, scoring in the 74th minute off a feed from Michael Olise.

Celebrating the first goal, Mbappé ran immediately to coach Didier Deschamps after scoring. This was Deschamps’ first game back on the sideline after missing the group stage finale to fly back to Europe for his mother’s funeral.

“We know that the head coach had to face a really tough, tough challenge,” Mbappé said. “Everyone will go through that one day. It goes beyond football. He knows that he will never be alone with us, and we will support him.”

With 18 goals in 18 World Cup games, Mbappé has scored at an even faster clip than Messi, who has played in 29 games at the tournament. Deschamps bowed to Mbappé when he was substituted out in the 85th minute.

That kept Mbappé from chasing a hat trick, but he also could have scored in the 32nd minute. Instead, the 27-year-old banged a shot off the left post and even began to celebrate before watching it bounce back.

Scoring twice later allowed Mbappé not to regret that missed opportunity at a World Cup he is trying to soak in while playing some of his best soccer.

“I did say that I wanted to enjoy this World Cup to the fullest,” Mbappé said. "I’m not saying that the other World Cup I didn’t enjoy, but I was younger. I was focused then into delivering the best performances, and today I believe I can do both: delivering great performances and obviously enjoying.”

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AP Sports Writer Ron Blum contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

A national hero, Momand died from cancer on June 21 in a hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, where he had lived since leaving Afghanistan in 1992 during the civil war.

“I am deeply saddened by the sudden death of Afghanistan’s first and only astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand,” former President Ashraf Ghani wrote on X. “I pray to God to grant Momand a high place in heaven, and I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, children, and other family members.”

In 1988, Momand — then a 29‑year‑old air force pilot — was selected to join a Soviet space program designed to send representatives from aligned nations into orbit, at a time when Afghanistan was under Soviet control.

After months of training, he flew aboard Soyuz TM‑6 with Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Polyakov, spending nine days in space and conducting scientific research on the Mir space station. His return aboard another spacecraft, the Soyuz TM‑5, was delayed by a day due to technical problems, leaving him and Lyakhov stranded in cramped conditions and at risk of being left without food and oxygen.

An Associated Press report at the time noted that Momand, whose surname was then spelled Mohmand, highlighted his prior role in a joint Soviet‑Afghan military effort to end an insurgency in his homeland. The report cited him as saying he had flown hundreds of attack missions.

Before launching, Momand told Sovietskaya Rossiya that his space mission would help identify Afghanistan’s mineral resources, assess hydroelectric potential and study glaciers and earthquake risks, according to the AP report.

The AP said he addressed his fellow citizens in a televised message from orbit saying that violence cannot be seen from outer space.

"I would like to believe that such will be the situation on the land inhabited by my brothers and sisters, on the land of our fathers and mothers who have suffered so much during the years of the war,” he was quoted as saying.

He also carried and read from the Quran during his mission, which Ghani described as a moment that introduced Afghanistan to the world “with national colors and national words” and presented its Islamic identity to the cosmos.

“His nine days on the Mir space station made Afghans forget the bitterness of the civil wars of 1988 and the rest of that decade,” Ghani added.

Momand was born in Ghazni province’s Andar district, in southeastern Afghanistan. He trained in military academies in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.

His death was met with sorrow in Afghanistan among people who remembered him as a hero.

Zahir Ammar, a 35-year-old Jalalabad-based blogger on cosmology, paid tribute to Momand, emphasizing the historic significance of his mission for Afghanistan.

“Abdul Ahad Momand is the first Afghan astronaut in the entire scientific history of the country to go into space, he took the Holy Quran with him into space and added Pashto to the list of languages spoken in space,” he wrote.

“Now, astronauts’ trips to (international space stations) have become commonplace, but during the time of the late Abdul Ahad Momand, this was a great achievement for Afghanistan,” he said.

Ammar also expresses regret that Momand died in exile, wishing he could have shared his experiences with the younger generation in Afghanistan.

Funeral and memorial arrangements were not announced. Momand is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

The Dodgers are in the midst of playing 13 games in 13 days, and Roberts wanted to make sure that the Japanese sensation got a break. Ohtani is slated to pitch in San Diego on Friday.

“If there’s any opportunity to give him some extra rest, we’re going to try to take advantage of it,” Roberts said. “So pushing him to Friday allows us to have him still take two starts before the break and get on two division opponents. In that vein, there’s just no downside. This made too much sense.”

Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA in 13 starts this season. The four-time MVP has 82 strikeouts and 24 walks in 79 2/3 innings this season.

Roberts indicated that Ohtani will be the Dodgers designated hitter for the series finale against the A’s on Wednesday.

“It’s mostly schedule-driven,” Roberts said. “We talked to Shohei and he was agreeing to whatever we felt, knowing it’s best for him. There’s no downside with him losing starts, get more rest. That was the whole driver.”

Roberts said the Dodgers will go with a bullpen game in Ohtani’s absence on Wednesday.

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

The Selma-to-Montgomery marches galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with most barriers such as poll taxes and other forms of voter discrimination targeting Black Americans in the Deep South.

A delegation of five people brought dozens of flower lei with them from Hawaii to Alabama in March 1965. Images of King wearing lei, garlands that are synonymous with Hawaiian culture, have been previously published -- but most of the photos displayed in Hawaii’s new exhibit have never been seen before. Some photos have subtle variations, while others include figures who may have been deemed unimportant at the time. The exhibit runs through July 7.

One of the lei-bearers was Charles Campbell, a high school teacher and chairman of the Hawaii Civil Rights Conference, who a March 20, 1965 article in The Honolulu Advertiser quoted as saying: "Selma has the capability of becoming a real sore that could affect the entire nation.”

King was photographed wearing lei about two weeks after the event known as Bloody Sunday when state troopers violently attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965.

The photos were taken by Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, whose widow donated them to Hawaii's Department of Accounting and General Services for the state's archives.

After the photos were unveiled, Steven Springel stared at a photo of his mother, Nona Ferdon, who was a divorced mother of two children and a graduate student when she traveled to Selma.

Springel remembers he was just about to turn 7 and only realized as an adult how important her trip was. Growing up in Hawaii, “we never experienced segregation or racial inequality,” he said of his and his sister’s childhood. Ferdon died in 2021.

The exhibit, part of Hawaii's programming to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, is a reminder people from the Aloha State participated in an important event in history, said Keith Regan, who oversees the department as the state's comptroller and presided over the photo unveiling as acting governor while Gov. Josh Green is out of state.

The small delegation traveled thousands of miles “to be a part of the Civil Rights movement, to show ‘aloha’ to the world that Hawaii was there holding hands with our fellow brothers and sisters to ensure equality and justice were heard throughout the nation,” he said.

The Hawaii members also wore lei during first day of the 50-mile (80.46-kilometer) march. Mothers of Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu strung together fragrant plumeria plucked from church grounds to assemble the lei.

Giving lei, a word that is both singular and plural in the Hawaiian language, continues to be a way to share the “aloha” spirit. People in Hawaii give and receive lei for all kinds of reasons, including to celebrate birthdays and promotions, or to show appreciation or recognition.

Tomi Knaefler, who had traveled with the delegation as a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, planned to attend Tuesday's news conference. But at 96 years old, she wasn't feeling up to it, said her daughter, Pamela MacDonald, who did attend.

MacDonald said she was 14 when her mother went on the assignment, “the one that she holds dearest to her heart."

The exhibit comes at the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2026 term, which included a ruling gutting the remaining piece of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a wave of partisan gerrymandering in states in the South and endangering generations of gains in Black political representation.

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This version corrects that the number of people in the Hawaii delegation was five, not four.

The bone comes from the tail of a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur called a titanosaur. Scientists haven't yet identified the species it belongs to.

It was discovered in 1985 during an expedition to Antarctica's James Ross Island and collected by geologist Mike Thomson. Working with the British Antarctic Survey, Thomson was mapping the area's rock layers and collected marine reptile fossils to help with future dating efforts. He recorded the find as a large reptile.

Decades later, paleontologist Mark Evans spotted the bone in the British Antarctic Survey's collections and wondered whether it might be a dinosaur. He and other researchers analyzed the shape of the bone and compared it to other more complete dinosaur remains, confirming their discovery. The findings were published on Monday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

Dinosaur fossils are rare to find in Antarctica because of the unforgiving ice caps. But millions of years ago, when this dinosaur lived, the region was populated by lush forests — a “rather different and much more hospitable place than we think of today,” said study co-author Paul Barrett with the Natural History Museum in London.

At about 23 feet (7 meters) long, the dinosaur was small for its group and may have been young when it died. Scientists don't know how the creature met its end, but they think its body floated away from the coast and sank to the sea floor, becoming fossilized in marine rock.

Technology has come a long way since the dinosaur tail bone was first found, allowing researchers to peer inside bones and gain even more detailed information about ancient creatures. Thomson died in 2020 before the fossil was identified as belonging to a dinosaur.

“If he were still with us, he would be delighted to know what this was,” Evans, a study co-author, said.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified paleontologist Mark Evans as Mike Evans in one reference.

___

AP video producer Havovi Todd in London contributed to this report.

___

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.

“I don't consider this stuff a personal victory," Norman Wong told The Associated Press. “It’s an obligation and a duty for every American to care about this because ultimately we’re not fighting for the rights of Chinese or Japanese or whatever. We’re fighting for rights for all Americans because these are fundamental rights.”

Wong, 76, has become an unexpected public face of the movement to protect birthright citizenship. He began giving speeches and interviews in January 2025 — shortly after President Donald Trump issued his executive order declaring children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

In a 6-3 decision, a divided Supreme Court upheld a broad interpretation of birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s arguments.

In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court held that the long-settled understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, adopted after the Civil War, makes anyone born in the U.S. a citizen, with very limited exceptions.

Dissenting Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas would have upheld Trump’s proposed restrictions. The Fourteenth Amendment “was designed and understood to secure equal rights for the freed blacks but has instead been repurposed for political projects that the Reconstruction Congress did not support,” Thomas wrote.

Trump said the decision was “too bad for our Country” and wrongly suggested that Congress could “easily” address it with legislation. The majority decision rests on constitutional grounds. It would take an amendment to overcome the decision.

Wong called the executive order Trump issued on the first day of his second term an unconstitutional “decree.”

“If it didn’t fly in the face of the Constitution, the Supreme Court would have ruled differently today,” Wong said. “That’s unfortunate that we have a leader that wants the United States to be in his image, but that’s not what we’re supposed to be. He’s supposed to conform to what we the people believe in.”

Maintaining birthright citizenship as a right and a family legacy

In the late 1800s, birthright citizenship was legally expanded to the children of immigrants.

Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873, was returning by steamship from China in 1895 and was denied reentry. He sued and the Supreme Court in 1898 ruled in his favor. The court held that under the Fourteenth Amendment, a child’s citizenship depends on birth in the U.S., not a parent’s citizenship.

Norman Wong has always been social justice-minded. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1970s, he joined the multiracial student-driven Third World Liberation Front. He saw how the term “Asian American” rallied Asian student groups to join forces.

It wasn't until he was in his 50s that he learned Wong Kim Ark was his great-grandfather. His father had spoken very little about family history. But journalists from Chinese-language newspapers approached his father for an interview after seeing his name in old court records.

He never pictured lobbying for another movement in his 70s. But last year, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the same organization that funded Wong Kim Ark's legal fight, invited him to speak at a press conference. Since then, Wong, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, has given interviews, speeches and even traveled to Washington in April to hear the Supreme Court arguments.

“I consider myself lucky enough to actually have a meaningful role," Wong said. “All that citizenship grants is the stuff that was the promise of America, which is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Is birthright citizenship status secure now?

In April, the birthright citizenship court proceedings also marked the first time a sitting U.S. president attended Supreme Court oral arguments. California Attorney General Rob Bonta recalls sitting in the same row as Trump.

Since Trump's executive order, Bonta, the first state attorney general of Filipino descent, has heard from “hundreds” of people born in the U.S. who have been worried about being stripped of their citizenship because of a parent's immigration status. Most of them have been people of color — Black, Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander. The high court's decision, while affirming, does not mean they should be less mindful of their rights.

“Everyone who believes in the rule of law, believes in the U.S. Constitution — its durability, its strength, its potency — should breathe a little easier today,” Bonta said. “But, the attacks on lawful immigration status, on the U.S. Constitution's protections, rights and freedoms afforded to people, including birthright citizenship, they will continue.”

Chinese American daughter of immigrants makes the case

The Justice Department said in a statement that it’s “committed to tackling illegal birth tourism schemes by working diligently with U.S. Attorneys across the country to uphold the law.”

“Actors seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children pose a national security threat and will be brought to justice,” the department said in a post on the social platform X.

Cecillia Wang, the national director of the American Civil Liberties Union who argued for birthright citizenship in front of the Supreme Court, said in a statement the court "reaffirms a fundamental American promise — if you are born here, you are a citizen.”

“A president cannot change the Constitution by executive fiat," Wang said. "Our brave clients and our legal team stand with millions of people around our country who spoke up for one of our most cherished rights."

Bonta previously worked with Wang at the same San Francisco law firm. He described her as brilliant and said that having immigrant parents “was an added dimension to Cecillia's incredible advocacy.”

Wang is American-born with parents who legally came to the U.S. from Taiwan as graduate students. The fact that she was the one who got to argue the case nearly 130 years after his great-grandfather won his case makes today's decision even better, Wong said.

“It’s kind of sweet because — especially for Chinese Americans — they were at the forefront of all this anti-Asian hate,” Wong said. “There are certain aspects of my life where I think what happened actually prepared me for what’s happening now.” ___ Associated Press reporter Mark Sherman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

The cause of death for Chase, 35, was acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, according to online medical examiner records from this week that listed her last name as Schwallier. “Chronic polysubstance abuse” was listed under “other significant conditions.”

Chase was known for voicing the lead role of Lilo in Disney's “Lilo & Stitch” and her performance in the 2002 horror film “The Ring.”

After her death in a Los Angeles hospital, her father John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times that she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. She was homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, he said.

Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier told the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.

In a text message to The Associated Press on Tuesday about AIDS being the cause of death, her father said, “I know with her lifestyle that was probably the conclusion so I'm not surprised.”

Calling her death tragic, he added, “It would've been nice for all of you to find her and try and help her that would've been a nicer story than this.”

Chase auditioned for Lilo at age 8. For her role as the long-haired Samara in “The Ring,” she won an MTV Movie Award for best villain.

Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to her profile page on the internet movie database IMDb.com.

She was born in Las Vegas and raised in the small town of Albany, Oregon. She began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Massachusetts vacated the U.S. Education Department's changes, saying they overstepped the agency's power and threatened to violate First Amendment protections for free speech. The ruling came in response to a pair of lawsuits filed by more than 20 states along with a coalition of nonprofit groups and cities.

In Washington, D.C., District Judge Amir Ali in Washington issued a similar ruling in a case brought by nonprofit organizations. The rulings came a day before the new rules were set to take effect.

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the department was evaluating next steps.

“The Department stands behind this commonsense policy to ensure that taxpayer dollars are never used to subsidize illegal activities,” Kent said in a written statement.

Congress created Public Service Loan Forgiveness in 2007 to encourage college graduates to work in government and nonprofit jobs. It promised to forgive their federal student loans after they worked in public service jobs for 10 years.

Last year, the Trump administration moved to add new eligibility rules that would strip the benefit from workers whose employers are deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.”

The overhaul targeted nonprofits and government organizations that support causes at odds with the Trump administration's priorities.

It gave the education secretary power to exclude groups from the program if they engage in the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration or supporting terrorist organizations. Its definition of “chemical castration” included using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty.

The overhaul amounted to a major reworking of a program that has canceled loans for more than 1 million Americans. Nonprofits and government groups said it undercut an important benefit that helped attract college graduates to jobs that traditionally pay less than the private sector.

“This decision is a win for the communities that depend on local nonprofits and for the workers who serve them,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, one of the plaintiffs in the Massachusetts case.

One of the plaintiffs in the Washington case, Student Defense, said the judge's ruling is a victory for student loan borrowers.

“Public servants should not have to worry that the federal government will punish them because of their employer’s mission or perceived political views,” said Aaron Ament, Student Defense's president.

Joun said the new rules threatened to impose the administration's policy views on employers. The judge also faulted the department for failing to connect its definitions of illegal activity to criminal statutes.

“The Department cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking,” he wrote.

The judge also questioned the department's stated rationale for proposing the new rules, drawing on its own estimates that fewer than 10 employers would be barred from the program per year.

“The Department offers no explanation for why a Final Rule with such sweeping consequences is necessary to address the possibility that, at most, ten employers each year may be engaging in illegal activity,” Joun wrote.

In his ruling, Joun noted that more than 100 supporting briefs were filed on behalf of the groups challenging the rules, while none were filed in support of the Trump administration's change.

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

The biggest pressure cooker of them all: the penalty kick shootout. Exhausted players and goalkeepers face off in a tense one-on-one confrontation that carries the hopes and dreams of entire nations.

Two of the first four matches in the round of 32 were settled by shootouts: Morocco beat the Netherlands and Paraguay bested Germany.

A miss can mean humiliation. A goalkeeper's save or the final bulge of the ball in the back of the net can bring tears of joy to millions.

That kind of pressure can reach “inhumane” levels, almost all of it focused on the penalty takers, said Geir Jordet, a professor at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences and author of the book, “Pressure: Lessons from the Psychology of the Penalty Shootout.”

“In our research, the only emotion everyone agrees is present is anxiety,” Jordet said.

Expect more shootouts, more pressure, more anxiety.

A record five games at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar were settled by penalty kicks, including the final when Argentina beat France.

“As you go into knockout football it’s something that becomes more prominent in the games,” England winger Noni Madueke said. "So like every part of our game we want to be at the highest level when it comes to that.”

The physical and mental distance from spot to goal

This tense battle of wills is fought over a 12-yard (11-meter) distance between the penalty spot and the goal line. The shootout was added to the game in 1970 and has settled several of the world's biggest tournaments.

The first World Cup final to be settled by penalty kicks was Brazil’s 1994 victory over Italy. That shootout also produced one of the most infamous misses in soccer history when Italy great Roberto Baggio sent the final kick over the crossbar.

The penalty taker

Techniques vary.

Some take the kick quickly. Others pause, taking deep, calming breaths before they approach. Some run and strike it hard. A popular variation is the stutter-step, waiting for the goalkeeper to commit to which way he's going.

The penalty taker faces the most pressure in the moment because he's expected to score, Jordet told The Associated Press by email.

Research shows that the players who start toward the ball almost immediately after the referee's whistle more often miss than those who wait between two and five seconds, he said.

“We suspect this is because those who (wait) extremely short sometimes do so because they, understandably, just want to get this stressful situation done and over with,” Jordet said.

It takes guts to be in that moment, United States forward Christian Pulisic said.

“For the people that go up and shoot, it takes a lot of courage. It’s not easy,” Pulisic said. “Goalkeepers get better and better every single year."

The view from goal

Standing between the posts, goalkeepers have three basic choices. Dive left, dive right or stay in the middle in a guessing game of anticipation.

Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou did something critically different. On the decisive save against the Netherlands, he moved to his right while standing up.

By staying upright, Bounou used his left hand to easily swat away the kick from Crysencio Summerville, who was shooting for the upper corner. Had Bounou dived, the ball would have easily found the net.

The best goalkeepers are “creative, deliberate and volatile” in their attempts to disrupt the shooter, Jordet said.

Tactics can include throwing the ball away, verbal insults and physical confrontation at the penalty spot. The mind games can get so hostile they can result in a yellow card for the goalkeeper.

He noted Bounou's well-timed body twitches and hand fakes to disrupt shooters' timing. The “master” of the mind games, Jordet said, is Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez, who has won his last six penalty shootouts, including the 2022 World Cup final.

“I would say everyone’s different, every keeper’s different, everyone’s got their own routines," said England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. “You see last night with Bounou. With his saves, it’s a different save and they put them off and that happens.”

Picking the lineup has its own pressure

Selecting the lineup for a shootout has its own rhythms and risks for a coach and a team. It is a delicate balance between analytics, experience and gut feeling.

Some players will be automatic choices. Imagine France in a shootout without Kylian Mbappé or Argentina without Lionel Messi with the World Cup on the line.

“The guys who feel the most confident to go up and shoot will want to go shoot. I think that’s normal," Pulisic said. “We haven’t been in many shootouts with these guys, but like I feel it’s a pretty brave, courageous team.”

A shootout lineup should be decided and discussed well beforehand, and not a call for volunteers in the moment, Jordet said.

After Germany and Paraguay were still even after five penalty attempts each, Germany captain Joshua Kimmich asked his teammates who wanted to take the sixth. Jonathan Tah stepped up for the first penalty attempt of his career and launched the ball over the bar.

Players should rehearse the critical moment months ahead of time, Jordet said.

“Make sure that when you are called to take a kick, you have a strong and robust penalty technique, and you have a rehearsed and stable pre-shot routine that can help you lock your attention,” Jordet said. “With that type of focus, you have done what you can, and the outcome will be what it will be.”

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AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, Steve Douglas and James Robson contributed to this report.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

NPR attributed the error by reporter Nina Totenberg, on the final day of the court's session, to a misunderstanding of a statement by Chief Justice John Roberts that led to previously prepared copy being posted live. The erroneous news was also broadcast on NPR. It was live on the organization's website for about five minutes, though some member stations had it up longer, NPR said.

An editor's note posted by some NPR affiliates said: “Earlier today, we erroneously published a story saying that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was retiring. Neither Alito nor the court’s public information office has announced his retirement, and we have retracted the story.”

Later, a longer statement from Editor-in-Chief Tommy Evans said NPR regretted the error and the confusion it may have caused. “Due to a misunderstanding, NPR’s Supreme Court and Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg incorrectly reported that Justice Samuel Alito had retired. Neither Justice Alito nor the Supreme Court Public Information Office has announced his retirement,” Evans said.

“As soon as the error was realized, the story was retracted and removed from NPR’s website and an on-air correction was broadcast. We regret the error and any confusion this may have caused,” Evans said.

Breaking down the error

Interviewed later on NPR's “All Things Considered,” Totenberg explained how what she called “the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism” came about.

Reading aloud from a letter of apology she'd sent to Alito, Totenberg said she'd rushed out of the courtroom early after announcements of court opinions, and when she realized that others had not rushed out, she asked what was happening and was told “retirement announcements.” She then mistakenly assumed it was Alito who was retiring.

“This was a rookie mistake,” Totenberg noted in the interview.

“I scared everybody half to death for about five minutes, and it's entirely on me,” she said.

Evans, also appearing on “All Things Considered,” said that he too felt responsibility, and noted that NPR would be looking at newsroom systems to determine “where we could do better and be better.”

The error was also detailed in a column by NPR's public editor, Kelly McBride, who explained how when Totenberg misheard the announcement, the organization posted some previously written “preparedness” — copy that news organizations often prepare in advance of major expected events and notable deaths.

"Alito is not retiring. The story was wrong," McBride said in her column. "Totenberg misheard Roberts’ statement."

McBride continued: “Totenberg spoke with both her intern, who was at the court with her, and NPR Executive Editor Krishnadev Calamur and told them what she heard. Calamur surfaced the story that NPR had previously prepared for the day Alito did announce his retirement and published it. The information was also broadcast on NPR’s airwaves.”

Retirements were mentioned, though

On a busy day for the court, Roberts had announced the retirement of several court employees, as he customarily does after the court’s final opinions are out. But Alito's name was not among them.

Speculation had swirled about the justice’s future plans earlier this year, but Fox News and CBS reported this spring that he planned to remain on the bench.

Alito has been on the court since 2006, when he replaced Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican.

McBride, in her column, said she didn't expect the mistake to endure in the public consciousness.

"For most news consumers, the error is a blip, something that flashed across their feed or they heard on their radio," she wrote. “It was corrected quickly and will not have lasting consequences.”

Neon said Tuesday that it bought the film following a bidding process. Amazon dropped the nearly complete $40 million film, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman, earlier this month, a surprise move that came just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI.

Amazon said then that “Artificial” would “be better served if it were released by a different studio.”

Neon said Tuesday that it will release “Artificial” this year and “compete in this year's Oscar race.” The film, which chronicles the days leading up to the 2023 firing and reinstatement of Altman as OpenAI chief executive, also stars Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance. Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk.

In late February, Amazon signed an expansive multiyear partnership with the artificial intelligence startup. Then earlier this month, Amazon MGM said it would put the film up for sale to find it a new home.

Neon has established an enviable awards-season track record with Oscar winners like “Parasite” and “Anora.” The specialty label has backed the last seven Palme d'Or winners at the Cannes Film Festival. The studio declined to disclose how much it paid for the worldwide rights to “Artificial.”

“The acquisition underscores Neon’s commitment to partnering with visionary filmmakers, and bringing ambitious cinema to audiences around the world,” the studio said in a statement.

The convention will be held in Dallas on Sept. 9 and 10.

Although both major parties traditionally hold blockbuster conventions during presidential campaigns, Trump has long floated the idea of a similar gathering this year to focus voters' attention on a sprawling collection of House and Senate races.

If Democrats regain control of either chamber, they will be empowered to block Trump’s agenda and launch investigations into his administration for the final two years of his term.

Republicans have only slim majorities in Congress, and the party in power normally loses ground in the midterms. And without Trump on the ballot, Republican leaders worry that it could be hard to galvanize their voters.

Trump hopes the convention would help change that dynamic, and he’s been talking about it since last year. He floated in a social media post that Republicans would use the event “to show the great things we have done since the Presidential Election of 2024.”

“We will also have lots of Great Entertainment — It will be a RALLY like none other!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the convention details.

The Democratic National Committee considered hosting a similar midterm convention but ultimately rejected the idea. An expensive soiree could have strained the DNC’s finances, which are struggling with lackluster fundraising and millions in debt.

Democrats have said the GOP convention will be a chance for them to tie Republican House and Senate candidates to Trump, whose approval rating is underwater.

Locating the convention in Texas places a spotlight on the state’s Senate race, which pits Democratic nominee James Talarico against Republican nominee Ken Paxton.

Paxton is the state attorney general who, with Trump’s backing, defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in a primary earlier this year. Republican Senate leaders fear that Paxton’s history of scandals — including an extramarital affair, an impeachment and a securities fraud case that did not lead to a conviction — could undermine his candidacy and turn a winnable race into a drain on party resources.

It also highlights the aftereffects of Trump’s mid-decade redistricting push that began in Texas, an effort to secure more seats for Republicans in this fall’s elections.

The Republican National Committee began laying the groundwork earlier this year, voting at its winter meeting in January to make such an event possible by amending procedures centered around quadrennial presidential nominating conventions.

Democrats considered holding a similar gathering ahead of the midterms but tabled the idea. However, the party did hold such conferences in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP. Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper contributed.

A mere 16 years after his first famed “decision” — the one that saw him leave Cleveland for Miami — James is getting ready to change uniforms once again. He has told the Lakers that his eight-year run with them is over and that he'll play a record-extending 24th NBA season elsewhere.

James has made clear many times in recent years that more championships are his motivation, which means it's almost certain he'll pick a team that he believes can contend for the NBA title in 2027. Golden State is believed to be on his list, though there are certainly some who will wonder if reunions with Cleveland and Miami are possible. Or, perhaps, a new landing spot awaits such as San Antonio, where he could partner with 7-foot-4 global megastar Victor Wembanyama.

“I’ve done it all. I’ve seen it all,” James said when the Lakers' season ended in May — after what was his last game with the franchise. “Just being able to compete and trying to win championships, I think that’s a motivating factor.”

The first half of his decision is complete: He's back for at least one more year, which means his family agreed to that part of the plan — James had said his wife Savannah and 12-year-old daughter Zhuri would have big says in whether he continued to play.

His next decision — where to play — is among the biggest dominoes that will fall during the NBA's offseason player movement window, alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo being traded by Milwaukee to Miami.

The next step for James is hearing from interested teams — Golden State, Miami and Cleveland were among the clubs expected to make pitches, a person with knowledge of the plans said — before he picks a landing spot. How long the process will take is anyone's guess, and the person made clear to The Associated Press that money won't be a factor in James' decision.

The Lakers released a statement Tuesday thanking James for his eight seasons with the club.

“LeBron James is one of the greatest athletes in history,” said Jeanie Buss, part of the Lakers’ ownership group. “We will always be thankful for his eight years with the Lakers, including the title he led us to in 2020 under the toughest imaginable circumstances, and the countless records he broke in purple and gold. We wish him all the best in the future, both on the court and off. He will always be a cherished part of the Lakers family.”

ESPN, citing James’ longtime agent and Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, first reported James’ plans.

What happens now for James

The free agency period in the league opened at 6 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, which meant James and Paul could start taking those meetings. James will not be able to sign with a new team until the league’s offseason moratorium is lifted on July 6.

The momentum toward Golden State seemed to pick up when longtime Warriors forward Draymond Green did not exercise his $27.6 million option for this coming season earlier this week, in large part to allow his team flexibility to make other roster moves. It doesn't mean Green won't be back in Golden State — all indications are that he will — but it gives the team options.

“Personally, I’m always willing to work with the team on whatever is best, especially at this point in my career,” Green said on the latest episode of his podcast, which was released Tuesday. “So, my decision to opt out was for a few reasons. As you all know, I’ve always taken the approach of working with the organization. I’ve been in one place for 14 years. It’s more of a family to me than anything.”

Golden State is a franchise James faced four times with Cleveland in the NBA Finals. He also has close relationships with Green, Stephen Curry and Warriors coach Steve Kerr; Curry was his teammate and Kerr was his coach for the United States' run to the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Games.

James' tenure with the Lakers was the longest he spent in one stint with an NBA team and he led them to the 2020 NBA championship. He became the NBA’s career scoring leader while wearing a Lakers uniform and surpassed a slew of other records while in purple and gold.

He spent the first seven years of his career in Cleveland, then left for four years in Miami, where he won the first two of his four championships. That was followed by another four-year stint with the Cavaliers (so he had 11 years there total), and in 2018 he joined the Lakers.

A career like none other

James is the NBA’s oldest active player; he turns 42 in December. He was the first player in league history to log 23 seasons; he’ll add at least one more to that this season. He also became the first player in the league to have a son as a teammate, with Bronny James playing alongside him with the Lakers.

The list of James’ accolades to this point are beyond comparison.

He’s a 22-time All-Star, a 21-time All-NBA selection, a four-time Most Valuable Player, a four-time NBA Finals MVP, a three-time All-Star Game MVP, and was part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. He’s coming off a season where he averaged 20.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game, and for his career, he’s averaged 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists in more than 1,600 games.

“He created a whole new era for the Lakers, including leading us to an NBA Championship in 2020 and all the milestones he surpassed in a Lakers jersey,” Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson wrote on social media. “I’ll always love and be grateful for him and wish him all the best in the next phase of his life, on and off the court!”

NBA sets cap, tax lines for 2026-27

As is custom, the NBA revealed the salary cap for this coming season shortly before the formal start of the free agency window. The cap was set at $164.961 million, with the tax level at $200.428 million.

Other numbers released by the league:

— The minimum team salary is $148.465 million.

— The first apron level is $209.015 million.

— The second apron level is $221.686 million.

— The non-taxpayer midlevel salary is $15.044 million.

— The taxpayer midlevel is $6.064 million.

— The room midlevel is $9.366 million.

Hardaway Jr., Fontecchio to Heat

Tim Hardaway Jr. grew up in Miami, where his father's jersey sways as one that the Heat retired. And now, he'll follow in his father's footsteps — agreeing to a $6.5 million deal to join the Heat and be one of the shooters around soon-to-be formally acquired Antetokounmpo. Miami also agreed with Simone Fontecchio on a deal that will only cost Miami $2.5 million against the cap.

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

One of the killed firefighters worked for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, established this year without customary congressional approval by drawing personnel from four agencies within the Interior Department. The victims were part of an elite, helicopter-based crew that got trapped Saturday in a fast-growing wildfire near the Utah border as they attacked the blaze on the ground.

Five firefighters, including the ones who died, tried to shield themselves by deploying tentlike emergency shelters as flames overran their position. The two survivors were hospitalized with burn injuries.

The consolidation of thousands of personnel into the fire service has sown confusion among some firefighters about who their bosses are and what their responsibilities should be, according to former government officials.

And the administration’s focus on “full suppression” of new fires marks a sharp reversal from a decades-long trend toward embracing flames as a tool — to burn off old vegetation and growth that acts like fuel and lessen the risk of catastrophic blazes being stoked by a warming planet.

The changes benefit private fire aviation companies that are key to hitting blazes fast.

Federal officials have not released details on the circumstances preceding the weekend deaths, including the firefighters’ objective at the site where they were overrun.

“The question is, why were they attacking that fire in the first place?” asked Timothy Ingalsbee, a former federal firefighter and cofounder of the advocacy group Firefighters United For Safety, Ethics and Ecology. “What was actually at risk? If it was a bunch of shrubs on remote mountaintops, what was the real risk that justified putting those firefighters at risk?”

98% of fires are extinguished

Wildfires ignited over the past week all across the West following months of dry weather and a record lack of snow in some places. Authorities in southern Colorado said Tuesday that a wind-driven fire northwest of Colorado City had burned more than 35 square miles (90 square kilometers) and destroyed more than 150 structures, including at least 55 homes.

Under an order from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Wildland Fire Service plans to use full suppression “for every wildfire under its management,” federal officials said in a statement to The Associated Press.

“Any wildfire that represents a threat to life, property, infrastructure or the environment should be extinguished as quickly as possible,” the statement said. “Our experienced fire managers retain the authority to select the safest and most effective tactics based on conditions on the ground.”

But critics say the administration is trying to fix something that isn’t broken: The four agencies the firefighters were drawn from — the Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs and National Park Service — have a record of extinguishing 98% of the fires they handle.

The new agency and policy won’t eliminate catastrophic wildfires that occur due to dense forests where people are increasingly moving and extreme weather caused by climate change, said Steve Ellis, who retired as a Bureau of Land Management deputy director. Land managers must be a part of the solution, he said.

“Severing forest management and forest managers from fire suppression will make firefighting less safe and put communities at greater risk,” Ellis said.

The two other wildland firefighters killed in Colorado worked for the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, which handles most U.S. wildfires and is also operating under a full suppression policy. Trump had wanted the new agency to include Forest Service firefighters, but Congress blocked that part of the plan.

Fire aviation companies pushed for the consolidation

Under Trump, federal officials have been bringing in aircraft more quickly once fires ignite, said Austin Moeller, an aerospace analyst for the investment firm Canaccord Genuity.

“Anyone that has an air tanker benefits from this more aggressive contracting activity,” Moeller said.

A chief beneficiary is Bridger Aerospace, a Montana-based company founded by U.S. Sen. Tim Sheehy. Before his 2024 election, Sheehy hired lobbyists in a failed attempt to persuade the Montana Legislature to create a statewide fire service analogous to the one just created at the federal level. Within a month of taking federal office, he sponsored a bill to codify the consolidation of federal firefighters into one agency.

Sheehy stepped away from his company during the 2024 campaign and put his Bridger assets into a blind trust, said Sheehy spokesman Tate Mitchell.

Mitchell said Trump was behind the idea to create a new fire agency, but Sheehy supports it.

“One of Senator Sheehy’s top priorities in the Senate is using his experience to stop the catastrophic fires destroying American communities and he won’t apologize for it,” Mitchell said.

Bridger describes itself as one of the nation's leading aerial firefighting companies. CEO Sam Davis has said the company's fleet of Super Scooper aircraft, its surveillance aircraft and its fire observation technology make it “uniquely positioned” to respond to the renewed emphasis on attacking fires to put them out.

New full suppression policy dates back decades

The aircraft will help the administration's new full suppression policy, which harkens back to a 1935 policy known as the 10 a.m. rule because it required agencies to put out new fires by 10 a.m. the following day.

Michael Dudley, a retired director of fire, aviation and air management at the Forest Service, said that old policy is why forests today are overgrown.

Wildfires serve a purpose — they clear out the small and dead material. But officials became so good at putting out fires that the forests kept growing and more fuels built up, so when a fire hits now, it's easy for it to get out of control, he said.

Scientists who study wildfires say trying to stop all fires is unrealistic since some of the most destructive blazes in recent years have evaded efforts to put them out. Some fires simply grow too fast, are too remote, or result from multiple ignitions that makes them impossible to stop.

“The narrative that if we just try harder, we’re gonna make these fires go away isn’t true,” said former Forest Service wildfire researcher David Calkin. “The fire paradox is not beatable: The more you make fire go away, the more fuel accumulates. The more fuel accumulates, the harder it is to make fires go away.”

Firefighters: New agency needs work

Firefighters in the consolidated agency are working under newly appointed Wildland Fire Service Chief Brian Fennessy, who had served as chief of California's Orange County Fire Authority since 2018.

“There’s a level of confusion as everyone’s trying to sort out responsibilities and who’s in charge and who do you report to,” Dudley said.

An Interior spokesperson said Fennessy was highly respected with decades of experience, including managing some of the nation's most complex fire challenges in densely-populated southern California.

Luke Mayfield, a founder of the group Grassroots Wildland Firefighters, said he believes the consolidation will better serve firefighters, but significant work remains to get the new agency fully running.

“Everyone was aware of the potential fuel and fire conditions we face this fire season,” Mayfield said. “Those conditions are surfacing and have resulted in firefighter fatalities with weather conditions that won’t let up in the near future.”

Pochettino began his news conference before Wednesday's game against Bosnia-Herzegovina by asking the media to forgive him for his curt tone following the U.S. team's 3-2 loss to Turkey in a match that had no impact on the Americans after they had already clinched the top spot in the group.

“I want to apologize to the guys that were in my last press conference,” Pochettino said. “I was so frustrated. I was disappointed. I thank you and am sorry. It was my problem, not your problem. I was upset after the defeat.”

Pochettino called out the media in the post-match news conference last week for not praising him and his team for having already won the group before the loss to Turkey.

“For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters after the game.

“What we need to remember is we won first place in this group,” Pochettino added while speaking in Spanish and English. “We ended up being No. 1, and we managed all the pressure and the expectations quite well."

Pochettino knows the expectations are even higher now that his team has reached the knockout round and goes into the game against Bosnia as the favorite to advance.

He has preached to his team that “relaxation brings concentration” and has told them to approach every game as if it was the final.

“If we don’t see it in this way, I think we are going to struggle,” he said. “We are seeing already in all the games after the group stage how difficult it is. ... We don’t have another opportunity if we fail. It’s all in and knowing that game is the final of the World Cup. And if we were capable to go through, the next one is going to be another final of the World Cup.”

Bosnia has already played host Canada to a draw in Toronto in the opening match and now faces a U.S. team on American soil as the underdogs. Former U.S. national team goalkeeper Tim Howard said Bosnia is “better off not even getting on a plane and going to San Francisco” for a match he believes they have no chance of winning.

But the Bosnians already defied the odds by beating four-time champion Italy in the European playoffs and now have a chance to spoil the World Cup for the U.S. team.

“I'm not concerned with things like that,” Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez said about Howard's comments. “I have to admit, things like that happen on a daily basis. We are a small country and things like that sometimes happen. I have no problem. My boys don’t have a problem with that. ... We are playing to go into the round of 16. Is that not motivation enough? I don't notice things like that.”

Injury updates for the US team ahead of match

Pochettino had some injury updates for his team ahead of the match, saying he hoped Auston Trusty could be available after injuring his ankle late in the last game against Turkey. Trusty scored his first goal for the national team in that game.

Pochettino said it would be more difficult for Cristian Roldan (quadriceps strain) and Mark McKenzie (foot irritation) to be available for the game but a final decision won't be made until Wednesday.

Christian Pulisic said he is ready to start after missing the second group game with a calf injury and playing only 33 minutes as a sub in the final group match.

“I feel good and ready to go for tomorrow,” Pulisic said.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

And when it was all over and the 44-year-old Williams had performed admirably in a three-set defeat to an opponent less than half her age in the opening round of Wimbledon with her two daughters cheering her on, Williams smiled as she walked off to a loud round of applause.

“It was really great to be back at Wimbledon. I never expected to be here,” Williams, who did not meet with media after the match, said in a statement released by Wimbledon organizers. “The atmosphere was amazing. Walking out was amazing. I definitely relished it and missed it and enjoyed the moment more than anything.”

In a 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 loss to 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia on Tuesday, Williams showed she can still crank out serves faster than 120 mph and dictate points with her heavy groundstrokes.

Movement was an issue for Williams, though, and the 87th-ranked Joint was able to handle Williams' pace and win more of the big points by hitting beyond the American's reach.

While Williams played two doubles matches just before Wimbledon to announce her comeback to the sport she once dominated, she hadn’t played a singles match since the 2022 U.S. Open.

“She has such an aura, she’s just a legend and this court has so many huge names that have played on it,” Joint added. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy.”

Williams has 98 career victories and seven titles in singles on the hallowed grass of the All England Club. By contrast, it was Joint’s first Wimbledon victory in just her second appearance at the All England Club after losing in the opening round last year.

But Joint won a Wimbledon warmup in nearby Eastbourne last year and knows how to play on grass.

Doubles match still to come

Williams, who has no singles ranking after being out for so long, was given wild card invitations by Wimbledon organizers to play singles and also doubles with older sister Venus. Her doubles match will come later in the week.

Williams has said that having her two daughters off from school inspired her comeback and it marked the first time that her youngest daughter, Adira, who is almost three, saw her play singles. Adira sat next to her 8-year-old sister, Olympia in the front row of Serena’s players’ box.

Standing ovation

Fans started cheering when Williams' name was announced as the next match on Centre Court and then they gave her a standing ovation as she walked out before the match started under a closed roof. Several supporters held up signs with messages like “Welcome Back” and one wore a T-shirt that said “Unstoppable Queen.”

Williams executed a delicate topspin lob winner early on and then cranked out a 121 mph ace to hold for 3-3 in the first set. But Williams also had a costly double-fault which led to the only break of the first set.

In the second set, Williams came back from 0-40 and saved four break points to hold for 6-5. Then Williams saved a match point in the tiebreaker with a big serve down the T followed by a forehand approach winner. Another big serve — clocking in at 122 mph — set up Serena’s first set point, which she converted when Joint missed a forehand long.

After winning the set, Williams pumped her fist calmly.

But Joint took control early in the third and a forehand from Williams sailed long on Joint’s third match point to conclude the encounter after 2 hours, 22 minutes.

Williams and Joint both had 37 unforced errors, while Joint led 40-26 in winners.

Zverev and Swiatek advance

After the opening day featured wins for No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, along with Novak Djokovic, French Open champion Alexander Zverev and defending Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek made it into the second round on Tuesday.

In a match between hard servers, the second-seeded Zverev beat Alexander Blockx 6-4, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (0).

Swiatek, who had her father and sister looking on from the Royal Box, struggled with her serve and committed nine double-faults before overcoming Taylor Townsend 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

No. 2 Elena Rybakina also advanced, beating Lois Boisson 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Ben Shelton, a quarterfinalist here last year, lost to 140th-ranked Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen in five sets, going out 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-6 (9).

Also, 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini beat Stan Wawrinka 6-7 (7), 7-6 (16), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5). It was the final Wimbledon match for Wawrinka, who plans to retire at the end of the year.

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AP Sports Writers Mattias Karen and Ken Maguire contributed to this report.

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

The 20-year-old Joint had said there was “always a part of me that wanted to experience playing against her."

After getting what she wished for — a first-round meeting with the tennis icon — Joint delivered on the biggest stage.

The Michigan-born Australian showed few nerves in winning the biggest match of her life — defeating Williams 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 on Tuesday to spoil the 44-year-old Williams' singles comeback at the All England Club.

“I didn’t get much sleep last night. I was up until like 2 a.m. just thinking about it," Joint said in her on-court interview.

The 87th-ranked Joint certainly looked calm on the outside but said she had serious butterflies walking onto Centre Court alongside the GOAT of women's tennis.

During warmups, she felt like her legs “weren’t moving.”

"I really don’t know how I got a pretty good start in the match," Joint said. “She has such an aura, she’s just a legend and this court has so many huge names that have played on it. I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid, so this is pretty crazy."

Joint notched her first Wimbledon singles win and just her third Grand Slam singles victory. By the time Joint was born in 2006, Williams had already won seven major titles, completing a career Grand Slam in the process. Williams has won 23 major singles titles — seven at Wimbledon.

“Just the start was very nerve-racking and then trying to finish out the match, as well. She definitely lifted her level and she played some really great tennis there," Joint said.

Joint had chances to end it earlier.

At 5-5 in the second set, Joint squandered four break point opportunities as Williams held serve. Joint then won the next game to love, including back-to-back aces to force a tiebreaker.

Joint had her first match point at 6-5 in the tiebreaker but Williams hit a winner and then won the next two points.

Joint got the key break to go up 4-2 in the deciding set. She sealed the win on her third match point.

“I think I tensed up a little bit when I got close to winning, but I think I played my best tennis when I needed to, which was good,” she said.

Slowed by a back injury earlier this year, Joint at one point lost 10 consecutive matches.

“Even though I didn’t win many matches this year, I still felt like I could win," Joint said. “I had the belief and I just took advantage of the moment and enjoyed it, didn’t really think about the previous matches I’ve played.”

She later added: “If you’re playing Serena, you have nothing to lose. It makes sense that people play their best game against her.”

Last year, Joint won the grass-court Eastbourne tournament ahead of her debut at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to Liudmila Samsonova. Joint's only two other victories in majors came at the U.S. Open.

Joint, who represents Australia through her father, joins a list of unheralded players to have eliminated Williams in Wimbledon’s first round.

Harmony Tan was ranked 115th when she beat Williams in 2022. A year prior, it was Aliaksandra Sasnovich, ranked No. 100 at the time, who emerged victorious when Williams retired from the match with a leg injury.

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

Thomas also criticized WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not doing more to protect the league's players when she spoke with reporters on Tuesday at the team's practice facility.

“It's unfortunate that it's come to this over basketball," Thomas said. "A lot of us — myself included — didn't even know the play took place until after the game. Now we're being painted as thugs. There's death threats out on us. It's really unacceptable. It's something that needs to change in this league and I'm just really sick and tired of it.”

Engelbert released a statement Tuesday night.

“The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate. The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league’s top priority," Engelbert said. "We are aware of Alyssa Thomas’ comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players.”

Thomas called the play a “complete accident," but said her main concern wasn't the suspension. The six-time All-Star said she didn't know she was being suspended until 10 minutes before it was released on social media.

“It’s not even about the suspension,” Thomas said. “If that’s what they felt was necessary in that moment, then so be it. But I think there’s a lot of other plays that you can say the same about. The biggest thing is about our safety. We’re so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we’re having people threaten our lives. Leaking addresses out there. Putting crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball.”

The play happened with 6:52 left in the second quarter in a game against Clark's Indiana Fever on Wednesday and was deemed to be a non-basketball act. The league gave Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty for it.

No foul was called on the play by officials in the moment. The WNBA is allowed to review a game to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any foul not called as such during a game.

"People are sending racial slurs and all types of stuff,” Thomas said. “There's a difference between trolling and there's a difference between hatred. The hatred that we're experiencing over a play that, honestly, was a complete accident, no one even knew it happened. It's just unfortunate. The league has to do better in this instance.”

Thomas and Engelbert exchanged text messages last week to talk about the security issue, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday night. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussion. The person said that Engelbert immediately directed league security to get in touch with Phoenix security once she heard about the threats.

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

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

The two teams had played a few days before the Thomas-Clark incident and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical of the season in that game. The team petitioned the league to have it rescinded, but the WNBA confirmed that the technical will stand.

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

The Mercury and Fever play again on July 9 in Phoenix.

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AP Sports Writer David Brandt in Phoenix contributed to this report.

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

Hinkle — one of the oldest arenas in the country — is iconic, and more than fits the billing that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and other league officials were looking for when he said the league was searching for “storied college arenas” to play host to the Cup final.

The 2026-27 title game, to be played Dec. 11, will mark the first time the Cup final is held outside of Las Vegas — which hosted the final for the first three in-season tournaments.

“Hinkle Fieldhouse offers a special setting to capture the excitement and drama of the Emirates NBA Cup Championship,” NBA Head of Global Events Kelly Flatow said. “Playing the championship in an iconic basketball environment like this will further establish it as a signature moment on the NBA calendar.”

The arena, which has about 9,100 seats, has played host to at least six U.S. presidents — Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush — along with the first U.S. vs. Soviet Union basketball games, circuses, tennis matches, ice shows and even was used as a barracks for the U.S. military during World War II.

“Hinkle Fieldhouse gets loud,” Boston Celtics basketball operations president Brad Stevens said when he coached at Butler, “and it gets as loud as loud gets.”

Hinkle also was home of the famed Indiana high school basketball tournament for decades, including 1954 when tiny Milan High beat Muncie Central High to win the state title in the story that served as the inspiration for the classic basketball movie “Hoosiers” — which used Hinkle as the set for its championship game.

Indianapolis native Oscar Robertson also played there; his Crispus Attucks High team won state titles in that arena in 1955 and 1956 as well. It also has been the site of NBA games in the past, along with some WNBA games in 2022.

The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural NBA Cup in 2023; the event was simply called the in-season tournament that year. Milwaukee won in 2024 and New York beat San Antonio for the 2025 title — in a preview of this season's NBA Finals, in which the Knicks topped the Spurs again.

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

The states and federal government accused Cal-Maine Foods, Versova and Hickman’s Egg Ranch of a behind-the-scenes arrangement to “artificially inflate the daily price quotations for eggs" between June 2022 and March 2025. In particular, their investigation found that the companies coordinated on what bids they would submit to Urner Barry Publications, a company that runs an index key to determining how much grocery stores, restaurants and others pay for billions of eggs each year.

In turn, that meant “higher prices for eggs sold to consumers,” alleged the complaint, which was filed in Iowa on Monday, the day the settlement terms were announced.

“When powerful corporations collude behind the scenes to raise prices, working families suffer the costs,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, who helped lead the investigation, said in a statement. “These egg producers manipulated the market to squeeze even more profit out of consumers and businesses."

None of the companies admitted wrongdoing under the settlements. But to settle the states' claims, Cal-Maine, Versova and Hickman's will collectively be on the hook for $3.3 million and 53 million eggs, James and others said. Those eggs would be donated by the companies and make their ways to food banks and nonprofits. The money will be distributed to the states.

The Justice Department and the states also outlined actions the companies will need to take, including adopting antitrust compliance programs and banning communicating with competitors on pricing and bidding strategies.

The settlements would still need court approval. The Justice Department's Omeed A. Assefi said Tuesday that the proposed settlements “resolve years of conduct that dragged on Americans’ finances and their everyday lives.”

Average U.S. egg prices soared to a record high of about $6.23 per dozen in March 2025, amid a bird flu epidemic that forced farmers to slaughter millions of egg-laying chickens. Egg producers blamed price spike on the outbreak, but critics accused big companies of taking advantage of their market dominance and the government began its investigation.

Monday’s complaint notes that price quotations “dropped significantly” after Cal-Maine, Versova and Hickman’s learned of the Justice Department’s investigation and were instructed to preserve documents in March 2025. Consumer egg prices also later tumbled — to under $2.20 per dozen as of May 2026 — as replenished flocks caught up despite the ongoing outbreak.

Cal-Maine maintained Monday that allegations of price manipulation were “baseless” and that it believes its conduct has been legal. It also noted that while it was part of a cooperative with the other egg producers, it left the group in May 2024.

Still, Cal-Maine CEO Sherman Miller said the company's settlement agreement “enables us to move forward so we can devote our full attention to what matters most: delivering affordable, high-quality eggs and egg-based prepared foods to consumers nationwide.”

Miller added the period the Justice Department reviewed “was a particularly challenging time” — noting that, beyond avian flu, the COVID-19 pandemic, weather and other market conditions have contributed to temporary supply shocks and high prices in recent years. He said Cal-Maine “took numerous steps to protect and grow its hen flock” in that time.

Versova echoed a similar sentiment, particularly pointing to the toll the bird flu has had on its farmers, who it noted “don’t set the wholesale price of eggs.” Instead, Versova said the price of most of its eggs depends on cost fluctuations of grain used in hen feeds.

Meanwhile, Hickman's owner Mantiqueira USA, which acquired the egg producer in November, said the “conduct referenced in the complaint predates our acquisition," noting that it is committed to complying with the law.

Some advocacy groups say the proposed settlements aren't enough.

“Consumers paid record prices while dominant egg producers reported extraordinary profits, yet the result is another settlement that corporations can treat as the cost of doing business rather than meaningful accountability,” said Angela Huffman, president of Farm Action.

Cal-Maine — the only of the three companies that is public and reports quarterly financials — reported a profit of $1.22 billion for the 2025 fiscal year. Under its settlement agreement with the states, the company would pay $1.5 million and donate 30 million eggs.

Meanwhile, per court documents, Versova would provide 20 million eggs and $800,000, and Hickman's would be on the hook for 3.25 million eggs and $1 million.

In addition to New York, these states were party to the settlement agreements: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The decision, in line with the longstanding judicial interpretation of the 14th Amendment, comes on the final day of a Supreme Court term that has centered on Trump’s expansive claims of presidential power — and largely ruled in his favor.

In its other Tuesday rulings, the court upheld laws in roughly half the states that prohibit transgender girls and women from playing on their public school and college sport teams and struck down limits on party spending in federal elections.

Here's the latest:

Venezuelan asylum seeker, with 2 daughters born in US, relieved by court ruling

Loreana Pachano, a Venezuelan asylum seeker in Lehi, Utah, with two daughters who became U.S. citizens by birth, said the court’s decision was a relief.

Her brother is also a U.S. citizen because he was born in the country while his father was working on a master’s degree with a student visa. She was born in Venezuela.

“It’s good to see there’s some pushback when things don’t make sense,” said Pachano, who has also applied for an employment-based green card. She said her daughters have no legal status in Venezuela.

Justice Thomas: ‘Citizenship Clause was enacted for people who were born in this country and called it home’

Thomas, who wrote the main dissent, disagreed with the majority’s opinion on birthright citizenship.

The basis of his argument, among other things, is that the court ignored evidence from Reconstruction debates that suggested citizenship depended on a deeper relationship to the country.

“The Citizenship Clause was enacted for people who were born in this country and called it home. It was enacted for freed slaves such as Dred Scott, who had ‘a domicile’ here and therefore were entitled to sue as citizens,” Thomas wrote in his dissent, concluding that Reconstruction was a targeted remedy for freed slaves to restore citizenship to a wrongfully excluded group.

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Supreme Court chief justice: ‘We break no new ground today’

Much of Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion was a history lesson on English common law, in which he concluded that birthright citizenship has always depended primarily on birthplace — not on parents’ immigration status or domicile.

“Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights — to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to ‘every free-born person in this land,’” Roberts wrote for the court, citing congressional debate over the amendment, “We keep that promise today.”

“We break no new ground today,” Roberts said on the bench as he read the court’s majority opinion.

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Justice Department instructs prosecutors to crack down on ‘birth tourism’ schemes

In a memo circulated hours after the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding birthright citizenship, the deputy attorney general’s office directed prosecutors to “prioritize the investigation and prosecution” of fraudulent “birth tourism” schemes.

In seeking to end birthright citizenship, the Trump administration pointed to “birth tourism” networks that arrange for non-U.S. citizens to come to the country solely to give birth.

The memo says that while many of such cases are charged as visa fraud, prosecutors should also consider whether other laws apply, including wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft.

“Together, we will bring illegal birth tourism to an end and those responsible to justice,” the memo says.

‘A very narrow decision’

A lawyer representing trans female athletes in pending litigation in multiple states described the Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams as “a very narrow decision.”

Susan Cirilli, whose clients include former Swarthmore College cross-country runner Evie Parts, reiterated that there remains no federal law in the country that prohibits transgender women from participating in sports and argues that President Trump’s executive order cannot supersede state law.

Venezuelan woman who is part of another birthright lawsuit received court decision in tears

“I feel a great sense of tranquility,” said the woman, one of the five plaintiffs in the lawsuit at the Maryland district court. “It is a triumph for our children; I fought hard for this day,” said the asylum seeker.

The woman, who asked not to be identified from fear of being detained, said she filed the lawsuit Jan. 21, 2025, the day after President Trump announced his executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. She was pregnant with her first child, who was born in August 2025.

As an asylum seeker, she did not believe she could request the Venezuelan citizenship for the baby and wondered what citizenship the child would have.

“There was a lot of uncertainty and fear. I wondered: if my son wasn’t going to be from here, then where would he be from?” said the woman, who was a doctor in her country and arrived to the U.S. in 2019 after receiving death threats in Venezuela.

On Tuesday, she said she felt a “sea of emotions” when she saw the news on TV.

ACLU celebrates the Supreme Court’s birthright citizenship ruling

“This should have been a unanimous decision,” attorney Cody Wofsy, deputy director at the ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project, told reporters after the decision was announced. “The text of the Constitution is clear, the history is clear, and the precedent is clear.”

“That said, regardless of what the vote count may have been, this is a rejection of the Trump administration’s extreme attempts to rewrite the Constitution and to exclude entire portions of American-born children from our country.”

Birthright could become a powerful wedge issue in US politics, critic of decision says

“The president was never going to win, in the sense that his executive order was going to be overturned,” said Mark Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank favoring restrictive immigration policies. “The question was if the Supreme Court would accept the ACLU’s interpretation of the 14th Amendment.”

The ruling “constitutionalized the question” of birthright citizenship, he said, requiring changes through a constitutional amendment.

That, he argued, is highly unlikely: “Congress can’t rename post offices, let alone do anything else.”

But, he said, birthright could now become a powerful political wedge issue, similar to the court’s 1973 abortion ruling, which was overturned in 2022.

“It’ll distort our politics the way Roe vs. Wade did in energizing a political movement,” he said.

Could pregnancy now be a question on visa application?

Mark Krikorian, a prominent Washington voice favoring restrictive immigration policies, said he expects the ruling to result in new U.S. visa applications, with potential visitors being asked if they are pregnant.

“It’s something that visa officers are often reluctant to ask about — it’s awkward,” said Krikorian, the director of the Center for Immigration Studies.

“But if it’s on the application then you have the answers, and if you lie you’ve committed a felony,” he said.

The Trump administration says birthright citizenship has created what it calls a birth tourism industry.

“It is unacceptable for foreign parents to use a U.S. tourist visa for the primary purpose of giving birth in the United States to obtain citizenship for the child,” the State Department said in a post on X. “Those who abuse our immigration system through birth tourism may be ineligible for future visas or travel to the United States.”

Justice Thomas says the majority misunderstands the 14th amendment

He insists the majority opinion perpetuates a misunderstanding and misapplication of the 14th amendment.

The citizenship clause and related Reconstruction statutes granted citizenship “to persons born and domiciled in the United States regardless of their race,” he wrote. But “neither guaranteed citizenship to persons who were not domiciled in the United States.”

He continued: “Blacks were entitled to citizenship because they were Americans. They had no other homeland, owed no allegiance to any foreign power, and were subject to no other authority.”

That highlights the argument over what it means to be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S.

The majority holds that, with exceptions like foreign diplomats, being on U.S. soil makes a person subject to U.S. laws. Thomas and dissenters reason that no one who is separately subject to another foreign government should be considered “subject to the jurisdiction” of the U.S., at least when conferring citizenship.

Justice Jackson takes issue with Thomas in citizenship reasoning

Justice Clarence Thomas’ dissent in the birthright case argued the 14th amendment’s citizenship clause applied only to formerly enslaved people and not more broadly.

That prompted Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to pen a concurrence to Roberts’ majority opinion.

“Despite his longstanding endorsement of a ‘colorblind’ Constitution, Justice Thomas now surprisingly suggests that the Citizenship Clause was a race-conscious remedial measure, relating only to ‘freed slaves such as Dred Scott,’” she wrote, calling that a “narrow vision” of Reconstruction’s intended expansion of democracy.

“This alternative account pitches Black Americans against immigrants when the advocates who promoted the Fourteenth Amendment did no such thing,” Jackson wrote. “Freed Blacks fought for the shared humanity of all people.”

Jackson is the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Thomas is the second Black man, succeeding Thurgood Marshall, who argued the Brown v. Board case that struck down segregated schools.

Trump says Congress should end birthright citizenship and calls court ruling ‘too bad’

The president said the Supreme Court’s decision upholding that anyone born in the United States automatically becomes an American citizen was “too bad for our Country,” but that Congress could “easily” address it with legislation.

Trump declared that “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary!”

But the Supreme Court’s ruling Tuesday makes it clear that it would be necessary to amend the Constitution. Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the opinion for the court, pointed to the Fourteenth Amendment in the Constitution in ruling that anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions, is a citizen.

Justice Department reacts to the ruling on birthright citizenship

The Justice Department said in a statement that it’s “committed to tackling illegal birth tourism schemes by working diligently with U.S. Attorneys across the country to uphold the law.”

“Actors seeking to exploit loopholes to obtain automatic citizenship for their children pose a national security threat and will be brought to justice,” the department said in a post on X.

Dred Scott case featured in the justices’ birthright citizenship writings

U.S. Supreme Court justices have long distanced themselves from the pre-Civil War decision that declared Black people — enslaved and free — were not U.S. citizens.

The 1857 Dred Scott case was featured again Tuesday, being mentioned 48 times in 194 pages of the birthright citizenship opinion, concurrences and dissents.

Roberts’ majority opinion explained how U.S. birthright citizenship originates with English common law: Anyone born in the monarch’s realm was considered a “natural-born subject.”

The “odious” Scott case, Roberts said, deviated from that once-accepted understanding and “was met with shock.”

In response, he detailed, the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause restored common law understanding, with lawmakers making clear they were explicitly rebuking the Scott decision.

Yet, Roberts wrote, “the Government and the principal dissent propose a return to its core tenet,” that “for certain people, being born on American soil will not suffice to confer citizenship.”

Supreme Court denies report that Justice Samuel Alito is retiring

The Supreme Court’s public information office is denying a published report, since retracted, that the court announced Alito’s retirement Tuesday.

The unusual statement followed a story from NPR saying the court had announced that Alito was stepping down. NPR pulled the story a short time later. Chief Justice John Roberts announced the retirement of several court employees Tuesday, as he customarily does after the court’s final opinions are out. Alito was not among them.

Speculation had swirled about the justice’s future plans earlier this year, but Fox News and CBS reported this spring that he planned to remain on the bench.

NPR’s editor-in-chief released a statement saying the story had been incorrectly reported and that correspondent Nina Totenberg would appear on “All Things Considered” Tuesday afternoon to explain what had happened.

Court will consider striking down assault weapons bans in Connecticut and the Chicago-area

A Supreme Court that has expanded gun rights will consider whether bans on semiautomatic rifles, often called assault weapons, violate the Second Amendment.

The justices said Tuesday they will take up appeals asking the court to strike down bans on the AR-15 and similar semiautomatic firearms in the Chicago area and Connecticut.

Similar laws are in place in about a dozen states, covering major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Congress allowed a national assault weapons ban to expire in 2004, but Democrats have supported renewing it in response to a series of mass shootings and states have continued to pass their own laws.

The cases are the latest high-profile disputes over guns to reach the court since its conservative majority handed down a landmark ruling in 2022 that expanded Second Amendment rights and spawned challenges to firearm laws around the country.

The case is expected to be heard in the fall.

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More reactions to the Supreme Court’s decision on campaign spending

The conservative-leaning Institute for Free Speech hailed the decision as “a landmark victory for the First Amendment.”

“More than half the states have operated for years without restricting coordinated party expenditures, and there is no evidence of the corruption the federal government fears,” institute senior attorney Brett Nolan said. “The Court corrected a two-decade-old mistake.”

Meanwhile, Jacquelyn Lopez and Rachel Jacobs, partners in the Elias Law Group, which represents Democrats in voting rights cases and election contests, said the decision “needlessly” destroyed “a long-standing pillar” of federal campaign finance laws.

However, they also said Republicans have “pushed the boundaries” of the limits to help weak candidates. They said the Elias Law Group had anticipated the outcome for months.

“In the long run, Democratic campaigns will benefit from the level playing field this ruling provides,” they said. “Now, both parties are free to offer unlimited support to their candidates, not just the party willing to ignore the law to do so.”

From a descendant of the man at the center of the 1898 birthright citizenship ruling

Norman Wong, the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, the Chinese American cook at the center of the landmark 1898 Supreme Court decision establishing birthright citizenship, applauded Tuesday’s ruling.

“My great grandfather, Wong Kim Ark, never set out to become a symbol. He was one man, only a cook, and yet he stood up for what was right, and I believe that it has made a difference,” Wong said in a statement. “As a result, he stood up for the rights of all of us Americans — it just so happens that I am related to him. Today’s ruling shows that his victory remains as important now as it was in 1898.”

‘By the grace of God, the president does not manage to do everything he wants’

For a Mexican mother with six children born in the United States — ranging in age from 18 years to 18 months — the Supreme Court’s decision brought happiness.

“I am happy for our children,” the 38-year-old woman said in a telephone interview. “I am happy because they don’t face any risk like we do.”

The woman, who asked not to be identified for fear of being detained and deported, crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2007 in search of a better life. She has not applied for asylum or any other immigration status.

She works at a plant nursery in South Florida, where her children attend school.

The woman said one of her children called her as soon as he found out about the decision to share his joy with her.

“By the grace of God, the president does not manage to do everything he wants,” the mother said. “I was confident that, with God’s help, he would not succeed.”

Birthright citizenship survived racist eras, and now Trump, Global Refuge leader says

The head of Global Refuge said the Supreme Court averted a catastrophe with its 6-3 opinion upholding the 14th Amendment and rejecting the Trump administration’s attempt to overturn a Reconstruction era amendment.

“Birthright citizenship survived the Chinese Exclusion Act, Jim Crow, and today, it survived an executive order that would have essentially turned the maternity ward into a customs checkpoint,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of Global Refugee.

“The Justices rightly recognized that the U.S. Constitution is clear and unambiguous: if you are born in this country and subject to its jurisdiction, you are a citizen of this country,” she said. Vignarajah said a different outcome would have denied citizenship to more than 250,000 children born in the U.S. each year.

“This was a constitutional stress test.”

Trump says Republicans won ‘big’ on Supreme Court’s party spending ruling

The president applauded a Supreme Court ruling that struck down a federal election law and made it easier for major donors to avoid caps on individual contributions to candidates by going through the party.

“A BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS and, more importantly, The First Amendment!” Trump posted on social media.

House Speaker Mike Johnson ‘very disappointed’ over birthright citizenship ruling

The Republican leader’s news conference was interrupted by the ruling as reporters instantly sought a real-time reaction.

“Oh dear,” Johnson said as a reporter read out the decision.

Johnson said he believes it will subject the country to “serious challenges going forward and we’ll have to deal with that.”

Johnson, who has worked as a constitutional lawyer primarily on religious issues, said the 14th Amendment is being abused by people who are coming to the U.S. to have children in a “birthing tourism trend.” It’s not illegal but is a practice the Trump administration has tried to reduce.

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This story has been corrected to reflect the correct last name of a Venzuelan asylum seeker to Pachano, not Panchana.

The three-day camp is led by Glenvar head football coach Kevin Clifford, along with several current Highlanders players. Future Highlanders, from first through sixth grade, are developing football fundamentals through drills, games and position-specific instruction.

While the camp is designed to build skills, Clifford said having fun is just as important.

“The most important thing is fun,” said Clifford. “We emphasize proper tackling with four tackling circuits, focusing on head placement, where your arms should be and where your head should be. That’s really important. We also let everybody play an offensive position. Whether you’re a skill player, you’re going to play on the line. Linemen are going to get to run the ball. Finding that balance is really important because if they’re not having fun, they’re not going to want to stay with the sport.”

Glenvar opens the varsity football season September 4th against Liberty.

Meanwhile, the number of official rescues has dropped dramatically in the last three days, the government said, from 5,380 people saved in the first two days after the quakes to just four people found alive Monday by authorities. The prime window for finding earthquake survivors is typically 48 to 72 hours, but it is possible to survive longer depending on factors such as temperature and access to water or food.

The sole survivor rescued by Tuesday afternoon was a toddler who had been trapped for six days under a collapsed building, said Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the National Assembly.

Those numbers do not include the many rescues carried out across the country by volunteer groups that, frustrated with the government's sluggish response, scrambled to save their trapped loved ones days before the arrival of expert international teams.

The government puts the death toll at over 1,900. Experts say that is a significant undercount as more bodies are hauled from the rubble every day and morgues struggle to handle the influx.

Among the living, a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. United Nations agencies estimated on Tuesday that the earthquake amassed 1.2 million tons of debris of destroyed buildings and belongings. They expressed concern about the health effects of thousands of displaced people sleeping for days in the open or in crowded, unsanitary shelters.

A healthcare system in crisis

The Venezuelan healthcare system, strained by decades of underinvestment and years of economic crisis is “under extreme pressure now, with facilities operating beyond the capacity of the surge of the trauma cases,” said World Health Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier at a media briefing in Geneva.

Venezuelan officials say that more than 15,800 people have been affected by the earthquakes — a figure that reflects the official number of displaced people, U.N. refugee agency spokesperson Carlotta Wolf said Tuesday. Newly homeless Venezuelans are sleeping in cars, parks and elsewhere.

Wolf said that number would continue to rise. Many of those displaced in the hardest-hit state of La Guaira, just outside the capital of Caracas along the coast, are suffering from widespread food shortages, she said.

Without access to toilets, showers or soap, displaced Venezuelans have also become increasingly vulnerable to the outbreak of preventable diseases like measles, given the population’s low vaccination rates, Lindmeier said, adding that conditions are ripe for waterborne infections such as dengue, yellow fever and malaria to spread.

According to the government, last week's earthquakes damaged or otherwise compromised 38 hospitals nationwide. WHO said it so far has evaluated 21 of those facilities, three of which are no longer operating. Another six have sustained damage and the rest are now buckling under the influx of injuries.

Many specialist doctors are missing in the ruins, including officials in charge of maternity care in La Guaira, WHO said, compounding the challenges to healthcare in a country that 8 million people, including many doctors and nurses, have fled in recent years.

“Findings reveal chaotic service delivery and patient flow, marked by overcrowding, growing surgical backlogs ... and a breakdown in biosafety measures,” Lindmeier said.

An increased presence of nongovernmental organizations was noticeable Tuesday in La Guaira and adjacent communities, with tents from the Red Cross, the World Food Program and other organizations set up on sidewalks, waterfront esplanades and athletic facilities. People lined up throughout the day under the blistering sun to receive free toiletries, food, medications and face masks.

A struggle to grasp the true toll

With the government tight-lipped about victims and survivors and offering no official count of missing people, ordinary Venezuelans are struggling to find relatives. Many have turned to WhatsApp groups and nongovernmental digital databases to report their loved ones as missing. One such registry listed at least 43,220 people as missing.

In his daily televised casualty update, Jorge Rodríguez, brother of interim President Delcy Rodríguez, said that the official toll stood at 1,943 people killed and 10,571 injured as of Tuesday, urging the public to share only government information.

But his numbers left thousands of Venezuelans unaccounted for. He said the government estimated there were around 30,000 people in the hardest-hit parts of La Guaira state at the time of the earthquake, and that around 20,000 of them managed to escape the area or were later rescued.

NASA estimates that nearly 59,000 buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the earthquakes, which would put the number of people affected by the quakes in the hundreds of thousands. The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, on Tuesday said 680,000 children are in need of humanitarian assistance nationwide.

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DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Associated Press writers Regina Garcia Cano and Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, Megan Janetsky in Mexico City and Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed to this report.

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

The NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams on Tuesday informing them that Sorsby, a quarterback whose college career ended when the NCAA banished him for gambling activity that included wagers on his own team while on the roster at Indiana in 2022 and betting on pro sports, will not seek legal action against the NFL after the league denied his petition to enter the supplemental draft.

“I accept 100% responsibility for my actions,” Sorsby posted on Instagram on Tuesday evening. “I did not have control of my gambling problem and it took getting caught to realize that, but it was truly the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Sorsby, who moved from Indiana to Cincinnati to Texas Tech before revelations about an extensive gambling problem surfaced, tried to enter the draft just three days before the scheduled deadline. The league, which hasn't held a supplemental draft since 2023 and hasn't had a player selected in it since 2019, denied the petition.

“The issues presented by your Petition are too significant, and too closely tied to the League’s core integrity interests, to permit meaningful review within the timeline presented,” NFL attorney Lawrence P. Ferazani Jr. wrote in a letter to Sorsby last week.

The 22-year-old Sorsby, who cannot play in the Canadian Football League in 2026, is now considered “draft-eligible” for the 2027 NFL draft. Sorsby will not be eligible to sign an NFL contract until the draft's conclusion.

The NFL has no plans to discipline Sorsby for any currently known prior misconduct but holds the right to investigate Sorsby. The league can also take Sorsby's college misconduct into account should it find cause to discipline Sorsby in the future.

Sorsby's decision to not challenge the NFL in court leaves him with 10 months on his hands to prepare. Sorsby had planned to play at Texas Tech this year before the NCAA declared him ineligible for making thousands of bets on sporting events worth at least $90,000 during his college career. Those included at least 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on the games in which he played for the Hoosiers that season.

“I am fully committed to being the best version of myself that I can be while getting ready for the 2027 draft,” Sorsby wrote. “God makes no mistakes and I look forward to seeing the good that is to come from this.”

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

Depression, Kean said, “is physical, it is emotional, and until you experience it yourself, it is difficult to fully understand how powerful this illness can be.”

Kean’s reappearance came weeks after his victory in an uncontested primary on June 2 and months after he last cast his vote in the House. His speech ended the silence on his condition, yet left questions unanswered. Kean said he first entered the hospital due to health concerns and underwent testing, but offered no further details.

After the speech, Kean left the Capitol quickly without answering questions from reporters.

Kean last voted in the House on March 5. His absence had complicated matters for House Republican leaders, who have been struggling to pass bills with their threadbare majority.

Kean said he was diagnosed for depression and that doctors recommended he remain in the hospital. Addressing his earlier statement that he expected to return to work in a matter of weeks, Kean said he believed that at the time and it was his doctors’ best estimate then.

“But as the over 48 million of my fellow Americans being treated for this illness have come to discover there is no timeline for healing," Kean said.

“Today I stand before you healthier, stronger and excited to return to the work that I love."

A second-term lawmaker and scion of a New Jersey political family, Kean represents a battleground district that includes President Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club.

What the House speaker says about Kean’s return

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he would leave it to Kean to decide whether his remarks Tuesday provided sufficient transparency.

“He spoke to it," Johnson said. “It’s his personal issue, and, you know, I thought the speech on the floor was, well, I thought he explained it.”

Johnson said he had “encouraged him all along to be as transparent as possible” and was “glad he finally has” been.

The mystery over Kean's absence had potential political implications, given the competitive district he represents and the Republican Party's narrow control of the House. His office has said he is still running for reelection and is set to face Democratic nominee Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, in New Jersey's most high-profile contest in November.

Democrats have targeted the district as a prime pickup opportunity, given that the seat has changed hands in the last two midterm elections. Kean won in 2022 by defeating Democrat Tom Malinowski, who had defeated Republican Leonard Lance in 2018.

Johnson added Tuesday he is confident Kean would be “easily” reelected in November. Trump has endorsed Kean’s reelection, without mentioning his absence.

Kean comes from a long line of public servants, stretching 250 years to the country’s founding when one of his ancestors became New Jersey’s first leader since independence.

Kean's great-grandfather was a senator, his grandfather was a congressman and his father is the former two-term governor, Tom Kean Sr.

Absent from public view

Lawmakers vary in how transparent they are about extended absences.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in history, was hospitalized more than two weeks ago, and his office has released few details about his condition since.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat, checked himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment for clinical depression weeks after being sworn into office in 2023. Fetterman, who has dealt with the effects of a stroke he suffered in May 2022, disclosed the hospitalization the day after he was admitted.

Fetterman has talked openly about his struggle with depression and urged people to get help.

“There are people who are suffering with depression in red counties and blue counties," Fetterman said in 2023 after a six-week inpatient treatment. “If you need help, please get help,.”

Kean and House Republican leaders kept the public in the dark about his condition for months. He missed more than 100 House votes this year and was not seen publicly in Washington or his district.

New York Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat who has spoken openly about living with depression, wrote on social media after Kean's remarks that he has “deep sympathy for anyone struggling with mental illness.”

“At the same time, public office carries a duty of transparency," Torres wrote. “When a public official is absent for an extended period, the public has a right to an honest explanation.”

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Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

An attorney representing David Streever, of Rochester, said Streever was on a trip to Finland when two officers showed up to his home last week and presented his wife with a warning notice informing him that an email he sent months earlier was a threat.

Streever sent the email to Todd Lyons, then the acting director of ICE, in January after an immigration officer fatally shot Minneapolis resident Renee Good during an anti-ICE demonstration. In the email, Streever called Lyons “a monstrous human being" who “will never know peace.”

The warning to Streever arrived the same week poll worker Paigelynne Gonyea, of Syracuse, said two federal officers visited her at a voting location during New York’s primaries to confront her about a social media post she’d written about the ICE officer who shot Good.

Federal agents also attempted to confront Streever at a hotel in New York City when he returned from Finland, but they were turned away by hotel staff, said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression who is representing Streever.

In the email, Streever told Lyons: “The way you are protecting the obvious execution in Minnesota, even as we see the videos, will lead to your downfall," according to Steinbaugh. “Even Trump will turn on you before the end, and you will be a sad, despised man who eats himself alive with shame at your own pathetic weakness.”

Representatives for ICE declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

“ICE investigates all credible threats towards its employees and officers, including threats to the ICE Director,” the agency said in a statement.

Steinbaugh argued the email was protected speech.

“A true threat is a serious expression of an intent to commit violence. This email doesn't even come close,” Steinbaugh said. “It's political speech, it's an act of petitioning your government.”

Streever said in a statement: “Like many Americans, I was deeply upset after the shootings in Minnesota and I felt compelled to do something. Writing a letter to the head of ICE seemed like the least I could do to express my sense of outrage. I never dreamed it would lead to a knock on my door by federal officers.”

Streever has not contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency of ICE, since receiving the warning, and he does not plan to, Steinbaugh said.

Gonyea, the poll worker, believes her warning stemmed from a post she made on social media in January in which she posted a picture of Jonathan Ross, the ICE officer who shot and killed Good. In the post, Gonyea wrote: “I think today is a great day for Jonathan to be indicted.” Gonyea’s post was made after Ross had already been identified by the news media and is still up.

Lauren Bis, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, shared an image of a different social media post from Gonyea in which she said Gonyea shared Ross’s address. Part of the post was redacted.

Bis said in a statement last week that Gonyea “committed a federal crime by posting the address of an ICE law enforcement officer online” and “if you doxx our officers, we will investigate you, and you will be brought to justice.

A representative for the New York Attorney General's Office said the office is aware of the two residents' contacts with federal agents. The representative said the office has been reviewing the interaction between Gonyea and federal agents that took place at the polls.

Free speech advocates have pointed to the incidents as an example of federal law enforcement infringing on privacy and free expression. The First Amendment guarantees the right to criticize government officials, said Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy director of the ACLU's speech, privacy and technology project.

“Nobody should be tracked down at their home or hotel room by federal agents in retribution for sending an email merely expressing frustration and opposition to the government’s actions,” Wessler said. “This is an abuse of power and a gross attempt to chill Americans’ constitutionally protected speech.”

Older adults, outdoor workers, athletes and anyone without air conditioning are among those most at risk during a heat wave.

Virginia among top states for heat-related emergencies

Virginia ranks among the top states in the country for emergency responses to heat-related injuries and illnesses, trailing only Vermont and Washington, D.C.

Tiffany Lyttle, a nurse researcher in Lynchburg, says preparation is the key to staying safe.

“It has to do with preparation. Being able to prepare for being in the heat, acclimating to the heat, and then knowing how to identify the symptoms of a heat-related injury and address those symptoms,” Lyttle said.

Staying hydrated: Where to find water, what to drink

For those who are out in the heat and need water, resources are available across the city. Public library fountains and the Miller Center lobby are open for hydration. Residents can also call the city’s hotline to find the nearest city-run refill station.

Dr. Amy Johnson, a family nurse practitioner with Centra Medical Group, says hydration goes beyond just drinking water.

“Make sure that you’re staying well hydrated, you’re drinking lots of fluids, and not just water but sports drinks to get those electrolytes that you’re losing. Taking frequent breaks when you can to cool off whether that be in a cool vehicle with air conditioning,” Johnson said.

For those caring for someone at high risk, experts recommend planning ahead: bring water, visit a cooling center during posted hours and check with your utility company if any advisories are issued.

Recognizing the signs of dehydration

Knowing when dehydration has become dangerous could save a life. Early warning signs include thirst, dark urine, dizziness, headache and dry mouth.

More serious symptoms — including confusion, very low urine output, fainting and high body temperature — require immediate action. If someone shows these signs, move them to shade or air conditioning, give small sips of water and cool the skin with wet cloths. Call 911 if the person is confused, fainting or not improving.

Lyttle says community members should also look out for one another.

“Take care of each other. If you know your neighbors are outdoors mowing their lawns, if you know your with a sports team that’s outdoors a lot, just make sure they have the right things at their disposal,” she said.

Cooling centers available across Lynchburg

Anyone in need of a cool place to stay can find a full list of cooling center addresses here.

Giles County held a ceremony Tuesday morning to officially dedicate the bridge in honor of the Maybrook Men — six Atkins brothers, five of whom served in World War II and the youngest of whom served in the Korean War. Family members gathered to mark the occasion, including 102-year-old Dora Atkins, who was married to the oldest brother, Warren “June” Atkins, for 75 years.

“Oh, I feel real proud,” Dora Atkins said. “I feel speechless. I don’t know what to say.”

A small gesture with lasting meaning

Giles County Board of Supervisors member Perry Martin said the renaming is about more than a sign on a bridge.

“We are glad that this gesture is a small gesture, but it’s something that will last generations,” Martin said. “Be sure that future generations will always remember the Maybrook boys and what they did for our country.”

Martin also reflected on what the brothers themselves might have thought of the honor.

“There would be a lot of funny jokes about the bridge there,” he said. “But they would be proud of it. They’d be humble about it. But they would definitely be laughing with their neighbors if they were here right now.”

Family reflects on the honor

For the Atkins family, the dedication was both a celebration and a moment to think about the men who are no longer here to see it.

Billy Atkins, son of Billy Atkins, said seeing his father’s name on the bridge caught him off guard.

“All my family members were here. Everybody showed up. We had a good time,” he said. “All these years I come by here and I never thought this bridge would be named after my dad.”

He described his father as a man of few words who would have been deeply moved.

“My dad would be honored. Dad was a humble man. He didn’t say too awful much, but he would be proud of this,” Billy Atkins said. “He could really hang his hat on this and say, I did this, I served my country.”

Larry Atkins, son of Warren “June” Atkins, said the day carried a weight that was hard to put into words.

“He’d be very proud. They sacrificed their lives — six of them gone one time. And it’s a very special, special day,” Larry Atkins said.

He also drew a parallel to another celebrated group of servicemen from the region.

“It’s a real honor for anybody to recognize these people, like the Bedford Boys and everything. And now here the Giles County boys,” Larry Atkins said. “It’s a great honor that the community would come together in honor of these great human beings.”

21-gun salute, framed resolution presented

During the ceremony, local veterans honored the Maybrook Men with a 21-gun salute. Dora Atkins was also presented with a framed copy of the resolution officially renaming the bridge in her husband’s and his brothers’ honor.

Martin said the dedication is a reminder of what small communities have contributed to the country.

“Small communities like Maybrook have been a big part of our country’s history,” he said. “We’re glad to share a story of one family and one contribution from one community.”

In 2020, WSLS 10 sat down with two of the brothers, Warren “June” Atkins and John Atkins, to hear their stories firsthand.

“This is unbelievable. This is history,” Haaland said on the field after the game.

A slight tap from Haaland's left foot in the 86th minute was the difference as Norway beat Ivory Coast 2-1 on Tuesday, setting up another World Cup match against five-time champion Brazil — 28 years after a victory that many consider the greatest ever for the Norwegians.

For now, they prefer to enjoy their latest accomplishment.

“What we’re going to think about now is to enjoy the win today. We’re really happy and proud of ourselves,” said Martin Odeegaard, the team's captain who banged the drum to set the pace for the postgame row. “Hopefully we can keep dreaming and keep believing and keep performing like we did.”

Antonio Nusa scored the opening goal in the first half with a curling kick for Norway, which in its fourth World Cup will next play in the round of 16 against Brazil on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

“This is really a dream come true,” Nusa said in translated remarks.

Norway is in its first World Cup since that 1998 appearance, when the team got to the knockout round only after scoring goals in the 83rd and 89th minutes for an incredible 2-1 comeback win over then-reigning World Cup champion Brazil in the group finale.

Amad Diallo, who had prevented Norway from taking a two-goal lead earlier in the second half, evened the match for Ivory Coast with a left-footed kick in the 74th minute.

Even after Haaland’s go-ahead goal, his Norway-record 60th in 53 matches, Ivory Coast kept pressing and had a chance to equalize with a direct free kick by Diallo in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Orjan Nyland made a leaping stop, the last of his four saves, when he deflected the ball away as he extended his left hand across his body.

“After their equalizer, it was easy to panic. But we got our players in the right position and managed to play our game again,” Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said.

Haaland's 27 touches were the fewest of any Norway player who played the full match, but he was open after three defenders converged when Patrick Berg moved into the penalty area with the ball before making a quick pass. It was a slow roll over the line after coming off the foot of Haaland, who lunged forward as if he might have to kick it again.

It was his Haaland's fifth goal in three games at this year’s tournament. That is one behind Lionel Messi, who has six for Argentina and scored three of those in two group games at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

Haaland, who won the Golden Boot in the Premier League last season with 27 goals for Manchester City, has scored in 13 straight competitive international games — a total of 25 goals in that span.

The youthful Elephants, ranked 31st by FIFA, had never before won twice in the same World Cup. This was the fourth World Cup appearance for the West African nation, the same as Norway.

“We are proud for what we achieved,” Diallo said. “But a big disappointment because we knew we have quality in the team, we have players that can make a difference anytime.”

Nusa scored his first World Cup goal in the 39th minute when he took a few strides past the left corner of the penalty area and sent a right-footed kick between two defenders toward the far post.

Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana made a diving attempt at the ball that was just beyond his extended reach, and he was still in air when he turned his head back to see the ball curl into the net. It was Nusa’s ninth international goal in 28 games for Norway.

Diallo evened the score at 1-1 after a give-and-go with Nicolas Pepe, who had scored both Ivory Coast goals in its previous game and was stopped by Nyland in the 55th minute. Diallo found space for his left-footed blast.

That came only about eight minutes after Torbjorn Heggen had a shot for Norway that was deflected away by Diallo, who was right next to his keeper.

Nusa's yellow card in stoppage time before the half set up a free kick by Pepe, but the ensuing header went left of the post.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here