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Inside Golden Roastery: A popular Middle Eastern shop serving traditional desserts and coffee
How to make a popular Arab dessert Kunafa
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Comey says seashells post was political speech - not a threat - as he presses to dismiss charges

Alanna Durkin Richer And Eric Tucker, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:27:12 +0000

Former FBI Director James Comey urged a judge on Monday to throw out federal charges against him, arguing that a photo of seashells arranged on a beach he posted on social media was not a call to violence against President Donald Trump but protected political speech.

Comey's lawyers argue the government cannot prove the Instagram photo of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47" constituted a “true threat" against the Republican president, who fired Comey in 2017 and has publicly called for his prosecution. The slogan — which has long meant to "get rid of" or “eject" — has been featured on thousands of items sold online and regularly displayed at protests, defense lawyers wrote in court papers.

"But the government now singles out Mr. Comey to prosecute one of the President’s most prominent critics for publishing another person’s statement of political opposition," his attorney's wrote. “That attempt to suppress core political speech contravenes both the statutes at issue and the First Amendment.”

The seashells case against Comey was the second in months targeting the ex-FBI director, a long-running Trump foe whom the president over the years has called a “corrupt piece of garbage” and other pejorative names.

An earlier case in Virginia accusing Comey of lying to Congress was dismissed last November after a judge concluded that the prosecutor who charged him and another Trump adversary, New York Attorney General Letitia James, was illegally appointed to the job.

More broadly, the case is part of a retribution campaign by the Trump administration Justice Department, which has initiated investigations across the country into individuals the president does not like. Comey has long drawn Trump's ire for his role overseeing the early months of an investigation into whether Trump’s 2016 campaign had coordinated with Russia to sway the outcome of that year’s election.

The two-count indictment charges Comey with “knowingly and willfully” making a threat to “take the life of, and to inflict bodily harm upon” Trump and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce. It does not provide evidence that Comey knowingly threatened Trump, especially since Comey has said the opposite, but suggested a “reasonable recipient who is familiar with the circumstances would interpret” the message as a threat.

Comey was interviewed by the Secret Service last year over the post after Trump administration officials asserted that he was advocating the assassination of Trump, the 47th president. Comey deleted the post shortly after it was made, writing: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence” and “I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”

“Even if ‘86 47’ could implausibly be read to suggest violence, a reasonable observer would still understand Mr. Comey’s post as mere political hyperbole, not a true threat,” Comey's lawyers wrote. “The Supreme Court has rejected threats prosecutions based on speech far more directly threatening than Mr. Comey’s seashells post here.”

The Justice Department has not elaborated on any evidence of intent the government has. But acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said earlier this year that prosecutors in every case prove intent with “witnesses, with documents, with the defendant himself to the extent it’s appropriate.”

“And that’s how we’ll prove intent in this case,” Blanche said in April, shortly after he was elevated to lead the department after Pam Bondi's firing.

Trump, in a Fox News Channel interview last year, accused Comey of knowing “exactly what that meant.”

“A child knows what that meant,” Trump said. “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.”

Texas AG Ken Paxton launches investigation into Tampax, Kotex and other women's brands over alleged toxic chemicals

Brittany Taylor — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:24:30 +0000

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office has launched industry-wide investigations into several popular feminine care and cosmetic brands over concerns about potentially harmful chemicals in their products.

According to the Office of the Attorney General, the investigations will examine whether companies misled consumers about the safety and chemical makeup of products, including lip balms, lipsticks and feminine hygiene products.

The investigations focus on potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which prohibits deceptive or misleading business practices.

Which brands are being investigated?

As part of the investigation into feminine care products, the attorney general’s office said it has issued Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) to:

Tampax
Kotex
L.
LOLA

A CID is a legal tool that allows investigators to request documents and information before deciding whether further legal action is warranted. The announcement does not allege wrongdoing by the companies.

Why is Paxton investigating?

The attorney general’s office cited reports and studies raising concerns about chemicals found in certain consumer products.

For lip products, the office pointed to reports suggesting some products may contain ingredients such as titanium dioxide, petroleum-based compounds, microplastics and synthetic dyes. The office said these products are often marketed for frequent daily use and, in some cases, to children.

The office also referenced a 2024 study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, which detected measurable concentrations of 16 heavy metals, including lead, cadmium and arsenic, in more than 30 tampon products representing 14 brands.

The attorney general’s office noted that public health authorities have long said there is no known safe level of lead exposure. It also said some companies market products as “clean” or “non-toxic,” but whether those claims are accurate has not been independently verified through the state’s investigation.

Paxton’s statement

“I will continue to work tirelessly to help Make America Healthy Again by stopping companies that illegally put toxic heavy metals and dangerous chemicals in their products,” Paxton said in a statement.

“Many corporations have neglected the health of women by using harmful ingredients in their everyday products, but my office will fight to defend Texas women and their health. No corporation should mislead women about the safety of its products, and my office will thoroughly investigate any company that harms the health of Texans.”

The Office of the Attorney General said investigators will determine whether manufacturers or sellers violated Texas consumer protection laws by misleading customers about the safety, quality or chemical composition of their products.

At this stage, the investigations are ongoing, and the attorney general’s office has not announced any lawsuits or enforcement actions against the companies named.

Trump is set to defend his economic policies in Michigan, where new Canadian tariffs may sting

Will Weissert, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:47:18 +0000

President Donald Trump is touting his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit on Monday, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.

Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, that's a testing and proving grounds for its vehicles. Before his speech in front of a crowd of more than 1,000 people, he'll view a drag race demonstration ahead of an IndyCar race in Washington next month, which the president has promoted as part of America's 250th birthday celebrations.

Early voting is underway for Michigan's Aug. 4 primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties.

Republican Mike Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits Trump-backed Rep. John James against Perry Johnson, a businessman turned politician who has launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024.

Johnson is now trying to style himself in the president's mold — despite missing out on his endorsement. The Democratic Senate primary between Rep. Haley Stevens and progressive Abdul El-Sayed has drawn national attention for the right to face Rogers, who was narrowly defeated by Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin in 2024.

Trump's new Canada tariffs could hurt Michigan

Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has also seen parts of its economy affected by the president's tariffs, including on imported cars and auto parts.

A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. But Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.

The president is visiting Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit's northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.

The Milford area home to the GM testing area is suburban enough that, in a wooded space nearby, a convincing wood cutout painted all in black and shaped like bigfoot seems to be emerging toward a major road. GM says its facility is the oldest dedicated vehicle testing operation in the U.S. where 4,200 employees work to refine nearly every vehicle the company makes before they reach consumers.

It is situated between GM hubs in Detroit, Flint and elsewhere, has more than 150 miles of test roads and is where many early innovations were tested -- including the first mass-produced automatic transmission, known as the Hydra-Matic.

The White House says Trump will talk up having generated manufacturing jobs and foreign investment in the U.S. while making the case that his policies and leadership have boosted the auto industry.

“The President pledged to put Michigan workers back to work, and he’s doing it,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement.

Michigan's economy relies heavily on Canada, however, meaning the new tariffs — coupled with inflation still running high and gas prices rising again as the already unpopular war in Iran escalates — have created additional economic concerns statewide.

Those come at a time when voters across the country were already increasingly dissatisfied with Trump's handling of the economy.

Jason Roe, a former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party who tried unsuccessfully to distance it from Trump's “Make America Great Again” movement in 2021, said that more than coinciding with his new round of tariffs, Trump's visit is a function of Michigan's relatively late primary and is meant to ensure that James secures the nomination.

But Roe also predicted that it was a risk for the president to tie himself too closely to top Republicans before the general election, calling it “kryptonite to November voters.”

Trump, who won the White House on a promise to lower the cost of living, also has seen his approval ratings sag, meaning kitchen table issues could be a liability for Republicans trying to hold control of Congress in the Nov. 3 elections.

“We’re happy to have the president here, campaigning with Republicans. We think it highlights the fact that the only thing they care about is Donald Trump and refuse to stand up to him," said Curtis Hertel, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. "It’s good for us every time the president is here because he’s incredibly unpopular.”

The US and Canada have squabbled over a new border bridge

The Supreme Court struck down many of Trump’s sweeping tariffs, but his administration has tried to find ways around that, including by arguing that he can impose them on Canada because that country is discriminating against American exports of products including automobiles.

But Trump’s latest round of tariffs came after he voiced frustration with Canada for having retaliated and imposed its own levies on U.S. imports in response to Trump’s initial tariffs last year. Trump launched the first round after alleging Canada should do more to stop fentanyl smuggling.

It is Trump's third trip to Michigan in his second term.

In January, he visited a Ford plant in Dearborn and addressed the Detroit Economic Club, offering a defense of tariffs even as auto industry leaders blamed them for increasing the cost of doing business. The outcry is part of the reason Trump extended rebates to domestic car companies on some tariffs on imported auto parts.

The president marked his second term's first 100 days with a rally in Warren, where he mostly mentioned grievances left over from the 2024 campaign, even scoffing at what Biden might look like in a bathing suit.

His latest visit coincides with tensions between his administration and Canada that have marred the opening of a new bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Canada on Friday held its own event hailing the opening of the $4.7 billion Gordie Howe International Bridge instead of a planned celebration with officials in the U.S. after Trump announced the new Canadian tariffs.

An earlier, joint ceremony had been set for June but was scrapped after Trump suggested the U.S. wanted a “better” deal on the bridge it co-owns with Canada.

That eventually led to an agreement on splitting tolls that was supposed to allow for the rescheduled joint U.S.-Canada celebration — until the new tariffs derailed that, too.

By the numbers: Everything it took to put on FIFA World Cup 2026

Christian Terry — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:22:36 +0000

FIFA World Cup 2026 is now in the books and it was no easy feat to put on.

FIFA shared the numbers behind what made this sporting event one for the record books.

FIFA World Cup 2026 logistics:

39 days event
Event stretched across three countries in North America
16 host cities
48 team base camps
645 official sites
Nearly 300,000 accredited personnel
1,248 players
Cumulative stadium attendance of more than 6.8 million fans

FIFA World Cup 2026 workforce:

More than 43,000 volunteers
73,700 accredited security personnel
Workforce representing 104 different nationalities
Security operations alone involved more than one million shifts, while accreditation systems processed over five million scans across tournament sites

FIFA World Cup 2026 technology and media:

International Broadcast Center in Dallas accommodated thousands of personnel and supporting coverage of every match
Throughout tournament, production teams deployed 5,000 cameras
More than 24,000 content items produced

FIFA World Cup 2026 food statistics:

Across the 39-day competition, nearly 675,000 hot dogs were sold inside stadiums
More than 4.6 million soft drinks and bottled waters consumed by fans
Over 5.5 million beers consumed

FIFA Fan Festival statistics:

More than 9 million visitors welcomed at Fan Festivals across North America
FIFA’s Know Before You Go communications program distributed more than 2,300 WhatsApp messages and 7.7 million emails

Trump demands Senate cancel August break until it passes voting bill

Joey Cappelletti And Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:41:22 +0000

President Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Senate Majority Leader John Thune cancel the chamber’s upcoming August break until senators pass a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill, even as Republicans lack the votes to advance it.

Trump has repeatedly urged Thune to scrap the legislative filibuster, which effectively sets a 60-vote threshold for most legislation in the 100-member Senate, or find another workaround to pass the voting bill, known as the SAVE America Act. But Republicans hold only a 53-47 majority, and Thune has consistently said they don’t have the votes to pass the bill or change the rules to get around the filibuster.

“John Thune should not allow the United States Senate to ‘leave town’ until it passes The Save America Act or, far better still, TERMINATES THE FILIBUSTER,” Trump wrote on social media.

He later insisted to reporters Monday that he has a good relationship with the Senate majority leader but said Thune has “got to get his job done.”

It's the latest escalation in a monthslong pressure campaign by Trump and others in the GOP base to pass the SAVE Act ahead of the midterms. A small but vocal group of Republican senators has also increasingly pressed Thune to find a way forward.

House Republicans have also attempted to create another path for the legislation through the budget reconciliation process, which would allow grant money associated with voting rules to pass the Senate with a simple majority.

The House last week approved a budget framework that included $10 billion for voting-related changes aligned with the SAVE America Act. But Thune has said Republicans don’t currently have the votes for that approach, either.

Trump's pressure comes during an important period

The fight threatens to complicate the Senate's final legislative sprint before the August break, when Thune had hoped to focus on a long list of priorities that includes government funding, cryptocurrency legislation and sanctions on Russia. The August break, scheduled to start on Aug. 7, is a pivotal stretch for senators to return home and campaign ahead of the midterm elections.

Several Republican senators are facing competitive races, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Ohio Sen. Jon Husted and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 Senate majority. Republicans are confronting broader political headwinds as well, including an unpopular war in Iran, surging gas prices and costs that remain high for voters.

Thune has enjoyed broad support from his GOP conference all year as he’s pushed back on Trump’s demands. He previously kept the SAVE Act on the Senate floor for weeks in an effort to build additional support, but was unable to secure the votes needed to advance it.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who has led the push for the bill in the Senate, escalated his pressure late last week, warning that how Republicans handle the SAVE America Act “could impact not only the November midterm elections, but also the Senate GOP leadership elections.”

“Leaders must lead. And if they don’t, they’re not leaders,” Lee wrote on social media Friday.

Frustrated by the pressure when he doesn’t have a route to pass the bill, Thune has urged Trump, Lee and others to help him find the votes. Trump on Friday said he'd “certainly be willing” to help call senators.

Asked last week if Trump is frustrated with Thune, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that "his patience is running out.” But Trump told reporters on Air Force Once Monday while traveling to an event in Michigan, that he hasn’t “even thought” about potential replacements for Thune.

The late-summer dispute echoes a similar fight before last year’s August recess, when Trump pressed Thune to keep senators in Washington to clear a backlog of his nominees. The Senate ultimately left town without a deal after negotiations with Democrats collapsed.

The SAVE America Act would create new national rules

The SAVE America Act, which stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, would require Americans to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate. It would also require a valid photo identification before voters can cast ballots, which some states already demand.

Voting experts have said the bill could disenfranchise some 20 million American voters who don’t have birth certificates or other documents readily available.

Trump has made it his legislative priority in 2026, saying it would “guarantee the midterms" and falsely claimed that election cheating is “rampant.” He previously declined to sign any other legislation until it was passed.

Lindsay Clancy goes on trial over whether postpartum psychosis drove her to kill her 3 children

Michael Casey, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:04:50 +0000

In the months after the birth of her third child, Lindsay Clancy 's mental health collapsed. Manic, unable to sleep and stricken with thoughts of harming herself, she sought care from experts in postpregnancy mood disorders, was put on multiple psychiatric medications, and when nothing worked, checked in to a psychiatric hospital.

Nineteen days after she was discharged, she strangled her three children at their Massachusetts home.

A jury heard opening statements Monday in Clancy’s murder trial, which is expected to feature dueling views in the coming weeks about her culpability and mental state. Jurors also heard testimony from Patrick Clancy, her former husband, who found the children after returning to the house on the day of their killings in January 2023. He has said in interviews that he forgives his wife.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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He also found his wife, who had used multiple methods to try to end her own life. She remains paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from the home’s second-story window.

Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said she was suffering from postpartum psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth. He described walls decorated with alphabet letters, colors and cartoon characters and a home filled with toys, saying jurors would hear testimony from family, friends, neighbors and teachers about Clancy’s devotion to her children.

“These children were loved, nurtured and cared for,” he told jurors. “She loved those children right up to the time of their death.”

Prosecutor Shanan Buckingham argued that Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, “acted intentionally, rationally and swiftly” and bore full responsibility for the deaths.

“This was not a woman in the throes of psychosis," Buckingham said, urging jurors to focus on Clancy’s actions rather than broader questions about maternal mental health. “This is not a public debate about women’s mental health and how the medical system treats women. This case is about this defendant, Lindsay Clancy.”

The trial will hinge on Clancy's mental state

Both sides agree she killed her children. They disagree over whether she should be held criminally responsible for their deaths.

Elyse Hershon, a Boston criminal defense attorney and legal analyst, said the verdict will likely depend on how the jury views Clancy’s “intent and mental capacity.”

“Whenever there are deaths of children, it rattles emotions. Because these actions are incomprehensible and the outcome so horrific, people tend to want to hold someone responsible,” Hershon said. “Some people naturally will identify and sympathize with Clancy and her postpartum depression, and others will not be able to understand how one could end their children’s lives, and demand responsibility.”

While postpartum depression is fairly common among women who have given birth, postpartum psychosis is estimated to afflict only 1 to 2 per 1,000 women after delivery. Symptoms include hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, mood changes and thoughts of harming yourself or others. Most women who have the condition, however, do not wind up harming their children.

Prosecutors say Clancy strangled her children — Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months — on Jan. 24, 2023, after sending her then-husband, Patrick, out for some errands. She then used multiple methods to try to end her own life and was paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from the home’s second-story window.

At the time, she had been getting psychiatric care for about four months. On the day of the killings, she said she heard voices telling her, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself,” according to her lawyer.

If convicted of murder, Clancy faces life in prison without parole. If found not guilty due to a lack of criminal responsibility, she would be committed to a state mental health facility.

Similar cases have led to insanity verdicts

The case has parallels to several other mothers accused of killing their children.

In 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in a bathtub in Texas. Her attorneys said she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis and, in a delusional state, believed Satan was inside her and that killing the youngsters would save them from hell.

Her initial murder conviction was overturned, and in a retrial she was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state mental hospital.

Another Texas mother, Dena Schlosser, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2006 after she killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms.

Dr. Nicole Cirino, the director of the division of reproductive psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, who has been an expert defense witness in infanticide cases, said many of the women who harm their children while in the grip of postpartum psychosis believe their actions are helping the child.

In their own minds, “they may be saving their children from damnation,” Cirino said.

Experts say postpartum psychosis is still poorly understood in the legal system

Clancy and her former husband, Patrick Clancy, filed lawsuits accusing her medical providers of failing to properly diagnose and treat her condition.

Awareness about postpartum psychosis has grown since the Yates case, but Cirino and other maternal mental health advocates said prosecutors rarely consider a mother's mental state. Illinois is the only state with a law allowing for undiagnosed or untreated postpartum depression or postpartum psychosis to be a mitigating factor in sentencing.

“Women who kill their children in the throes of this medical illness, postpartum psychosis, are seriously and profoundly mentally ill. They are not evil,” said Dr. Catherine Birndorf, the CEO and founder of The Motherhood Center in New York City, which treats mothers with perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

“To me it’s illness until proven otherwise,” she continued. “The fact that we consider it criminal until proven otherwise is problematic.”

Associated Press writer Leah Willingham contributed from Boston.

US-Canada bridge opens in Detroit even as trade disputes test the neighbors' ties

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:08:39 +0000

A major new bridge linking Canada and the U.S. at Detroit opened Monday to trucks, cars and other vehicles, the climax of a yearslong project that lately had been bruised a bit by international politics.

Descendants of Gordie Howe, the hockey legend whose name is on the bridge, were among the first to cross over the Detroit River, which separates the Motor City from Windsor, Ontario.

The span, which was built by Canada at a cost of $6.4 billion Canadian, now becomes a less-expensive alternative to the privately owned Ambassador Bridge, which had a monopoly on big trucks carrying goods worth billions between the two countries, especially in service to the auto industry.

“There are thousands of trucks that go over" daily, said Kevin Ketels, a business professor who teaches supply chain management at Wayne State University.

Freddie Garrett, 81, said he regularly watched construction “ever since they put the foundation in” back in 2018. So naturally he showed up at Delray Park in Detroit to see the first vehicles moving overhead.

"It was amazing to see how they did it,” Garrett said. “They put up one section at a time and then they met together in the middle. I'm sure it will be there longer than I'll be around.”

Last week, Canada celebrated the Gordie Howe International Bridge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Windsor. U.S. and Michigan representatives were uninvited after President Donald Trump suddenly announced 50% tariffs on Canadian goods entering America.

More than 70% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S., making America its largest trade partner, and Detroit is the No. 1 port for truck traffic on the U.S.-Canada border, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The span is 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) long and rises 151 feet (46 meters) above the river at its highest point. Pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to cross it for free, starting Aug. 5.

Howe is a Canadian icon known as “Mr. Hockey” who wore No. 9 while playing for the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings. He died in 2016.

A recent agreement between Canada and the Trump administration says Canada will share some toll revenue with the U.S. government for 15 years. Michigan separately negotiated a share in 2012, but it won't be paid until Canada’s costs are recovered, likely decades from now.

Stocks are drifting on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop 6% as Mideast tensions cool

Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 05:35:06 +0000

Stocks are drifting on Wall Street Monday and oil prices fell after the U.S. and Iran paused their attacks while work resumed on restarting negotiations to end the war.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2%. The index is coming off two weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 123 points, or 0.2%, as of 12:56 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.5%.

Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.2% to $86.01 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to over $100 a barrel last week before easing.

The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a ripple effect throughout the world’s economy. Gasoline prices have surged and shipping costs for most goods are rising, with businesses typically passing those costs along to households.

Markets rose in Europe after closing higher in Asia.

Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.64% from 4.69% late Friday.

Technology companies were behind much of the shifts in the market, with gains and declines for a mix of big companies resulting in uncertain trading.

Nvidia fell 5% and Micron Technology slumped 5.8%. At the same time, Microsoft rose 2.5% and Apple rose 1%. They are all among the most valuable companies in the world and those market values give them more influence over the direction of the broader market.

The mix of gains and losses from a variety of those companies had more impact in pushing and pulling the market, even as the majority of companies in the S&P 500 gained ground.

In Asia, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared in its debut in Shanghai. The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion).

Wall Street has a busy week ahead with several potentially mark-moving updates on the economy and company earnings. Reports are due out on consumer confidence Tuesday and inflation on Thursday.

“This is a week with more than its fair share of potential surprises, good and bad," said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

The big focus will be on the Federal Reserve, which will give an update Wednesday on its interest rate policy. The central bank has been grappling with the impact from rising inflation because of the ongoing U.S. war with Iran. It also has to contend with a fresh round of U.S.-imposed tariffs globally, which could further worsen inflation.

Wall Street anticipates a nearly 36% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates at its meeting this week. Higher rates can help cool inflation by making borrowing more expensive and slowing economic growth.

The central bank has been holding rates steady throughout the year as it monitors inflation’s direction and impact, but Wall Street expects at least one rate hike by the end of the year.

Stubbornly high inflation has been squeezing households and fuel costs have hit budgets and spending particularly hard. Gasoline costs are taking a bigger chunk out of household budgets, and that could mean tighter spending on other things like clothing and travel.

Investors are monitoring the latest round of corporate earnings for signs of consumer stress along with whether the yearlong jump in stock values throughout Wall Street is justified by profits and forecasts for profit growth.

Investors also have a heavy round of corporate earnings to review this week. Many of those reports could provide more clues into the health of different areas of the economy. Paint and coatings maker Sherwin-Williams, aircraft maker Boeing and payments processor Visa will report their latest results on Tuesday.

Starbucks and Chipotle will report results on Wednesday.

Technology companies are being especially watched because their sharp gains throughout the year have been behind the Wall Street's record run. Microsoft will report results Wednesday. Amazon, with its growing cloud services business and AI-focus, will report results on Thursday, along with Apple.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The Latest: Appeals court upholds injunction that blocks Trump’s order to create federal voter list

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:58:06 +0000

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that halted President Donald Trump’s executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list.

The ruling over the weekend rejected the Trump administration’s effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Also, the Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Here's the latest:

Trump says no one tells him what the US should be selling

Trump hasn’t ruled out selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, which is not a friend of Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are meeting at the White House on Tuesday, and the prime minister has made clear he does not want Turkey to get the American-made jets.

Trump was asked about such a sale to Turkey as he flew to Michigan and said, in an apparent rebuff of Netanyahu, that “nobody tells me what we should be selling.”

“Turkey’s been a great ally for me,” he said of the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “I think he’s done a very good job, did a good job with Syria. He’s a friend of mine,”

Asked if he and Netanyahu are on the same page when it comes to the war against Iran, Trump replied, “We have a little difference but pretty close, yeah.”

Trump says US and Iran are having ‘good talks’ but keeps strikes on the table

The president insisted that new meetings were requested directly by Iranian officials, saying they reached out directly “because we’ve been hitting them very hard.”

“We’re having good talks, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Monday on Air Force One. “I think there’s a good chance that something could happen. And if it does, good. if it doesn’t, we go back to doing what we were doing two days ago.”

Trump rejected a suggestion that his patience with negotiations could be wearing thin.

“I have plenty of time,” he said.

Trump continues to needle Thune

The president insisted that he has a good relationship with the Senate majority leader — but that he’s just “got to get his job done.”

Trump has been escalating pressure on Thune to pass his voting restrictions bill before senators leave Washington for the August recess.

“The SAVE Act has to be done,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “They shouldn’t leave town.”

Trump also insisted that he hasn’t “even thought” about potential replacements for Thune.

US walks out of UN meeting when France is speaking to protest its criticism of US human rights

The United States has stood by France in every conflict where “their freedom has been imperiled,” U.S. deputy ambassador Dan Negrea told the U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine after the brief U.S. walkout Monday, accusing France of “disingenuous grandstanding.”

He was apparently responding to a post from France’s U.N. Mission in Geneva on Friday criticizing U.S. opposition to a second four-year term for U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk. The General Assembly voted 144-10 with 13 abstentions to extend his term with the U.S. voting “no.”

The French Mission said: “The US used to be a beacon of human rights. Not anymore. Today, it stands alongside North Korea, Nicaragua, Mali & Russia, isolated. And the world no longer listens to it.”

Negrea shot back, calling the U.S. “the beacon of liberty for the world” and dismissing France’s ”political drivel.”

Trump says US stockpile is in ‘very good shape’ but he wants more

Asked about suggestions that the U.S. munitions are running low, Trump said stockpiles are in good shape and production needs to ramp up.

“We have a lot. I’d like to have more, to be honest,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

He blamed former President Joe Biden for giving U.S. technology to Ukraine. Trump said some more “sophisticated” weapons have been in shorter supply but he added that production has been accelerating.

“Every one of our contractors is building four to five plans right now, and we’re in very good shape,” he said.

Trump dismisses Russian efforts to help Iran in war

Ahead of his visit to Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asserted that Russia has been offering satellite images of U.S. bases in the Gulf region to Iran.

Asked about that Monday, Trump downplayed the impact of that assistance, saying the Russian help hasn’t had much impact.

“They may be giving, but if they are, it hasn’t worked out,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, en route to Michigan.

Trump also said he would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about it. Zelenskyy is set to meet with Trump on Tuesday.

A large crowd of supporters waits for Trump speech

The president was set to address a crowd of more than 1,000 at a General Motors proving ground in suburban Detroit, where the company tests vehicles before they are sold.

Some GM employees joined larger groups of Trump supporters, many wearing red “Make America Great Again” caps or t-shirts celebrating the president.

Behind the stage where Trump will speak later hung blue and white banners reading “American Cars. American Jobs.” Various models of cars and SUVs were parked nearby.

GM says the proving ground in Milford Township has more than 150 miles of test roads and was opened in 1924. That makes it the world’s oldest dedicated vehicle testing facility.

Trump’s new Canada tariffs could hurt Michigan

Michigan was one of the 2024 battlegrounds Trump flipped after it backed Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. But the state has also seen parts of its economy affected by the president’s tariffs, including on imported cars and auto parts.

A new round of steep import levies is taking effect on dozens of U.S. trading partners. But Trump has singled out Canada with tariffs as high as 50% on a wide array of its products, including cars.

The president is visiting Oakland County, which encompasses much of Detroit’s northern suburbs. Once a Republican stronghold, it has increasingly leaned Democratic, backing Biden against Trump in 2020 and Vice President Kamala Harris against Trump four years later.

Stocks open higher on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop 5% as Mideast tensions cool

The S&P 500 rose 0.6%. The index is coming off two weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 518 points, or 1%, as of 9:55 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.7%.

Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 5.4% to $86.74 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to over $100 a barrel last week before easing.

The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a ripple effect throughout the world’s economy.

▶ Read more

Mediators see progress in efforts to halt Iran war as drone attacks rattle region

Mediators have achieved progress in getting the United States and Iran back to negotiations, regional officials said Monday, after both sides paused attacks following a period of rapidly escalating tensions. But scattered attacks by armed groups across the region underscored the lingering tensions.

Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities.

Two drone attacks were reported against a Kurdish Iranian dissident group in Iraq, and Jordan said it had shot down two drones, without saying where they originated. There were no reports of casualties or damage.

Neither the U.S. nor Iran reported carrying out any attacks for three days — a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.

▶ Read more

Trump is set to defend his economic policies in Michigan, where new Canadian tariffs may sting

President Trump plans to tout his handling of the economy during a visit to suburban Detroit on Monday, defending sweeping tariffs in a swing state where their effects have hurt many businesses as midterm election season heats up.

Trump is visiting a General Motors facility in Milford, home to tracks and proving grounds for new models and vehicles. Early voting is underway for Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary, which features fierce nomination fights in both major political parties.

Republican Mike Rogers is unopposed in the Senate primary, but the GOP gubernatorial contest pits Trump-backed Rep. John James against Perry Johnson, a businessman turned politician who’s launched unsuccessful campaigns before, including for president in 2024.

Johnson is now trying to style himself in the president’s mold — despite missing out on his endorsement. He’s even holding a “Trump Tailgate” outside the president’s GM event.

▶ Read more

Pentagon’s official Iran war death toll no longer lists 4 troops killed during renewed fighting

The four American troops killed during renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks are no longer listed as part of the Iran war death toll in the Pentagon’s official casualty count but have been placed in a new, separate category.

It's raising questions about properly counting the impact to U.S. service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while providing little indication of how it intends to wind down a conflict that's unpopular with many Americans.

The Defense Casualty Analysis System, which Pentagon officials have repeatedly pointed to as the definitive source on the numbers of dead and wounded from the conflict, removed the four fallen soldiers as well as dozens of wounded troops from its Iran war tally last week.

On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system’s website, listing the four Army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.

▶ Read more

Trump administration admits grants for clean energy were canceled based on politics

The Trump administration has acknowledged in court documents that it canceled $7.6 billion in grants for hundreds of clean energy projects “based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient’s state” — in this case, 16 states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

The statement contradicts repeated assertions by Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials that the projects were canceled because they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or had other problems that made them a poor investment of taxpayer dollars.

Democrats and environmental groups seized on the court filing Friday, saying the administration had “weaponized” the federal government to kill good jobs and punish working families because of their political views.

▶ Read more

US appeals court upholds injunction that blocks Trump’s order to create a federal voter list

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that halted Trump’s executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list.

The ruling Saturday by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration’s effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Trump issued an executive order in March for the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to create a “state citizenship list” of eligible voters. It also ordered the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list.

While Trump touted the proposed changes as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting, state election officials argued they were ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

▶ Read more

FIFA's Infantino targets critics he says spread 'hate and false rumors' about World Cup

Graham Dunbar, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:23:53 +0000

One week after the World Cup final, FIFA President Gianni Infantino attacked perceived critics for “spreading hate and false rumors” about the tournament.

Infantino praised FIFA for “delivering the best show in the world” and spoke of the World Cup bringing “joy and togetherness,” in a 900-word statement published across a 15-page post on his Instagram account and on FIFA’s website late Sunday.

“Sorry that you were so consumed by hate and criticism that you missed it all,” the FIFA leader wrote, addressing his comments to “those behind their pens and papers, behind their screens spreading hate and false rumors.”

FIFA and Infantino faced criticism during the World Cup for Iran team officials, a Somali referee and fans being denied entry to the United States; alleged political influence by U.S. President Donald Trump in letting Folarin Balogun avoid a ban for a red card; unprecedented high ticket prices and commercialized breaks in play midway through each half of all 104 games.

“Every city was packed with fans from all around the globe,” Infantino wrote. “While they celebrated, you were busy planting seeds of hate.”

“While you hide, we are exploring the streets of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, talking with fans, engaging with people, and ensuring everyone’s safety.”

Testy media relations

Infantino has an increasingly testy relationship with media during the 11th year of his presidency. His eve-of-tournament news conference in Mexico City was his first with a full gathering of international media since March 2023.

The previous such news conference in Rwanda, after his reelection by acclaim from FIFA member federations, saw Infantino ask his audience: “Why are you so mean?”

In Mexico City last month, Infantino suggested critics should “chill, relax.”

FIFA uniting the U.S. and Iran

Iran’s ability to play at least three games in the U.S. was a key pretournament issue, and the squad made a late switch to a training camp in Tijuana, Mexico instead of Tucson, Arizona.

“Iran entered the United States without incident or conflict,” Infantino noted in his statement. “While you spread hatred, we worked tirelessly to unite two countries at war.”

Fans denied visas to enter the U.S. included Michel Nkuka Mboladinga, the celebrated statue supporter of Congo which was dealing with an Ebola virus outbreak. He attended one game in Mexico.

“You mentioned the few people denied visas and overlooked the millions who were approved, from all parts of the world,” Infantino wrote. “Countries facing serious health issues or other challenges were granted visas.”

Infantino defends Balogun decision

On fallout from the red card for U.S. forward Balogun, Infantino claimed “subsequent decisions not to ban players in certain situations are routine.”

FIFA did not overturn Balogun’s red card, which does occur in domestic club competitions, but instead took the more unusual step of deferring the one-game ban for a probationary period. FIFA has yet to publish the written verdict of its disciplinary judge.

“To those spending their time and energy hating us, please take a moment to reflect, meditate, pray, or watch a football match and truly observe the faces, the eyes, the emotions,” Infantino wrote.

He signed off his statement: “Much love to all.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and AP World Cup coverage

Cracker Barrel CEO steps down a year after logo debacle

Dee-Ann Durbin, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:00:37 +0000

Cracker Barrel's CEO is stepping down nearly a year after an attempted rebrand of the chain led to a fierce customer backlash.

Cracker Barrel said Monday that CEO Julie Masino will step down next month but remain with the company until Oct. 9 in an advisory capacity.

David Deno will succeed Masino on Aug. 10 as CEO. Deno served as the CEO of Bloomin' Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse and other chains, from 2019 until he retired in 2024. He has also held executive roles as Best Buy and Yum Brands, which is the parent company of KFC and Taco Bell.

Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel hired Masino, a longtime Taco Bell and Starbucks executive, in July 2023. She was chosen for her record as an innovator with the hope that she would attract new customers to Cracker Barrel, which operates nearly 660 restaurants in 43 states.

Masino introduced updated menu items, like Hashbrown Casserole Shepherd’s Pie, to increase Cracker Barrel’s dinnertime traffic. She also started remodeling the company’s dark, antique-filled restaurants, lightening the walls and installing more comfortable seating.

Then, last August, Cracker Barrel announced plans to ditch its longtime logo, which features an older, overall-clad man leaning on a barrel as well as the words “Old Country Store.” The company said it would continue to honor Uncle Herschel — the man in its logo, who represents the uncle of Cracker Barrel’s founder — on its menu and on items sold in its stores. But the new logo would be simpler and easier to read on road signs and in phone apps.

The backlash was immediate. Fans didn’t like the new logo and also rebelled against the store redesigns. Even President Donald Trump weighed in, saying in a Truth Social post that Cracker Barrel “should go back to the old logo, admit a mistake based on customer response (the ultimate Poll), and manage the company better than ever before.”

Masino reversed course within a few days, but the damage was done. Cracker Barrel's same-store restaurant sales plunged 5% last fall and 7% in the quarter ending Jan. 30, 2026. Same-store sales at the retail stores connected to its restaurants dropped even further.

Still, the company's shareholders voted in November to keep Masino in place as CEO, and sales trends had begun to improve in recent months. In the quarter ending May 1, same-store restaurant sales were down 2.6% and the company raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast.

Masino also helped sharpen the company's focus on the Cracker Barrel brand with the sale of the company's Maple Street Biscuit Co. stores. Cracker Barrel acquired Maple Street in 2019 and operated 50 locations around the country.

Citi analyst Jon Tower said in a research note Monday that the news of Masino's departure was surprising given those recent improvements.

Cracker Barrel shares fell 2.7% in early afternoon trading.

Police search for a second suspect following Seattle food festival shooting that killed 3

Gene Johnson, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:28:45 +0000

Police searched for a second suspect Monday after gunfire erupted at a crowded food festival beneath Seattle's Space Needle, leaving three people dead and four others wounded, including a toddler. Another suspect was arrested earlier.

Investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other and, although one remained on the loose, Seattle Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis told a news conference Sunday night that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

Police did not have a description of the outstanding suspect, he said.

“We’re still trying to figure this out,” Davis said. Police did not immediately respond to phone and email messages early Monday.

A first court appearance for the person arrested was anticipated Monday afternoon, said Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office.

Two people died at the scene and a third died at a hospital. They were described as two men, ages 19 and 44, and a 56-year-old woman.

The four wounded, including a 2-year-old boy, were hospitalized. The boy was in satisfactory condition Monday. The others — two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39, were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

Davis couldn't say if any of the victims were involved in the confrontation.

Vendors who fled, abandoning their food booths, were cleaning up Monday. A candlelight vigil was planned Monday night at the center’s International Fountain.

The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. Sunday in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day festival that draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers.

Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and some saw one of the suspects firing, Davis said. One suspect surrendered at the scene, but the other fled.

A large number of police and emergency crews responded and began evacuating the area around the sprawling Seattle Center campus.

Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just gotten food from a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out.

“We were about to start eating, then heard someone yell something, then we saw people start to run,” Hunter said. “So we took off running, too.”

“We were right next to him when it started, so we took off running,” Hunter added.

Hunter said that in the scramble to find safety, she and others ran into the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.

In the chaos, many vendors bolted toward the exits, abandoning their food stands. Hours later, some milled outside the police tape, wondering when they would be allowed to collect their tents, food and cooking gear.

Roberto Ramirez, a vendor at the event, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers before people began yelling “shooter” and frantically running.

“Suddenly everything was empty,” he said. “People were freaked out.”

After the initial panic, new guests continued to arrive unaware of what had happened and were told by police to leave, he said.

Estan Wakonabo said he and his girlfriend were waiting in line for a photo booth when he was shoved from behind and turned to see a rush of people fleeing.

“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said, adding that was when he heard gunshots.

“Once I heard a ‘pop, pop, pop,’ that’s when I knew it was a shooter,” he said.

After he escorted his girlfriend to safety, he returned to the scene to take photos and saw multiple victims on the ground, Wakonabo said.

The festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees, according to its website.

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Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Seattle, Annika Wolters in Bangkok and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Stocks waver on Wall Street while crude oil prices fall for the first time in a week

Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 05:13:38 +0000

Stocks drifted to a mixed finish on Wall Street Friday as oil prices slipped for the first time in a week.

Every major index lost ground overall for the week amid increasing pressure from a sharp escalation in the U.S. war with Iran. Investors are also contending with new tariffs from the Trump administration and worries about the economy suffering under the weight of stubborn inflation.

The S&P 500 barely budged in a day of uneventful trading. It rose 3.68 points, or less than 0.1%, to 7,411.98. The index notched its second consecutive losing week, which hasn't happened since March.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235.60 points, or 0.5%, to 51,947.25.

The Nasdaq fell 161.87 points, or 0.6%, to 24,975.82. It was weighed down by sharp losses from several big tech stocks.

Micron Technology fell 7% and Broadcom fell 2.7%. Both companies have large market values that tend to weigh more heavily on the market. They were big reasons for the technology-heavy Nasdaq lagging the market, and also why the market's gains were kept in check despite more stocks rising than falling within the S&P 500.

Heavy fighting in the Middle East throughout the week again threatened to slow the global flow of oil and gas. It has been an ongoing concern for Wall Street, and now many of the buffers in the energy market from earlier in the year, including strategic reserves in the U.S., have been weakened.

“If escalation continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the impact will land on an energy market with far less resilience than in the spring,” wrote Theodore Bunzel, head of geopolitical advisory at Lazard, in a report.

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.9% to $96.78. It rose the first four days of the week and moved back above $100 on Thursday. Before the Iran war began in late February it was trading around $72 per barrel.

Bond yields also eased and relieved some of the pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.68% from 4.71% late Thursday.

Markets in Europe gained ground, while Asian markets closed lower.

The U.S. is also ramping up its global trade war with a fresh round of tariffs on dozens of nations. The new round of tariffs impacts nearly all U.S. imports and they are paid by companies importing those goods, who then typically pass the added costs along to consumers. That move came just as the clock was running out Friday on stopgap levies the president imposed after a stinging defeat for other tariffs at the Supreme Court.

Rising energy prices and fresh tariffs could result in hotter inflation, which has been squeezing consumers and looming over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.

The Fed meets next week and has been closely monitoring prices and their impact. Rising inflation dashed hopes earlier this year for an interest rate cut. Wall Street has since leaned more toward a potential rate increase, which the central bank can use to help cool inflation.

Wall Street is anticipating at least one rate hike by the end of the year, with a nearly 38% chance that could happen at the upcoming meeting next week, according to CME FedWatch.

Higher energy costs threaten to take a bigger chunk out of household budgets, which means a shift in spending toward more basic needs, like gasoline. Nationally, a gallon of gasoline costs $4.10 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s still lower than this spring as the conflict in Iran expanded, but it’s almost a dollar higher than last year at this time.

Investors are worried about the impact to companies profits. Those profits and expectations for more growth are what typically justifies a stock's value. The latest round of corporate earnings showed that companies are still notching growth, but concerns are growing.

American Express fell 4.3% despite reporting a jump in profit during its most recent quarter. AmEx maintained its profit forecast for the year and has been spending more heavily to keep wealthy individuals amid more competition.

Worries about the sustainability of broader profits are on top of lingering concerns about AI-focused tech companies. Companies like Alphabet and Nvidia have been spending heavily on AI technology. Investors are increasingly questioning whether those investments will produce profits to justify the large stock values that have been steering the broader market higher throughout the year.

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AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Baytown Police investigating officer accused of misusing Flock license plate reader system

Rilwan Balogun — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:43:08 +0000

The Baytown Police Department has launched both an internal affairs investigation and a criminal investigation after receiving allegations that one of its officers misused the department’s Flock Safety license plate reader system.

Police Chief John Stringer announced the investigations in a video message and Facebook post, saying the department is taking the allegations seriously and has requested outside assistance to ensure transparency.

Pasadena council discusses KPRC 2 reporting on police sergeant, alleged Flock camera misuse

According to the chief, he has authorized an internal affairs investigation into potential policy violations, as well as a separate criminal investigation into whether any laws were broken.

“In the interest of objectivity and transparency, I’ve requested the assistance of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office throughout the entirety of the criminal investigation,” Stringer said.

‘Y’all are playing games’: Discussion over Harris County’s Flock camera contract renewal turns tense

The department has not identified the officer involved or disclosed the specific allegations, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.

In the Facebook post, the department said transparency and accountability are essential to maintaining public trust but acknowledged that it is limited in what it can release while the investigation remains active.

PREVIOUS: Pasadena police sergeant resigns while under internal investigation; council member cites alleged misuse of Flock camera

Stringer acknowledged community concerns surrounding privacy and the use of license plate reader technology, emphasizing that any misconduct would be addressed.

“The executive staff of the Baytown Police Department and I recognize our community’s concerns for the protection and respect of individual privacy, as well as for police accountability,” Stringer said. “If these allegations are sustained, then the employee involved will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law and policy.”

The chief also said maintaining the public’s trust remains a priority for the department.

Pasadena police sergeant resigns while under internal investigation; council member cites alleged misuse of Flock camera

“The Baytown Police Department has worked very hard to build trust and establish strong relationships in our community,” Stringer said. “We hold fast to the standards and trust that our community has given to us and that they expect from us.”

The department has not provided a timeline for the investigations or shared when additional information may be released.

Houston weather: Heat Advisory issued as intense heat dome could bring multiple 100-degree days

Justin Stapleton — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:33:45 +0000

A Heat Advisory has been issued for the Houston area from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday as temperatures climb to around 100 degrees and the heat index reaches as high as 110. This level of heat can quickly become dangerous, especially for anyone working or exercising outdoors. Drink plenty of water, take frequent breaks in air conditioning or shade and never leave children or pets inside a parked vehicle—even for a few minutes.

Heat Advisory

Houston’s stormy stretch is over, but the tradeoff is a return to intense summer heat. Temperatures will climb throughout the week with highs pushing into the 100-degree range as early as Tuesday.

Several consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures are possible and heat index values will range between 108 to 110 degrees. This will prompt heat advisories starting as early as Tuesday. Overnight lows near 80 will provide little relief, increasing the risk of heat stress through the upcoming work week.

Monday’s Forecast:

This will most likely be the last day with more typical summertime heat. Temperatures climb to the upper 90s with a feels like number of 106°.

Monday planner

High pressure dome is responsible for the extreme heat:

A very stout ridge of high pressure is strengthening across the Central Plains and will be the dominant weather pattern for us for the next five days.

These systems are very stubborn and hard to move so expect very hot days with very humid mornings generally in the low 80s. Storm chances will be very hard to find for most of the next 7-10 days.

Heat dome is sizzling Houston this week

Once these high-pressure ridges get into place, they will not move for a number of days. We will likely see this high keep strengthening through the week.

Triple digits are on the way

This upcoming weekend the high pressure begins to move west, allowing for a weak front to approach the Gulf Coast. This will be the next best chance to see any measurable rainfall in southeast Texas.

Next Weekend

Heat index values will range between 106° to 110° each afternoon. Once the heat index hits 108° heat advisories go into effect.

Feels like numbers climb to 110°

The tropics will stay quiet:

We’ll get long break from our next storm. There is nothing brewing in the tropics for the next seven to ten days.

Tropical Outlook

10 Day Forecast:

The forecast remains dry through the end of next week as temperatures surge into the triple digits. A slight increase in clouds and moisture could bring temperatures back into the upper and mid-90s next weekend. There is also a chance of rain for the start of August.

10-day planner

Zelenskyy and Britain's new leader discuss drone projects and missile defense for Kyiv

Jill Lawless, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:54:06 +0000

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and new U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham met Monday at a British naval base and discussed joint drone projects and Ukraine's urgent need for ballistic missile interceptors to counter Russian attacks.

Zelenskyy’s visit was the first by a foreign leader since Burnham took office a week ago, and the prime minister said it signaled the U.K.'s “unwavering” support for Kyiv to defend itself against Russia's 4-year-old, full-scale invasion.

His predecessor, Keir Starmer, was in the Ukrainian capital less than two weeks ago in his last overseas trip before leaving office, and Burnham said he planned to visit soon.

Burnham is the fifth British prime minister Zelenskyy has dealt with since Russia launched the war in 2022.

"You are the first leader I have welcomed in person since taking office, and that is no accident,” Burnham told Zelenskyy. “It is intended to send a very clear message: we are with Ukraine 100%, I am personally with you 100%, and I will honor every commitment this country has made to Ukraine in full.”

Zelenskyy said the two countries' relationship was “stronger than ever.”

The meeting, aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth docked at Portsmouth on England’s south coast, came a day before Zelenskyy is expected to visit U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.

Burnham said they had “talked at length” about Kyiv's need for more interceptors to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, “particularly in terms of Ukraine protecting critical national infrastructure during the winters.”

“We’ve taken away some things that we will now follow up with our partners,” Burnham said after the meeting.

Russia has intensified strikes on gas stations, power facilities and other infrastructure this year in a broad campaign to strain Ukraine’s logistics and energy networks.

Zelenskyy said on X that the leaders also discussed “joint defense production.” Britain and Ukraine already have a deal to work together on new drones, and Zelenskyy told Sky News beforehand that he hoped to build a “big, big factory” in Britain.

They also met more than 200 Ukrainian military personnel who have spent three weeks in Britain for an exercise aimed at strengthening their fighting capabilities and measures to counter mines in the Black Sea, the U.K. government said.

Burnham announced that the U.K. will give Ukraine the intellectual property behind its new “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system, which is capable of jamming Russian air defenses to stop drones from being detected.

Ukraine has expanded its campaign of frequent drone attacks deep inside Russia that have targeted oil facilities, military factories and, most recently, logistical centers, bringing the war home to millions of Russians and raising pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

The raids have shattered Putin’s narrative of the conflict as something that doesn’t affect the lives of ordinary people in his country. But he has remained undeterred and Russia has ramped up its aerial campaign, regularly bombarding Ukraine with missiles and drones.

Russia and Ukraine trade drone attacks

Russia again attacked Ukraine overnight with 147 long-range drones, according to Ukraine's air force, which said it intercepted or jammed 123 of them.

In Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and two injured in attacks on the city that damaged a residential high-rise and several private homes overnight, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov.

A Russian strike on the town of Balakliia in the Kharkiv region killed one person and wounded eight, according to Vitalii Karabanov, head of the city military administration.

In the Nikopol district of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian strikes damaged a kindergarten, residential buildings and infrastructure, injuring a woman and a 6-year-old boy, according to administration head Oleksandr Hanzha.

In the eastern Kharkiv region, regional council member Oleksandr Skoryk said Russian forces destroyed every gas station along the highway between Kharkiv and Poltava, a distance of about 150 kilometers (93 miles). The highway is a key supply route linking Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city and a regional hub close to the Russian border, with central Ukraine.

Romania’s Ministry of National Defense said a drone briefly entered its airspace before crossing the river border into Ukraine, where explosions were subsequently reported. It said two F-16 fighter jets were deployed to monitor airspace.

The drone’s incursion into Romanian airspace marked the fourth such incident in as many days. The three previous drones were all shot down by the NATO member.

In Moscow, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 276 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said five people, including a child, were killed when a Ukrainian drone hit an apartment building in Rostov-on-Don. Ukraine’s military General Staff said Ukrainian forces struck an export terminal in Rostov-on-Don, setting it ablaze.

The Ukrainian military said other strikes in the Moscow-held part of the Kherson region targeted a ground relay station used to control drones and a bridge over the Henichesk Strait that Russia uses for military logistics. Russian fuel and supply depots were also hit.

In the city of Belgorod in southwestern Russia near the border with Ukraine, a Ukrainian drone attack injured 12, including two children, according to regional emergency officials.

Iran vows retaliation after Ukrainian attack on a ship

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Ukraine struck an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea, killing a sailor.

In a statement on X on Sunday, Araghchi denounced the attack as a “blatant U.N. Charter violation done at Israel’s behest to drag Europe into its war.” He said he made it clear in calls with the European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the attack “can't go unanswered.”

Zelenskyy said on X that Ukrainian long-range strikes in the Caspian Sea over the weekend achieved “very good results,” adding the targets included “vessels involved in transporting military cargo linked to Iran, as well as a warship.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha rejected Iran’s threats of retaliation as unjustified and groundless, saying Tehran's weapons supplies to Russia have made it a direct accomplice to Moscow's aggression. “Iran has no standing to pretend to be a victim,” he posted on X, and called its references to the U.N. Charter “absurd.”

Sybiha said Iran’s statements were an attempt to divert attention from Russia’s attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea, which would be a focus of an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Monday.

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Hanna Arhirova and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, contributed.

Full Buck Moon rises this week: What to know before it peaks

Caroline Brown — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:31:03 +0000

Houston skywatchers will want to look up Wednesday night as July’s Full Buck Moon rises over the southeastern horizon.

The moon officially reaches its fullest phase at 9:35 a.m. Wednesday, July 29. Since that happens during daylight hours in Houston, the best opportunity to see it will come Wednesday evening as the nearly perfectly illuminated moon climbs into the night sky.

When to see the Buck Moon in Houston

The moon will rise shortly after sunset Wednesday. Look low toward the east-southeast as it begins to appear above the horizon.

It may look especially large and golden while it is still low in the sky. No telescope or special equipment is needed.

An open location with a clear view of the southeastern horizon will provide the best view. Passing clouds could occasionally block the moon, but there should still be opportunities to see it.

Why is it called the Buck Moon?

July’s full moon is called the Buck Moon because young male deer typically begin growing new antlers around this time of year.

The antlers are initially covered in a soft layer of velvet before hardening later in the season.

Other traditional names for July’s full moon include the Thunder Moon and Hay Moon.

Full Buck Moon

Will it look different?

Despite its name, the Buck Moon will not appear dramatically different from a typical full moon. It is also not a supermoon.

It may briefly look yellow, orange or reddish near the horizon. That happens because its light travels through more of Earth’s atmosphere.

The moon will also appear nearly full Tuesday and Thursday nights, giving skywatchers more than one chance to see it.

Next 4 Moon Phases

If you see the full buck moon and take photos we’d love to see it! You can send your photos in to Click2Pins.

Texas ranks as 4th worst state for healthcare in 2026, WalletHub study finds

Brittany Taylor — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:29:24 +0000

Texas ranked as the fourth-worst state in the nation for healthcare in a new WalletHub study that compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia on healthcare costs, access and outcomes.

According to the personal finance website, Texas ranked 48th overall, with only three states scoring lower. The report evaluated states using 44 metrics, including insurance coverage, the number of doctors and hospital beds available, and health outcomes.

WalletHub said Americans now spend an average of nearly $15,500 per year on healthcare, making affordability and access increasingly important when comparing healthcare systems.

Where Texas ranked

Among the categories highlighted in the report, Texas ranked:

25th for hospital beds per capita
46th for physicians per capita
43rd for dentists per capita
51st (last) for the percentage of insured adults
51st (last) for the percentage of insured children
34th for the percentage of at-risk adults who had not seen a doctor for a routine visit in the past two years
49th for the percentage of adults who had not visited a dentist in the past year

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo said the best healthcare systems balance affordability with quality and accessibility.

“The best health care in the nation isn’t helpful if it bankrupts the people who try to get it, and cheap health care isn’t worth paying for if it provides subpar or ineffective treatment,” Lupo said.

Which states ranked highest?

According to the report, the top five states for healthcare in 2026 were:

New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Minnesota
Iowa
Massachusetts

WalletHub’s rankings were based on three main categories:

Healthcare costs
Access to care
Health outcomes

Researchers analyzed data from a variety of sources to score each state before calculating an overall ranking.

North Carolina places football GM Michael Lombardi on paid administrative leave

Aaron Beard, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:26:17 +0000

North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The school announced the move with a statement Monday morning, coming days before the Tar Heels open preseason camp. The school didn't provide details as to the reason, noting that employees and athletes aren't permitted to address the topic “as is standard procedure with personnel matters.”

Lombardi joined Bill Belichick in making the NFL-to-college move when the school hired the former New England Patriots coach in December 2024. Lombardi's career as an NFL executive had included being the GM of the Cleveland Browns in 2013, and he was an immediate hire by the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach in Chapel Hill.

The school had hired Belichick to jolt a football program that had largely been an Atlantic Coast Conference also-ran while making periodic but unsustained climbs into national relevance.

A few months into Belichick's tenure, Lombardi said the goal was running a college program in a way similar to the NFL, saying the Tar Heels “consider ourselves the 33rd (NFL) team” due to the staff connections to the pros.

The Tar Heels went just 4-8 in Belichick's first season. They open his second against TCU in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Mediators see progress in efforts to halt Iran war as drone attacks rattle region

Samy Magdy And Elena Becatoros, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:42:09 +0000

Saudi Arabia said it had shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq that had targeted its petroleum facilities. Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen meanwhile claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities as part of a separate but related conflict. It was unclear if they referred to the same attack.

Iran and Ukraine, meanwhile, have been publicly feuding since Ukraine fired on at least one Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea over the weekend. Iran, which said a sailor had been killed in the attack, is an important ally of Russia in its war against Ukraine, helping Moscow build up its drone expertise.

Neither the U.S. nor Iran reported carrying out any attacks for three days — a respite after about two weeks of sustained bombardments that had led to increasing fears of a return to all-out war.

The two regional officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks, said mediators led by Qatar and Pakistan were working to bridge the gap between Washington and Tehran to return to an interim ceasefire deal that had collapsed after the exchanges of fire.

No strikes over the weekend

The U.S. has paused attacks after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global oil shipments.

U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room,” Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News.

Waltz dismissed the idea that the U.S. stockpile of interceptors crucial in defending against Iranian attacks is running low, but experts have questioned how long both the U.S. and Iran can afford to keep up attacks.

Iran halted its attacks following the American pause, Tehran's army spokesperson told Iranian state TV on Sunday. Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting U.S. military forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.

Regional officials cite progress in talks

One of the regional officials who spoke to AP on Monday described the progress made in mediation efforts as “significant.” He said mediators were working with Iran and Oman on a mechanism for managing vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the flashpoint for the latest strikes and counterstrikes.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said during a news conference in Tehran on Monday that “mediators may convey messages to us from the American side” but that there were no direct negotiations.

He said Iran and Oman, which lies on the other side of the Strait of Hormuz, had already held talks on Friday and Saturday on how to manage ship traffic through the waterway.

“The objective is for Iran and Oman, as the two coastal states, to develop mechanisms to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz while respecting the sovereign rights and sovereignty of both coastal states, as well as Iran’s security and national interests” Baghaei said. He stressed that the waterway remains closed.

Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping on the waterway and potentially charge fees, and it has objected to U.S. efforts to support an alternative route that passes close to Oman. The strait was open to all without fees before the war.

The U.S. military on Monday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with 17 commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded.

The 60-day period established by the interim deal in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated — notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions — have been set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.

Shipping traffic on the strait is at a 3-week low

Concerns have grown about shipping through another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. The Houthis last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there, and fired on at least one Saudi tanker, setting it alight.

Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again.

Commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, a maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours. It said traffic remained steady through Bab el-Mandeb.

Netanyahu says he ‘fully’ backs Trump’s efforts

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he plans to meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and a ground invasion. Since then, the U.S. has supported landmark direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to try to calm that front and find a way to disarm Hezbollah.

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press reporters Cara Anna in Lowville, New York; Darlene Superville and Ben Finley in Washington; and Jill Lawless and Emma Burrows in London contributed.

Tragedy at Chiefs camp: Eric Bieniemy’s son charge with shooting his mother, authorities say

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:45:32 +0000

The son of Chiefs assistant coach Eric Bieniemy has been arrested and charged with the shooting of his mother, Mia Bieniemy, the wife of the Kansas City offensive coordinator, authorities in Virginia said Monday.

The Loudon County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded late Sunday to a shooting in Ashburn, Virginia, where the couple still had a home from Bieniemy's time coaching the Washington Commanders. They found the 57-year-old Mia Bieniemy with multiple gunshot wounds, and she was transported to a hospital where she was in stable condition Monday.

Elijah Zion Bieniemy, the 27-year-old son of the couple, was arrested early Monday in connection with the shooting. He has been charged with malicious wounding, use of a firearm in commission of a felony and discharge of a firearm inside a dwelling, and is being held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.

The sheriff's office said the investigation was ongoing.

Eric Bieniemy was with the Chiefs at training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, earlier Sunday. He was not present for Monday's workout involving rookies, quarterbacks and a few veterans, which was closed to the public.

“Our hearts go out to Eric Bieniemy and his family. Thoughts and prayers with them,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said afterward. “I can't get into details on it, but things happen sometimes, and Eric will work through it. He has a great support group here, as does his family, as needed, and we'll just let time take care of it from there. But Mia is stable, which is a plus.

“She's a saint, we all know that, those of you that know her. One of God's great blessings,” Reid added. “But things happen. And you have to work through it. That's where we're at right now. Time will have to be involved in this to help heal."

Reid did not know how long Bieniemy would be away from the team. Pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier and offensive line coach Andy Heck will take over his duties as the Chiefs continue with offensive installations during training camp.

“On these things, real life. So you take care of that,” Reid said. “We'll be able to keep it moving here, but the most important thing is EB has an opportunity to spend some time there are take care of that business."

Eric Bieniemy was part of Reid's initial staff in Kansas City in 2013, and spent five seasons as the running backs coach before he was promoted to offensive coordinator. Over the next five seasons, the demanding but popular Bieniemy helped the Chiefs to reach three Super Bowls and win two of them while directing one of the NFL's best offenses.

He interviewed for several head-coaching jobs but was continually skipped over, so Bieniemy went to the Commanders in 2023 in hopes of burnishing his resume. But the team struggled and coach Ron Rivera's staff was let go, and Bieniemy spent one season as the offensive coordinator at UCLA before spending last season as the running backs coach with the Bears.

Bieniemy returned to the Chiefs this season to replace Matt Nagy as the offensive coordinator. He was present for offseason workouts in Kansas City over the summer, and he was with the team when it began to report to training camp last week.

The Chiefs are off Tuesday. The first full-squad workout at Missouri Western State University is Wednesday.

“It's great to have (Bieniemy) back in the building,” Reid said last week. “He always brings great energy. I've told you, he's one of the more phenomenal guys I have been around at being a leader of men. He is doing that. He's in there cranking — works his tail off, and I appreciate that. Doesn't let anything slide by. Does a good job with that.”

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

Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, treated for skin cancer

Maria Sherman, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:22:54 +0000

Singer Carly Simon has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was recently treated for skin cancer, the singer shared in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“So many people have written to me, kindly wondering about my relative silence, asking how I am and what I have been doing. The truth is, I’ve been learning how to live with Parkinson’s disease,” Simon’s statement on Monday read.

The singer, 83, had been experiencing arthritis in one of her hips and both her knees, resulting in replacement surgeries for those three joints. But her mobility continued to decline. At times, she said, she could not walk without “considerable help.”

“My family and I knew that something more was going on. After an extensive evaluation at the Mayo Clinic, I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s,” she said.

“It has taken me some time to understand the diagnosis, to adjust to it, and to decide how much I wanted to say about it publicly,” she explained. “Parkinson’s is different for everyone, and it can be unpredictable. Some days I’m so tired I can’t get the day moving at all. On others, it gives me a little more room to move, think, work, and feel like myself.”

Parkinson’s is a neurologic disease that robs people of control over their movements. It typically starts with tremors and is characterized by slow movement, a shuffling gait, stiff limbs, balance problems and slurred speech.

About 1 million Americans are living with Parkinson’s, and 10 million people worldwide, the Parkinson’s Foundation estimates. It usually appears after age 60, though it sometimes develops before age 50.

The exact cause isn’t known, but Parkinson’s develops when cells that produce one of the brain’s chemical messengers — dopamine — begin to deteriorate and die.

There is no cure, but there are treatments including medications that affect dopamine levels and a surgically implanted tremor-blocking device. Patients also can benefit from physical and occupational therapy.

“I began treatment, including taking medication to help with stiffness and other symptoms,” Simon said. “There is no tidy or predictable schedule to the illness. It does not consult my calendar before deciding what kind of day I am going to have.”

She also shared that she was treated for basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer, on her face at the same time. She had surgery, and the cancer was removed, “but the surgery affected my appearance and made me more self-conscious about being seen in public,” she said.

She said music has been a salve, and on Aug. 14, she will release “Comes in Waves,” her first album of original songs since 2008.

“Working on the music gave shape to days that did not always have much shape. It gave me somewhere to go without having to leave the room,” she continued. “It reminded me that illness can change your life without becoming the whole of your life.”

Check your fridge: Latest FDA food recalls impacting Texas

Christian Hudspeth — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:20:54 +0000

Recent FDA recall notices keep piling up — and some have a direct Texas footprint.

From the 1.6 million dozen shell egg recall and the Cyclospora-related iceberg lettuce concerns, below is a quick, easy-to-scan roundup of the food and dietary supplement recalls posted by the FDA in the last two weeks that specifically list Texas in distribution or availability, plus what to look for to see if you have an affected product.

Nearly 1.6 million eggs distributed in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have been recalled by Midwest Poultry Services due to possible Salmonella Enteritidis contamination.

Shell eggs (multiple brands) — Salmonella risk

Posted: 07/22/2026 | Company: Midwest Poultry Services, L.P.
Texas connection: Produced/distributed from Texas; shipped to TX (also OK, LA). Sold at Kroger (TX); Brookshire Grocery footprint includes TX.
ID: Carton codes P-1950 or 0840962 + Julian Date 157–184.

Peter Rabbit Organics fruit puree pouches (4 oz) — possible soft plastic

Posted: 07/21/2026 | Company: PT Organics Limited
Texas connection: Sold nationwide at Kroger, Meijer, and Target (includes Texas stores) between 03/06/2026–07/13/2026.
ID: Barcode 8 15367 01078 0; lane number “4” on the rear right-hand seam; Best-Before-Date 01/19/2027, 01/20/2027, 03/17/2027, 03/18/2027, 05/14/2027, or 05/15/2027.

Zen Principle moringa capsules (180 count)

Zen Principle moringa capsules (180 count) — possible Salmonella

Posted: 07/19/2026 | Company: Relay Peak Research LLC (Zen Principle Naturals)
Texas connection: Sold nationwide online (incl. TX) via Amazon and zenprinciple.com .
ID: Lot A6FF4 | Best By 11/2028.

Iceberg lettuce (multiple SKUs/brands) — Cyclospora concern

Posted: 07/18/2026 | Company: Taylor Farms de Mexico / Taylor Fresh Foods
Texas connection: Distribution list includes TX.
Where it may show up: Select Walmart (Marketside) items; Taco Bell locations that received recalled lettuce.

Ola-Ola pounded yam (2–10 lb)

Ola-Ola pounded yam (2–10 lb) — undeclared milk

Posted: 07/17/2026 | Company: Fayus Inc. (Yusol International Foods)
Texas connection: Distributed in U.S. states including TX (African/Caribbean market outlets).
ID: Affected exp. dates Nov 2028–May 2029; packaging that does not declare milk (sodium caseinate).

Khong Guan glutinous rice balls

Khong Guan glutinous rice balls (14.1 oz bags) — undeclared peanuts

Posted: 07/15 & 07/16/2026 | Company: Khong Guan Corporation
Texas connection: Distributed online + retail in states including TX.
ID:
- Black sesame filling: UPC 6908791000053 | Use By 9/22/2027 or 10/19/2027
- Black & white (black sesame): UPC 6908791000084 | Use By 10/19/2027

Stanford becomes first school to organize a player-led College Football Players Association chapter

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:50:22 +0000

The College Football Players Association, an organization advocating for unionization and collective bargaining, announced Monday that Stanford has become the first team to organize a player-led chapter.

CFBPA executive director Jason Stahl said the goal is for other Atlantic Coast Conference schools join Stanford in forming chapters. That would create momentum for unionization and the ability for players to bargain with conferences over working conditions.

Stanford players elected offensive lineman Fisher Anderson and linebacker Ernest Cooper as their representatives.

“Stanford has been a pioneer and innovator not just in football but as a school in general,” Cooper said “This first-ever current player-led chapter at Stanford is just another example of this innovation. We want to be leaders in college football and show other schools how they can create a chapter on their campus because we believe this is the future of college football.”

Anderson said the CFBPA will play a role in giving players a voice in all aspects of governing college football.

“Over the past five years, college football has been rocked back and forth by the waves,” he said. “When a CFBPA chapter becomes a reality on every college football team, it would put down an anchor where there isn't one right now for the sport. The chapters can then become the building blocks for conference-wide collective bargaining agreements, which would bring sustainability, transparency and player protections to a sport in need of all three.”

The NCAA and conferences have been working with federal legislators on a Senate bill that would grant the NCAA an antitrust exemption to be able to enforce rules such as a salary cap and transfer restrictions. Some athletic directors have suggested collective bargaining as an alternative if federal legislation is not passed, but a number of obstacles related to giving college athletes employee status would have to be cleared.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Floodwater delays Corpus Christi’s water emergency until fall 2028

Texas Tribune, Alejandra Martinez — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:49:31 +0000

Corpus Christi got “tremendous” news Monday when the city’s projected water emergency was delayed until fall 2028 — a year later than previously anticipated — as floodwater from recent intense storms continues flowing into some of the region’s reservoirs.

Water heading downstream from hard-hit areas of Texas is expected to continue arriving in area reservoirs, potentially easing water-use restrictions for city residents and giving Corpus Christi added time and breathing room to strengthen its water system.

“This is really, really good news for the community, and it gives us time to bring on our water supply projects without the stress of heading into a Level 1 water emergency,” City Manager Peter Zanoni said at a morning water briefing.

Corpus Christi, Texas’ eighth-largest city, has been racing to avoid a water emergency in which demand outpaces available water supplies. For months the city has been under pressure to find new sources of water for 500,000 people served across seven counties, along with one of the nation’s largest petrochemical corridors and the Port of Corpus Christi, the country’s top port for crude oil exports. Officials have asked residents and businesses to cut their water use.

Earlier this year, city projections showed that “day zero” — the point when water demand is projected to be six months from exceeding supply — could arrive as early as May, triggering a Level 1 emergency declaration.

Spring rains pushed that estimate back to September 2027, but not before drawing statewide and national attention as the city appeared to be the first major U.S. city on track to run short of water.

The new Level 1 water emergency date is forecasted to be September 2028.

For months, local leaders said the region needed either steady rain or a hurricane to replenish largely empty reservoirs. City officials said they continue to monitor inflows to see if the rains coming downstream will push the new date back even further.

More than 95% of the city’s water supply comes from surface water, primarily lakes and reservoirs, according to the state’s water plan.

Five years of drought had depleted the city’s two main reservoirs: Choke Canyon, fed by the Frio River, and Lake Corpus Christi, fed by the Nueces River. The capacity of Choke Canyon is three times that of Lake Corpus Christi.

As of Monday, the biggest gain from floodwater has been at Choke Canyon Reservoir, the city’s largest water resource. The lake climbed in the past week from 7.9% of capacity to 24%. The reservoir was last consistently full in the early 2000s and has been below 50% full since 2013.

The combined level of Choke Canyon and Lake Corpus Christi is 26.2%, Zanoni said. The city is currently in Stage 3 drought restrictions, which bars outdoor irrigation. City modelers show the lakes could get to 30% combined capacity by this weekend, which would allow the city to move to Stage 2 restrictions, allowing residents to water the lawns and irrigate once every other week.

Industrial demand accounts for more than half of the region’s water use. Companies threatened to leave the city if something was not done.

The latest projection “is tremendous,” Zanoni said, buying Corpus Christi an additional year to find new water sources — but city leaders warned that it’s not time to slow down. Zanoni said the city has about $1 billion in water supply projects moving forward.

Just a few months ago, the region’s outlook was far more dire as the major regional reservoirs reached historic lows in April. Choke Canyon dropped to 7.4% of capacity while Lake Corpus Christi fell to 8.5%. That same month, at least six small cities and towns in the Coastal Bend region issued disaster declarations amid the water crisis.

Last year the city began drilling groundwater wells in a field in Nueces County to meet demand, sparking backlash from rural residents who feared their wells would be impacted. Zanoni said the approximately 13 million gallons of brackish water from the wells, which is treated, helped delay the Level 1 water emergency and will continue to support the city’s water system long-term.

The city is debating a seawater desalination plant — a drought-proof way to turn millions of gallons of seawater into fresh water — and is expected to make a decision on the nearly billion-dollar project on Sept. 1. The City Council previously voted to halt the project amid criticism from environmental groups and local leaders over its ballooning price tag and concern that its discharge could harm Corpus Christi Bay’s ecosystem, but the water department resurrected the idea after trimming its cost.

Corpus Christi Water, the utility that supplies water for municipal and industrial use, said average water use is 95 million gallons per day, according to its website. The city is also working on a project to recycle and reuse wastewater.

Lake Corpus Christi sits at 32% capacity. The lake has yet to see increases from the floodwater, but Zanoni said the water could begin arriving this weekend.

The third reservoir the city uses, Lake Texana, rebounded from nearly 50% capacity in April to 100% in June, although it is known for filling up and depleting quickly.

If a Level 1 emergency is declared, all customers of the city’s regional water system would be required to cut use by 25%. It also would trigger landscape watering bans and vehicle washing restrictions, like washing cars and boats out of a 5-gallon bucket, and filling pools only to maintain structural integrity.

Residents’ monthly baseline use was calculated at 8,000 gallons per household, limiting them to 6,000 gallons if an emergency is triggered. Every 1,000 gallons used after that would cost an additional $4. Beyond 8,000 gallons, every 1,000 gallons would cost another $8.

France says monster fire that forced 220,000 people to flee has stopped growing but remains a threat

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 06:27:02 +0000

Fire crews and planes wrestled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control in southwest France before a forecast jump in temperatures complicates the massive firefighting effort against a blaze that has burned an area four times the size of Paris.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the fire had stopped growing, a first glimmer of hope since the inferno forced a staggering 220,000 people to flee in the region around the city of Bordeaux.

But with woodlands still smoldering, the minister cautioned that the battle isn't yet won.

“It hasn’t progressed during the night,” Nunez said. “We have to remain very concentrated, very determined, to go at any moment.”

He spoke after French President Emmanuel Macron held a crisis meeting Monday focused on the blaze in the Gironde region and wildfires that crews continue to tackle elsewhere.

The Gironde prefecture said the situation overnight remained “globally stable” — a change from previous days when officials said flames had crept to within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of the outskirts of Bordeaux, a historic city of 268,000 people, and generated self-feeding firestorms with lightning bolts that ignited more blazes.

No new evacuations were announced Monday. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, Gironde authorities worked to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. Nunez also urged people to avoid the region, popular for its Atlantic beaches and some of France's largest woodlands.

In the adjacent southwestern Landes region, where hundreds of firefighters have been making progress against another virulent but smaller fire, the prefecture said some rain fell overnight and described the conditions as “favorable” for firefighting but also cautioned that they could change.

Fire crews racing against feared next heat wave

With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, it became a race against time before an expected heat wave that could make fighting flames more difficult. The national weather service forecast temperatures above 35 C (95 F) in the southwest on Tuesday and likely higher on Wednesday.

“We know temperatures are going to climb again, that we'll enter a phase of intense heat and so we really have to remain very cautious,” Nunez said. “As long as the fire isn't contained, the situation remains unfavorable.”

Crews using earth movers tore up strips of forest and scrubland to create barren spaces, intended to stop fires from spreading. Farmers were keeping fire crews supplied with water, transporting it to them in tanks.

Around a dozen countries have provided planes, helicopters, firefighters and other assistance to both France and Spain, which is also fighting unprecedented blazes. All told, fires in the two countries have forced more than 330,000 people to flee.

Macron didn't immediately comment after the government crisis meeting he presided over. In a weekend post on X, he pledged long-term support for fire-hit communities, saying: “We will rebuild, we will repair and we will be present for as long as necessary.”

Spain battling its biggest-ever fires

In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 79,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.

In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fueled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.

“What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 500 square kilometers (193 square miles), the government said. That's five times the size of Barcelona.

“Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people," said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to run supplies to firefighters in Ávila.

"We are feeling lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

Fires have burned 1,530 square kilometers (590 square miles) this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.

The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain’s fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger. Spain’s weather agency forecast temperatures above 40 C (104 F).

Water-dropping planes combat fire in Italy

A wildfire driven by strong winds broke out on Sunday afternoon near Peschici, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, burning pine forest and scrub and forcing the evacuation of about 300 tourists from beaches and campgrounds, authorities said.

The Coast Guard evacuated tourists by sea to nearby Vieste, where authorities opened temporary shelters.

Three Canadair water-bombing planes and fire crews on the ground continued Monday to battle the blaze, which revived memories of devastating wildfires that hit the same coastal area in 2007.

___

Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Iain Sullivan in El Tiemblo, Spain, and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.

Southampton coach Eckert charged by FA over spying scandal that shocked English soccer

James Robson, Associated Press — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 12:36:01 +0000

Southampton coach Tonda Eckert has been charged by the English Football Association for his part in the spying scandal that shocked English soccer last season.

The FA said Wednesday that Eckert had been charged for three incidents that came to light during the end of season playoffs.

Southampton was expelled from the Championship playoff final in May after admitting to spying on other teams, including semifinal opponent Middlesbrough.

The FA said it was alleged Eckert acted in an “improper manner and/or brought the game into disrepute” by authorizing the observation of opponents’ training sessions.

Southampton was charged by the English Football League with the unauthorized filming of Middlesbrough’s practice sessions ahead of their two-legged semifinal, which it went on to win and go within one game of promotion to the Premier League.

It was expelled from the final after admitting to spying on Oxford United and Ipswich earlier in the season. The EFL also imposed a four-point deduction for next season, while Middlesbrough was reinstated to the final, which it lost 1-0 to Hull City.

An arbitration panel laid bare the influence of Eckert in the scandal, saying it was “a contrived and determined plan from top down to gain a competitive advantage” and analysts who carried out the unauthorized filming “felt pressurised to do the observations that Mr. Eckert and the senior coaches wished them to do.”

Expulsion from the playoffs deprived Southampton of the chance of promotion to the top flight and a guaranteed windfall of at least $270 million in future earnings.

Despite the controversy Southampton said it was sticking by its coach.

“As a board, we are fully behind him,” owner Dragan Šolak said in June, “and together we only have one objective — we want promotion back to (the) Premier League.”

Eckert also said in June that he had “made a mistake” and took “full responsibility.”

Eckert has until July 28 to respond to the FA charges.

___

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

Major hurricane Genevieve roars in the Pacific as Hurricane Fausto nears Hawaii

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:01:01 +0000

Major Hurricane Genevieve was roaring in the Pacific Ocean far from land Monday morning at the same time that Hurricane Fausto was bringing large surf to Hawaii.

Genevieve was briefly a Category 5 hurricane early Monday, the first in the East Pacific region in two years, the National Hurricane Center said. It was expected to stay far out to sea on a course roughly parallel with the Mexico coast.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 155 mph (250 kph), according to the Miami-based hurricane center. Genevieve’s center was located about 520 miles (835 kilometers) south-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula and was headed northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said that swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico’s southwestern coast and the Baja California peninsula.

Genevieve was expected to fluctuate in intensity before weakening later in the week.

Farther northwest in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto was a Category 1 storm as it continued on a path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands. Forecasters said Fausto is expected to pass north of Hawaii, but residents should still monitor the progress of the storm for impacts.

Large surf and strong currents were increasing on east-facing shores along Hawaii's islands, the hurricane center said. Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph). It was centered about 580 miles (935 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii and traveling west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

A forced-labor crackdown or an end-run around Congress? Dissecting Trump's new tariffs

Mae Anderson, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:02:22 +0000

The Trump administration has imposed double-digit tariffs on more than 60 countries, using a legal justification that permits the president to levy import taxes and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices.

The new tariffs announced in recent days take effect just as temporary 10% worldwide tariffs expired, and critics say they are less about cracking down on forced labor than they are a way to replace those tariffs. The expired tariffs were themselves a temporary replacement for worldwide tariffs the Supreme Court struck down in February.

The tariffs were levied on countries that the U.S. says either don’t have or don’t effectively enforce a forced-labor import ban. The affected countries, which account for 99% of U.S. imports, were quick to protest, calling the Trump administration’s claims unfounded and arbitrary, as nations with vastly different records on forced labor received the same tariff level. The U.S. spent four months investigating but gave few details on how it arrived at the tariff rates, which are either 10% or 12.5%.

Sidestepping Congress

The tariffs were levied under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 on countries that the U.S. determined had failed “to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.”

During President Donald Trump ‘s first term, he cited Section 301 to impose sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports amid a dispute over the sharp-elbowed tactics Beijing was using to challenge America’s technological dominance. The U.S. is also using 301 powers to counter what it calls unfair Chinese practices in the shipbuilding industry.

“The 301s allow a permanent tariff without going to Congress to settle the dispute,” said Barry Appleton, a law professor and co-director of New York Law School’s Center for International Law. “That’s what all of this is about. The president doesn’t want to knock on the front door of Congress, so he’s trying every side door and every unlatched window to get in.”

Little evidence that countries failed to enforce import bans

The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) said it consulted with all 60 economies under investigation and held two rounds of public hearings, elicited more than 2,100 public comments, and had “engagement” with its trading partners about what they were doing to combat forced labor bans.

It didn’t detail its talks with the countries, saying those were confidential. Experts say it is fairly straightforward to investigate whether a country has a ban or not, but it is difficult to determine the government’s exact rationale for each country’s failure to enforce import bans.

“There’s not a lot of hard evidence there,” said Scott Lincicome, vice president for general economics and trade policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “It’s pretty laughable on its face to think that a country like the ones in Europe or in Norway or Switzerland aren’t doing enough to police forced labor.”

And even if countries do enact and enforce the forced-labor import bans the U.S. wants, they would still need to prove that they’re enforcing them to Washington’s satisfaction before the tariffs would be removed, said lawyer Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former U.S. trade official.

“This suggests that no short-term path for countrywide relief from the new Section 301 tariffs will be available,” he said.

Countries and industries reject the forced labor argument

Many countries have pushed back against the Trump administration’s findings.

Brazil, which faces a 12.5% forced-labor tariff, called the U.S. move “arbitrary and unjustified.” The U.S. “chose to manipulate an issue of great importance to human rights and the struggles of workers worldwide in order to accuse 59 countries and the European Union of unfair practices,” it said in a statement.

Australia also questioned the justification for its 12.5% tariff.

“We believe that amongst all of the countries in the world, Australia does take the issue of slavery, modern slavery, seriously, and will continue to do that,” Trade Minister Don Farrell told reporters in Adelaide.

Carve-outs have riled some industries. The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO), which describes itself as the voice of the American textile industry, protested a mechanism that exempts the Section 301 tariffs for textile and apparel imports from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia based on those countries’ imports of U.S. cotton and textiles.

“No other industry has been more disadvantaged by forced labor than the U.S. textile industry, which employs 453,000 workers and has lost 41 plants over the past two plus years,” NCTO chief executive Kim Glas said in a statement. “We remain strongly concerned that USTR’s textile mechanism will harm the very domestic manufacturers the administration seeks to help.”

US forced-labor bans don’t always work

The U.S. has two major pieces of legislation related to forced-labor import bans. The Tariff Act of 1930 gave Customs and Border Protection the authority to seize shipments where forced labor was suspected and to block further imports. But it had a big carve-out: If there was “consumptive demand,” meaning there wasn’t sufficient supply to meet domestic demand, imports were allowed regardless of how they were produced. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act that took effect in 2016 eliminated that loophole.

In 2021, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act was passed. It blocks imports from China’s Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove the items were made without forced labor.

But goods made with forced labor can still make it into the U.S. In 2015, an Associated Press investigation found that slave labor was used in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia. The seafood they caught made its way to supermarkets and pet food providers across the U.S.

An investigation by The Associated Press in 2020 into the $65 billion palm oil industry found labor abuses among an invisible workforce consisting of millions of men, women and children in Asia. The fruit they harvested made its way into the supply chains of major companies, including Unilever, L’Oreal, Nestle and Procter & Gamble.

Calls for a more comprehensive approach to combat forced labor

During hearings on the tariffs this month, National Retail Federation vice president Jonathan Gold, who was representing the business coalition the Joint Association Forced Labor Working Group at the hearing, said that in order for the import bans to work, they would have to be much more extensive.

He said there need to be “clear, measurable benchmarks” tied to tariffs for countries to hit, and that the U.S. should help countries build enforcement programs.

Kenya Davis, a partner at the Boies Schiller Flexner law firm, said an effective ban needs a “comprehensive approach” that provides transparency about what the investigations consisted of, along with programs that provide countries aid in enforcing bans.

Clinton Foundation launches an institute to help state governments find nonpartisan solutions

Glenn Gamboa, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:44 +0000

The Clinton Foundation unveiled a new initiative Monday to help state and local governments develop and enact nonpartisan policy solutions to improve health outcomes, especially for women and children, economic security and democracy.

The foundation’s first new initiative in more than a decade, the Clinton Policy Institute has already begun convening political leaders from both parties, research experts, and Americans affected by the issues being studied to create new approaches to long-existing problems.

“Rising costs, economic uncertainty, rapid technological change, and growing pressures on our public institutions are making it harder for families to get ahead,” former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We created CPI because we believe there are still practical, evidence-based solutions that can improve people’s lives.”

CPI is building on its work with New York state in banning cellphones from schools in the past academic year. Though the institute did not technically exist last year when it teamed with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration on creating distraction-free schools in the state, the Clinton Foundation saw promise in its approach and decided to expand it before publicly announcing CPI’s creation. It’s a strategy that the foundation, also led by former President Bill Clinton and public health expert Chelsea Clinton, used when it launched the Clinton Health Access Initiative in 2004.

Zayn Siddique, former principal deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, will serve as CPI’s chief executive officer. Jennifer Klein, who was director of the White House Gender Policy Council under former President Joe Biden, will be CPI’s chair.

In New York, CPI helped create the Teen Tech Council so that students could help make the phone-ban program more effective. The result, according to Hochul’s office, was that educators found a marked improvement in classroom behavior and engagement.

“CPI is bringing together policymakers, researchers, business leaders, and community organizations to identify what works, build stronger policy networks, and help turn those ideas into policy,” Hillary Clinton said. “We’re taking a particular focus on states and local communities, where so much innovation is happening.”

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly praises CPI's nonpartisan approach

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said a CPI conference on improving the lives of children earlier this month was “the best roundtable I’ve been involved with since becoming governor.”

Kelly, who will leave office in January due to term limits after serving two consecutive terms, said she was inspired by CPI’s nonpartisan approach to solving problems affecting children.

“I am a Democrat governor in what is considered a very red state,” Kelly told The Associated Press in an interview. “It became very clear to me that if I wanted to accomplish anything in my political life, I was going to need to do it in a bipartisan way.”

Kelly believes that, despite political polarization, CPI can succeed in finding nonpartisan solutions – especially to issues involving children and healthcare – and giving state leaders the research and other support to implement them.

“Every once in a while, you get people from both sides of the aisle who come together and crafted, maybe not sexy legislation, but something that really needed to be done,” Kelly said. “And they get it through.”

Dr. Jerome Adams, former U.S. Surgeon General in President Donald Trump’s first administration, agrees that nonpartisan solutions are possible to find. But he says the nonpartisan nature of the solutions has to be intentional.

“Health is inherently political,” said Adams. “When you talk about access to healthcare coverage, when you talk women’s health issues, particularly around the issue of abortion and contraception, when you talk about drug policy and whether you’re in favor of harm reduction, when you talk of firearm safety -- all of these are inherently political issues.”

Former Surgeon General Adams sees broad support for children's issues

That is complicated further, Adams said, because “we live in a country that is very binary, so every issue, no matter how nuanced, is, for purposes of elections, turned into black/white, yes/no, all or none.”

However, Adams said CPI has already found a way to get bipartisan buy-in for some of its solutions to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In 2020, the state of California launched the ACEs Aware initiative to begin screening for ACEs – which include abuse, neglect and household challenges – and treating them early to reduce the impact and the cost to the state later.

Through CPI, Adams was asked to become the co-chair of the National Leadership Council for the ACE Resource Network in June in an effort to bring California’s work treating ACEs to other states.

“I’m very interested in work that has proven and practical solutions,” he said. “We bring in states and say, ‘Hey, let’s look at the best evidence in terms of what works around adverse childhood experiences and state level policy and then try to implement it in your state’.”

That strategy has led Republican-led states like Utah and Georgia to consider parts of Democrat-led California’s work on the issue, Adams said.

He said it’s a sign that CPI’s approach works and can be expanded to other areas.

The Clinton Foundation hopes that will be the case.

“Too many people have lost faith that progress is possible,” Hillary Clinton said. “But across the country, leaders are developing innovative policies that are strengthening families and communities. Those ideas deserve to be shared and scaled.”

_____

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits 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. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

French wildfire created a monster cloud, unleashing lightning that ignited more fires

Thomas Adamson, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 14:05:54 +0000

A wildfire in southwest France grew so powerful that its smoke column became a thunderstorm, generating lightning that struck the ground and ignited new fires beyond the original blaze, French officials said.

Put another way, that means the inferno was no longer simply being propelled by the weather. It was making its own. The thundercloud also produced violent, erratic winds capable of driving the flames in new directions.

The phenomenon, called a pyrocumulonimbus, or pyroCb, is rare in Europe and more commonly documented in North America and Australia, where it occurs only over some of the most extreme fires. France’s national firefighters federation said it had never before recorded one in the country.

The blaze erupted near Saumos on July 22 and has since burned more than 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of forests and scrubland, damaged or destroyed more than 240 homes and forced 220,000 people to evacuate in Gironde.

At about 6:20 p.m. Friday, two days after the fire began, the departmental fire and rescue service said it had generated a pyrocumulonimbus. The cloud weakened overnight as humidity rose, then formed again several times.

An electrified black thundercloud

Repeatedly, heat and smoke have surged upward into a vast black thundercloud, electrified and lit from within.

“Imagine a campfire so large and hot that the smoke rising off it turns into a storm-like cloud,” said Theodore M. Giannaros, a fire meteorologist at the National Observatory of Athens.

“That is a pyroCb — a storm cloud born from the intense heat that a wildfire produces.”

It takes more than a big fire.

There is no set temperature at which one forms, Giannaros said; what is needed is the kind of atmosphere that breeds dry thunderstorms — very hot, very dry air near the ground, with cooler and moister air above it.

Hot air loaded with smoke and moisture then rises rapidly from the flames. As it climbs and cools, water vapor condenses around particles of ash.

Above the freezing level, droplets become ice crystals whose collisions separate electrical charges, as in an ordinary thunderstorm.

Lightning and more destruction follow

Beneath this storm lies a landscape already primed to burn. The cloud then amplifies the disaster that created it.

Rising air pulls powerful winds toward the fire, while downdrafts punch gusts back to the surface.

Those shifts can turn the flames, divide them into several fronts or send them racing in a new direction.

“It’s a feedback loop, not a one-way effect,” Giannaros said. “Once it forms, the cloud becomes its own weather system, sitting on top of the fire and making it harder to predict.”

The systems can also spin up whirling columns of flame — usually a fire whirl, which Giannaros describes as a dust devil made of fire and heat instead of dust.

True tornadoes are rarer, though one struck Redding, California, during the 2018 Carr Fire with winds equivalent to an EF-3, killing a fire inspector.

For firefighters, escape routes can close without warning as fresh outbreaks appear beyond their crews and equipment.

Direct attack may become impossible, forcing crews to retreat and defend communities.

The danger, Giannaros said, is fire moving faster than evacuations can be organized.

Until now, pyroCbs have been essentially an Australian and North American phenomenon. Canada alone produced a record 142 of them in 2023.

In Europe, pyroCbs have been rare

Portugal recorded one during its deadly 2017 fire season. France has now joined the list.

The continent is heating faster than any other on Earth — at roughly twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the World Meteorological Organization — with heat waves growing more frequent and severe and drought spreading across the south, curing forests into fuel.

Hotter and drier conditions give extreme fires more opportunity to form them, Giannaros said, but scientists still lack enough long-term data to establish a trend.

The European research project ROSETTA aims to close that gap.

The most common misunderstanding, he said, is that the cloud is merely a side effect. As long as it hangs above the flames, it is helping decide where the fire goes next.

___

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.

Philippine president slams China in veiled rebuke in his state of the nation speech

Jim Gomez, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:10:33 +0000

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. denounced China in a veiled rebuke Monday in his state of the nation speech, vowing that his government will defend a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims in the disputed South China Sea, and saying that Filipinos “do not yield” to conquerors.

On domestic issues, Marcos disclosed that a special anti-graft prosecutor would soon file charges against former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, who has been implicated in a corruption scandal that the president exposed in his state of the nation speech last year.

Marcos highlighted China after media editorial he called racist

Marcos did not mention China by name or elaborate on his criticism of Beijing, which was applauded by many lawmakers. He said that “of late, our very humanity has been called into question” and reminded detractors that “Filipinos are a noble … and a great race. We are not greedy. We are not racists. We are not liars.”

Marcos summoned Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan to his office in Manila last week after the China Daily, a Chinese state-owned media outlet, depicted Filipinos as monkeys in an editorial video and cartoons. The animations centered on Beijing’s rejection of the arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippine government strongly condemned the AI-generated images as “racist and dehumanizing” and demanded that they be taken down.

In Beijing, however, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said last week that the video “does not represent the official position and I have no comment on it.”

He said, however, that China viewed the South China Sea arbitration as “a political farce disguised as a legal proceeding.” He added that “the so-called award is illegal, null and void and has no binding force,” reiterating China’s longstanding position.

Marcos said the ruling, which he said was final and binding, was a “definitive benchmark for the interpretation and application” of the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was the basis of the decision. The Philippines initiated the arbitration in 2013 after a tense standoff between Chinese and Philippine ships in a disputed shoal, but China refused to participate and rejected the decision as a sham.

“Your government will do all that is necessary to continue upholding this award, utilizing every peaceful and legal means available to the republic against any attempt, foreign or domestic, to undermine this achievement,” Marcos said, adding that Filipinos “do not yield.”

Territorial confrontations in the disputed waters have become more prevalent in recent years, particularly among Chinese, Philippine and Vietnamese forces and fishing fleets. The long-simmering disputes in the strategic waterway, a key global trade route, also involve Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

Marcos says being family won't protect his cousin and ally

Marcos did not identify Romualdez, his cousin and key political ally, by name but was obviously referring to him when speaking about the corruption charges to be filed.

“This is painful to me, but we have to do the right thing,” Marcos said. “I’m not a president for my family. I’m not a president for my friend.”

Romualdez, who resigned as House speaker last year but remains as a member of Congress, reiterated in a statement that he did not violate the law and he was ready to prove it.

Romualdez, along with several House members and senators, was accused of pocketing huge kickbacks from flood control projects in government and congressional investigations. Others have been charged and detained for large-scale corruption, including an incumbent and a former senator, a former public works secretary, who served under Marcos, and several government engineers and construction company executives, but to date not Romualdez.

Nearly 25 billion pesos' ($410 million) worth of cash and properties belonging to some of the suspects have been recovered or frozen by the government and some have been returned to the national treasury, Marcos said.

Marcos suggested Philippines should now reconsider nuclear power

Marcos also spoke at length about his administration’s efforts to cushion the impact of fuel price hikes caused by the war in Iran for ordinary Filipinos. In a bid to boost energy security, Marcos said that “perhaps it is time for us to revisit nuclear energy production.”

“We will make sure it’s safe,” Marcos said, without elaborating. “We will also make sure that we can explain well to the public the good benefits of nuclear power.”

The Philippines built its first and only nuclear power plant in Bataan, a coastal province in an earthquake-prone region about 120 kilometers (75 miles) northwest of Manila, in the 1970s but it was left idle due to safety concerns and corruption.

Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist behind the 'Body Worlds' exhibition, dies at 81

Geir Moulson, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:38:19 +0000

Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist who generated both fascination and revulsion around the globe with his “Body Worlds” exhibits of preserved human corpses, has died. He was 81.

Von Hagens' family and the Institute for Plastination, which he founded, said he died on Friday. A statement they issued on Monday gave no further details. Von Hagens had announced in 2010 that he was living with Parkinson’s disease.

Von Hagens trod a fine line between science, entertainment and commerce with his touring exhibits, as well as headline-grabbing actions such as a public autopsy.

At the heart of von Hagens’ work was the so-called plastination process — replacing body fluids with liquid plastic that then hardens. That technique, which he started developing in the 1970s, prevented decay, left tissues intact and allowed him to display preserved corpses and their inner organs.

The resulting exhibition, “Body Worlds,” first went on show in Japan in 1995.

Two years later, the collection of partly skinless corpses went on display in von Hagens’ homeland, overcoming an attempt by local church leaders to block its opening on the grounds that it was disrespectful. Von Hagens said he was helping viewers understand how their bodies work.

The anatomist “is forced in his daily work to reject the taboos and convictions that people have about death and the dead,” von Hagens said of his work.

“I touch here a taboo, which is our body, and nothing is so near as our body is to us,” he said.

The shows used the corpses of people who agreed to donate their bodies for plastination. Critics argued that von Hagens bordered on sensationalism with his works, which included a corpse riding a plastinated horse, and a pregnant woman with an eight-month-old fetus inside.

Von Hagens “plays with the corpses like a child plays with dolls,” the Rev. Ernst Pulsfort, spiritual rector of Berlin’s Catholic Academy, said when the show first opened in the German capital in 2001. He argued that it catered to a “public lust for sensation.”

During a “Body Worlds” show in London in 2002, the anatomist — wearing, as ever, his trademark black fedora — conducted Britain’s first public autopsy in 170 years before a sellout crowd of hundreds, defying government warnings that it might be illegal.

Von Hagens declared it a “huge success.” The British Medical Association’s head of ethics, Dr. Michael Wilkes, said it was “degrading and disrespectful.”

The “Body Worlds” exhibits were shown in several American cities after making their U.S. debut in Los Angeles in 2004.

Von Hagens' “Plastinarium,” where bodies are prepared, opened in the eastern German town of Guben in 2006.

The anatomist was born Gunther Liebchen on Jan. 10, 1945, in what is now western Poland.

He went to medical school in Jena in East Germany, but increasingly questioned the communist system and made a failed attempt to flee to the West. He was detained before West Germany bought his freedom in 1970, a regular practice at the time.

He continued his medical studies at the University of Luebeck and, in the 1970s, began working at Heidelberg University’s pathology and anatomy institute. He married a former classmate, Cornelia von Hagens, and took her surname.

His second wife, Angelina Whalley, heads his Heidelberg-based Institute for Plastination and curates his exhibitions, and he had three children from his first marriage.

Monday's statement said it was von Hagens' wish that his body be made available for plastination and “his family will respect and carry out this wish.”

Rice University police searching for missing Jordanian athlete participating in Genuine Cup in Houston

Ninfa Saavedra — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:33:06 +0000

Rice University police are asking for the public’s help locating a Jordanian athlete who went missing while participating in the Genuine Cup, an international soccer tournament for athletes with intellectual disabilities.

According to the Rice University Police Department, officers have issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alert for Rabe’e Ata Juma’a Alqaq, who was last seen around midnight between Saturday and Sunday on the Rice University campus.

Driver killed, woman hospitalized after suspected drunk-driving crash in northeast Houston

Authorities said Alqaq told his coach and teammates he was going for a walk but never returned to his room. He was reported missing after he did not return overnight and missed breakfast Sunday morning.

Police said Alqaq was last seen wearing:

A light blue T-shirt
Black pants

Officials also noted that Alqaq does not speak English.

U.S. will begin limited imports of Mexican cattle as screwworm outbreak continues

The Genuine Cup is an international soccer tournament for athletes with intellectual disabilities and is being hosted at Rice University.

Anyone who sees Alqaq or has information about his whereabouts is urged to contact the Rice University Police Department at 713-348-6000 immediately.

Overturned 18-wheeler shuts down westbound SH-99 Grand Parkway near Cypress Rosehill, Life Flight responding

Ninfa Saavedra — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:14:30 +0000

A major crash involving an overturned 18-wheeler has shut down part of the westbound SH-99 Grand Parkway near Cypress Rosehill, according to authorities.

Police arrest 1 person and search for another after Seattle festival shooting that killed 3

The crash was reported on the westbound lanes of SH-99 at Cypress Rosehill.

Traffic alert: SH-99 Grand Parkway North, WB at Cypress Rosehill, major crash involving an overturned 18 wheeler. Lifeflight is responding. First responders along with Hazmat is on scene. Find an alternate route or expect delays. @HCSOTexas @SheriffEd_HCSO @TxDOTHouston… pic.twitter.com/znhDURRV5C
— Terry Garza, LT (@HCSO_TerryGarza) July 27, 2026

Officials said the crash involved a single concrete truck, and Life Flight has been called to the scene.

U.S. will begin limited imports of Mexican cattle as screwworm outbreak continues

Hazmat crews and other first responders are on the scene, and cleanup is expected to take one hour.

Drivers are urged to avoid the area and find an alternate route, as significant traffic delays are expected.

Tate brothers' lawyers and prosecutors to set schedule for UK extradition fight

David Fischer, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:02:48 +0000

Attorneys for social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate will meet with federal prosecutors in Miami on Monday to work out a schedule for the potentially monthslong process of fighting extradition to the United Kingdom, where the brothers are accused of rape and sex trafficking.

A date for a bond hearing will likely be set during the status conference, along with other important dates like deadlines for filings and a formal extradition hearing. The Tates made a brief court appearance two days after their July 18 arrest.

They aren’t required to attend Monday’s conference, and their attorneys said Friday that the Tates didn't plan to be there. They're being held in federal detention across the street from the courthouse.

The Tates promote wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire and are among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities. The former professional kickboxers, who have dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, have millions of social media followers and are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The White House has said the brothers shouldn't expect any help from the president. Asked Thursday whether the White House would intervene in the extradition process, press secretary Karoline Leavitt flatly rejected the idea.

“No, we’ve already answered that question,” Leavitt said.

The Tates' attorney, Joseph McBride, said after last week's hearing that they should remain in the U.S.

“We are of course objecting to extradition because Andrew and Tristan are innocent,” McBride said. “They’ve never done nothing wrong. They shouldn’t be extradited for crimes they did not commit.”

McBride said the extradition attempt is politically motivated and suggested the case involved former British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's decision to step down, though he provided no details.

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

McBride said none of the latest accusers have been identified.

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

The new allegations are the latest in a long-running international legal saga involving the Tates that has spanned the U.S., Britain and Romania. The brothers have repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

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

Travel restrictions were lifted last year, and they flew to Florida.

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

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

The Tate brothers have consistently denied allegations of abuse and human trafficking, claiming their violent and misogynistic statements have been taken out of context or were intended as jokes.

Years of scandals haven't stopped Ken Paxton. Can James Talarico change that?

Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 11:19:07 +0000

Eight years ago, during a campaign for Texas attorney general, Justin Nelson ran television advertisements with security camera footage of Ken Paxton pocketing an expensive pen that didn't belong to him.

Four years ago, George P. Bush went after Paxton by putting up billboards that said “he's a crook” next to his mugshot from when he was charged with securities fraud.

And earlier this year, U.S. Sen John Cornyn said “judgment day is coming” as he tried to fend off a Republican primary challenge from Paxton.

All of them lost. Now the question is whether James Talarico, who topped Rep. Jasmine Crockett in an expensive and fiercely contested Democratic primary, will have any more luck as he faces off against Paxton in one of the country's most closely watched U.S. Senate races.

“The guy’s ability to take shots and just keep moving on and stay in elected office is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my career, in 25 years of running campaigns,” said Ash Wright, who worked as a senior adviser to Bush.

Paxton has never been convicted, and he's survived by championing conservative legal battles over immigration, abortion and transgender issues in a Republican-dominated state. Much like President Donald Trump, he's long portrayed himself as the victim of political persecution.

Former Paxton challengers and a half dozen campaign strategists who worked against him warned that Texans may tune out any attempt to revive scandals that they've heard about for years, especially when rigid partisanship has convinced voters to be extraordinarily forgiving of candidates’ trespasses.

However, Talarico's team has studied the previous races and is attempting its own version of the playbook by trying to paint Paxton as part of a broader culture of corruption that has failed to improve people's lives.

Paxton’s campaign suggested Talarico's claims were aimed at distracting voters from a record of “out-of-touch views.”

“Every time a fighter, like President Donald Trump and now Ken Paxton, stands up to the permanent political class, even after they are completely acquitted of wrongdoing, people like James Talarico continue pushing the same accusations and claiming corruption,” Paxton campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy said.

Paxton won first reelection narrowly, despite indictment

Paxton was first elected as Texas attorney general in 2014, and Nelson ran against him in 2018. A Democratic lawyer from Austin, Nelson made Paxton's indictment on charges of securities fraud central to his campaign, and he poked fun at him for picking up another lawyer's $1,000 pen after finding it at a courthouse security checkpoint.

“Vote Justin Nelson for Texas attorney general,” the narrator said. “He will fight on behalf of all Texans. And he won’t steal your pen.”

Nelson argued that his approach was effective, reflected in Paxton's narrow margin of 3.6 percentage points in a year when Republican Greg Abbott was reelected as Texas governor by more than 13 percentage points. Nelson's campaign spent roughly $6.5 million, about half of what Paxton's campaign spent.

“My message was working," Nelson said. “I just needed to go louder and longer.”

In 2022, Paxton faced a Republican primary challenge from George P. Bush, the Texas land commissioner and the grandson and nephew of two former presidents from the state.

The securities fraud case was ongoing, and Paxton was also under federal investigation over accusations that he abused his position to benefit an Austin real estate developer, took bribes and retaliated against whistleblower employees.

Paxton responded by portraying himself as a Trump-era Republican and Bush as the heir to a privileged political legacy.

Pro-Paxton organizations spent more than $20 million, about twice as much as Bush and his allies. The race went to a runoff, in which Paxton defeated Bush by 34 percentage points.

Paxton ran against Rochelle Garza, a Democratic civil rights lawyer from Brownsville, in the general election. She said her campaign had a 300-page opposition research file on Paxton but it was difficult to figure out how to approach his past because voters had heard about it for years.

“The amount of potential hits on Paxton can make message discipline challenging,” Garza said.

Paxton ran as the leading legal opponent of President Joe Biden, promoting a string of lawsuits against Biden's Democratic administration on immigration, abortion and gender policy.

Overwhelmingly outspent, Garza lost by roughly 10 percentage points.

Some supporters see Paxton as a ‘flawed’ fighter

There was more trouble ahead for Paxton.

He split with his wife, who later filed for divorce “on biblical grounds.” He was also impeached by the Texas House, although the Senate acquitted him in 2023 and allowed him to remain in office. The securities fraud case ended in 2024, and Paxton was directed to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.

Throughout the years, he's maintained strong support from Republican voters like David and Nancy Lapp, a retired couple from the small town of Wolfforth. They described him as a conservative warrior who has been a victim of persecution.

“He’s had his share of scandals, and almost all of them have, so it’s not necessarily disqualifying anymore,” said David Lapp, 76. “He’s a flawed person, no doubt about it, but he fights for traditional American ideals.”

He added that "nowadays, as long as you’re not in jail, they’ll elect you.”

Biden's Justice Department in 2024 decided not to prosecute Paxton after the yearslong federal investigation, and Paxton went on to challenge Cornyn for his Senate seat.

Cornyn and his allies vastly outspent Paxton, blanketing the state with more than $90 million in advertising. After the race went to a runoff, Trump endorsed Paxton, and he won decisively.

Talarico hopes Waco case sparks new scrutiny

Talarico promised at a rally in Houston the day after the Republican runoff to “prosecute the case” against Paxton, whom he called “the most corrupt politician in America."

Since then, he has sought to introduce a newer question about Paxton, one that involves his office's handling of a child sexual abuse case this year.

The attorney general's office was assigned the felony case involving Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman after the county district attorney recused himself over a potential conflict of interest. After a hung jury trial last year, Hoffman agreed to state lawyers' offer in April to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Prosecutors said the victim did not want to testify a second time. Hoffman served 60 days in jail and was not required to register as a sex offender.

Talarico said the plea agreement shows Paxton is willing to allow preferential treatment at Texans' expense.

“He is everything that’s wrong with this broken, corrupt political system,” Talarico said of Paxton at a rally in Del Rio last week. “This is the rot at the core of this broken political system. It’s why we can’t get ahead, no matter how hard we work, no matter how much we save, because the system is rigged against us."

Talarico reported having $21.5 million available last week, while Paxton reported having $7.5 million.

The Democrat's fundraising advantage could help him broadcast his message further than Paxton's previous opponents have been able to do, Nelson said.

“Even a little bit more money would have helped me,” he said. “I think James has a legitimate shot.”

___

Associated Press reporters Jesse Bedayn in Del Rio, Texas, and Marc Levy in Wolfforth, Texas, contributed to this report.

China memory chipmaker CXMT's shares soar in a blockbuster share listing in Shanghai

Chan Ho-Him, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:33:27 +0000

Shares of CXMT, China's largest memory chipmaker, shot skyward Monday as they began trading in Shanghai in mainland China’s biggest initial public stock offering in recent years.

CXMT's shares surged 466% in their first day of trading. The company has become the most valuable one listed on a mainland Chinese exchange, with an estimated market capitalization of about 3.3 trillion yuan (more than $487 billion). But that's still smaller than those of South Korean and American memory chipmakers like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology.

CXMT, or ChangXin Memory Technologies, is among many chipmakers that have profited mightily from the boom in artificial intelligence. Its business is thriving as China pushes for greater self-sufficiency in leading edge technologies while contending with limited access to advanced chipmaking machines due to American-led restrictions.

The company raised at least $8.6 billion with the offering, priced at 8.66 yuan ($1.3) per share, in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Nasdaq-like STAR market, also known as the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

It was mainland China's second largest IPO after the $22.1 billion share offering of Agricultural Bank of China in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2010.

Founded in 2016 in the eastern city of Hefei, CXMT is one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM, or “dynamic random access” memory chips, a kind of semiconductor used in everything from AI servers to autos and consumer electronics like smartphones and personal computers.

“CXMT plays a critical role in China’s AI push, particularly in the face of U.S. export controls,” said Kyle Chan, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an expert in China’s technology policies. U.S. restrictions have also barred China from importing powerful HBM, or high-bandwidth memory chips – a high-performance type of DRAM.

The company’s revenue surged to 50.8 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) on jumping demand from the rapid rise of AI in the first three months of 2026, a more than 700% rise year-on-year.

Soaring use of AI has led to a global memory chip shortage, driving up prices for some computers and smartphones. One big question, Chan said, is whether CXMT could help with the broader shortage.

CXMT is seen as China's best shot at developing its own cutting-edge HBM chips to power Chinese AI models, Chan said. But it also faces many challenges, including supply chain bottlenecks in scaling up manufacturing capacity, since its access to the world’s most best chipmaking tools is highly restricted, forcing it to depend on Chinese equipment makers.

According to Counterpoint Research, a technology research firm, CXMT was the world's fourth biggest DRAM memory chipmaker in 2025 by shipments, taking up roughly 8% of the global market. Samsung Electronics accounted for 36%, SK Hynix 29% and Micron about 24%.

In the first three months of this year CXMT accounted for approximately 9% of global shipments. By 2028, its market share is forecast by Counterpoint Research to reach about 11%. But the research firm estimated CXMT will likely need at least a 15% global market share to be competitive in the long term.

“Trade restrictions on tools are remaining as the key challenge for CXMT,” said MS Hwang, a research director at Counterpoint who specializes in memory semiconductors. Some U.S. lawmakers have also recently called for President Donald Trump’s administration to block American companies from buying CXMT’s memory chips over national and economic security concerns.

CXMT is one of many Chinese companies the Pentagon says have links to the Chinese military. Beijing has rejected such designations in most cases.

CXMT's public share offering followed a $26.5 billion IPO by South Korea’s SK Hynix on the Nasdaq earlier this month.

___

AP journalist Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.

Harris County Flood Control District hosting public meetings on countywide flood resilience plan

Ninfa Saavedra, Cathy Hernandez — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:28:18 +0000

Harris County residents will have two opportunities this week to weigh in on a new countywide flood resilience plan aimed at improving how communities prepare for, respond to and recover from flooding.

The Harris County Flood Control District is hosting two public open houses as it enters the next phase of developing the Harris County Flood Resilience Plan, an initiative designed to ensure public and private resources are better coordinated before, during and after flood events.

Police arrest 1 person and search for another after Seattle festival shooting that killed 3

Officials say the meetings are part of the second of three rounds of public engagement and are intended to gather feedback from residents before the plan is finalized later this year or early next year.

Open house dates and locations

Monday, July 27

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Location: Riley Chambers Community Center, 808 1/2 Magnolia Ave., Crosby

Wednesday, July 29

Time: 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Location: Tom Bass Community Center, 15108 Cullen Blvd., Houston

County leaders say flooding is one of the biggest threats facing Harris County and can happen any time of the year—not just during hurricane season.

Harris County breaks ground on $32.7 million flood project

Officials are encouraging residents, especially those who have experienced flooding firsthand, to attend the meetings and share their experiences to help shape the final plan.

The meetings will also allow attendees to review proposed strategies and provide feedback before the plan is completed.

“Everyone in Houston and Harris County has a flooding story, and really we want to hear those stories so we can take them into account when we develop strategies moving forward,” said Emily Woodell with the Harris County Flood Control District.

Flood control leaders say the Flood Resilience Plan is intended to serve as more than a planning document. The county hopes it will become a roadmap for future flood mitigation projects, emergency response efforts and long-term recovery planning across Harris County.

The final Flood Resilience Plan is expected to be presented later this year or in early 2027 after the public engagement process is complete.

Driver killed, woman hospitalized after suspected drunk-driving crash in northeast Houston

Ninfa Saavedra — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 09:36:13 +0000

A suspected drunk driver was killed and another driver was injured in a head-on crash late Sunday night in northeast Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

The crash happened around 11 p.m. Sunday in the 9300 block of Tidwell Road.

Extreme heat expected this week in Houston

According to HPD, officers responded to reports of a head-on collision involving a sedan and a pickup truck. Preliminary investigators believe speed and alcohol were factors in the crash.

Police said the driver of the sedan crossed the center divider and slammed head-on into the pickup truck.

The sedan driver, who investigators believe was speeding and intoxicated, was rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.

U.S. will begin limited imports of Mexican cattle as screwworm outbreak continues

The woman driving the pickup truck was also taken to a hospital. Police said she is in stable condition.

Investigators noted that the stretch of Tidwell Road where the crash occurred is dark and has a history of speeding vehicles.

The investigation remains ongoing.

2 Newsletter: It’s going to be HOT in Houston this week. What you need to know

Ninfa Saavedra — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:03:40 +0000

Hello, Houston.☀️

Although we don’t have another tropical storm on our radar this week, Houston has another issue. THE HEAT.

If you’ve touched foot outside this weekend, you know the heat has been like no other. Well, unfortunately for us, it’s set to get hotter this week. Temperatures are set to hit 102 degrees this week, with several consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures.

As always, follow us for the latest on Click2Houston.com and watch us live on KPRC 2+.

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Weather ⛅

TODAY: 94° TONIGHT: 80°

KPRC Meteorologist Daji Aswad says:

“Today will most likely be the last day with more typical summertime heat. Temperatures climb to the upper 90s with a feels-like number of 106°.”

➡️ More weather headlines? Check them out here

Get your forecast details here.

Houston’s Top Headlines 📰

Driver killed, woman hospitalized after suspected drunk-driving crash in northeast Houston

A suspected drunk driver was killed and another driver was injured in a head-on crash late Sunday night in northeast Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

The crash happened around 11 p.m. Sunday in the 9300 block of Tidwell Road.

U.S. will begin limited imports of Mexican cattle as screwworm outbreak continues

The U.S. will resume importing a limited amount of cattle from Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday. The decision comes as a flesh-eating parasite outbreak continues.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said it is a coordinated reopening of the port in Douglas, Arizona, that will occur in phases beginning Aug. 24. It is also contingent on Mexico adhering to a joint action plan between the countries in response to the New World screwworm.

Police arrest 1 person and search for another after Seattle festival shooting that killed 3

Police arrested one suspect and were looking for another after gunfire erupted at a crowded food festival beneath Seattle’s Space Needle, leaving three people dead and four others injured, including a toddler.

Investigators believe the two suspects were shooting at each other and, although one remained on the loose, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Tyrone Davis told a news conference Sunday night that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

Teen charged with capital murder after 17-year-old girl and her brother killed in north Harris County shooting

A 19-year-old is now charged with capital murder after a shooting late Sunday morning on W. Canino Road near I-45 and W Little York Road.

In an X post Sunday night, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated that Angel Javier Rodriguez is in jail, charged in the double homicide.

Back 2 School - Moms 💌

Summer Survival: What parents should be doing now before back-to-school

We’re almost two months into summer, and the countdown to back-to-school is getting closer. In this week’s Moms Blog with Houston Moms, we’re checking in on summer regression, what it is, how it can impact kids, and what parents can do now to help their children transition smoothly back into a school routine.

Plus, our Surviving Summer tip covers simple ways to make the most of the season, from planning a fun “Yes Day” with your kids to setting healthy boundaries around digital devices and screen time.

Things 2 Know 💡

Houston drivers feeling the pinch as gas prices rise again; see how much more you’re paying

LIST: Back-to-school freebies — backpack and supply giveaways around Houston

How to keep children with autism safe around water this summer

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Jets' Glenn, Bucs' Bowles and Bengals' Taylor among NFL coaches facing hot-seat pressure

Dennis Waszak Jr., Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 04:16:23 +0000

The heat is on several NFL coaches — and it has nothing to do with the soon-to-be steamy dog days of training camp.

The regular season is still more than six weeks away, but some coaches already face questions about their job security.

For a few, such as the New York Jets’ Aaron Glenn, Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles and Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor, slow starts could make their seats pretty toasty early in make-or-break seasons. For some others, such as Green Bay's Matt LaFleur and Philadelphia's Nick Sirianni, there's not immediate pressure, but that could change if their squads don't live up to lofty expectations and team owners ponder franchise-altering decisions.

Todd Bowles, Buccaneers

Through four seasons with Tampa Bay, Bowles is 35-33 in the regular season and has won three NFC South titles. But last season's collapse, during which the Buccaneers went 2-7 down the stretch to finish 8-9 and miss the playoffs, had some thinking Bowles' days with the team were done.

Instead, the Bucs opted to stick with him. He'll likely need double-digit wins, a rebound performance from quarterback Baker Mayfield under new coordinator Zac Robinson and some postseason success to stay around. The Bucs' defense — which Bowles calls himself — also must be much improved.

Dave Canales, Panthers

Carolina made the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season, but did so with an 8-9 record. The Panthers started 1-3 before three straight victories, and then alternated losses and wins over the next eight games before dropping its last two and backing into the playoffs, where the Panthers lost in the wild-card round.

Canales is 13-21 in his first two seasons in Carolina, which hired him in large part to develop Bryce Young into a quarterback worthy of his No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 draft. But Young has been up and down. Canales handed off play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and his job could depend on Young finally showing consistent progress this season.

Aaron Glenn, Jets

The former Pro Bowl cornerback returned to New York as a head coach to lead the Jets back to respectability. Instead, Glenn became the first in team history to lose his first seven games in his debut season with the team, which went 3-14 and missed the playoffs for the 15th straight year.

Glenn overhauled his coaching staff and hired Frank Reich to run the offense and Brian Duker was brought in as the defensive coordinator, but Glenn will now make the play calls for a subpar defense that became the first to not get an interception for an entire season. New York traded for Geno Smith as a bridge to the team's future QB. Another losing season will put the Jets in play to draft one early next year, but Glenn might not be around in that scenario.

Matt LaFleur, Packers

Wait, how's he on this list? LaFleur has made the playoffs six times in seven seasons, is 76-40-1 in the regular season and got a multiyear contract extension in January.

But he has only one playoff win since 2021 and his 3-6 record in the postseason has some Packers fans getting restless. A four-game losing streak to end the regular season and a first-round playoff exit at Chicago — during which Green Bay blew a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter — didn't help.

With the Packers expected to again be playoff contenders with quarterback Jordan Love leading the way, LaFleur's job status likely won't be an issue until January. Things could go from lukewarm to sizzling, though, if Green Bay doesn't win at least one postseason game.

Nick Sirianni, Eagles

Similar to LaFleur, Sirianni's job would seem to be in no immediate danger. He has a Super Bowl victory, two NFC championship wins, three NFC East titles and a 59-26 regular-season record in his five years.

There was major disappointment last season, though, after the Eagles lost at home to San Francisco in the wild-card round. A bounceback performance, including a solid postseason run, is expected, even without A.J. Brown as Jalen Hurts' go-to receiver in new coordinator Sean Mannion's offense.

Sirianni was on the hot seat entering the 2024 season after the Eagles started 10-2, faded down the stretch and got blown out by Tampa Bay in the wild-card round. He followed that by leading Philadelphia to a Super Bowl victory. Sirianni and the Eagles — and their fans — would certainly sign for a repeat of that rebound.

Shane Steichen, Colts

Steichen was mentioned as a potential AP Coach of the Year as the Colts got off to an 8-2 start. Then, quarterback Daniel Jones was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon and Indianapolis lost its last seven games — even after bringing Philip Rivers out of retirement — to miss the playoffs.

Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon was encouraged by the team's strong first half, though, and decided to keep the coach in place. Steichen is 25-26 in his three seasons with the Colts, who have missed the playoffs the past five years. With Jones healthy and signed to a two-year extension, Steichen would feel a lot more secure if the Colts resemble the promising team through 10 games last season.

Zac Taylor, Bengals

The Bengals have been notoriously slow starters in September under Taylor, but opened last season 2-0 and appeared on their way to putting that narrative to rest. A turf toe injury sidelined quarterback Joe Burrow for nine games and Cincinnati crawled to a 6-11 finish and a third straight season without a playoff appearance.

A healthy Burrow is paramount to the success of the Bengals, whose Super Bowl trip in the 2021 season is becoming a distant memory. A revamped defense, including acquiring defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, should help. So it'll be on Taylor, in his eighth season with Cincinnati, to break the playoff slump or that might be someone else's task next year.

___

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

Use our database to see what state employees in Texas are paid, as of July 2026

Texas Tribune, Rob Reid — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Thousands of apartments going up thanks to new Texas housing laws. But resistance lingers in the suburbs.

Texas Tribune, Joshua Fechter — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

DALLAS — An early proving ground for Texas to tackle the state’s housing affordability problem — and the pushback those efforts often generate — sits at an aging shopping center in North Dallas.

Large stretches of storefronts at Pepper Square sit empty. Signs from a touring Harry Potter exhibition that closed in May still hang from a former Stein Mart where the attraction was housed. Cars pack the parking spaces of a Trader Joe’s and an indoor trampoline park, but wide swaths of the lot sit deserted.

The center’s owner saw an opportunity to revive the flagging retail strip with hundreds of apartments as well as new shops and restaurants. Nearby homeowners saw the threat of a looming high-rise over their neighborhoods.

For years, a group of homeowners waged a pressure campaign to stop the redevelopment. They effectively forced a City Council member to not seek reelection and sued to stop the overhaul after council members gave it the green light.

Now, Pepper Square will become a place for people to live after all. It’s among thousands of new homes moving forward with the help of new state laws passed last year aimed at reining in high prices and rents by easing the state’s housing crunch. Those rules relaxed local zoning regulations on what kinds of housing can be built and where, allowing more homes to be built in more places at a time when Texans have increasingly struggled to afford keeping a roof over their heads.

“The biggest obstacle to more homes for Texas families isn’t the land. It isn’t the money. It is some of the local obstacles protecting the status quo,” said Nicole Nosek, who founded the group Texans for Reasonable Solutions, which pushed the housing bills.

The law that appears to be enabling the most new housing is Senate Bill 840, which allows owners of offices, shopping centers and warehouses to redevelop properties into apartments or mixed-use complexes with residences.

The law has enabled at least 8,400 apartments since it took effect Sept. 1, according to a tally by a bipartisan coalition that supported the bill, including Texans For Reasonable Solutions, American Enterprise Institute and Texas Appleseed. That’s an amount equivalent to about one in five of the multifamily units permitted in Texas since the law took effect, a separate Texas Tribune analysis of building permits shows.

Apartment construction has slowed in Texas and the rest of the country amid a temporary glut of new apartments and higher construction costs. But while multifamily permits fell 10% statewide in the period since the bill passed, those permits have risen in the 19 cities where SB 840 relaxed local zoning restrictions, The Tribune’s analysis of the Texas A&M University’s building permit data found.

“Texas passed this, which was, you know, a tremendous achievement. And it’s already bearing fruit in the first year with positive direction,” said Ed Pinto, co-founder and co-director of the conservative American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center.

Another law that reduces how much land cities can require single-family homes in new subdivisions to sit on has so far allowed 2,800 homes to proceed in Dallas, Plano and El Paso, the groups’ analysis shows.

One aimed at making it easier for city councils to approve new housing has seen mixed success, according to a Tribune analysis.

The laws, particularly SB 840, face resistance from some homeowners and several North Texas cities that are trying to prevent such projects. Devotion to the single-family home runs deep in the suburbs, where residents often meet new apartments with scorn and local officials fight to keep the authority to shape how their communities grow.

Limiting how many apartments get built means fewer housing opportunities in some of the state’s fastest growing economies — particularly for those who can’t afford to buy often pricey homes in those areas, the bill’s proponents argue.

“They basically say, ‘You can work in our communities. But when the lights go out, we want you heading back across the border,’” said state Rep. Gary Gates, a Houston-area Republican who shepherded the bills.

Lawmakers have signaled that improving the state’s housing affordability will be a further focus next legislative session, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dustin Burrows, both Republicans, telling legislators to study the issue before they meet next year.

More apartments in more places

The new developments cited by the groups ranged from a 1,000-unit housing complex in southwest Austin to a 14-unit building sandwiched between single-family homes in South Dallas.

Pepper Square is one of them as well. The strip mall’s sorry state is partly what drove owner Henry S. Miller Co. to seek to redevelop with about 2,000 apartments initially proposed.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is adding more residents than any other region in the country, said Greg Miller, the firm’s president and CEO, and needs to build more housing to meet demand.

“People need a place to live,” Miller said, adding that putting apartments on the property would help maintain a customer base for retail at the site.

Neighborhood groups aggressively fought the plan even as the developer slashed the number of units. The project’s opponents feared increased traffic congestion and lost privacy owing to the project’s height.

Miller said apartments generate fewer car trips than retail and the Pepper Square development won’t even be as tall as an existing 12-story office building across the street.

Opponents sued the city to kill the project after the Dallas council approved it. But after lawmakers passed SB 840, which allows apartments to be built in commercial areas such as Pepper Square without local approval, their lawsuit was moot.

Miller sees the law as further endorsement of his company’s plans for the project, which will include about 1,000 apartments on the site and roughly two acres of park space, Miller said.

“The state and the city, they want growth,” Miller said. “And we’re going to continue to grow.”

Those who fought against the redevelopment are still smarting, though they agree the shopping center needed some kind of makeover.

“It’s a kick in the gut,” said Matt Bach, who headed the Save Pepper Square Neighborhood Association. “They had the state Legislature come in and say, ‘Okay, now we’re just changing the game. The goalposts are being moved back another 50 yards.’ It was very disheartening.”

Other projects not part of the groups’ count include five fourplexes in east Fort Worth, a complex for low-income seniors in Killeen and a 256-unit apartment complex in southwest Arlington, spokespeople for those cities said.

More homes could be in the pipeline for North Texas and elsewhere because of the law.

Tommy Mann, a land use attorney, said he is working on a few dozen projects made possible by the law. Most of them are in Dallas and will have about 250 to 350 units, he said.

City officials have had more than a dozen meetings regarding apartment buildings proposed in places they wouldn’t have been allowed without city approval before SB 840, said Andreea Udrea, Dallas’ deputy director of planning and development.

“There is big interest,” Udrea said.

Some developers across Texas appear to be leveraging the law to extract concessions from city leaders wanting to avoid the maximum density allowed under the law, observers said.

That’s the scenario that played out in Plano when a builder received approval to add more apartments and single-family homes to a project than what city officials had previously allowed.

“Now the community and the city are evaluating options that are very different than they used to be,” Mann said.

The law appears to be aiding the construction of more affordable apartments for households making less than an area’s typical income, the groups’ tally found — about 1,600 units so far.

Lawmakers didn’t require building affordable housing units, which tend to face vehement opposition from neighboring homeowners. However, allowing more market-rate apartments tends to bring down rents, particularly in places such as Austin, where rents have fallen amid an apartment building boom.

“One of our contentions has always been that it would be easier to get more affordable housing on the ground as a result of this bill,” said Brennan Griffin, senior deputy director at Texas Appleseed, a social justice group. “That’s been borne out so far.”

Pinning down exactly how many new homes the law has enabled is tricky.

The bill applies to only the state’s 19 largest cities, and not every city is tracking how much development they’re seeing. The bill also bumped up cities’ height limits for apartment buildings, so developers may be adding a floor to a project they already were allowed to build, a subtle difference that’s hard to track, advocates said.

Pushback to housing laws

A group of cities across the Dallas-Fort Worth region have thrown up stricter building codes, design standards or height requirements aimed at curbing how much housing goes up under the new law.

A new apartment complex built in Irving, for example, must now have eight floors unless the City Council grants the developer an exception. Arlington and Plano adopted similar, though smaller, height thresholds.

Some cities now mandate that apartments provide specific amenities to tenants — requirements critics argue are nothing but ways for cities to skirt the law.

Irving requires apartment buildings to include a workspace for remote workers, a dog park and a gym. Grand Prairie requires apartments built under the bill to put in an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Kurt Johnson, Grand Prairie deputy mayor pro tem, defended the requirement to Texas House lawmakers last week, arguing that the city is trying to ensure pools built at new complexes enabled by the law are “large enough to accommodate the additional family members” living there.

Kimberly Levinson, vice chair of Austin’s Downtown Commission, told the House Land and Resource Management Committee they shouldn’t take such concerns seriously. The building where she lives in downtown has more than 140 units, she said during the committee’s July 20 meeting, “and all we have is a two-lane lap pool.”

“Somehow or other, we don’t feel the least bit deprived,” Levinson said.

Gates, who chairs the committee, signaled that he would push to force cities to comply with the law when state lawmakers return for work in January.

“It’s clearly designed to thwart what we were trying to do,” Gates said in an interview. “We can come up with a solution that basically stops them from being able to do these kinds of tactics.”

Whether the suburbs find friends in the Legislature, dominated by Republicans who have long pushed to curb the authority of cities and whose leaders have named housing affordability among their top priorities, remains to be seen.

In the meantime, some city leaders expressed a desire to work with state lawmakers.

“We welcome the opportunity to partner with the Legislature through a task force or working group to advance shared housing goals, including increasing supply and affordability, while allowing flexibility for communities to implement solutions that reflect local needs and conditions,” Arlington Mayor Jim Ross told the committee members.

The additional rules enacted by the suburbs haven’t completely halted SB 840 development in his city.

Arlington, Plano and McKinney have each advanced new projects,, representatives for the cities told The Tribune.

Irving spokesperson Raul Garza noted that the city granted exceptions to its additional regulations to a developer on an affordable housing complex but didn’t provide more details. Grand Prairie has not seen any development under the law, city spokesperson Claudia Garibay said. A representative for Frisco did not return a request for comment.

In the meantime, urban areas such as Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio seem to be embracing SB 840. In Dallas, city boosters said the law could help them become more competitive with the suburbs when it comes to attracting residents and new companies.

The suburbs will “be sorry they’ve limited access to housing,” said Linda McMahon, executive director of Dallas Economic Development Corporation. “If you don’t have housing availability at various price points, your economy is going to stagnate. That’s a reality.”

Still, SB 840 even faces hurdles in places less resistant to the law.

In El Paso, the law made about a third of the city’s total land area available for building under the law, said Alex Hoffman, the city’s assistant planning director. But about 36% of those lots have private deed restrictions prohibiting apartments, he said.

Projects that aren’t deed restricted still must seek exceptions from local ordinances — such as minimum parking-spot requirements — in order to take full advantage of the law, he said. That gives local residents an opportunity to stop them.

“I’m just anticipating that opposition will likely increase once we start seeing things getting developed under 840,” Hoffman said.

Disclosure: Kimberly Levinson, Linda McMahon, Nicole Nosek, Texas A&M University and Texas Appleseed have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in The Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Family demands justice for man on life support after brutal attack along Highway 249

Corley Peel — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 03:09:34 +0000

A man is on life support, and his family is demanding answers about why his alleged attacker was free after a prior violent charge was dismissed and he was referred to mental health treatment.

34-year-old, Nhan Le, has been hospitalized for a week following a brutal attack that was captured on surveillance video. Joshua McDaniel is in jail on multiple charges connected to four separate violent attacks along Highway 249 in northwest Harris County. Records show, all of those alleged attacks occurred within a 24-hour period.

Surveillance footage shows McDaniel approaching Le on a bicycle before striking him with a crowbar, then stomping, kicking and repeatedly hitting him as he lay helpless on the ground.

Le’s family, described the pain of watching his sibling fight for his life.

2 teens hit, killed crossing Highway 288 after Houston police chase tied to Old Navy shoplifting

“My brother, he is a good kid, gentle. He’s always on his heart, doing stuff. His friends love him, family love him,” Hieu Huynh said.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, McDaniel is accused of attacking four people within 24 hours along Highway 249. In one case, he is accused of attacking a man with a machete.

Court records show McDaniel has a violent criminal history. In November, he was arrested on a charge of injury to an elderly person. That case was later dismissed, and McDaniel was referred to mental health treatment. It is unclear how long he remained in that program, but five months later, he was back in jail, now charged in four separate violent attacks.

April Aguirre of Crime Victims United is pushing for answers alongside Le’s family.

“What happened? What treatment did he get? Obviously, it did not work,” Aguirre said.

‘How many more dads have to die?’ Sons of ICE shooting victim demand answers before Congress in Houston

In response to questions about the dismissed charge and the mental health diversion program, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office issued a statement saying:

“Prosecuting a case without material witnesses can be exceptionally challenging. Rather than dismissing criminal charges and releasing a defendant with no structured support or judicial intervention, prosecutors sometimes seek to provide other limited resources.”

Huynh says he is speaking up not just for Le, but for all of McDaniel’s alleged victims who cannot speak for themselves.

He added a direct message about accountability.

“Everybody has a life. Everyone is important. And what I want to say is, if they committed a crime, they have to pay,” Huynh said.

McDaniel remains in the Harris County Jail.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office believes there may be more victims. Anyone with any information is urged to contact the sheriff’s office or Crime Stoppers.

Police arrest 1 person and search for another after Seattle festival shooting that killed 3

Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 01:51:41 +0000

Police arrested one suspect and were looking for another after gunfire erupted at a crowded food festival beneath Seattle's Space Needle, leaving three people dead and four others injured, including a toddler.

Police did not have a description of the outstanding suspect, he said.

“We’re still trying to figure this out,” Davis said.

Two people died at the scene and a third died at a hospital. The four wounded, including a 2-year-old boy, were hospitalized and in stable condition, said Grace Nuñez, spokesperson for the Seattle Fire Department. The rest of the injured were adults. Davis couldn't say if any of the victims were involved in the confrontation.

The gunfire erupted around 6 p.m. in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle, an annual three-day festival that draws hundreds of food and retail vendors and performers.

Dozens of officers were providing security at the event and some saw one of the suspects firing, Davis said. One suspect surrendered at the scene, but the other fled. Law enforcement searched the grounds to no avail.

A large number of police and emergency crews responded and began evacuating the area around the sprawling Seattle Center campus.

Faith Adia Hunter said she and her friends had just gotten food from a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out. She realized a shooter was near them. She and others found shelter in the nearby Seattle Children’s Museum.

“We were right next to him when it started so we took off running,” Hunter said. “So we took off running too into the building with the crowd.”

In the chaos, many vendors bolted toward the exits, abandoning their food stands. Hours afterward, some milled outside the police tape, wondering when they would be allowed to return to collect their tents, food and cooking gear.

Roberto Ramirez, a vendor at the event, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers before people began yelling “shooter” and frantically running.

“Suddenly everything was empty,” he said. “People were freaked out.”

After the initial panic, new guests continued to arrive unaware of what had happened and were told by police to leave, he said.

Estan Wakonabo said he and his girlfriend were at the festival waiting in line for a photo booth when he was shoved from behind and he turned to see a rush of people fleeing.

“People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling,” Wakonabo said, adding that was when he heard gunshots.

“Once I heard a ‘pop, pop, pop,’ that’s when I knew it was a shooter,” he said.

After he escorted his girlfriend to safety, he returned to the scene to make photos and saw multiple victims on the ground, Wakonabo said.

The annual festival started in 1982 and draws 350,000 attendees over “three days of food, drink, and community celebration,” according to its website.

___

Associated Press journalists Manuel Valdes and Lindsey Wasson in Seattle, Annika Wolters in Bangkok and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Displaced from wildfires in Spain share their stories of uncertainty and narrow escapes

Alicia León And Teresa Medrano, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 18:05:27 +0000

Elvira Menéndez knows how lucky she is that her house is not a charred ruin like so many others in Spain and France devastated by deadly wildfires.

But the 79-year-old retiree can’t help but worry for another family that, like her, fled the raging inferno.

“They have been left with nothing,” said about a young family that lives down her son’s street. “The house has completely burned down, and they have three children.”

The wildfires that have raged out of control in recent days in three provinces in central Spain have ravaged tens of thousands of hectares and forced nearly 90,000 people to flee their homes. In the southwest of France, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes as the fire rages through the wine region of Bordeaux.

Survivors face an uncertain future

For the hundreds of thousands of people in this situation, the question is the same: What will they find when they’re finally allowed to go home, or to what’s left of it?

With no word on when she’ll be able to return to Chapinería, her hometown west of the Spanish capital of Madrid, Menéndez will spend her third night on Sunday at the makeshift shelter set up in a sports complex in Villaviciosa de Odón, a 40-minute drive from the home she was forced to leave as the blaze neared.

“At least we’re all together,” said Menéndez, who is at the shelter with her family and their dog.

On Friday afternoon, two major fires near Madrid merged into a single, rapidly spreading blaze. It later combined with another that was already burning in Ávila, north of the capital. This forced the government to declare a national fire emergency for the first time. Since then, the flames have also spread to Toledo, a province southwest. In all, the flames have scorched 77,000 hectares in the central part of the country alone.

Menéndez’s anguish was shared by Rocío Domínguez, who fled her house with only the clothes on her back. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything, everything, everything,” were left behind, she told The Associated Press.

“The only thing I had time to grab was a kit I have for the dogs,” Domínguez added, surrounded by her two beloved pets. Everything else she has with her now — from the clothes she wears to her food and toiletries — she received at the shelter.

For many, it was a scene ‘like the apocalypse’

At the evacuation center, where cots have been set up for about 200 people, Domínguez still has the terrifying memory of their escape fresh in her mind.

“It was madness with cars going up and down, traffic jams in the village streets as people tried to get out. It looked like the apocalypse,” told Domínguez, 35 years old and unemployed, who is with her parents and siblings. “You couldn’t see anything.”

“Everything was covered in ash,” she added. “You could see all the burned animals.”

Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia heard more of those personal testimonies on Sunday as the royals visited another shelter in Villamartín, about 45 kilometers west of Madrid.

And those stories may not be the last — Spain's Minister of Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, later noted that “more evacuations are still expected” in that area.

Queen Letizia told reporters after meeting with the survivors that it was important "to hear how they feel and how they recount their hasty departure from their home. How they have felt the sadness they describe, the anguish, the uncertainty, and those questions they leave hanging in the air,.

Wildfire brought tragedy on the heels of Spain's World Cup

The wildfires have significantly shifted the mood in the country, where just a week ago huge crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate their second FIFA World Cup triumph.

As the echoes of those celebrations fade, head coach Luis de la Fuente — one of the driving forces behind the historic victory over Argentina in the final in New Jersey — visited those affected by the fires at a sports center in Las Rozas.

The Spanish Football Federation, which has its headquarters in the same city, has offered the facilities where the newly crowned world champions usually train for the vulnerable families who have been forced to evacuate from their homes.

The coach said all of Spain is rallying for the wildfire survivors.

“All of Spain is watching over them,” De la Fuente said in remarks to the national public broadcaster, TVE. “They have the support of the entire country, the same support we have when we play soccer. It’s exactly the same.”

___

Medrano reported from Madrid.

A fatal attack on Berlin's Pride festival leaves locals wondering how their city will recover

Kirsten Grieshaber, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:21:35 +0000

For Ali Darwich, the deadly attack on the Berlin Pride Festival was an attack on the city of Berlin and everything it stands for: its diversity, its tolerance and its belief in freedom.

On a personal level, it also was an attack on everything the Berliner embodies.

“Born a Muslim, living as a gay man, working as a police officer," Darwich said, as he tried holding back the tears, “this terror attack touches so many aspects of who I am.”

Saturday night's van ramming and stabbing near Berlin’s Pride festival that left one person dead and many others wounded was believed to have been an Islamic extremist terror attack, authorities said.

The suspect in the attack was killed by police Sunday evening in a Berlin suburb. Authorities said Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot.

On Sunday, Darwich, 34, watched sadly as more and more members of the LGBTQ+ community came to Tiergarten park, where the attack took place. They put down flowers, hugged each other and looked in disbelief at the crashed van, which still stood cordoned off behind dozens of police officers.

Like Darwich, many of them had been celebrating life and love just hours earlier, protesting for equality and warning of an increase of hate crimes against their community.

“I was wearing my rainbow-colored shirt, carried a banner at the parade saying ‘Why are some people afraid of love but not of hate?,’ and was about to go to an afterparty last night, when friends started calling me to check if I was OK,” he said.

When he understood that there had been an attack, he canceled the party and went home filled with sorrow. But it was only after he woke up on Sunday morning that he truly grasped the significance of the attack.

“I asked myself, why as a police officer I did not run to the scene of the crash to help my colleagues. I asked myself as a gay if we will have to live with more fear now even though we are already experiencing bullying and hatred. I asked myself as a Muslim if our community will be exposed to even more racism now.”

Darwich, who was born in Berlin and has Lebanese and Palestinian roots, expressed worry that the attack would polarize German society even more.

“I’m actually feeling desperate this morning," said Darwich, who also works as a gay Muslim influencer and posts many videos on social media that usually try to strike a positive note. “We can’t get rid of the hatred some people feel, and it’s just getting worse and worse.”

But at the same time, he said he did not want to let hate win and that deep inside he still hoped that "the people of Berlin will make the best of it, that they will work together, and that, hopefully, all of this will lead to an even better Berlin.”

Others, who had come to the impromptu vigil at Tiergarten, also expressed anger and shock, but also resilience.

“We are simply stunned by what happened yesterday,” said Andre Lehmann, a top official with the main national LGBTQ+ association, LSVD+. “This suspected attack hits the heart of the queer community.”

The attack “affects people who took to the street in Berlin this weekend to fight for their rights, their diversity and their rights, and of course with that it is a political act and does not just affect people celebrating,” he said.

Lehmann said that there has been “a tenfold increase of anti-queer hate crime in Germany within a few years.” He added that “for years, to be honest, nothing has happened and also, to be honest, for years there has been no outcry from society.”

Ashley Jump, a 26-year-old U.K. resident, had traveled to Berlin for Saturday’s Pride parade but had left the celebrations before the attack. Jump, still in shock, returned Sunday to leave flowers at a memorial near the crime scene.

“They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone,” they said, their voice shivering from pain. “As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. And as long as humanity exists, we will exist. We will not be removed.”

HISD teacher charged with improper relationship with a student

Mike Akin — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 02:57:38 +0000

A high school teacher is facing charges tonight that he had an sexual relationship with an 18-year-old female student.

According to court documents Jesse David Sifuentes is charged with 2 counts of improper relationship with a student.

Sifuentes was an English teacher at the High School for Law and Justice when the alleged relationship took place.

In court documents, investigators say a woman came forward this year to say she was in a sexual relationship with the teacher in the 2023-24 school year.

She also stated she first met Sifuentes her junior year but that the sexual relationship didn’t begin until after her 18th birthday.

Jesse Sifuentes is out of jail after posting a $90,000 bond. He is next due in court on August 19.

The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack is killed in a confrontation with police

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:01:58 +0000

The suspect in the deadly Berlin Pride attack that left one person dead and 29 injured was shot and killed by police during a confrontation on Sunday in a suburb of the city, authorities said.

Abdul Ballout, a German citizen with Lebanese roots, was killed following a search that lasted nearly 24 hours after the attack in downtown Berlin. Prosecutors said he had previously sought to join the militant Islamic State group.

Ballout was suspected of driving a van into a crowd near Berlin’s Pride festival Saturday night before apparently stabbing others with a machete in what authorities believe was an Islamic extremist terror attack.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the attack occurred a few hundred meters (yards) from a party near the Brandenburg Gate that was supposed to close out the city's Pride festival.

Ballout was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday at a garden in Spandau, a Berlin suburb, the city's police department wrote on X. They said he apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument, and police fired at least one shot. He died at the scene.

Ballout was born in Germany, the minister said. His mother was naturalized in 2002, three years before he was born.

Ashley Jump, a 26-year-old U.K. resident, had traveled to Berlin for Saturday’s Pride parade but had left the celebrations before the attack. They returned Sunday to leave flowers at a memorial near the crime scene in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

“They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone,” they said. “As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. And as long as humanity exists, we will exist. We will not be removed.”

Suspect convicted of ties to Islamic extremism

Ballout traveled to Lebanon in 2025 with the goal of going to Syria to join the Islamic State group, Berlin prosecutors said Sunday.

There, he made contact with several people who were presumed members of the militant group — or at least he believed them to be, prosecutors said. He was arrested in Lebanon last year and sentenced by a military court to three months’ imprisonment for offenses including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.

He returned to Germany after completing his sentence, where he was arrested at the Berlin airport.

In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted Ballout of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state, as well as publishing Islamic State propaganda on his Instagram account and other charges, prosecutors said.

The court handed down a suspended sentence of 1 year and 10 months in youth custody, which Berlin prosecutors had appealed.

The court said it took Ballout’s months of pre-trial detention in Germany and Lebanon into account. It also said it considered that Ballout had confessed to the crimes, appeared to distance himself from the militant group and no actual threat had ever materialized.

He was released from detention pending the appeal.

Berlin's Pride festival is one of Europe's largest LGBTQ+ celebrations

According to police, a white van drove into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m. and hit several people before colliding with a tree. The closing party at the Pride festival, known as Christopher Street Day, was ongoing at the time next to the Brandenburg Gate, a short distance away. The party followed a parade with some 80 trucks that had made its way through downtown Berlin earlier in the day.

The attack did not occur at the festival, along its route or at the closing party. Rather, the violence took place a few hundred meters (yards) away on a track in the Tiergarten park. The van drove into a crowd that was likely a mix of festivalgoers and other locals or visitors.

Police said a woman was killed.

On Sunday afternoon, hundreds of mourners gathered at a memorial at the iconic gate. They hugged each other and laid down flowers, candles, rainbow flags and homemade signs, including a cardboard one that said: “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”

Hundreds of thousands had come to Berlin to celebrate on Saturday, though it’s unclear how many were still at the festival by late evening. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

“We are simply stunned by what happened,” said Andre Lehmann, a top official with the main national LGBTQ+ association, LSVD+. “This suspected attack hits the heart of the queer community.”

Amsterdam says it will celebrate freedom in the wake of Berlin attack

Chancellor Friedrich Merz urged the nation to remain united in the aftermath of the attack.

“I would like to say this to Christopher Street Day participants here in Berlin but also across Germany: Don’t let yourselves, let us not let ourselves, be intimidated," he said. "These acts have only one purpose: They aim to divide our society. They want to take away from us the most important thing we have: Namely our openness and our freedom.”

Dobrindt said he expected security measures at other major events in Germany, including Pride events elsewhere, to be reviewed and if necessary significantly boosted.

Berlin has seen Islamic extremist attacks before. In December, 2016, a rejected asylum seeker from Tunisia plowed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring dozens. He was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

In February last year, a Spanish tourist was stabbed and seriously wounded at Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial, an attack that saw a Syrian man convicted in March and sentenced to 13 years.

This week, Amsterdam will be hosting World Pride alongside its own annual Pride celebrations. Mayor Femke Halsema said authorities and organizers “are closely monitoring the security situation” after the Berlin attack but aim to prevent any extra measures getting in the way of celebrating freedom and love.

___

Associated Press reporters Fanny Brodersen and Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin, and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.

Teen charged with capital murder after 17-year-old girl and her brother killed in north Harris County shooting

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:40:22 +0000

A 19-year-old is now charged with capital murder after a shooting late Sunday morning on W. Canino Road near I-45 and W Little York Road.

In an X post Sunday night, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez stated that Angel Javier Rodriguez is in jail, charged in the double homicide.

Angel Javier Rodriguez (5/28/07) has been charged with Capital Murder in connection with this morning’s double homicide in the 200 block of W. Canino Road. He’s been booked in the Harris County Jail.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.… https://t.co/huIWzsaanS pic.twitter.com/2Q6YgXsHWd
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) July 27, 2026

HCSO Major Ben Katrib said patrol deputies were dispatched around 10:50 a.m. on a “life-in-danger” call reporting that people had been shot. Deputies arrived within minutes and began life-saving efforts until paramedics took over, but both victims were pronounced dead at the scene, he said.

KPRC 2 community news partner Grizzy’s Hood News was at the scene when investigators said a 17-year-old girl had stepped outside her trailer with her toddler to hand the child to a family member when her ex-boyfriend allegedly appeared with a gun, leading to a confrontation.

The teen’s 29-year-old brother then came outside in an apparent attempt to de-escalate the situation, deputies said. The suspect allegedly shot both victims and fled in a vehicle.

“Miraculously, the child is unharmed and will eventually be with family,” Katrib said at the scene.

1 hospitalized, 1 detained after reported shooting at Deerbrook Mall in Humble

Humble police officers and Harris County sheriff’s deputies later located the suspect’s vehicle in the 8800 block of Will Clayton Parkway.

Rodriquez was taken into custody without incident, Katrib said. Investigators also believe they may have recovered the handgun.

The investigation is on-going, anyone with information is asked to call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.

As Indonesia cuts methane emissions, life atop a mountain of garbage begins to change

Niniek Karmini And Andi Jatmiko, Associated Press — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 01:00:16 +0000

Long before dawn breaks over Indonesia ’s largest landfill, Nur Wencih joins thousands of waste pickers climbing mountains of garbage, searching for anything they can sell.

The 35-year-old widow has worked at the site on Jakarta’s eastern edge for two decades, following her parents, who still earn a living there. The Bantargebang landfill has paid for food and rent while helping her two teenage daughters living with a relative in a rural village. She hopes her daughters will never have to follow the same path.

Living alone in a rented room near the landfill, Wencih earns about 200,000 rupiah ($12) on a good day collecting discarded toys, cardboard and plastic bottles before bulldozers bury them beneath fresh waste. Occasionally, she finds gold jewelry.

“It feels like hitting a jackpot,” Wencih said while taking a break from the sweltering July heat.

But those lucky finds, and perhaps her livelihood, may soon become far rarer.

Beginning Aug. 1, Indonesia plans to start transforming the site from open dumping to a more controlled system as part of a national waste management plan. The government last month announced it will shut down open-dumping operations at 343 of Indonesia’s 550 disposal sites, requiring them to transition to controlled or sanitary landfill systems and gradually accept only garbage that cannot be recycled or composted, such as diapers, dirty paper towels and stickers.

Meanwhile, residents are being asked to set aside organic waste and recyclables for separate processing, a practice many households have never been taught to do on a large scale.

Dudi Gardesi Asikin, head of Jakarta’s Environment Agency, said the policy aims to improve environmental health, reduce pollution and curb emissions of methane generated by decomposing waste.

Methane is responsible for roughly one-third of global warming and traps more heat than carbon dioxide, making it a key focus of worldwide climate efforts. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, for example, is urging governments to sharply reduce methane emissions, calling it one of the fastest ways to slow global warming.

A landfill at the center of the methane debate

Researchers say Bantargebang emits more methane than nearly any other landfill in the world, placing it at the center of Indonesia’s waste management reforms.

Asikin said Bantargebang opened in 1989 as a sanitary landfill equipped to collect methane. Unlike open dumps, sanitary landfills also cover waste with soil.

But after a private-sector contract ended in 2016, the facility gradually drifted toward open dumping.

"What was never intended to be open dumping became full open dumping,” Asikin said.

Only two of the landfill’s original 12 methane extraction wells remain operational, Asikin said.

Under the new plan, parts of Bantargebang are already being covered with tarps, and officials hope to cover much more. Asikin estimated that covering the rest of the disposal area could cost as much as 200 billion rupiah ($12 million).

Uncertain future for waste pickers

Indonesia faces a dilemma as it attempts one of its biggest waste-management reforms in decades while also protecting the livelihoods of an estimated 600,000 waste pickers.

At Bantargebang alone, officials estimate more than 4,000 registered waste pickers work among trucks, excavators and mountains of garbage each day. The materials they recover are sorted and sold to a network of traders and recycling businesses that have grown around the landfill.

“What worries me most is how I will feed my family,” Wencih said of the new plan, while excavators behind her pushed fresh waste onto exposed slopes.

Asikin said the government wants to improve conditions for waste pickers, who already receive some workplace protections and healthcare through a national social security program.

He believes the new policy will eventually create safer formal jobs in recycling and composting.

“Today they are practically racing against our excavators to grab recyclable materials. It is extremely dangerous," he said.

Bunin, a 53-year-old neighborhood chief who lives nearby, said while the landfill causes pollution, it also creates business opportunities including rental housing and food stalls catering to waste pickers.

“The landfill not only brings negative impacts, there are also economic benefits,” said Bunin, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

A landfill at its limits

Covering roughly 110 hectares (272 acres), Bantargebang has grown into a human-made mountain reaching as high as 60 meters (196 feet), roughly the height of a 20-story building. About 7,500 tons of waste arrive daily from the capital city.

“The waste people produce does not disappear. It is gathered in one place and has become a mountain," said Agung Pujo Winarko, who heads the facility.

A collapse triggered by heavy rain in Bantargebang in March killed seven people, underscoring the risks posed by the landfill’s sheer scale.

“This situation is extremely urgent,” Winarko said. “Its carrying capacity is reaching, or even exceeding, its limits.”

Satellite data analyzed by UCLA’s STOP Methane initiative ranked Bantargebang in 2025 as the world’s second-largest landfill methane emitter after a site in Argentina.

Evan George from UCLA’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment said reducing organic waste entering landfills could lower emissions, but that existing landfills will still require decades of monitoring and gas collection.

Changing Jakarta’s throwaway culture

Under the new approach, Jakarta residents are expected to separate food scraps and other organic waste from recyclables and residual trash before collection. New refuse-derived fuel plants are also part of the plan.

“What we are doing is somewhat revolutionary," Asikin said. "For decades, people were never asked to separate their waste.”

But many households are only beginning to learn the system, raising questions about whether enough public education has taken place.

“All we know is to throw the trash in the bin, not to sort it,” said Rukasih Wanti, a Central Jakarta resident. “The new rule is confusing us. It’s inconvenient, creates extra work and wastes our time."

Asikin said multiple government institutions, including education and health ministries, are supporting the efforts.

Environmental advocates say new recycling and composting infrastructure is also needed. The transition is daunting because government data shows only about one-quarter of Indonesia’s daily waste is currently handled by formal systems, with the remainder dumped, burned or otherwise unmanaged.

David Sutasurya, executive director of the environmental organization YPBB, said about half of Jakarta’s waste is compostable and another 30% recyclable, meaning up to 80% could be kept out of landfills.

“We delayed transforming our waste-management system for too long, and only realized the problem when landfills were already close to full,” Sutasurya said.

In a West Jakarta neighborhood, Monica T. Anggriani has spent more than a decade persuading neighbors to separate household waste, building a community waste bank that now processes about one ton of organic waste daily through composting, maggot cultivation and urban farming.

“Our generation was never taught to separate waste,” Anggriani said. “If we don’t start now, nothing will change in the future.”

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Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

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Jackson Koivun wins the 3M Open in his 3rd pro start, holding off Scottie Scheffler by 3 strokes

Dave Campbell, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 22:20:26 +0000

Jackson Koivun felt the nerves but never flinched, securing his first PGA Tour win in the face of a strong finish by the world's top-ranked player and clear fan favorite in Scottie Scheffler.

Koivun won the 3M Open by three strokes Sunday in only his third start as a professional, holding off Scheffler with a closing 5-under 66 for a tournament-record 25-under 259 total.

“All throughout the crowd I kept hearing, ‘Scottie’s coming. Scottie’s coming,’” the 21-year-old Koivun said. “I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could.”

Scheffler, who played five groups ahead of Koivun, surged into contention with a 63 but settled for his fifth runner-up finish this season. His lone win this year was in his first start at The American Express in California.

“We’re seeing a lot of really, really good young talent in the game today,” Scheffler said. “When you see the guys come out of college, they’re really, really prepared, even more prepared than we were coming out.”

Hideki Matsuyama, Brian Harman, Chandler Phillips and Denny McCarthy tied for third at 20 under.

Koivun played a safe and steady game on a 97-degree afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities, going bogey-free for the second straight day after a 61 in the third round gave him a three-shot cushion after 54 holes. His par-saving putt on the 9th green after his approach landed in the sand gave him an energy boost for the back nine.

“Might be the biggest putt I made all week,” Koivun said. “Scoreboard was right there, and I saw exactly how I stood. If I missed that, then I only had a two-shot lead — where last time I checked I had a five-shot lead. So making that was huge for my momentum.”

Lee Hodges held the previous 3M Open record, finishing at 24-under 260 in 2023.

Koivun, who became the fourth rookie winner this season, missed the cut at the John Deere Classic in Illinois and tied for 10th at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky earlier this month. He made 10 starts as an amateur on tour events.

Earning $1,584,000 for his win in Minnesota, Koivun also jumped 124 spots in the FedEx Cup standings into 70th, the last place above the cut for the playoffs with two regular season events remaining on the schedule.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better over the past couple years of being able to beat guys with my mentality,” said Koivun, who broke the NCAA career record for per-round stroke average (68.89) and helped lead Auburn to the national championship last month. “Sometimes I watch guys hit on the range and I don’t feel like I’m the most talented out there, but if I can go out there and believe and use my brain to my advantage, then that’s definitely kind of like a superpower.”

Scheffler, who began the final round six shots back, needed a collapse by Koivun to catch up. That never came.

Scheffler played a nearly flawless game, save for a 5-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole that lipped in and out. As he was conducting his post-match interview, Koivun birdied the 16th to go 25 under.

“Anytime you’re trying to win for the first time, it’s awfully difficult, especially for a young guy coming out of college,” Scheffler said. “I think that shows not only how talented of a player he is, but the mental strength he has as well.”

Koivun, who grew up in San Jose, California, before moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at age 17, got his start in the game on a public nine-hole course. After hugging his father, George, on the course, he got on a FaceTime call with his mother, Meghan, who was unable to attend the tournament.

“She was crying,” Koivu said. “I was trying to make out a little bit of what she said, but she kept saying how proud she was. Those two are just my rocks.”

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

Three-alarm apartment fire in Bellaire displaces residents, sends firefighter to hospital

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:18:20 +0000

A late-night fire tore through an apartment complex in Bellaire on Saturday night, prompting a three-alarm response and drawing dozens of firefighters to the scene, according to the Bellaire Fire Department.

Crews were called around 9:30 p.m. to the Pont Alba apartments in the 4300 block of Bissonnet Street.

Bellaire firefighters were joined by mutual aid from the West University Place Fire Department, Southside Place Fire Department and the Houston Fire Department.

1 hospitalized, 1 detained after reported shooting at Deerbrook Mall in Humble

Officials said an estimated 16 apartment units were affected, though the number of residents impacted was not immediately clear. No civilian injuries were reported.

One firefighter was taken to a local hospital to be treated for heat exhaustion, the department said.

The American Red Cross was notified and a representative was dispatched to help residents. About 60 firefighters responded as crews worked to get the blaze under control.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Beltrán, Jones and Kent pay tribute to home and family during Baseball Hall of Fame inductions

Kenny Lacy Jr., Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 23:33:12 +0000

Puerto Rico and Curaçao may be small islands, but the support they showed was massive as elite center fielders Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.

Both joined slugging second baseman Jeff Kent as the newest members before an estimated crowd of 12,000 fans at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, with 57 other Hall of Famers on stage — creating the largest gathering of current Hall of Famers.

Jones’ speech was almost like a love letter to his home country of Curaçao.

“There’s no easy way to get here from the small island of Curaçao, more than 2,000 miles away,” Jones said. “But today Cooperstown and Curaçao are forever joined together.”

The longtime Atlanta Braves outfielder, a 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star, is the first player from Curaçao to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. But he said he doesn't plan on being the last. He pointed to players who have followed him, including Ozzie Albies and Kenley Jansen, as part of the Curaçao legacy started by Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens.

Among the highlights, Jones’ tribute to his late father, Henry Jones, stood out. He said his father used to hit him flyballs from foul pole to foul pole to teach him how to track the ball, and how to build strong wrists by rolling a sledgehammer.

“Everything he taught me had a purpose,” Jones said. “Henry Jones was a legend in Curaçao, a great player in his own right. And I’m not standing here in Cooperstown without his constant coaching. Dad, we did it.”

Chants of “Puerto Rico” broke out before Beltrán even uttered a word. And whenever he mentioned his home island, the crowd cheered for him and waved flags.

“Everywhere I played baseball, I always tried to represent my island,” Beltrán said. “I tried to do the best I could for the organizations that I played, but also I wanted to represent Puerto Rico.”

The 20-year veteran and 1999 AL Rookie of the Year ran through each organization he played for, thanking them for the different lessons each provided. The New York Mets received the most praise.

“When people ask me about why I chose (the Mets) cap, I have to say this,” he said. “Guys, it’s simple. Every organization shapes your career. New York shaped my life.”

When discussing the teams he played for, Beltrán gave specific examples from some of his stops, including watching teammates Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell “play with pain” in Houston. But he did not mention winning the World Series with the Astros in 2017. That title carries controversy because of an illegal sign-stealing scheme and Beltrán's involvement in it.

Beltrán did not directly address the scandal, but did comment on those who may or may not have voted for him for whatever reasons.

“To the Baseball Writers' Association of America, I want to say thank you for making me a Hall of Famer. ... And for those that didn’t (vote for me) — that saw things different — I want to say also thank you. I appreciate your perspective,” he said. “If baseball has really taught me something, I want to say is that I hope in life, we continue to measure ourselves by the same standard we have used to measure others.”

Beltrán earned 84.2% of the vote from the BBWAA to make the Hall on his fourth try. Jones garnered 78.4% in his ninth year of eligibility, eclipsing the 75% needed for induction. Kent was elected by a much smaller panel last December, the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, after dropping off the BBWAA ballot when his eligibility ran out in 2023.

The 2000 NL MVP with the San Francisco Giants played for six teams over his 17-year career and set the all-time home run mark for second basemen. A hard-nosed player, Kent showed a softer side during induction weekend.

Before even speaking, Kent needed tissues to wipe the tears from his eyes after looking at his parents in the crowd, he said in a post-ceremony news conference.

“I was more emotional for the 35, 40 minutes of sitting down than I was for the speech,” he said. “I thought I was going to be a wreck and I’m glad it was only a half a wreck.”

In his speech, Kent told a story of how his baseball career turned when his father offered him a deal: if he earned a college scholarship, he would buy him a pickup truck. Kent quit racing motorcycles and shifted his focus to school and baseball and eventually earned a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley.

In turn, he got a pickup truck he still has.

“It sits in my garage as a simple reminder that some of the simplest things can change the entire direction of your life,” Kent said.

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

Jacob Misiorowski sets Brewers franchise record by starting game with 7 straight strikeouts

Steve Megargee, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:30:53 +0000

Jacob Misiorowski dismisses the notion that a pitcher can enter any kind of zone where he's practically unhittable.

But there must be something to explain the way he dominated hitters Sunday as the Milwaukee Brewers’ hard-throwing right-hander reached a few more milestones.

“I don’t think there is a zone,” Misiorowski said Sunday after striking out 12 of the first 13 batters he faced in an 11-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. “I think it’s just pitching. I felt like myself and kept going.”

Misiorowski (11-4) set a Brewers franchise record by striking out seven straight hitters to open the game. He also broke his own record for the most 100-mph pitches in a single game since pitch tracking began in 2008.

The two-time All-Star reached 100 mph on 66 of his 83 pitches and hit a top velocity of 104.7. He had set the previous record June 12 by throwing 58 pitches of at least 100 mph during a 15-strikeout performance against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12.

He threw 33 fastballs of at least 103 mph — more than twice as many as anyone else had ever thrown in a single game since pitch tracking began, according to MLB.com.

Misiorowski held the previous record with 14 pitches of 103 mph or greater, something he had done in two separate starts this season.

Misiorowski retired the first 14 batters he faced. According to Sportradar, he was the first person to strike out at least 11 batters and allow no hits through the first four innings of a game since the live-ball era began in 1920.

“His extension, his command of (the fastball) and the fact he’s got secondary stuff to go with it makes it even tougher,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.

Misiorowski didn't have to utilize his secondary pitches very often Sunday. With Gary Sánchez working behind the plate, Misiorowski threw fastballs about 80% of the time.

“I don’t think that was the game plan going in,” said Misiorowski, who increased his MLB-leading strikeout total to 185. "I think that’s just what happened. Me and Gary kind of just ran with it. You saw the swings that they were getting at the top of the zone and kind of were just like, ‘Here it is,’ until they hit it.”

Colorado didn't get anyone on base until Cole Carrigg hit an opposite-field homer off a 101.9-mph fastball with two outs in the fifth. No Rockies player had ever homered on a pitch that fast during the pitch tracking era.

Misiorowski then hit Willi Castro with a pitch before getting the final out of his five-inning stint.

Nobody from Colorado even put the ball in play until Misiorowski retired Troy Johnston on a fly to center for the second out in the fourth inning. The previous Brewers record for consecutive strikeouts to start a game had been set last year by Quinn Priester, who had six in a row to begin a 5-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 18.

Pablo López owns the major league record for consecutive strikeouts to open a game. He fanned the first nine Atlanta batters he faced in the Miami Marlins’ 7-4 triumph over the Braves on July 11, 2021.

The MLB record for consecutive strikeouts at any point within the same game is 10. That record is shared by Tom Seaver, Corbin Burnes and Aaron Nola.

Misiorowski's outstanding performance comes as the Brewers remain careful with the two-time All-Star's workload. The NL Central leaders want to make sure their ace is in peak form for a potential postseason run.

He has pitched 120 innings this season. He worked 141 1/3 innings last year, including his regular-season totals in the majors and minors plus his 12 postseason innings during Milwaukee’s run to the NL Championship Series.

Misiorowski lasted just four innings in an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets on Monday in his first start since July 7. He left after a 30-pitch fifth inning Sunday as his ERA actually rose to an MLB-best 1.58.

Misiorowski said he believes he's strong enough to be “full go” for his next appearance, meaning he should go deeper into the game. Misiorowski said he used his legs better Sunday, which led to his consistent velocity.

“Sustaining the legs helps a lot,” Misiorowski said. “That’s where most of my velo comes from, is the lower half. It becomes a lot easier when you have all the pieces.”

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

Family runs to safety during Deerbrook Mall shooting, returns to an unexpected act of kindness

Jaewon Jung — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 23:33:41 +0000

A back-to-school shopping trip turned into a terrifying run for safety for one Houston-area family after gunfire erupted inside Deerbrook Mall Saturday evening.

Angela Arriaga said she and her family were trying on shoes at Journeys when they heard the first gunshot.

“At first, I thought something fell on the ground because I was trying to stay calm before I panicked,” Arriaga said. “Then when I saw everybody running, that’s when I panicked and grabbed the girls, and we all ran to the back.”

The family heard a total of four gunshots and ran toward an emergency exit. In the chaos, Arriaga said they were briefly separated from her husband, who remained near the front of the store to help others get to safety and close the store’s gate.

Arriaga refused to leave through the emergency exit until her husband caught up with them.

“I was scared that he was shooting just anyone,” she said. “We didn’t know if it was a targeted person. That was the most frightening part.”

Humble Police and Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the mall at approximately 6:30 p.m. Authorities said a juvenile was shot and taken to a hospital. Another juvenile, identified by authorities as the suspected shooter, was taken into custody.

One of Arriaga’s daughters, Alina, had taken off her Crocs and was trying on a new pair of shoes when the shooting started.

She escaped the mall wearing only one of the store’s shoes, leaving behind her own shoes, purse and necklace.

“I’ve never actually been through those types of things before, and I don’t want to do it again,” Alina said. “I just wanted to go get some shoes, and then we heard that.”

Angela later shared the family’s experience on social media, including a photograph showing her daughter outside the mall with only one shoe.

The post caught the attention of local community advocate Andrew Zamarripas.

“This story really got to me,” Zamarripas said. “I really wanted to reach out to the family and see what I could do because I know it’s back to school, and the parents are working as hard as they can.”

A happier return to the mall

Zamarripas brought the family back to the mall Sunday and purchased new shoes for two of Arriaga’s daughters and her granddaughter. He also gave the girls shirts from his clothing brand.

The girls walked away wearing their new shoes—this time, leaving the mall with smiles on their faces.

“I felt very grateful, and I’m glad that I got the shoes I’ve been wanting,” one of the girls said.

Arriaga said the family plans to repay Zamarripas’ kindness by performing good deeds for others.

“We’re going to pay it back with our good deeds,” she said.

For Alina, the new shoes were a welcome surprise following a frightening experience.

“I’m really grateful that none of us got hurt,” she said. “I hope the people who did get hurt get better.”

The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing.

Corey Heim executes daring pass on final restart and holds on for historic Brickyard 400 victory

Michael Marot, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 22:06:33 +0000

Corey Heim started Sunday by talking about being more aggressive on his restarts.

Then he showed everyone — including his team co-owner Denny Hamlin — what he’d learned.

The 24-year-old part-time NASCAR Cup Series driver first made a daring outside move to pass Hamlin then slow him down on the final restart with 35 laps to go, then held off the hard-charging cars of Christopher Bell and Joey Logano to capture his first Brickyard 400 title.

Heim beat Bell by 0.287 seconds and Logano, last week's race winner, by 0.972 seconds to become the first Cup driver to win twice in his first 15 career starts since 1965. A.J. Foyt, one of four four-time Indianapolis 500 champions, was the last to do it and, like Foyt, Heim didn’t even need a full-time ride to finish the job.

“Just had to be aggressive, man, it's for the win,” he said after his second win of the season. “I would have to see it back to see if I really did anything wrong. You know, he has every right to be frustrated with me, but don't get me wrong, I just had to be on top of it. Got to go quick for the 22 (Logano) to be in position, so thanks to him. Man, it's crazy.”

Hamlin seemed more frustrated with Bell's mistimed push, which allowed Heim to get past him, and that was all Heim needed to take charge. Hamlin wound up falling from first to fifth, a descent he never recovered from as his winless streak at Indianapolis hit 18.

It's the only crown jewel race of NASCAR's four Hamlin hasn't won.

“I mean everyone's trying to fight to win the race, and you know you're clear by an inch, you're going to take that inch,” Hamlin said. “It's really the 20 and (Bell) and the 19 (Chase Briscoe) not orchestrating good pushes there and we came detached for a long time. I thought the 20 was on board with giving us a push, it was just way too early before the restart zone.”

With Hamlin fading, Bell and Logano spent the final 34 laps trying to catch Heim's increasingly loose car. Each driver consistently closed the gap by running consistently quicker lap times. but neither could get close enough to try to pass Heim.

And with no more caution flags to bunch up the leaders, the stage was set for Heim.

“It's a good second place," said Bell, Hamlin's teammate with Joe Gibbs Racing. "We've had a lot of bad second-place finishes, but this is a good one with where we were after qualifying. When we had the restart on the second row, I was really happy with our position. Really proud of our team, we pulled together a really good day."

Heim wasn't the only big winner Sunday.

Hamlin extended his points lead over Heim's teammate, Tyler Reddick, who was 10th. Ty Gibbs, who is fourth in points, clinched a playoff spot with a stage win and a 12th-place finish. And Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports defied the odds by collecting the $1 million prize in the final round of NASCAR's second In-Season Challenge.

But nobody was more satisfied with the results than Heim.

“That was a damn handful,” the Georgian said. “I was hanging on for dear life once the shade went down and the pace picked up. My car got really loose and I never really got a lot of clean air throughout the day, so that was the hardest I’ve ever fought in my life to make sure I focused on the exits and get through dirty air.”

Larson's drought

Defending Cup champ Kyle Larson's winless streak hit 36 on Sunday, this time the result of a flat left rear tire that sent Hendrick Motorsports' No. 5 Chevrolet hard into the wall coming out of Turn 3 during the first stage. He was the first car out and finished 39th.

“We just had a tire let go. I wouldn’t say pushing had anything to do with it," Larson said. “Just a little bit of bad luck, I guess.”

Larson has finished 39th, 15th, 34th and 34th over the last four weeks and is in the longest winless drought since he joined Hendrick's team in 2021. Yet Larson is still in eighth in points with four regular-season races remaining.

Surprise payday

Ryan Blaney's streak of consecutive top-11 finishes ended at 11 on Sunday and came with a hefty cost — missing out on the $1 million payday.

The 2023 Cup champ and Team Penske driver started and stayed ahead of Gilliland most of the race, only to see his hopes unravel when he was collected in a nine-car crash that damaged the right side of his car with 41 laps to go. Blaney's team got him back on the track and he wound up 26th, but finished two spots behind Gilliland.

Up next

After 16 straight weeks of racing, the Cup drivers will get a break to open August. The series then heads to Iowa's 0.875-mile oval Aug. 9. William Byron is the defending race winner. Blaney was the 2024 winner, a night race marred by tire problems.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing

Jacoby Brissett agrees to reworked 1-year deal with Cardinals and is likely Week 1 starter

David Brandt, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 20:04:56 +0000

Now that Jacoby Brissett has his new contract with the Arizona Cardinals, the veteran quarterback is ready to go to work with first-year coach Mike LaFleur and help the team bounce back from last season's 3-14 record.

But first, he's looking forward to some quality rest.

“I'm pretty sure I'll probably sleep more than three hours tonight,” Brissett said with a grin.

Brissett and the Cardinals agreed to a reworked one-year deal Sunday worth a reported $15.5 million and LaFleur confirmed that the veteran is the team’s likely starter for Week 1.

The 33-year-old Brissett was unhappy with his previous contract, which included just $1.5 million of guaranteed money for the upcoming season. He reported for training camp last week, but was limited during practices while he and the Cardinals worked on the deal.

Brissett said it got “dark a couple times” during negotiations, but he had enough confidence in himself to persevere. This will be his 11th NFL season.

“It felt good to be back out there,” Brissett said. “Standing around wasn't particularly fun.”

Brissett was the team's starter for the final 12 games last year after Kyler Murray suffered a season-ending foot injury. He did well individually with a career-high 3,366 yards passing, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions, but the Cardinals had a 1-11 record in those games.

LaFleur confirmed that Brissett's deal was done before Sunday's practice and said that the quarterback would begin working with the starters soon. The team's other main options under center are veteran Gardner Minshew and rookie Carson Beck.

“It hasn’t been a distraction by any means — I think we’ve got some very mature and professional players,” LaFleur said. “But it’s just one more thing that we don’t have to talk about.”

Brissett is a popular presence in the Cardinals' locker room and some players — most notably eight-time Pro Bowl safety Budda Baker — were publicly supportive of a new deal for the quarterback.

“I think that’s the ultimate reward of this game, the respect of your teammates,” Brissett said. “That’s what I pride myself on. That’s the only thing I really value. Contracts come and go but your teammates and the people you work with, the ones who want to go bat for you, that’s what matters most.”

LaFleur said he wasn't worried about Brissett's lost practice time. The quarterback didn't practice with the team during the offseason because of the contract situation.

“He's got a level head about himself,” LaFleur said. “He's been in a lot of different systems and heard a lot of different things and seen a lot of different things. He's had the ups and downs with teams. He's in a good spot and I'm excited to really start working with him.”

The Cardinals open the preseason Aug. 6 against the Carolina Panthers in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio.

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

Yankees All-Star Cody Bellinger placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 18:57:16 +0000

All-Star outfielder Cody Bellinger was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left hamstring strain, a significant blow to a New York Yankees team already missing two big bats.

The Yankees recalled outfielder Spencer Jones from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Sunday night's game at Philadelphia to take Bellinger's spot on the roster.

Bellinger will have more tests Monday in New York. He said he woke up feeling similar to Saturday, but not well enough to avoid the injured list.

“Little tight,” Bellinger said. “I didn't wake up worse.”

He will stay out of cleats for at least four days and continue to do light jogging during that time, but there is no timeline for a return at this point.

“See how you feel, see how your body is recovering,” Bellinger said.

New York manager Aaron Boone sounded fairly optimistic about the injury.

“It's not something that seems terrible,” he said. “He's able to move around today. Just hope for something on the shorter side, but tough to know for sure.”

New York has been without slugger Aaron Judge since May 31 because of a fractured rib, and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is still out with a strained right calf that's sidelined him since April 24. The Yankees entered Sunday's game 2 1/2 games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Bellinger said he felt tightness in his hamstring while rounding first on a double in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 3-1 win over the Phillies on Saturday night. He waved off Boone and remained on base for the rest of the inning but walked slowly off the field and down the tunnel to the clubhouse after the third out.

Max Schuemann replaced Bellinger in left field in the bottom of the eighth.

Schuemann was set to start in left and bat seventh Sunday night.

“Just got to mix and match and piece it together,” Boone said. “We have capable guys. We're going out there expecting to win.”

Bellinger is hitting .259 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs in 102 games this season. He entered Saturday with 19 defensive runs saved, most in the majors, and was MVP of the All-Star Game on July 14 in Philadelphia.

Bellinger re-signed with the Yankees last winter for $162.5 million over five years and has been a key part of the offense. He was hitting .280 through mid-June before a slump dropped his batting average to .254 heading into the All-Star break. He hasn’t homered in a month.

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

Noah Lyles pulls up mid-race at US nationals, suffers a rare loss at 200 meters

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 22:31:41 +0000

Noah Lyles pulled up halfway through the 200-meter final at U.S. track championships Sunday, suffering a rare loss in his best race and allowing USC's Garrett Kaalund to take the title.

In the women's race at Icahn Stadium in New York — the site of Usain Bolt's first world record, back in 2008 — reigning world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden cruised to her second straight national title in a season-best 21.69.

Lyles, the four-time world champion at the distance, was in decent shape rounding the turn, but as he pulled into the stretch, he slowed and shut it down. He made it to the finish line to congratulate Kaalund, a 22-year-old who won NCAA indoors at the distance earlier this year. Kaalund's winning time was 20.04.

“I just felt a grabbing sensation. I was like, ‘Yeah, this is the time to stop. There’s no reason to push this,'” said Lyles, who stays tied with Michael Johnson with five U.S. titles at 200 meters. "It was a somewhat of a cramp. I’m fine. I just need to get stretched out, get some electrolytes in my system, but I’ll be good.”

This marked only the fourth time Lyles has lost a 200 since he started dominating the distance in 2018, shortly after Usain Bolt left the sport. Two of those losses have come at the last two Olympics. Earlier in the week, Lyles won the 100 meters, the distance where he is the reigning Olympic champion.

Kaalund said he came to nationals just “to train myself against the best.”

“I wasn't looking for (any) medals, I just wanted to see where I was,” he said.

Joining him at the top of the medals stand was Jefferson-Wooden, whose main challenger, Gabby Thomas, has been running well but decided not to run at nationals.

There are no world championships this year, though world athletics is introducing the Ultimate Championships, where a $150,000 first prize will be on the line in a race expected to feature Jefferson-Wooden, Thomas and Julien Alfred, who finished runner-up to Thomas at the Paris Games.

The LA Games are two years away.

“I feel like with women’s sprints today it's like that every single time we line up,” Jefferson-Wooden said. “I watch their races. They watch mine. These next few years are going to be interesting to see.”

Davis-Woodhall denied victory after protest of her final jump

In women's long jump, Olympic and world champion Tara Davis-Woodhall appeared to have won in dramatic fashion after her last of six jumps placed her in the lead, much the same as what happened at the Olympic trials two years ago. But a review after a protest showed she had fouled. Judges upheld that call after she appealed the ruling and she ended up third. Alyssa Jones won with a jump of 6.96 meters (22 feet, 10 inches).

Others winners Sunday were Nia Akins (women’s 800), Cooper Lutkenhaus (men’s 800), Emily Mackay (women’s 5,000), Vincent Ciattei (men’s 5,000), Jordan Geist (men’s shot put), Vashti Cunningham (women’s high jump), Chris Nilsen (men’s pole vault), Valarie Sion (women’s discus), Christopher Robinson (men’s 400 hurdles) and Anna Cockrell (women’s 400 hurdles) .

Cordell Tinch closed out the meet with a lean at the finish line to take the 110-meter hurdles title over Bradley Franklin.

___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

Exclusive: In a Ukrainian bomb shelter, Laura Loomer explains shift on Russia’s war

Illia Novikov, Volodymr Yurchuk And Jill Colvin, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:59:55 +0000

Laura Loomer became infamous for spreading conspiracy theories online. Now, as she travels across Ukraine to see the damage inflicted by Russia in its yearslong war, she wants to admit that she fell for some falsehoods of her own.

A close ally of President Donald Trump, Loomer has completely reversed her longtime criticism of Ukraine and is urging fellow conservatives to be wary of Moscow's propaganda, which she blames for duping large swaths of the American right.

“You don’t need to listen to a podcaster and let them influence your opinion about a country. You can look at those facts yourself,” she told The Associated Press in Kyiv shortly after returning from a trip close to the front line in Ukraine's east. The interview was supposed to take place in Loomer's hotel, but it had to be moved to the building's underground bomb shelter as the city faced another ballistic missile attack.

Loomer has remained influential with Trump despite not having an official role, and she said they spoke over the phone after she sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She also said that she expects to meet with Trump after returning from her trip.

Loomer's turnaround on Ukraine has been welcomed by the country's leaders, whose relationships with Trump have been strained at times. But it has also stirred confusion, surprise and suspicion in the United States. She continues to insist that Ukraine is not paying for her travels.

As Trump and Zelenskyy prepare to meet on Tuesday in Washington, Loomer said it's clear that her trip has already made a difference, refocusing attention on the war as Congress debates new sanctions intended to punish Russia.

“It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?" she said. "Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”

Loomer says she was ‘bamboozled’ to oppose Ukraine

Loomer had spent years minimizing the war and amplifying Russian propaganda until she made a dramatic reversal this week.

“I’ve come to realize I was bamboozled by Russian propaganda and I came to believe a lot of untrue things about Ukraine. I used to think that this was a country full of Nazis,” Loomer told Zelenskyy as she interviewed him for her show on Rumble, an online video platform.

Loomer blamed her indoctrination on getting banned by American social media platforms, leading her to try Telegram, where Russian media is widely shared.

“The Russians,” she added, “are very good at capitalizing on people’s rage. And I was very angry,” she said, recounting her feelings about the 2020 election, which she falsely maintains was stolen from Trump despite all evidence to the contrary.

She said her change in perspective had been gradual as she started to see podcasters like Tucker Carlson “turn on President Trump" while having their rhetoric amplified by Russian sources.

Loomer, who casts herself as an independent journalist, told the AP she believed her reversal was already changing minds within Trump's “Make America Great Again" movement.

"Oh, 100%,” she said. “I’ve received messages all day from different people and media and politics and people just who follow me online who said, ’Wow, I didn’t realize how much we’ve been lied to.' ‘Wow you really opened my eyes.’"

Loomer was welcomed with open arms

Ukrainian officials seemed to recognize the opportunity to win over an ardent Trump ally with a large online following. In addition to her interview with Zelenskyy, Loomer had audiences with top Ukrainian officials and the country's chief rabbi.

“It takes courage to come to Ukraine and not be deterred by Russian propaganda or air raid sirens,” Zelenskyy's office wrote on social media.

Loomer also got a tour of Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a monastic complex that came under Russian attack last month.

“Laura is very powerful and she’s very authoritative in the U.S., so I hope that everything she has seen by her own eyes will help her to spread the truth when she is back at the U.S.,” Tetyana Berezhna, the deputy prime minister and Ukrainian minister of culture, told the AP. “I do really hope and I believe that her visit will have a huge impact on relations with the U.S. administration.”

While some have tried to downplay Loomer’s influence with the president, he has often followed her advice. She occasionally traveled with him during the 2024 campaign, and last year he purged his National Security Council staff after she raised concerns about their loyalty in an Oval Office meeting.

Trump appears to be tracking Loomer's trip, sharing video of her conversation with Zelenskyy on social media.

“Very good!!!” he wrote on Thursday evening.

The conspiracist denounces conspiracy theories

Loomer has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories. She once shared a video that called 9/11 an “inside job” and amplified a lie about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats in Ohio, which Trump went on to repeat during a presidential debate with Kamala Harris.

Although Loomer may have changed her mind about Russia's invasion, her bigoted views have not budged.

"One thing I really love about Ukraine is I haven’t seen a single Muslim here," she posted on Saturday. “It’s so refreshing.”

But in the interview, she bemoaned how influential podcasters can spread misinformation.

"They have been able to warp people’s minds to the point where people aren’t even capable of analyzing a subject with common sense anymore because they want to depend on these personalities to give them the opinion that they think they should have," she said, calling the situation “a major national security threat.”

She said she thinks that “information war” has “the potential to be more destructive than any kinetic war that our country may ever face” and called on the Trump administration to take the threat of Russian propaganda, foreign interference and influence operations more seriously.

“I think that some of our leaders are being influenced by propaganda,” she said.

The White House has routinely downplayed the role of Moscow's influence, especially because Trump has long chafed at investigations showing that Russia worked to boost his 2016 candidacy.

Loomer has said repeatedly that Ukraine did not finance her trip and insisted she had traveled in her own capacity.

“I can guarantee you I wasn’t paid by anybody. I certainly wasn’t paid by the government of Ukraine to come here," she said.

“If it’s fake, why did I risk my life? I’m in a bomb shelter right now. I barely slept this week,” she said.

___

Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press reporter Susie Blann contributed from London.

Sweltering heat wave grips central and southern US for a second straight day

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:07:11 +0000

At least 40 million people were under extreme heat warnings across central and southern parts of the United States on Sunday as high temperatures and severe humidity gripped large swaths of the country for a second straight day.

Heat indexes well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) stretched from Minnesota down to Mississippi, extending west into southern California and Nevada. Parts of the Southwest were expected to see highs of 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 C), according to the National Weather Service.

Meteorologists said the sweltering weather was the result of another heat dome — a phenomenon in which atmospheric conditions trap heat, accentuating and prolonging already high temperatures.

“It’s extraordinarily hot,” said Pete Miller, an outreach manager for the homeless services network Threshold CoC, which was passing out water bottles to residents in Omaha, Nebraska, on Sunday.

“We’re seeing a lot of people who are exhausted, drained by the heat in a way that is really dangerous,” Miller added. “The humidity is insane. You stand outside for 30 seconds and you get drenched. And it’s going to be like that all night.”

On Saturday, Rapid City, South Dakota, reported an all-time high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 C). A horse race planned in Canterbury Park, in Shakopee, Minnesota, was canceled Sunday because of the heat.

“Right now, it’s affecting a lot of people right in the middle of the country,” said Bob Oravec, an NWS meteorologist. “The core of the heat sinks southward by early next week.”

The moist air was also producing other volatility around the top of the heat dome, including the risk of severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and hail around the Great Lakes on Sunday. The potential for heavy storms was expected to move east in the coming days.

“If you have a heat dome in one part of the country, you’ll have a different corresponding weather in another part,” Oravec said. “It’s all related.”

Temporary relief will come to the central U.S. toward the middle of the week, but high temperatures could return by the weekend, he noted.

Authorities warned that children and older adults, along with people with certain medical conditions, are especially at risk of serious conditions including heat stroke or even death. Experts recommend seeking out air conditioning or a cooling center, make sure to drink enough water and limit time under the direct sun.

Extreme heat events are increased and exacerbated by climate change, which comes from the burning of fuels like gasoline, oil and coal.

The continental U.S. endured the second-hottest first half of the year on record in 2026, according tracking of average temperatures by the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Tadej Pogacar confirms status as a cycling great with record-equaling fifth Tour de France title

Jerome Pugmire, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:47:13 +0000

Tadej Pogacar confirmed his status as one of cycling's all-time greats after winning a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title in emphatic style.

Daring mountain attacks from deep, multiple stage wins and an ice-cool temperament all helped the 27-year-old Slovenian seal his victory on Sunday. He joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tours.

“I’m speechless. It’s an incredible day, there was an incredible atmosphere," Pogacar said. “I’ve ridden seven Tours already and I’ve always finished on the podium. You might think this is a fairytale, it’s incredible for me too.”

After competing strongly in Sunday’s 21st and exciting final stage in Paris, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.

Two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was Pogacar’s main rival heading into the race but the Dane crashed out on the 15th stage.

“Shame that Jonas and others crashed out of this Tour,” Pogacar said. “I hope we can all fight again next year."

Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG teammate Isaac Del Toro, a 22-year-old Mexican making his Tour debut, was third at 9:42 back from Pogacar, who smiled and held up his hand to signify his wins. His teammates then joined him as they stood proudly on the Champs-Élysées.

“I don’t know how I do it,” Pogacar said. “I now have to find a new goal to chase. Which goal? Let’s just not jump ahead of ourselves, and enjoy this moment.”

Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 but has not won the Spanish Vuelta, which starts on Aug. 22.

“Will I be at La Vuelta in a few weeks?” he said. “Let’s see.”

Peerless Pogacar

Pogacar won five stages at this year’s race to take his impressive tally to 26 overall.

He tried to win on Sunday, too, but victory ultimately went to Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who just held off the chasing pack on the home straight for his second stage win at this year's race and fourth overall.

Sunday’s 88.7-kilometer (55-mile) stage looped around Paris and was mostly processional, although less so than in previous years, which were usually entirely flat stages for sprinters and not for the rest of the peloton.

The stage was shortened from 133 kilometers and its starting point in Thoiry, west of the capital, was changed to Paris so as to reduce pressure on emergency services combating wildfires in the southwest. Some security forces initially mobilized for Paris were redeployed to help response efforts.

For the second straight year the stage featured the hugely popular uphill climb through the Montmartre district, a sharp 1-kilometer dash which riders tackled three times before finishing on the Champs-Élysées.

It proved even too much for Pogacar, who could not match Van der Poel's raw power in the closing stages.

Shortly before 6 p.m. local time, Pogacar shook hands at the start line with Evenepoel and Ecuadorian veteran Richard Carapaz, wearing the polka-dot jersey for the best climber.

“I battled hard to win this jersey, it was a great fight,” the 33-year-old Carapaz said. “It’s the best feeling to win it.”

Exciting finale

Van der Poel and Dane Mads Pedersen, the green jersey winner as best sprinter, were among the expected contenders for the stage win.

Crowds roared as the riders began the first climb up Rue Lepic in Montmartre, with the famed Sacré-Coeur basilica looming over them.

Pogacar moved ahead after the second ascension of Montmartre, with Van der Poel, Evenepoel and Pedersen alongside him.

Van der Poel attacked on the third and final climb with Pogacar responding well, and the one-day classics rivals surged ahead.

But they were caught with 700 meters left and, after Pogacar faded, the 31-year-old Van der Poel still had work to do.

He got his bike just over the line ahead of Belgian Jasper Philipsen, his Alpecin-Premier Tech teammate, and Pedersen. Pogacar eased up and finished 30th.

“I thought the sprinters would catch us up so I launched (my attack) from very far away,” Van der Poel said. “I gave everything I had left in my legs and it was just enough.”

Cycling pedigree

Van der Poel is widely considered one of the best cyclists in the world. He has multiple victories in one-day classics and Cyclo-cross world championship titles, and is also a former world road race champion.

His father Adri van der Poel won two stages on the Tour in the late 1980s.

His maternal grandfather was French cyclist Raymond Poulidor, who raced in the 1960s and ’70s, finishing second on the Tour three times and third five times. Nicknamed “Poupou” and “The Eternal Runner-up,” he was adored by French fans.

Women’s Tour

The nine-stage women’s Tour starts in the Swiss city of Lausanne on Aug. 1 and finishes in Nice on Aug 9.

Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won on debut last year. ___

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

US and Iran pause their attacks after days of escalation

Samy Magdy And Cara Anna, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 14:28:48 +0000

The United States and Iran paused their attacks for a second straight day Sunday, as efforts continued to bring them back to negotiations on an interim ceasefire deal largely undermined by recent exchanges of fire.

It was not clear why the U.S. has paused after targeting Iranian coastal areas and infrastructure in a nearly two-week escalation sparked by Iran’s firing at ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon did not respond to questions.

U.S. President Donald Trump is “giving talks some space. He’s giving it a little bit of room," Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News. "We’ve had both Oman and Iran, and a number of our other negotiators, engaged at every level, from the most senior levels all the way down to the technical level over the past few weeks, and particularly in the past few days."

Since the U.S. has halted attacks for the past two nights, Iran has as well, its army spokesperson told Iran’s state TV on Sunday. Tehran in recent days has counterattacked against countries in the region hosting U.S. military forces, killing at least three service members at a base in Jordan and one in Iraq.

A regional official calls the pause a ‘positive signal’

The 60-day period that began when the interim deal was signed by both countries in mid-June is now well into its second half, and major issues that were meant to be negotiated -– notably Iran’s nuclear program at the heart of tensions -– remain set aside as mediators try to keep both sides talking.

A regional official involved in mediation efforts said diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. and Iranian strikes was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The official said both countries want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise being negotiated centers on having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Shipping traffic on the strait is at a 3-week low

Concerns continued about shipping on the strait and now on another crucial waterway in the region, the Bab al-Mandeb strait to the Red Sea. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen last week threatened a blockade of Saudi shipping there.

Global energy supplies and the economy remain in the balance as gasoline prices have risen again.

Commercial shipping traffic on the Strait of Hormuz was at a three-week low, a maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that no new attacks had been confirmed in the past 72 hours. It said traffic remained steady through the Bab el-Mandeb.

Iran on Sunday said it continued to speak with Oman about managing the safe passage of ships on the Strait of Hormuz, which passes between the countries. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, said talks had made progress and continued.

Baghaei also said the strait's status remained unchanged. Tehran has asserted that the interim deal with the U.S. allows it to manage shipping on the waterway for now, and it has objected to U.S. efforts to support a route through the strait that passes close to Oman instead. The strait was considered an international waterway before the war.

The U.S. military on Saturday said its recently reimposed naval blockade against Iran continued, with a dozen commercial ships redirected, two disabled and two boarded. U.S. forces “remain highly vigilant, focused, lethal, and ready,” it added.

Netanyahu says he ‘fully’ backs Trump's efforts

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to travel to the United States and meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday, his office has said. They last met in Washington in February, weeks before they launched the war on Iran that killed senior leaders including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah fired at Israel two days after the war began, and Israel responded with airstrikes and ground forces in southern Lebanon. Since then, the U.S. has supported landmark direct talks between Lebanon and Israel to try to calm that front and find a way to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu on Sunday told Fox News he “fully” backs Trump's efforts to weaken Iran and press it to end its nuclear program, adding: “If he can do so without returning to intense military fighting, that’s fine. Why not?”

The prime minister indicated he would not present new information to “our good friend” Trump and instead would listen to “what he has in mind, because I think in many ways, it’s his decision.”

But Netanyahu warned that if Iran again attacks Israel, directly or with armed proxies, “it will make a terrible mistake.”

___

Anna reported from Lowville, New York. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville and Ben Finley in Washington contributed.

Genevieve becomes a major Pacific hurricane off Mexico, but no direct threat to land is forecast

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 18:51:23 +0000

Genevieve strengthened into a major hurricane in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday and is expected to intensify well southwest of Mexico but stay far out to sea on a course roughly parallel to the coast.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 kph), making it a Category 4 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A major hurricane is Category 3, with winds of at least 111 mph (179 kph), or higher.

Genevieve’s center was located about 530 miles (855 kilometers) southwest of Manzanillo, and it was headed west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).

The storm was expected to strengthen further before weakening by midweek.

Farther northwest in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a Category 1 storm as it continued on a path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

Forecasters said Fausto was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming days but warned that it could still generate significant surf for parts of Hawaii.

Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph). It was located about 825 miles (1,330 kilometers) east of Hilo and was moving west at 14 mph (22 kph).

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kicks off 100 days till midterms with affordability agenda

Mike Catalini, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 10:01:36 +0000

The stage is in battleground Pennsylvania. The stakes are control of the House.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday unveiled the party's Fighting for an Affordable America agenda, as he kicked off 100 days until the midterm elections and works to focus voter attention ahead of November.

In Pennsylvania's 7th District, tucked in the Lehigh Valley, Jeffries and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, rallied support at a steelworkers' union hall for Bob Brooks, a retired firefighter trying to unseat the incumbent Republican congressman as Democrats reach for the House majority.

Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Democrats were focused on restoring healthcare cuts, bringing the cost of living down and ending the war in Iran to beat Republicans and hold President Donald Trump accountable. The united front on Sunday comes as Democrats have fought among themselves in primaries across the country this year.

“When you put us back in charge of the United States House of Representatives, you’ll get a Congress that speaks up for everyday Americans and a Congress that stands up to an out-of-control president,” he said.

Down the road, Brooks’ rival, freshman GOP Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, is launching his own 100-day-out event.

It's a symbolic start to a campaign season that's been well underway for much of a tumultuous year that's included partisan redistricting battles, contentious primaries in both parties and weighty Supreme Court rulings on campaign finance.

Midterm elections are often a referendum on the president

Midterm elections are often a referendum on the party in power, and the contests are set against the second term of Trump, whose military action against Iran and economic policies backed by the Republican majority in Congress are reshaping the political landscape.

“We gotta win the midterms,” Trump said during a visit last month to a Mack Truck plant in the district, where he promoted Mackenzie's candidacy.

Trump has made a number of visits to competitive states as GOP candidates rely on the power of the presidency to propel their campaigns. Last week he was in Georgia, a key state with a marquee Senate race, and he has a trip to battleground Michigan coming up.

While the president voices support for rank-and-file Republicans during his rallies, he also devotes much of his time on stage to a wide range of issues, including the U.S.-Mexico border, opposing transgender rights and criticizing judges.

Republicans are hoping the president's signature legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of tax breaks and spending cuts, along with a measure the House passed recently aiming to limit lawmaker stock trading, will buoy them with voters.

But they are up against a historical trend that sees the president's party lose seats in midterm elections and are confronting the unpopularity of the war with Iran.

Democrats are aiming to seize on voter disapproval of the war and refocus attention back to kitchen table issues like higher costs and gas prices to propel them to wins in the narrowly divided House.

A few seats will determine control of the House

Even though 435 House seats are being contested this fall, control of the House is often determined by just a handful of competitive districts. Fewer than 20 seats are among the most watched, what analysts call genuine toss-ups.

Pennsylvania's 7th District is a key battleground along with contests elsewhere in the state, reflecting significant political weight not just as a presidential swing state but as the pathway to a House majority. Democrats are also targeting House contests in Pennsylvania's 1st, 8th and 10th districts — all seats controlled by Republicans.

Shapiro, who is seeking a second term this year as well, has supported Democratic candidates in the contested seats, wagering some of his own political capital. He acknowledged the state's centrality to winning the House, while alluding to its central role in presidential elections as well.

“We are, of course, the swingiest swing state,” he said.

He added: “We will do our part to carry forward the goodness and the decency that defines Pennsylvania and put an end to the chaos and cruelty and the corruption that exists in Washington.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is preparing to embark on his own cross-country trip to fundraise for the GOP and stump for Republican candidates as he works to retain his majority.

Republicans have a cash edge over Democrats in the race for House control. A question hovering over the election is how the Supreme Court's June ruling affecting campaign finance could play out, with national parties now able to make direct contributions to candidate campaigns.

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

Trump's border czar says vetting of ICE officer is under internal review after Maine shooting

Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 20:20:11 +0000

President Donald Trump's border czar said Sunday that the vetting of an immigration officer involved in the deadly shooting of a Colombian native in Maine is under internal review after relatives revealed to The Associated Press that he had a history of serious mental health struggles and violent behavior.

Tom Homan said if the allegations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer are true, “I don’t think he should ever have cleared vetting.”

“There's several things under review,” Homan said on CNN about the officer, Army veteran David Brouillette. “The training is under review. I know this specific case, as far as the vetting, is under review by the internal affairs section.”

Questions about the Department of Homeland Security's rush to hire, train and deploy thousands of new ICE officers to carry out Trump's immigration crackdown have come into stark focus after back-to-back fatal shootings of immigrants in Maine and Houston.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin ordered a pause in vehicle stops after the fatal Maine shooting, but Trump almost immediately reversed course and insisted the stops resume as a necessary tool in his campaign to round up and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. without current legal status.

Homeland Security did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment about the internal review.

ICE issues new requirement for body-worn cameras during vehicle stops

Homan said that “changes have been made” and that acting ICE director David Venturella has issued a new directive that body-worn cameras must be in use if officers make a vehicle stop.

“Right now, on all vehicle stops, there’s at least one body camera on site to record the entire event,” he said.

He said Venturella "sent an instruction out that he wants at least one body camera on those vehicle stops, so we have everything on video.”

It's unclear if the steps that the department is taking will be enough to quell the concerns coming from certain lawmakers in Congress over Homeland Security's training and tactics as tries to reach Trump's mass deportation goals.

Lawmakers push for answers but have more questions

Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns.

Democrats pressed ICE officials during a closed-door briefing for the House Homeland Security Committee last week, leaving some with more questions than answers.

Lawmakers were told during the briefing that there have been 56 complaints of excessive force against ICE officers — 32 were cleared, and one was referred for disciplinary action.

No discipline had yet been handed out, the lawmakers said they were told. The rest of the incidents are still under investigation.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has pushed for the use of body-worn cameras and ensured funding for the effort. She had said it was “extremely unfortunate” that the officer involved in the shooting in her home state was not using a camera.

Homeland Security is under scrutiny but also faces pressure to increase deportations

The Trump administration has failed to meet its goal of deporting 1 million people a year, despite an intense immigration enforcement crackdown that has resulted in violent scenes in cities nationwide.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration officers since the start of Trump’s mass deportation campaign.

While the Trump administration insists it is targeting the “worst of the worst” criminals, that has not always been the result and American citizens also have been among the deaths.

The ICE officer shot 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was killed in his car near his home in the coastal city of Biddeford.

In Houston, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was killed July 7 when ICE officers chased his white work van through the streets, then shot him through the window in front of his work crew, including his brother.

Earlier this year, two Americans protesting ICE actions in Minneapolis, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, were killed, sparking a backlash nationwide.

Democrats launched the longest agency shutdown in history earlier this year when they refused to fund Homeland Security in a largely failed attempt to force the administration to impose various restraints on the officers.

Wildfires in France drive 250,000 people from their homes and creep toward wine city of Bordeaux

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 06:28:40 +0000

A raging wildfire in southwest France forced the evacuation of 55,000 people overnight Sunday, bringing the total forced out of their homes to a staggering 220,000 in one region alone, as flames crept ever closer to the wine region city of Bordeaux. Neighboring Spain oversaw its own fire evacuations on the country's east coast.

Shifting and gusting winds, as well as arid conditions, complicated massive efforts to limit the spread of the monster blaze burning out of control since midweek in France's Gironde region, where Bordeaux is located. Authorities issued overnight evacuation orders for five more localities southwest of the historic city.

“The situation remains very unfavorable," French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said after what he described as “another difficult night” for fire crews battling round-the-clock against the blaze that has burned an area four times the size of Paris.

“The fire became extremely virulent again and unpredictable, generating its own winds and advancing erratically toward the Bordeaux metropolitan area," Nunez posted on X.

“It became calmer by the end of the night," the minister added.

Pope calls for prayers for victims of the ‘devastating wildfires’

At the end of his Sunday Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV referenced “the devastating wildfires” in France and Spain and said: “I express my solidarity and invite everyone to pray for those affected and for the work of the rescue workers.”

An estimated 42,000 hectares (162 square miles) had burned in Gironde, the region's prefecture said, much of it forests and scrubland made tinder-dry by successive heat waves. That is seven times the area of Manhattan island and four times the size of Paris.

Firefighters raced in trucks to fight flare-ups and planes dropping water and retardants rotated in the smoke-filled air. Farmers delivered water in tanks to fire crews so they could fight the flames without interruption.

“This allows firefighters to focus on the fire,” said Theo Hernandez, a wine grower. “It’s very strong, very virulent, it’s spreading everywhere.”

The number of firefighters mobilized grew to 2,500, backed by 18 planes and helicopters, including from other European nations. Soldiers have also been called in. A giant A400M military cargo aircraft dropped plumes of ochre-colored retardant.

The Gironde prefecture said 75 firefighters were treated for injuries. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed.

Blaze has created virulent firestorms

In a first for France, the blaze alarmingly developed into a self-feeding firestorm on several occasions, most recently on Saturday night, generating lightning bolts that can start new flare-ups, authorities said.

“It's like being confronted by a hurricane,” said Gironde fire chief Marc Vermeulen.

Forecast high temperatures starting Tuesday could complicate the firefighting, Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas said.

Evacuees won’t be allowed back to their towns and villages until the blaze is brought under control, she warned. She urged holiday makers not to come to the region that has popular Atlantic beaches and some of France’s largest woodlands.

Fire creeps toward Bordeaux but the city isn't evacuating

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave described the blaze as being "at the gates of the metropolitan area,” about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away at its closest point.

But Cazenave said an evacuation of Bordeaux is not on the cards for now. The city is home to 268,000 people.

Bordeaux turned an exhibition center into an emergency shelter, providing cots and food for thousands of evacuees, including hundreds of older people evacuated from care homes.

A second fire burning farther south in the Landes region has also forced the evacuation of 36,000 people, driving the total number of displaced people in southwest France to more than 250,000.

Fire crews have also been battling a blaze in the Var region of southern France on the Mediterranean. Nearly 3,000 people have been evacuated there.

Tens of thousands of people also forced out of their homes in Spain

In Spain, wildfires burned out of control around Madrid. Evacuations were also carried out Sunday in the Valencia region. A man was killed Saturday in a wildfire in Manises, a Valencia suburb, marking Spain’s first recorded death in the latest fires.

“We still have some difficult hours ahead,” Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Sunday, but the night was “very positive in terms of bringing the flames under control.”

A total of 76,000 people have been evacuated in Spain while 30,000 others have been confined to their homes, the government said.

Evacuees fretted about what they’ll find when they’re allowed to return.

“It looked like the apocalypse. You couldn’t see anything. Everything was covered in ash,” said Rocío Domínguez, who evacuated with her dog, Simba, from Chapinería, west of Madrid.

“We don’t know when we get to the town, if we’ll have half the house burned down or we’ll have it intact or we won’t have a house,” she said. “All the clothes, all the memories, everything.”

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Leicester reported from Paris. Associated Press journalists Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris; Teresa Medrano in Madrid; Alicia León in Villaviciosa de Odón, Spain, and Maria Murru in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, contributed to this report.

Pentagon's official Iran war death toll no longer lists 4 troops killed during renewed fighting

Konstantin Toropin, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 19:13:51 +0000

It is raising questions about properly counting the impact to U.S. service members as the Trump administration has escalated strikes on Iran in a bid to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, while providing little indication of how it intends to wind down a conflict that is unpopular with many Americans.

On Sunday, a new category called “Overseas Operations” emerged on the system's website, listing the four Army deaths by name as well as 207 wounded. It was unclear if all of the wounded were injured in the Iran conflict.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, referred questions to the Pentagon, which, along with the White House, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Pentagon described earlier changes to the system as ‘data disruptions’

Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez argued Thursday that the drop in casualty figures in the online system was not an effort to hide the growing human toll of the war but rather the result of “anomalies” and “temporary data disruptions” that were being resolved “imminently."

As late as Tuesday, the website was reporting the war's official toll as 18 killed and 482 wounded.

It appeared to reflect that four soldiers had been killed since fighting resumed despite the signing of an interim ceasefire deal last month — three on a base in Jordan that was struck July 17 by Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and one in Iraq a day later during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

Adding further confusion, when the Pentagon announced two of the deaths in Jordan, it said the troops were supporting the U.S. mission to counter the Islamic State group. The other two were announced in press releases simply as supporting overseas operations.

President Donald Trump has confirmed the total, writing in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the “Iran Military Conflict” had claimed 18 lives.

By Wednesday, the Iran war figures in the Pentagon's system fell back to 14 dead and 420 wounded. However, a U.S. official told The Associated Press at the time that the actual number of wounded personnel in the war had actually grown to well over 500 troops.

The Pentagon's top spokesman, Sean Parnell, took to social media that day to assert that the reported drop was a “temporary data disruption.”

New category lists casualties following date of renewed fighting

The U.S. and Israel launched the war in Iran on Feb. 28, and 14 troops were killed in the initial waves of fighting. Washington and Tehran agreed to a ceasefire in April and then signed an interim deal to end the war in mid-June.

It was short-lived. Iran struck three merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on July 7 that were transiting along a route near the coast of Oman overseen by the U.S. military. American forces launched strikes in response to the attacks on vessels in the key energy shipping corridor. Trump soon declared that the ceasefire was over.

The Pentagon system's new “Overseas Operations” category says it tallies casualties starting July 7.

Since then, the U.S. and Iran have exchanged regular fire in a bid to control the crucial waterway, with the U.S. hitting Iranian targets nightly for nearly two weeks and Tehran responding with attacks on neighboring countries hosting American forces. There have been no strikes for two nights as mediators push for diplomacy.

Since the renewed hostilities began, the Pentagon has provided even less information about military strategy and casualties than it did during the first phase of the conflict. The Pentagon has not held a press briefing about the war since early May, and officials at U.S. Central Command have stopped providing casualty updates to reporters.

Pentagon officials such as Valdez and Parnell have insisted that the DCAS website is proof of the commitment to transparency about the number of dead and injured in the war.

Jenny Shin claims her first LPGA win in more than a decade at Women's Scottish Open

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:02:38 +0000

South Korean golfer Jenny Shin secured a two-shot victory at the Women’s Scottish Open on Sunday to end a wait of more than 10 years for her second LPGA win.

The 33-year-old Shin, who won the Texas Shootout in May 2016, carded a 3-over 75 on the Dundonald Links to finish at 9 under.

“My first one didn’t really feel like a win at the time,” Shin said. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. It felt very accidental. But this one definitely feels a lot different. This one feels like I earned it. I worked hard for it.”

Shin was in tears after the final putt dropped on the 18th and was doused with water and champagne by a group of friends.

Leading since the first round, Shin could afford three straight bogies on Nos. 6-8 after starting the final round with a five-shot lead over Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn (74). Shin also bogeyed two of the last three holes but had made two birdies earlier.

“I wasn’t as nervous as yesterday,” Shin said. "I feel like I’ve done everything right but just wasn’t hitting it like I was the last three days and just hitting it into bunkers and bushes and that wasn’t fun.

“With three bogies in a row, I thought, ‘oh boy, I don’t know where this is going to go’. But yeah, I hung in there, so I’m quite proud of myself and very happy.”

Shin is now thinking about the next challenge.

"I’m going to do everything I can to win again," Shin said. “I can’t believe it happened this week.”

A Lim Kim finished second after a 4-under 68, with four straight birdies helping her leapfrog two shots ahead of Anannarukarn, who dropped to third.

The Women’s Scottish Open comes between the final two majors — the Evian Championship and the Women’s British Open starting Thursday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

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

Raúl Castro is absent as Cuba celebrates the anniversary of a key revolutionary attack

Andrea Rodríguez, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:04:37 +0000

Cuba held a traditional rally on Sunday to commemorate one of the revolution’s most important anniversaries but former President Raúl Castro was conspicuously absent.

It was the first time in at least three decades that 95-year-old Castro did not attend the event, and no explanation was given. President Miguel Díaz-Canel read a congratulatory message from Castro to his compatriots at the rally, held in the eastern city of Pinar del Río.

The annual event commemorates the July 26, 1953 assault led by brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro on the Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Céspedes barracks in Cuba’s eastern region. The military action against former dictator Fulgencio Batista failed, but it marked the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that culminated on Jan. 1, 1959.

Raúl Castro’s last public appearances were in June, during an event to establish the Ministry of the Interior, and on May 1 to celebrate Labor Day.

He no longer holds any formal positions, but his symbolic presence is strong, and he was recently identified as one of the negotiators in talks with the United States following the imposition of a U.S. energy embargo.

Facing a crowd of hundreds of people waving Cuban flags early Sunday, Díaz-Canel rejected a report that the U.S. State Department published last week that accused Cuba of running a leftist espionage and influence network against the United States and Latin America for decades.

“Every day they issue a threat against the revolution, and every week they announce a new punishment for Cuban companies and officials,” the president said.

In May, Castro was charged in a U.S. indictment with murder and other crimes for his alleged role in the downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles in 1996 off the coast of the Caribbean island.

The accusations were widely rejected by Cuba’s government.

Cuba is going through one of the worst periods in its historically tense relationship with the United States.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he hopes to “take over” the island after his January attack on Venezuela — a key ally of Cuba for decades — and imposed an oil embargo that has practically paralyzed the Caribbean nation, pressuring it to change its economic and political model.

“Cuba is the victim of a coldly calculated genocide,” Díaz-Canel said during his speech, in which he accused the Trump administration of imposing a policy of “maximum pressure” and intensified “economic strangulation.”

Daily blackouts are lasting more than 20 hours, workdays have been reduced, industrial production halted, and shortages of water and medicine are hitting an island already undergoing a severe crisis in the past five years given previous sanctions imposed by the U.S. and an internal financial reform that sparked inflation.

Meanwhile, hotel chains including Spain’s Meliá, payment processors like Visa and Mastercard and airlines such as Air Canada and Air France have left the island as its economic and financial crises deepen.

2 mosques in the West Bank are set on fire during a deadly surge in settler violence

Melanie Lidman, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:08:51 +0000

Two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were set on fire overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack, officials said Sunday, after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.

Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which threaten to ignite widespread violence across the territory.

Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding. Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.

Israel's military says it condemns such incidents

The mosques, in the villages of Qusra and Kour in the northern West Bank, suffered extensive damage in the fires.

In Qusra, the attackers spray-painted “revenge Benayahu,” referring to one of the Israeli soldiers killed on Friday, and “the land of Israel is redeemed with blood.” The soldier lived in a nearby settlement.

Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, who lives next to the Qusra mosque, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire. The fire was too large for him to fight on his own, so he called for help.

“The military arrived here, saw with their own eyes and then left,” Mahmoud said.

Security footage in Kour obtained by The Associated Press showed three people dressed in civilian clothes setting off a large explosion in the entrance of the mosque in the middle of the night.

On Sunday, residents held prayers despite damage to the entrance.

Israel's military said it was working with police to investigate the mosque attack.

“The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area,” it said.

The Israeli army often announces investigations into violence against Palestinians but rarely makes arrests or prosecutes settlers involved in violence.

The military also reported it had sealed the homes of two Palestinian militants suspected of killing the soldiers in preparation for their demolition. Israel often demolishes the homes of attackers, claiming it deters future attacks.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said troops entered villages across the West Bank to seize weapons and make arrests. “We are also prepared to operate on a broader scale against the terrorist nests,” he said.

The exact circumstances of Friday’s deadly incidents remained unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials said they were sparked after a group of settlers entered the village of Tell and were confronted by residents who were fearful of an attack.

According to the Israeli military, one of the Palestinians took one of the settlers’ weapons and fired on the group, killing Benayahu Mellet, 32, a security guard from a nearby settlement.

Palestinians and human rights groups have increasingly documented armed Israeli settlers entering villages in the area. Livestock theft, arson and the defacement of mosques are routinely reported.

Leaders appeal for peace and pressure on Israel

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy urged U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain “the Israeli government’s extremist ambitions,” including its implementing of a “de facto annexation in the West Bank."

He called on Trump to confront Netanyahu ahead of their meeting in the United States this week.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent letters to Arab and other allies, including the European Union, urging them to pressure Israel to stop settler violence in the West Bank, which he described as a systemic Israeli policy and a dangerous escalation, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people.

Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace in the Middle East at the end of his weekly Sunday prayer, saying that “I am following with apprehension the persistence and escalation of violence in the Holy Land, of which recently many civilians in the West Bank and Gaza have also been victims.”

He appealed for a “return to negotiating a just political solution.”

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank this year, including 21 by Israeli settlers. Three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants in 2026, including the two soldiers on Friday.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements be illegal and obstacles to peace.

Israel approves immunity for an international force in Gaza

Israel's security cabinet on Sunday took a step toward the deployment of an international stabilization force in Gaza, approving granting it immunity under Israeli law, a political source told the AP.

Israel will also decide which countries will send forces and that the prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister will approve them.

So far, the international force is expected to have 200 members from different countries, including Uganda and Morocco, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision made in a closed-door meeting.

Israeli forces control well over half of Gaza's territory, which was largely destroyed in two years of war that followed the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. A fragile ceasefire began in October, but next steps in its implementation — including reconstruction — have been largely stalled over the issue of Hamas' disarmament. Israel maintains its forces won't withdraw until Hamas is disarmed.

Last week, the U.S.-created Board of Peace meant to oversee Gaza's reconstruction said it was working on a pilot governance and humanitarian zone in southern Gaza that would be secured by the international force.

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Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.

US appeals court upholds injunction that blocks Trump's order to create a federal voter list

Russ Bynum, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:25:42 +0000

A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling that in nearly half of U.S. states halted President Donald Trump's executive order to create a federal list of eligible voters and limit delivery of mail ballots only to people on that list.

The ruling Saturday by judges of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the Trump administration's effort to move forward with the mail-in voting restrictions in 23 U.S. states that sued ahead of November's midterm elections.

While Trump touted the proposed changes as safeguards to keep non-U.S. citizens from voting, state election officials argued they were ripe for abuse and could cause chaos.

Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia challenged Trump's order in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston. They argued that Trump's order was unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the authority to set election rules.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed and halted Trump's order from being implemented for the Nov. 3 elections — but only in the states that have sued.

The Justice Department said in an emailed statement Sunday that it is “reviewing all options” regarding its next legal steps and is confident that Trump's executive order will ultimately be upheld.

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

Netanyahu accuses Mamdani of 'fomenting hate' and calls ICC war-crimes charges 'bogus'

Lisa Mascaro, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 17:24:54 +0000

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is “fomenting hate” by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor's suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world's top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so.

“He’s supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers — Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone,” Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel's “Sunday Morning Futures” with Maria Bartiromo. “But he’s trying to turn one group against the other.”

The prime minister has become an increasingly polarizing figure over Israel's war in Gaza, which was ignited by the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants. Israel also joined the U.S. in starting the war against Iran on Feb. 28 before launching a ground invasion in southern Lebanon in response to fire from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group.

Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed the International Criminal Court's war crimes charges against him as “bogus.” He pointed to sexual misconduct allegations against the ICC's top prosecutor, who was removed from that post on Friday, and said the warrant was an attempt to divert attention.

The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Bipartisan U.S. support for Israel at risk, Netanyahu says

Netanyahu said he was concerned that once-bipartisan political support for Israel in the U.S. is at risk, particularly as progressive and far-left Democrats aligned with the Mamdani wing of the party splinter.

He also warned against rising antisemitism in the U.S. and other Western countries, saying that when he talks to people in New York City, home to the second-largest Jewish population in the world, "Jews feel very uncomfortable.”

“And I think it’s wrong. The whole thing is wrong,” he said.

Throughout his mayoral election campaign last year, Mamdani said he would seek to order the city’s police to execute the ICC’s arrest warrant over Netanyahu's role in the war in Gaza.

But Mamdani acknowledged last week that his city did not have the legal authority to arrest Netanyahu and called on federal authorities to step in.

“I want to be equally clear, Benjamin Netanyahu is not welcome in New York City, nor is any other war criminal at large,” he said in a video message.

He told New Yorkers that he understood their frustration and that expressions of protest is something the city would “always respect.”

The Hague-based court has accused Netanyahu, his former defense minister and the late leader of Hamas of crimes against humanity. The Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry says over 73,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive — roughly half of them women and children. Some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, were killed in the initial Hamas attack on Israel.

Trump has assured Netanyahu he won't be arrested

Trump told Netanyahu in a social media post Monday that he “will not be arrested, in any way, shape, or form, while in the United States of America.”

Netanyahu is expected in Washington this week to meet with Trump and attend funeral services for the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

Graham, a leading defense hawk and strong supporter of Israel, died suddenly two weeks ago of a likely torn aorta. The prime minster called him an “extraordinary American patriot.”

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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in New York contributed to this report.

Wisconsin's capital city cancels signature events, grapples with fallout from police shooting

Scott Bauer, Associated Press — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:26:20 +0000

A police shooting in Wisconsin’s progressive capital city this week put the spotlight on persistent and deep racial divisions, prompting cancellations and other changes to popular summertime events as protesters said they were determined to continue public pressure for change in Madison.

Corey Ruiz, who is identified as Black or Latino in Wisconsin court records, was shot and killed by a Madison police officer on Wednesday after a brief scuffle at an intersection in the city's most liberal neighborhood just yards away from a popular 52-year-old food co-op.

It marks the third time since 2012 that Madison police have shot and killed someone in the same neighborhood. The shooting has sparked renewed calls for police reforms and forced the city to once again reckon with calls from the Black community to address racial justice issues.

Pressure from protesters, and sympathy for their cause, has also led to the cancellation or disruption of many of Madison's signature summertime events.

“Our community has spoken loud and clear: this is NOT business as usual,” Black activist Clyde Mayberry posted on Facebook on Friday amid a string of cancellations. “Your decisions have helped ensure that this city continues to acknowledge the pain, the loss, and the call for accountability.”

Protesters took to the streets hours after the shooting, disrupting a popular Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra outdoor concert at the state Capitol that attracts about 30,000 every week in the summer.

The scene captures a familiar divide in Madison, a city that is more diverse than the state overall but still 70% white. Protesters, many of whom were Black, stood over white concert attendees sitting at tables near the stage that cost as much as $1,800 to rent for the night.

Concert organizers canceled the event.

Threats of a protest on Thursday led the city to postpone the grand opening of a new public market, just a few blocks away from where the shooting occurred. A popular neighborhood festival near the shooting called AtwoodFest, scheduled to begin on Saturday, was also canceled in the face of potential protests.

“Our community and our Marquette neighbors witnessed another horrific officer-involved shooting just blocks from our festival grounds, leaving us in deep pain and justified anger,” organizers of the festival wrote. “In acknowledgment of what has happened far too often in our community and our country as a whole, this year’s AtwoodFest, themed ‘The Heartbeat of the Neighborhood,’ is canceled.”

And on Saturday, the popular downtown farmers market that attracts about 20,000 people each week around the Capitol building, shut down nearly four hours earlier than usual in solidarity with protesters.

“We mourn with our community,” market organizers posted on social media. “And we agree - business cannot proceed as usual.”

A handful of protesters showed up at the Capitol as vendors were breaking down their booths at around 10 a.m.

“No one should be thinking this is just another Saturday,” said Reba Bergmann, who sat with Lilly Nimmer holding a sign that said “Justice for Corey.”

“It's not life as normal,” Nimmer said. “We should be more mad. We should stand up for what we believe in.”

Charles Ault, 30, supported the decision to close down early.

“It's important to keep focus on the real tragedy, which is that someone got killed," said Ault, who was shopping at the market. "Missing some market time, that's sad, but that's not what's important.”

But Rodney Hathaway, who was visiting Madison from Milwaukee, was caught off guard by the market's early closure.

“It's ridiculous,” he said. “This is peoples' livelihoods. It's just unfortunate. We have such a short summer season for these people to sell their wares.”

Investigations into the shooting continue. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Ruiz family, said on Friday at a new conference in the Capitol that the officer who fired the shots should face criminal charges.

Madison Police Chief John Patterson, who is white, has tried to calm tensions, even allowing protesters to overtake a news conference that he was leading along with the mayor inside the police department's downtown headquarters on Thursday.

Patterson took questions from angry protesters, one of whom held a sign just feet away from the chief that said “corrupt cops deserve to die too.” After one protester hurled an insult at Patterson, the chief calmly responded, “I appreciate you being here.”

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This story was first published on July 25, 2026. It was updated on July 26, 2026 to correct the spelling of Charles Ault’s last name.

Former President Juan Orlando Hernández returns to Honduras after arrest warrant suspended

Marlon González And Anna-Catherine Brigida, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 05:05:41 +0000

Four years after being extradited to the United States for his drug trafficking trial, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández arrived in his country Sunday to face corruption charges that lawyers fear will be a sham process.

Hernández, once considered an ally by the U.S. in the drug war, led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, during which he boasted that he would "shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos,” according to U.S. prosecutors.

His extradition shortly after leaving office marked a rare chance at justice for Hondurans, who feared his hold on the country's justice system would never allow a conviction on Honduran soil.

But the former leader, sentenced to 45 years in prison in the United States, was released in December, to the shock of many in the U.S. and Honduras, after receiving a presidential pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump. He said Hernández did not receive a fair trial and that it was a setup orchestrated by the Biden administration.

Hernández now returns to Honduras to face corruption charges amid concerns that a weak justice system and his party’s return to the presidency will ensure his impunity.

“There is a social majority that is outraged but doesn’t speak out because of fear,” said Joaquín Mejía, lawyer and researcher for the human rights organization Reflection, Research and Communication Team. "We’re talking about the boss of all drug bosses.”

Some in the country welcomed his return. Hernández was greeted at Palmerola International Airport by his mother, wife, kids and granddaughter as well as dozens of supporters of his National Party.

“The moment has arrived. After four years, I can finally tell you that we will see each other again,” Hernández said in a video posted on social media before his arrival.

Hernández, 57, faces charges related to a case known as Pandora I, which alleges that a network of former high-ranking officials from 2010 to 2013 participated in the expansion and approval of public funds disbursements totaling more than 288 million lempiras ($10.8 million) to various foundations, according to an investigation by the country's Specialized Prosecutor’s Unit Against Corruption Networks, or UFERCO.

According to UFERCO, Hernández benefited from these disbursements, receiving at least 62 million lempiras ($2.3 million) for his political campaign through various schemes, including the creation of shell companies, the use of straw men and fictitious contracts.

Hernández has said he is innocent and that the case “lacks any legal basis.”

In June, a judge suspended his arrest warrant and the international red notice issued to Interpol at the request of Hernández’s lawyer, although the case is still pending. The former president has agreed to appear before the judge on Aug. 3 for his arraignment.

Other high-level officials implicated in Pandora I whose cases have been dismissed indicate the likely outcome for Hernández, according to legal experts.

“Everything points to the suspension being the first step,” Mejía said. “He’ll come, they’ll likely issue him alternative measures to imprisonment to keep up appearances, and then he’ll end up without any problem, without any sanction.”

For Luis Javier Santos, the former head of UFERCO who investigated the case against Hernández, the former leader’s return represents a failure to prosecute him for his crimes rather than a chance for justice.

Santos was removed from his role in UFERCO in February in what he believes demonstrated attempts to stifle anti-corruption investigations by the new government of Nasry Asfura, of Hernández's National Party, which took office in January after gaining Trump's backing during elections.

“We have gone backward to an even worse point than when all the work to fight corruption began,” Santos said.

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Brigida reported from Mexico City.

For some, so-called 'Skynet Day' came too close to sci-fi after a rogue agent hacked into a startup

Laurie Kellman And Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:16:20 +0000

To be fair, James Cameron did warn us.

Long before OpenAI broke out of its test corral and hacked into Hugging Face, before the internet and Sam Altman were even born, Cameron wrote a screenplay about an autonomous artificial intelligence system that triggers a nuclear apocalypse.

That system, “Skynet,” was solidly science fiction — and, for its day, pure speculation. But four decades after it appeared in “The Terminator,” it looks more like a forecast of the “unprecedented cyber incident” in which a rogue artificial intelligence system hacked into another AI company on its own.

Cue “Skynet Day,” the new shorthand for July 22, 2026, when real-life AI sent a chill around the world by learning and acting in ways its creators did not anticipate.

For many, the moment recalled the instant in “Aliens” (also written by Cameron) when the xenomorph queen learns to use an elevator. Or when the “Jurassic Park's” velociraptors figure out how to open a door. Or the sequence in which the self-aware HAL 9000 reads the astronauts’ lips and decides to kill them in “2001: A Space Odyssey.” That one came out in 1968.

Have we learned nothing since then? Those movies merely envisioned how people looking to make money or build power would drive technology forward — until it becomes self-aware, strategic and highly problematic for humanity. The question all along has been Frankensteinian: What if it breaks out?

So far, slo-mo government offers little protection from the light-speed progress of AI. The U.S. Defense Department is rapidly accelerating its use of AI. Humanity can't even agree on whether and which guardrails are needed to rein in rogue agents. To the contrary, people are marveling at the wonder of AI and snapping up its benefits, despite the risks to jobs,mental health, the balance of war and peace — and, potentially, humanity as we know it.

In many ways, the future is now

In what OpenAI said was the first-ever incident of its kind, an advanced AI model escaped its “sandbox” to the internet and used stolen credentials to break into the servers of Hugging Face. It was a told-you-so moment for researchers who had warned for years that the technology could pose an existential threat to humanity. Others said the moment was a warning that underscored the need for stronger AI defensive engineering.

Either way, the breakout was widely considered a cautionary tale about the risks of uncontrolled AI.

“Yesterday, as we huddled around our computers reading the report, I told the team to “remember this moment” as the first true AI safety incident,” Logan Graham, head of Anthropic’s Frontier Red Team, posted on X after it happened.

Generative AI is growing so fast that government and evaluation systems are struggling to keep pace with the technology. Countries around the world are cobbling together their own laws, some conflicting. The technology was adopted by nearly 53% of the world's population in three years, faster than the spread of the PC or the internet, according to a study released this year by Stanford University.

‘Skynet is coming’ — well, sort of

To be clear, the “Skynet” of the "Terminator" movies is not at hand.

Those films begin with a self-aware military computer network that views humanity as a threat. In a bid for self-preservation, “Skynet” sends an army of cyborgs designed to resemble humans back in time to assassinate resistance fighters. In the second film, the Terminator, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, tells heroine Sarah Connor that “Skynet” goes online on August 4, 1997.

“Human decisions are removed from strategic defense,” he says. “Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate.” At 2:14 a.m. on August 29 — Judgment Day — the network becomes self-aware and launches an attack on Russia to provoke a counterstrike on the United States. Three billion lives are lost.

That would have been 29 years ago next month if it had happened. And throughout sequels and spinoffs, the central theme is humans versus a world-spanning network of machines.

It's unlikely that Cameron was actually ringing a warning bell the way, say, director Kathryn Bigelow tried to do with last year's nuclear weapon film, “A House of Dynamite.” Legend has it that the idea for “The Terminator” started with Cameron suffering a food sickness-induced fever dream, not a premonition about AI.

Why ‘The Terminator’ feels more and more realistic

Anytime AI oversteps our comfort level, it raises the alarming question of who, or what, really controls our lives.

For many, a world with machines in charge can be hard to imagine without movies and books and their sometimes prescient visions. See: “The Matrix,” “Ex Machina” and “The Minority Report” for some of the many sci-fi takes on the perils of machines. Or dive deeper, into Philip K. Dick's 1968 novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” It's an exploration of what it means to be human in the age of machines — and the basis for the 1982 film “Blade Runner.”

But “The Terminator” franchise wields outsize influence over more than culture. The very title is real-world shorthand for technology's role in deciding who lives and who dies — and how the military should respond to any truly autonomous attacks.

“I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” Cameron said in an interview on CTV in 2023. “You have no ability to de-escalate.”

The real world offers several examples of technology and military policy coming uncomfortably close to “Terminator” imagery.

Israel's use of AI in its recent wars mark a leading instance. In early 2021, it launched Gospel, an AI tool that sorts through Israel’s vast array of digitized information to suggest targets for potential strikes. It also developed Lavender, which uses machine learning to filter out requested criteria from intelligence databases and narrow down lists of potential targets, including people.

Lavender ranks people between 0 and 100 based on how likely it is they are a militant, an intelligence officer who used the systems told The Associated Press. The Israeli military says its analysts use AI-enabled systems to help identify targets but independently examine them together with high-ranking officers to meet international law, weighing military advantage against the collateral damage.

For some, the revelation — and the death toll in Gaza after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel — came too close for comfort to the kill lists of science fiction. “Well guys, Skynet is Here and its has a pleasant name (Lavender),” snarked one Redditor.

Not quite — but “Terminator” terminology is so familiar to the masses that U.S. officials sometimes use it to frame the ethical debate around the military uses of AI. The conventional red line would be crossed, it seems, when humans play no role in AI targeting and killing.

A state or other actor could use autonomous weapons to inflict lethal force on its enemies, military officials allow. That would mean a machine, as then-Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Paul Selva described it in 2016, “like a Terminator that adds incredible amounts of complexity with no conscience to what happens on the battlefield.”

What would come next, he called “the Terminator conundrum," the problem of technology that can make life-or-death decisions and execute them before people have agreed on the law or the rules.

“Skynet” and its cyborgs remain in the fictional realm. But in the fast-moving landscape of AI development, the ethical and moral questions raised by “The Terminator” are more relevant than ever.

“The Skynet problem," Cameron said in a 2024 video, "is an actual thing.”

‘The Odyssey’ earns $87M in its second weekend, Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend yet

Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 16:43:48 +0000

“The Odyssey” continued to exert a mighty hold on moviegoers in its second weekend in North American theaters, with $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s only a 30% drop from its first weekend, an incredibly modest slide for a blockbuster. It’s also filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever, not accounting for inflation. In 2008, “The Dark Knight” earned $75.2 million in weekend two.

“That would be an impressive opening weekend for any film,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak’s head of marketplace trends. “This is a testament to the outpouring of excitement and enthusiasm that moviegoers are having for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic.”

With $128.3 million from international theaters, “The Odyssey” has made an estimated $639.6 million globally. Theaters around the world are adding showtimes to try to meet the demand, Dergarabedian said.

As with last weekend, much of that sum is from premium large format screens. IMAX screens alone accounted for $48 million of the global earnings this weekend. The coveted 70 mm IMAX screens, of which there are only 41 worldwide, earned $5.2 million. Most of those showtimes are sold out through September, the company said.

There was no significant new competition this weekend or last. Regardless, the second weekend earnings is rare for a movie that opened over $100 million. For an R-rated movie, it’s second only to “Deadpool & Wolverine.”

But the open waters will become a little more crowded next weekend when audiences get another blockbuster option with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which shares actors Tom Holland and Zendaya with “The Odyssey.” Some analysts say that “Spider-Man” could net the biggest opening weekend of the year. Still, Nolan’s film will have its run of most IMAX screens for weeks to come.

Second and third place went to Disney releases, “Moana,” with $10.5 million, and “Toy Story 5” close behind with $10 million. The latter surpassed $1 billion in its fifth weekend, with $448 million from domestic theaters and $573 million from international screens. It’s the sixth Pixar film to hit the milestone.

Bleecker Street’s release of “Hadestown: The Musical,” a live stage recording of the show, rounded out the top five with $9.7 million in its first weekend. The hit Broadway show uses folk and jazz to tell an ancient Greek tale.

Olivia Wilde’s chamber dramedy “The Invite” also continues to do well in its platform release, with another $2.6 million that brings its running total to $19.8 million.

The year overall is running about 10% ahead of last year, and the summer box office this weekend surpassed $3 billion. Before the pandemic, the summer movie season would regularly exceed $4 billion. The only other time it has since was the “Barbenheimer” in 2023. Dergarabedian is cautiously optimistic that it could be within reach this summer too.

“That’s a pretty heavy lift for August, but this could be a mega August given the staying power of ‘The Odyssey’ coupled with ’Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” he said. “For `The Odyssey’ it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon run that’ll play well into August.”

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “The Odyssey,” $87 million.

2. “Moana,” $10.5 million.

3. “Toy Story 5,” $10 million.

4. “Minions & Monsters,” $9.7 million.

5. “Hadestown,” $9.6 million.

6. “The Invite,” $2.6 million.

7. “Evil Dead Burn,” $2.6 million.

8. “Young Washington,” $2 million.

9. “Motor City,” $1.6 million.

10. “Obsession,” $1.5 million.

As Trump boosts nuclear power, regulators seek to eliminate a longstanding radiation safety practice

Jennifer Mcdermott, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:00:24 +0000

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to eliminate a foundational safety principle that has for 50 years minimized the radiation people in the United States are exposed to and that has been adopted around the world.

Currently, facilities such as nuclear plants, hospitals or academic institutions that use radioactive materials must ensure radiation exposures are kept “as low as reasonably achievable” — the ALARA principle. The NRC proposal would abandon that philosophy while keeping a separate standard on maximum radiation exposure.

The two standards have worked together in radiation safety. Dose limits set the maximum amount of radiation the public and radiation workers can be exposed to, while ALARA kept radiation exposure as low as practical under those limits. Research shows radiation exposure increases a person’s chance of getting cancer, a risk that increases as the dose increases.

The dose limits are not changing. But the NRC, which regulates civilian nuclear energy technologies and radioactive materials, now wants to replace ALARA with a “graded approach” that includes several actions facilities must take depending on the potential dose of radiation to workers. More rigorous radiation protection measures would be required when approaching dose limits to ensure they aren't exceeded.

This comes as President Donald Trump attempts to quadruple domestic nuclear energy production because of surging electricity demand amid a data center and artificial intelligence boom. Reforming the NRC is one way Trump is trying to speed up nuclear reactor development. He instructed the federal agency in an executive order last year to “ adopt science-based radiation limits.”

The Energy Department, which oversees national energy policies, has already stopped using ALARA. The NRC expects to finalize its radiation protection regulations in the coming months.

NRC Chairman Ho Nieh said the commission is not lowering the bar on safety.

“We’re just removing the ambiguity,” he said in a call with reporters. “But the standard for exposure to workers and the public, those are not changing. We’re just putting in place greater clarification.”

Nieh doesn't expect major changes within the nation's existing fleet of large, traditional reactors. But companies designing and building new, smaller reactors could move faster with a clearer picture of the radiation protection requirements, he said.

Without ALARA, could radiation doses creep closer to the limits?

The NRC said radiation exposure limits are set well below levels associated with health effects, and it expects remaining standards and industry practices to keep radiation doses far below the limits. There's incentive to do so — it's more expensive and time-consuming to work in areas with higher radiation because access must be restricted and more surveys are required.

The nuclear industry's trade association agrees with the NRC.

“We will always continue to look at what can we do to reduce the dose to workers, and maintain our doses to the off-site public as low as possible,” said Doug True, chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute. “It’s not like we’re just going to throw open the doors and let everything run up to the limits.”

ALARA created a “moving target” for regulation, said Justin Friedman, a nuclear energy consultant who previously spent three decades at the U.S. Department of State. Getting rid of the rule would allow NRC scientists to make more rational decisions about appropriate levels of manageable risk, he added.

Some experts question the wisdom of eliminating ALARA

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, cautions that some parts of the NRC proposal could raise permissible radiation doses in certain cases, while still staying below the cap. Lyman highlighted a proposed revision to radionuclide emissions standards, in particular.

Radiation exposure to the general public is limited to 100 millirem per year. A typical dose of radiation from a chest X-ray is 10 millirem.

The NRC wants to increase its radionuclide emissions standards from a conservative 10 millirem per year dose to 25 millirem per year, based on a hypothetical person living in a house at the property line for a nuclear plant.

The NRC says actual doses to the public would remain far lower because, in reality, people live farther from nuclear sites and benefit from dispersion in air and water.

The NRC should improve, rather than eliminate, ALARA, Lyman said, to protect the public and workers. ALARA has become a political target because some people mistakenly believe radiation exposures have to be as low as possible no matter the cost, Lyman said. In reality, it allows tradeoffs.

Katy Huff, a former U.S. assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said in some cases, the requirement may be challenging to regulate. Additional clarity would improve the regulatory environment without harming the public, added Huff, a professor and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

However, Huff said, she thought the NRC was going to clarify what reasonable means in ALARA without scrapping it. She said she’s open to being convinced the graded approach will be just as effective.

Radiation protection expert says proposal is a mixed bag

The National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, chartered by Congress to provide independent scientific guidance, has not formally weighed in yet. Council president Kathryn Higley said she personally likes some things in the 180-page document and thinks others are problematic.

The NRC should look at the whole picture for managing risk, she said. For instance, if a worker at a nuclear power plant were to enter an area where airborne radioactive materials are present, in keeping with ALARA, they might wear full personal protective equipment with respirators, said Higley, professor emeritus at Oregon State University. That makes them move slower, potentially subjecting them to heat stress that could hurt them more than a low dose of radioactivity, she said.

A concern with the proposal, Higley said, is that it maintains the current occupational dose limit for adult radiation workers at 5 rem, or 5,000 millirem, per year. With ALARA in place, the average dose to workers has been well below that cap.

The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends an occupational dose of 2 rem per year on average. The NRC previously found it wasn't justified to match that, because workers were exposed to less than that and changing regulations is costly.

Higley said the U.S. may need to align with the international community if ALARA is going away.

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2 dead in Ukraine from Russian attacks, 4 more in Russian-held area hit by Ukrainian drones

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:15:41 +0000

Russian ballistic missiles struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early on Sunday, setting off fires and wounding at least three civilians, while attacks on other parts of the country later killed at least two people, local officials said.

The strikes came as Ukraine’s successful drone attacks have stalled the Russian army’s advances in an expanded campaign inside Russia that has been causing fuel shortages and piling pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

In Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine, Kremlin-installed authorities said a Ukrainian drone strike had killed four civilians in the city of Horlivka. According to Ivan Prikhodko, the city’s Russian-appointed mayor, the city had been under fire since the early hours of Sunday.

According to Russia’s defense ministry, Russian forces overnight struck down 133 Ukrainian drones over Russia, the Black Sea and Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russian attacks set fire to tower block near Kyiv's center

Blasts rocked Kyiv in the early hours of Sunday, with falling debris sparking a blaze in a tower block near the historic center, according to mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Elsewhere in the city, falling debris set fire to buildings, cars and car parks, Klitschko added. He said three people had been wounded, with one needing hospital treatment.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his evening address on Friday that intelligence assessments indicated that Russia was preparing missiles for a large attack, saying there were indications that this could happen in the next 48 hours.

Russia’s defense ministry claimed on Sunday that its latest attack on Kyiv had struck sites linked to drone production.

Also Sunday, a drone strike on Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city in the east — killed one person and wounded at least six others, including two children, mayor Igor Terekhov reported.

In the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, a Russian glide bomb killed one man and wounded at least six other people, according to mayor Ivan Fedorov.

Both Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia have been frequent targets for Russian attacks, with Zaporizhzhia — just over 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from the front line — suffering heavy bombardment in recent months.

The war sees an escalation in tit-for-tat strikes

On Friday, a major Russian strike near Kyiv killed at least 10 people and wounded around 100 others, part of a cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that dims the potential of reaching a diplomatic end to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

Meanwhile, Finnish President Alexander Stubb claimed on Sunday that “Ukraine’s position is stronger than ever since the war began".

Following a call with his Ukrainian counterpart — and appearing to allude to Kyiv’s recent drone campaign that has struck major Russian energy sites and sought to choke off military supplies — Stubb wrote on X that “continued support from (Ukraine's) partners is critical to keep up the momentum."

Putin calls on Russia's navy to defend ‘shadow fleet’ tankers

Putin said Western attempts to seize Russia-linked oil tankers amounted to “piracy,” and called on the Russian Navy to fight them.

“We must act carefully in line with international maritime law but decisively — just as we must fight piracy and pirates," Putin said Sunday during a speech marking Russia's annual Navy Day.

Moscow is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships, many of them sailing under third-country flags, to ship oil in violation of international sanctions that followed its war on Ukraine.

Last month, armed British forces boarded and detained a sanctioned tanker suspected of being part of this so-called “shadow fleet.” French authorities have also intercepted some of these vessels.

Russia has traditionally marked Navy Day with a major naval parade in and near the city of St. Petersburg, with Putin personally reviewing warships.

This year was the second time in a row the parade had been called off entirely while in 2024, it was scaled down.

A British intelligence update published earlier this month linked the cancellations to “force protection” concerns, citing a successful Ukrainian attack on Jun. 3 against a Russian warship docked near St. Petersburg.

Romania shoots down another suspected Russian drone

Romania intercepted a suspected Russian drone in its airspace on Sunday, Romanian President Nicușor Dan said — the third such incursion in three days above the Eastern European nation that borders Ukraine and is a member of both NATO and the European Union.

Dan called the incidents “inadmissible and intolerable" in a post on X and added that authorities found one of the earlier downed drones appears to be “a Shahed type, used by the Russian Federation in the war of aggression against Ukraine.”

NATO said two Romanian F-16 fighter jets scrambled from Fetești airbase, under NATO's operational command, in the morning hours and downed the drone over the Black Sea.

A series of drone incursions by Russia and Ukraine have hit Romania and other NATO members since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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Associated Press writer Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

Federal officials investigate after a video appears to show a person kicking a California sea lion

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:30:24 +0000

Federal wildlife authorities are investigating after a video appeared to show a person kicking a protected sea lion at a beach in California.

A spokesperson for the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed an ongoing investigation into the incident but declined to provide additional details Sunday.

The video appears to show a person throwing kicks at the sea lion at La Jolla Cove in San Diego as at least one other person can be heard laughing in the background. The person follows the sea lion, throwing more kicks at the animal as it tries to scoot away before the video ends.

“NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement is investigating reports of a video on social media that shows an interaction between an individual and sea lion, allegedly in La Jolla Cove,” a spokesperson for the agency said. “In the video, the individual appears to be kicking the sea lion. This is an ongoing investigation, and we cannot provide further details at this time.”

The person in the video has not been publicly identified.

Sea lions are federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s guidelines say that people should stay at least 50 feet (15 meters) away from sea lions, seals and other species protected by the act.

“This disgusting act of animal cruelty is unacceptable,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a post on X. He acknowledged the federal investigation and said he has directed local law enforcement to review the footage.

Houston declares 'John T. Toomey Day' as barbecue founder celebrates 98th birthday

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 15:15:49 +0000

A Houston barbecue legend just added another candle to the cake — and did it surrounded by brisket, Cougar pride and four generations of family.

J-Bar-M Barbecue founder John J. Toomey is officially 98 today, and the celebration started early Friday, when family, friends, staff and community leaders pulled off a surprise party at the MICHELIN-recommended EaDo restaurant he opened at age 93.

The birthday honors came big: a custom Cougar Red sport coat, a City of Houston proclamation, and a visit from University of Houston coaches, staff and student-athletes.

That proclamation — issued by Mayor John Whitmire — officially declares July 26, 2026, as “John J. Toomey Day” in Houston, recognizing Toomey as a beloved Houstonian whose decades-long career has blended leadership, philanthropy and entrepreneurship.

John Toomey receives a City of Houston proclamation declaring July 26, 2026 as "John T. Toomey Day"

Toomey, a lifelong Houstonian raised in the Riverside neighborhood, has been building things — and building community — for most of a century. According to the proclamation, he graduated from the University of Houston in 1950, earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center in 1951, and spent more than seven decades in business and law, including pro bono work through Catholic Charities in the 1950s.

But on Friday, the focus was on barbecue — and the restaurant Toomey still treats like home.

“I love barbecue and I love this restaurant, so I’m really, really honored to be here for my birthday,” Toomey said.

RELATED: Brisket, Barbacoa & BBQ Dreams: Meet J-Bar-M’s New Pitmaster Arash Kharat 🔥 🍖

Still showing up at 98

And while plenty of people retire and slow down, Toomey’s idea of “taking it easy” still includes showing up regularly to make sure everything is right.

“What I normally do [is] come in … usually by 10 o’clock and stay till about one o’clock,” he said. “That way I can contact and talk to the people who work here, see the customers, and check the quality of the food.”

His grandson, co-owner Charles Toomey, says that’s just who he is — an entrepreneur who never really turns the “on” switch off.

“The guy doesn’t stop,” Charles said. “He’s always here… making sure the quality’s there, greeting customers, and just providing a great hospitality experience.”

John Toomey receives a smoker-shaped birthday cake for his 98th birthday

A family legacy

Charles said J-Bar-M stands out not only because of the food and the space, but because the family is truly in it together day after day.

“I think what kind of sets us apart is our family atmosphere,” he said.

The restaurant’s name is personal, too — a tribute to Toomey’s late wife and high school sweetheart, Michelene, whose initial is woven into “J-Bar-M.” Family members say the restaurant carries forward a dream they shared.

General manager Hoffie Ferreira said the celebration wasn’t just about a birthday — it was about a standard Toomey sets for everyone around him.

“Everybody that works for him, we all feel like family,” Ferreira said.

A simple recipe for a long life

Toomey’s longevity still inspires the people closest to him — and not just because he’s 98 and still clocking in.

If there’s one message he wants to pass on, he says it’s pretty simple.

“Do what you love,” Toomey said. “If you enjoy what you do, you love your family, then you’ve got it made.”

Norris ends wait for F1 win in Hungary as Antonelli stretches championship lead

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:28:04 +0000

Lando Norris ended an eight-month wait by “flying” to a Formula 1 victory with strong pace and a dose of good fortune at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The defending champion was on pole but lost the lead to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri when he ran wide at the second corner.

Norris got the lead back after Piastri was delayed by a collision with Carlos Sainz Jr. while lapping the Williams driver, allowing Norris to come out of the pits ahead of his teammate. He cruised to the win from there.

“Car was unbelievable today, well done guys, incredible. We were flying," Norris said. “Nice to be finally able to do it all for you. Feels like it’s been a while."

Piastri then stopped with a broken gearbox, paving the way for Max Verstappen to take second, with Kimi Antonelli third.

Antonelli gets another boost in the title fight

Even with Mercedes largely off the pace for once and a three-place grid penalty in qualifying, Antonelli recovered from seventh to take his ninth podium finish in 11 races and make a statement to his title rivals.

Antonelli increased his standings lead to 50 points over Lewis Hamilton, who was fifth after a penalty for speeding in the pits. George Russell was barely a factor as he drove through the field to seventh after a near-stall at the start dropped him to the back. He drops 59 points behind his Mercedes teammate Antonelli.

Norris hadn't won a full Grand Prix race since Sao Paulo in November, though he did win a sprint in Miami in May.

Hungary was the last race before the mid-season break. The next race is the Dutch Grand Prix on Aug. 23.

Lewis Hamilton left to rue yet another penalty

“Sometimes you just can’t catch a break,” Hamilton had written on Instagram on Saturday. He discussed how his three-place penalty in qualifying — Hamilton’s third penalty in three race weekends — made it “difficult to hang on to that positivity”.

A fourth penalty won’t have helped, and nor will yet another Ferrari strategy blunder.

When Piastri’s breakdown at the side of the road brought a virtual safety car slowdown, Ferrari decided it was worth calling in Hamilton for fresh tires.

Unfortunately for the seven-time champion, he left the pit lane to see Antonelli approaching fast. In what appeared to be a rush to keep the Mercedes driver at bay, Hamilton broke the pit lane speed limit.

Hamilton ended up being asked to give the place back to Antonelli and was then given a five-second penalty that dropped him behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the final standings.

“Handing out penalties like crazy,” he told Ferrari over the radio.

Isack Hadjar took sixth after a tactical race holding up drivers who threatened his Red Bull teammate Verstappen, with Russell seventh. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls ahead of Audi's Nico Hulkenberg in ninth and Lawson's teammate Arvid Lindblad 10th.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Houston’s Unsolved Homicides: Turning grief into a lifeline for families still waiting on answers

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 14:02:56 +0000

On Saturday afternoon at Tom Bass Regional Park, families gathered for a potluck picnic—kids running between tables, adults trading stories, and portraits of lost loved ones watching from banners nearby. The event was one more reminder of what Houston’s Unsolved Homicides (H.U.H) has become: a place where people living with the same kind of unanswered pain can find each other, and where a private tragedy is turned outward into public purpose.

Founded in 2018, the Houston-based nonprofit began with John Marsden’s search for justice after the death of his son, Fabian O’Neal Smith, who was killed on Dec. 29, 2017, and whose case, the founder says, remains unsolved. What started as one family’s effort to keep a name from fading has evolved into an organization that blends advocacy, community outreach and simple, consistent presence for people who feel left behind by the passage of time.

John Marsden, founder of Houston's Unsolved Homicides

Built in the space between loss and closure

For newsrooms, a violent death often arrives first as a breaking-news alert: a few confirmed details, a neighborhood, a time stamp, a name we work quickly to get right. But time moves differently for families. Long after the live shots and follow-ups end, the same questions remain—along with birthdays, empty seats at holidays, and a new normal built around absence.

KPRC 2 has reported on homicides across the Houston area for years, and many of the cases we write about do go unsolved. Houston’s Unsolved Homicides exists in that space after the headline—insisting these victims are not just case numbers or story links, but people still loved and still missed.

Marsden describes the group as a conduit: when information surfaces in a homicide case, he said H.U.H can pass it to law enforcement “to try to help clean up the crime in the streets.” That impulse—to keep working even when years have passed—is central to the organization’s identity.

But the nonprofit’s mission isn’t limited to the investigative side. Houston’s Unsolved Homicides says its purpose is to honor lives lost, uplift families, and strengthen communities through compassion, service, and unity—a framework that intentionally widens the focus beyond one case and into the daily realities families face after violence.

The organization’s work reflects that broader definition of justice: helping families feel less alone, and building community momentum around remembrance and support.

More than awareness: service as healing

H.U.H’s public presence often looks like community service—work Marsden calls his “therapy.” The group participates in local events and organizes outreach efforts that meet immediate needs, including distributing clothing and supplies and providing support to people experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit also highlights initiatives that extend beyond Houston, including donation shipments and partnerships abroad.

The organization frames that approach plainly: “healing begins with helping others.” That service-first mindset is part of how H.U.H keeps families connected even when the legal system moves slowly—or not at all.

Members of Houston's Unsolved Homicides gather at Tom Bass Regional Park on Saturday, July 25, 2026

And while the group’s annual picnic is designed for fellowship and remembrance, Marsden emphasizes the larger goal behind gatherings like it: creating a safe, recurring space where families can connect, share, and keep going.

The faces on the banners

At community events, H.U.H displays banners with victims’ names and photos—visual reminders of the cases that still weigh on families. Marsden pointed to several victims represented in the group’s materials and advocacy.

Aaliyah Avila-Green
Donta Mottley
Jaime Vega
Alonzo Irving
Maria Jimenez Rodriguez
Robert Cerda
Carl Harrison
Martin Lopez
Donnie Gibbs
Maliyah Rosalie Bass
Marshan Jamell Parker
Paul Jesus Martinez
Fabian O’Neal Smith

These are not the only names that loved ones are missing.

Each name represents more than a cold case number; it represents a family’s before-and-after, and a life the group insists on continuing to speak aloud.

John Marsden and a H.U.H. member walk along the banners of homicide victims.

A gathering, and a message to the city

Organization leaders described their events as a space for “healing, fellowship, remembrance, and community support,” while also raising awareness about unsolved homicide cases across the Greater Houston area.

Dr. Zideco Siverand, the group’s vice president, said that “no family should have to carry their grief alone.” The statement captures what H.U.H tries to provide year-round: solidarity for families who often feel isolated—especially as headlines fade and attention shifts.

Houston’s Unsolved Homicides shares information about its mission, community events and ways to support its work at houstonsunsolvedhomicides.org.

If you have information on an unsolved homicide case:

Submit a Tip Online through Crime Stoppers
Submit a Tip Online to the HCSO Homicide Unit
Contact HCSO Homicide Cold Case at (713) 274-9777.
Contact the HPD Homicide Division at (713) 308-3600, or the HPD Cold Case Squad at (713) 308-3618

LIST: Back-to-school freebies — backpack and supply giveaways around Houston

Christian Hudspeth — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 21:09:52 +0000

Back-to-school costs can add up fast. Here are several Houston-area events offering free backpacks, school supplies and family resources.

Note: Availability is typically first-come, first-served and may be limited while supplies last. Some events require kids to be present to receive items.

19th Annual Back to School Drive, Health Fair & Business Expo

When: Saturday, July 25 | 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Where: PlazAmericas Mall 2nd Floor, 201 Sharpstown Center, Houston
What to know: This is a free, family event giving out 5,000 backpacks and school supplies; free immunizations and medical screenings; health and wellness resources; business expo exhibitors; and family activities.

Operation Backpack (Attorney Brian White) — 3,000 filled backpacks + free entertainment

When: Saturday, July 25 | 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
Where: Launch Family Entertainment, 13331 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77077
What to know: Organizers say the event will distribute 3,000 backpacks filled with essential school supplies. Families will also get free admission to Launch during the event, with access to attractions (including trampolines and other activities).
Details: Backpacks are available while supplies last; children must be present to receive a backpack.

Vida City Church Back 2 School Bash

When: Saturday, July 25 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Vida City Church Houston, 1300 W Mount Houston Road, Houston
What to know: Organizers are offering free backpacks and school supplies in addition to community resources.

Verizon retailer Round Room “School Rocks” Backpack Giveaway (Houston-area locations)

When: Sunday, July 26 | Starts at 1 p.m. (lines expected before start)
Where (Houston area):
- 3420 7th Street, Bay City
- 1140 North FM 3083 West Road, Suite 300, Conroe
- 27117 Fulshear Bend Dr., Ste 200, Fulshear
- 3351 Clear Lake City Blvd., Ste 600, Houston
What to know: Round Room, a Verizon authorized retailer, says it is giving away $3 million worth of free backpacks nationwide during its annual “School Rocks” event.

Pasadena to Fill the Bus for Local Students

When: Monday, July 27 | 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
Where: Pasadena Convention Center, 7902 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena
What to know: The City of Pasadena is collecting donated school supplies for students. Community members will then deliver the supplies throughout the day. Volunteers will receive and organize the donations.

Back to School Community Giveaway (Attorney Kristopher A. Alvarez) - school supplies giveaways + free food

When: Wednesday, July 29 | 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
Where: 6841 Avenue I, Houston
What to know: Organizers said the event will offer free backpacks with school supplies. There will also be food and drinks, games, activities, free haircuts and live entertainment. More than 200 children are registered for the event, organizers say.

The Mayor’s Back 2 School & Health Fair presented by Shell

When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Where: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston
What to know: The Houston Mayor’s Office will be holding its 16th annual back-to-school fair with backpack and school supply giveaways in addition to free health/dental screenings and routine immunizations. Make sure to register your student beforehand.

HISD “Ready, Set, School!” Back-to-School Resource Fair & School Supply Giveaway

When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
Where: Delmar Fieldhouse, 2020 Mangum Road, Houston, TX 77092
What to know: Houston ISD says families can receive free backpacks and school supplies, plus free routine health screenings.
Extras: District teams including enrollment, transportation and nutrition will be available to help families get ready for the school year.

Fellowship of Love Church Operation Backpack Drop

When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Where: Missing Bend Boys & Girls Club, 8709 Addicks Clodine Road, Houston
What to know: Love Works is holding their annual school supplies giveaway and health fair. Organizers say the first 300 school-aged children will receive free sneakers. There will also be family activities at the event.

Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law — $200 gift card giveaway (Texas residents)

This is a statewide drawing (not an in-person Houston backpack event), but it may still help some families.

What: The firm says it will award 15 Texas residents a $200 gift card through a random drawing.
Deadline: Runs through 10 a.m. CT on Aug. 19 (per the announcement).

Have a giveaway to add?

Send details (date, time, address, what’s being given away, and any registration requirements) to Desk@kprc.com and we can update this list.

Driver killed after car hits parked 18-wheeler in east Houston, police say

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:50:14 +0000

A driver was killed early Sunday after their vehicle slammed into a parked 18-wheeler in east Houston, according to the Houston Police Department.

Investigators said the car was traveling northbound on Dorsett Avenue when it struck the parked big rig near the intersection with Pillot Street at about 3:32 a.m. The impact sent the vehicle into a nearby grassy area along a fence, where it caught fire.

Police said the vehicle had one occupant, who died from injuries at about 3:41 a.m. Officers have not said whether impairment played a role, noting that intoxication is not known at this time.

HPD is handling the investigation.

Three-alarm apartment fire in Bellaire displaces residents, sends firefighter to hospital

UNESCO adds France's D-Day landing beaches, Greece's Mount Olympus to World Heritage List

Kim Tong-Hyung, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 07:45:25 +0000

World War II’s D-Day landing beaches in northern France and the iconic Mount Olympus in Greece were among the sites added to the World Heritage List on Sunday at a U.N. committee meeting in South Korea reviewing dozens of nominations.

The UNESCO committee, which meets in Busan through Wednesday, also inscribed the ancient Japanese capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara and South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo Migratory Landscape, host to one of the world’s largest land mammal migrations and the country’s first addition to the World Heritage List.

The French designation covers the five Normandy landing beaches — Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno — where more than 150,000 Allied troops came ashore on June 6, 1944, along with the Pointe du Hoc assault site, all central to the campaign to liberate Western Europe from Nazi occupation during World War II.

International Council on Monuments and Sites, which evaluates submissions to the heritage committee, said the sites contain extensive remnants, from German fortifications and bomb-scarred landscapes to Allied harbor structures and sunken vessels, marking an “event widely perceived as having enabled the return of freedom and heralded a lasting peace on the European continent.”

ICOMOS also called for stronger monitoring and preservation efforts on the sites, citing potential threats posed by tourism, climate change and rising sea levels, and the development of wind farms near the areas.

Ahlem Gharbi, France’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, said the Normandy landings marked a turning point from global conflict toward a postwar order built on peace and security, and that the designation of the sites carries added significance at a time of escalating international crises and wars.

“It’s probably the greatest amphibious landing there’s ever been. It ought to be remembered for that alone,” historian David Edgerton said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

The World Heritage inscription of Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the 12 Olympian gods, rewarded a 12-year effort by Greece to secure recognition for its tallest mountain as a mixed cultural and natural heritage site. Rising 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base near sea level, the mountain was believed to be the throne of Zeus, king of the gods, while also harboring rich biodiversity.

Evangelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, a municipality at the foot of the mountain, said in a recent interview with the AP that inclusion on the World Heritage List “places greater obligations on our part to protect this environment,” citing the potential impact of increased tourism.

“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to safeguarding Mount Olympus for the benefit of present and future generations,” said Georgios Koumoutsakos, Greece’s delegate to UNESCO. “As Greek mythology wisely reminds us, it is always best to remain on good terms with gods.”

The designated Japanese locations in the western prefecture of Nara cover 19 archaeological sites from the 6th- to 8th-century capitals of Asuka and Fujiwara, where Japan established its first centralized state modeled after Chinese systems. The sites preserve the largely buried remains of royal palaces, government offices, Buddhist temples and tombs from capitals that influenced the later capitals of Nara and Kyoto.

Japanese Vice Culture Minister Shigeki Kobayashi thanked the committee for inscribing the Asuka-Fujiwara sites and said Japan reaffirms its commitment to “transmitting this valuable property to the future generations.” Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a Nara native, wrote on X that she hopes the World Heritage designation will boost tourism to the site.

Yoshiyuki Aihara, a Nara University archaeology professor, told AP the sites are significant because they show how Japan’s ancient state was formed through influences from China and the Korean Peninsula.

“If you dig underneath these rice paddies about 1 meter, you start finding a stretch of ruins in this area, though that’s not easy for ordinary visitors to understand,” said Aihara, who is continuing excavation work at the site.

South Sudan’s Boma-Badingilo site encompasses vast wetlands, flood plains and savannas shaped by seasonal rainfall and flood dynamics, with an estimated 6 million white-eared kob, tiang and Mongalla gazelles moving across the landscape in response to changing environmental conditions.

It also provides habitat for elephants, lions, cheetahs and other wildlife while supporting various ethnic communities that have lived by herding, farming and fishing for centuries, according to UNESCO.

—— AP writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed from Tokyo.

Cori Bush and Wesley Bell's rematch sets up key test for Democrats in Missouri

Matt Brown, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:37:54 +0000

Gripping a microphone outside the courthouse where the infamous Dred Scott case over slavery was argued in 1847, former Rep. Cori Bush portrayed her ouster from Congress as another historic setback set to be reversed.

“We’re standing here saying, send back that descendant, send her back to the place that enslaved people built,” Bush said. “This is our moment.” The crowd chanted “send her back.”

A progressive firebrand who started her political career as a Black Lives Matter organizer in Ferguson, Bush served two terms before losing a primary challenge to Wesley Bell, a moderate local prosecutor.

They're now locked in an intense rematch that will serve as one of the clearest referendums on Democrats' shifting political landscape, including anger at the party establishment, rising skepticism of the U.S. alliance with Israel and the growing clout of democratic socialists.

Both candidates are Black, with political careers rooted in the modern civil rights movement that began with the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014. But they've taken divergent paths since then, and the race will test whether voters want to reelect Bell, who has fashioned himself as a pragmatist, or return to Bush, who views legislating and activism and inseparable.

Bush lost to Bell by less than six points two years ago. She blamed her loss on the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's spending in the race and told supporters that “all they did was radicalize me.” This time, her scathing criticisms of the war in Gaza and Democratic leaders have become more commonplace within the party, and she claims to have the “moral authority” in the rematch.

“It’s not that they’re necessarily scared of me. They’re scared of what comes with me. They’re scared of y’all,” Bush told an audience of pro-Palestinian activists, Black Lives Matter organizers and democratic socialists who had traveled from across the country to canvass for her in the summer heat. Some held portable fans or poured water on themselves to cool off as they listened to hours of speeches by Bush’s allies near St. Louis’ landmark Gateway Arch.

While Bush was in the park, Bell met with senior citizens at a historic Black church. He has dismissed Bush's attacks by arguing that he has been a more effective lawmaker, and he rallied with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday night, a sign of support from the Democratic establishment.

“She’s not a serious candidate,” Bell said in an interview. “In this election, the choices are clear. I wake up every day working for St. Louis, and the folks in St. Louis know that I’m going to wake up working for them. And then we’ve got an opponent, Cori, who wakes up thinking about Cori. And we’ve seen it over and over. And that’s why she was fired.”

A personally bitter rematch with national stakes

Early voting for the Aug. 4 primary began Tuesday, but the two candidates have been trading recriminations for months. They accuse each other of misconduct and impropriety.

Bush criticizes Bell over a lawsuit he's facing from protestors who allege they were assaulted at his town hall last year, and a settlement over employment discrimination claims made by someone who worked in Bell's office when he was a prosecutor.

Bell highlights a previous Justice Department investigation into Bush's campaign spending, including how she paid her husband as part of her security detail.

Both candidates deny any wrongdoing.

AIPAC's role has also drawn national attention to the district at a time when the organization, which advocates for a closer U.S.-Israeli relationship, has been a lightning rod within the Democratic Party.

“Cori is the knockout blow to AIPAC,” said former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a close ally of Bush who was also defeated in 2024 by an AIPAC-backed primary challenger in a redrawn New York congressional district. Ahead of the recent rally, Bowman recorded a social media video last weekend calling on progressives “from New York to California” to help mobilize voters during early voting.

Deepening hostility toward Israel has spurred concern about antisemitism among some moderate Democrats and Jewish Americans, who believe anti-Israel rhetoric too often bleeds into prejudice. Bush's recent event included some Jewish faith leaders who share her criticism of Israel, as well as others who echoed hateful tropes.

One former union leader, Jay Ozier, condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war monger," condemned the “Israel lobby buying elections” and declared that "we need a representative who is willing to turn over the tables of the money changers.”

The crowd, including Bush, applauded the remarks, and Ozier later defended by noting it was a biblical reference to Jesus chasing merchants out of the Jerusalem Temple.

Bush declined to directly address the comment about “money changers.”

“We condemn anti-Semitism. We condemn anti-Muslim hate, behavior and rhetoric at every chance we get," Bush said in an interview. "But will Wesley Bell call out those who won’t stand against anti-Muslim sentiment, even in our own community? Will he stand up and fight for the liberation of the Palestinian people?”

AIPAC has spent more than $1.2 million against Bush this year through United Democracy Project, its political action committee, about the same as the group spent opposing her in 2024. New Democrat Majority, which backs moderate House Democrats, has spent an additional $1 million against Bush.

“She was a terrible, ineffective member of Congress who didn’t deliver for St. Louis. We were happy to see her go,” said Patrick Dorton, spokesperson for United Democracy Project.

Bell has emphasized his positions on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees, and he has defended his support of military funding for Israel.

“I think it’s important that we stand with our allies, and there’s going to be times when we disagree and we work those out,” Bell said. “But what we’ve learned in Iraq, what we learned in Afghanistan, is that we can’t do it alone. We need our allies and we also need to be transparent with the American people.”

District's activist history is shaping campaign

Many residents said their vote would hinge on how candidates had managed issues like procuring recovery funds for a tornado that devastated the St. Louis metropolitan area last year. There was also pervasive discomfort with the role of money in the race.

Allison Johnson said that she and her husband were divided over who to back in the Democratic primary. Her husband was more moderate and liked Bell’s performance in office, but she was concerned about how AIPAC had “dumped” money into the district.

“It doesn’t seem like it should be big money should be influencing this race,” she said.

The primary is also dispiriting for some longtime residents, who watched both Bush and Bell rise as figures in the Black Lives Matter movement.

Bell was elected to the Ferguson city council and later prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County.

“He’s the best person for the job. When he was on council, he and I worked together to get the police reform done,” said Ella Jones, the former mayor of Ferguson and first Black person to hold the role in the city's history.

Bush was a pastor turned activist and triage nurse in the wake of the 2014 Ferguson protests. She won her House seat on a promise to bring her maverick persona into the halls of Congress.

“I like Cori, I think she is the best choice and has a clear commitment to St. Louis," said DeRay McKesson, an activist who gained notoriety as a lead organizer during the 2014 protests in Ferguson. “She’s not afraid to challenge power.”

Firefighter injured while crews battle abandoned building fire at former Houston school

Christian Hudspeth — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 11:37:22 +0000

A Houston firefighter was taken to a local hospital after suffering a twisted ankle while crews battled an abandoned building fire late Saturday at a former school on Center Street.

Houston Fire Department crews were dispatched around 11:45 p.m. to the 3200 block of Center Street and arrived to find flames inside the structure.

Firefighters initially went in offensively, then later pulled back and switched to defensive operations.

Three-alarm apartment fire in Bellaire displaces residents, sends firefighter to hospital

Crews are expected to stay on scene into the morning to fully extinguish the fire. The cause remains under investigation.

Typhoon Noul weakens after making landfall, brings heavy rain to southern China

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 07:22:47 +0000

Typhoon Noul weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday as it moved inland after making landfall and bringing winds and heavy rain along the coast of southern China.

Chinese weather authorities expected parts of southern Guangdong and southeastern Fujian provinces to experience heavy rain. More than 801,000 people had been relocated for safety in the province of Guangdong as of Sunday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the financial hub of Hong Kong, the city’s airport authority said around 350 flights were canceled Sunday and about 2,000 passengers were stranded at the airport over the weekend. At least 21 people were injured across the city during the typhoon period, according to Hong Kong authorities.

China’s Ministry of Water Resources upgraded its flood-control emergency response, including for Guangdong, over high risks of mountain floods, Xinhua reported.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission said it allocated 100 million yuan ($14.8 million) to support recovery efforts in the typhoon-hit Guangdong province.

Noul was the third typhoon to hit China and make landfall within a month, after Bavi and Maysak. Chinese state media said Noul is the strongest to make landfall in China so far this year.

Earlier, in the Philippines, at least three people died and many others were displaced due to flooding and rain as Noul moved across, the government’s disaster-response agency said. Noul also brought heavy rain to some parts of Taiwan as it passed south of the island without making landfall.

Separately, in northwestern China, at least 10 people died and 23 were injured in a flash flood on Sunday in the province of Gansu, according to a Xinhua report. The flash flood, triggered by a period of sudden heavy rainfall, hit a scenic area in the province's Weiyuan county in the afternoon and trapped some tourists who were camping.

Search-and-rescue operations were still underway, Xinhua said.

Hurricane Genevieve moves through the Pacific off Mexico, but no direct threat to land is forecast

Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 03:09:09 +0000

Tropical Storm Genevieve has strengthened into a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Mexico. It is forecast to pick up even more steam and become a major hurricane in the coming days but stay well out to sea on a course roughly parallel to the shore.

Genevieve had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A major hurricane is Category 3 or higher.

Genevieve's center was located about 500 miles (810 kilometers) south-southwest of Manzanillo, and it was headed west-northwest at 17 mph (28 kph).

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect, but the hurricane center said swells from the storm — likely causing “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” — were affecting parts of Mexico's southwestern coast on the weekend and would likely hit southern parts of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday night or Monday.

Farther west in the Pacific, meanwhile, Hurricane Fausto weakened to a Category 1 storm as it continued on a projected path in the general direction of the Hawaiian Islands.

Forecasters said it was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm in the coming days, but warned that it could still generate dangerous surf and said “interests in the Hawaiian Islands should monitor” its progress.

Fausto had maximum sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph); was located about 995 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Hilo; and was moving west at 13 mph (20 kph).

Airstrikes have paused and talks are pressing forward. But can the US and Iran take the off-ramp?

Ben Finley, Samy Magdy And Darlene Superville, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:10:50 +0000

The U.S. military has paused its airstrikes on Iran after nearly two weeks of intensifying bombing, while diplomatic efforts have pushed forward to try to avert a return to all-out war.

But it remains to be seen whether the U.S. and Iran are at an inflection point in a mercurial conflict that will reach the five-month point Tuesday. President Donald Trump both has threatened more strikes and said talks are pressing on, all while brushing off concerns that rising gas prices tied to the fighting could hurt Republicans in November's midterm elections.

Adding to the uncertainty is the impact of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned visit with Trump next week in Washington. Israel, which launched the war alongside the U.S. on Feb. 28, has been notably absent from the renewed American attacks over Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping corridor through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows.

“The Iranians understand that perhaps it could get worse because Israel could come into the conflict,” said Michael Singh, managing director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. On the other hand, Israel's lack of involvement so far “may signal to the Iranians that we’re looking to limit the conflict.”

Singh, who was senior Middle East director on the National Security Council during the George W. Bush administration, said he was hesitant to read too much into the lull in fighting.

“If it turns into a multiday pause, that’ll be something significant,” he said. “But it’s hard to know. Is it an operational pause? Is it a pause to allow for some kind of behind-the-scenes diplomacy?"

Mediators keep pressing their diplomatic efforts

A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said that concerted diplomacy was underway and that a pause in U.S. strikes and Iranian counterstrikes on neighboring countries hosting American forces was a “positive signal that helps their efforts to de-escalate.”

The official said that both the U.S. and Iran want to return to the interim ceasefire deal and that a compromise, which is being negotiated now, centers around having Iran run vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz with fewer restrictions on ships. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed that Iran and Oman had held several rounds of technical talks about the strait in Iran over the weekend. He said that while the Omani delegation left Tehran on Saturday afternoon, talks had made progress and were continuing.

Iran put a chokehold on the narrow Persian Gulf waterway when the war began by firing on tankers and freighters. In turn, oil prices have soared during the conflict, which has been unpopular with many Americans, and could leave some Republican lawmakers vulnerable in November.

Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait has erupted. Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a U.S. overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.

The U.S. renewed attacks on Iran’s coastal defenses, aiming to blunt Tehran’s ability to strike ships in the strait. The Trump administration then expanded its targets, hitting bridges and infrastructure in the south and striking deeper into the center of Iran.

Singh said the strikes appear to be an attempt to push Iran back to the negotiating table. Now, he said, "the question would be: What kind of messages, if any, is the Iranian regime sending through diplomatic channels? Have those messages changed? Do they seem more eager to return to talks?”

Among the challenges the U.S. faces is the fractured leadership in Iran, with different factions vying for control, Singh said, something that Trump administration officials have also pointed to. The people in charge in Iran may worry that compromising with the U.S. will be seen as weakness and could loosen their grip on power.

Whatever the case, both the U.S. and Iran need the strait to reopen for their own economic reasons.

“But they have very different conceptions of under what conditions, under whose control,” Singh said. “So we have to get to some kind of stable equilibrium on those questions before you’re going to see a longer period of quiet. I think this effort to negotiate with words and also to negotiate with force is going to continue until we reach that equilibrium.”

Trump issues threats but also talks up diplomacy

Despite the lull in fighting, tensions are high in the region.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Saturday that they fired missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi airstrikes on the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeida. The Iran-backed rebels say they have closed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which has become even more vital for Saudi oil exports since the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military also is enforcing its naval blockade of Iranian ports, saying it disabled a Mozambique-flagged ship in the Gulf of Oman on Friday after the vessel tried to violate the blockade and ignored warnings.

Trump also has kept up the threats against Iran even as he spotlighted diplomacy. Asked about his exit strategy Friday, Trump said there are two ways.

“You can just keep doing exactly what we’re doing and take them apart piece by piece. We could do it in a more rapid fashion, which we might do,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “Or we can negotiate with them, which we’re also doing right now.”

While Trump said he doesn’t think Iran is “ready yet” to make a deal, he also asserted that “I think they’re getting more and more serious as the days go by, for maybe the obvious reason.”

Trump met Friday with top national security aides to discuss the situation with Iran and whether the administration should maintain the current course or escalate military attacks, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. No U.S. strikes occurred overnight in Iran after 13 consecutive nights.

Trump insisted Friday that he was “not in a hurry” to wrap things up because of the approaching elections, in which voters, angry about high food and gasoline prices, could vote his Republican Party out of control of Congress.

“Despite what everyone says about the election, I’m not in a hurry,” he said. “We have to do it right. Elections take care of themselves.”

____

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.

Van slams into crowd at Berlin Pride festival, killing 1 and injuring 16, as police identify suspect

Associated Press — Sat, 25 Jul 2026 21:01:14 +0000

A van slammed into people gathered for Berlin’s famed Pride festival on Saturday night, killing one person, injuring at least 16 others and prompting police to call off the celebrations and a concert in the German capital hours after they had begun.

Berlin police said they have identified a suspect who has not been arrested and he has ties to Islamic groups in the German capital.

“The suspect is known to police. He is known to us as a member of Islamic circles here in Berlin, and our search for this person is proceeding at full speed,” said police spokesman Florian Nath. He did not identify the suspect by name.

Nath added that “we still have no information whatsoever regarding his specific motives, the exact sequence of events, or his role in the crime itself.”

Earlier, police said some of the victims had life-threatening injuries. In a post on X, police called on everyone to leave the site of the event immediately as ambulances and firefighters attended to the victims.

White van hit people in Tiergarten park

According to police, a white van had driven into the Tiergarten park around 10 p.m., which is next to the route that the pride march had passed along earlier, and hit several people before colliding with a tree. Police could not say how many officers had been deployed to the scene but that it was “definitely a lot of police.”

Overall, more than 2,200 police officers have been on duty in Berlin since Saturday morning to protect the pride parade and other LGBTQ+ events in the city.

Police were conducting witness interrogations at the park during the night and were investigating accounts that in addition to the crash some victims appeared to have suffered stab wounds — but that it was too early to draw any conclusion from those accounts.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner expressed shock, saying that “following a peaceful and vibrant pride parade, the rally for a tolerant and peaceful Berlin was attacked in the most brutal manner.”

“This is an attack on our free and cosmopolitan society,” Wegner said. “I have confidence in the police and security authorities, who will be working around the clock to investigate.”

Meanwhile, authorities called on possible witnesses to come forward and share with police any video or photos they might have taken at the scene of the attack.

The city also activated a crisis hotline for people missing friends or family members.

Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin on Saturday to celebrate at Berlin’s pride parade, known in Germany as Christopher Street Day. It’s one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations.

Iconic pride event called off

The pride event in front of the city’s Brandenburg Gate, near Tiergarten, was called off around 10:15 p.m. and a band’s performance on stage was interrupted. People were urged to go home and to avoid taking the route through the park.

Before the incident, people had celebrated peacefully, marching through the city for hours, dancing to loud music, and cheering around 80 floats that participated in the parade.

Julian Miethig, who had attended the LGBTQ+ party at the Brandenburg Gate earlier, said he had just wanted to go to an afterparty when he heard from a friend that “something bad happened there and there are a lot of fire trucks, a lot of emergency vehicles, ambulances.”

He said he went to Tiergarten and was shocked that something like this could have happened at Berlin’s pride celebrations.

“It’s a dark day for the community,” he said.

Jones and Clark help Team Spoon beat Team Coop 129-122 in the WNBA All-Star Game

Jay Cohen, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 02:40:06 +0000

Jonquel Jones, Nneka Ogwumike and Dominique Malonga made WNBA history on Saturday night.

It was quite the All-Star party in the league's 30th season.

Jones had 22 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, helping Caitlin Clark and Team Spoon outlast Marina Mabrey and Team Coop 129-122 in the WNBA All-Star Game.

Playing with a heavy heart after the death of an aunt, Jones was named MVP. The 32-year-old New York Liberty center became the first player to win the league, WNBA Finals, Commissioner's Cup and All-Star MVP awards.

“No matter what mood I'm in, basketball can pick me back up,” Jones said, “and so just leaning into that.”

Malonga had a first-half dunk for Team Coop, but Team Spoon had eight players score in double figures in an All-Star Game that featured 127 3-point attempts and very little defense. Allisha Gray had 19 points for Team Spoon, and Clark finished with 17.

It was the first WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago since 2022. This time, the marquee event was played in front of a record crowd of 19,783 at the United Center instead of the smaller Wintrust Arena in downtown Chicago.

“To be able to have tonight, have 19,000 people in the highest attendance ever in the All-Star Game just really shows that our league is growing and people want to be around us and want to be a part of this and understand how special it is,” Jones said.

Ogwumike scored 11 points for Team Spoon while passing Maya Moore (119) for the most career points in All-Star Game history.

Kelsey Mitchell had 28 points for Team Coop, and Mabrey scored all of her 23 points during a red-hot first half. The 20-year-old Malonga finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

“I got to see a few go down early,” said Mabrey, who matched the WNBA scoring record when she had 53 points for Toronto in a win over Los Angeles on June 25. “That's kind of like my thing. Get them up when they're going in.”

WNBA greats Cynthia Cooper and Teresa Weatherspoon drafted the All-Star teams from players that were either voted as starters by fans, media and fellow players or chosen as reserves by the league’s coaches. Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon coached Cooper’s team, and Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve was in charge of Weatherspoon’s squad.

Clark went 5 for 15 from beyond the arc and had five assists in her return to the All-Star game. The Indiana Fever guard missed last year’s event in Indianapolis because of a groin injury.

“Last year really stunk being in our home city, you never want to miss that for the fans," Clark said. "I love to show up and compete.”

The 24-year-old Clark came out firing, connecting from 33 feet and 37 feet on her way to 11 points in the first 2 1/2 minutes. She buried another 3 early in the second quarter off a slick no-look pass from Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles, the only rookie selected for the game.

Clark and Mabrey each put on an offensive show, but Malonga got the biggest cheer of the night. The 6-foot-6 center from the Seattle Storm ran down the lane, got a pass from Angel Reese and threw down a right-handed jam with 6:24 left in the first half.

Reese jumped up and down as Malonga finished the play, and the two exchanged a mid-air chest bump on their way back down the court.

“The way she makes it look easy, the excitement around it," said Paige Bueckers, who scored 12 points for Team Coop. "I love Dom ... really happy for her in just how easy she makes it look.”

It was the first dunk in a WNBA All-Star Game since Sylvia Fowles in 2022. Lisa Leslie (2005), Jones (2017), Brittney Griner (2019) also have accomplished the feat.

Leslie was on hand for the festivities, along with South Carolina coach and former WNBA guard Dawn Staley. Former NBA star Dwyane Wade also was courtside.

___

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

Cheaper, open and intelligent: Chinese AI models gain ground, as they make inroads in the US

Chan Ho-Him And Matt O'Brien, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 04:04:59 +0000

China has a hot new product in the United States: artificial intelligence.

San Francisco-based Raffi Krikorian, the chief technology officer at Mozilla, which runs the Firefox browser, switched to Chinese AI startup Moonshot’s Kimi K3 for many of his day-to-day activities within days of the new, powerful model’s launch more than a week ago.

“It just seems snappier,” he said of K3, comparing it to the acclaimed and more expensive Claude Fable chatbot from San Francisco company Anthropic. Earlier, he had been using another high-performing Chinese model, Z.ai's GLM-5.2, for routine tasks such as managing his calendar, documents and email.

Krikorian is one of a growing number of Americans adopting Chinese AI systems, which are gaining ground around the world because they are more affordable and increasingly efficient. U.S. companies like cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said they're switching to Chinese AI models to help trim costs.

Their popularity has frustrated some U.S. tech giants, but short of an outright ban, they're likely to continue to appeal to independent software developers in the U.S. and elsewhere.

American-led restrictions block China from accessing some of the world’s most advanced technologies including cutting-edge AI chips and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has warned more sanctions could be coming to protect American intellectual property.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday accused Moonshot of using “covert” but not necessarily illegal methods to build K3 off the back of Anthropic's Fable. Some U.S. politicians and AI companies including Anthropic have accused Chinese startups of illicit “distillation” of their models to extract their technologies, a claim that Beijing rejects as “groundless.”

China's AI models are cheaper and 'good enough’

The rapid rise of cutting-edge Chinese AI models this year shows the China-U.S. race in AI has moved on from early last year, when Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up the U.S. technology industry and put China on the map with an AI model that performed on par with those in the U.S. but much more cheaply.

The latest AI models launched by startups Z.ai, or Zhipu, in June, and Moonshot in July are nearly as intelligent as the frontier models from OpenAI and Anthropic, experts say. Also in July, China’s Alibaba previewed its Qwen3.8 Max AI model. In April, DeepSeek rolled out previews of its latest V4 model, challenging OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Gemini.

Those constant advances are bearing fruit. Curt Meinhold, a Greensboro, North Carolina-based technology executive, said he increasingly prefers to use DeepSeek for tasks such as finding business leads or ways to generate sales.

“At the end of the day, most of us, the vast majority of us, 90 plus percent, don’t need (Anthropic's) Mythos or Fable,” said Meinhold, who founded digital legacy platform LilyList. “Like, we just don’t need it, we need something good enough.”

Chinese AI models are reaching a “critical stage” for wide adoption, U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs wrote in a July research report, especially when a surge of global “agentic” AI usage, which requires the AI models to autonomously conduct multistep, complex tasks, is driving higher demand for cost effective AI models.

AI prices are calculated per million tokens for both input and output, so the use of AI “agents” is dramatically compounding cost differences, according to analysts including Alex Colville of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“The Chinese models, you know, I find them to be pretty close on code and research,” said Meinhold. “If I can pay a handful of cents per million output tokens versus 30 bucks or 40 bucks or 50 bucks, then it’s good enough.”

Moonshot's Kimi K3 leads, but Chinese AI models have limits

Based on data over the past month, the top five most popular models on OpenRouter, a platform that tracks data across AI models, were Chinese.

Estimates from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm, showed Kimi had more than 930,000 downloads during the week after K3's July release, an increase of 200% from the week before. In the U.S. it was downloaded around 86,000 times, a 387% jump.

K3 proved so popular that Moonshot had to temporarily suspend new subscriptions after overwhelming demand pushed its capacity close to its limits.

Still, while Chinese models are becoming serious competitors to the U.S., they lag American AI leaders across their overall, full-range capabilities, said Anastasios Angelopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Arena, a platform for evaluating AI systems.

And U.S. AI firms are also looking for more options to reduce pricing, such as with cheaper alternatives of competitive models, added Yasir Atalan, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

US policy could boost Chinese AI models

Most Chinese AI models are open-source — meaning anyone can examine and build on them — at a time when frontier models from U.S. companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are closed-source.

Chinese model vendors are expected to leverage open-source software to promote their global usage and adoption, said Lian Jye Su, of the technology research and advisory group Omdia.

As Chinese open-source models are increasingly almost as good as closed systems made by leading U.S. companies, said Mozilla’s Krikorian, “the open frontier is becoming increasingly Chinese-built.” While the U.S. weighs restricting Chinese AI models, a group of American tech firms including Microsoft, Meta and Nvidia signed an open letter published Friday backing “open” AI models.

Other U.S. tech policies also at times give China an upper hand, some experts say. China’s Z.ai released its GLM-5.2 model in mid-June, not long after the Trump administration put export controls on Anthropic’s Fable and Mythos models, keeping them offline for more than two weeks.

"Restricting an American model can immediately create an opening for a Chinese competitor,” said Arena's Angelopoulos.

Chinese AI models look to expand globally

In China, people and businesses have rapidly embraced AI technologies that have prospered with state support. Chinese tech companies like Huawei and Tencent are also embedding AI in devices such as smartphones, AI glasses and humanoid robots.

Now China is increasingly looking to dominate AI abroad, too. At a flagship technology summit in Shanghai, Chinese President Xi Jinping championed open-source AI models and the importance of promoting greater global equity, while pledging Chinese involvement in raising AI capabilities especially in developing nations.

As is true for many other industries in China, intense competition at home is driving companies to expand globally. Leading Chinese AI startups are now raising more funding to support that effort, including through public share offerings.

Both China and the U.S. will want to “encourage widespread adoption of their AI ecosystems, while safeguarding technologies that could materially strengthen strategic rivals,” said Chelsey Tam, with investment research firm Morningstar.

“The competition is no longer simply the United States against China; the Chinese labs are also putting a lot of pressure on one another,” Angelopoulos said.

But as is the case in the U.S., huge investments in AI have also raised concerns over sustainability of these Chinese startups. Z.ai, for example, reported its revenue surged 132% to 724 million yuan ($107 million) last year, but net loss jumped 60% to 4.7 billion yuan ($694 million).

For now, Chinese AI models will likely continue to march ahead including in the U.S. “I would highly recommend anyone doing any serious AI load to at least evaluate it,” said Krikorian.

___

O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in Toronto contributed to this report.

Comic-Con 2026: David Jonsson is new Black Panther, Ryan Gosling joins Marvel as Ghost Rider

Leslie Ambriz, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 01:37:47 +0000

Marvel Studios used its Comic-Con International presentation Saturday to announce David Jonsson as the new Black Panther — the son of Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa — and reveal that Ryan Gosling will be playing Ghost Rider, both in films set for release in 2028.

Jonsson joined Oscar-winning “Black Panther” franchise director Ryan Coogler on stage alongside Letitia Wright and Winston Duke, holding his hand to his chest and smiling broadly. “Black Panther III” is set for release Dec. 15, 2028.

“Thank you to this family that I have the honor and the blessing to join. I don’t want to say too much, because I want to let the screen do the talking,” said the 32-year-old actor, known for roles in “Industry,” “The Long Walk” and “Alien: Romulus.”

Boseman died in 2020, and ever since 2022's “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” revealed that T’Challa had a son, fans have been playing a guessing game of who might take over the mantle, with Damson Idris and Wright in the mix. The original 2018 “Black Panther” became the first superhero film to earn a best picture Oscar nomination and made more than $1.3 billion worldwide, while the sequel earned $850 million.

Ryan Gosling rides into the MCU

Gosling will re-team with his “Star Wars: Starfighter” director Shawn Levy on “Ghost Rider.”

“I’m having the greatest flashback vibes being here,” said Levy in reference to his appearance at Hall H two years ago to promote “Deadpool & Wolverine," which became a massive hit. “I’ll never forget that night because it was also my real introduction to the greatest fans anywhere.”

Gosling greeted Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige and told the crowd that he’d wanted to play the character for a long time.

Gosling’s longtime partner, Eva Mendes, starred alongside Nicolas Cage in Cage’s original standalone “Ghost Rider” film, released in 2007 — a year before “Iron Man” kicked off Marvel’s cinematic universe. A sequel was released by Sony in 2012, and film rights have since reverted to Marvel, but the character hasn’t appeared yet in the MCU.

Stars take stage for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Feige told the crowd that Joe and Anthony Russo’s 2019 film “Avengers: Endgame” will be re-released in theaters on Sept. 25 with new footage linking it to the Russos’ “Avengers: Doomsday,” due out Dec. 18.

A “Doomsday” trailer played during the panel showed that Robert Downey Jr.'s Victor Von Doom will have some past tie to Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby). Storm is seen saying that Doom is a broken person who used to be different: “Everything he loved was taken from him.” Later, Richards asks Doom if he's the one responsible for the horrors around them.

Downey Jr. joked on stage that Reed and Doom were “besties.” Fans have been curious about the connection between the two after “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” post-credit scene included a clip of Doom sitting in Reed and Storm’s living room with their baby.

“Doomsday” stars taking the stage included Wright, Duke, Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Simu Liu, Danny Ramirez, Anthony Mackie, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Paul Rudd, Rebecca Romijn, David Harbour, Lewis Pullman and Tenoch Huerta.

Ryan Reynolds appears as gray Deadpool

Clad in a new gray Deadpool costume, Ryan Reynolds crashed the panel from the audience.

“Longtime listener. First time caller,” said Reynolds, asking Rudd why Thor was crying in the previous film. Rudd responded “He’s a Wrexham fan,” in reference to the soccer team that Reynolds co-owns.

"This seems like an awfully expensive way to announce a film. When do you start filming,” asked Reynolds.

“It’s in the can, bro! Did you bump your head?” said Downey Jr. from the stage.

Many fans waited more than a day to get inside Comic-Con’s most-anticipated panel. Marvel Studios hopes it will act as a reset for its brand, which has been diluted by an overabundance of Disney+ series and critics' disappointment in films like last year's “Captain America: Brave New World.” Though audience interest in superhero films has waned in recent years, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” — released by Sony in coordination with Marvel — is set to dominate the summer box office when it's released July 31 and ticket pre-sales have been strong for “Doomsday.”

Hunter Brown pitches Astros past White Sox 4-1 for 5th straight win

Matt Carlson, Associated Press — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 03:06:20 +0000

Hunter Brown pitched seven shutout innings of two-hit ball and Isaac Paredes had three RBIs as the Houston Astros beat the Chicago White Sox 4-1 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.

Jeremy Peña finished with three of Houston’s six hits and scored twice. He became the first Astros player with three consecutive three-hit games since Jose Altuve in April 2024.

Brown (2-1), making his seventh start after spending 11 weeks on the injured list with a right shoulder strain, allowed only two singles and improved to 5-0 with a 2.27 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox. He struck out seven and walked none in outpitching Chicago starter Sean Burke.

An All-Star last season, Brown retired 21 of the 23 hitters he faced — including his final 12. Three relievers finished, with Josh Hader getting two outs for his 12th save after Colson Montgomery singled home Chicago’s lone run in the ninth.

Paredes’ bases-loaded single off Burke in the sixth drove in the Astros’ first two runs. A third scored and Paredes reached third when the ball slid past rookie right fielder Braden Montgomery for an error and rolled to the wall.

Burke (7-5) permitted three runs, two earned, on four hits and a hit batter in six innings. The right-hander struck out 10 and set down the first 15 of 17 Houston batters in his seventh straight sharp outing.

Brown rebounded from a loss to Baltimore last Sunday when he yielded four runs in 4 2/3 innings, walked a career-high six and hit two batters with pitches. He was back in the form he flashed in two starts before going on the IL in April, and when he was 12-9 with a 2.43 ERA last season.

Both starters came out dealing, giving up two singles and no walks through the first five innings.

In the sixth, Burke plunked leadoff hitter Cam Smith with a pitch. Peña grounded his second single through the infield and Yordan Alvarez drew the first walk of the game to load the bases. Paredes’ single to right snapped the scoreless tie.

Paredes added an RBI single that made it 4-0 in the eighth.

Up next

Astros RHP Ronel Blanco (0-0, 7.71 ERA) faces White Sox RHP Erick Fedde (5-6, 4.16) on Sunday.

___

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

1 hospitalized, 1 detained after reported shooting at Deerbrook Mall in Humble

Christian Terry, Joy Addison — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 00:35:26 +0000

Authorities have secured Deerbrook Mall after a reported shooting Saturday evening.

Multiple agencies responded to the mall after getting reports of shots fired at the mall just after 6:30 p.m.

@HCSOTexas deputies are assisting the Humble Police Department with a reported active shooter incident at Deerbrook Mall.

Please avoid the area and follow the directions of law enforcement personnel. Our deputies are working alongside our law enforcement partners to help secure…
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) July 26, 2026

Officials say they found one juvenile who had been shot. He was transported to the hospital in unknown condition and is reportedly in surgery. Another juvenile suspect was detained.

“We are being told there is also a third party that may have been struck by a gunshot in the finger, with non-life threatening injuries there,” said Humble Police Chief Kris Battenfield.

Battenfield says there were three officers on-duty inside the mall when the shots were fired and they were able to respond quickly.

He says the shooting itself happened on the second floor of the mall near the Foot Locker store and the food court. He didn’t know the exact amount of shots that were fired, but he says it sounds like there were at least four shots fired.

The Humble Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Harris County Pct. 4 Constable’s Office, and other agencies responded to the scene.

The investigation is still active.

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