The U.S., along with Israel, launched the war on Feb. 28, citing various goals including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear program. But the conflict has devolved into a fight over the strait as Iranian threats and attacks on shipping ground traffic through the waterway to a halt.

Closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas once passed, has driven up the price of fuel and basic goods far beyond the region, roiling the global economy. Trump is also under mounting pressure to end an unpopular war ahead of midterm congressional elections.

Trump says a deal to reopen the strait is close

The U.S. president was asked by reporters traveling with him in California about a report on the Axios news site that an announcement on the Strait of Hormuz could be made on Wednesday.

“It could happen. Tomorrow or the next day,” he said, speaking Tuesday evening California time. “A lot of progress has been made.”

Oil prices initially eased on hopes of a deal that would allow shipping to resume but later inched upward. Brent crude, the international standard, was around $80 per barrel on Wednesday — still well below the levels it hit at the height of the conflict.

The U.S. and Iran reached a deal to open the strait in June, only for attacks to resume. In recent days, Trump has again alternately threatened massive strikes and voiced support for diplomatic efforts.

Regional officials tell AP negotiators have finalized a draft of a deal

Iranian and Omani negotiators have finalized the draft deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and are awaiting a final approval from Iran’s supreme leader, two regional officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officials, who were briefed on the negotiations, portrayed the potential deal as a temporary solution to the U.S.-Iranian dispute over vessels’ transit through the Strait of Hormuz. They said it is tied to the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran in June that aimed at ending the fighting and reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but which ultimately collapsed.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said the potential deal will pave the way for the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations to reach a final deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Earlier, they had said the possible agreement between Iran and Oman calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman. Service fees would be charged for providing security and preserving the maritime environment, the officials said.

Oman and Iran have not officially commented.

The Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait, which was an open international waterway before the war, but has seen traffic reduced to a trickle.

Trump has reiterated his public opposition to tolls being charged. “I’m not going to let them charge,” Trump said on Monday. “Anybody’s going to charge, we’ll charge.”

Attacks on shipping continue

Even as hopes increased that a deal on the Strait of Hormuz could be imminent, attacks on shipping in the region continued.

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday they had fired ballistic missiles toward a Saudi oil tanker called the Wafa in the Red Sea. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a prerecorded statement that the vessel was targeted off the Saudi port city of Yanbu. He didn’t provide evidence.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The attack is part of a recent escalation between the rebels and Saudi Arabia that threatened to reignite Yemen's civil war, which pitted the Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition supporting the country’s government.

In July, the Houthis announced they were closing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea for Saudi-linked shipping. That puts additional pressure on international shipping since the Red Sea became a key alternative route for Saudi oil exports during the war.

On Tuesday, an Indian-flagged commercial ship sank in the Red Sea off Yemen after being struck by an explosive-laden boat, Yemeni and Indian authorities said. Yemen’s coast guard rescued the crew, which included 13 Indians and a Yemeni. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Earlier Tuesday, a cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of the Omani port city of Al Khasab in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center.

US removes Fly Baghdad from sanctions list

The U.S. lifted sanctions on three Iran-linked companies, but a Treasury official says the move is not indicative of any shift in U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic.

One of the companies is Fly Baghdad Airlines, which was sanctioned in January 2024 for allegedly providing assistance to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Sanctions were also lifted on Iraq Express and another Fly Baghdad-linked firm.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the sanctions.

Israel and Hezbollah’s ceasefire increasingly shaky

Meanwhile, the already shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah grew more volatile Wednesday, as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning to residents of the southern Lebanese village of Mansouri — the first such warning in weeks. Israel said that it was in response to Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire agreement between them, which had largely held since June 20.

In a post on X in Arabic, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Ella Waweya told residents to evacuate their homes immediately and move at least 1,000 meters north of the village. Later, the Israeli military said it had begun conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” by Hezbollah.

The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome for a second day to discuss implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they are occupying in southern Lebanon in exchange for disarmament of Hezbollah.

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Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece, and Superville from Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Aamer Madhani, Fatima Hussein and Matthew Lee in Washington also contributed.

A rare chord change on Wednesday — from seven notes to eight — represented the completion of about 4% of the 639-year endeavor of the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt.

It was a historic moment inside the medieval Burchardi Church, in Halberstadt, Germany, that reflected the past, present and future of the project, as well as those who are following its — albeit very slow — progression.

“As fast as our world is developing, I think it’s a wonderful place to be and to come to yourself and just to be touched by this ‘being there,’"said Anneli Borgmann, chairwoman of the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt’s board of trustees.

While the project commenced in 2000, the performance began Sept. 5, 2001 — Cage’s 89th birthday — with a silent pause that lasted until Feb. 5, 2003, when the first chords could actually be heard.

The composition — called “ORGAN²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible)” — is scheduled to finish on Sept. 4, 2640.

An electric-powered blower system sends wind into the organ to create a continuous sound. A chord change, done manually, means that the sound of the organ pipes changes either because new sounds are added or existing sounds end.

More than 150 people squeezed inside the church Wednesday to witness what was the piece’s 17th chord change, with dozens more watching a livestream outside.

For three minutes, the crowd listened to the “old” chord with its seven pipes. Then, an eighth pipe was slotted into the small organ, bringing with it a new sound that reverberated throughout the church. The spectators listened for another three minutes — some filming with cellphones, others taking it all in with their eyes closed and heads bowed — before breaking out into applause and cries of “bravo!”

“It’s a very subtle difference,” said Jeffrey Lependorf, executive director of the John Cage Trust in New York. “There’s a higher sound that’s a little more prominent.”

Cage’s music inspires after his death

Cage, an American avant-garde composer, was born in Los Angeles in 1912 and died in New York in 1992. He was also a renowned music theorist, artist and philosopher whose only direction for this piece was to play it as slowly and as softly as possible. He initially composed it for the piano in 1985 and updated it for the organ in 1987. It was reimagined into the 639-year project after his death.

The interpretation of the composition in Halberstadt has resulted in the smallest unit being one month long. Other units — as well as silences — can last years.

The project has transformed the Burchardi Church, which was left largely in ruins before money was raised for a new roof and other fixes to make the piece a reality. The sound there envelopes visitors throughout the church and gives them new experiences to hear as they move through the empty space.

“I think it really is the organ playing the church and not the other way around,” Lependorf said. “You move two inches in any direction and it sounds not subtly different — very different.”

Generations of stewards ensure organ’s future

The piece will last 639 years, from 2001 to 2640. The time frame was chosen to be a tribute to a historic organ in Halberstadt that dates back to 1361, or 639 years before the project was initiated in 2000, according to Borgmann.

The time frame allows the project’s stewards and visitors to contemplate not only Cage’s legacy but their own as guardians of an organ that will outlive them as each chord change depends upon a new generation of musicians, volunteers and craftspeople to keep the piece going.

Cage fan Michael Barnett, 55, from Glasgow, in Scotland, said attending the chord change was a bucket list item.

“This is just one of those things, one of those unique things in the world of music,” he said. “It comes up and you think ‘I just want to do this thing once.’”

Barnett and other enthusiasts also debate what the world will look like by the end of the piece.

“You just wonder what will be left here in 600-odd years time,” Barnett said. “Who will come to the last performance? Will the building still be here? Will the organ still work? What will the world be like?”

The organ, at least, is built to last.

Organ builder Johannes Hüfken said the pipes he’s crafted for this will last at least another 500 years.

“This John Cage project is a good example of thinking ahead for the next generation — thinking outside the box, beyond the completely normal and traditional,” he said.

The next chord change will take place on Oct. 5, 2027, when the overall sound will be reduced by releasing the E4 pipe.

Inheritable “final tickets” for the Sept. 4, 2640, finale are already being sold for 2,640 euros ($3,045).

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Markus Schreiber contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump swings through Las Vegas on Wednesday for a speech on the economy after his Republican National Committee fundraiser at his Southern California golf course, where authorities arrested a man they said was claiming to be part of the security detail.

The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into domestic abuse allegations against Republican Rep. Max Miller as the embattled Ohio congressman faces escalating pressure to resign from his former father-in-law, Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno, and Trump. Democrats are eyeing the chance to flip Miller’s congressional seat.

Here is the latest:

Rogers calls El-Sayed an ‘extremist’ who represents ‘complete insanity’

The Republican Senate nominee posted a lengthy statement on social media Wednesday, saying his general election opponent “is leading a movement grounded in ideological fanaticism.”

Rogers also swiped at El-Sayed for stumping with popular but controversial streamer Hasan Piker, who has said “America deserved 9/11.”

Rogers said he never imagined he’d face an opponent with that view, ascribing the comment to the candidate, not the online personality.

His own campaign, Rogers said, is based on the notion that “Michigan has a future built on common sense.”

AIPAC says it’s committed to defeating El-Sayed in November

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which spent roughly $30 million to in a failed effort to defeat El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, says it’s committed to opposing him in the general election.

“Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” the group’s statement said.

El-Sayed responded on Wednesday: “You want more pain?”

The son of Egyptian immigrants made AIPAC and the tens of millions of dollars it spent to support Rep. Haley Stevens a centerpiece of his primary campaign. He has called Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” described the Israeli government as “evil,” and argued that AIPAC’s influence distorts Democratic politics.

Thune calls race between Rogers and El-Sayed ‘a great contrast’

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the Senate Republican leader called the GOP nominee “a great candidate, very experienced” who is “running a terrific campaign.”

Thune spoke as El-Sayed addressed supporters at a victory news conference in Michigan and issued a five-debate challenge to Rogers.

Thune called the Democratic nominee “the extreme radical choice,” and said Democrats are “going to have to accept those positions that he has been advocating for in a general election setting, which I think puts us in a pretty good spot.”

GOP Senate super PAC ad labels El-Sayed ‘dangerously radical’

That’s the theme of a new commercial out Wednesday from the Senate Leadership Fund, the principal super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

The ad features video clips of El-Sayed “in his own words,” calling himself “dangerous” and vowing that, “under my leadership, our state will not expend a dime enforcing federal immigration policy.”

The group says it’s spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to air the ad.

El-Sayed talks affordability, hammers Mike Rogers as beholden to Trump

El-Sayed focused on affordability and healthcare in his speech, inviting people who voted for Trump in 2024 to “join this movement now.”

He positioned himself as the candidate who will stand up to Trump, in contrast to Rogers, who El-Sayed said went to Florida “so he could lick every single boot Donald Trump owns.”

El-Sayed challenges Rogers to 5 general election debates

“I know you’re gonna say no because you’re a coward,” El-Sayed, addressing his Republican opponent directly.

“Five debates, all right? If you’re willing to stand with me and have a conversation, you and I both know that you will wither in front of your own crimes.”

El-Sayed quotes boxing legend while speaking to supporters

“In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world,” El-Sayed told supporters.

El-Sayed was heavily outspent in his primary campaign, and his insurgent candidacy was opposed by the Democratic establishment.

JD Vance quips about future ‘President El-Sayed’

The vice president was addressing a roundtable focused on combating fraud, and making the point that the work of a task force he’s leading needs congressional approval to prevent its results from evaporating once the Trump administration is over.

“God forbid you’re going to have President El-Sayed in a few years,” Vance said, referencing Abdul El-Sayed, who clinched Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary just moments prior to his remarks.

“We don’t want him to undo all the incredible work that we’ve been doing,” Vance said.

Michigan Democrats rally around El-Sayed

Curtis Hertel, the chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, urged unity within the Democratic party.

“We have got to work together to take this country back,” Hertel said. “I can tell you what we need is a fighter ... Abdul El-Sayed has been a fighter for the people over and over again.”

McMorrow said that “for all of the differences that we may have had in the primary, that those differences pale in comparison to the contrast that we face in November.”

Republicans are counting on rifts inside the Democratic Party, but “this is the start of a celebration of all of us coming together,” McMorrow said.

Democrats stress unity after difficult primary

Before speaking to supporters on Wednesday morning, El-Sayed spoke to state party chair Curtis Hertel Jr.

El-Sayed was flanked by Mallory McMorrow, the state senator who dropped her own primary campaign earlier this year after failing to gain traction. She announced her support for El-Sayed, and Stevens has as well.

Hertel stressed Democratic enthusiasm as the party looks toward November.

“Yesterday was the highest turnout for Democrats in the history of a primary,” Hertel said.

Van Hollen says El-Sayed’s win is a ‘wake-up call’ to establishment Democrats

Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who backed Abdul El-Sayed, said in an interview that his victory is a “very significant win” and shows that his politics has gained traction with voters.

“This should be a wake-up call to, you know, the Washington Democratic establishment and the Washington insiders in the pundit class,” he said.

Van Hollen stressed how important winning in the fall is for the party. “We need to win Michigan, he can win Michigan,” the senator said, adding that El-Sayed’s “brand of populism can connect with voters across the political spectrum.”

Stevens backs El-Sayed, pledges to support him vs. Mike Rogers

Haley Stevens said in a statement Wednesday that she is “proud to offer my support” to Abdul El-Sayed, who won Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary.

Stevens said it’s important for Democrats to back him so the party can keep the Senate seat and win the chamber in the midterms.

“Donald Trump and Mike Rogers want us to come out of this primary tired and divided, so their billionaire backers can come in and let multimillionaire Mike Rogers walk away with this Senate seat,” she said.

Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan Senate primary in major victory for Democrats’ progressive wing

El-Sayed’s defeat of Rep. Haley Stevens in a massive victory for the party’s progressive wing in a battleground state.

The real test of the progressives’ strength will now come in a November matchup against Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination. The seat is pivotal to Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate and El-Sayed must now unite a divided Democratic base after a bruising primary.

The race remained tight throughout Tuesday night, with a winner not declared until early Wednesday. In his final remarks before the race was called, El-Sayed said “tomorrow we begin to mend fences.”

El-Sayed campaign says Stevens conceded in Michigan Senate Democratic primary

Rep. Haley Stevens called Abdul El-Sayed to concede in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan on Wednesday morning, according to El-Sayed’s campaign.

A representative for Stevens’ campaign did not return a request for comment. The Associated Press has not yet called the race.

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Regional officials tell AP negotiators have finalized the draft of a Strait of Hormuz deal

The draft agreed to by Iranian and Omani negotiators awaits final approval from Iran’s supreme leader, two regional officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officials, who were briefed on the negotiations, portrayed the potential deal as a temporary solution to the U.S.-Iranian dispute over shipping through the waterway. They said it is tied to the agreement reached between the U.S. and Iran in June that aimed to end the fighting and reopen the strait, which ultimately collapsed.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter, said the potential deal will pave the way for the U.S. and Iran to resume negotiations to reach a final deal on Tehran’s nuclear program.

▶ Read more

By Elena Becatoros, Samy Magdy and Darlene Superville

House Democrats add 12 solidly Trump districts to their midterm election target list

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has expanded its list of targets to 58 House seats it believes are competitive, including districts Trump won easily less than two years ago.

The ambitious list reflects Trump’s diminished standing with the electorate and Democrats’ belief they can capitalize on voters’ frustrations over the economy, the war in Iran and the chaotic nature of Republican control during Trump’s second term.

“MAGA Republicans who historically have considered themselves ‘safe’ have let down the people they were elected to represent, passing disastrous policies that are crushing working families and our communities,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement.

Democrats need just a handful of seats to erase Republicans’ narrow majority and control the chamber.

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Full Senate approval for Blanche is no sure thing

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche may have cleared committee but the outcome of a full Senate vote on his nomination for the permanent role is an open question. Republicans Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are question marks and Maine’s Susan Collins has said no, citing the politicization of the Justice Department.

The Judiciary Committee moved Trump’s former personal attorney along on a 12-10 party line vote after the DOJ confirmed in writing that it wasn’t moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were politically persecuted. That order left in place Blanche’s tax immunity deal worth millions for Trump and his family.

If all Democrats oppose him and Sen. Mitch McConnell isn’t able to vote, Blanche can afford to lose just two Republican supporters.

▶ Read more

Ammo-carrying man arrested at Trump golf course made ‘concerning statements,’ authorities say

Authorities have released more details about the arrest of a man who was allegedly scoping out security details ahead of President Donald Trump’s Republican National Committee fundraiser at Trump's Los Angeles-area golf course.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said 38-year-old Jeanine John Taele was seen taking photos and video and had a 16-round magazine with ammunition in his pocket when he was arrested Sunday. Federal prosecutors say he told federal agents he was employed by the State Department and was there for a security detail. A search of his pickup truck turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars and a badge that read “security protection agent."

Authorities say a search of his home found a rifle and other firearms, magazines and ammunition, body armor and notebooks with “concerning statements."

Taele was jailed on $250,000 bond after pleading not guilty to felonies including second-degree robbery, receiving a large-capacity magazine and possession of a short-barreled rifle or shotgun. It wasn’t clear if he had a lawyer and family members could not immediately be reached for comment.

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The Metropolitan Police said early indications suggest it was a mental health-related incident and that scissors were recovered at the scene. Police said four men aged 34, 39, 42 and 52 were found with stab wounds and a 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault.

The injured were taken to a trauma center following the incident Wednesday afternoon on Endell Street. Two were discharged and two remained with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

“While still at an early stage of the investigation, we would like to reassure the community that we currently believe this to be an isolated, mental health-related incident," Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart said.

A manager of a fish and chip shop near the scene said random people were stabbed.

“I didn’t see any scissors, but I heard it was with small scissors,” Arjan Gjorga said, adding that "the police responded immediately.”

In an update, deputies later confirmed the man died from his injuries after being taken to a local hospital.

According to preliminary information, a branch came into contact with a nearby power line, triggering an electrical incident. EMS was on scene as first responders worked the call.

• 2 teenage suspects shot by guard after attempted armored truck robbery in SW Houston

Officials used the term “electrocuted” in their initial report. In general, electrocution refers to being injured or killed by an electric shock.

Deputies asked people to avoid the immediate area so crews have room to work.

“In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world,” El-Sayed told supporters Wednesday morning.

The real test of El-Sayed’s and progressives’ strength will now come in a November matchup against Mike Rogers, a former congressman who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. The seat is pivotal to Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate and El-Sayed will face the challenge of uniting a divided Democratic base after a bruising primary.

Stevens called El-Sayed to concede Wednesday, and she issued a statement saying she would back El-Sayed’s candidacy.

“I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election,” she said.

Stevens added, “This was a thorough and rigorous campaign that brought out the full span of views within the Democratic Party — and that is why we have primaries.”

Curtis Hertel, the chair of Michigan Democratic Party, urged unity ahead of November.

“We have got to work together to take this country back,” Hertel said.

“I can tell you what we need is a fighter,” he added. “Abdul El-Sayed has been a fighter for the people over and over again.”

The Associated Press declared El-Sayed the winner after confirming that after Wednesday morning updates in election returns in Wayne and Oakland counties, two of the state’s largest in the Detroit area in southeastern Michigan, that there were simply not enough votes left to count that would allow Stevens to catch up and overtake him as the leader.

After confidently predicting a win, El-Sayed’s victory was ultimately so narrow that it wasn’t assured until almost all ballots cast statewide were counted. At the time AP declared him the winner, El-Sayed led Stevens by 14,893 votes — a margin of just under 1 percentage point — out of more than 1.5 million ballots counted.

Progressives have been gaining strength this year

El-Sayed’s win, however slim, represents a significant shift for the Democratic Party; in 2018 he lost the gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer by 21 percentage points.

The former health official campaigned on “Medicare for All,” halting military aid to Israel and campaign finance reform. He had support from progressive leaders including Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who framed the race as a grassroots-focused movement and a broader fight against the establishment and big-money spending.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, another progressive leader, said El-Sayed's victory “should be a wake-up call to the Washington Democratic establishment.”

Sen. Gary Peters, the Michigan Democrat whose retirement spurred the contentious primary to replace him, said, “Congratulations to him.” Peters had endorsed Stevens.

Now comes the more difficult challenge for Democrats: uniting the party to defeat Rogers, for whom Republicans have already reserved large sums of money ahead of the general election.

El-Sayed called for unity to defeat Rogers

Tuesday evening, El-Sayed’s supporters in Detroit’s Majestic Theatre cheered as the first few batches of results came in, before mellowing. Hours later Stevens’ previously subdued partygoers roared as she narrowed the margin.

“Whatever happens tonight,” El-Sayed told a thinned but still energetic crowd, “we have a responsibility to ensure that we unite, unite to make sure that Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the U.S. Senate.”

Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, focused on manufacturing and the economy. She stressed her past victories in tough races, saying she would be best positioned to beat Rogers.

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.

Michigan is a must-win Senate race for Democrats

The race will help decide which party controls the chamber in the last two years of President Donald Trump’s term. Those stakes have added heat to the rivalry, with moderates arguing that El-Sayed would have a harder time than Stevens against a Republican in the general election.

Stevens won election to Congress in 2018 after serving as chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s auto task force, which helped oversee the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Her campaign and allied groups have repeatedly highlighted that experience.

El-Sayed cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate and argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda.

While the candidate has said he is not a democratic socialist, he found support from some of the group’s members. That included Melat Kiros, who recently beat a longtime incumbent in a Democratic primary for a Denver-based House seat and was at El-Sayed’s watch party. Also there was Hasan Piker, a progressive and controversial influencer online.

The candidates’ differences were clear to some voters.

Kenneth Woodside, 87, of West Bloomfield, said he voted for El-Sayed over Stevens because “the nation is ready for someone who wants to take some more action rather than on the road we are now, which is on the road to an oligarchy and authoritarianism.”

Nessa Fuller, 51, of Birmingham, said she voted for Stevens because she will “fight to get the right things done, and she’ll work with other people, which is really important to me.”

Outside influences spent millions on the Senate race

National groups poured unprecedented sums into the race, making it one of the country’s biggest tests of outside spending.

Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.

“We took on a machine,” El-Sayed said.

AIPAC issued a statement on Wednesday saying they would oppose El-Sayed and “his radical anti-Israel agenda” in November’s election.

The organizations' spending ensured Israel remained at the center of the race. While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.

Support for Israel is contentious within the Democratic Party. Israel has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza since the militant group Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in southern Israel in October 2023.

McKinney wins Detroit US House primary

In a heavily Democratic district representing Detroit, the 13th, state Rep. Donavan McKinney defeated Rep. Shri Thanedar. McKinney argued that the city should once again have a Black representative in Congress.

After Thanedar won election in 2022, Detroit had no Black representation in Congress for the first time since the early 1950s.

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Associated Press reporters Nathan Ellgren in Washington and Jesse Bedayn in Detroit contributed.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 584 points, or 1.1%, as of 10:45 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

The S&P 500 and the Dow both set records on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq is less than 2% from its record. Every major index has been surging this week, giving August a strong start.

The market is leaping as companies head into the closing stretch of their latest round of earnings reports with sharp overall gains. Three-quarters of the companies within the S&P 500 have reported results so far, and Wall Street expects profit growth of 50% when they are all finished.

The Walt Disney Co. rose 3% after easily beating Wall Street’s profit forecasts, helped by a $1 billion box office haul from “Toy Story 5” and theme park revenue.

Booking Holdings jumped 6.6% after reporting that strong travel demand drove profit and revenue growth during its most recent quarter.

SpaceX fell 8.8%, despite reporting a smaller loss than Wall Street expected late Tuesday in its first quarterly report as a public company. The company did help give semiconductor giant Nvidia a 3.7% boost after announcing it would exclusively use that company’s chips for its artificial intelligence technology.

Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury remained at 4.63% from late Tuesday.

Markets in Asia rose. Benchmarks jumped more than 3% in Tokyo and Seoul as computer chipmakers and other AI-related companies climbed. European markets also gained ground.

Strong corporate profits and expectations for more growth ahead have been steering stocks higher. Wall Street has also been worried about stock prices becoming unjustifiably high, especially within the technology sector and for companies focused on artificial intelligence. Profit growth, especially for some of the big chipmakers, like Nvidia, could help justify some of the big investments those companies are making in AI.

AI-focused companies have been behind many of the big market swings and most of Wall Street's gains. That remained the case on Wednesday, with Nvidia leading the market higher. Micron Technology rose 1.8% to help support the gains.

Uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. war with Iran continues hanging over the market. President Donald Trump said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday. But there have been many stops and starts during the five-month old conflict that has stifled the global supply of oil and rattled energy markets.

The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.6% to $78.81 a barrel. Oil prices have been swinging for months and were as high as $102 per barrel at one point during the conflict, jolting already stubbornly high inflation. Higher oil prices pushed gasoline prices higher and increased shipping costs for a wide range of products.

Inflation concerns have been hanging over markets and the Federal Reserve. The central bank has been holding its key benchmark rate steady as it monitors the costs and the impact on the economy. Wall Street expects the central bank to raise rates at least once before the end of 2026. Household spending remains resilient, despite the stress from higher costs on everything from gas to groceries.

The jobs market has been one of the stronger areas of the economy, though growth has been slowing. Wall Street will get another update on Friday with the monthly employment report for July.

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Associated Press writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

It's dangerous to look directly at the sun without proper eye protection. But researchers were able to peek at its scorching surface with the help of the National Science Foundation's Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Scientists originally took the images for a different reason: to fine-tune and test the limits of the telescope. But when they looked at the results, they realized they'd photographed the sun's bright outer shell at higher resolution than ever before.

What's more, they saw strange feathery patterns rippling across the surface.

“That reminds me of famous paintings, like the swirling skies in Van Gogh's Starry Night,” said solar physicist Ruizhu Chen with Stanford University, who was not involved with the new research.

Researchers saw ripples of instability on the sun's surface caused by bits of magnetized plasma moving past each other at different speeds — similar to waves that stir when a gust of wind blows over water. It's a well-known phenomenon that guides how fluids move.

This has been glimpsed on Earth and other planets like Jupiter and Saturn, but “it has not been observed ever at that level on the solar surface,” according to study co-author Friedrich Wöger with the National Solar Observatory.

The findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Scientists are curious about the sun's inner workings to better track massive bursts of energy called coronal mass ejections that can hurl toward Earth. When they hit, they can trigger solar storms, potentially scrambling GPS communications and producing colorful auroras.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said that Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalized in grave condition following the explosion late Tuesday in Bolshoy Istok just outside Yekaterinburg, 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) east of Moscow.

There was no immediate comment from the authorities.

Tkachuk headed the Uraldronzavod factory that manufactures Upyr (Russian for Ghoul) drones. Tkachuk, a small-scale entrepreneur, set up a team of engineers that developed the Upyr and organized its production near Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city and a key industrial hub in the Ural Mountains

The Upyr, a cheap and simple first-person view drone, was hailed by troops for the protection it offers against jamming. In September 2024, Tkachuk was pictured presenting his designs to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a display of military drones in St. Petersburg.

Tkachuk, an ardent supporter of the Kremlin's military action in Ukraine, also has run the Obsessed with War channel that has over 650,000 followers on the Telegram messaging app. A message posted on the channel Wednesday said that he was in emergency care in stable condition after an attempt on his life.

Kommersant said that a week ago, the head of another maker of drones for the Russian military, Andrei Cherezov, was shot and wounded in the city of Tula.

Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a series of bombings and other attacks against senior military officials and public figures after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The explosion followed Saturday's deadly bombing at an upscale Moscow restaurant, which the Russian Embassy in Rome blamed on Ukraine, describing it as an attempt to intimidate the Italian community in Russia. It said in a statement Monday that the attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19.

The Russian Foreign Ministry reposted the embassy statement without comment, and Russia's security agencies haven't named the suspected culprits. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has described the bombing as a “brutal terrorist act,” but did not say who was responsible.

Several Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted a Russian general who was celebrating his birthday at the restaurant. Some claimed that the general was Col.-Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital in 2022 and recently was appointed the chief of Russia’s aerospace forces. The claims could not be independently verified.

It wasn’t Sanders juking half the defense on one of his dynamic touchdown runs. Instead, the Hall of Fame running back who inspired a generation of running backs with his sensational, elusive, shifty style was walking up and down the sideline handing out refreshments to his teammates.

“They were talking about how great of a player he was but they had a clip of him holding Gatorade cups and he’s walking down,” Barkley said on the AP’s “On Football” podcast. “He is going to his teammates and just the way that he carried himself. So I would say I have to give my flowers to him there.”

Barkley joined Sanders as one of nine players to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in 2024 when he was the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year and helped the Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl.

Barkley demonstrated he’s a team-first player by sitting out the final regular-season game when he needed 101 yards to break Eric Dickerson’s record. Earlier in the season, he told coach Nick Sirianni to let other backs get some carries after he had already rushed for 176 yards against his former Giants teammates and needed 14 more in the fourth quarter to set a new career-high.

Barkley finished with an NFL-record 2,504 combined rushing yards in the regular season and playoffs.

He credits his parents, Alibay Barkley and Tonya Johnson, for instilling in him an unselfish mindset.

“Just how my parents raised me,” he said. “Everything, who I am a person, it stems from my family, my brothers and sisters, and the coaches that I had growing up. But I don’t think you should get flowers for being a great teammate. I don’t think anything that I’ve done or that I said is rare. At least it shouldn’t be rare. It should be the norm, and it is the norm. I might have just got caught on camera, or I might've had an article written about me, but there’s other stuff that I have done that’s behind the scenes, and I have multiple teammates that have done great things for me, too. And it’s a winning culture. You want to create that culture. If you want to win football games, you want to be competing for championships, that matters. And I bought into that at a very young age and I think that’s what, I guess you could say, separated me.”

Barkley’s first season in Philadelphia after playing his first six with the New York Giants couldn’t have been scripted any better. He followed up his All-Pro campaign with 1,140 yards rushing in 2025 behind a banged-up offensive line.

The Eagles won 11 games, captured their second straight division title but lost a wild-card game to San Francisco. An inconsistent offense cost offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo his job.

Championship parades are the new standard in Philadelphia.

Some athletes don’t want to play in a pressure-packed environment. Barkley loves it.

“I embrace it. I don’t think pressure is a real thing from the outside force,” Barkley said. “You have to hold yourself to a high standard. I know Philly holds us to a higher standard already, but I feel like the way I carry myself and how I train and the standard I hold myself, I fit right into the city and into this fan base. ... You want to win every year. That’s the goal.”

Barkley’s acrobatic backward hurdle over a Jaguars player during the 2024 season ended up being the Madden 2026 cover. It also inspired DIRECTV’s recent campaign featuring Barkley jumping through hoops, flipping over a utility cart and hopping onto a crossbar.

“Watching football shouldn’t feel like jumping through hoops. That’s why I have DIRECTV,” Barkley says in the television commercial.

Of course, he lauded the brand’s team spirit.

“The kind of culture that they have and the day I was able to spend with them, I was knocked away and I’m just thankful for the opportunity,” he said.

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

The 65-year-old Edwards, who is serving his second term, said that he made the decision to drop his reelection bid after “much prayer and reflection” and that he would complete the current term.

The Ethics Committee recommended the censure, an act registering its deep disapproval of a lawmaker’s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion, on Monday. The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.

Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.”

“Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life,” Edwards said in a post on X. “Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”

North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd said Edwards "did the right thing by withdrawing from the race.”

In a statement, the senator said the congressman has been “a fighter for the people of Western North Carolina as they work to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, and I know he’ll continue to advocate for disaster funding for the remainder of his time in D.C.”

Budd’s spokesman, Christian McMullen, said the senator found the House Ethics Committee's report on Edwards “deeply concerning" and believed the congressman already faced a significant uphill battle trailing in the polls even before the report's publication. He declined to say whether the senator asked his colleague to step aside, saying the senator does not discuss private conversations.

The Ethic Committee described Edwards' actions as “beyond inappropriate” but said it found no evidence that he explicitly propositioned any person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them.

In a response to the Ethics Committee's report, Edwards’ attorneys argued that the committee’s findings “exonerate” the congressman. His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an “extraordinarily harsh and infrequent punishment” based on vague standards and adherence to the spirit of House rules, “not based on a direct violation of House rules addressing sexual misconduct.”

State law requires Edwards to put his intent to withdraw in writing and submit it to the state Board of Elections before ballots are mailed to overseas voters and the military. The Republican executive committee in Edwards' district will name a replacement.

The barrage, which lasted about two hours, was the latest in a series of large-scale Russian missile strikes that have become almost routine this summer. Moscow is exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of interceptors for the U.S.-made Patriot systems, the sole air defense weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy has pleaded with other countries, especially the U.S., to send more of the ammunition made scarcer by the Iran war. Failing that, he wants to make Patriot ammunition in Ukraine or win permission from Elon Musk to use his Starlink satellite communications system to guide strikes inside Russia that can hit its missile launchers.

It's unclear how many interceptors Ukraine has left. Zelenskyy said after a Russian aerial attack Friday night that air defenses shot down only one ballistic missile “solely because there are no missiles for the Patriots.” Supplies of air defense missiles for Ukraine in the first half of this year fell to one-third of the 2025 level, Zelenskyy said.

“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelenskyy said Wednesday on social media. “It is very important for our partners to understand that delays in supplying them, or a reluctance to hand over anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”

The targets hit in the barrage included a brewery, a warehouse for construction material, and a mail sorting office that had nothing to do with the war, Zelenskyy said. But Russia's Defense Ministry said the businesses had military ties.

Thursday was set as an official day of mourning for the 17 people killed, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's regional military administration. In addition to the dead, at least 44 people were injured.

Ukraine retaliates with long-range drones

With U.S.-led peace efforts apparently stalled, Ukraine has stepped up its deep strikes on key Russian targets such as oil refineries to try to compel Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate. Zelenskyy has accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin has refused.

In its latest attack on facilities for Russia’s biggest online retailer Wildberries, Ukrainian drones hit a warehouse in the Tula region south of Moscow, the company and the region’s governor said.

Ukraine has struck over a dozen Wildberries facilities in under three weeks, saying the company provides goods that can be used by the military. Kyiv is also keen to unsettle the Russian public with high-profile attacks.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces downed 475 Ukrainian drones overnight over 16 Russian regions, as well as in illegally annexed Crimea and the waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Russia says it struck war-related targets

Russia fired 24 ballistic missiles, four other missiles identified as either hypersonic Zircon or supersonic Onik cruise missiles, and 115 drones, many of them jet-powered and harder to stop due to their speed, Ukrainian authorities said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it struck transport, logistics and distribution centers involved in war-related activity, four of which were in Kyiv.

“The enemy is attacking everything indiscriminately — retail warehouses, food storage facilities, logistics hubs, enterprises, building materials warehouses,” Zelenskyy adviser Serhii Beskrestnov, said on Facebook.

It was not immediately possible to independently reconcile the different Russian and Ukrainian accounts of the military value of the targets.

Kyiv warehouse worker Mykhailo Hukov said an air raid warning that included a ballistic missile threat sounded just after midnight.

“So everyone started running,” he told The Associated Press. “I turned everyone around so they wouldn’t go back inside for their backpacks.”

In an underground shelter minutes later, they heard “very loud explosions.”

Ukraine’s largest private postal operator, Nova Poshta, said a Russian cluster munition destroyed one of its sorting centers in Kyiv.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the center was “storing and distributing dual-use goods, including those used in the production of long- and medium-range uncrewed aerial vehicles, as well as robotic systems and electronic warfare systems.” It claimed that two other logistics centers in the Kyiv region stored drones or components for drones.

Separately, Russia said its forces hit three bulk carriers on the Black Sea south of Odesa that it claimed were transporting Ukrainian weapons and military equipment. Ukrainian officials didn't comment on that claim.

Truck drivers make a narrow escape

Ivan Braga, a 46-year-old truck driver from Moldova who was in Kyiv during the attack, said he and a colleague ran from their vehicle when it was struck by shrapnel in a blast wave.

“We didn’t even have time to grab our documents or anything else,” Braga told AP. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d already been in Kyiv and had heard explosions before, but nothing like today.”

One of the companies that came under heavy fire was Epicentr, one of Ukraine’s largest retail and construction chains. It said in a statement on Facebook that “in minutes, Russian missiles destroyed what the company had built over decades.” One employee was killed and three others were wounded.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Epicenter logistics center handled order processing, sorting, storing, and delivery of dual-use goods and components for drone production.

Russian drone factory chief badly hurt in a car blast

The director of a factory that makes drones for the Russian military was seriously injured when his car exploded in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, news reports said Wednesday.

Vladimir Tkachuk was hospitalized after the explosion late Tuesday just outside the city 1,400 kilometers (about 870 miles) east of Moscow, the state Tass and RIA Novosti agencies said.

His factory, Uraldronzavod, manufactured the Upyr, a cheap and simple drone that was popular with troops for the protection it offers against jamming.

Russian officials made no comment, but authorities previously have blamed Ukraine for a string of bombings and other attacks targeting military officials.

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AP reporters Illia Novikov, Volodymyr Yurchuk and Dan Bashakov in Kyiv contributed.

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

The move Tuesday closes the book on the Jan. 6 cases that were wiped out with Republican President Donald Trump's sweeping pardons and commutations last year, freeing from prison people convicted of violent of assaults on police and other crimes.

The Department of Justice in April acted to vacate the convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and others in the seditious conspiracy case who had their sentences commuted but did not receive pardons. It was a stunning reversal from the Democratic Biden administration, which hailed the guilty verdicts in one of the most serious cases stemming from the Capitol attack.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the Oath Keepers' trials, criticized the department's move, writing in his ruling that the government "asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself." But Mehta wrote that he had no choice but to grant the administration's request.

“This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of Jan. 6. That book is now closed,” wrote Mehta, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.

“Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of presidential power — to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending,” he wrote.

Juries in the nation's capital convicted Oath Keepers leaders and members of another group, the Proud Boys, of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Biden. Rhodes was released from prison in January 2025 after Trump commuted the 18-year sentence he received in the case.

Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6, has denied any wrongdoing and described himself at his 2023 sentencing as a “political prisoner.” James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Rhodes at trial, wrote in a text message that he was “disappointed in the tenor" of Mehta's opinion, adding that it was “not necessary to inject his personal opinions in such a fashion.”

Trump has argued that the Jan. 6 defendants were treated unfairly by the justice system, saying the pardons were intended to end “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people” and begin “a process of national reconciliation.”

More than 1,200 people across the United States were convicted of Jan. 6 crimes, including roughly 200 people who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement.

Most of the Jan. 6 defendants were granted “full, complete and unconditional” pardons, while Rhodes and other defendants in the seditious conspiracy cases only had their sentences commuted. Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of roughly 450 cases that were pending before judges stemming from the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

Disney also announced a global short-form content sharing deal with TikTok on Wednesday. The agreement will bring Disney-focused fan-created content from TikTok to the Disney+ app.

Shares climbed more than 4% in early morning trading on Wednesday.

The Walt Disney Co. cautioned earlier this year that its theme parks division would likely see modest growth due in part to declining tourism from abroad.

International tourism in the U.S. has waned for a number of reasons after President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, including tariffs, a crackdown on immigrants, and repeated jabs at alliednations.

The Experiences division, which includes Disney’s six global theme parks, its cruise line, merchandise and video game licensing, reported that operating income climbed 20% to $3.02 billion and revenue totaled $9.97 billion. Operating income rose 27% at domestic parks, while operating income declined 13% for international parks and Experiences.

Overall attendance at U.S. parks climbed 3% from a year ago on an increase in attendance from domestic tourists and annual passholders. The company said the performance was also helped by summer promotions and new experiences being offered at the parks.

CEO Josh D'Amaro, during a conference call after the first full quarter he has overseen since taking over for Bob Iger about five months ago, said that spending was also up at domestic parks despite the current economic uncertainty.

“The consistent investments that we’ve made over time, combined with the fact that the experience Disney provides to its fans, it’s truly differentiated and highly valued,” he said.

The growth in attendance at parks is being driven by U.S. residents, but Disney is also seeing more robust traffic at domestic parks from overseas visitors.

D’Amaro became the 9th CEO of the 100 plus-year-old company after overseeing Disney theme parks, cruises and resorts for about six years.

Disney got a substantial boost from “Toy Story 5” during the third quarter, which has already pulled in $1 billion at the box office globally. The film boosted interest in other Toy Story films on Disney+ as well, and Toy Story merchandise sales helped give the company its strongest quarter of year-over-year growth in consumer products revenue in 20 quarters. The company also noted the strong performance of “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” particularly overseas.

Revenue for the entertainment streaming business - which includes Disney+ and Hulu - climbed 11% to $5.53 billion. The results were helped by adding more subscribers, price increases and higher advertising revenue.

Disney earned $2.64 billion, or $1.51 per share, for the three months ended June 27. It earned $5.26 billion, or $2.92 per share, a year ago.

Removing one-time charges and benefits, earnings were $2.06 per share. That easily topped the $1.86 per share that analysts polled by FactSet predicted.

Revenue for the Burbank, California-based company rose 7% to $25.25 billion. Wall Street was looking for $25.39 billion.

Disney said it recorded an approximately $100 million tariff refund after the Supreme Court struck down some of President Donald Trump’s most sweeping levies on trade. The company said that it may receive additional refunds in future quarters, but that the monetary amounts are expected to be insignificant.

They made camp in tents and the backs of cars. One truck parked sideways across the road. They awoke at 3 a.m., their headlamps tracing the ground, as they took their positions.

An hour later, headlights appeared in the distance. A logging truck slowed, idled, then turned around. Nobody got out. Nobody spoke.

It was a small, inconclusive victory in a fight that has spanned generations. But for those gathered in the forest, it mattered.

“There is no dispute about what happened to our land,” said Bill Jones, a First Nations Pacheedaht elder who sat in the road as daylight crept in. At 86, he’s watched the forests on his nation’s territory disappear for most of his adult life. He started logging himself at age 18, he said, before he understood what he was helping to dismantle.

“There’s nothing left — it’s practically naked, bare,” he said. “There’s few remnants here and there, and so we have to save what we can.”

Vancouver Island’s old-growth rainforests are among the rarest ecosystems on Earth

Coastal temperate rainforests cover barely half a percent of Earth’s land surface. Vancouver Island’s remaining stands — some are home to thousand-year-old trees — store more carbon per hectare than nearly any other forest system, according to the Sierra Club of British Columbia.

Yet trees that took a millennium to grow can be felled in under an hour. Since industrial logging began more than a century ago, most of Vancouver Island’s productive old-growth forests — those capable of growing the large trees characteristic of the island’s rainforests — have been cut. About 20% of those forests remain, according to the Sierra Club, and most of what remains is still open to logging.

Old-growth western red cedar, defined by the province as trees 250 years or older, produces wood so durable and rot-resistant that it fetches significantly higher prices than other local species. It’s widely used in construction and, despite recent tariffs, the United States remains a major export market. Second-growth forests, by contrast, are younger stands that regenerated after previous logging and produce less-durable wood products.

Although the province says more than 11 million hectares of old growth remain, scientists say there is only about 415,000 hectares of productive old growth capable of growing the largest trees.

The fight is not unique to British Columbia. During what became known as the Timber Wars of the late 1980s and 1990s, activists occupied giant redwoods, chained themselves to logging equipment and blockaded roads across California, Oregon and Washington. The battles ultimately helped secure protections for many of the remaining ancient forests.

The conflict has flared for decades

More than 850 people were arrested during the 1993 “War in the Woods” protests at Clayoquot Sound. Nearly 30 years later, more than 1,100 were arrested at Fairy Creek, where blockades won temporary protections now set to expire in September.

As old-growth logging has continued elsewhere on the island, activists are again returning to the forests.

In the Walbran Valley, also on Pacheedaht territory, logging by Tsawak-qin Forestry, a company co-owned by the Huu-ay-aht First Nation and forestry giant Western Forest Products, has exposed tensions over whether forests on traditional territories should be managed for economic development, conservation, or both, and who within Indigenous communities can decide.

British Columbia’s forests minister, Ravi Parmar, said that if a long-term agreement with the Pacheedaht Nation is not reached before the Fairy Creek deferral expires he would seek another extension.

The province says it has deferred or protected 2.4 millions of hectares of old growth since 2021, but critics say most of those measures are temporary and some deferred areas continue to be logged. At the same time, British Columbia Premier David Eby's government has pledged to increase timber harvests in an effort to revitalize the forestry sector. Opponents argue those goals are incompatible.

The ecological consequences of losing what remains would be extensive

Some coastal old-growth stands on Vancouver Island have not experienced a major disturbance since the end of the last ice age some 12,000 years ago. Their layered canopies, nurse logs and ancient root systems create habitat for hundreds of species, including threatened marbled murrelet seabirds and salmon.

“Once an old-growth forest is logged, it will require millennia before it has the structure, composition and function of the forest that was logged — if in fact it can ever recover in times of changing climate,” said Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist in British Columbia.

The forests also drive tourism, which some researchers argue outweighs their value as lumber. Visitors from around the world flock to the island's ancient groves to experience towering, moss-draped cedars and Douglas firs.

Still, the transition away from old-growth logging cannot happen overnight, said Parmar, the forests minister.

He pointed to the province's old-growth deferrals and protections, alongside investments in second-growth hemlock milling, as evidence that British Columbia is moving away from dependence on old-growth timber. He said the industry is also under pressure from U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, which now top 45%.

“Forestry is the foundation of our economy. It provides good paying, family supporting jobs — about 100,000 direct and indirect,” he said. “If we were to shut down harvesting of all old forests here in British Columbia, it would shut down our sector completely on day one.”

For some, the fight to protect old growth is personal

“This is our ivory trade,” said Steven “Shambu” Daniluk, a longtime blockader who spent nearly two years on the front lines at Fairy Creek. But unlike the illegal poaching of elephants, much of the world remains unaware of what is happening in British Columbia’s forests, he said.

“People feel unheard,” he said. “Being engaged in this way, risking that arrest, is the only way.”

Veronika Sitar, an outdoor enthusiast from Campbell River, has found her own way of reckoning with the losses. Most weekends she drives and hikes hours into the backcountry to document old-growth stands before the loggers reach them — spending time, she said, with trees she fears won’t be there when she returns.

On a recent trip into the north island’s Prince of Wales range, she pushed through dense undergrowth and snaked around thorny plants to reach General Buxton, one of the largest yellow cedars in British Columbia. She was still catching her breath when she spotted flagging tape just 200 feet (60 meters) away, marking the route of a proposed logging road.

“I don’t want to get too attached knowing what will be logged,” she said.

Back at the blockade, word spread of a new area where logging was being planned, this time on Ditidaht First Nation territory to the north. They began making calls, hoping to connect with local land defenders.

Jones, the Pacheedaht elder, said he was troubled not just by the loss of the forests, but by people's connection to them and, in turn, to themselves. That, he said, is why they continue to protect the remaining old growth.

“We’re just fighting over the leftovers.”

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Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram: @ahammergram.

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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

The Fort Bend County Hazmat Response Team is assisting at the scene near U.S. 90 Alternate and Behrens Road in Beasley.

• Chipotle pulls jalapeños from some restaurants as health officials investigate salmonella outbreak

Officials said the westbound lane of U.S. 90 Alternate is closed while crews work to contain the fuel spill and safely clear the roadway.

Drivers are urged to use caution when traveling through the area, expect traffic delays and consider taking an alternate route until the cleanup is complete.

There is no word on what caused the spill or how long the lane closure is expected to last.

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.

Buckner Family Hope Center Back-to-School Health Fair & Backpack Distribution

• When: Friday, July 31 | 12 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Where: Buckner Children and Family Services of Houston, 8600 Sweetwater Lane, Houston
• What to know: The Buckner Family Hope Center will be distributing backpacks with school supplies to 1,000 kids in Houston’s northside in addition to shoes. Organizers said there will also be community and health resources. Families can also enjoy activities like arts and crafts.

Houston Rockets annual Back-to-School Bash powered by Reliant

• When: Friday, July 31 | 4 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Where: Sunnyside Community Center, 3502 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston
• What to know: The Houston Rockets and Reliant, in partnership with the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, are hosting their annual back-to-school event, offering free backpacks and school supplies. Organizers say each backpack will also include vouchers for Chick-fil-A and Pizza Hut locations. Hall of Famer and Comets legend Cynthia Cooper, Rockets legend Rafer Alston, and more prominent figures will be making appearances. Organizers say there will also be free health screenings and family activities.

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.

YES Prep Public Schools Backpack Giveaway & Back-to-School Fair

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: YES Prep West Elementary, 9910 Sharpcrest Street, Houston
• What to know: YES Prep Public Schools is giving away 300 backpacks full of school supplies to students ahead of the 2026-27 academic year. Organizers said there will also be free vaccines and free/low-cost haircuts. The event is open to the public and will also feature family activities, community resources, and special appearances from local leaders.

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.

IDEA Public Schools Backpacks for Bright Futures

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: IDEA Hardy Academy and College Preparatory, 1930 Little York Road, Houston
• What to know: IDEA Public Schools is hosting a free back-to-school backpack giveaway for the first 600 students at the event. Parents and guardians must be present with their children in order to receive the supplies. More community resources, giveaways, games and vendors will be at the event, organizers said.

Revive Fest 2026 - Christian Hip Hop performances + school supply drive

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 12 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Where: Life Community Baptist Church, 2626 Avenue N, Rosenberg
• What to know: A back-to-school drive will be taking place at Life Community Baptist Church’s Revive Fest for students. Organizers say this is part of the larger community event, which includes family activities, live Christian hip-hop performances, food, giveaways and a basketball tournament.

Harris County Precinct 4 Free Snow Cones

• When: Monday, Aug. 3 | 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Where: 6817 Cypresswood Drive, Spring
• What to know: Harris County Precinct 4 leaders are holding a free snow cone event for community members to kick off the new school year. Note: This event is not a school supplies drive or giveaway.

Free Back-to-School Immunization Clinic (State Rep. Suleman Lalani, M.D.)

• When: Tuesday, Aug. 4 | 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Where: Office of Rep. Suleman Lalani, 12550 Emily Ct, Suite 300, Sugar Land
• What to know: State Representative Suleman Lalani in partnership with the Texas Children’s Hospital is holding a free immunization clinic for Medicaid-eligible and uninsured children. Organizers said walk-ins are okay, but appointments are recommended and can be scheduled by calling 832-824-6355. Organizers said parents and guardians should bring their child’s immunization records. Note: This event is not offering school supplies.

Boykins Youth Foundations 12th annual Back-2-School Drive & Free Haircuts

• When: Wednesday, Aug. 5 | 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
• Where: Evan E. Worthing High School, 9215 Scott Street, Houston
• What to know: Boykins Youth Foundations and community partners are holding their annual back-to-school event offering free school supplies, backpacks and uniforms. Organizers say there will also be free haircuts and hairstyles on offer, in addition to free physicals and eye exams.

Harris Health Back-to-School Health & Wellness Fair + free school supplies

• When: Saturday, Aug. 8 | 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
• Where: Strawberry Health Center, 927 Shaw Ave, Pasadena
• What to know: Harris Health is offering back-to-school vaccines and health screenings. Organizers said the first 225 school-ages children will get free backpacks with school supplies. The Houston Food Bank will also provide free food to families, while supplies last. Harris Health is also offering mammogram screenings for attendees, but they must be scheduled in advance by calling 281-454-0913.

Judge Bob Wolfe Back to School Supply Giveaway

• When: Saturday, Aug. 8 | 10 a.m.
• Where: 16715 Clay Road, Houston
• What to know: Precinct 5, Place 2 Justice of the Peace Bob Wolfe is holding a back-to-school supply giveaway until supplies last. Organizers say there will be free food and drinks, too. Children must be present in order to receive supplies, according to the judge.

Community Back-to-School Bash for Families (Attorney Cherika Edwards)

• When: Saturday, Aug. 15 | 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Where: 3310 West Fuqua Drive, Houston
• What to know: The Law Office of Cherika Edwards is holding its annual back-to-school event, offering free school supplies (while supplies last), free food, free family activities, and community resources.

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.

A bridal shower and yard-sale barbeque were canceled. So were English-language classes. Roosevelt Toussaint, the senior pastor of the nondenominational congregation in Salisbury, said attendance at Sunday’s service dropped by more than half. Normally, more than 500 people would have heard his sermon, titled “What to do in a time of crisis.”

The reason for empty seats, Toussaint said, is that many community members are unwilling to venture from their homes, fearing arrests and deportation since the Trump administration moved to end Temporary Protected Status for more than 1 million people from numerous countries. Among those affected: roughly 350,000 Haitians who have been living and working legally in the U.S. for years.

In Salisbury, the Eastern Shore's biggest city, about 10% of the 33,000 residents are Haitian, many of them employed under TPS as farmworkers, caregivers and in the poultry plants that are the region’s economic backbone.

Like other Haitians losing TPS, they face an agonizing choice: try to stay in the U.S. and find underground work, constantly fearful of being caught by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Or return to a nation so overwhelmed by gang violence and poverty that some feel deportation is tantamount to a death sentence.

Pastor has a message for the president

Toussaint, the Word of Life Center's pastor since 1995, said he had a message for President Donald Trump.

“We’re expecting you to have compassion for our people. They haven't done anything wrong,” Toussaint said. “All they came to this country to do is to work, to make a difference in our economy. … There’s no security at home. If you really send us over there, you send us to die.”

At Sunday's service, the first since TPS protections expired, Toussaint exhorted his congregants to persevere.

“I’m praying this afternoon that God can make you invisible to the enemy,” Toussaint told them in Haitian Creole. “They put a lot of terror in your heart. But God has come to tell you: Do not be afraid!”

Some of the congregants who are U.S. citizens said they attended the service in solidarity with those losing TPS. Among them was Marjorie Estimé, who wore a Haitian flag draped around her neck.

“I want to tell the president of the United States to stop the ICE program, so that the people can work, so ICE can stop shooting them, persecuting them, and we can go back to normal,” Estimé said of the administration's crackdown on immigration.

ICE has pressed ahead, according to advocates and attorneys who say the agency is calling Haitians in for ankle bracelets and telling them not to travel more than 75 miles (121 kilometers) from their home address.

“Instead of them heavily descending on communities, they are using tactics to bring those people into their offices to either detain them or fit them with an ankle monitor, and telling them that if they don’t self-deport, they will be called back to report within a month,” said Guerline Jozef, president of the Haitian Bridge Alliance.

Court rulings fueled confusion

The TPS termination affecting Haitians was challenged in district courts. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court  sided with the government, allowing TPS to end and triggering weeks of confusion around enforcement timelines.

On July 27, the work permits were not extended and fear mounted in communities — not only due to the loss of jobs but also because it exposed them to deportation.

“It’s just like a hurricane at Category 5 — that’s how bad it is,” said Samson Orneus, a member of Toussaint's church. He helps the pastor lead the local Haitian Development Center of Delmarva and runs WOLC Immigration Services, an immigrant assistance business in Salisbury.

Throughout last week, news spread on social media about arrests by immigration authorities at gas stations and outside supermarkets.

“We had a population living legally, raising their kids, paying their bills, and with the decision (to end TPS), they were left in limbo,” said Marie D. Fouché, founder and executive director of Safe Harbor Circles. It provides support to immigrant communities across the Eastern Shore and recorded more than a dozen arrests of immigrants recently, including some with TPS.

“They have left their kids at home,” she said. “They went to the grocery, shopping at Walmart to cook for them and feed their family. But they got arrested in the parking lot, and they’ll never go back.”

Asked about ICE enforcement activities in Salisbury, the Department of Homeland Security said via email that it “does not discuss ongoing or future operations.”

“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that — temporary,” the email said. “For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent.”

At a nearly empty barber shop in Salisbury, a Haitian with TPS ventured in for a haircut. Like others, he asked to remain anonymous for fear of deportation.

“They’re not going after the people committing crimes,” said the 39-year-old man, who has been a caregiver at a nursing home since moving to Salisbury in 2020. “When I go out to the street, I’m in fear.”

TPS protections for Haitians date back to 2010

The United States initially gave TPS to Haitians following a devastating 2010 earthquake and extended it several times since.

The Trump administration pushed to end that status, saying conditions in Haiti improved. Yet almost 1.5 million people have been  displaced because of gang violence, and most Haitians need humanitarian aid.

“What this administration is doing hurts me so much because it’s inhumane,” said Leila Borrero Krouse, an immigration specialist with CATA, a nonprofit supporting Eastern Shore farmworkers.

“In all of these years that I’ve been working with immigrants, I’ve never met a criminal, a rapist, an abuser,” she said. “Most come to take jobs that others don’t want. And it’s heartbreaking to see how they’re suffering.”

The immigration crackdown has upended the life of Patricia Grace Louis-Jacques, a nursing student at Salisbury University with family members and friends affected by the end of TPS. Last week, her best friend asked her to take care of her infant child if she got detained.

“From that moment, I knew things got bad,” Louis-Jacques said at a nearly empty Caribbean Creole Cafe under a painting of Toussaint L’Ouverture, a leader of the Haitian Revolution. “Their lives have tremendously changed.”

Not far from the church, near a Perdue Farms poultry plant, a Honduran woman spoke from the home she has rarely left since the Trump administration ended TPS for nearly 80,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans.

She said she worked at Perdue for more than two decades, repetitively cutting chickens with scissors on a fast-paced line, before losing her job last year after her TPS expired.

Her 25-year-old son, who was born in the U.S., worries that she will be detained. He often calls, reminding her to keep her living room curtains closed and avoid answering the door. Sometimes, she said, she hides by locking herself in a bathroom, where she keeps a Bible.

She used to attend church and volunteer at events advocating for immigrants' rights. These days, she only takes her two dogs to the yard and then returns indoors.

“It’s terrible to live in this anxiety,” she said. “It isn’t fair to those of us who came to this country not to cause harm, but to try to have a better life.”

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Associated Press writer Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.

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

Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while she lies on his lap and play fetch with her in Central Park. His allergies didn't go away: Bailey's saliva and hair no longer contain a key allergy-causing protein.

“The feeling right now is sort of a mix of relief and awe and gratitude that it worked,” said Walker, a geneticist. His company, Kindred Companion Sciences, created Bailey and her twin Alfie using a Nobel Prize-winning technique called CRISPR.

It'll take years before the millions who suffer from dog-related allergies can walk into a pet store and buy a pooch like Alfie or Bailey.

Scientists have to monitor the long-term health effects of the genetic tweak, and find ways to commercialize the approach to make it affordable. And experts not involved with the effort say it could hurt shelter and rescue animals waiting to be adopted.

“It opens the door to a lot more people being able to own pets. On the negative side, it may discourage people from trying to use strays and unwanted animals that are not engineered to be allergy-free,” said bioethicist Arthur Caplan with New York University's Grossman School of Medicine.

Researchers have tried to create hypoallergenic pets before, mostly using cloning. But this led to sicker pups that were too genetically similar. Two years ago, researchers used CRISPR to reduce levels of an allergy-causing protein in a cat named Alsik. But it's not yet clear whether this technique is safe to be tested on other cats.

Dogs that shed less, like poodles, are often thought of as hypoallergenic. But these pups still produce allergy-causing proteins that end up in their saliva, hair and dander, so they can still make people sniffly.

To create Alfie and Bailey, scientists started in the lab. They edited the genetic code inside dog skin cells, switching off the main gene responsible for producing allergy-causing proteins. Then they transferred the edited genetic code into eggs that went into a beagle surrogate that gave birth to two healthy female pups in September 2024. Scientists tested their saliva and fur and didn’t find signs of the allergy-causing protein.

They also performed an allergy test, pricking Walker's skin with extracts from Alfie and Bailey's saliva and dander. His skin reacted to samples from a poodle and goldendoodle, but not from the beagles.

The research, published Wednesday in the CRISPR Journal, is the first time such an approach has been tried successfully in dogs.

Walker says all dogs have the same allergy-causing gene that was edited in Alfie and Bailey. Kindred Companion Sciences hopes to test the technique on other dogs and service animals to see if they can breed an allergy-free line of pups beyond beagles.

Future research should test the gene-edited hypoallergenic dogs on more people with pet allergies to be sure they can soothe symptoms across a broader swath of the human population, said Dr. Jeff SoRelle, a pathologist at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Since the switched-off gene is the main — but not the only — allergy-causing culprit in dogs that was tested, “we don't exactly know just how effective or broadly useful this could be for stopping dog allergy in humans,” said SoRelle, who had no role in the study.

Bailey lives with Walker in New York, and Alfie lives in Florida with another Kindred scientist. The edit made to their genes is rare but does occur naturally in some dogs, so Walker said it's unlikely to have any negative effects on the pups. But it will still be important to monitor them at routine vet visits and make sure they stay healthy.

Walker has had Bailey for a little over a year and says she's become a member of the family.

Despite being a lifelong dog lover, his allergies kept him away from pups growing up. Even breeds that were supposed to be more hypoallergenic, like his family's goldendoodle, gave him itchy eyes and painful rashes.

But he and Bailey can play tug-of-war together in his living room, and she snuggles at his feet to comfort him when he’s sick.

“It feels just amazing to get to have a dog,” Walker said.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The move brings the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's list of targets to 58, an ambitious list that reflects Trump's diminished standing with the electorate and Democrats' belief that they can capitalize on voters' frustrations over the economy, the war in Iran and the chaotic nature of the Republican president's second administration.

“MAGA Republicans who historically have considered themselves ‘safe’ have let down the people they were elected to represent, passing disastrous policies that are crushing working families and our communities,” DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement.

The expansion spans from GOP-held districts in swing states like Nevada to those in Republican strongholds Indiana, Arkansas and Tennessee and Democratic-dominated New York. The list includes DelBene's counterpart at the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina. The targets include other incumbents and some open seats.

Democrats need just a handful of seats to erase Republicans' narrow majority and control the chamber for the final two years of Trump's tenure. Republicans lost a net of 40 House seats in the 2018 midterms during Trump’s first presidency.

Here's a look at some notable new Democratic targets:

— NORTH CAROLINA 9TH: It's notable for Democrats to target House Republicans' campaign chairman. Trump won the district by 15 percentage points in 2024 against the Democrats' presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. But Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein carried it in the same election cycle in his successful campaign for governor. Democrats note that since 2020, the district has gained 15,000 Black voters, who tend to vote for Democrats. The Democratic nominee is Richard Ojeda, who ran for Congress in West Virginia in 2018. He lost but got 44% of the vote in a district where Democrat Hillary Clinton got only 24% in the 2016 presidential election against Trump.

— ARKANSAS 2ND: Democrat Chris Jones, the party's 2022 governor's race nominee, is trying to unseat six-term Rep. French Hill in a district that once elected moderate Democrats. Trump won the district by 16 percentage points. The electorate is about 20% Black and has a growing Asian and Latino population. Democrats point to the March primary turnout, when Democratic ballots outnumbered Republican ballots for the first time since the 2018 primaries.

— FLORIDA 12TH: Held by Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis, this is one of the districts affected by Republicans' gerrymandering efforts after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision gutting a Voting Rights Act provision that protected minority voting strength. But as part of the GOP redraw, Bilirakis' Tampa Bay area district became more Democratic and about 14% less white, according to the DCCC's analysis. Democrats will choose a nominee this month, but Washington party leaders are looking to Darren McAuley, a former Air Force surgeon, as the potential challenger.

— NEW YORK 21ST: Trump won this district by about 21 percentage points in 2024, but not long after that he pulled Rep. Elise Stefanik's nomination for U.N. ambassador because Republicans did not want to risk the seat with their narrow House majority. Stefanik, who launched a 2026 campaign for New York governor but dropped out of that race, is not seeking reelection to Congress. Now it's an open-seat battle between Republican Anthony Constantino, a Trump-aligned businessman who is self-funding his campaign, and Democrat Blake Gendebien, a dairy farmer. The district has been represented by a Republican since 2015, but Democrat Barack Obama won it twice in presidential contests.

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

Each returning migrant is met with the question: Have you seen my son? My daughter? My brother?

Authorities say all but a few thousand of the 72,000 migrants who crossed into Ceuta in recent days have since returned to Morocco. Some families were relieved to welcome them home. Others were disappointed that the migration attempt failed.

Other families still wait desperately for news.

Families hold up photos of the missing

The surge to Ceuta was largely driven by poverty and fueled by online rumors that the border was open, triggering a crisis resonating across Europe. More than 80 people died on both sides of the border, according to authorities, as people swam or climbed fences in the attempt.

Nearly all of the migrants who survived were expelled by Spanish authorities or returned voluntarily after seeing they were unwelcome. Many of those who made it back borrowed phones from strangers to reassure anxious relatives because they had lost or abandoned their phones in the journey.

As the first migrants trickled back to Morocco, an Associated Press reporter watched families hold up printed photographs of missing relatives, stopping returnees one by one in hopes that someone might recognize a face.

The migrants studied each picture, offering what reassurance they could, often saying only that they hoped the missing person was safe.

“I have been looking for my son for five days now,” said Ibtissam Chari, whose son Rayan crossed with friends after hearing that the border had opened. “He called me when he arrived, and since then I haven’t heard anything from him."

Another woman stood silently facing the border. She said she has heard nothing from her 12-year-old son, who crossed into Ceuta with his older brother. Only the older one has returned.

“I have nothing else to do but come here and wait,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect her children. “I spend all my days here. I will come back tomorrow again.”

Facebook groups that helped the crossing seek the missing

An estimated 1,000 of the few thousand migrants estimated to remain in Ceuta are minors. Spanish security forces are not authorized by law to expel them, and their fate is uncertain.

It remains unclear whether all of the dead have been found or returned to Morocco. Local newspapers and a source at the morgue in Tetouan, the largest Moroccan city near Ceuta, said the facility had received more than a dozen bodies. Journalists were not allowed to enter. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Meanwhile, Moroccan authorities have welded shut the small opening in the border fence that had been opened to allow many returning migrants to re-enter the country.

Facebook groups that had circulated videos showing where to swim and tracking Spanish and Moroccan patrols have now taken on a different purpose. Families post photos there of missing relatives, hoping someone has seen them.

“If anyone has seen this girl in Ceuta or Castillejos, please let us know. Her family is going crazy,” one user, Hiba Nakaax, wrote in the Facebook group Fnideq Bab Sebta.

Some parents hope their children try again for Europe

Migration has long been woven into the aspirations of many young Moroccans. Poverty and youth unemployment remain high, particularly in inland regions that have not shared in the economic gains seen along parts of the coast.

For many, Europe represents the possibility of work, stability and a different future. Last year’s youth-led Gen Z protests in Morocco reflected growing frustration over inequality and the quality of public services.

Some parents knew their children intended to make the journey.

After returning from Ceuta, 26-year-old Othmane El Merzoug was barefoot and hungry and desperate to communicate with his family. He asked to borrowed an AP reporter’s phone to call his father in the Moroccan city of Salé.

“Dad, I’ve returned from Ceuta. They didn’t allow me to stay,” he said over speakerphone. His father promised to send money to get him home.

A traumatized 17-year-old from Taounate, Mohamed Chakor, also asked to borrow a phone to call his father, who asked for help in finding other ways to reach Europe.

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Majd Semlali in Fnideq, Morocco, contributed to this report.

Houston Restaurant Weeks returns Saturday, Aug. 1, launching a 38-day run that organizers say will include nearly 400 restaurants across Greater Houston. The annual “Dine Out & Do Good” campaign runs through Labor Day, Sept. 7, pairing prix-fixe deals with donations that help stock the Houston Food Bank.

How it works (and what it costs)

Participating restaurants create multi-course, fixed-price menus for brunch, lunch and dinner, with a built-in donation attached to each meal sold, according to the Cleverley Stone Foundation, which produces the event.

Menu price points for 2026 include:

• Brunch: $25 (donation included)
• Lunch: $25 (donation included)
• Dinner: $39 and $55 (donation included)

Organizers say dinner participation is required for restaurants, while brunch and lunch options vary by location.

A fundraiser that’s grown into a Houston tradition

Now in its 23rd year, Houston Restaurant Weeks has become a signature late-summer tradition in the region — a time when restaurants typically see slower traffic and diners are more willing to explore new menus.

The Cleverley Stone Foundation says the campaign has generated more than $23 million for the Houston Food Bank since it began in 2003 — an impact the organization translates to more than 70 million meals provided across Southeast Texas.

• Terry Black’s BBQ is finally coming to Houston, so you can skip the drive to Austin

“Houstonians are truly special. I don’t know of another city that comes together in quite the way Houston does to support one another,” Katie Stone, president of the Cleverley Stone Foundation, said in a statement. She added that the event continues the vision of her mother, the late Cleverley Stone, and the idea of bringing people together “around the table” to make a local impact.

Where to find restaurants and menus

Organizers say the most up-to-date list of participating restaurants and their menus will be posted on the Houston Restaurant Weeks website, with updates continuing as the start date approaches.

Among the returning participants listed by organizers are well-known Houston-area names such as Brennan’s of Houston, Bludorn, Hugo’s, Xochi, Rainbow Lodge, and multiple locations of Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, Fadi’s Mediterranean Grill and other restaurant groups.

This year’s newly added participants listed in the release include restaurants such as Bistro Mistral, Cafe Brasil, Caribbean Jerk Palace, El Tiempo Cantina (multiple locations), North Italia (multiple locations), Truluck’s Ocean’s Finest Seafood & Crab (Houston and The Woodlands), and others.

The scenes caused by a record heat wave in Northeast Asia illustrate how extreme temperatures have gripped South Korea, North Korea and Japan.

In most of South Korea, a major heat wave advisory was in place Wednesday as temperatures in densely populated greater Seoul, home to 20 million people, and adjacent areas soared as high as 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

North Korean authorities have issued a heat wave advisory in many areas and called for people to take safety steps to avoid heat-related health problems.

Japan's anti-disaster agency reported more than 18,000 people with heat stroke symptoms were transported to hospitals during the week of July 20 to 26.

South Korea heat is a ‘national disaster’

Since mid-May in South Korea, about 2,220 people have been diagnosed with heat-related illnesses and 19 have died, according to a report from Interior and Safety Ministry. About 17,140 livestock, such as chickens, ducks and pigs, and about 160,000 farmed fishes also have died.

On Sunday, the southeastern city of Yangsan saw temperatures reaching 42.5 Celsius (108.5 Fahrenheit), the highest figure recorded since weather observation began in Korea in 1904.

In a Cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Lee Jae Myung instructed officials to view the ongoing heat wave as “a national disaster” and make all-out efforts to protect lives.

On Tuesday night, a spectator in his 20s collapsed while watching a baseball game between SSG Landers and LG Twins at a stadium in Incheon city, west of Seoul. Emergency personnel administered CPR and transported him to a hospital, halting the game for about 10 minutes.

Another fan in his 20s fell unconscious and received treatment at the stadium after the game, according to the Korea Baseball Organization, which announced Wednesday that all 10 games scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday were canceled and would be rescheduled.

North Korean hospital official recommends cooling food

Min Son Yong, deputy director of the internal medicine department at Pyongyang General Hospital, told North Korea’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper on Sunday that people should eat dog meat and fish porridge to supplement protein to beat the heat.

Euphemistically known as “dangogi,” or sweet meat, dog meat has long been considered a stamina food in North Korea and is traditionally eaten during the hottest time of the year.

Min also recommended watermelons, cucumbers, tomatoes, mung beans and ginger to cool down, the newspaper reported.

Dog meat also has been eaten in China, Vietnam and African countries, as well as in South Korea, which plans to formally ban slaughtering, breeding or selling dog meat for human consumption beginning next year.

Humans and animals suffer in Japan heat

Japan’s Environment Ministry issued a heat stroke alert for most of the western and southern Japan on Wednesday. While temperatures in the Tokyo region temporarily fell this week, intense heat continued to hit southern Japan.

In the southwestern city of Kumamoto, relief and cleanup work continued following a magnitude 7.1 earthquake on July 28 that killed 38 people, including a woman in her 70s who developed heat stroke while taking shelter in a car. More than 43,000 households were still without water on Wednesday.

Three lions have died at a Tokyo zoo, with a number of their animal peers developing apparent heatstroke symptoms.

Tama Zoological Park said, Mugi, a 3-year-old female lion, developed a loss of appetite on July 19 and was unable to stand the following day. Suspecting heat problem, zoo keepers provided ventilation and a water sprinkler to cool her down. The lion eventually died on July 28 despite treatment with subcutaneous fluid, liver tonics and vitamins, the zoo said.

Two other female lions, Ichigo, 11, and Luena, 15, also died within a few days, the zoo said.

Autopsies showed dehydration and multiple organ failure in all three animals and officials say they believe heat was the cause of the health problems.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

With August typically bringing some of the hottest weather of the year, home cooling costs can quickly add up. The good news is there are several inexpensive ways to keep your home cooler while reducing energy use.

Close blinds and curtains during the day

One of the easiest ways to keep your home cool is by blocking sunlight before it heats your living space.

Closing blinds, curtains or shades on windows that receive direct afternoon sun can help reduce indoor temperatures and lessen the workload on your air conditioner. Blackout curtains or thermal shades can provide even greater protection from the heat.

Adjust your thermostat

Experts recommend setting your thermostat to around 76 to 78 degrees when you’re home. Lowering the temperature won’t cool your house faster; it simply causes your air conditioner to run longer, increasing energy use and utility costs.

Take advantage of cooler mornings and evenings

When outdoor temperatures are cooler, open windows to let fresh air circulate through your home. Using fans to create a cross breeze can help flush out warm air before temperatures begin rising.

Once the outside temperature heats up, close windows and window coverings to keep cool air inside.

Use appliances after sunset

Appliances such as ovens, dishwashers and clothes dryers generate extra heat inside your home.

Running them in the evening or early morning can help keep indoor temperatures down while reducing the strain on your cooling system.

Change your air filter

A dirty HVAC filter restricts airflow, forcing your air conditioner to work harder than necessary.

Replacing or cleaning your air filter regularly can improve your system’s efficiency and may help lower cooling costs.

Use ceiling fans correctly

Ceiling fans don’t lower the room’s temperature, but they help people feel cooler by circulating air.

During the summer, make sure your ceiling fan is spinning counterclockwise to create a cooling breeze. Turn fans off when you leave the room since they cool people, not the air.

Other money-saving cooling tips

• Seal gaps around doors and windows to keep cool air inside.
• Use LED light bulbs, which generate less heat than traditional bulbs.
• Cook outdoors or prepare meals that don’t require the oven during the hottest part of the day.
• Consider installing a programmable or smart thermostat to better manage cooling schedules.

With a few simple changes, homeowners can stay more comfortable during Houston’s summer heat while helping keep monthly energy bills under control.

All-Star wins fourth career AL Player of the Month Award, second this season

HOUSTON, TX – Major League Baseball announced today that Astros DH Yordan Alvarez has been named American League Player of the Month for July. It is the fourth career AL Player of the Month Award for Alvarez and his second this season, also winning the award in March-April.

For the month of July, Alvarez hit .360 (31x86) with nine home runs, 22 RBI, a .467 OBP, a .721 slugging percentage, and a 1.188 OPS in 23 games in the month. In July, Alvarez led the AL in home runs, RBI, OPS and SLG, while ranking second in walks (15), second in hits, and fourth in batting average and OBP.

As part of his prolific month at the plate, Alvarez received AL Player of the Week honors for the week of June 29-July 5. That week was highlighted by his game on July 4 vs. Tampa Bay, when Alvarez had two home runs and six RBI, including a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in a 10-8 Astros win. Also during the month, Alvarez posted a 16-game on-base streak, which is still active, and a 10-game hitting streak from July 10-24. Alvarez also started the All-Star Game this month, going 1x2 with a run scored in the Midsummer Classic on July 14.

July was a continuation of Alvarez’s MVP-caliber year, a season in which he currently leads the league in all three Triple Crown categories, ranking first in batting average (.330), HR (35), and RBI (84). Additionally, he leads MLB in OPS (1.092), OBP (.442), SLG (.650), extra-base hits (59), and total bases (262). In the AL, he ranks first in hits (133) and runs (77), and third in walks (77).

Alvarez is now just the second Astros player to win two Player of the Month Awards in a single season, joining 1B Jeff Bagwell, who won the NL Player of the Month in June and July of 1994, which was his MVP season. The Astros have had several pitchers win multiple Pitcher of the Month awards in a single season, most recently accomplished in 2019 by RHP Gerrit Cole, who won three times that season.

Along with his four career AL Player of the Month Awards, Alvarez has earned six career AL Player of the Week honors and was named AL Rookie of the Month three consecutive months in 2019 (June-August).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was scheduled to meet with partners and President Félix Tshisekedi in the capital, Kinshasa, the WHO country office told The Associated Press. It was his second visit since the outbreak was declared in mid-May.

The Ebola outbreak had 3,874 confirmed cases, including 1,751 deaths, as of Monday, according to data published overnight by Congo’s Ministry of Health.

In Ituri, the outbreak's epicenter, families said many frontline workers have gone on strike, worsening access to healthcare that was already challenged by rebel conflict in one of Congo's most remote and vulnerable areas, its east near the borders of South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

While some frontline workers say they have started receiving payment in the last week for work done since the outbreak began, they are demanding improved wages.

Anicet Baluku, a resident of Bunia, Ituri's capital, blamed the death of his two brothers from Ebola on the strike. "We urge the authorities to quickly find a solution to prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy,” he told the AP.

The outbreak has eclipsed all other Ebola outbreaks in history in its speed of transmission and is the second-largest outbreak on record, behind the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that recorded more than 28,000 cases, including over 11,000 deaths.

The Bundibugyo virus that is causing this outbreak has no approved treatment or vaccine, and local officials believe it began in a remote area long before it was declared on May 15.

Nearly three months later, the outbreak is still “spreading at an alarming and unprecedented rate,”​ medical charity Doctors Without Doctors said Wednesday.

“The response is expanding but is still not reaching communities quickly enough to break transmission chains,” the group said.

The head of the Africa Centers for Disease and Control, Dr. Jean Kaseya, said Tuesday while visiting Bunia that contact tracing isn't working, with at least 60% to 70% of new cases coming outside of people being monitored after exposure to patients.

Late detection of cases has been a key contributor to the 45% fatality rate, officials say. The 77 new cases reported in the previous 24 hours included 44 deaths, according to the health ministry.

At least 717 patients are in isolation while 749 patients have recovered.

We had some impressive thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and night. While isolated to the northern Houston area, this rain prompted two flood advisories. A similar set up is expected Wednesday. Temperatures climb to the upper 90s with a 20% chance of more thunderstorms. The heat index will range between 104°-106° in the afternoon.

Thursday’s forecast:

Our next weather pattern change occurs Thursday. An area of high pressure develops to the east of us. That will bring a richer flow of air from the Gulf. Three things occur when this happens. First, we’ll get a little more active sea breeze which will create hit and miss afternoon storms.

Second, this flow will increase the humidity and cloud cover. Third, temperatures will lower. Don’t get too excited about this. While temperatures will be slightly lower, with a higher humidity the heat index will not change. It will feel just has steamy as does right now.

Tracking the tropics:

August is the “real” start of the hurricane season. 93% of hurricanes form after August 3rd. However, this is not your typical hurricane season. With an incredibly strong El Nino the numbers will be kept way down this season. No storms are expected in the next 10 days and probably a little further than that. Wind shear in the Caribbean is the strongest it’s been since 1979. Oh, and there is some thick Saharan dust over the Atlantic. We’ll keep you posted on what’s expected for the later part of August.

10 Day Forecast:

Temperatures remain in the upper 90s through Wednesday. Beginning Thursday, temperatures lower slightly and rain changes go up slightly. Our best chance of widespread heavy rain and thunderstorms is Sunday and Monday. But even an isolated storm that forms before can be strong and bring street flooding similar to what we saw Tuesday.

According to reporting by WDTN, Buc-ee’s filed a federal trademark infringement lawsuit against Beaver’s Mini Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio, alleging the store’s branding could confuse customers into thinking it’s affiliated with Buc-ee’s.

The lawsuit claims Beaver’s Mini Mart uses a cartoon beaver with “wide eyes and a smile” and prominently features the color red, elements Buc-ee’s says resemble its federally registered trademarks. The chain is asking the court to order the business to stop using the disputed name and logo, remove related signs and marketing materials, pay damages and attorney fees, and surrender any profits allegedly tied to the infringement. The company has also requested a jury trial.

• Houston airport detention highlights rise in ICE arrests at airports

Beaver’s Mini Mart owner Vik Boparai’s family says the convenience store has operated since 2017, years before Buc-ee’s opened its first Ohio location in nearby Huber Heights earlier this year. The store is located about 16 miles from the Buc-ee’s travel center.

The lawsuit has sparked backlash from some community members, who have organized “cash mobs” and other efforts to support the family-owned business. Some residents told WDTN they believe Buc-ee’s is targeting a longtime local business despite its years of operation in the community.

• Man charged, accused of giving fentanyl to Harris County teenagers leading to 18-year-old’s death

The case is the latest in a series of trademark disputes involving Buc-ee’s. The Texas chain has previously filed lawsuits against several businesses it claims use logos or branding that are too similar to its iconic beaver mascot.

WDTN reported that both Buc-ee’s and Beaver’s Mini Mart have been contacted for comment.

In adding the seat to its “Districts in Play” list, the House Democratic campaign arm is signaling party leaders’ growing belief that they can flip the sprawling district, which runs from San Antonio into West Texas and has been held by Republicans since 2015. The designation also means the DCCC can spend against the Republican nominee in the district.

The 23rd District, which covers a large chunk of the Texas-Mexico border, was most recently represented by Tony Gonzales, a moderate Republican who resigned earlier this year over a sex scandal with a staffer.

Katy Padilla Stout, a San Antonio attorney and former teacher, is the Democratic nominee in the district.

Her Republican foe this fall, gun rights activist and YouTuber Brandon Herrera, had challenged Gonzales in the primary and forced him into a runoff. He secured the GOP nomination after the congressman dropped out of the race before the runoff election.

Herrera, a highly online influencer and activist with a history of edgy, controversial comments, fits a different mold than the district’s recent representatives, including Gonzales and the moderate Republican who preceded him, former Rep. Will Hurd. Herrera is endorsed by the Freedom Caucus Fund, which aims to grow the caucus of hardline conservatives known for its absolutist approach and willingness to defy GOP leadership.

The district voted for President Donald Trump by a 15-point margin in 2024, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the district as “likely Republican.” It has not favored Democrats in any recent statewide election, voting for Sen. Ted Cruz by a 3-point margin in 2018, the best election cycle for Texas Democrats this century.

But DCCC chair Suzan DelBene said Democrats see an opening to play offense because of polling that has shown Hispanic voters’ support for Trump eroding, along with Herrera’s trail of contentious remarks.

“Brandon Herrera’s disturbing history of extremism, violence, and antisemitic rhetoric puts this open Congressional district squarely in play,” DelBene said in a statement.

Herrera has made Holocaust jokes on his YouTube channel and discussed owning a copy of “Mein Kampf,” both of which were among the footage circulated by Democrats after Herrera locked up the nomination. His campaign has dismissed allegations of antisemitism as “bizarre, desperate and false.” A spokesperson previously noted that Herrera has “simulated the execution and poisoning of Adolf Hitler” in his work as a historical firearms educator, and that the clip of him discussing Hitler’s book omitted his comments “ridiculing and condemning” it.

Thus far, Herrera has outraised Padilla Stout over the course of the cycle. At last count, Federal Election Commission records showed that Herrera had $309,000 in his main campaign account at the end of June, to Padilla Stout’s $171,000.

Republicans currently have a 218-212 majority in the U.S. House. Democrats need a net gain of three seats in order to win control of the lower chamber.

The redistricting war kicked off by Texas Republicans last year yielded more newly drawn seats that favor the GOP than the number redrawn to elect Democrats. The House’s minority party could recapture the chamber without winning seats like the 23rd District. But to build a buffer and avoid the chaos that has stemmed from Republicans’ wafer-thin majority, Democrats will need to win in more Trump-friendly districts like this one.

With the addition of the district, the DCCC is now targeting three seats in South Texas, with a list that already included the 15th Congressional District, represented by Edinburg GOP Rep. Monica De La Cruz, and the 35th Congressional District, an open seat anchored in Bexar County and redrawn to favor Republicans. All three have majority-Hispanic voting populations.

On the GOP side, the National Republican Congressional Committee is targeting five seats in Texas, all of which were redrawn by the Legislature to be friendlier to Republicans. They include the 9th Congressional District in Houston, the 32nd Congressional District in North Texas, the open 35th District and the Trump-leaning seats of two incumbent Democrats: Rep. Henry Cuellar’s Laredo-based district and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s Rio Grande Valley seat.

Whether your child is starting kindergarten, moving to middle school or simply entering a new grade, it’s normal for them to feel nervous about the transition.

• Back-to-School schemes are on the rise: What parents need to know before clicking

Dana Sheridan, M.A., LPC, a counselor at The Village School, encourages parents to start conversations before the first day of school.

Rather than assuming everything is fine, ask your child what they’re excited about and what worries them most. Listening to their concerns and responding with encouragement can help ease anxiety.

Another way to help children feel more comfortable is by visiting the school before classes begin. Meet the teacher, tour the classroom, and become familiar with the campus. Knowing what to expect can make the first day feel less overwhelming.

Sheridan also recommends establishing a strong relationship with your child’s teacher early in the school year.

• Back-to-school tip: Experts say limiting screen time before bed can help kids sleep better

“If you have a partnership, parents can message the teacher, ‘Hey, we had a rough night,’ so they’ll be able to notice some of those things. If they do have to have difficult conversations, it just makes it that much easier,” Sheridan said.

As the school year begins, parents should also encourage independence rather than solving every problem for their child.

“Try to teach them that they need to problem solve. If you’re a parent who’s going to jump in all the time, you’re almost hindering their development. Overhelping is just as bad as underhelping,” Sheridan said.

Experts also remind parents that teachers are adjusting to a new school year as well. If concerns arise, it’s best to communicate directly with your child’s teacher before escalating the issue to school administrators.

• Texas tax-free weekend 2026: Items that qualify for back-to-school savings

Tips to help your child adjust to a new school year

• Ask your child what they’re excited or worried about.
• Keep conversations positive and reassuring.
• Visit the school and classroom before the first day, if possible.
• Introduce yourself and build a relationship with your child’s teacher.
• Encourage your child to solve age-appropriate problems independently.
• Be patient with teachers as everyone adjusts to the new school year.
• Address concerns with the teacher first before contacting school administrators.

Helping children feel prepared and supported before the first day of school can make the transition smoother and set them up for a successful school year.

Can you believe it? It’s almost time to send our kids back to school. It seems like summer just started, and for some, it probably did. But, students across the Houston area will be headed back to school in the coming weeks, and we here at KPRC 2 are doing everything to make sure not only the students are prepared, but so are parents. Keep reading to get all the news you need to know on back-to-school.

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

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Weather ⛅

TODAY: 95° TONIGHT: 80°

KPRC Meteorologist says:

“Not much changes with our forecast Wednesday. Temperatures climb to the upper 90s with a 20% chance of an isolated shower. The heat index will range between 104°-106° in the afternoon.”

➡️ More weather headlines? Check them out here

Get your forecast details here.

Houston’s Top Headlines 📰

New details emerge after missing 2-year-old girl at center of AMBER Alert in San Antonio found dead

A neighbor recounts the moments that led to her son finding the body of a 2-year-old girl who was reported missing in San Antonio on Monday, KSAT News reports.

An AMBER Alert for Aryana Trevino Martinez was issued Sunday after she disappeared around 7 p.m. in the 4000 block of Allegheny Drive in San Antonio, Texas, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

2 teenage suspects shot by guard after attempted armored truck robbery in SW Houston

Houston police officers are at a scene on Bellaire Blvd. where a guard reportedly fired gunshots at several suspects who were allegedly trying to rob an armored truck, hitting two of them in the process. Lt. Larry Crowson with HPD says the guard with the truck was coming out of an ACE Cash Express when he saw two or three suspects approach. The guard was reportedly sprayed with bear spray by the suspects after coming out of the store.

New Harris County tool helps residents find low-cost healthcare clinics across Houston area

Finding affordable healthcare in the Houston area may soon become easier thanks to a new online tool launched by Harris County Public Health and the Houston Health Department.

The agencies have released the 2026 Access to Care Report and an interactive Low-Cost Clinic Finder Tool, designed to help Harris County residents locate affordable healthcare services and better navigate the region’s public health system.

BBB warns consumers about ‘free’ gas and grocery card mail scam

With the cost of groceries and gas continuing to strain household budgets, a postcard promising gift cards can be tempting. But the Better Business Bureau says consumers should think twice before responding.

The BBB is warning people about scams involving official-looking postcards that claim recipients can receive hundreds of dollars in free gas or grocery gift cards after paying a small “processing” or “shipping” fee.

Chipotle pulls jalapeños from some restaurants as health officials investigate salmonella outbreak

Chipotle Mexican Grill said Tuesday that it had removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants after determining the peppers could potentially be tied to a salmonella outbreak public health officials are investigating.

In a brief statement, Chipotle maintained that the “health and safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority” — and that it had pulled the jalapeños out of an abundance of caution and “replaced them with product from different growers” in all locations where a previous common lot had been distributed.

Back 2 School

Back-to-school anxiety? Houston area experts share ways parents can help kids adjust to a new grade

As students prepare to head back to the classroom, parents are checking off school supply lists, buying new clothes and getting back into routines. But experts say preparing children emotionally for a new school year is just as important.

Whether your child is starting kindergarten, moving to middle school or simply entering a new grade, it’s normal for them to feel nervous about the transition.

Crosby ISD students head back to class as Houston-area school districts prepare to reopen

The first day of school has arrived for students in Crosby ISD, marking the beginning of the 2026-27 school year for one of the first districts in the Houston area to welcome students back to the classroom.

While many families across the Houston area are still enjoying the final days of summer break, more Houston-area school districts will begin classes over the next several weeks.

Back-to-School schemes are on the rise: What parents need to know before clicking

Back-to-school season means new backpacks, sneakers, school supplies — and a flood of emails, texts, and online messages from schools, teachers, and organizations.

But while parents are preparing their children for the classroom, cybercriminals are preparing their own back-to-school strategy: creating convincing scams designed to catch families off guard.

Things 2 Know 💡

Terry Black’s BBQ is finally coming to Houston, so you can skip the drive to Austin

Healthy eating on a budget: Dietitian shares grocery shopping tips as food prices rise

New study ranks the most and least safest big cities in the country; Where does Houston land on the list?

In case you missed it... 👀

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A contempt finding could open the door to an investigation into whether Fauci had a valid constitutional right against self-incrimination when he refused to answer dozens of questions from lawmakers at a committee hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Republican senators including Rand Paul of Kentucky, who subpoenaed Fauci and has called a contempt vote for Thursday, insist that a pardon the doctor received early last year from Democratic President Joe Biden left him ineligible for Fifth Amendment protections. A Senate resolution released Tuesday asserts that Paul found Fauci's privilege claims “unsupported.”

But some legal experts say Fauci had reasons to invoke the Fifth Amendment, given the threat of potential state prosecutions and questions from President Donald Trump's administration about the validity of Biden's pardons. Any testimony from Fauci could have also prompted false-statement investigations like the ones the current Justice Department has repeatedly initiated against the Republican president's perceived adversaries.

No matter what happens, the episode raises fresh and complicated questions about Congress' ability to compel testimony from previously pardoned witnesses — and the outcome could resonate beyond Fauci.

“This is an important case because I think a lot of people anticipate that President Trump is going to issue similar pardons to many people in his administration who will end up being called before Congress, and the precedent here is important,” said Mark Osler, a St. Thomas University law professor and pardon power expert.

Paul's committee is moving to transmit the contempt referral from his Republican-led committee directly to the Justice Department. Whether the Justice Department would act on the referral is unclear.

Fauci's pardon protects him for past, not future, acts

Fauci, a longtime National Institutes of Health scientist and the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, left the federal government in 2022 after more than five decades. He was among a group of perceived adversaries of Trump to be pardoned by Biden in one of the Democrat’s final acts in office. The clemency covered acts from 2014 to the date in January 2025 when the pardon was issued.

Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee say the pardon lifted the specter of criminal prosecution and left Fauci without a valid basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment — a bedrock constitutional protection found in the Bill of Rights but one typically available only to those who have a reasonable basis to believe they risk being charged over their testimony.

While a blanket pardon theoretically removes a threat of prosecution, Fauci made clear he thought he had a good-faith basis to fear criminal charges. He invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 100 times.

Before the hearing. Fauci said that Paul, the committee chairman, had an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution." The purpose of his forced appearance “is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote,” Fauci said.

In the run-up to the hearing, Paul made dozens of Fauci-related posts on X, including ones teasing that he was going to confront the doctor for having earlier given false testimony — something Fauci has denied.

“I think his invoking the Fifth makes sense because he was invited into a situation where everyone in the country understood that Rand Paul was trying to set him up for a criminal prosecution,” said Michael Gerhardt, a University of North Carolina law professor. “In that circumstance, one of the smartest things to do would be to make yourself a very small target and say as little as possible, and that's obviously what he did.”

In announcing the contempt vote, Paul noted on X that “Fauci refused to answer a single question, even though he knew he couldn't be charged for crimes” during the decade covered by his pardon. Fauci's deflections encompassed even seemingly harmless questions, such as the color of the tie he was wearing — a reflection of an apparent belief that it was safer to refuse any testimony.

There are factors that could tilt in favor of Fauci's strategy, including the fact that his pardon would not protect him from potential state prosecutions or from a federal prosecution related to any testimony that investigators deemed false. That may not be an idle concern given the number of false-statement investigations prosecutors have opened against Trump's political opponents.

Trump's administration also has repeatedly called into question the validity of the Biden pardons, given Biden's frequent use of an autopen for official business. Legal experts say the pardons are valid.

“The question is do you have a reasonable fear of prosecution, and Fauci's argument would be — yes, I received a pardon, yes, I believe that pardon covers and prevents prosecution but there have been statements from lots of people including Trump and other administration officials ... raising questions about the validity of that pardon,” said Ross Garber, a lawyer and expert in political investigations who has represented multiple clients who have invoked the Fifth Amendment.

“That,” he added, “is potentially a very viable argument.”

Paul has discussed trying to fast-track a contempt referral

Paul said in an interview with Fox News Channel last week that he did not think “there's any rule" requiring that a contempt referral from a committee go through the entire Senate. His committee is instead working to send the referral straight to the Justice Department.

The contempt resolution states that the president of the Senate, Vice President JD Vance, “shall certify” the committee’s referral and the accompanying report to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

That fast-tracking of the process avoids the need for a vote in the full 100-member Senate, where Republicans likely lack the 60 votes required to move a contempt referral to passage.

Tensions are simmering between the world's two biggest economies ahead of an expected visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. in September, despite signs of warming ties during his meetings with U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing in May.

The Commerce Ministry said the sanctions are in response to recent moves from the U.S., including a ban by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on imports of Chinese drones, and the Department of Homeland Security's decision to add 43 Chinese companies to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list to prevent imports of goods made with forced labor.

The “measures seriously violate the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and severely damage China’s legitimate rights and interests. China has no choice but to take necessary countermeasures in response,” the ministry said in a statement.

It emphasized that China was acting with restraint and urged the U.S. to scrap its measures against Beijing and cease its “erroneous practices.” It also warned of further sanctions if the U.S. rolls out new restrictive measures against China.

Beijing is requiring reviews on a case-by-case basis of exports of unmanned aerial vehicles, their key components and related technologies that are on a list of export-controlled dual-use items that can serve both civilian and military purposes.

Six U.S. entities, including Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. and the non-governmental group Human Rights in China, were banned from engaging in trade or other activities with entities in China.

China also banned a company called Compliance Testing LLC from engaging in business in China because it had worked with the FCC in “harming China's sovereignty and security,” according to a separate statement from the Commerce Ministry.

The ministry also said it was investigating the possible impact on national security of imported printing software and office equipment, but it did not name affected companies.

The State Administration for Market Regulation announced that companies in the U.S. that conduct follow-up factory inspections on behalf of Chinese entities for CCC certification can no longer provide these certifications.

CCC certifications are meant to ensure electronic products meet a basic safety standard. The new rule will oblige U.S. makers of certified electronics to hire auditors based outside of the U.S. or to rely on other non-U. S. designated bodies for such certifications.

In December, the U.S. FCC banned the import of new Chinese drones, though it later revised that ban to allow for some models.

Last week, it also announced bans on imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots and power inverters, citing national security risks, in a move that in effect targets China.

___

Leung reported from Hong Kong

The agencies have released the 2026 Access to Care Report and an interactive Low-Cost Clinic Finder Tool, designed to help Harris County residents locate affordable healthcare services and better navigate the region’s public health system.

• New details emerge after missing 2-year-old girl at center of AMBER Alert in San Antonio found dead

Officials say the resources are intended to address a common challenge for many families: knowing where to go for care, understanding eligibility requirements and finding providers that fit their needs.

“Too often, it’s too hard for community members to get the healthcare they need,” Harris County Public Health Executive Director Leah Barton said in a statement. “By understanding the barriers people face, making commitments to address those barriers, and releasing this practical, easy-to-use clinic finder, we’re putting essential health services within reach.”

The 2026 Access to Care Report examines why many Houston-area residents struggle to access healthcare and organizes its findings into three key areas:

• Affording care
• Finding care
• Receiving care

The report identifies challenges ranging from the cost of medical visits to transportation, language barriers, scheduling difficulties and navigating multiple healthcare systems.

• 2 teenage suspects shot by guard after attempted armored truck robbery in SW Houston

It also outlines commitments from Harris County Public Health, the Houston Health Department, Harris Health System and The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD to improve coordination between agencies and make it easier for residents to access medical and behavioral health services.

The new Clinic Finder Tool allows users to search for affordable healthcare services offered through:

• Harris County Public Health
• Houston Health Department
• Harris Health System
• The Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD

Instead of visiting multiple websites or calling several agencies, residents can use the centralized tool to find clinics that meet their healthcare needs.

Officials say future updates will include additional community providers, including Federally Qualified Health Centers that serve uninsured and underinsured patients.

“Access to healthcare should never depend on someone’s ability to navigate a complicated system,” Houston Health Department Director and local health authority Dr. Theresa Tran said in a statement. “This report and the Low-Cost Clinic Finder Tool reflect what is possible when healthcare and public health organizations work together to remove barriers.”

Harris County Public Health provides a wide range of free and low-cost services, including:

• Childhood and adult vaccinations
• Dental care at select clinics
• Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition services
• Chronic disease prevention programs
• Community health outreach
• Environmental health services
• Mosquito control
• Care coordination through ACCESS Harris County

The department also helps connect eligible residents with mental health services, housing assistance and other community resources.

Public webinar scheduled

Officials will host a free public webinar from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, to introduce the report and demonstrate how to use the Low-Cost Clinic Finder Tool.

The webinar will include an overview of the report’s findings and a live walkthrough of the new search tool.

Health officials say the new resources are designed to make affordable healthcare easier to find for residents across Harris County, whether they need vaccinations, preventive care, dental services or mental health support.

The BBB is warning people about scams involving official-looking postcards that claim recipients can receive hundreds of dollars in free gas or grocery gift cards after paying a small “processing” or “shipping” fee.

While the offers may appear legitimate, scammers often use the mail to create a false sense of trust.

How the scam works

According to the Better Business Bureau, the postcards often include:

• Promises of free gas or grocery gift cards worth hundreds of dollars.
• Official-looking barcodes or tracking numbers.
• Phrases such as “Final Notice” or “Act Now.”
• A phone number to call or website to visit to claim the offer.

Once someone responds, they’re typically asked to pay a small processing or shipping fee using a credit or debit card. In some cases, scammers may also request personal information, such as a name, address or financial account details.

Instead of receiving the promised gift cards, victims may end up facing unauthorized charges, recurring subscriptions or identity theft.

Red flags to watch for

The BBB says consumers should be cautious if an offer:

• Claims you’ll receive something valuable for free after paying a fee.
• Creates a sense of urgency with phrases like “Final Notice.”
• Asks for payment or financial information upfront.
• Comes from a company you’ve never heard of.
• Makes offers that seem too good to be true.

How to verify a company

Before calling the number or visiting the website listed on a postcard, the BBB recommends:

• Researching the company online.
• Checking the company’s reputation through the Better Business Bureau.
• Looking for customer reviews and complaints.
• Visiting the company’s official website instead of using the contact information provided on the mailer.

If you can’t verify the business or the offer seems suspicious, don’t respond.

If you’ve already called the number, paid a fee or shared personal or financial information, experts recommend taking action immediately:

• Contact your bank or credit card company to report the transaction.
• Monitor your financial accounts for unauthorized charges.
• Change passwords if you’ve shared login information.
• Watch your credit reports for signs of identity theft.
• Report the scam to the Better Business Bureau and the appropriate consumer protection agencies.

The BBB reminds consumers that legitimate companies typically do not require customers to pay a fee to receive a “free” gift card. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

While many families across the Houston area are still enjoying the final days of summer break, more Houston-area school districts will begin classes over the next several weeks.

• Back-to-School schemes are on the rise: What parents need to know before clicking

As students return, officials are reminding drivers that school-year traffic patterns are back in effect.

School buses will once again travel their regular routes, school zones will be active, and more children will be walking, biking, and riding e-bikes and scooters to and from campus.

Drivers should also expect heavier traffic around schools during the morning and afternoon commute as campuses reopen.

• Back-to-school tip: Experts say limiting screen time before bed can help kids sleep better

Whether your local district starts classes today, next week or later this month, safety officials say it’s important to begin practicing safe driving habits now.

Back to school reminders:

• Slow down in school zones.
• Put your phone away and avoid distracted driving.
• Stop for school buses when required by law.
• Watch for students walking, biking or riding scooters near schools.

The days of lighter summer commutes are coming to an end as students return to classrooms across the Houston area. Drivers are encouraged to stay alert, allow extra travel time and be prepared to share the road with school buses and children throughout the school year.

WACO — Laneisha Latimer has heard about the strict way Third Future Schools plans to run South Waco Elementary School, where her son started the fourth grade.

School began Tuesday at South Waco and Dean Highland elementary schools under the control of the charter school operator Waco Independent School District chose to turn them around.

Latimer learned in May how tightly scheduled her son’s day will be. He will have to walk in silence in between one-minute transitions. Several times per class period he will have to demonstrate through writing or peer discussions that he understands the lesson.

And he and his classmates will have 10 more instructional days than their Waco ISD peers, who start next week.

So far, so good, Latimer said.

Latimer believes the additional rules and structure will work for her son, Landon, who has struggled with behavior and academics.

“It would take away a lot of distraction,” Latimer said. ”First of all, when the kids are loud, when they don’t have any structure like it’s been from my point of view. … Then the kids tend to get out of control when they’re able to talk in the hallway, then that causes arguments.”

Waco ISD is among the latest Texas districts to choose Third Future Schools to take control of campuses with a record of failing under the state’s accountability system. South Waco Elementary had four years of failing grades under the A-F system and Dean Highland had three. The next round of accountability rates are expected next week, reflecting the 2025-26 academic year.

A fifth consecutive failing grade at any single school could trigger a state takeover of the whole district. But under state law, the third-party agreement protects Waco ISD from intervention for two years.

Waco ISD’s board approved the $11.7 million deal in March, which resulted in additional state funding for the schools. The charter school began hiring immediately, bringing on new principals: Kimberly McKnight at South Waco and Daniel Speer at Dean Highland.

“This is very much a neighborhood school,” McKnight said. “So respecting where the community is coming from, but hoping that they trust us, that we have absolutely the best interests of their students at heart. We’re here to make sure that their students are able to compete on an equal footing, on an equal basis with students across the country and across the world.”

Teacher assignments slow

Waco ISD and Third Future Schools have conducted multiple town halls for families since spring about the transition. But parents have had a lot of questions leading up to the first day of school.

During Friday’s South Waco open house, families got to meet teachers for their students grades second through fifth. But younger students had not yet been assigned their teachers.

McKnight acknowledged delays in getting those assignments due to calendar and technology access during the transition.

Teachers were expected to be assigned by the time students arrived Tuesday. In the meantime, school officials are working on assigning duties for afterschool activities. Students will continue to participate in music and physical education classes and recess during the school day.

Afterschool programs will start on the first day of school, and the school building will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to meet the needs of students and parents. But parents are responsible for transportation outside of normal bus times.

Looking for structure

Latimer, the South Waco parent, spent nearly every day of the last school year on campus due to her son’s behavioral issues. She considered taking him out of the campus but decided against it due to the proximity of the school.

As a third grader, Latimer’s son failed reading and math on the state standardized tests, but she hopes the constant check-ins will help improve his academics.

“He gets distracted really quick,” Latimer said.

“I know that was the problem. It’s just too much going on for him. He needs to be where he’s more focused by himself, one on one.”

Latimer has no current plans to participate in the afterschool program. However, she appreciates the flexibility it allows for parents who work late.

She is looking forward to the new transition despite all the changes. Most of the 24 classroom teachers came from the Waco and Killeen area. She trusts the new principal because McKnight was her former teacher at Cesar Chavez Middle School.

“I’m kind of excited about this year, kind of nervous still, because again, I know my kid,” Latimer said.

Texas state Rep. James Talarico voted in five elections using his parents’ address after purchasing a home for himself nearby, a practice that may have violated state voting laws, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune found.

This comes weeks after Talarico accused Attorney General Ken Paxton, his opponent in the race for U.S. Senate, of voter fraud for similar actions. The news organizations reported in July that Paxton voted using an address where his estranged wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, said he hasn’t lived for two years.

Paxton has made eradicating voter fraud a cornerstone of his time in office by advocating strict enforcement of the law, including in cases against voters who allegedly used false addresses when casting ballots. Paxton’s campaign has said he is a “lawful, registered Texas voter” but has repeatedly declined to answer detailed questions about his residency and voting history.

Piecing together Talarico’s voting history is more difficult than it is for Paxton. Talarico, unlike the attorney general, redacts his address on the Travis County voter rolls under a state law that allows some public officials to shield personal information for safety reasons. But unredacted records Talarico’s campaign provided the newsrooms show that he listed his parents’ address on his voter registration in November 2021.

He purchased a home in June 2022 but did not change his voter registration address until September 2024, the news organizations’ review of Travis County records shows. The new address is redacted, but Talarico’s campaign previously told the newsrooms that he currently lives and is registered to vote at the north Austin home he owns.

Talarico’s campaign declined to answer questions about his residency and voting history, including when he began living at the home he owns. Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said “right-wing actors” had made “credible threats” about trying to locate Talarico and his family.

Texas law requires that residents register to vote where they live. This ensures they are voting for those who actually represent them. The provisions of the law, however, are “broad and vague,” said Andrew Cates, a Texas ethics attorney.

Courts have previously ruled that there is no single way to determine a voter’s residence, and prosecuting such cases requires proof that a voter “knowingly” or “intentionally” broke the law.

Given this, Cates said he doubts that either Talarico or Paxton committed voter fraud, but he said Paxton should be held to a higher standard. As the state’s top lawyer, Paxton is responsible for enforcing election laws and has aggressively pursued alleged violators.

“When the top officials go looking for people to skewer for it, and then do it themselves, it really smacks of hypocrisy,” Cates said.

In 2024, Paxton helped oust judges on Texas’ highest criminal court who prevented him from unilaterally prosecuting election crimes. And, two weeks before this year’s primary election, Paxton announced the creation of an election fraud tip line. His office warned Texans that “it is illegal to misrepresent your residence on election records or to establish a residence for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.”

Paxton’s unyielding stance on election crimes fueled charges from Talarico and other critics that he considers himself above the law.

“Our Republican secretary of state here in Texas has already said that our elections are safe and secure,” Talarico said at a Houston campaign event last month. “But as our state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton has gone on a voter fraud witch hunt. Turns out, he was committing voter fraud the whole time.”

Last week, Paxton hit back.

In a news release and on social media, Paxton said Talarico broke state law, citing reports from conservative news outlets suggesting the Democrat had not lived in the district for at least a year when he was elected to the Texas House in 2022. Talarico, Paxton said, “blatantly committed election fraud showing a complete disregard for Texas residency requirements.”

Records provided by Talarico’s campaign appear to show that he did comply with residency requirements during the period scrutinized by the conservative outlets.

In October 2021, Talarico announced he would move to the area where he grew up after Republicans redrew his Texas House district to favor their party.

Talarico updated his address to his parents’ home in the new House district on his voter registration, on his driver’s license and with the U.S. Postal Service on Nov. 5, 2021, according to records his campaign provided. Those include a photo of his voter registration application and screenshots of receipts from the Texas Department of Public Safety and USPS. Talarico also rented a 10-foot U-Haul moving truck for six hours that day, according to a screenshot of a receipt.

The changes happened three days before the one-year cutoff, making him eligible to run for that seat.

The records also contradict a claim by one of the conservative outlets that there was no evidence Talarico moved to his parents’ house when he registered to vote there. Paxton seized on that report to accuse Talarico of voter fraud during the 2022 election.

The newsrooms’ findings about Talarico are different because they analyzed the period after the lawmaker purchased a home and found that he continued to vote using his parents’ address. Talarico’s house is in the same county as his parents’ home, which is about 6 miles away. It is in the state House district he represents but in different jurisdictions for some local elections.

Asked about the apparent discrepancy in Talarico’s voter registration and residency, his campaign shifted blame onto the attorney general.

“This is a lame attempt by Ken Paxton to deflect from his own hypocrisy and career of corruption,” Ennis said in a statement, nodding to Paxton’s legal troubles.

Paxton was impeached by the Texas House in 2023 and investigated by the Department of Justice over corruption charges. The state Senate acquitted him, and the federal government dropped its case. Paxton also spent nearly nine years under indictment for felony securities fraud charges that were dropped in 2024.

For his part, Paxton and his campaign on Monday again did not answer questions about the news organizations’ finding that he voted six times over a two-year period while registered at a Collin County home where he appeared to no longer live. It is unclear where Paxton lived during that time, but the publications’ reporting has linked him, and a woman believed to be his girlfriend, to a home in neighboring Denton County since February. As the home is in a different county, voters there select an entirely different slate of local officials than in Collin County.

Paxton spokesperson Madison Cercy doubled down on accusations that Talarico was ineligible to be elected to his seat and also committed voter fraud.

“The only person who has committed voter fraud in the Texas Senate race is James Talarico,” she said. She did not provide evidence of Talarico’s alleged lawbreaking beyond the reports from the conservative outlets.

Matthew Wilson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, argued Paxton’s and Talarico’s cases highlight how easy it can be to “run afoul of the letter of the law,” even as Republican lawmakers push for more stringent enforcement of voting restrictions.

“I think it could be reasonably used as a charge of hypocrisy against either of them because both of them have condemned the other for an action quite similar to what they themselves appear to have done,” Wilson said.

Disclosure: ProPublica and Southern Methodist University 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.

Both addressed supporters, saying the vote count could continue well into the day.

“We knew that this was going to be a close race, and that’s exactly what we’ve got,” Stevens said. “I am feeling fired up, and you should be too.”

The bitter and expensive campaign attracted national attention not just because the general election for the seat will help decide which party controls the Senate. It also became the most notable proxy battle between the Democratic Party's establishment and progressive wings.

Candidates from the left-flank — including democratic socialists — have found surprising success in the party’s U.S. House primaries, including in New York and Denver. Those races, however, were in deep-blue cities.

Michigan has a purple hue. A progressive victory here would be a more significant notch.

El-Sayed maintained a lead as initial results rolled in Tuesday night, though Stevens made up ground as Wayne County, the state’s most populous and home to Detroit, reported more votes into the night.

Wayne has historically released results later than other counties, and its voters have tended toward establishment candidates over progressives. That meant Stevens could see a boost as the counting dragged on, though that did not guarantee victory.

The crowds' energy at each watch party was a measure of the race's competitiveness: Early in the evening, El-Sayed's supporters in Detroit’s Majestic Theatre cheered at the first batches of votes, before mellowing. Hours later, Stevens' previously subdued partygoers roared as she narrowed the margin.

“Whatever happens tonight,” El-Sayed told a thinned but still energetic crowd, “we have a responsibility to ensure that we unite, unite to make sure that Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the U.S. Senate.”

Former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers is the Republican nominee.

El-Sayed, a former Wayne County health director, campaigned on “Medicare for All,” campaign finance reform and ending military aid to Israel. Stevens, a four-term congresswoman, focused on manufacturing and the economy. She stressed her past victories in tough races, saying she would be best positioned to beat Rogers.

Stevens benefited from tens of millions of dollars in outside spending, including the largest investment in a race ever from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which supports pro-Israel candidates.

Voters also chose nominees in competitive House races and for governor. In the GOP gubernatorial primary, U.S. Rep. John James, who was backed by President Donald Trump, beat businessperson Perry Johnson. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson defeated Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Michigan is a must-win Senate race for Democrats

The race will help decide which party controls the chamber in the last two years of President Donald Trump's term. Those stakes have added heat to the rivalry, with moderates arguing that El-Sayed would have a harder time than Stevens against a Republican in the general election.

That divide was laid bare by the two candidates' heavy-hitting backers: Sen. Bernie Sanders supported El-Sayed, while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was behind Stevens.

Stevens won election to Congress in 2018 after serving as chief of staff to President Barack Obama’s auto task force, which helped oversee the federal rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. Her campaign and allied groups have repeatedly highlighted that experience.

El-Sayed, who lost the 2018 gubernatorial primary to now-Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate and argued that Democrats need to reject corporate influence and embrace a more progressive agenda.

While the candidate has said he is not a democratic socialist, he found support from some of the group's members. That included Melat Kiros, who recently beat a longtime incumbent in a Democratic primary for a Denver-based House seat and was at El-Sayed's watch party. Also there was Hasan Piker, a progressive and controversial influencer online.

The candidates' differences were clear to some voters.

Kenneth Woodside, 87, of West Bloomfield, said he voted for El-Sayed over Stevens because “the nation is ready for someone who wants to take some more action rather than on the road we are now, which is on the road to an oligarchy and authoritarianism.”

Nessa Fuller, 51, of Birmingham, said she voted for Stevens because she will “fight to get the right things done, and she’ll work with other people, which is really important to me.”

Outside influences spent millions on the Senate race

National groups poured unprecedented sums into the race, making it one of the country’s biggest tests of outside spending.

Groups backing Stevens spent more than $50 million, led by more than $30 million from AIPAC and its affiliates.

The spending thrust Israel policy into the center of the race even though the ads never mentioned it. While El-Sayed called for ending military aid to Israel, Stevens maintained strong support for the relationship.

Israel became a contentious issue within the Democratic Party amid a war in Gaza that killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in its retaliatory offensive after about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages were taken in attacks by the militant group Hamas.

Voters also decided on governor and US House matchups

Trump traveled to Michigan on July 27 and gave a speech at a General Motors plant, at one point calling the gubernatorial hopeful James and several other Republican politicians, including Rogers, onstage.

Before his primary win, James, a second-term congressman, ran twice unsuccessfully for Senate. The primary turned uglier than Republicans hoped, with Johnson spending big sums of money on ads targeting James.

There are several competitive House races this year that will help decide whether Republicans hold their slim majority or Democrats reclaim the chamber.

In the 4th District, which stretches along Lake Michigan, Democratic state Sen. Sean McCann beat election newcomer Diop Harris II to become the nominee. He will face GOP Rep. Bill Huizenga, who again won his party's nomination.

In the 7th District, community organizer William Lawrence defeated former U.S. Ambassador Bridget Brink and former Navy Seal Matt Maasdam to win the Democratic nomination. Lawrence will challenge Republican Rep. Tom Barrett in the seat representing the Lansing area.

The 10th District, which opened up due to James' run for governor, includes a portion of Oakland County and stretches across conservative communities in Macomb County.

In the GOP primary there, Trump-endorsed Michael Bouchard beat Steffan Demetropoulos and Justin Kirk. For the Democrats, former prosecutor Christina Hines defeated state House Rep. Tim Greimel and former Commerce Department attorney Eric Chung.

And in a heavily Democratic district representing Detroit, the 13th, Rep. Shri Thanedar looked to fend off a primary challenge from state Rep. Donavan McKinney, who argued that the city should once again have a Black representative in Congress. After Thanedar won election in 2022, Detroit had no Black representation in Congress for the first time since the early 1950s.

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Associated Press writers Corey Williams in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and Robert Yoon in Washington contributed.

The move came after passengers and airline staff named “having bags weighed at the gate and struggling to find room in overhead lockers as the more stressful parts of the airport experience,” the carrier said in a statement on Wednesday. It makes Jetstar the latest low-cost carrier to introduce a payment system for carry-on bags, with budget airlines in the United States and Europe commonly charging passengers to use the compartments.

Passengers could stow a purse, laptop bag or small backpack that fitted within specified measurements under the seat in front of them for no charge, Jetstar said. The cost of using the overhead compartments in the cabin would start from 25 Australian dollars ($18) one way, with the price depending on the route.

Bags stowed in the lockers can weigh up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and will no longer be weighed by airline staff as passengers line up to board, Jetstar said. The existing weight limit of 7 kilograms (15 pounds) will be scrapped for the small item placed under travelers’ seats.

Like many carriers worldwide, Australian and New Zealand airlines have already introduced charges for checked luggage, seat selection, and some dining and in-flight entertainment options. An industry analyst said, however, that Jetstar was the first to charge for use of the overhead lockers.

“It will ruffle feathers because Australian travelers have got such high expectations,” said Sharon Petersen, CEO of AirlineRatings.com. “For such a long time they lived in a bubble of full-service options only.”

Jetstar said the change would reduce frustrations at boarding gates.

“By giving customers an underseat bag with the option to add Priority Carry-on, we can make better use of overhead locker space, streamline boarding and help more flights depart on time,” Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully said in a statement.

She added that the move would ensure customers only paid for what they needed. Petersen, however, said Jetstar’s base fares remained higher than those of low-budget carriers in Europe that had brought in similar policies.

“Jetstar’s starting price is generally well above what Ryanair or Wizz Air can offer, largely because Australia lacks that level of competition and because wages, taxes and operating costs sit much higher here,” she said.

“We must act now to stem the rise in child deaths, which this crisis is provoking,” John Aylieff, WFP’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement, adding that “it is already too late for too many.”

Afghanistan continues to recover from decades of conflict and upheaval, including the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021 as the Taliban took power.

Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office in Afghanistan, said nutrition specialists report that “wasting among children has worsened this year in over three-quarters of the country.” Children suffering from a condition known as wasting are acutely malnourished, become very thin for their height, and need immediate therapeutic feeding.

But “too many children arrive at health facilities severely malnourished” while others never make it, Cherevko told reporters at U.N. headquarters by video from Afghanistan, where she has traveled across the country in recent months and weeks.

WFP said 142 health centers closed in 2025 because of aid reductions and more than 13,000 children lost access to nutrition treatment. It did not mention any specific donor, such as the United States, where the Trump administration has made sweeping cuts in foreign aid.

Nearly 3.7 million Afghan children are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year, along with 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women, according to WFP.

The agency said 12 Afghan provinces have reached critical levels of acute child malnutrition, a record number. It cited a combination of conflict, unemployment, rising food prices, disease outbreaks, poor water and sanitation and reduced humanitarian funding.

Deliveries delayed by the Iran war and other fighting

WFP said supply shortages linked to conflict in the Middle East and the nine-month closure of Pakistan’s border because of fighting between the neighbors have disrupted deliveries of nutrition products, leaving nearly one million malnourished women and children without essential nutrition services for five months.

From August through October, WFP said food distributions aimed at preventing famine in the worst-hit areas are being suspended due to lack of funding, even though the annual peak season for malnutrition is between July and October.

It said it urgently needs $540 million over the next six months.

WFP previously described cuts as ‘devastating’

Humanitarian groups in Afghanistan are grappling with steep funding cuts. In February, Aylieff told The Associated Press that cuts had been “devastating” and were forcing the agency to turn away three out of four acutely malnourished children.

Funding for food assistance has dropped sharply — by about 59% since 2022 — even as needs have surged, according to a recent WFP report.

In June, the U.S. pledged $800 million to WFP, which said it will help more than 38 million people in at least 37 countries.

Cherevko of the U.N. humanitarian office said the larger $1.71 billion humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan is just over 26% funded, which is “alarming,” especially since malnutrition and other indicators are worsening.

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Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Jeanine John Taele, 38, took photos and video and had a 16-round magazine with ammunition in his pocket. A search of his pickup truck in the golf course parking lot turned up a loaded 9mm pistol, binoculars and a badge that read “security protection agent.” according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

Law enforcement searched his home in the nearby city of Downey on Monday and found a rifle and other firearms, magazines and ammunition, body armor and notebooks with “concerning statements," federal authorities said. No details about the statements were released.

The sheriff’s department announced the arrest as Trump was preparing to arrive for the Republican National Committee dinner Tuesday at the Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes just south of Los Angeles.

“Mr. Taele’s troubling behavior at the President’s public golf course merely days before the President was expected to arrive raised serious red flags for law enforcement,” Patrick Grandy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, said in a statement. “There is no room for error, particularly in light of previous attempts on President Trump’s life.”

Last year a jury found a man guilty of trying to assassinate Trump at the president’s Florida country club. And while a candidate in 2024, Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by a shooter on a roof at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Ahead of Tuesday’s event, federal agents conducted a security assessment last Friday at the Trump course near Los Angeles. A person later identified as Taele was seen walking throughout the course, wore an earpiece and took photographs and videos of federal agents’ activities, authorities said.

Taele drove away but then returned to the course Sunday. He approached federal agents and said he was employed by the State Department and was there for a security detail. Taele said he had a loaded weapon in his vehicle and was arrested after it was searched, according to federal officials.

Taele was charged with several felonies including second-degree robbery, receiving a large-capacity magazine and possession of a short-barreled rifle or shotgun. He was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle, a misdemeanor.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges Monday and was ordered to stay away from the golf course and not possess weapons. His bail was set at $250,000.

It wasn’t clear if Taele had an attorney, and family members could not immediately be reached for comment.

In the fifth inning, Lombard drove an 0-2 sweeper from starter Hunter Dobbins (2-2) into the left-field seats for his first career hit. As he completed his first home run trot in the majors, Lombard’s parents hugged in the stands.

Lombard’s 392-foot shot gave New York a 2-0 lead and made him the first Yankees shortstop to homer in his major league debut. It was the first homer by any Yankees player in his big league debut since Jasson Domínguez went deep in his initial plate appearance against Justin Verlander in Houston on Sept. 1, 2023.

At 21 years, 63 days old, Lombard became the sixth-youngest Yankees player since 1985 to make his debut and the second-youngest shortstop in that span. Derek Jeter debuted May 29, 1995, in Seattle at 20 years, 337 days.

Lombard also helped Ryan Weathers (5-7) pitch six strong innings by starting inning-ending double plays in the second and fifth.

In the second, Lombard ranged to his right to field Blaze Jordan’s grounder and made an off-balance throw to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. In the fifth, Lombard ranged to his left, fielded Nathan Church’s grounder behind second base, stepped on the bag and made a clean throw to first baseman Ben Rice.

Chisholm also homered in the second as the Yankees won for the 10th time in 16 games.

Weathers allowed four hits in his second straight scoreless start. The lefty struck out six, walked none and stranded two in the sixth when Yankees newcomer Heliot Ramos charged in to catch Jose Fermin’s flyball to left field.

David Bednar got four outs for his 25th save in 27 chances to complete New York’s AL-best 12th shutout.

Dobbins allowed two runs and four hits in 6 1/3 innings.

The Cardinals were blanked for the sixth time. They scratched All-Star outfielder Jordan Walker shortly before first pitch due to right knee inflammation.

Up next

St. Louis RHP Andre Pallante (11-6, 3.72 ERA) opposes New York RHP Will Warren (11-6, 4.14) in Wednesday night’s series finale.

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This story has been corrected to show that Lombard started a double play in the second inning, not the third.

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

A few hours later, Lombard was exchanging memorabilia with the fans who caught the first home run ball of his career.

After being called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the day, Lombard gave the Yankees a two-run lead in Tuesday night’s 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals by hitting a 392-foot solo shot off Hunter Dobbins in the fifth inning.

Lombard rounded the bases as his parents cheered and hugged in the stands. His father, George Lombard Sr., is the bench coach for the Detroit Tigers and a former major league player himself.

“It was really cool,” the younger Lombard said. “Being a close game, it was a big run. So it was probably a moment, a swing, a day I won’t forget.”

The 21-year-old Lombard became the first Yankees shortstop to homer in his major league debut. After the game, the touted prospect met in the hallway outside the clubhouse with the fans who caught the ball. He signed hats and traded a bat for the souvenir ball while posing for pictures.

Lombard was the 14th player in franchise history to hit a home run in his big league debut and first since Jasson Domínguez went deep in his initial plate appearance against Justin Verlander in Houston on Sept. 1, 2023. The group also includes injured captain Aaron Judge (2016) and Hall of Famer Yogi Berra (1946).

At 21 years, 63 days old, Lombard became the sixth-youngest Yankees player since 1985 to make his debut and the second-youngest shortstop in that span. Derek Jeter debuted May 29, 1995, in Seattle at 20 years, 337 days.

Lombard also started inning-ending double plays in the second and fifth.

“Obviously, a great first night for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The home run was great. The defense was tremendous.”

In the second, Lombard ranged to his right to field Blaze Jordan’s grounder and made an off-balance throw to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. In the fifth, Lombard ranged to his left, fielded Nathan Church’s grounder behind second base, stepped on the bag and made a clean throw to first baseman Ben Rice.

“It’s one of those plays that you practice,” Lombard said. “I’ve made that play countless times in practice. Just getting to the game and it’s your body kind of takes over.”

Lombard wasn't the only player to make his Yankees debut Tuesday night. Newly acquired outfielder Heliot Ramos went 0 for 4 but made a nice catch in left field with two runners aboard in the sixth. Ramos was obtained from the San Francisco Giants before Monday’s trade deadline.

To make room for Lombard and Ramos, shortstop Anthony Volpe and Domínguez were optioned to Triple-A, where Volpe is expected to see time at second base.

On Monday, general manager Brian Cashman implied the Tigers and Orioles asked for Lombard in potential deals for Tarik Skubal and Adley Rutschman, who were acquired by the Dodgers and Red Sox, respectively.

Lombard, a first-round draft pick by New York in 2023, began this season by hitting .312 in 20 games with Double-A Somerset. After getting promoted to Triple-A, he batted .268 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 56 games.

Lombard’s time in Triple-A was interrupted by a left finger injury that sidelined him for nearly a month. He batted .377 in 14 games after returning and went 4 for 5 with three RBIs in a 13-3 win over Iowa on Sunday.

Ramos joined the Yankees after hitting .264 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 74 games for the Giants.

“When I first found out about the news I started shaking a little bit because obviously I didn’t know anything else,” Ramos said Tuesday afternoon. “But then I realized, I’m like, man, I’m going to be a New York Yankee. Like, that’s crazy.”

Ramos is expected to get the bulk of his playing time in left field, where he started 64 games for the Giants this season. He did not make any errors in 111 chances after leading National League left fielders with nine errors last year.

Besides adding Lombard and Ramos to the roster, the Yankees promoted Yerry de los Santos from the minors to replace Angel Chivilli in the bullpen.

Chivilli was optioned to Triple-A after allowing three homers in the eighth inning Monday, including Alec Burleson’s third of the game. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 15 appearances for the Yankees, who acquired him from Colorado in January.

In five appearances for the Yankees, de los Santos has a 1.04 ERA.

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This story has been corrected to show that Lombard started a double play in the second inning, not the third.

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

During much of the Trump era, Democratic primary voters have often followed the urging of party leaders and favored moderate candidates like U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens. But this year, they've veered toward insurgents like Abdul El-Sayed, who tapped into widespread discontent with the Democratic establishment and the status quo in Washington.

The race was too early to call after midnight Wednesday with only a few percentage points separating the two candidates.

Democrats need to rack up as many wins as possible to take back the U.S. Senate, so the party has little room for error against the Republican nominee, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.

Republicans faced their own test in Michigan in the governor's race, where President Donald Trump's handpicked candidate, U.S. Rep. John James, defeated Perry Johnson, a wealthy, free-spending outsider.

More primaries were taking place in Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington. The contests will solidify November matchups, particularly in Virginia, where Democrats failed to redraw the state's congressional map earlier this year.

Here are some takeaways from Tuesday's elections:

Test time for Democrats in Michigan’s Senate race

The choice between El-Sayed and Stevens has become a focal point for Democrats this year, and the race has become bitter. Whoever wins will need to bring splintered factions back into the fold to beat Rogers.

Speaking at her election night party as votes were still being counted, Stevens looked ahead to the general election and said voters had to be ready to take on Rogers in the fall. El-Sayed, speaking at his own event, said that there was “so much more that unites us."

“Tomorrow we begin to mend fences," El-Sayed said.

The seat is open because Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, and Democrats are under pressure to defend it to preserve their chance of winning control of the chamber.

The campaigns have taken sharp aim at one another. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of El-Sayed’s most prominent supporters, called Stevens “nothing more than an employee” of billionaires. El-Sayed has been a pointed critic of Israel and called the military campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” an accusation rejected by the Israeli and U.S. governments.

Stevens has criticized El-Sayed’s style, comparing him unfavorably to a celebrity who is always “running at the first mic or camera.” She has also suggested he’s not electable in the fall, saying Republicans have been propping him up because they think El-Sayed will be easier to beat.

Trump’s endorsement overpowers self-funded candidate for governor

Republican voters picked their nominee for Michigan governor on Tuesday as well, going with Trump's endorsed candidate, Rep. John James.

The president’s backing typically carries significant weight in Republican politics, but businessman Perry Johnson had lent his campaign more than $30 million, according to Michigan campaign finance records.

Trump's endorsement hasn't always overcome big spending. In Georgia’s race for governor, Rick Jackson spent $100 million, largely of his own money, to defeat Trump-backed Burt Jones in a runoff.

On the Democratic side in Michigan, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson defeated Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson.

AIPAC continues to be a lightning rod

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee has long been an influential force in U.S. politics, but it's been under pressure as Democratic support for Israel erodes over the war in Gaza.

The organization has suffered a series of losses in Democratic primaries that saw a surge of progressive candidates. Victors range from Rep. Analilia Mejia, who won a special election to Congress in suburban New Jersey, to Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who captured the Democratic nomination for a U.S. House seat in Illinois.

AIPAC's biggest investment has been in Michigan, where it and its affiliates have spent more than $30 million supporting Stevens, a stalwart backer of Israel. El-Sayed and his backers have seized on the group's intervention as an example of the problems of big money in politics.

Although the outcome in Michigan remained uncertain, AIPAC had some success Tuesday. In Missouri, former Rep. Cori Bush fell short in her rematch against Rep. Wesley Bell, who defeated her two years ago.

Bush had blamed her previous loss on AIPAC, even vowing revenge on the organization in her concession speech. "AIPAC, I'm coming to tear your kingdom down!” she pledged.

However, she was quickly defeated as voters in the St. Louis-area district decided to stick with Bell.

Virginia is on Democrats' minds

One of Democrats' most bitter defeats this cycle took place in Virginia, where that state's supreme court in May overturned a voter-approved initiative to redraw the state's House map to make four more seats easier for the party to win.

The failed effort was part of Democrats' attempt to match Republicans' own redistricting campaign, which was spurred by Trump last year in hopes of making it easier for his party to hold control of the House.

Democrats are optimistic they can recover at least a couple of those Virginia seats the old-fashioned way. On Tuesday, they got what they wanted in the state's two swing seats, with former Rep. Elaine Luria winning the nomination to compete for the 1st District in Virginia Beach and prosecutor Shannon Taylor getting the nod to run in the Richmond-area 2nd District.

The longer shot comes in the heavily rural 5th District in central Virginia, where Tom Perriello, who briefly represented the region in President Barack Obama's first term, won the Democratic nomination to try to win a now even more conservative-leaning seat.

El-Sayed is a progressive who’s run against much of the Democratic machine. Stevens has establishment support, and she’s backed by roughly $30 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Democrats will likely need to defend the open Senate seat against Republican Mike Rogers in order to take control of the Senate next year.

Meanwhile, Rep. Wesley Bell won Tuesday's Democratic primary in Missouri's 1st Congressional District against former Rep. Cori Bush, settling a rematch that provided a test of America's evolving viewpoints on Israel.

Bell was backed by a political group affiliated with AIPAC. The pro-Israeli group also financed his ouster of Bush in the 2024 primary after Bush criticized Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack on the country in 2023.

In Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state, voters are settling primaries in a host of races. Also in play is whether Democrats, who tried to redraw districts in Virginia to their advantage but were rebuffed by the state supreme court, can pick candidates who can defeat Republicans in the fall.

Here is a look at the Latest:

El-Sayed says ‘tomorrow we begin to mend fences’ after bruising primary

With votes still being counted, Abdul El-Sayed called for Democratic unity headed into the general election, saying the primary slog “pales in comparison to the lies that Mike Rogers and Donald Trump are going to tell.”

“There is so much more that unites us than divides us,” he said. “Whatever happens tonight, we have a responsibility to ensure that we unite, unite to make sure that Mike Rogers never sees the inside of the U.S. Senate.”

Abdul El-Sayed does not declare victory, but says he vastly overperformed expectations

El-Sayed said it was too early for him to declare victory but still praised his supporters and the movement behind his campaign.

“I wish I could tell you I was declaring victory right about now,” he said.

The crowd, which had grown quieter in recent hours, grew loud as his speech went on.

“We are not a purple state. We are a state in need of a movement,” he said.

Abdul El-Sayed takes the stage in Detroit

The crowd chanted “Abdul! Abdul! Abdul!” as the progressive candidate took the stage at Detroit’s Majestic Theatre. An election night digital display was lifted to reveal a Michigan state flag.

Stevens urges supporters to ‘get some sleep or get some coffee’ and await results

“Then we got to be ready to go,” U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens told a crowd in Detroit, focusing on the road to a general election against Republican nominee Mike Rogers.

“We got to wake up and be ready to go, because if we are going to win this thing, which we are, we are going to have to get ready and show Mike Rogers what a little stick it to ’em looks like.”

Haley Stevens tells watch party results may come in the early morning

Stevens entered the room to chants of “Haley.”

“We knew this was going to be a close race,” Stevens said. She said the primary results may not be finalized until early morning.

“Friends, I am feeling good,” Stevens said.

Michigan Democratic officials show up at Stevens’ watch party

Former U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, former Gov. Jim Blanchard and U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten appeared at Stevens’ watch party to back a candidate who has leaned heavily on endorsements from top party officials.

“She’s really a terrific legislator, and at the same time, I know she can beat Mike Rogers,” Stabenow told The Associated Press.

Stabenow, who was the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate from Michigan, said it was essential for voters to rally behind whoever wins. She said she hopes the other candidate endorses the winner.

“I know Haley will,” Stabenow said.

Stevens campaigned earlier this week with Stabenow and Scholten at events in Muskegon Heights and Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has also been endorsed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and retiring U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, whose seat Stevens hopes to win.

William Lawrence will take on incumbent Tom Barrett for critical seat this fall

“This is a great night, but I want to make one thing clear - the JOB IS NOT FINISHED,” Lawrence posted on X following his primary victory.

The 7th District, which includes the state capital of Lansing, is one of the most competitive in Michigan. In 2024, the district flipped red when Tom Barrett won with 50.3% of the vote, though Barrett previously lost to a Democrat in 2022.

Lawrence is more progressive than his competitors, which some worry may jeopardize the seat for Democrats.

The Democratic candidate cofounded the Sunrise Movement, an environmental advocacy group. In his victory speech, he focused on opposing data centers and billionaires in politics.

“Everybody here in the 7th District, regardless of your political persuasion, we share so much more in common than that which separates us,” Lawrence said. “We share so much more in common than these billionaires in Silicon Valley, and Wall Street, and these insiders in D.C. We’re gonna find that common ground.”

US Rep. John James calls on Michigan’s ‘politically homeless’ to join him after GOP gubernatorial nomination win

James said Tuesday that his victory marked a beginning to “Michigan’s comeback.”

Warning against a “socialist agenda” he said was backed by Democratic nominee Jocelyn Benson, James added that “we should never underestimate how pain and desperation make false promises sound like hope.”

In remarks to supporters, James also thanked Trump, who backed him in his effort to defeat Perry Johnson. The businessman had lent his campaign more than $30 million, according to state campaign finance records.

If elected in November, James would become Michigan’s first Black governor.

Former prosecutor Christina Hines wins Michigan’s 10th District Democratic primary

Hines beat former state House Rep. Tim Greimel and former Commerce Department attorney Eric Chung.

Democrats have targeted the 10th Congressional District as they try to win a majority in the U.S. House. The district includes a portion of Oakland County and stretches across very red communities in Macomb County.

It’s currently held by Republican U.S. Rep. John James, who is running for Michigan governor.

El-Sayed campaign says he will speak within the hour

The campaign announced at El-Sayed’s primary night event in Detroit that he would speak no later than 1 a.m. ET even if a race call has not happened. Attendees were remaining upbeat, although the crowd in the Majestic Theatre had thinned substantially.

El-Sayed had projected confidence going into the final day of the campaign, already looking ahead toward facing Republican Mike Rogers. But after midnight, the race remained too early to call.

Democrats’ US Senate nominee in Kansas can raise money, but winning remains tough

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist congregation, emerged from an 11-person Democratic field in Tuesday’s primary after fundraising at a far faster clip than incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall.

But Marshall’s status as an incumbent — and his lack of serious opposition to the GOP nomination — allowed him to start the fall campaign with far more cash on hand. History gives him another advantage in Republican-leaning Kansas: No Democrat has won a U.S. Senate race in the state since 1932.

Hamilton, founder of the 22,000-member Church of the Resurrection, raised nearly $4.4 million after entering the race in February, his campaign finance reports show. Marshall has raised about $1.6 million this year, but he didn’t start from zero.

Marshall emerged from the primary with about $5.5 million in cash on hand, spending less than $327,000 as of mid-July. Hamilton spent about $2.4 million on his primary campaign and is starting the fall race with about $2 million in cash.

Michigan state Sen. Sean McCann defeats Diop Harris II in 4th District Democratic primary

McCann is trying to flip a Republican-held district that runs along Lake Michigan in the western part of the state.

A Kalamazoo native and former state representative, McCann was elected in 2022 to the Michigan Senate. He also served as a Kalamazoo city commissioner.

Harris, a political newcomer, worked as a staff assistant and legislative correspondent for Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Trump weighs in on Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary

President Donald Trump said he expected that Michigan Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, would fare better in the Senate race if Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee.

“Based on the polls, he’ll do much better against Abdul than he’s going to do against the congresswoman (Democrat Haley Stevens),” Trump said in a pre-taped interview with the show “Fox News @ Night.”

The president said that Democrats who identify as socialist would destroy the nation’s cities if elected.

“They’re always filthy, disgusting, dirty, and that’s what you’ll get,” said Trump, who added that he is a “clean person.”

Stevens supporter says people are ready for change but questions if El-Sayed can deliver

Derryl Reed said he was so confident Stevens is going to win that he brought a bouquet of flowers to give to her.

“I want to come out and support her and congratulate her on her victory,” Reed, 79, said.

Reed, who is on the Oakland County Democratic Party’s leadership team, said he understands Abdul El-Sayed’s appeal as an outsider candidate, but it’s that same lack of political experience that would hurt his chances in the general election.

El-Sayed is “able to come out and promise things,” Reed said. “The question is, can he deliver on the things he’s promised?”

Reed said no matter who wins the primary, Stevens and El-Sayed have to meet within the week to present a united front Democratic voters can rally behind.

“Democrats need to get their acts together. Trump and the Republicans have given them so much material to work with, it shouldn’t even be close,” Reed said. “It should be a landslide in November.”

William Lawrence defeats 2 other Democrats in Michigan’s 7th District primary

Lawrence, a community organizer, will face Republican incumbent Tom Barrett, who flipped the competitive district red in 2024. Barret’s win helped Republicans keep a slim majority in the U.S. House.

Lawrence supports government funding of universal healthcare and quality housing, according to his campaign website.

On Tuesday, he defeated Bridget Brink, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and former Navy SEAL Matt Maasdam. Barrett ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

El-Sayed holds narrow lead with decisive Wayne County votes still to come

Abdul El-Sayed maintained a lead over Haley Stevens as initial results were released. He was propelled by strong performances in Kent County, home to Grand Rapids, and heavily Democratic Washtenaw County.

Stevens narrowed El-Sayed’s lead as Wayne County, the state’s most populous, released more results. Home to Detroit, Wayne has the state’s highest share of Black residents and is a Democratic stronghold in general elections. Stevens targeted a big showing there, including bringing in South Carolina U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn to stump on her behalf.

In recent establishment-vs.-progressive matchups, Wayne has delivered for the establishment candidate, although that doesn’t guarantee a statewide victory. Hillary Clinton won about 60% in Wayne in Michigan’s 2016 presidential primary but still lost the state narrowly to Bernie Sanders.

Wayne County historically releases results later than most of the state, which could result in a boost for Stevens as the night wears on.

Republican John Braun advances in battleground Washington district

State Sen. John Braun will advance to the general election in the 3rd Congressional District, challenging Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in one of the GOP’s top pickup opportunities.

Gluesenkamp Perez has won twice in the Republican-leaning district, both times defeating Joe Kent, who faced scrutiny about his ties to white nationalists.

Compared with Kent, Braun has a more conventional Republican background. He’s the president of a family business that makes ambulances and other emergency response vehicles, and he has served more than a decade in the state Legislature, rising to be the Senate Republican leader.

The district in Southwest Washington includes the northern suburbs of Portland, Oregon, as well as rural communities reliant on ports, timber, agriculture and fishing.

US Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez fends off progressive challenger in battleground Washington district

The moderate Democrat will advance to the general election despite a longshot challenge from the left in the 3rd Congressional District.

Gluesenkamp Perez, who has won twice in a battleground district that voted for Trump, is one of a dwindling number of Democrats representing a rural, working class district.

She’s been vocal in warning her fellow Democrats that their party is losing touch with blue-collar voters like those she represents.

Challenger Brent Hennrich made a progressive case against her, highlighting her votes for the Laken Riley immigration bill and a version of the SAVE Act, a voting bill favored by Trump.

But he struggled to raise money or secure support from progressive politicians and interest groups that have helped insurgent challengers topple Democratic incumbents this year in Colorado and New York.

Bush says ‘I am not down, sad’ after loss to Bell

With her supporters cheering and clapping, Bush said she remains “that same fighter that stood up for you before.”

“I don’t have to have a title to fight for my people, St. Louis,” she said.

Saying Bell had ties to Republican candidates in the past, Bush also implied that GOP forces had targeted the district for possible redrawing “because if they make this a Republican district, they already got somebody ready.”

Bell, a former St. Louis County prosecutor, was backed by a political group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The pro-Israeli group also financed his ouster of Bush in the 2024 primary after Bush criticized Israel’s response in Gaza to Hamas’ attack on the country in 2023.

“This ain’t over, y’all,” she said. “Let them all reap what they sow.”

Bell thanks voters for putting their faith in him a second time

“There’s going to be times we disagree on issues, but that should never stop us from doing the work for regular folks,” Bell said. He went on to say that is “because progressives are supposed to make progress.”

Bell said he saw “cruelty, chaos and corruption” from the Trump administration, which the crowd chanted “yes” in response to. He said November is a chance for voters to have a voice.

“To everyone who trusted me to represent you, thank you, and when we talk about the progress we need to make, I think the folks know, and St. Louis knows, that I’m always going to wake up working for you,” Bell said.

Cori Bush, in losing rematch, says Wesley Bell ‘ran a whole campaign on smears’

The former U.S. House member was greeted with chants of “we love you, Cori” as she took the stage at an events center in Dellwood, more than an hour after U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell was declared victor of the Democratic primary rematch.

Bush, who had been part of the progressive group of House members known as the “Squad,” also says Republican billionaires “want to control this district,” referencing GOP efforts to possibly redistrict the area more favorably to their party.

Polls have closed in Washington state

In-person voting centers in Washington closed at 8 p.m. PT, which is 11 p.m. ET. The state votes almost entirely by mail. Comparable past elections can offer clues about when to expect the first vote results and how long the vote count might take.

In the 2024 state primary, the AP first reported results at 11:06 p.m. ET, or six minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 11:43 p.m. ET, with about 51% of total votes counted. The vote count surpassed the 75% mark on the Thursday following the election at 7:56 p.m. ET and reached about 95% of the total vote six days after the election at 7:24 p.m. ET.

▶ Follow tonight’s results in Washington

Stevens’ watch party buoyed by Wayne County votes

Stevens’ supporters moved into an adjoining room with a large American flag overlooking the crowd to the tune of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.”

Buoyed by incoming votes from Wayne County, people chatted, occasionally breaking out into chants of “Haley.” Some held up signs above the crowd reading “Haley Stevens for US Senate” and “Michigan Made.”

Michigan has seen big increases in early voting and voting by mail

The number of people who voted in person early at Michigan polling places ahead of Tuesday’s primary was nearly double the number for the 2024 primary, Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie said.

Edevbie also said that the number of people voting by mail also increased by more than 20% compared to the 2022 primary.

He said during a brief news conference that 1.3 million people had cast mail ballots as of Tuesday, up 226,000 from the 2022 primary. Another 139,000 people voted early in person — compared to fewer than 74,000 in 2024.

Edevbie also told reporters that 28,000 people registered to vote Tuesday and then cast their ballots.

Chris Stigall wins Missouri Republican primary to replace longtime US Rep. Sam Graves

The conservative talk radio host’s victory in the five-person primary gives him an edge in the November election for the sprawling 6th Congressional District that includes rural northern Missouri and part of Kansas City.

Graves has represented the district for a quarter century and currently is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Stigall once worked for Graves and was endorsed by the congressman shortly after Graves announced in late March that he was not seeking reelection.

US Rep. Wesley Bell says in victory speech that he will work for the people in St. Louis

“When we think about all of the division that we hear, I think it is important that we focus on what this place can be,” Bell said.

Bell’s speech focused on the work he plans to do for the city, which was met with applause. He described St. Louis as a “sleeping giant” and encouraged applause for campaign volunteers around the room.

“I have a tremendous group of folks, and we just got to work,” Bell said.

Stevens watch party cheers for Wayne County votes

The crowd at Stevens’ watch party erupted into cheers, applause and chants of “Haley” as votes from Wayne County, Michigan’s most populous, began to roll in.

The campaign over a failed ballot measure showed Kansas what judicial races might have looked like

Spending on broadcast and digital advertising reached nearly $13 million during the campaign over an unsuccessful proposal to amend the Kansas Constitution to elect state Supreme Court justices, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Voters rejected the measure in Tuesday’s primary.

Opponents of the Kansas ballot measure spent almost $9 million on broadcast and digital ads. That was more than twice as much as the $4 million spent by supporters.

The governor now appoints the justices from among three finalists selected by a nominating commission, with no role for the Republican-controlled Legislature. The measure’s backers had hoped that if they were successful, they could start electing conservative justices in 2028.

Twenty-two states elect their justices, and some have multi-million dollar races. In Wisconsin, spending in a race last year topped $100 million.

Authorities released the names Tuesday of the people who died when the 24-year-old gunman opened fire at the Twin Falls restaurant. Police have said they are confident he acted alone but were still trying to determine a motive.

Police identified those killed as Ashley Garibay, 23, from Stockton, California; Dale Schultz, 66, of Salt Lake City; and Christopher Claunch, 59, of Hagerman, Idaho, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) northwest of Twin Falls.

Hundreds of community members, many holding candles or roses, gathered at a park in Twin Falls Tuesday night for a vigil to honor the victims. Some wrote notes to those who had been killed on large blue hearts arranged on a trio of crosses while others stood arm-in-arm and prayed.

Teresa Yocham, who lives in Twin Falls, said the shooting sickened her and she wanted to come out to show support.

“We are strong as a community and we come together in hard times and that's what this was about,” she said.

Victims of the shooting remembered

Garibay worked for the burger chain on a team that trained new employees away from her home in Stockton. Her family said she loved her work and called her an “amazing, beautiful soul who loved living life.”

“She was adventurous, outgoing, smart and driven, never letting obstacles get in her way," her family said in a statement. “She lit up a room with her bright smile and a laugh that was contagious.”

The In-N-Out location opened in late July as part of the California chain’s Idaho expansion. Garibay got her first job at one of the restaurants, and she dreamed of one day managing one of the stores, her family said.

One of Claunch’s friends, Garren Taylor, said Claunch completed a rehab program for alcohol abuse in Idaho a couple of years ago and was immediately hired at the center. Taylor said Claunch, known to those close to him as “Toph,” dedicated his life to helping others get sober.

“He helped hundreds of people,” Taylor said Monday. “He was just a gift to anyone he came in contact with. It wasn’t about the paycheck. His attitude was: ‘I get to help someone today.’ ”

Gregory Glenn, pastoral administrator for the Madeleine Choir School in Salt Lake City, described Schultz as a “beloved alumni parent" and "gifted artist” in a post on social media. He said Schultz 's wife was injured in the shooting.

“While we mourn the loss of Dale, we continue to pray for Reinette, who remains hospitalized as she recovers from her injuries,” he wrote Monday.

Police have opened a center where those who were affected by the shooting can get support and request or collect personal items left at the scene. Flags in the city will be at half-staff until next week.

Chaos at In-N-Out Burger

The attack Saturday at the In-N-Out Burger ended when the gunman, identified by police as Chad Williams, shot and killed himself.

Witnesses described a chaotic scene in and around the Idaho restaurant as shots were fired. One customer told The Associated Press that she and her daughters were waiting inside when she heard shots from the kitchen and an employee told her to get down. Another woman and her mother were waiting in the drive-thru line when they saw people running across the road and workers bolting out of the restaurant as a man directing traffic told them there was a shooter.

A man who was at a stoplight near the restaurant described seeing a person with an AR-style rifle emerge from the drive-thru and a man with a pistol start firing toward the suspect.

During the attack, an off-duty state trooper and a civilian fired on Williams, diverting him from the restaurant, police have said.

Steven Pixley was among those injured. He was riding his motorcycle near the In-N-Out when he heard a pop and his left hand dropped, his cousin Shane Klaas said Tuesday.

A bullet went into his arm above his elbow and exited right below it, Klaas said. The shooting left Pixley without use of three of his fingers, and doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down so they can do surgery, Klaas said.

“His attitude is wonderful, which is a big part of getting through this,” Klaas said. “He’s laughing, he’s joking.”

Klaas said Pixley recently moved to Twin Falls, found a job and was trying to get his life together.

“He had everything in front of him,” Klaas said. “And then this just, I mean, this is just senseless.”

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Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle and Hallie Golden contributed to this report.

Weigman, one of the best signal callers in the Big 12 and nation, accounted for 36 total touchdowns in his first season at Houston – 25 passing and 11 rushing – which led the Big 12 and was seventh-most nationally. Weigman’s 3,405 yards of offense were the most since 2021 and 12th most since 1996 – his 700 rushing yards were the second most by a Houston QB since 1996.

Among returning Big 12 quarterbacks, Weigman’s 25 passing touchdowns is second in the league, his 11 rushing touchdowns are tied for the most in the conference, his 2,705 passing yards are third in the Big 12 and his 700 rushing yards leads the league, his 65.2 completion percentage leads returning Big 12 QBs and his 147.1 QB rating ranks second.

The three-time Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honoree in 2025 was a Davey Obrien QB Class of 2025 watch list selection and was one of four FBS quarterbacks in 2025 with 25+ passing touchdowns and 10+ rushing touchdowns. His 36 total touchdowns were ninth most in a single season in Cougar history.

In his start against Arizona, in 2025, Weigman became the first Houston quarterback with three passing TD, a rushing TD, and a 95+ rushing yard game without an interception since Kevin Kolb in 2003 and led Houston to five game winning drives or come-from-behind victories (Oregon State, Ari-zona, Arizona State, UCF, Baylor).

Weigman is one of 15 Big 12 Conference selections to the Maxwell Award Preseason Watch List and one of 10 returning Big 12 student-athletes (non-transfers) to be selected to the Watch List.

The Cougars are coming off a 10-win season in 2025 which concluded with a Texas Bowl win over LSU.

Houston returns its starting quarterback, Conner Weigman, and his favorite wide receiver threat, Preseason All-Big America selection Amare Thomas, who will look to continue to build on their connection again this season. On defense, three starting defensive backs return with Jordan Allen, Will James and Kentrell Webb primed to hold down the secondary.

Thirteen different Cougars have earned preseason accolades with Weigman being named to the Maxwell Award Watch List, Thomas being named a Preseason All-American, and Allen and James earning preseason all-conference accolades.

The Cougars are one of four Big 12 Conference teams that earned a preseason ranking by the FBS coaches. TCU, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Kansas State also earned votes.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner actually enjoyed the chilly reception.

Skubal pitched six effective innings in his first start with Los Angeles, but the Dodgers managed just four hits in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The ace left-hander was serenaded with boos when he was introduced with the starting lineups and once again when he went out to the mound for his first career appearance at Wrigley Field.

“Whether they’re rooting against you or for you, I love the fans," Skubal said. “This game is about the fans as much as it’s about the players. But the fans create the environment. It's a ton of fun to play in front of crowds like that, even if they’re booing me or whatever it is.”

The 29-year-old Skubal was acquired in a trade with Detroit on Saturday night. The Dodgers are hoping he can play a key role in its third consecutive World Series championship. He went 4-1 with a 1.95 ERA in his last six starts for the Tigers, striking out 50 in 37 innings.

Skubal, who is eligible for free agency after this season, surrendered two runs and four hits in his first start with LA. He struck out six and walked two while throwing 85 pitches, 51 for strikes.

“Tarik's stuff was good. It was good,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I think that this was the first time I saw him live, but even when it’s not perfect, it’s still pretty dang good.”

Skubal’s arrival cemented the Dodgers’ status as the majors’ most imposing franchise and public enemy No. 1 for fans of other teams. A plane flew over Wrigley hours before his first start with a banner that read “THE DODGERS RUINED BASEBALL,” but the message appeared to be upside down.

“I’m sure that’s not going to be the only, you know, rowdy atmosphere on the road,” Skubal said. “I plan on pitching in front of those atmospheres for the rest of the season. And then obviously when it comes postseason time, I’ll be ready to go.”

Skubal struck out three while retiring his first six batters. He surrendered a leadoff homer to Dansby Swanson on his first pitch of the third, and Chicago put two runners on with two down. But Skubal retired Alex Bregman on a flyball to center fielder Andy Pages, ending the inning.

Skubal allowed a second run on Nico Hoerner's infield chopper with two down in the sixth, giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

“I’m glad he’s on our side,” shortstop Mookie Betts said of Skubal. “He did an amazing job tonight.”

The NL West-leading Dodgers backed Skubal with a couple of stellar defensive plays. Pages robbed Seiya Suzuki and Pedro Ramírez with two terrific catches, and Kyle Tucker made a lunging grab on Hoerner’s sinking liner to right in the second.

“I mean Pages in center, he covered a ton of ground on all those kind of soft flyballs, and Tuck made some good plays, too,” Skubal said.

Skubal threw to Ben Rortvedt, who was behind the plate a day after he was acquired in a trade with the New York Mets. The Dodgers also activated catcher Hunter Fedducia, who came over in a deal with Tampa Bay on Monday. Eliezer Alfonzo was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and fellow catcher Chuckie Robinson was designated for assignment.

Catching depth is an issue for Los Angeles at the moment. Will Smith is working his way back from a neck issue, and Dalton Rushing was placed on the 10-day injured list on Monday with right elbow inflammation.

MRI results revealed a slight UCL tear for Rushing, who won't be able to throw for a few weeks. It's unclear if he'll be able to catch again this season.

Skubal praised Rortvedt's work in the tough spot.

“He’s great back there,” he said. “Called a great game, you know, on the same page all night. What he was trying to do feeds right into what I’m trying to do on the mound."

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

About 1,700 people remained in shelters with the evacuations to stay in place until conditions improve, according to the country’s disaster agency CONRED.

Officials raised the alert level to red in Sacatepéquez, Escuintla and Chimaltenango, where about 29,000 people are affected by ashfall and schools remain closed. Authorities warned the next 72 hours were critical on Tuesday, as mudflows up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) long continue descending from the volcano, with incoming rain expected to increase the risk of additional volcanic mudflows.

Mudflows have not reached villages and no structures reported damaged or at risk. Claudinne Ogaldes, executive secretary of CONRED, recommended residents in the three municipalities cover their water deposits and use face masks as protection from ash.

The eruption started Monday morning, with clouds of gas and ash rising above the volcano as lava and pyroclastic flows rolled down the slopes. More mud and ash were emitted Tuesday.

Among those evacuated were around 250 people from El Porvenir and the hamlet of Las Lajitas. CONRED also warned of ash spreading to nearby towns.

A major highway that passes close to the volcano, National Route 14, was closed. The Education Ministry suspended classes in nearby towns.

During a previous eruption of Fuego, or the Volcano of Fire, in June 2018, hundreds of people were killed and a whole village was destroyed. Another eruption last year spurred preventive evacuations.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro on Friday moved to dismiss the indictment against David Hearn, saying in a 20-page filing that newly produced evidence from the Interior Department showed the former Olympic canoeist was not responsible for damage to the pool's lining.

Pirro’s office attributed the damage instead to a botched installation by a contractor as well as “the rush to complete the project prior to events associated with the America 250 celebration” in the weeks surrounding July 4, as directed by President Donald Trump.

Lawyers for Hearn on Tuesday urged a judge to permanently dismiss the case and foreclose the possibility that the Trump administration could revive it. They took issue with Pirro's assertion that prosecutors only recently learned about the pre-existing defects at the pool, saying the government had “disregarded readily available evidence” that the liner was already failing because of installation flaws.

“From the outset, the evidence showed that the pool liner was already failing and that Mr. Hearn did not cause the damage alleged in the indictment,'' Hearn's legal team argued in a 28-page motion filed Tuesday in D.C. Superior Court.

The poor condition of the pool was “plainly visible” for weeks and was publicly documented through photographs, video and news reports, the lawyers wrote.

“Defying both decency and common sense, the government proceeded to indict Mr. Hearn before it had obtained or evaluated the information necessary to establish a good-faith basis for the charge,” the defense attorneys wrote.

In addition, they say, the government's key eyewitness was never presented to the grand jury, and a key prosecution witness on the question of damages “stated that the repairs at issue would have been necessary regardless of Mr. Hearn's alleged conduct and could not identify any additional cost caused by Mr. Hearn.”

The contractor, Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings, “publicly acknowledged, before Mr. Hearn was indicted, that portions of the project required repair,” the lawyers said. The firm was awarded a $14.7 million no-bid contract to repaint and waterproof the pool's concrete floor.

A spokesperson for Pirro’s office did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Trump continued to insist on Tuesday night that the pool had been vandalized and defended the contractors.

“They did a beautiful job," Trump said. "There were a couple of little things, but that was not a big deal. And everybody saw the vandalism. All you have to do is look at the tape.”

The president said that Pirro was “totally wrong.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has backed Trump's claims that vandals damaged the pool.

The dismissal of charges against Hearn was an embarrassing setback for the Justice Department and marked a rare moment during Trump’s second term of an aide or political appointee openly defying him.

Hearn has said he was on a bike ride June 19 when he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool. But he said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

Felony charges, including a possible 10-year prison sentence, were brought “without a meaningful investigation into the central and obvious question in this case: whether Mr. Hearn caused, or even could have caused, any damage to the Reflecting Pool,'' Hearn's lawyers said.

Davis, 63, is accused of orchestrating the drive-by shooting near the Las Vegas Strip that also wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. Davis' jury trial will begin Aug. 10, nearly three years after he was arrested in 2023. He pleaded not guilty.

On the night of Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW that Knight was driving when a white Cadillac pulled up on their right side and gunfire erupted. Knight was wounded but survived. Shakur died a week later at the age of 25.

Police and prosecutors say the shooting stemmed from a fierce competition for dominance in a musical genre that pitted East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect against West Coast members of a Crips sect that Davis has said he led in Compton, California.

That night, three others were with Davis in the Cadillac, but none of them faced charges in Shakur’s killing before they died.

Here’s what we know about who was in both vehicles from authorities, court records, grand jury testimony, interviews and Davis’ 2019 tell-all memoir, “Compton Street Legend.”

Tupac Shakur

Shakur is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. He had five No. 1 albums, was nominated for six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2017. He received a posthumous star in 2023 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he will appear in the upcoming video game " Stranger than Heaven."

His death came as his fourth solo album, “All Eyez on Me,” remained on the charts, with some 5 million copies sold. He also used the stage names 2Pac and Makaveli. As an actor, he starred in several films.

Shakur was born Lesane Parish Crooks in New York in 1971, and his name was changed a year later. His late mother Afeni Shakur, and late stepfather Mutulu Shakur, were active in the Black Panther Party in New York. Tupac Shakur was not close with his biological father, William “Billy” Garland.

Two of the rapper’s siblings, Sekyiwa “Set” Shakur and Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur, have criticized authorities for inaction and slowness in charging anyone with their brother’s death.

Marion “Suge” Knight

Knight founded Death Row Records, a Los Angeles-based music label that represented Shakur at the time of his death. Knight’s moniker was shortened from “Sugar Bear,” his nickname growing up in Compton.

Knight and Shakur were headed to a nightclub when their car was shot at near the Las Vegas Strip. Knight was grazed by a bullet or shrapnel.

Now 61, Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for running over and killing a Compton businessman outside a burger stand in January 2015. The case capped the former rap music mogul’s downfall from his heyday as one of the biggest — and most feared — names in the music industry.

Davis said he and Knight knew each other growing up and even played on the same youth football team in Compton. Knight went on to play college football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Briefly, during the 1987 NFL players’ strike, he was a replacement player for the Los Angeles Rams.

In his memoir, Davis describes Knight and himself as the “only living eyewitnesses to what truly happened.”

“Like two rams locking horns, Suge and I looked each other dead in the eye," he writes when describing the moments right before the shooting.

Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson

Law enforcement authorities long suspected that Anderson was the gunman. He was 22 at the time. Though Davis was his uncle and 12 years older, he described their relationship as that of brothers, friends and even father-son.

Shortly before the drive-by shooting, Anderson was beaten in a brawl at the MGM Grand casino involving Shakur and his associates, including Knight. Authorities, authors and Davis himself say the shooting was an act of retaliation for beating up Anderson.

“Them jumping on my nephew gave us the ultimate green light to do something,” Davis writes in the book.

Davis said he obtained a handgun from an associate and tossed it into the back seat of the Cadillac but did not say who fired the fatal shots. Anderson was sitting in the backseat of the car, behind his uncle.

Neither the Cadillac nor the gun used in the shooting were recovered, according to retired Las Vegas police Detective Clifford Mogg, who was assigned to the investigation in early 2018.

“We were never able to identify the person who rented the car, where it was rented from, and then when it comes to the gun, we have never recovered as of this date, the weapon that was used in the murder,” Mogg said in testimony to the grand jury.

Anderson, who denied involvement in Shakur’s killing, died two years later in what police said was an unrelated shooting at a Compton car wash.

Deandrae “Freaky” Smith

Also known as “Big Dre,” Smith was in the back seat of the car that night, sitting next to Anderson.

Although authorities have said they believe Anderson pulled the trigger, the grand jury testimony challenged that theory.

Denvonta Lee, a former associate of Davis, told the grand jury that it was Smith who shot Shakur and Knight. He said Anderson tried reaching over Smith but didn’t have a “clear shot” out the left-rear passenger window.

The former associate, who wasn’t in the car but recounted a conversation he had with Smith days after the shooting, said Smith took the gun from Anderson, opened fire and let Anderson take credit for Shakur’s death.

Smith was 30 when he died in 2004 of natural causes, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Terry “Bubble Up” Brown

Brown was driving the Cadillac from which the shots were fired.

Davis said in his memoir that they were driving toward Las Vegas Boulevard that night but spotted Shakur “hanging out of the window” of the BMW and waving to fans. Davis told Brown to make a U-turn, and they drove slowly past the rapper’s convoy until Davis said they “found who we were seeking.”

Brown died in a 2015 shooting at a medical marijuana dispensary in Compton.

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office said his full name was Terry Tyrone Brown, although Brown has been referred to as both “Terrence” and “Terrance” in investigative records.

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Associated Press writer Jessica Hill and former Associated Press writer Ken Ritter in Las Vegas contributed.

Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 63, faces a single count of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang in Shakur's death. He's been jailed since late 2023 and has pleaded not guilty.

For decades, Shakur's unsolved killing has gripped hip-hop fans. He's considered one of the most influential rappers of all time with songs that speak to the human experience of love, heartache and familial relationships. When Shakur died, he was in the midst of a fierce battle for dominance in a music scene increasingly shaped by rival gangs.

The trial, which is expected to last about a month, likely won't reveal who pulled the trigger. Instead, prosecutors hope to prove that Davis was the shot caller and provided the weapon. Gunfire came from the Cadillac that Davis was in, and he's one of the only people there that night who is still alive. Prosecutors say if Davis hadn't written explicitly about the killing, or talked about it in interviews, it's likely no one would have been charged.

Cold case is revived on Tupac Shakur's killing

On Sept. 7, 1996, Shakur was in the passenger seat of a black BMW and Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight was driving. They had just watched Mike Tyson knock out Bruce Seldon and were headed to a nightclub where Shakur was scheduled to perform. But at a red light near the Las Vegas Strip, a white Cadillac pulled up beside them, and gunfire erupted.

Shakur was shot multiple times and died six days later, while Knight survived with minor injuries. Knight is serving a 28-year prison sentence for a fatal hit-and-run.

The case went cold until Davis began making public statements about his involvement as a leader of the South Side Compton Crips. In 2019, he published a tell-all memoir. The book, along with interviews Davis gave, revived the police investigation.

Davis' defense attorneys argue there is no evidence he directed the shooting and the state relies on witnesses who weren't there. The defense said Davis left the narcotics trade in 2009 and worked a steady job before illness forced him to retire in 2014.

For Shakur's family, the last 30 years have been exhausting and stressful, his stepbrother Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur said. Sitting through the trial will be retraumatizing, Shakur said, but he's “cautiously optimistic” justice will come.

“I hope that the trial is fair, and we find out the truth,” he said.

Shakur's death a result of longstanding gang feud, witnesses say

Hundreds of pages of grand jury transcripts portray Tupac Shakur's shooting as a culmination of a longstanding feud between rival record labels — Death Row Records and Bad Boy Records — and rival gang sects Mob Piru and South Side Compton Crips.

Witnesses said South Side Compton Crips hung out with and provided protection to Bad Boy Records, which was founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs and included rappers like The Notorious B.I.G., or Christopher Wallace. Mob Piru, part of the larger Bloods gang, was associated with Death Row Records, which featured rappers like Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.

The rival gangs fought and retaliated against each other both before and after Shakur's death.

Prosecutors allege Davis orchestrated the shooting to get revenge after Shakur and his entourage beat up Davis' nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson, at the MGM Grand hours before Shakur was killed.

Davis' book will be front and center at the trial

The prosecutors' case relies on “Compton Street Legend,” the book Davis co-authored about the shooting and his time in the Crips, as well as police and media interviews he participated in.

Davis' attorneys unsuccessfully fought to block the use of the book and a recording of a 2008 police interview in the trial. They argued the book was fictionalized and had a co-author, making it impossible to know which parts Davis wrote. They also argued Davis' interview with a federal task force investigating the deaths of Wallace and Shakur was supposed to be confidential and not used against him.

The memoir says that Shakur and his entourage “crossed the line” when they beat up Anderson.

“We couldn’t let no record company studio gangsters do us like that,” the book says.

Davis was in the passenger seat of the Cadillac and passed a gun to the back seat earlier that night, according to the book. When they encountered Shakur and Knight, Davis claimed to see Shakur reach for a weapon and wrote that “one of my guys from the back seat grabbed the Glock and started bustin’ back.”

No weapon was found in Knight and Shakur’s car, according to retired Las Vegas police Detective Clifford Mogg, who was assigned to the investigation in early 2018.

The trial could bring closure — or more questions

Mopreme Shakur said nothing would bring back his stepbrother.

“That would be justice for me,” he said. “But we all know that is unattainable.”

Mopreme Shakur said he wants allegations that Combs was involved to be explored further. In his book, Davis claims that Combs wanted Knight and Shakur killed. Combs has denied having any involvement in Shakur's death.

He's serving roughly four years in prison after being convicted of prostitution-related charges. Combs' attorney did not return emailed requests from The Associated Press for comment.

Shakur's influence in the music industry endures

Shakur sold over 75 million records worldwide with hits like “California Love,” “Changes” and “Dear Mama.” His songs spanned from party anthems to deep social commentary. The issues he discussed still resonate with people 30 years later, history professor Jeffrey O.G. Ogbar said.

“I can’t think of anyone else in the history of hip-hop who’s had a greater impact in such a short period of time,” said Ogbar, who is the founding director of the Center for the Study of Popular Music at the University of Connecticut.

Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank announced the birth of the 6-pound, 9-ounce (3 kilograms), girl delivered Monday in Lisbon, Portugal.

The girl was not named yet. The couple has two sons August, 5, and Ernest, 3.

Eugenie, the younger daughter of the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, is the niece of King Charles III.

“Their majesties the King and Queen and other members of the royal family were delighted to be informed of the news,” the palace said.

Several fires that burned through mountain communities and coastal areas west of Athens were brought under control overnight. Planes and helicopters dumped water inside the contained perimeters through the morning, dousing hot spots while the winds stayed calm.

“There is a huge fire load in the area and the risk goes up as the day progresses,” said Costas Tsingas, head of the Greek Firefighters Association. “The goal is for the day to end better than it started.”

Fires started through negligence prompt wave of arrests

Burning for a fifth day, the blaze outside Athens prompted the evacuation of more than 1,000 people and was blamed on a faulty power line from a wind farm.

Restrictions and park closures are imposed locally according to fire‑risk levels. Authorities say 33 people were arrested between June 29 and Aug. 2 for starting fires, including 30 through negligence and three on suspicion of arson. Most of the negligence cases involved farm work carried out despite local bans, including welding.

On Tuesday, crews were working against the clock: Winds typically pick up in the afternoon, a coastal phenomenon common across the Mediterranean in summer as land heats faster than the sea and draws in stronger breezes.

The army deployed tracked earth movers to carve fire breaks across the scorched hillsides, while specialist units pushed into forest areas on foot to extinguish smoldering embers before they could reignite.

The evacuations from around the seaside resort of Porto Germeno and other areas west of the capital included more than 250 rescued by boats from beaches.

Wildfires in France expose ammunition

Prolonged heat waves across Europe this summer have left France tinder-dry, fueling blazes that this week exposed long-buried ammunition in a forested area.

The massive wildfire outside the southwestern city of Bordeaux, which has scorched about 420 square kilometers (162 square miles), uncovered what is believed to be World War II-era ammunition.

Demining experts have found more than 400 shells and other munitions at Le Porge, the hardest-hit town, where 183 homes were destroyed. Residents described hearing explosions believed to be blasts from the old shells, authorities said.

The fire remained contained and thousands of evacuees were allowed to return Monday. More than 224,000 people fled in France’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

In the southern Netherlands, firefighters and military helicopters battled a forest blaze for the second day Tuesday amid high temperatures and shifting winds. The fire has destroyed 100 hectares of trees and was burning out of control but was not immediately threatening homes. Nobody has been injured in the blaze. The cause is not known.

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Corbet reported from Paris.

Shannon Taylor, the elected top prosecutor in a suburban Richmond county, will take on longtime GOP incumbent Rob Wittman in the 1st Congressional District. The coastal 2nd Congressional District, a true swing district with a heavy military presence, will see a rematch between two veterans — former Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria and Jen Kiggans, who ousted her in 2022.

Taylor and Luria were backed by the House Democrats’ campaign arm and a wide array of Democratic leaders, including Gov. Abigail Spanberger.

Democratic primaries elsewhere in the U.S. this year have highlighted a divide between progressive challengers and more moderate, establishment-backed rivals, and in some races, outsiders have notched surprising upset wins. But in Virginia, Democratic primary voters have a history of rewarding moderate candidates, a trend that continued with the wins by Luria and Taylor on Tuesday. Taylor won in a crowded, seven-way primary that included a progressive candidate who won about a fifth of the vote, while Luria defeated three opponents.

Virginia Democrats hope they can flip at least two seats after their aggressive, voter-approved redistricting plan was overturned by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.

More bullish observers, including the governor, argue as many as four districts could flip, including the 5th District, where former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello won the Democratic primary and will face incumbent Rep. John McGuire in November.

“Virginia Democrats are going on offense. We will compete everywhere, defend our ground, flip Republican-held seats, and hold Donald Trump and his allies accountable for higher costs, attacks on our freedoms, and corruption that puts personal interests ahead of the people they serve,” state Sen. Lamont Bagby, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Jeff Ryer, chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, said voters would look critically at Spanberger’s leadership and instead “elect common-sense conservative leaders who will fight for lower taxes, more freedom, and greater opportunity.”

The primary sets up a rematch in the 2nd District

Virginia is currently represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans, all of whom will be seeking reelection this year.

The coastal 2nd District, with its population center in Virginia Beach, is a must-win for Democrats aiming to retake the House. Luria's primary victory sets up what will be a closely watched general election rematch with Kiggans.

Luria, a retired Navy commander, flipped the district in 2018 and served for two terms before Kiggans defeated her in 2022. Luria was a member of the Jan. 6 committee, which investigated the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a victory speech to supporters, Luria argued that Kiggans had campaigned on a pledge to be bipartisan but had not meaningfully distinguished herself from President Donald Trump. She also acknowledged that the district has routinely swung back and forth between electing Democrats and Republicans, saying, “We have a long road and a long fight ahead."

Kiggans, a former Navy helicopter pilot, on Tuesday defended her record as a “proven leader who brings people together and gets results for our military and families.” She said in a statement that she would be campaigning in the coming months with a focus on “lowering costs, putting more money back in your pocket, standing up for our families, and working across the aisle to deliver real results.”

Democrats are hoping momentum will help them flip the GOP-leaning 1st District

The 1st District, with a population center in the Richmond suburbs, has generally tilted Republican. Taylor won a crowded primary contest, even as many Democratic voters backed a more progressive candidate, Salaam Bhatti.

After her victory, Taylor drew a line from her experience as a prosecutor to the way she said she would govern if elected.

“I’ve spent the last 14 years prosecuting violent criminals, fraudsters and anybody who abuses our trust. If they took advantage of our community, I held them accountable. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do when I’m in Congress,” she told a crowd of cheering supporters gathered at an Irish pub in the district.

In the primary, Taylor emphasized her record on public safety and promoted an agenda she said would help fight corruption in Washington, including a ban on stock trading and a lifetime federal lobbying ban for members of Congress.

She will go on to face Wittman in the general election.

Wittman said in a statement that he had a proven record of delivering for the district and argued that Taylor had advocated for progressive criminal justice reforms.

Only two House incumbents faced primary challengers

Elsewhere, two incumbents, Democratic Rep. Don Beyer and McGuire, defeated their primary opponents.

In central Virginia’s 5th District, Trump-endorsed McGuire, a former Navy SEAL and state lawmaker, beat veteran Melanie Lucero.

He will go on to face Perriello, a former congressman who is seeking the chance at a comeback and won a three-way race for the Democratic nomination. Perriello formerly represented the district for one term beginning in 2009. Some Democrats are hopeful about the party’s chances of flipping the 5th District, though it leans solidly Republican.

Beyer won in northern Virginia’s overwhelmingly blue 8th District surrounding Washington and is expected to cruise to reelection in November.

Republicans will decide on a long-shot challenger for US Senate

Voters also settled a three-way statewide contest to pick the Republican nominee to challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, a well-known former governor who was first elected to the Senate in 2008 and currently serves as the ranking Democrat on the chamber’s Intelligence Committee.

Defeating Warner, who did not have a primary challenger, is expected to be a difficult task. The race is not among those seen as a battleground that will determine control of the Senate.

Bert Mizusawa, a decorated retired Army major general, emerged as the GOP primary winner.

In suburban Richmond, Republican voter Chris Weymouth, 85, voted for Mizusawa because she believed he would put America first, support the Constitution and protect America’s freedoms. She said Democrats have moved so far left she would “never” consider voting for one.

The increased enforcement has already reached Houston.

Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 18-year-old Bellaire High School student Alim Garipov at William P. Hobby Airport as he prepared to board a domestic flight with relatives to visit colleges.

• RELATED: Bellaire High School student detained by ICE at Houston airport released from detention

ICE said Garipov entered the United States legally in 2022 but remained after his authorized stay expired. Garipov had a pending asylum application, but ICE said that application did not provide him with legal immigration status.

Garipov was released after three days in custody.

His case is among a growing number of airport encounters involving immigrants attempting to travel between U.S. cities.

A Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News that ICE is now making between 20 and 40 arrests per day at airports nationwide. That official said the agency was making fewer than 10 airport arrests per day in May 2025.

The increase comes as the Trump administration ramps up immigration enforcement nationwide, reporting approximately 51,000 ICE arrests in July.

Video captures attempted ICE arrest at Las Vegas airport

Video recorded July 13 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas shows two plainclothes ICE agents attempting to detain a man inside Terminal 3.

Bystanders confronted the agents as they tried to place the man in handcuffs. The agents eventually walked away, leaving him on the ground with a handcuff attached to one wrist.

Las Vegas police said officers removed the handcuff after they arrived and could not find an outstanding warrant for the man. ICE arrested him the following day at Los Angeles International Airport.

Attorneys call domestic airport enforcement a “new front”

Houston immigration attorney Ruby Powers said airport arrests historically involved Customs and Border Protection questioning people entering the United States, including travelers suspected of violating the terms of a visa or permanent residents with criminal cases.

“What we’re seeing now with attempting to travel domestically—this is a whole new front that we hadn’t seen before until just recently,” Powers said.

Powers believes airports provide ICE access to large numbers of travelers in one place as the agency works to increase its arrest totals.

“When you go to a location like a federal building or a location where it’s heavily trafficked with individuals coming through, it seems like the right place for them to find people,” Powers said. “It must be a new tactic for them to capture more arrests to meet their goals.”

Immigration attorney Leslie Kirby said the enforcement appears to be expanding beyond people with final deportation orders.

“Now they’re targeting people who entered on visas and overstayed, or people who may have a pending application for a green card, or spouses of U.S. citizens,” Kirby said.

A family relationship, work permit or pending immigration application does not necessarily provide lawful immigration status or prevent ICE from making an arrest. However, attorneys argue that people with pending cases should be allowed to pursue those applications without being detained.

How does ICE know who is traveling?

The attorneys believe increased information-sharing among federal agencies allows ICE to identify travelers and determine their potential immigration status.

“With just a name check, they’re able to check some registers to find out what their status might be in the country,” Powers said.

An April Reuters investigation found that the Transportation Security Administration provided ICE with information on more than 31,000 travelers from the beginning of President Trump’s second term through February 2026. Those referrals led to more than 800 ICE arrests.

• Federal judge denies government’s request to suspend release of witness in deadly Houston ICE shooting

The information came through TSA’s Secure Flight program, which collects identifying information from airline passengers and was created to screen travelers against government watchlists as a counterterrorism measure.

Reuters could not determine how many of the resulting arrests physically occurred inside airports. TSA information would, however, help ICE determine when and where someone planned to travel.

Attorneys advise immigrants to make a plan before traveling

Powers said she is advising clients with pending asylum or green-card applications to exercise increased caution and consider limiting unnecessary travel.

She also recommends that immigrants speak with a trusted attorney, organize their immigration documents and create a plan with relatives in case they are detained.

“If someone gets detained without an attorney or without a plan, it just makes everything infinitely more difficult and more expensive,” Powers said. “You need to have an immigration plan, and the family needs to be on board.”

KPRC 2 asked ICE how many people have been arrested at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby airports, whether the agency has increased its presence at those airports and how agents identify travelers for enforcement.

This story will be updated when ICE responds.

The sheriff’s office says the investigation into Avery Williams began on January 10.

On January 10, 2026, HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Group 1 initiated an investigation into Avery Williams (8-25-95) for Murder by Fentanyl Delivery. Williams allegedly provided powder fentanyl to a group of teenage males, resulting in the death of 18-year-old Logan… pic.twitter.com/sG9IEq5Cn0

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 5, 2026

It is alleged Williams gave powder fentanyl to a group of teenagers, leading to the death of 18-year-old Logan Ricks and the overdose of a 16-year -old, who survived after being transported for medical treatment.

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office says HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) Group 1, sheriff’s detectives, and the Tomball PD Task Force arrested Williams.

Williams is charged with murder by fentanyl delivery.

Now it's up to Vogt and the new-look Guardians to capitalize on the addition of outfielder Jo Adell, first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and pitcher Foster Griffin for a postseason push.

“Now it’s our turn to go out and let’s go perform. Let’s go win some games,” Vogt said before Tuesday night's 5-2 loss to the New York Mets.

Adell, who batted second and played right field, reached base three times in his Guardians' debut with two hits and a walk. Lowe came in during the seventh inning and went 0 for 2.

Griffin will pitch the final game of the series on Thursday, keeping him on his usual amount of rest.

“It was awesome to come in and find a way to execute. I was excited to get out there and get started," Adell said.

Adell, Lowe and Griffin were in the clubhouse before the game, introducing themselves to their new teammates and getting up to speed before the start of a three-game series.

“I was pretty fired up about it. I think our front office did everything that we could have ever wanted from him — two impact bats and an impact starter. That’s all you can ask for," catcher Austin Hedges said. "I think it sets us up to be right where we want to be at the end of September.”

Cleveland (57-57) is 6-11 since the All-Star break, but has a one-game lead over Minnesota for the American League's final wild-card spot. The Guardians are three games behind the first-place White Sox in the AL Central.

Adell will be part of a postseason chase for the first time in his seven-year career. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft by the Angels, who haven't finished over .500 since 2015.

With the front office changes in Los Angeles, Adell had a feeling that that he might be part of a sell off of players with one or two years left on their contracts.

“It’s really cool to be wanted and this team’s been playing really good baseball,” Adell said. “I’m excited to kind of be a part of that and be a part of a chase and something that is bigger than ourselves and going out trying to win a ball game every night. You can’t ask for anything more than that.”

Adell's arrival makes him Cleveland's leader in home runs (16) and RBIs (62) for a team that has been offensively challenged for most of the past two seasons.

José Ramírez is 8 for 41 in the 10 games since he returned from the injured list following left hand surgery. Ramírez was out of the lineup on Tuesday night due to left hand inflammation.

One of the few bright spots has been Steven Kwan, who was batting .212 at the end of June but has raised his batting average 46 points since July 1 to .258. He has also hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games.

Adell and Chase DeLauter will platoon between right field and designated hitter. Lowe will be in the lineup when the Guardians face right-handed pitchers, while Rhys Hoskins will primarily face left-handers.

“The talent’s all here. It’s just about execution for the next two months. We need to get ourselves in the strongest position possible to make a deep run and make something happen. And when the guys start believing that, anything could happen,” Lowe said.

The Guardians will still go with a five-man rotation. Griffin's addition means Slade Cecconi is moving to the bullpen. Tanner Bibee was slated to start Thursday but has been moved up to Wednesday, and will be on four day's rest.

“I feel like you never have enough pitching, especially going into a playoff race. So any part I can be in that department, I’m excited about,” Griffin said.

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

The emerging agreement calls for ships to enter the Persian Gulf through an Iranian-controlled route and exit through a route controlled by Oman, two regional officials told The Associated Press.

Any deal, though, appears contingent on the United States lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports. The Trump administration has previously ruled out any deal that would give Iran control over the strait.

Elsewhere, a mass funeral was held in Gaza City for more than 100 Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike early in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

A memorial service was also held in Beirut, for victims of a 2020 port explosion, and Yemen’s Houthis claimed they fired at a Saudi Arabian airport.

Here is a look at the most important developments in the Middle East on Tuesday:

US officials suggest strait deal imminent

Senior U.S. officials struck an optimistic tone Tuesday, suggesting a deal to reopen the strait could be reached soon.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed there has been progress made in talks between Iran and Oman, “but not finality yet.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that “there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”

The Strait of Hormuz is the crucial waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war. It has been effectively shut by Iran’s attacks on shipping since the start of the war in February.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, said he also spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday as the Arab country tries to broker a resolution to the war.

Al Thani’s office said in a statement that on the phone call, the two discussed ways to bridge the divide “in a way that enhances the prospects of reaching a sustainable diplomatic settlement to the crisis.”

Ships attacked in Strait of Hormuz and in Red Sea

A cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” while traversing the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center.

The center said the reported strike damaged the vessel at around 2 a.m. local time while it was about 37 kilometers (23 miles) northeast of Al Khasab, a port city in Oman.

It's unclear what flag the ship was sailing under or whether it was carrying cargo, but the British maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship sustained damage.

On the Red Sea, meanwhile, an Indian-flagged commercial ship sank off Yemen after being struck by an explosive-laden boat, Yemeni and Indian authorities said.

Yemen’s coast guard rescued the crew, which included 13 Indians and a Yemeni.

India’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, though no one immediately claimed responsibility. Iran-backed Houthi militants have repeatedly struck ships traversing the Red Sea near Yemen.

Gaza residents killed in 2023 airstrike laid to rest

Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday as bodies wrapped in Palestinian flags were laid in rows near flattened buildings in Gaza City.

The 112 victims were then carried off on stretchers through a narrow street, destined for burial in a nearby cemetery. They were among more than 300 killed during an attack on Nov. 22, 2023, in the city’s Sabra neighborhood.

First responders recovered the bodies, including 40 children and 30 women, over the weekend, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency operated under Gaza’s Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has since killed 73,375 people, including civilians and combatants, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Around 7,400 people are still missing and presumed buried under the rubble from the war, according to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Health Ministry’s records department.

Israel discusses withdrawal from Lebanon

Israeli and Lebanese officials met in Rome on Tuesday to continue talks on implementing a U.S.-mediated deal to draw down the Israeli military from southern Lebanon and disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

A diplomat familiar with the negotiations said Lebanon had asked for the next “pilot zone” — where Israeli forces would withdraw and the Lebanese army would take control — to be either in the town of Khiam or Bint Jbeil. Both areas saw heavy fighting in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war and are currently occupied by Israeli forces.

But U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa suggested ahead of the three-day talks that no new pilot zones would be immediately implemented, saying that “moving too quickly risks jeopardizing the very civilians this process is meant to protect.”

Implementation of the June 26 agreement began last month with an initial pilot zone in an area that wasn’t occupied by Israeli forces but had previously sustained Israeli fire.

Yemen’s Houthis fire at airport in Saudi Arabia

In Yemen, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesperson for the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, said a drone hit a “sensitive target” at the airport in the southwestern city of Najran, without providing evidence.

He said the attack was in response to what he described as a Saudi breach of Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis recently announced a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia led an international coalition and imposed an air and sea blockade against the rebels after they seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in a civil war that began in 2014. Major fighting ended in a truce in 2022.

Memorial marks Beirut port explosion anniversary

Families of the more than 200 people killed in the massive explosion at the port in Beirut in 2020 gathered at the blast site to mark six years since tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrate exploded, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital.

No one has been convicted in a long-stalled judicial investigation into the incident, but some families expressed renewed hope after government officials promised indictments would be issued by the end of the year.

The tragedy has been overshadowed by recent events, including two wars between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group and an Israeli military occupation of much of the country’s south.

___

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Abby Sewell in Beirut, Maria Grazia Murru in Rome, Matthew Lee in Washington and Philip Marcelo in New York contributed to this report.

We had some impressive thunderstorms Tuesday afternoon and night. While isolated to the northern Houston area, this rain prompted two flood advisories. A similar set up is expected Wednesday. Temperatures climb to the upper 90s with a 20% chance of more thunderstorms. The heat index will range between 104°-106° in the afternoon.

Thursday’s forecast:

Our next weather pattern change occurs Thursday. An area of high pressure develops to the east of us. That will bring a richer flow of air from the Gulf. Three things occur when this happens. First, we’ll get a little more active sea breeze which will create hit and miss afternoon storms.

Second, this flow will increase the humidity and cloud cover. Third, temperatures will lower. Don’t get too excited about this. While temperatures will be slightly lower, with a higher humidity the heat index will not change. It will feel just has steamy as does right now.

Tracking the tropics:

August is the “real” start of the hurricane season. 93% of hurricanes form after August 3rd. However, this is not your typical hurricane season. With an incredibly strong El Nino the numbers will be kept way down this season. No storms are expected in the next 10 days and probably a little further than that. Wind shear in the Caribbean is the strongest it’s been since 1979. Oh, and there is some thick Saharan dust over the Atlantic. We’ll keep you posted on what’s expected for the later part of August.

10 Day Forecast:

Temperatures remain in the upper 90s through Wednesday. Beginning Thursday, temperatures lower slightly and rain changes go up slightly. Our best chance of widespread heavy rain and thunderstorms is Sunday and Monday. But even an isolated storm that forms before can be strong and bring street flooding similar to what we saw Tuesday.

Greenfield police said they were alerted by Pennsylvania authorities after information from Flock Safety automated license plate readers identified a newer black Hyundai Tucson with Texas plates as a suspect vehicle tied to several business burglaries. Officers later located the SUV in a local hotel parking lot and began surveillance.

Investigators said three men were seen around the vehicle multiple times over several hours, then drove to a Home Depot where they bought items police described as “burglary tools.” Police said evidence collected in Pennsylvania matches similar items the men purchased in Greenfield.

Just before midnight Sunday, officers saw the three leave the hotel and get into the vehicle, with one appearing to change clothes. Greenfield police, the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police attempted a traffic stop but the driver took off.

Officers deployed a spike strip, flattening three tires, but the vehicle continued onto Interstate 70. A State Police trooper then used a PIT maneuver to immobilize the SUV. All three men were then taken into custody .

Police identified the suspects as Myron R. Causey, 27, of Houston; Za Cobi M. Demas, 28, of Houston; and Dewitt E. Ross, 30, of Humble, Texas. All three were booked into the Hancock County Jail, where they are being held. Police said a Hancock County judge granted a 72-hour hold as the investigation continues in Hancock County and Pennsylvania.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the men or similar burglary cases to contact the Greenfield Police Department.

Miller, a senior adviser to Trump during his first presidency, was facing a deadline to decide whether to stay in his race for reelection, with Republicans nervous that the allegations surrounding the second-term congressman could cost them a seat as they try to hang on to their House majority in this year's midterms.

Leaders of the ethics committee said in their statement that the committee was reviewing whether Miller “may have engaged in domestic violence and abuse or illegal drug use.” Earlier in the day, Miller said he had requested his own investigation into the allegations made by his ex-wife, Emily Moreno. It was not clear whether his request or another one prompted the committee to investigate.

Trump spoke with Miller on Monday and advised that his candidacy “doesn’t look good,” according to a source familiar with the conversation who was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation. Trump’s conversation with Miller was first reported by Axios.

Miller said during a CNN interview Tuesday that he wasn't exiting the race, despite what he described as Trump's words of caution.

"'Maxie, it’s going to be a tough race. And he said, I don’t know if you’re going to be able to, you know, pull this one out,'” he quoted Trump as saying during their conversation.

Miller added: “I will never, ever, ever let my baby girl see her dad walk away as a quitter. I will continue to finish this.”

If Miller was persuaded to drop out of the race, he would have to make that decision soon. The election calendar published by the Ohio secretary of state sets Aug. 10 as the day political party nominating committees must certify the name of anyone filling a vacancy caused by withdrawal or disqualification.

The former Trump aide, whom the president endorsed in May, is facing a flurry of legal filings by his ex-wife, who is the Republican senator's daughter, and an ex-girlfriend.

Sen. Moreno, who until Sunday had remained quiet about the allegations at his daughter's request, on Tuesday described the impact on his daughter, granddaughter and wider family as “truly the seventh level of hell."

“This has been brutal beyond comprehension," he told reporters at the Capitol. "And if there's any minimum standard for being a public official, as I said, he fails to meet that minimum, basic standard.”

Asked about the election implications of the allegations for Republicans, Moreno told reporters, “I don't care about the politics at all.”

Moreno expressed concern for his granddaughter and told reporters that he traveled Sunday to a suburban Cleveland police station, where Miller was dropping off their daughter. Miller and his ex-wife share custody of the 2-year-old.

Miller had previewed his intention to stay in the race over the weekend when he livestreamed a video defending himself on X and posted a cache of documents related to his divorce and custody cases.

Sen. Moreno said the video prompted him to break his silence and call for Miller to no longer hold public office.

Trump declined to say publicly Monday whether Miller should exit the race, noting that the accusations against him were “allegations.”

“I know Max. He's a good person. I mean, I always thought he was a very good person. And I'm going to let the families figure that out,” Trump told reporters when asked about Miller during an Oval Office event.

Aaron F. Farinacci, of Spokane, was arrested Monday and booked on suspicion of first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails Fire, the biggest of three blazes that have destroyed at least 700 buildings and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. According to court records, he denied setting the fire. His bond was set at $1 million.

The other two fires burning around Spokane were also started by humans, though not necessarily intentionally, investigators said Tuesday. The exact cause remains under investigation.

No deaths have been reported and cooler, calmer weather aided firefighters again Tuesday. Only one of the three fires — the Autumn Lane fire — grew. But hotter, drier and windier conditions are expected later in the week.

Farinacci, 37, served about a decade in prison after killing his father in Arizona in 2010. Last year, authorities questioned him in two fire-related cases in Spokane, according to a probable cause statement filed in Spokane County Superior Court.

One involved several “bus-sized” fires in an area near Farinacci's apartment in July 2025, police records in that case say. The other involved a wildfire in a state park that prompted evacuation notices the following month. In neither case was he arrested.

A tip leads to an arrest

On Saturday, Paul Child, 64, was driving with his grandson along some railroad tracks in his rural neighborhood northwest of Spokane. He saw a man standing and looking toward nearby trees. About 10 minutes later, as they were returning home, the man was still there.

“He was bent over in the brush, acting nervous," Child told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "You get the feeling this guy’s up to something.”

“No longer than 10 minutes after I got home, my daughter says, ‘There’s a fire,’” Child recalled. “My first words were, ‘That SOB started a fire!’ It was the exact spot where he was standing.”

Child’s daughter called 911 and he drove back to the spot where he'd seen the man, sheriff’s detective Michael Drapeau wrote in the probable cause statement. He gave a police officer a description of the man he had seen — bald, white, wearing a green shirt and carrying a backpack.

A responding sheriff’s deputy saw a man matching that description walking more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) away and detained him. Another deputy also responded, and Child showed up to identify the person in custody — Farinacci — as the one he had seen in the area of the fire, the document states.

Farinacci had a backpack and a fanny pack, in which he had a pack of cigarettes, waterproof matches and a butane lighter, it says. He told the deputies he didn’t start the fire and he denied having been in the area where it started. He was wearing a green T-shirt that read, “who needs luck I have charm,” the detective wrote.

The deputies were unaware of Farinacci’s prior fire-related contacts and the cause of the Old Trails Fire hadn’t been determined yet, so they released him to continue working on evacuation efforts, Drapeau wrote.

But the following day, a wildland fire investigator ruled out other possible causes, including sparks from electric wires or passing trains, and police arrested Farinacci on Monday.

“As it happens in so many critical cases, it was citizens who were paying attention to their surroundings, being aware and willing to step up and say something that led to the relatively quick apprehension of Mr. Farinacci,” Sheriff John Nowels told reporters.

Child credited the heroic work of police and firefighters responding to the disaster, and said he hopes people who lost homes “can get some kind of peace of mind or a little bit of comfort” from the arrest.

Farinacci appeared in court Tuesday via video link from the jail and was represented by Colin Charbonneau, director of the Spokane County public defender’s office. A judge set his arraignment for Thursday.

In an effort to get comment from Farinacci’s family, The Associated Press sent a message to a possible social media account for a brother.

Police contacted him about earlier fires

A detective investigating the Old Trails Fire ran a criminal history check on Farinacci and found that he had been contacted by law enforcement twice before during fire investigations.

Spokane police responded to reports of several fires on July 8, 2025, near Farinacci’s apartment. The area near the Spokane River involved several “bus-sized” fires and prompted a significant emergency response, according to a police record.

The Washington State Patrol made contact with Farinacci the following month while pursuing a suspect in a wildfire at Riverside State Park. They found him on a park bench, “seemingly out of breath from possibly running.” They took photos of him. He was wearing a green T-shirt just like the one he was seen wearing on Saturday, the document says.

Convicted of manslaughter

Farinacci, then age 21, shot and killed his father in Mesa, Arizona, during a 2010 argument about washing dishes, police said. Farinacci also shot himself but survived.

He was charged with murder but pleaded guilty in 2012 to manslaughter and aggravated assault, records show.

A judge in 2011 found that Farinacci was mentally fit to assist in his own defense, though defense lawyer Jose Colon continued to raise questions about his mental health and noted that he had been hospitalized multiple times for psychiatric treatment, court records show.

In a letter to the judge, Beth Farinacci, who had married Farinacci's father, said second-degree murder, not manslaughter, would have been a more appropriate way to resolve the case.

“Manslaughter is for when someone accidentally kills another person. It is not for someone who intentionally points a loaded gun at their father and shoots him in his face and back,” Beth Farinacci wrote.

Farinacci was released from probation in Arizona in early 2024. A probation officer said Farinacci maintained a stable residence with his girlfriend and her family in the previous year, but also noted he hadn’t completed a mental health evaluation or domestic violence treatment.

Drone activity a serious concern

The fires were among dozens across the Western U.S. that have stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them. More than 1,000 firefighters, many from outside of Washington state, were in the Spokane area Tuesday, and that number was expected to rise.

On Monday afternoon, during the hottest part of the day, authorities had to ground all of their firefighting aircraft for nearly two hours due to repeated airspace incursions by privately operated drones, said Tom Stokesberry, spokesperson for the critical incident team managing the fire response.

Federal authorities on Tuesday granted a law enforcement task force the authority to down, by means of electronic disruption, any drones that cross into restricted airspace, he said.

In one neighborhood, blackened vehicles, a boat twisted by the heat and melted plastic recycling bins remained. Across the street, lawns were still green and houses were spared, as residents continued to run hoses or sprinklers to water their properties.

Some residents who had to flee blazes returned to find only chimneys left standing.

“There’s nothing to save,” Miriam Sim, 76, said as she and her husband, Daniel Sim, surveyed the ruins of the home where they had lived since 2005.

___

Johnson and Bellisle reported from Seattle, and White reported from Detroit. Associated Press reporters Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

Arbaeen is held 40 days after Ashoura, which commemorates the killing of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and members of his family, at the Battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.

Karbala Gov. Nasseif Jassim al-Khattabi said Tuesday that more than 22 million people entered the city during the pilgrimage, including about 5 million non-Iraqi visitors as well as Iraqis from different regions of the country.

The event is considered one of the world’s largest annual religious gatherings.

Among the highest-profile foreign visitors was Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who arrived in the Iraqi city of Najaf on Monday and continued on to Karbala to take part in the pilgrimage.

Araghchi's presence was a reminder of the delicate balancing act that Iraq — which has close ties to both Washington and Tehran — has carried out since the beginning of the war. Iraq has found itself in the crosshairs of both sides and has sought to avoid getting pulled further into the conflict.

As usual, Iranian pilgrims arrived in large numbers, but some observers said the number of pilgrims from other countries had shrunk.

Aqeel al-Rubaie, 45, a pilgrim from Baghdad who was on his way to Karbala, said Iranian flags were particularly visible along the Najaf-Karbala road, while there were fewer flags than usual from European, Arab and other Islamic countries.

He attributed this to “the war and the events unfolding across the region, which have affected the number of Arab and foreign pilgrims."

Another pilgrim from Baghdad, Hassan al-Sarai, 35, said, “I hardly saw any flags other than Iranian ones, which were clearly visible along the road as well as inside and around the city of Karbala."

Volunteer processions providing food, water, medical care and other services lined the roads leading to Karbala from across Iraq.

The pilgrimage is taking place this year as Iraq faces difficult economic conditions following the war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted Iraqi oil exports. More than 90% of Iraqi state revenues come from oil exports, making the country’s economy highly vulnerable to any interruption in crude shipments.

It also comes as Baghdad is wrestling with a difficult task it has set for itself: disarming the country's network of militias, many of them Iran-backed.

One of the most powerful Iran-backed militias, Kataib Hezbollah, said in a statement marking the occasion of Arbaeen that it rejects calls to disarm and remains committed to retaining what it described as the “weapons of the resistance."

Meanwhile in Iran, many observant Shiites unable to make the pilgrimage to Karbala held their own observances, which sometimes took on a political tone.

In the capital, Tehran, black-clad mourners rallied along a nearly 20-kilometer (12-mile) route to a Shiite holy shrine in the south of the city from a starting point in the central part of the city.

The mourners chanted slogans seeking retaliation for the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in strikes by the U.S. and Israel, while some demonstrators trampled on U.S. and Israeli flags.

State media said similar rallies were held in other Iranian cities and towns.

——

Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed.

Netanyahu's remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war. It also marked a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration.

The agreement called for Hamas to begin disarming and for Israel to halt its strikes and begin withdrawing from the roughly 60% of Gaza it currently controls. It was based on an October ceasefire agreement that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza but has stalled on other fronts.

Netanyahu, who faces a tough battle for reelection in October, reiterated his stance that disarmament should come first. He said Israeli forces would continue to “do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, our territory, and our citizens.”

The Trump administration “sent us a draft. We did not agree. It is not our draft. We sent our comments. … This is our position,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on social media.

Mass funeral held for dozens killed in 2023 strike

Earlier on Tuesday, Palestinians gathered for a mass funeral of more than 100 bodies finally recovered from a deadly Israeli strike in Gaza in 2023. More than 300 people were killed on Nov. 22, 2023, weeks into the war with Hamas, when warplanes flattened a residential block in Gaza City’s Sabra neighborhood.

Around 40 bodies were recovered soon afterward in a frantic scramble of rough tools and bare hands, but most were buried deep beneath the rubble. Reports of the high number of victims in one of the war's deadliest attacks took days to reach the public in the chaos just before its first ceasefire.

Over the weekend, first responders dug through the destroyed buildings and recovered remains of 112 victims, including 40 children, according to the Civil Defense, a rescue agency operating under the Hamas-run Interior Ministry.

It said 157 bodies still have not been found.

“The only crime of these martyrs was that they remained steadfast and resilient in their homes, believing that these homes would protect them,” one relative, Taysir al-Hassayna, told The Associated Press following the funeral prayers.

For the missing, it's “as if their bodies had evaporated without a trace.”

The current ceasefire has allowed recovery of remains

Only now are some bodies of people killed in the war's ferocious early months slowly being recovered, as the fragile ceasefire allows such efforts to push ahead in parts of devastated Gaza.

Those discoveries have contributed to the war's rising toll. The Hamas-led militant attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 73,377 Palestinians, including since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

At least 7,400 people have been reported by relatives to still be under the rubble, Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the ministry's records department, told the AP. The true number is likely thousands higher because in some cases entire families were killed in a single bombing, leaving no one to report the missing, al-Waheidi has said.

The people mourned on Tuesday were from a residential block belonging to the Hassayna and Abu Sharia clan, and many were related. AP has identified at least 60 families across Gaza who lost 25 or more family members during the first three months of war.

On Tuesday, the remains of the victims, wrapped in Palestinian flags, were laid in rows on the ground. Many were marked with photos, and flower petals were scattered around them all. Hundreds of people surrounded the bodies for funeral prayers, some standing on the rubble.

Following the prayers, people carried the bodies on stretchers along a narrow street lined by destroyed buildings and buried them in a nearby cemetery.

Deadly strikes continue and rebuilding is on hold

At least 1,252 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. It does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants but says women and children make up most of the dead.

Israel says its strikes are against militants who endanger its soldiers, took part in the Oct. 7 attack or carry out other violations. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.

The U.S.-backed ceasefire agreement last October called for Hamas to be disarmed and for Israel to withdraw. An International Stabilization Force was to be deployed, and an independent Palestinian administration was to oversee governance and reconstruction.

Israel says everything hinges on Hamas giving up its weapons, while Hamas says Israel must end its strikes and begin withdrawing from the territory. Each side accuses the other of violating the truce.

Gaza remains largely shattered. Most of its 2 million Palestinians are displaced, many living in tent camps where poor conditions and overcrowding have led to rodent infestations and outbreaks of infectious diseases such as chickenpox.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

It took firefighters nearly a month to extinguish the blaze, which scorched 22 square miles (57 square kilometers). The Eaton fire burned at the same time as the wind-whipped Palisades fire. An AP analysis at the time showed both blazes torched more urban area than any California fire in decades.

The Eaton fire was caused by electrical arcing on the utility’s out-of-service tower atop a ridge covered with dry fuel, the agency said in a statement. When bare, uninsulated wires touch or come close together it can cause arcing, which is when electricity jumps through the air, producing sparks.

The report said SoCal Edison was responsible for maintaining and operating its electrical lines and equipment “in a manner that would minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by them.”

Utility has acknowledged potential involvement

The utility indicated previously its equipment may be involved. In early reports to the California Public Utility Commission, SoCal Edison said it detected a “fault” on one of its transmission lines around the time that the Eaton fire started.

Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for SoCal Edison, said the utility is reviewing the report.

“We have taken our potential role in the start of this fire seriously from the very beginning,” Dunleavy said.

Dunleavy added the utility has claims against other agencies over issues such as emergency response and the condition of surrounding vegetation.

SoCal Edison claimed in lawsuits earlier this year that Los Angeles County agencies failed to send timely evacuation warnings to residents in east and west Altadena. Eighteen of the 19 people who died in the fire lived in west Altadena.

“Ignition is different from spread,” Dunleavy said. “A fire of that magnitude – it’s never just one thing. There are numerous factors.”

Attorney Gerald Singleton, whose firm represents some Eaton fire victims in pending civil cases against SoCal Edison, said the report confirms that the utility's failure to maintain its equipment caused the blaze.

“For 18 months, Edison tried to shift blame onto county evacuation warnings and local water agencies instead of owning its own equipment’s failure,” Singleton said in a statement. "We will continue to fight for full accountability and fair compensation for the survivors we represent.”

Joy Chen, executive director of Every Fire Survivor’s Network, said the report confirms what thousands of fire victims already knew about what caused the blaze.

“The real question is who pays?” asked Chen, whose home sustained smoke damage.

Utilities have been blamed for many of California’s most destructive fires in recent years.

SoCal Edison, which provides electric service to about 15 million people in California, has paid out hefty sums due to its equipment sparking fires, including $2.2 billion to settle insurance claims from the deadly, destructive Woolsey wildfire in 2018.

The utility is facing hundreds of lawsuits from fire victims, insurers and government entities related to the Eaton fire. The U.S. Department of Justice has also sued the company over damage to National Forest land, and has asked for more than $40 million in damages to the federal, state and local governments.

Attorney Mira Hashmall, who is representing Los Angeles County in Eaton fire-related litigation, said the report shows what “Edison knew all along.”

“Enough of Edison’s strategy of delaying justice for the victims of the fire and blaming first responders despite their best efforts to protect lives and property,” Hashmall said in a statement.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Tuesday that it will review the investigative report and will work with local, state and federal authorities to determine if criminal charges are warranted. The California Department of Justice didn’t immediately comment.

Another California utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, filed for bankruptcy after its outdated equipment ignited wildfires in California that killed more than 100 people and wiped out entire towns, including Paradise. The utility pleaded guilty to 84 counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2018 Camp Fire.

The Los Angeles County Arson Fire Investigation Unit jointly conducted the Eaton fire investigation with California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or Cal Fire. The blaze was sparked during extreme weather conditions that included high temperatures, low humidity and powerful winds. Two “electrical arcing events” occurred in quick succession, causing an unknown burning material to fall from the tower to the ground below, according to the report.

Investigators interviewed residents who saw flames

The report cites interviews with several residents who saw the fire in its early stages on Jan. 7, some who said it occurred below power lines. One witness who noticed flames under an electrical tower said “he observed an arc while watching the fire; he described it as a blue light,” the report said. The witness began taking photos around 6:25 p.m., then watched as the blaze spread rapidly amid heavy winds.

Another Pasadena resident told investigators she was doing dishes with her daughter when she observed a circle of orange sparks that turned into flames. “The circle of fire was located at the base of the transmission towers,” the report said.

Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said “while the cause has been determined, our focus remains on assisting our residents to rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and ensuring lessons learned drive meaningful and impactful change in memory of the 19 lives lost.”

The Palisades Fire was the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles to date and among the five worst in California’s history. That fire killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 homes and buildings in Pacific Palisades. The fire ripped through hillside neighborhoods, destroying mansions with spectacular ocean views.

The man accused of sparking the Palisades Fire will be tried again this fall after his first federal arson case ended in a mistrial in June. Prosecutors said Jonathan Rinderknecht used a barbecue lighter on Jan. 1, 2025 to spark a blaze that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up Jan. 7.

—-

Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California.

It happened in the 4300 block of Crosby-Cedar Bayou Road when officers conducted a traffic stop on a fugitive wanted by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

During the stop, police say the wanted subject and a second individual refused to comply with officers’ commands. Officers used pepper ball munitions and a police K-9 to try and bring them into custody. One of the individuals was taken into custody while police say the wanted fugitive crawled into the trunk of the vehicle.

When officers were able to open the trunk, Baytown PD says the wanted man was found unconscious inside and in medical distress.

Medical aid was given and the man was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Baytown police say no firearms were discharged during the incident.

The investigation remains active.

The State Department said the decision was a reciprocal response to Brazil’s actions, and officials said the step had been delayed several times to give Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva room to back down, something he did not do. Officials said, however, that it could be quickly reversed if Brazil takes appropriate action and accepts Trump’s ambassadorial choice.

Brazil's government in a statement responded by accusing the United States of not following international law in nominating its ambassador to Brazil. It said the U.S. government's decision to revoke the Brazilian ambassador's visa was politically driven with the aim of influencing Brazil's election in October.

Trump has had a fractious relationship for some time with Lula's administration, which has opposed him on numerous policies, particularly in the Western Hemisphere regarding Venezuela and Cuba. Their relationship also has been strained by Trump’s fondness for Lula’s first term successor and then predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest, and his son Flávio, who is Lula’s main opponent in the election.

Lula has spared Trump himself from criticism and claims they liked each other when they first met at the United Nations Assembly General in September of last year. The Brazilian leader has blamed Secretary of State Marco Rubio for some of the actions against his country.

Brazil's ambassador is not being expelled

Despite the revocation of her visa, Brazil’s ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti is not being expelled from the United States, said one State Department official, who like several others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic matter. The ambassador was previously a senior United Nations official.

She could be allowed to resume her official duties if the Brazilian government accepts Trump’s choice of former Florida House speaker Danny Perez to be U.S. ambassador to Brazil. Perez was nominated to the post in June and the official said Brazil had signaled it would not act on the appointment until after the first round of Brazil's election on Oct. 4.

Perez' nomination was submitted to the Senate on June 1. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted on July 22 to send his nomination to the full Senate, where a vote was expected by the end of this week.

Brazil's government said the U.S. should have asked for consent to send Perez in private, as established by the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, before the nomination was made public. It added the U.S. government's request to send Perez is still “under analysis.”

Brazil denied visas last month for Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and one of his top aides after reports emerged that the pair were going to criticize Lula or the election process.

The State Department denied the allegations and said the two had planned to visit Brasilia on July 27-30 to meet government officials, religious leaders and others about “election integrity,” religious freedom and freedom of expression.

It said the visit was routine and that “any insinuation of a ‘ploy’ to undermine a democratic nation’s election is a baseless lie.”

The Brazilian government on Tuesday stood by its assessment, saying the two Americans "were planning to visit the country to cast doubts about the integrity of the Brazilian electoral system, in an unacceptable attempt to interfere in the national political process.”

Last week, a top Brazilian diplomat told journalists the government was expecting a response from Rubio. The diplomat was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The same Brazilian diplomat told the AP on Tuesday, also under condition of anonymity, that the Lula administration is trying to figure out why the U.S. government is rushing to have an ambassador in Brasilia only months before October's election. The post in the Brazilian capital has been vacant since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

The Trump administration has taken other actions against Brazil

Lula, who is 80 and seeking his fourth term as Brazil's president, will face Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father once served as Brazil's president and whose family has many ties with the Trump administration.

Sen. Bolsonaro and his brother, Eduardo, visited U.S. officials in Washington, including Trump, in late May. Shortly afterward, the Trump administration classified Brazil’s biggest drug-trafficking groups — First Command Capital and Red Command — as foreign terrorist organizations, a move Lula opposes.

The Trump administration also imposed an up to 37.5% tariff hike on thousands of Brazilian exports, which came into force Friday. The U.S. government claims the South American nation has unfair competition practices and fails to stop forced labor practices — both accusations rejected by the Lula administration as an attempt to sway the election to Sen. Bolsonaro.

Brazil's government said Tuesday's decision was not an isolated incident.

"It forms part of a deliberate escalation of hostile measures against Brazil, driven by ideological motives that are incompatible with a bilateral partnership that has always been guided by mutual respect,” the government statement said. “The improper intent to interfere in the forthcoming presidential election is also evident.”

Jair Bolsonaro has for years fed concerns about the country’s electronic voting system, without providing any evidence for his claims. He is now serving a 27-year prison sentence at home for an attempted coup. He has long insisted that the machines, used for a quarter-century, are prone to fraud.

Sen. Bolsonaro has recently repeated some of these claims, although he steered clear of those on Saturday when his Liberal Party confirmed him as a presidential candidate in Sao Paulo.

Brazil's government said it “has spared no effort to resolve these differences” with the U.S government.

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Savarese reported from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Bears announced the four-year deal on Tuesday, posting “The Wright Tackle is here to stay” on social media. Wright's $116 million contract includes $93 million guaranteed, according to a person familiar with the agreement who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the details had not been announced by either side.

The contract is the biggest ever for a right tackle and includes the most guaranteed money for an offensive lineman in NFL history, according to ESPN.

“Our team is rooted in being driven by belief and built by hard work, and Darnell epitomizes our culture in every way,” coach Ben Johnson said in a statement.

The 10th overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Tennessee, Wright anchored an offensive line that helped the Bears rank third in the NFL in rushing last season on their way to the NFC North title. He earned second-team All-Pro honors.

“Darnell has consistently elevated his play and the performance of his teammates since joining our team, and we look forward to his continued growth and leadership for years to come,” general manager Ryan Poles said.

Wright said during training camp last week that he was optimistic about getting an extension.

“Obviously, I know I’ll be here for a long time, hopefully my whole career,” he said. “Those things kind of just handle themselves. I just have to stay focused on the main things. That’s just getting better, consistency every day.”

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

While it may seem like the planet is baking through a record-shattering summer from hell, it's not quite in record territory. Yet.

So far this is only the third-hottest year, behind 2024 and 2025, climate statistics show. But give 2026 time. Because of a one-two punch of accelerated human-caused global warming and a supersized El Nino, there's an increasing chance that by the end of the year, 2026 could eke out the crown for the hottest year on record, eclipsing 2024 — or at least come close, scientists said.

Even if this year sets the record, it won't last long. Although scientists disagree on whether 2026 will be the hottest year on record, they agree on it being a near lock that 2027 will beat out any modern year for heat, maybe by a great deal.

With wars around the globe in the last few years people didn't pay much attention to climate change "because the world was on fire in different ways. The world is now on fire again with climate change in a way that’s increasingly difficult to ignore,” said climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of Berkeley Earth. “It's going to keep getting worse.''

Increasing odds for a record hot year

Hausfather calculated there's a 35% chance that 2026 will pass 2024 as the hottest year on record. But Hausfather keeps increasing those odds nearly every month — up from only 7% in March.

Former top NASA climate scientist James Hansen, often called the godfather of climate science for 40 years of accurate long-term warnings, predicted that 2026 will edge out 2024 at the end of the year.

The world's daily sea surface temperature tied 2024 starting in May and since June it's been record hot nearly every day. With oceans more than 70% of the globe's surface, there's generally a month-and-a-half lag between heat showing up in oceans and then being reflected in the global average temperature, Hansen said. So it's about time that the entire globe starts shattering records, he said. About 82% of the world's ocean surface is overheated with marine heat waves this year, according to Europe's Copernicus climate service.

About a month ago the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast that there was a 66% chance that 2026 would be the fourth hottest and only a 0.1% chance it would be No.1 for warmth by year's end. NOAA monitoring chief Russell Vose said those odds will be rising when NOAA finishes its analysis from July.

Hausfather said what's changing outlooks is the increasingly strong forecasts for a “mind-numbing” record-setting El Nino.

El Nino is a natural temporary warming of parts of the equatorial Pacific that heats up the globe's average temperature and warps weather extremes across the planet. Most forecasts have El Nino becoming the strongest in history. El Ninos always release pent-up heat in the ocean, but because of greenhouse gases trapping heat and 90% of it going into the world's seas, there's more heat to release, said Zachary Labe, a climate scientist at Climate Central, a science and communications nonprofit.

The amount of heat in the world's oceans — a marker of human-caused climate change — keeps setting new record highs, Labe said.

This summer's heat is human caused, not from El Nino

Climate scientists said what we've seen this summer can't be blamed on El Nino because its impacts really don't kick in for a few more months. The fires, heat and extremes that have dominated the summer of 2026 are what scientists have long been warning about from the burning of coal, oil and gas.

“The driver of the record warmth is climate change in the background. And it’s a much larger — much, much larger — contribution than El Nino, which is just a tenth to two-tenths of a degree on top of that long-term trend,” Labe said.

That warming is accelerating, Hansen said.

That's because traditional industrial pollution that creates soot and smog — which cool the planet and mask greenhouse gas-triggered warming — is decreasing, Hansen said. Also, it looks as if the climate might be reacting to greenhouse gases stronger than scientists anticipated, he said.

Heat waves keep hitting

This summer’s heat waves have hit hard in places where people aren’t used to triple-digit heat, unlike in the tropics, climate scientists said. And they've been especially noticeable at night, making it hard for people to sleep, which impairs their health and their ability to be productive at work, said Samantha Burgess, global strategic lead at Copernicus climate service.

She pointed to Europe, where there was an “exceptional” heat wave in May, another in June, two in July and another one going on now in France and Spain.

“European heat waves are not in isolation. So there’s also been shocking heat waves in North America. There’s been shockingly hot conditions in South America as well. There’s been devastating heat waves in India,” Burgess said. “There’s always heat waves somewhere in the world sometime, but what is very unusual for Europe for this particular year is the frequency and extent of the heat waves.”

Princeton University climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer said this is what scientists have long been warning about.

"These are vivid pictures of not just the future, which is what we used to say, but on the whole of what climate change is doing. There’s no question that climate change has increased the risk of wildfires. There’s no question that the climate change increased the probability of really hot, nasty, even unprecedented summers around the world.”

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

Supporters of the referendum had submitted hundreds of thousands of petition signatures in a bid to force a November election on a new U.S. House map approved by the Republican-led state Legislature. But Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins asserted Tuesday that the petition is void because congressional redistricting plans cannot be subject to voter referendums.

The number of petition signatures submitted doesn't matter, Hoskins said, because “challenging a congressional map is unconstitutional under Missouri law.”

A group backing the referendum effort said it will contest Hoskins' decision in court.

“Secretary of State Hoskins is making a last desperate attempt to silence the people’s voice in Missouri," Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians Missouri, said in a statement, while asserting there are more than enough signatures to qualify the referendum for the ballot.

Missouri was the second Republican-led state, after Texas, to respond to Trump's call last year to redraw congressional districts to the GOP's advantage in hopes of holding on to the party's slim House majority in the midterm elections.

The new map, which is being used in Tuesday's primaries, dramatically reshapes the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District, held by longtime Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, by stretching it into rural central Missouri to give it a Republican tilt. Republicans already hold six of Missouri's eight congressional seats and hope to gain another under the new map.

Hoskins shoots down amendment on citizen initiatives

Hoskins also rejected a potential November ballot measure seeking to fortify the initiative process.

The proposed amendment would bar the Legislature from making it harder to qualify citizen initiatives for the ballot or approve them at an election. It also would make it harder for the Legislature to reverse or amend voter-approved initiatives by requiring an 80% vote in both the House and Senate, instead of the current simple majority.

Although supporters had submitted thousands of signatures, Hoskins asserted that the petition violated a constitutional prohibition against rolling multiple subjects and sections of the constitution into a single amendment.

The Respect Missouri Voters coalition said it will take legal action to try to get its amendment on the ballot.

“This brazen disregard for the will of the people is exactly why the people of Missouri came together to gather signatures ... because we are sick of these games in Jefferson City,” said Bob Johnson, a coalition member and former Republican state senator.

For both the redistricting referendum and the citizen initiative measure, Hoskins released opinions from Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway laying out the rational for his decisions.

Missouri's redistricting plan has faced lots of litigation

People Not Politicians, the group sponsoring the referendum drive, submitted more than 300,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office in December. Local election officials reviewed the signatures' validity over the ensuing months and approved well more than the roughly 111,000 needed to qualify for the ballot.

But Hoskins waited until the last day allowed under state law to announce his decision about the referendum — a move that let the new districts be used in the meantime.

Hoskins had long signaled that he was likely to reject the referendum. He asked a federal court last fall to block the referendum petition from being submitted, arguing that congressional redistricting is not subject to a referendum under the U.S. and Missouri constitutions. A judge dismissed the lawsuit as premature, noting in a December ruling that Hoskins had the authority to reject the petition himself if he thought it was unconstitutional.

When Missouri candidates began filing for office in February, Hoskins said they were doing so under the new districts and told The Associated Press that “the referendum process was never meant to be used for redistricting.”

If Hoskins is wrong, and a court orders him to place the redistricting referendum on the ballot, it's unclear what that means for the 2026 elections. Would candidates who win Tuesday's primaries be allowed to continue running under the new districts in November while voters simultaneously decide whether those districts can be used in future elections? Would candidates run in different districts for the general election than were used in the primaries? Or would courts order a do-over for the congressional primaries using the state’s prior congressional districts?

Missouri's mid-decade redistricting effort already has been among the most litigated nationally, triggering about a dozen lawsuits over the past year.

Republicans are ahead in the national redistricting fight

Legislative voting districts typically are redrawn at the start of each decade, immediately after a census. But Trump's call for Republicans to redraw districts to their advantage led to an unusual outbreak of mid-decade mapmaking. The redistricting effort gained additional steam when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana in late April, prompting Republicans in several Southern states to also redraw districts that had large minority populations.

All told, Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states — Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

Voters ultimately will determine whether the new districts perform as intended. Even with redistricting, Republicans are facing headwinds. The president's party historically has lost congressional seats in the midterms, and Trump’s poor approval ratings could provide an extra hurdle for Republican candidates.

Nearly 145 million people — about two of every five U.S. residents — live in states with new congressional districts for this election. Additional states are considering redistricting before the 2028 elections. Maryland lawmakers voted Tuesday to place an amendment on November’s ballot that could pave the way for mid-decade redistricting.

The crash was reported in the 400 block of FM-1960, near the North Freeway.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office says the woman, believed to be 18-years-old, remains in critical condition at a hospital as of Tuesday evening.

The sheriff’s office says Jorge Luis Perez, 24, is charged with aggravated assault and has been booked into the Harris County Jail.

Arrest Update – 400 block of FM 1960 Incident:

The female victim, believed to be 18 years old, remains hospitalized in critical condition. Our thoughts are with her and her loved ones as she continues to fight for her recovery.@HCSOTexas detectives have arrested Jorge Luis… https://t.co/cLtzeSunLF pic.twitter.com/GIpWjN88bA

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 4, 2026

The sheriff’s office says it is believed Perez and the woman are in a dating relationship and are both from Arkansas. It is believed the two were involved in an argument while traveling inside a pickup truck.

At some point, the sheriff’s office says the woman got out of the vehicle and Perez allegedly drove away before turning around and intentionally hitting her with the truck and fleeing.

The investigation remains active.

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The Republican president has struggled to connect with voters on the economy as elevated inflation and Americans' feelings of uncertainty have overshadowed the stock market gains he often cites along with a low national unemployment rate.

Just before Trump arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday to speak at a Republican National Committee fundraising dinner at a golf club his family owns in Rancho Palos Verdes, authorities revealed that a California man who was carrying ammunition and had a gun in his car had been arrested Sunday at the golf course. The man appeared to have been monitoring security preparations.

On Wednesday, Trump will discuss the economy during an event at Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. Only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy in an AP-NORC poll conducted in late July. In the same poll, most Americans, 69%, characterized the state of the economy as “poor,” and many said the cost of everyday essentials like groceries and gas was a “major” source of stress in their lives.

Trump’s overall approval rating is at 33%, slightly below where he stood at this point in his first term.

Trump is likely to take aim at Democratic Gov. Newsom

During the trip, Trump is likely to throw barbs at California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat eyed as a likely candidate for his party’s presidential nomination in 2028. Newsom has become one of the president’s highest-profile opponents.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said the president plans to “draw a sharp contrast between his commonsense agenda and the radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom," touting his own efforts to cut taxes, reduce fraud in government programs, and crack down on immigration and crime.

California was one of Trump's first domestic stops after returning to office in January 2025. He surveyed the aftermath of wildfires that had wiped out whole neighborhoods of Los Angeles County, left thousands of people homeless and killed more than two dozen.

Newsom greeted Trump at the airport on that trip, and they chatted amiably and gestured toward cooperation despite a bitter history. But the comity did not last. Six months later, Newsom argued in a speech that “democracy is under assault” by Trump after the president sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles without Newsom's consent. This came after protests following a series of immigration raids by federal authorities.

Trump routinely mocks Newsom and refers to the governor using a derogatory nickname, while Newsom taunts the president with frequent social media posts.

The Democrat's press office put out a statement Tuesday saying that Trump was traveling to California not to help survivors of the wildfires but to raise money and attack the state with lies.

“More than anything, we’d like the President to keep the promise he made on January 24, 2025: to 'take care of Los Angeles,'" Newsom said. “18 months later, survivors are still waiting. And while you’re here, Mr. President, welcome to the world’s fourth-largest economy — growing faster than Texas and Florida combined. Enjoy your stay.”

“Trump treats California like his personal political punching bag — right up until he needs someone to write a check,” California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. “He may hit up a few billionaire donors who bankroll his political operation, but the people of California have already made it clear: they want nothing to do with his chaos and corruption.”

Housing prices are a big issue at Trump's second stop: Nevada

Nevada, where Trump will be on Wednesday, is led by a Republican governor, Joe Lombardo, who faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford in a battle for reelection in November. The contest is considered one of the most competitive governor’s races in the country.

The Nevada State Democratic Party is putting up billboard signs about Trump’s visit that tie him to Lombardo and higher costs. The state is grappling with a shortage of affordable housing, exploding energy demand from artificial intelligence data centers and federal cuts to key state programs.

Trump has tried for several months to sell voters on his income tax cuts and claims of a manufacturing renaissance. But interest rates are high, a gallon of gasoline costs more because of the Iran war, tariffs are still reshaping the economy and, by the White House’s own estimates, there is a national shortage of housing.

The president called his own housing bill a “yawn,” and past speeches advertised by the White House as being about the economy, including one he delivered at a General Motors facility in Michigan last week, gave way to Trumpian weaves about his political enemies and construction projects in the nation's capital.

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Associated Press writers Josh Boak and Michelle L. Price in Washington, Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles and Jessica Hill in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

The problem, neighbors say, isn’t isolated to one house. Homeowners in the Lakewood Pines community have been voicing their frustrations on the neighborhood’s Facebook page. The complaints range from flickering lights and AC units that stopped cooling to appliances turning on and off on their own before burning out entirely.

Alexis DeLeon showed KPRC 2 the issue firsthand.

“The power goes on and off at different times,” DeLeon said.

DeLeon says the electrical problems have affected her AC system and every major appliance in her home, including her washer.

“Basically, when a breaker flipped, it turned off mid-cycle and just went out,” she said.

It took DeLeon some time to connect the dots. But once she started talking to neighbors, she realized she wasn’t alone. Josh Blair, another Lakewood Pines resident, says he’s dealing with a failing compressor in his AC system — a financial hit he wasn’t prepared for.

“I’m an educator on an educator’s salary, and I’m currently in school for nursing, so money is tight,” Blair said. “But my kids are at home, my wife works from home — we have to keep the house cool.”

Blair says he initially tried to manage the situation on his own. But after speaking directly with CenterPoint technicians — who happened to be working in the neighborhood — he says he was told the source of the problem.

“The voltage into the community is what’s causing the issue,” Blair said. “I heard that directly from CenterPoint’s technicians that came out. I talked to them around Aug. 2.”

The data backs up what residents are experiencing. Bob Marshall, CEO of Ting Labs, says his company operates a nationwide network of sensors that tracks power quality — monitoring outages and electrical issues to help prevent electrical fires.

“Overall, we see that the greater Houston area has roughly two times the number of outages that we see across the country on average,” Marshall said. “In Atascocita, we’re seeing on the order of 2.5 to 3 power outages per home per month. The average U.S. home has 0.5 power outages per home per month.”

KPRC 2 reached out to CenterPoint Energy for comment. In a statement, the company said:

CenterPoint Energy is committed to providing our Lakewood Pines customers with resilient and reliable power every single day. As part of this commitment, we have been following up with affected customers in the neighborhood, and our team is taking immediate actions to respond and resolve the operational issue. As always, we will continue to work directly with our customers in the area to address their concerns, answer questions and provide the reliable and resilient energy system that all our Greater Houston area customers expect and deserve.

The governor’s directive requires the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to conduct a comprehensive review of proposed data center projects, saying the goal is to protect the reliability of the Texas power grid as electricity demand continues to grow.

Under Abbott’s order, developers must provide information about their expected electricity demand, water use, cooling systems, tax incentives, project ownership and how they plan to reduce impacts on nearby communities before moving forward with new grid connections.

The announcement comes as Texas continues to position itself as a national leader in artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure.

Northwest Houston data center expanding

One project already underway is the Serverfarm data center on Cutten Road in northwest Houston.

According to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, Serverfarm filed plans to build a new $137 million data center at the site.

Neighbors say data centers have operated at the location for decades under previous owners, making the latest project an expansion of an existing campus rather than an entirely new facility.

“It’s just an expansion of one that’s been here for a while,” resident Ken Rice said. “It’s a much smaller footprint of building, so I’m not surprised in this day and age of AI and all that that brings.”

Texas experiencing a data center boom

Texas has become one of the nation’s fastest-growing markets for data centers.

According to the Texas Tribune, there are 335 operating data centers statewide, with at least 248 more planned or under construction.

Industry databases also show the Houston area is one of Texas’ largest data center markets, with more than 60 facilities across the metropolitan area.

Supporters say the facilities create construction jobs, attract private investment and help meet the growing demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services.

But the rapid growth has also sparked questions about whether the state’s infrastructure can keep pace.

Residents express mixed feelings

Residents living near the Serverfarm campus say they recognize the economic opportunities data centers can bring, but they also want to understand how the projects could affect surrounding neighborhoods.

“It mixed, mixed feelings,” said David Parra. “I mean, I know it’s, you know, jobs for some, but also kinda like an eyesore for the rest of the community. I don’t know how, how much of an impact it will have on the area, so, time will tell.”

Rice said his biggest concerns involve electricity and water usage.

“Taking the bigger picture, certainly with the needs that data centers have vis-a-vis electricity and water usage, that’s been brought before,” Rice said. “So, certainly that’s a concern.”

He added that while he believes data centers are part of the future, growth should be carefully managed.

“It’s a business, jobs, the digital age, these things are a natural advancement of what’s going on. So, we’re gonna need them, but let’s be responsible.”

Parra also wants more information about how facilities use water.

“So that’s kind of my question is like, what are they doing with the water? Like, is it one way or is it like being a recycle,” he said.

Rice said he supports the governor’s decision to require additional review before more projects move forward.

“I think it was a smart move to put… things down for a little bit, just make sure we’re doing this the right way,” he said.

Concerns extend beyond Houston

The debate over data centers is not limited to northwest Houston.

KPRC 2 has previously reported on residents in Iowa Colony who oppose a proposed data center in their community.

In Alvin, city leaders recently approved a resolution opposing new data center developments within city limits.

Alvin City Council approves resolution opposing data centers pending further review

Those concerns mirror conversations taking place across Texas as communities weigh the economic benefits of attracting large technology projects against questions surrounding electricity demand, water resources and neighborhood impacts.

Could consumers eventually pay more?

One question many Texans have is whether the rapid growth of large electricity users could eventually affect their monthly utility bills.

University of Houston electrical engineering professor Dr. Harish Krishnamoorthy said accommodating massive new industrial loads requires significant planning.

“So that is going to increase the consumer cost, unfortunately,” Krishnamoorthy said. “That said… there is the cost of these really large loads, data centers and other industrial loads, which ERCOT is planning for.”

His comments come as ERCOT continues planning for increasing electricity demand driven by population growth, industrial expansion and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.

Why the governor says the review is needed

According to the governor’s office, the review is designed to ensure proposed data centers can be integrated into the Texas electric grid without compromising reliability.

Developers will be required to disclose:

• Expected electricity demand
• Water use and cooling systems
• Tax incentives or public financial assistance
• Ownership information
• Steps to reduce impacts on nearby communities

State leaders say the additional review will help ensure future projects can support Texas’ growing economy while protecting the electric grid and surrounding communities.

Serverfarm did not respond to KPRC 2’s request for comment regarding Governor Abbott’s order before this story aired.

But while parents are preparing their children for the classroom, cybercriminals are preparing their own back-to-school strategy: creating convincing scams designed to catch families off guard.

Experts warn parents to watch for fake fundraisers, too-good-to-be-true supply deals, and a growing threat powered by artificial intelligence: scheme messages written to look like they came from a child’s teacher or school.

AI is making school schemes harder to spot

For many parents, a message about a school fundraiser or activity can look routine. A quick notification arrives on a phone, a link appears, and it may seem easier to click and complete the request right away.

That moment of urgency is exactly what scammers are counting on.

Cybercriminals are creating fake emails, text messages, and websites designed to look nearly identical to legitimate school communications. With the help of AI, those messages can now appear more professional, polished, and convincing — without the spelling mistakes or obvious warning signs that once made scams easier to recognize.

According to the FBI, phishing and spoofing remain among the most reported cybercrimes in Texas, with thousands of complaints reported each year.

Warning signs parents should watch for

Before clicking any link or sending money, cybersecurity experts recommend taking a few extra steps:

Check the sender’s email address

A message may display a familiar school name or teacher’s name, but the actual email address could reveal that it came from an unrelated account.

Always look beyond the display name and confirm the sender’s address.

Hover over links before clicking

A link may appear to lead to a school website, but hovering over it can reveal the true destination. Be cautious if the web address looks unfamiliar, misspelled, or unrelated to the school.

Be careful with urgent requests

Cyber thieves often create pressure by claiming:

• Your child will miss a deadline
• A program spot will be lost
• A payment must be made immediately
• Important information must be confirmed right away

Urgency is a common tactic used to prevent people from stopping to verify the request.

Be suspicious of unusual payment requests

Parents should be especially cautious if a message asks for payment through:

• Gift cards
• Cash apps
• Wire transfers
• Other unusual payment methods

Legitimate schools typically have established payment systems and rarely request money through these methods.

If a payment request appears to come from a teacher, coach, or school organization, verify it independently. Contact the school using a phone number or website you find yourself — not information provided in the unexpected message.

Slow down before you click

The best defense against these scams is simple: take time to verify.

Before clicking a link, donating to a fundraiser, or sending payment, ask:

• Was I expecting this message?
• Does the sender’s email address look legitimate?
• Does the link go where it should?
• Is this request creating unnecessary pressure?

Thieves are counting on quick reactions. Taking a few extra seconds to check can help protect your personal information and your money.

As the school year begins, remember: if a message feels urgent, unusual, or too good to be true, take a closer look before you click.

If you have been victimized by a scam and would like to file a complaint, you can report it to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through its official complaint website: Federal Trade Commission fraud reporting website

The changes have raised a major question for Texans: If you bought a THC product legally before, could you now face criminal consequences for having it?

Texas has now banned most hemp-derived THC products that can cause a high, including many Delta-8 products. Some non-intoxicating CBD products and certain low-dose Delta-9 products that meet the state’s THC limit remain legal.

The change has left smoke shops, wellness stores and consumers trying to understand what is allowed and what could create legal risk.

Veterans say they are losing an alternative they rely on

Veterans were among the strongest opponents of tighter restrictions on hemp-derived THC products.

Mitch Fuller with the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars says many veterans use these products as an alternative to prescription medications for issues including pain and sleep.

• RELATED: Texas’ ban on several consumable THC hemp products goes into effect Friday: What is legal and what is not?

“This is an essential key tool that works for veterans in the toolbox,” Fuller said. “Access to this is affordable, it’s accessible, and it’s effective.”

Fuller says losing access could push some veterans back toward medications they previously struggled with or toward unregulated products where consumers may not know what they are getting.

Prosecutors say cases will be reviewed individually

KPRC 2’s Joy Addison reached out to district attorneys across the Houston area to ask how they plan to handle enforcement under the new rules.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said it has not issued new guidance because of the change and will continue focusing limited resources on violent crime, organized crime and serious drug-related cases. The office also noted its marijuana diversion program remains in effect for eligible possession cases.

The Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors will continue enforcing state law, but proving a controlled substance case requires accurate testing to determine what substance is present and in what concentration.

The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said prosecutors have been briefed on the changes and will review each case individually based on the facts, evidence and applicable law.

The office said it is not creating separate categories of cases based on when a product was purchased and that prior availability or a retailer selling a product does not necessarily determine whether it is legal today.

“If you choose to use these substances, you must take the time to understand the law that pertains to them in advance,” the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said. “The time to learn the law is before you encounter law enforcement and find yourself charged with a crime.”

Defense attorneys warn consumers may not realize the risk

Criminal defense attorney Cory Roth says the biggest issue for consumers is that the legal status of some products changed after many Texans had already purchased them.

“You can absolutely get arrested for a product that you bought legally when it was legal because now it is illegal,” Roth said.

Roth says the situation may create confusion because enforcement practices and prosecutorial decisions could vary across counties.

He also warns consumers to be cautious when transporting these products.

“The best thing is just to never drive or be in a vehicle with marijuana, CBD, or any of its derivatives because you’re asking for potentially some trouble,” Roth said.

What should consumers do now?

Roth says people who rely on hemp-derived THC products for medical reasons should talk with a healthcare provider about legal alternatives.

He also says clearer product labeling — including a possible state-approved stamp of approval — could help consumers understand what is legal and reduce confusion.

For retailers, prosecutors recommend reviewing current Texas law, staying informed about future court or legislative changes, and being cautious about relying only on information provided by wholesalers.

• RELATED: Following ban, Texas hemp reps sue state for violating commerce protections

As the legal challenges continue, consumers, businesses and law enforcement agencies across Texas are waiting for more clarity on how the rules will be applied.

Full statements from Houston-area district attorneys

Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office

“We will continue to enforce state law when we have the evidence to do so. Critical to proving a crime beyond a reasonable doubt regarding controlled substances is accurately defining what the substance is, and in what concentration. The complexity needed to meet that burden will require analytical drug testing beyond what occurs on the street. This is no different than the changes made with the original Hemp Farming Act of 2019 – law enforcement can still arrest based upon probable cause, and if a lab test indicates the presence of Delta-8 cannabinoids, or Delta-9 cannabinoids above the legal .03% threshold, we are able to proceed with prosecution. We remain available to law enforcement 24/7 to assist as needed.”

Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office

“The debate over THC products has generated strong opinions on all sides, and reasonable people can disagree about what Texas law should be. Our role as prosecutors, however, is not to decide what the law ought to be. Our responsibility is to fairly and faithfully enforce the law that the Legislature has enacted and the courts have upheld.

As with any change in the law, our office will review each case on its individual facts and exercise the discretion that prosecutors are expected to exercise in the pursuit of justice.

We are especially concerned about the public safety risks posed by impaired driving. Whether the impairment comes from alcohol, illegal drugs, or other intoxicating substances, drivers who get behind the wheel while impaired place innocent people at risk. Our commitment to protecting the public from impaired drivers remains unchanged, and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold those who endanger others accountable.

We encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the current state of Texas law and make responsible choices. Our goal is not simply enforcement for its own sake, but the fair application of the law and the protection of the people of Montgomery County.

We’ve informed our prosecutors of the specific changes which became effective on July 31, 2026. Our general guidance has been consistent with the approach we take on every criminal case. When cases are submitted to our office, prosecutors review the facts, the evidence, and the law as it applies to the facts. Each case will be evaluated on its own individual facts, and prosecutors will exercise the discretion they are expected to exercise in the pursuit of justice.

We are not creating categories of cases based on when a product was purchased. Every case will be reviewed individually based on its facts. We will accept charges presented to us with sufficient probable cause, and then handle them accordingly.

We will accept charges presented to us by law enforcement where probable cause exists for the charge. From there, we will handle the case like any other: we will evaluate the strength of the case, the nature of the offense, and any mitigation or extenuation the defendant provides.

We will certainly take all the relevant facts into consideration. To be clear, however, these substances have been illegal since 2021. In 2021, a Travis County District Court judge placed an injunction on enforcement. The Texas Supreme Court has now reversed the injunction, and the prohibition, first implemented in 2021, is once again enforceable.

The prohibition first announced in 2021 is fully in effect, and consumers should take the time to understand what is currently legal in the State of Texas. A product’s prior availability or the fact that it was sold by a retailer does not necessarily determine its legal status today.

Retailers should carefully review the current law, stay informed about any future legislative or court developments, and seek legal advice if they have questions about compliance. Retailers who depend on representations made by wholesalers, particularly from other states, may find themselves in violation of Texas law.

Our role is not to decide what the law should be. Our responsibility is to fairly enforce the law that the Legislature has enacted and courts have upheld. If the courts or the Legislature change the law in the future, we will apply those changes as well.

If you choose to use these substances, you must take the time to understand the law that pertains to them in advance, particularly with respect to Delta-8 products, the possession of which is now a felony offense. The time to learn the law is before you encounter law enforcement and find yourself charged with a crime."

Harris County District Attorney’s Office

“No — we have not issued any new guidance as a result of the change that occurred last month.

We follow the law and as we do so we ensure that we focus limited enforcement resources on prosecuting the most violent offenders and serious drug-related crimes. This includes organized crime and drug-trafficking.

As we do so, we also run a very robust marijuana diversion program that continues to be in effect that covers marijuana possession cases.

Changes in state law have led to confusion among residents and law enforcement agencies and we continue to urge the state legislature to take action to clarify these laws."

The incident happened in the 5500 block of Bellaire Blvd. near the intersection of Chimney Rock Road.

Lt. Larry Crowson with HPD says the guard with the truck was coming out of an ACE Cash Express when he saw two or three suspects approach. The guard was reportedly sprayed with bear spray by the suspects after coming out of the store.

South Gessner officers are at a robbery scene 5500 Bellaire. Shots were fired during an armored car robbery. Assist by Bellaire PD. 202 pic.twitter.com/JXf33XE8LQ

— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) August 4, 2026

Crowson says the guard fired at the suspects as they tried to rob him and the truck. The suspects then fled the scene.

Two of the suspects fled on foot while another fled in a car, according to Crowson.

“The security guard did a good job. He was going into the store, when he originally went in he saw a suspicious vehicle which is going to be this green Dodge truck here, its very loud when its idling. We believe that to be a stolen vehicle that they stole when they come up here,” Crowson said.

Around 4:30 p.m., Crowson said police were able to track the getaway vehicle, described as a white Mercedes, to a car wash on Houston’s north side where Crowson said at least one suspect was trying to wash blood out of the car. At least one person was taken into custody at the car wash.

Crowson said two teenage suspects were dropped off at a nearby urgent care clinic with gunshot wounds before the Mercedes left for the car wash. They were taken to Texas Children’s Hospital where they are currently in surgery and expected to be ok.

Crowson says the suspects did not get away with any money.

The FBI confirms investigators are also responding to the scene.

On the route: Meals on Wheels in Midtown

Gexa volunteers joined a briefing at the Midtown Meals on Wheels hub before loading insulated carriers and heading out on delivery routes. The work wasn’t just about food — it was about checking in on seniors, many over 75, who live alone and rely on those daily visits for companionship and safety. The program also accepts pet-food donations through an AniMeals initiative so seniors’ animal companions stay fed — if you have unopened cat or dog food to spare, consider donating.

Hands-on help at The Beacon

Gexa Energy also partnered with The Beacon to support Houston residents experiencing homelessness. Employees prepared and served hot meals, organized donation drives, and assisted with laundry and distribution — all aimed at preserving dignity and helping clients move toward stable housing. Corporate-community partnerships like this make measurable differences.

Houston Habitat for Humanity ReStore

Across town, Gexa Energy volunteers got to work at the Houston Habitat for Humanity ReStore — stocking shelves, pricing items, and organizing deals to help keep the store running smoothly. Volunteers say giving back matters because Houston is the community that supports their business, and with Gexa celebrating its 25th anniversary, they wanted to mark the milestone by serving the city that’s been with them for decades. One volunteer called it “a good day to be out here,” adding there’s no better way to say thank you than helping neighbors in need.

Habitat’s ReStore team says Gexa has become a committed partner — first volunteering a few years ago, “catching the bug,” and now returning again with strong support, including Gexa’s president, Ryan McGeachie. He also joined in to “get his hands dirty.” The ReStore rep says the help is meaningful and appreciated, crediting Gexa for showing up not just today, but for supporting Habitat’s work across the community.

RELATED LINK: Gexa Energy gives back

A milestone that strengthens community

What started as an anniversary celebration has become an ongoing commitment to Gexa’s motto of “Texans Serving Texans.” From feeding seniors to sorting donations and helping feed unhoused neighbors downtown, Gexa’s 25th anniversary activities show how corporate volunteer programs can make a real difference in the community.

Hats off to the Gexa team for using a milestone to deepen ties with local nonprofits and to remind our city that small acts — a warm meal, a clean shirt, a friendly visit — matter.

Learn more online gexaenergy.com/community.

The State of Texas will host its annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday this Friday through Sunday. The three-day stretch will provide shoppers the opportunity to purchase qualifying school-related items without paying state or local sales tax.

There is one important catch to note, according to the Texas Comptroller’s office, eligible items must be priced at less than $100 each. The Comptroller’s office also maintains a detailed list of which products qualify and which do not, and some of the rules may surprise you.

• RELATED: Texas tax-free weekend 2026: Items that qualify for back-to-school savings

To put those tax-free rules to the test, 2 Helps You’s Mario Diaz went in search of kids to quiz them on which items were exempt or taxable. One problem the feels like temperature was near 100-degrees in Sugar Land on Tuesday so he recruited one of his son’s closest friends and incoming high school freshman, Harrison Downey, for a quick quiz.

Some of the results weren’t as obvious as you might think.

For example:

• A golf shirt qualifies for the tax exemption, but golf shoes do not.
• A necktie is tax exempt, while sports helmets are taxable.
• Baseball pants do not qualify for the exemption, but baseball jerseys do.

Even Harrison admitted some of the answers caught him off guard.

As for perhaps the most pivotal eligible purchase that many families will capitalize on, baby clothes.

Before heading to the checkout line, it’s worth reviewing the state’s complete list of eligible and non-eligible items to make sure you’re getting the tax savings you expect.

The company run by Elon Musk posted a loss of $541 million, or 9 cents per share, in the three months through June, less than half what financial analysts had forecast. Revenue jumped to $7.8 billion, up more than 90% from the year-earlier period.

A standout in the quarter was the company's big cash source, its “connectivity” business, with revenue jumping 66% from a year earlier as the number of subscribers to its Starlink satellite communications service doubled to 12 million.

“It's not out of the question that at some point, Starlink will deliver a majority of the world’s internet," Musk said in call with analysts.

SpaceX stock rose 9% in regular trading Tuesday, but gave most of the gain back after hours. The rocket, satellite and AI company's stock has fallen by roughly half since peaking in June shortly after an initial public offering that briefly made Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

Investors are worried Musk has oversold them on the company's future prospects for space travel and its AI chatbot Grok. They’re also bracing for volatile trading as some company insiders get the opportunity to sell shares after the expiration of what’s known as a lockup provision later in the week.

Another area of concern is SpaceX spending on infrastructure and R&D, which jumped to $18 billion from less than $3 billion a year ago. The company's chief financial officer, Bret Johnsen, said to expect similar capital expenditures for the next two quarters.

Musk defended the outlays, a concern also weighing on many other technology companies spending heavily on AI, saying the resulting supercharged growth meant the company would reach a trillion dollars in revenue a year faster now, 2030 rather than 2031.

Shares jumped 19% on their first day of trading in June, making Musk the first-ever trillionaire. The subsequent drop, as well as a decline in the shares of Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla, have knocked his wealth down to $783 billion, according to Forbes.

Musk was asked several times about the prospects for the gigantic Starship rocket that is key to SpaceX realizing his ambitions. Starship successfully deployed satellites in space during a test late last month.

Musk said he expected SpaceX will attempt to test the reusability of Starship at the end of the month when it will attempt to grab the spacecraft and its booster with mechanical arms upon their return to their base. NASA hopes to use Starship to put astronauts on the moon again in the near future.

“We want to put boots on the ground — boots on the moon — in 2028,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.

SpaceX shares could see continued volatility. Some insiders have been barred from selling in the public offering but that prohibition begins to ease on Thursday when more than 900 million shares are released for trading, more than doubling the amount currently available. The lockup release is the first of several tranches of stock that will be freed to trade over the next several months.

The company also runs the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

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An earlier version of this story erroneously reported that 900,000 shares will be released for trading later this week. It should have said more than 900 million.

Both chambers of the Democratic-dominated state legislature on Tuesday approved putting an amendment on the ballot to allow the change. Sending it to voters required three-fifths approval of both legislative chambers, which met in a special session to consider the change. It cleared the House 96-38 and the Senate 32-13.

Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat, praised lawmakers for putting the measure before voters, and joined them in saying it was necessary to combat President Donald Trump's push for a mid-decade redistricting that favors Republicans.

“I continue to believe that our country needs national redistricting reform. But until that happens, inaction is not an option,” Moore said in a statement. “Maryland will not be caught flat-footed while Republicans engage in political redlining that guts decades of progress that the generations before us fought for.”

In a state where Democrats now occupy seven of the eight House seats, Republicans are calling the effort a blatant power grab — and a move that violates a new state law intended to give voters more time to consider proposed amendments.

In debate in the House on Tuesday, Republican Delegate Kevin Hornberger told his colleagues: “Just because we can go ultra-partisan doesn't mean we should go ultra-partisan.” Other Republicans said constituents weren't behind it and one Democratic lawmaker worried that the change could cost rural parts of the state federal resources if they're put in the same districts with suburban areas.

In the debate, Democrats emphasized that the amendment does not include approval of any specific new maps.

If the amendment is ultimately approved, it would likely be part of a rapid reconfiguration of congressional district lines that began last year when Trump urged Republican-controlled states to adjust their maps to help the party in the 2026 midterm elections. Normally, redistricting happens just once a decade after new Census data is released.

Eight states — Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas — have redrawn maps to help Republicans, who could pick up as many as 16 seats due to the redistricting. New maps in California and Utah could give Democrats an advantage in six races.

Maryland moved more slowly — and with an approach that will not change districts for this year's elections — because Democratic state Senate President Bill Ferguson blocked an earlier initiative aimed at putting new maps in place for this year. He was worried that the state Supreme Court, with most of its members appointed by a Republican former governor, could backfire — especially because a judge in 2022 rejected a new map that could have boosted the Democrats.

Ferguson said his view changed after the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in April, giving Republicans grounds for reconfiguring districts with large minority populations in Southern states.

The question that could go to voters is designed to make it hard for the court to reject redistricting. It would make it clear that the parameters the judge cited — including that districts be compact in form and have regard given to “natural boundaries” — apply only to state legislative districts, not congressional ones.

That would allow congressional districts to cross the Chesapeake Bay, which is the only way Democrats could draw a map that gives them an edge in every congressional district. Currently, the only district on the rural Eastern Shore east of the Bay is also the only one represented by a Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

An AMBER Alert for Aryana Trevino Martinez was issued Sunday after she disappeared around 7 p.m. in the 4000 block of Allegheny Drive in San Antonio, Texas, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

The girl was later found unresponsive in a brush area around midnight on Monday near the area where she disappeared. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

An SAPD investigator told KSAT News that Martinez was located in an overgrown, water-filled creek area. The investigator said she was captured on video walking alone in an alley before her death.

Neighbor describes moments her son found Aryana

Anna Marie Ramirez and Uriel Ramirez, 22, neighbors of Aryana, told KSAT News Uriel found the girl unresponsive in an overgrown, water-filled creek area.

Anna said her son took higher ground by standing on top of a rock to look over the weeds.

“I just kept saying, ‘Please don’t be there. Please don’t be there. Please don’t be there,’” she recalled her son saying.

As soon as he looked over, he found Martinez.

“I can’t even put it into words,” Uriel Ramirez told KSAT. “She’s like an angel and something led me straight to her, like a direct shot. My brain was just — that’s where she is.”

Anna told KSAT News her son “jumped in the creek, not knowing how deep it was, and just picked (Martinez) up and just ran out of the water with her.”

She said she saw her son running back with Martinez in his arms yelling, “I found her.”

First responders conducted CPR on Martinez before an ambulance arrived, Anna told KSAT reporters.

Aryana’s cause and manner of death remain under investigation.

The AMBER Alert was canceled around 3 a.m. Monday.

Authorities have not released any further information about Aryana’s death.

Russia has relentlessly pounded civilian areas of Ukraine, even though Moscow insists its forces target only military facilities.

Since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion over four years ago, Ukraine has developed long-range drones that can strike deep inside Russia. In the past year, its forces have battered oil facilities, major storage depots and other key infrastructure.

More than 16,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the war began, the United Nations said last month in its most recent casualty report, with the vast majority occurring in areas under the Ukrainian government’s control. Casualties have risen steadily each year.

The U.N. children’s agency on Tuesday urged both countries to uphold international humanitarian law requiring the protection of children, citing recent deaths in Russia's Belgorod and Krasnodar regions, as well as in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions.

“Attacks that kill and injure children must stop,” UNICEF said in a statement.

Meanwhile, escalating attacks on shipping in the Black Sea by both sides have reawakened fears that global food security could be put at risk.

Russia is accused of using a drone to attack a street vendor

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video on social media that he said showed a Russian drone hunting a man selling vegetables from a street stall in the southern city of Kherson.

The video shows the man trying to flee the drone as it circles his vehicle, follows him and ultimately strikes the car where he was trying to hide. He suffered wounds to his back, legs and arms, according to an interview he gave to the Kherson regional military administration.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not immediately reply to an Associated Press request for comment.

Drone attacks on civilians have surged since the war began, with 967 people killed, including 10 children, and nearly 7,000 people injured, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said Tuesday.

Russian drone operators track and strike civilians going about daily activities, according to previous AP reporting. A U.N. commission concluded in October 2025 that such attacks amounted to crimes against humanity.

“The world must see this,” Zelenskyy said. “It must see every piece of evidence that Russia has gone mad and that its soldiers take pleasure in killing and abusing civilians.”

Russia says a Ukrainian drone killed 7 on Black Sea coast

The death toll from a drone strike Monday in the Russian Black Sea resort of Arkhipo-Osipovka rose to seven, including four children, regional authorities said.

On Tuesday, Krasnodar regional authorities updated the number of wounded to 58, with 21 hospitalized.

Video circulating online showed a drone slamming into a crowded beach with what sounded like gunfire in the background. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.

Ukrainian drones strike near Moscow and St. Petersburg

A Ukrainian drone attack Tuesday in the region around Moscow killed five people and wounded 10 others, said Gov. Andrei Vorobyov. Most of the damage occurred in the Chekhov municipal district, where several fires erupted at the Novoselki industrial zone, he said.

In the latest in a series of attacks on Russia’s biggest online retailer Wildberries, the company said its warehouse in the Leningrad region, adjacent to St. Petersburg, was on fire.

In the village of Emmaus, located between Moscow and St. Petersburg, drone debris partially damaged a wall of a Wildberries warehouse, regional Gov. Vitaly Korolyov said.

In the past 18 days, Ukrainian drones have targeted 15 Wildberries warehouses, 13 of which caught fire, said Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. Ukrainian officials say the company provides goods that can be used by the military. Kyiv is also keen to unsettle the Russian public with high-profile attacks.

Russia hits Ukrainian ports and shipping

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces on Monday night struck “Ukrainian ports, vessels and port infrastructure” used by Kyiv’s army.

In the port of Chornomorsk, in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Russia said it hit an automobile components plant and a port terminal, where the military vehicles were being repaired and ammunition and fuel were being stored.

In the southern port of Mykolaiv, a bulk carrier with military cargo was damaged, while in Pivdennyi, another Ukrainian port, a vessel unloading military cargo was hit, according to the Russian statement.

The ministry also said two bulk carriers hauling weapons and military equipment were damaged at sea, south of Odesa.

Turkey on Tuesday repeated its appeal for both countries to ensure safe passage in the Black Sea after two Turkish-owned ships were attacked by drones after leaving the Russian port of Novorossiysk.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement expressed concerns that the war is increasingly spreading across the Black Sea, threatening merchant shipping, and warned such incidents could have broader consequences, including for the global food supply, as important shipments of grain, fertilizer and other key products move through those waters.

Ukraine reports more Russian glide bomb attacks

Russian attacks on Mykolaiv, including its port, killed an 89-year-old woman and wounded seven other people aged between 2 and 83, Ukrainian regional officials said.

The Russian strike on civilian infrastructure in southern Odesa region destroyed a private home and wounded two people, according to Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration.

In Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, six Russian glide bombs killed two girls aged 5 and 10 and an elderly woman, said Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration.

Russian forces also struck Kharkiv and 18 towns and villages across the northern region in the previous 24 hours, killing one person and injuring seven, including an 8-year-old, said Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional military administration.

Strikes in Balakliia, also in the Kharkiv region, damaged an apartment building, a library, three stores and more than 10 houses, wounding two women, local authorities said.

Two glide bombs struck Kramatorsk in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, injuring 24 people, local officials said. Kramatorsk sits at the northern end of Ukraine’s Fortress Belt, where Western analysts say Russia is making a renewed effort to break through after four years of attrition.

Vadym Filashkin, head of the regional military administration, urged people still living near the front to evacuate, saying authorities would help with transportation, housing and other support.

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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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

The man, Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, was hospitalized Saturday after having a “medical emergency” while being held at Delaney Hall in Newark, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He died the same day.

His official cause of death will be released following further medical examination, according to ICE, which listed his age as 41. Relatives said he was 39.

At a news conference Tuesday, distraught family members said Lopez-Cornejo had complained he was not getting regular access to his medications, which he took for diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures. His mother, Maria Cornejo, said he called the day before his death to tell her he had spoken to a doctor early Friday and had lost feeling in half his face and arm.

“My son needed medical attention, and he didn’t receive it,” Cornejo said in Spanish. “He was a good father. A good son. A hardworking man. He didn’t harm anyone.”

Through tears, his 12-year-old daughter, Ashley Lopez, said the family knew his health had worsened in detention. “All of us were worried about him,” she said.

In their statement, ICE said Lopez-Cornejo “received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals” while in custody. He had been held at the facility since his arrest on June 18, according to the agency, which accused him of entering the country illegally.

In all, at least 56 people have died in ICE custody during Trump’s second term. Hundreds of people detained across the U.S. have brought lawsuits accusing immigrant detention facilities of failing to provide proper medical care.

In recent months, Delaney Hall has been the site of fierce protests by immigration advocates, with demonstrators at times attempting to block vehicles from entering or leaving the facility. Earlier this year, some people held at the jail launched a hunger strike over the conditions, according to Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy group.

The facility is owned by Geo Group, a private prison contractor that operates multiple detention centers across the country. The contractor deferred comment to ICE.

After Lopez-Cornejo's death, Democratic politicians and civil rights groups renewed their calls to shutter the 1,000-bed facility.

“This is not the first death of a detainee at Delaney Hall, and absent decisive action, it will not be the last,” Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker said in a statement. “I have visited the facility myself and witnessed these conditions firsthand, so I say this plainly: Delaney Hall must be closed immediately and permanently.”

In December, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national, died after collapsing at the jail in what a medical examiner ruled was due to a blood clot blocking an artery in his lungs.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat who has routinely visited Delaney Hall, told reporters another person detained by ICE died in July after they had a seizure while they were being processed at the facility. Menendez said ICE granted the person a “discretionary release” from custody after they were taken to a hospital and lost consciousness, and the person died shortly afterward.

Menendez did not identify the person. ICE didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry about the case.

Menendez said ICE did not report the death, in line with a policy change announced earlier this year in which the agency no longer reports deaths that occur within 30 days of someone’s release from custody.

ICE has also not publicly recognized the July 24 death of 29-year-old Priciliano Trejo in Georgia, which came nine days after the agency released him from custody while he was hospitalized in a coma, according to a coalition of advocacy groups in the state. The agency has not responded to inquiries about Trejo’s death.

On Tuesday, Lopez-Cornejo’s brother, Danilo Lopez, called for the release of all medically vulnerable detained people, adding that the family would seek an independent state investigation into the “health crisis” at Delaney Hall.

In a statement, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said her administration’s inspection efforts “continue to face obstruction.”

“Every effort to block oversight raises serious questions about what is happening inside Delaney Hall and what those operating the facility are trying to hide,” she added.

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Associated Press journalists Ryan Foley in Iowa City, Iowa, and Joseph Frederick, in Highland Park, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

Wenger said in a statement he knew nothing of the $20 billion plan and that it was “absolutely necessary” to drop the proposal, and Grafström sent an email to all FIFA staff — seen by The Associated Press — calling the last week a “sad and reproachable series of events.” He also said it created “turmoil which is difficult to comprehend and accept.”

Neither directly named Infantino or offered support for the now-embattled president.

Late Tuesday, media reports in Britain said Infantino would hold a crisis meeting with senior FIFA staff in Morocco on Wednesday, which the governing body hadn't confirmed.

The comments by Wenger and Grafström had echoes of the direct criticism from FIFA chief operating officer Kevin Lamour, who said Friday that staff had been “deceived” by Infantino's private equity plan, which provoked a furor in global soccer. Lamour called it the "project of one person” and said FIFA staff “deserve better than contempt and intimidation.”

The three executives are respected and trusted figures among the 211 FIFA member federations who now hold sway over Infantino's grip on a presidency that looked unshakeable after the World Cup ended barely two weeks ago.

UEFA legal threat to FIFA

Wenger, Grafström and Lamour also were named in a letter from UEFA’s lawyers to Infantino among 18 executives whose data and communications should be retained as potential evidence.

“You do not need to worry,” Grafström wrote Tuesday to the hundreds of FIFA staff based mostly in Zurich and Coral Gables, Florida. “I assure you that you as members of the administration, you will be defended and safeguarded from the political context we currently experience.”

Wenger, who was hired by Infantino in 2019 and is FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, said he was “not involved in this strategic plan and first became aware of the project through media reports.”

Infantino withdrew his $20 billion proposal early Saturday after a furious backlash by global soccer officials, including European body UEFA warning of a boycott of all FIFA games and events.

The plan would have created a subsidiary — known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) — to run the money-making parts of the not-for-profit soccer body’s work: organizing tournaments like the World Cup, selling broadcasting and sponsorship rights, tickets and hospitality.

It proposed raising $4.2 billion from investors by selling stakes amounting to about 20% in FFE, based on an equity valuation of $20 billion. The “anchor investor” would have been Thrive Eternal, launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The decision to withdraw the project was absolutely necessary and beyond question, because I firmly believe in an independent FIFA that serves our game with commitment, transparency, and integrity,” Wenger wrote.

Cash offers to FIFA members

FIFA’s 211 member federations — already effective owners of the governing body as a nonprofit association under Swiss law — were offered $20 million each. The deadline to accept was Sept. 19.

They also were promised a doubling of their FIFA funding for the four years through 2030 to $20 million instead of the previously announced $10 million.

Infantino shared details of the project to FIFA management just one week after the July 19 final of the financially successful World Cup in North America that drove FIFA's revenues to $15 billion for the 2023-26 commercial cycle — almost double the income tied to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Grafström, a long-time loyal aide to Infantino since their work together at UEFA, urged FIFA staff to “all continue being proud and happy” about the first 48-team World Cup.

“A sad and reproachable series of events — which were thankfully concluded with the FFE project permanently abandoned — for as much as we feel dismayed by them, should not overshadow this reality,” he wrote.

Infantino came under even more pressure when former FIFA vice president Prince Ali bin Al Hussein criticized the soccer body’s leadership on Tuesday, describing prize money withheld from his Jordan national team as a kind of blackmail.

Infantino's ties to Trump

The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico was judged a success on the field, though it had unprecedented issues linked to Infantino's close ally Trump, who received a specially created FIFA Peace Prize at the tournament draw in December.

During the tournament, Iran's team could not stay in the U.S. where it played three games, a Somali referee picked by FIFA was refused entry, and U.S. forward Folarin Balogun was allowed to play against Belgium despite a red card in his previous game.

“We have all been thrown into the middle of a turmoil, which is difficult to comprehend and accept, but, as secretary general, I urge you to remain focused on what has always united us,” Grafström wrote. “I will continue to support our teams, our work and our mission every hour of every day for as long as my work is valued by those we serve.”

Waiting to hear from Infantino

Infantino has not commented in public on the schism in soccer since a FIFA statement early Saturday announcing that the proposal had been dropped. His official Instagram account has posted letters of support from several member federations, including 2030 World Cup co-host Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Infantino has been president of FIFA for more than 10 years and had seemed sure to be re-elected unopposed next March in Morocco. FIFA has set a Nov. 18 deadline for challengers to come forward, with Sweden's soccer leader saying Monday that UEFA is seeking a rival candidate.

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

In a brief statement, Chipotle maintained that the “health and safety of our guests and employees is our highest priority” — and that it had pulled the jalapeños out of an abundance of caution and “replaced them with product from different growers” in all locations where a previous common lot had been distributed.

The company did not specify where the initial peppers came from but noted that the jalapeños in question were sent across multiple states to several retailers.

The Minnesota Department of Health on Tuesday confirmed that it was investigating a salmonella outbreak tied to several Mexican-style, quick-service restaurants — with jalapeños as the suspected source. Officials identified 110 cases in the state. Chipotle made up the majority of those where they were able to reach impacted consumers for an interview — who ate at the chain between mid-June and mid-July — but not all.

“Based on all the evidence so far, the food that made people sick was served at other restaurants as well,” Carlota Medus, senior epidemiologist supervisor in the Minnesota Department of Health's Foodborne Diseases Unit, said in a statement.

Medus said Chipotle had been cooperative over the course of the investigation — and that given the measures the company put in place, her department was not concerned about the chain at this time. Still, she said it was “too soon for us to know if the outbreak is ongoing” and that it's possible contaminated food is being served elsewhere.

The Minnesota Department of Health noted that other states are contributing to the investigation, without elaborating further. On the federal level, the Food and Drug Administration is conducting the traceback probe, covering but not limited to jalapeños.

The FDA on Tuesday confirmed it initiated its traceback investigation “of multiple ingredients” on July 22, in response to a cluster of salmonella illnesses identified by both state officials and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a statement, the agency said it appreciated Chipotle's cooperation and that it would “provide additional information if and when there is an actionable public health update.”

The CDC did not respond a request for further comments Tuesday afternoon.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include diarrhea, fever, severe vomiting, dehydration and stomach cramps. Most people who get sick recover within a week. Infections can be more severe in young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems, who may require hospitalization.

Chipotle has been battered by larger outbreaks in years past — notably between 2015 and 2018, where a string of E coli., norovirus and food poisoning illnesses sent sales plunging. The California-based company has since boasted stronger food safety practices.

The latest salmonella outbreak arrives at a tough time for restaurant-goers and the dining industry nationwide. A handful of fast-casual chains are still wrestling with the fallout of a separate, wider cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce that has sickened thousands of Americans.

Chipotle hasn't been tied to or named by government investigations into those cyclospora illnesses. Still, the company is among those bracing for lower sales because of that outbreak.

Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill plunged nearly 10% Tuesday.

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A previous version of this story misgendered Carlota Medus, senior epidemiologist supervisor in the MDH’s Foodborne Diseases Unit.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines in support of the nomination of President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, who has aggressively pushed the Republican administration’s priorities since taking over from Pam Bondi in April.

The vote followed a deal struck late Sunday between Blanche and two Republican senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina — who had been threatening to block his confirmation over the settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service regarding the president’s leaked tax returns.

Cornyn and Tillis backed Blanche’s nomination after the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it wasn’t moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes, which the administration announced as part of the settlement.

After days of negotiations, Blanche issued an order Sunday evening confirming “beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

It was still unclear, though, if Republicans will have enough votes in the full Senate to confirm Blanche. A vote could come by the end of the week.

If all Democrats oppose him, Blanche can only afford to lose two Republican votes if Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who was hospitalized after a fall, does not return before then.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who is in a tough reelection race this year, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that she would not support Blanche because he has taken actions that “eroded the department's independence," including the creation of the settlement fund.

At least two other Republican senators have not said if they will vote to confirm Blanche — Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection earlier this year when Trump endorsed one of his primary opponents. Both declined comment when asked how they will vote.

Democrats complain about the fund

Democrats say Blanche’s order doesn’t go far enough to prevent the Trump administration from reviving the fund after the acting attorney general’s confirmation and have called for legislation to permanently bar it.

The order also doesn’t stop the administration from compensating Trump allies — including people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — through a previously established process that allows people to file claims for damages if they believed they were wronged by the government.

The fund “can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general,” said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the committee.

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed for clarification on a separate part of the settlement that would grant Trump and members of his family immunity from tax audits.

Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement applies only to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect Trump from examination of future tax filings. It also makes clear that only the parties that brought the lawsuit — Trump, two of his sons, and the Trump Organization — are covered by the tax agreement.

Cornyn said his reasons for backing Blanche go beyond the deal struck Sunday, adding that he believes the Justice Department needs a “stabilizing force" at the helm.

“The Department of Justice does not need a temporary, unconfirmed nominee as our nation’s top law enforcement official. Trump needs someone in this role, as well, with a strong legal mind," Cornyn said.

Blanche's independence has been called into question

Blanche has faced intense scrutiny regarding his ability to maintain independence from the White House, the Justice Department’s pursuit of the president’s political foes and the agency’s handling of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking investigation.

But it was the settlement of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS that threatened to derail Blanche's nomination, forcing a delay in the committee vote last week amid pressure from the two Republican senators, who are not returning to Capitol Hill after their terms end in January.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who chairs the committee, said Tillis and Cornyn’s demands were “common sense.” Grassley said the senators’ concerns about the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and the IRS settlement were shared by many other lawmakers, including himself.

“I’m grateful that they as well as Mr. Blanche and the White House worked in good faith to solve them, formally rescinding the fund, clarifying the scope of the release of claims has put this issue to bed once and for all," Grassley said.

Trump’s lawsuit has been sharply criticized because of the highly unusual way it was handled, with the president challenging an agency overseen by the executive branch he leads. A judge last month slammed the case as an improper exercise in self-dealing and referred one of Trump’s attorneys who filed it for potential disciplinary action.

Blanche was an important figure for Trump's defense

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and key member of Trump’s defense team as the Republican battled four indictments, arrived at the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to acting attorney general following Bondi’s failure to meet Trump’s demands to successfully prosecute his perceived political opponents.

While Blanche insisted he wasn’t auditioning for the permanent post, he moved swiftly to accelerate investigations into Trump foes and advance other White House priorities, drawing condemnation from critics who say he has not shed his title as Trump’s personal lawyer.

Shortly after Blanche took the top post, the Justice Department moved to indict longtime Trump adversary James Comey, the former FBI director, on charges of threatening the 47th president by posting a social media photograph of seashells in the numerical arrangement of “86 47.”

Comey’s lawyers have accused the Justice Department of misleading judges, submitting documents containing false statements and withholding key facts to bring what the defense described as a politically motivated prosecution.

Blanche separately appointed Joseph diGenova, a former Justice Department prosecutor from the Reagan administration, to oversee a Florida-based investigation into whether former law enforcement and intelligence officials conspired over the last decade to undermine Trump.

The university system bars professors from “advocating” race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity. The policy applies to all 12 universities in the system. It requires presidential approval to address those subjects in certain courses and, according to the lawsuit, prohibits them in core courses.

The lawsuit asks the judge to rescind instructions requiring professors to remove particular readings or subjects and declare the policy unconstitutional. The professors and faculty group allege the restrictions violate the professors’ First Amendment rights and are so vague that faculty cannot determine what they may teach without risking discipline. They want the judge to restore courses removed from the core curriculum and prevent the regents from imposing similar restrictions.

The American Association of University Professors brought the lawsuit alongside four professors: Texas A&M professors Leonard Bright, Vanita Reddy and Landon Sadler and Tarleton State University professor Aaron George. They are represented by the ACLU of Texas, the national ACLU and the Houston law firm Yetter Coleman. They sued the system’s regents in a federal court in Houston.

“We believe this lawsuit is without merit, and the system will vigorously defend its policies and procedures,” Chris Bryan, the system’s vice chancellor for marketing and communications, said in a statement. “The A&M System remains focused on the important work for supporting our students and fulfilling our duty to the state.”

Cloe Kempf, an ACLU of Texas staff attorney, said the policy censors discussion of the rights and identities of Texans who have historically faced discrimination.

“What’s more, it undermines all of Texans’ First Amendment rights,” Kempf said. “If public officials can abuse their power to ban these topics and perspectives today, there’s nothing stopping them from targeting other subjects and points of view, including your own, down the line.”

The lawsuit is the second filed in less than a month challenging restrictions on what professors may teach. The National AAUP and Texas AAUP-AFT sued Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the system’s regents on July 8 over limits involving race, gender identity and sexual orientation.

Unlike the Texas A&M case, the Texas Tech lawsuit was brought by two faculty groups rather than individual professors and challenges two directives issued by Creighton.

The Texas A&M restrictions came after months of upheaval in College Station that began after a student secretly recorded her confrontation with a professor over a lesson on gender identity last summer. A Republican state lawmaker then posted the video on social media that fall, fueling conservative outrage over what the university was teaching.

Then-President Mark A. Welsh III, who initially defended the professor, fired her after the video went viral. He resigned days later amid Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s criticism of his handling of the controversy. Chancellor Glenn Hegar subsequently ordered a systemwide review of courses.

Texas A&M regents first adopted the policy in November and revised it in December. The regents defined “race ideology” as concepts that shame a race or ethnicity, assign people guilt based on their ancestry or promote racial activism instead of academic instruction. 

They defined “gender ideology” as the idea that a person’s gender identity could replace biological sex and that biological sex has less value or legitimacy. 

They did not define what advocacy was. 

Regent Sam Torn said at the time that the board left it to university presidents to determine the difference between teaching and advocacy. 

“What we’re doing is pretty simple,” Torn said. “It’s not as complex. We’re simply making sure that we do educate, and we’re simply making sure that we teach what the course syllabus specifies that we teach.” 

The policy allows professors to teach the restricted subjects in non-core and graduate courses only if they establish a “necessary educational purpose” and receive the university president’s written approval. The lawsuit argues that because the policy does not define “necessary educational purpose,” administrators have sweeping discretion to decide meets that standard.

The rules also shifted as professors tried to comply, according to the lawsuit.

Early guidance allowed professors to teach the restricted subjects in graduate courses without approval and to advocate them with presidential approval. A later FAQ barred advocacy altogether and required approval merely to teach the subjects in graduate and non-core courses. It prohibited teaching them in core courses.

After the policy took effect, professors submitted syllabi for review. Some were told to change their courses or teach something else. In one example, administrators told a professor to remove readings from Plato’s “Symposium” from a philosophy course to continue teaching it as a core course, or instead teach a different philosophy course that would not fulfill a core requirement.

Texas A&M officials have said the university still teaches Plato and have emphasized that only six of more than 5,400 courses reviewed were canceled in the spring, but the lawsuit argues that the cancellations alone understate the policy’s effects.

Bright, president of Texas A&M’s AAUP chapter, had his graduate seminar on ethics in public policy canceled in January, three days after the spring semester started, because he could not identify every class meeting in which sexual orientation might arise during discussions. Bright told administrators that he did not advocate for a particular position.

The lawsuit alleges the policy continues to affect courses planned for the fall. Texas A&M canceled an LGBTQ literature course that Reddy and Sadler were scheduled to teach this fall and required Sadler to remove the Academy Award-winning film “Moonlight” and a poem titled “Trans-Generation” from another course. Administrators allowed him to show “Barbie,” the complaint says.

At Tarleton State, administrators ordered George to remove “The Gay Manifesto” and Kevin Kruse’s book “White Flight” from a history course, while not flagging a reading by conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly opposing equal rights for women, according to the lawsuit. The professors and AAUP argue that the contrast shows the policy allows certain viewpoints while censoring others.

The lawsuit also alleges Tarleton officials used an artificial intelligence-powered platform to screen syllabi and told professors that courses containing words such as “gender,” “diverse,” “bias” and “ethnicity” would receive extra scrutiny.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Trump, meanwhile, is making a rare visit to California and Nevada on Tuesday and Wednesday to shore up support for Republicans in the November midterm elections. The president has so far struggled to connect with voters on the economy, as elevated inflation and feelings of uncertainty overshadow the stock market gains he often highlights, alongside a low national unemployment rate.

Here is the latest:

$150M contract for child immigrant legal services going to Houston law firm with ties to Trump administration

The Trump administration is planning to hire a Houston-based law firm with ties to the administration to provide legal services to unaccompanied children, according to a notice scheduled to be posted on the Federal Register this week.

The agreement will award a contract of $150 million to Burke Law Group, with a proposed time period covering one year starting Aug. 15.

One of the founders, Marcella Burkey, was a former Trump appointee to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. Jeffrey Hall, a former employee and founding partner, was recently appointed and confirmed to serve in the EPA late last year.

The announcement comes days after the federal government allowed a contract to expire on Friday with a network of nearly 100 legal groups after not paying for their services for more than half a year.

Watchdog finds FEMA cuts came without reviewing whether it had adequate staffing for disasters

The Federal Emergency Management Agency may not have a workforce capable of effectively responding to disasters now or in the future.

That’s the assessment of a new report from the Government Accountability Office, the independent watchdog that advises Congress on how taxpayer dollars are being spent.

The agency says more than 4,300 employees separated from FEMA in the 2025 fiscal year, a 55% increase from the prior year.

The workforce cuts came without the agency assessing whether it had the staffing capacity to meet its mission, GAO said. Without such planning, FEMA is not positioned to determine whether it has the numbers it needs in the right positions.

GAO offered several recommendations, including urging Congress to require FEMA to report before the start of each year’s hurricane season on its workforce planning results.

Democratic lawmakers on the House Homeland Security Committee requested the report.

Trump administration revokes visa of Brazil’s ambassador to US in spat with Lula

The Trump administration has revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States in retaliation for Brazil’s denial of visas last month for two American diplomats who sought to visit the country ahead of upcoming elections as well as Brazil’s stalling on approving Trump’s nominee to be ambassador in Brasilia.

The State Department said the decision was a reciprocal response to Brazil’s move and officials said the step had been delayed several times to give Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva room to back down, something he did not do.

Officials said it could be quickly reversed if Brazil takes appropriate action and accepts Trump’s ambassadorial choice.

Lula will face Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, whose father once served as Brazil’s president and whose family has many ties with the Trump administration, in the Oct. 4 polls. The administration has numerous issues with the leftist Lula and his policies and has also hosted the younger Bolsonaro, who is seeking to carry on his father, Jair’s, conservative governance.

Wall Street rallies to records, pushing S&P 500 up 1.8%, as profits pile up and oil prices ease

The U.S. stock market rallied to records as companies kept piling up profits and oil prices eased. The S&P 500 shot up 1.8% Tuesday, and the main measure of Wall Street’s health topped its prior all-time high set in June.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.7% to its own record set the day before, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%. Palantir Technologies and Caterpillar helped lead the way after becoming the latest companies to deliver stronger profits for the spring than expected. Brent crude fell below $80 per barrel, which helped Treasury yields ease in the bond market.

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Guard deployment to Washington into 2029 will cost roughly $1.4B, estimate shows

The extension of the National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. until January 2029 will cost roughly $1.4 billion, according to a Defense Department estimate provided to Congress.

The figure offers a glimpse of how much taxpayer money will be spent on a deployment that has been criticized by local officials as an infringement of their city’s autonomy and by Democrats who say it has militarized the streets of nation’s capital at the public’s expense.

The cost estimate is for fiscal years 2027-2029 and came in response to questions from Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren and was provided to The Associated Press.

The deployment began last summer, when Trump issued an emergency order that launched a law enforcement surge in the city which the administration says was meant to fight crime. Hundreds of armed Guard troops have been deployed to city streets, supporting arrest operations but also helping with snow removal and carrying out beautification projects.

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Trump’s arch could harm the integrity of many of Washington’s historical sites, report says

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday said the Trump administration improperly terminated a multi-billion program to boost clean energy projects, handing a win to a coalition of nonprofits picked to run the Biden-era effort.

Climate United Fund and other nonprofits won’t have access to their funds immediately as the decision will be put on hold for several days giving the Environmental Protection Agency time to ask the Supreme Court to step in.

The split ruling by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a loss for the Trump administration in one of its earliest efforts to dismantle President Joe Biden’s campaign to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gases. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank,” is a congressionally authorized program that provided money to nonprofits that would then make loans and invest in small energy projects, energy-efficient buildings and transportation.

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Divided federal appeals court says Trump administration was wrong to terminate climate program

A divided federal appeals court on Tuesday said the Trump administration improperly terminated a multi-billion program to boost clean energy projects, handing a win to a coalition of nonprofits picked to run the Biden-era effort.

Climate United Fund and other nonprofits won’t have access to their funds immediately as the decision will be put on hold for several days giving the Environmental Protection Agency time to ask the Supreme Court to step in.

The split ruling by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is a loss for the Trump administration in one of its earliest efforts to dismantle President Joe Biden’s campaign to reduce climate-warming greenhouse gases. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank,” is a congressionally authorized program that provided money to nonprofits that would then make loans and invest in small energy projects, energy-efficient buildings and transportation.

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Housing prices are a big issue in Nevada

In Nevada, where Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo faces Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford in one of the nation’s most competitive governor’s races, Democrats are putting up billboard signs blaming Trump and Lombardo for the shortage of affordable housing, exploding energy demand from data centers and federal cuts to key state programs.

Trump has tried to sell voters on his income tax cuts and claims of a manufacturing renaissance. But interest rates are high, gasoline costs more because of the Iran war, tariffs are still reshaping the economy and even the White House acknowledges a national shortage of housing.

Staying on message could be difficult for Trump, who called his own housing bill a “yawn.” Past speeches advertised by the White House as being about the economy gave way to Trumpian weaves about his political enemies and capital construction projects.

Democrats complain about Blanche’s deal making for Trump

Democrats say Blanche’s order doesn’t go far enough to prevent the Trump administration from claiming more immunity from tax audits or compensating Trump allies — including people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — through a previously established process that allows damage claims for government wrongdoing.

Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Justice Committee, said Blanche’s promises are virtually unenforceable. The fund “can easily be revived with a new order from the Department of Justice 15 minutes after Mr. Blanche is confirmed as attorney general,” Durbin said.

Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general clears critical hurdle after deal with GOP holdouts

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12-10 along party lines in support of the nomination of Trump’s former personal attorney, who has aggressively pushed the Republican administration’s priorities since taking over from Pam Bondi in April.

The vote followed a deal struck late Sunday between Blanche and two Republican senators who had been threatening to block his confirmation over the settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service regarding the president’s leaked tax returns.

Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina had said they were withholding their support unless the Justice Department confirmed in writing that it was not moving forward with a $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they were prosecuted for political purposes, which the administration had announced as part of the settlement.

Blanche issued an order Sunday evening confirming “beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

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Attacks continue in Gulf region despite talks

A cargo ship reported being “hit by an unknown projectile” early Tuesday in the Strait of Hormuz , the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said, without providing further information on the ship. It suffered damage, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey, which did not elaborate.

Yemen’s Houthis, meanwhile, fired at an airport in Saudi Arabia. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Iranian-backed rebels, said a drone hit a “sensitive target” at the airport in the southwestern city of Najran, without providing evidence.

Saree said the attack was in response to what he described as Saudi breaching of Yemen’s airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis recently announced a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads to the Red Sea.

Qatar mediating talks between US and Iran

Despite conflicting claims, mediation efforts have been underway between the U.S. and Iran to wind down the war, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday.

“We’re looking into a diplomatic solution,” he said during a briefing, without elaborating.

Comedian Jenny Yang uplifts immigrants, one grocery store at a time

Stand-up comic Jenny Yang is spending her summer turning cultural grocery stores into comedy clubs for a night in a response to Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The Good Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Standup Comedy Tour is using the unusual venues in immigrant enclaves and pairing with nonprofits to raise funds for Asian, Latino and Black communities. It’s grown to 20 performances and a possible comedy special on TV.

For one show in Minneapolis, the manager of a supermarket down the block from where an ICE agent fatally shot Alex Pretti fit 150 chairs near the checkout lanes so people could see her show.

Comedians are divided on whether stand-up should stand down on politics, but Yang says “I believe in punching up, not down.”

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Rubio says progress made in Iran, Oman talks and deal on Strait of Hormuz could happen ‘very shortly’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that there has been progress made in talks between Iran and Oman on the status of the critical Strait of Hormuz waterway.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with the vice president of Paraguay at the State Department on Tuesday, Rubio said that “suffice it to say, there’s been progress made in those talks, but not finality yet. We’re hoping that will happen very shortly.”

Rubio said ships continue to transit the strait but the U.S. would like to see more commercial traffic.

US job market continues to show strength despite bumpy economy

U.S. job openings fell slightly in June, but the labor market continued to show resilience to the Iran war’s economic shocks.

The Labor Department said employers posted 7.36 million vacancies, down from 7.54 million in May, in line with economists’ expectations. Layoffs were little-changed at 1.8 million, and the number of people quitting jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects — rose slightly.

So far this year, companies, government agencies and nonprofits have added an average 92,000 jobs a month. That would have been mediocre in years past, but Trump’s immigration crackdown and baby boomer retirements mean fewer people are competing for work, so the economy doesn’t need as many new jobs to keep unemployment from rising. In fact, some economists believe the “break-even″ rate could be nearly as low as zero jobs.

Trump administration to close five smaller US embassies, consulates and other posts while opening others

The Trump administration has informed Congress that it intends to close five smaller U.S. embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions even as it steams ahead with plans to reopen shuttered posts in Libya and Syria and has reopened the long-closed embassy in Venezuela.

In separate notices sent late last week to lawmakers, the State Department said it would close the U.S. embassy in the Caribbean island of Grenada, the consulates in Nagoya, Japan and Medan, Indonesia, the American Presence Post in Winnipeg, Canada and an embassy branch office in Douala, Cameroon.

The closures are expected to save the government roughly $4.4 million per year, according to the notices, which were obtained by The Associated Press.

Markets move, again, on Trump comments

Trump said he’s not happy with energy company profits, though it was the war he launched that enabled their windfalls.

Shares of ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron all fell around 1% before the bell. Brent crude, the international standard, lost $1.87 to $81.90 a barrel.

Also possibly helping to push oil prices lower was comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said Tuesday in an interview on CNBC that “we are in talks with the Iranians.” Bessent added, “There is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the Strait and move towards a more normalized position in this conflict.”

Big oil reports bigger profits in Iran war windfall

Exxon Mobil on Friday reported that its second quarter profits doubled to $14.53 billion, while Chevron nearly quadrupled its profits to $12.07 billion.

Foreign oil companies are also posting massive increases in profits: Saudi Aramco on Tuesday reported a 44% year-on-year increase in second-quarter net profit to $32.69 billion, driven by higher prices for crude oil, refined products and chemicals. And London-based BP reported its profits more than doubled to $3.9 billion.

US markets poised to open with gains and oil prices slide again as Trump bashes Big Oil

Wall Street was poised to open higher and oil prices flipped to significant losses Tuesday after Trump criticized oil companies for using the Iran conflict to amass excessive profits.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2%, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.3%. Nasdaq futures jumped 1.1%. Oil prices slid close to 3% early Tuesday after Trump bashed big oil companies.

“They made too much money, too much money,” Trump said on Monday. “They ought to give some of that back to the public, and they better cut the retail price.”

FIFA executives distance themselves from Infantino’s World Cup plan

Two senior FIFA executives — coaching great Arsène Wenger and CEO-like Secretary-General Mattias Grafström — distanced themselves Tuesday from their boss Gianni Infantino’s failed plan to sell stakes in future World Cup profits to private investors through a money-making subsidiary to be launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of Trump.

Wenger said in a statement he knew nothing of the $20 billion plan and that it was “absolutely necessary” to drop the proposal, and Grafström sent an email to all FIFA staff — seen by The Associated Press — calling the last week a “sad and reproachable series of events.” He also said it created “turmoil which is difficult to comprehend and accept.”

Neither directly named their boss nor offered support for Infantino, who has not commented in public on the schism in soccer since a FIFA statement Saturday announcing the proposal had been dropped.

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What to watch as primary voters choose nominees

Michigan is testing the direction of the Democratic Party, as voters choose between a progressive standard-bearer and an establishment-backed candidate for the U.S. Senate. Abdul El-Sayed, backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, is up against four-term Rep. Haley Stevens, supported by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Democratic and Republican voters in Michigan are also choosing nominees to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

In Kansas, Missouri, Virginia and Washington state, voters are settling a host of races, including a key rematch between Democrats in a Missouri House contest. Virginia Democrats who lost a court battle over trying to redraw districts to their advantage are picking candidates they hope can defeat Republicans in the fall.

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Trump and Newsom, mocking and taunting

As Trump flies to California he’ll likely throw barbs at the governor, eyed as a likely candidate for the next Democratic presidential nomination.

White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said the president plans to “draw a sharp contrast between his commonsense agenda and the radical policies of Democrats like Gavin Newsom.”

Trump routinely mocks Newsom using a derogatory nickname. Newsom taunts the president in turn.

The Democrat wrote on social media on Monday that California is raising its minimum wage next year to $17.40 an hour, more than double the federal minimum. “Donald Trump and the GOP are still defending a $7.25 minimum wage while workers scrape by. Pitiful,” Newsom wrote.

The economy is on Trump’s agenda in California and Nevada

Trump’s rare visit to California and Nevada is meant to draw contrasts with Democrats on the economy, border security and crime in support of Republicans in November elections that will determine whether party control of Congress.

But he’s struggled to connect with voters on the economy as elevated inflation and feelings of uncertainty have overshadowed the stock market gains he often talks about, along with a low national unemployment rate.

Trump is headlining a Republican National Committee fundraising dinner at a golf club his family owns in the Los Angeles suburb of Rancho Palos Verdes on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Trump will discuss the economy at Red Rock casino in Las Vegas.

Only 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy in an AP-NORC poll conducted in late July, while 69% characterized the state of the economy as “poor.”

Speaking with reporters for the first time since the Packers opened training camp last week, Parsons made his motivation very clear Tuesday. Parsons is on the physically unable to perform list as he works his way back from the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that ended his first season with the Packers.

“I think people are worried about, you know, if I come back. I just feel like people should just be worried about how I’m going to be when I come back,” Parsons said. “Like, people are worried about the knee. They should be worried about how I’m going to play when I get back. The anger, the frustration, the things that I’m going to have to let out because of how long it’s been since I played.”

Parsons recorded 12 1/2 sacks in his first 13 games with the Packers after the blockbuster trade that brought him to Green Bay from Dallas in late August. But after he went down during a Dec. 14 loss at Denver, the Packers never won another game.

Green Bay’s season ended with a 31-27 los s to the rival Chicago Bears in the NFC wild card playoffs, a game in which the Packers surrendered 25 fourth-quarter points after building a 21-3 halftime lead.

Parsons underwent surgery on Dec. 29 to repair the ACL and damage to the meniscus, and doctors gave him a strict nine-month “no football” directive, meaning the first time he could do anything football related would be on Sept. 29, after the Packers’ first two games of the regular season.

He is expected to start the season on the PUP list, which means he can start practicing after missing two games but won't be eligible to play until after missing four games.

The Packers’ Week 5 game is on Oct. 11 at home against the Bears, who lost to the Packers while Parsons was healthy but beat them late in the regular season and again in the playoffs after Parsons went down.

The following week, the Packers face the Cowboys at Lambeau Field on Oct. 18. And Parsons — while refusing to commit to any sort of timeline — acknowledged he’d like to be back to face his old team.

“I think it’s very realistic,” Parsons said. “Me and the (medical) staff, we’ve got to get to the point where I’m feeling great and we say, ‘Micah, you’ll be in a really good phase.’

“Is it possible? Yes. I wouldn’t say it’s not possible. But, at the same time, in these next 10, 12 weeks from now on, we’ve got to do our part to make it possible. It’s not off the board, but we’ve got to put the work in.”

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

To eliminate any appearance of a conflict, she has made a charitable donation that reflects the cash value of the tickets.

Throughout her career, Daniella has earned the trust of viewers through her commitment to journalism and service to the Houston community. We appreciate her cooperation throughout the review and look forward to welcoming her back to the anchor desk.

Because this is a personnel matter, KPRC 2 will not comment further on the internal review or any personnel actions.

Daniella will address the matter when she returns to KPRC 2 News Today on Thursday morning.

It's good to be prepared, but kids who walk to school or participate in extracurricular activities may be lugging more than their bodies can handle. Lockers and classroom storage aren’t available everywhere — and a child carrying too much weight might not be ready to learn.

As families begin back-to-school shopping, here's how to know if your child's backpack is too heavy, and how to lighten their load.

How heavy is too heavy?

The modern school backpack has evolved, but it hasn’t necessarily gotten lighter. Whether students have textbooks, digital devices or both, they often are accompanied by notebooks, water bottles, lunch containers, workout clothes and more. Individually, those items may not seem heavy, but together they can add unnecessary strain to children's bodies.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, signs a backpack may be too heavy include a child leaning forward to support its weight or having difficulty walking. Straps should not dig into shoulders.

Don't wait for a child to express discomfort or pain to lighten the load, experts say.

Dr. Sadika Kendi, a physician who chairs the academy’s injury-prevention efforts, says back injuries are uncommon but possible, particularly if a child falls while carrying a heavy backpack.

“It’s worse if, for example, they trip and fall and they have a huge, heavy backpack on their back. Then that’s just more weight that could increase the severity of an injury,” she said.

Although 10% to 15% of a child’s body weight is often cited as a backpack guideline, there isn’t enough evidence to establish a one-size-fits-all approach, Kendi said. Because children vary in size, strength, physical development and daily routines, caregivers should consider their child’s individual needs and, in general, keep backpacks as light as possible.

Teachers say leave this stuff at home

After families receive back-to-school checklists for classroom materials, they should take an audit of what a child really must carry every day.

Samantha Ness, a history teacher in Phoenix, said parents should focus on making sure children have basic supplies rather than getting caught up in trendy, decorative or expensive items. Her students have access to classroom textbooks but are still expected to carry a laptop and charger each day. As technology becomes more central to schoolwork, some students have stopped bringing paper, she said. They rely instead on their devices, which can also become distractions.

“When considering the things going into their backpacks, how is it going to help them be successful in the classroom?” said Ness, who has been teaching for about 10 years.

In Fairfax County, Virginia, the school district is bringing back math textbooks after a backlash against technology. That was a win for the group Fairfax County Parents for Intentional Technology, but it also means hard decisions about weight in backpacks.

Parents should think carefully about whether a child really needs to carry both books and a laptop every day, said mom Alix Fetch, a spokesperson for the parents group. For example, a student might not always need their laptop at home. Parents of elementary school students in Fairfax County can now opt out of having the device come home in backpacks. For older students, block scheduling means they don’t need every textbook every day.

Fetch said her 7-year-old typically carries lunch, a water bottle and occasionally a folder with homework or notes from the teacher. Even that can feel burdensome, she said, particularly when students move between classrooms for activities such as art or music. And the inside of the bag can still be messy.

“Kids are still kids. There’s food in their backpack and water, and they’re scrunching up papers,” Fetch said.

As students get older, Ness said, backpacks can become more personal storage than school storage, carrying items such as makeup, nail polish and hair dryers.

“They’re using their backpacks more as purses and like storage than they are actually using them for school,” she said.

How to carry the load safely

Experts recommend choosing a backpack that fits the child and has two broad, padded shoulder straps, a padded back, compartments to distribute weight and a waist or chest strap to redistribute the load. The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends teaching children to pick up and carry backpacks safely, including bending at the knees rather than the waist when lifting heavier bags to avoid strain.

Backpacks with wheels can be helpful, especially for children with injuries, but experts say they may be problematic in schools with stairs or crowded walkways, where they can pose a tripping hazard.

Children should remove their backpacks before riding in a moving vehicle, Kendi said, because wearing one can interfere with how a seat belt works during a crash or sudden stop. Instead, place the backpack beside the child, even if leaving it on seems more convenient during drop-off.

“Don’t wear it in a car or any form of transportation while that car is moving,” Kendi said. “It’s just incredibly dangerous.”

Regularly cleaning out backpacks can also help reduce unnecessary weight and keep track of notes, permission slips and assignments. Some teachers recommend doing it weekly to catch missing work, spills from leaky water bottles and accumulating crumbs.

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

Brassica is known for its Eastern Mediterranean-inspired menu featuring build-your-own sandwiches, salads, hummus plates, and fresh ingredients prepared in-house. Founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 2015, the Houston location marks the brand’s first restaurant outside of Ohio.

While Brassica has become known for its savory menu, the restaurant’s signature chocolate chip cookie has quickly become a customer favorite. Unlike traditional cookie recipes that use eggs and butter, Brassica’s version uses coconut oil and tahini that helps create its rich flavor and texture.

Wolfe revealed that the cookie uses Soom tahini, a sesame seed butter that adds a subtle nuttiness and helps give the cookie its signature texture.

The cookie dough starts with organic brown sugar, cane sugar, water, melted coconut oil, tahini, and vanilla extract before the dry ingredients are added. The dough is then combined with chocolate chips and refrigerated for at least two hours before baking to help achieve the perfect consistency.

The result is a warm, soft, and chewy chocolate chip cookie that doesn’t taste like it’s missing eggs and butter.

Brassica’s commitment to fresh, quality ingredients extends throughout its menu, from house-made falafel and organic pita baked all day to vibrant vegetables and flavorful Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

For those looking to try the cookie for themselves, Brassica is offering a free Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookie, on them.

Grammy Award-winning rapper, entrepreneur, and No Limit Records founder Master P stopped by Houston Life to talk about the historic tour, which reunites two of Southern hip-hop’s most influential labels for the first time on one stage.

The lineup features some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including Birdman, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, B.G., Silkk the Shocker, Mac, Mia X, Fiend, Mr. Serv-On, Choppa Style, and special guest Boosie.

While fans can expect a night packed with classic hits, Master P says the tour represents something much bigger than nostalgia.

“This is about bringing awareness to mental health, which we call mental strength,” he said. “We want to turn up one more time, but this might be the last time you see all of us on stage together.”

Houston was a natural choice to launch the 17-city tour. Master P has long considered the city a second home, especially after Hurricane Katrina, when many New Orleans families, including members of his own family, relocated to Houston.

“I’m thankful and blessed,” he said, adding that his son also has ties to the city through the University of Houston.

For Master P, bringing Cash Money and No Limit together sends a message that extends far beyond music. It’s about coming together for the next generation and coexisting. He said. “This concert is about peace.”

Beyond his success in music, Master P has become one of entertainment’s most respected entrepreneurs, building businesses across multiple industries while advocating for ownership and financial independence. His advice for aspiring artists and entrepreneurs remains simple.

“Put God first. Nobody believed in me at one time, but I kept putting the work in,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to invest in yourself.”

And for longtime fans wondering which song still gets the biggest reaction, Master P didn’t hesitate.

“‘Make ‘Em Say Uhh!’ Every time,” he said with a smile.

The Cash Money Records and No Limit Records Reunion Tour kicks off Sept. 11 at Toyota Center. If you’re wondering, the dress code is camo! No surprise there.

The S&P 500 shot up 1.8%, and the main measure of Wall Street’s health topped its prior all-time high set a couple months ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 907 points, or 1.7%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.

Despite worries about high inflation, the war in Iran, frustration with the economy and a possible bubble in stock prices because of the boom in artificial-intelligence technology, Wall Street hit its latest apex and rewarded investors who remained patient because profits keep soaring for companies. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate earnings over the long term.

Palantir Technologies helped lead the way and surged 29.5% after CEO Alex Karp said its overall revenue leaped 93% in what he called an “otherworldly” quarter. Besides reporting a stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected, the AI company also raised its revenue forecast for the full year of 2026.

Caterpillar climbed 5.6% after the heavy-equipment maker likewise reported stronger profit and revenue than analysts expected. It was the first time Caterpillar made more than $20 billion in sales and revenue in a quarter, and CEO Joe Creed said it’s seeing strong order rates and a growing backlog across its main businesses.

Caterpillar is also benefiting from the AI boom through increased orders for turbines used to power data centers, among other things.

They’re the latest companies to deliver even better profits for the latest quarter than investors expected, following strong results from Amazon, Microsoft and others. Coming into this week, companies in the S&P 500 index were on track to deliver growth of nearly 50% in earnings per share for the spring from a year earlier, according to FactSet.

That would be the biggest such jump since 2021, when the economy was roaring back to life after cratering in the COVID-19 pandemic. With corporate profits up so much, when stock prices are still roughly where they were two months ago, stocks don’t look as expensive as they did before, according to Phil Segner, a co-portfolio manager at the Leuthold Group.

Also helping stocks on Tuesday was another drop for oil prices.

Brent crude, the international standard, sank 5.3% to $79.36 per barrel as hope once again took over from fear in the oil market. It had swung sharply between $72 and $102 through July on uncertainty about when the war with Iran would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again to deliver crude around the world.

It’s jerked up and down many times as uncertainty built, receded and then built again, not only week to week but also hour to hour. Analysts warn more swings could be ahead, but the latest drop in oil prices nevertheless helped ease Wall Street’s worries about inflation. That pulled down yields in the bond market, which in turn relaxed pressure on the overall economy and on prices for stocks and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.62% from 4.70% Monday and from 4.75% at the end of last week. That’s a notable move for the bond market, though it remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war with Iran.

Higher yields make it more expensive for all kinds of Americans to borrow money, from homebuyers looking for a mortgage to big companies looking to build AI data centers.

Reports on the U.S. economy, meanwhile, showed it remains resilient even though inflation remains worse than anyone would like. One said U.S. employers were advertising nearly 7.4 million job openings at the end of June, a slight slowdown from May’s level but close to economists’ expectations.

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose modestly across much of Europe and Asia.

South Korea’s Kospi had a more significant move and climbed 1.6%. Seoul has seen some of the world’s sharpest swings because two companies swept up in AI mania dominate its market, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The Kospi had dropped 5.1% and soared 17.9% in the prior two days.

Stocks of computer chip companies also strengthened on Wall Street, where gains of 2.6% for Nvidia, 6.6% for Broadcom and 7.6% for Micron Technology were some of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500.

They more than offset a drop for Chipotle Mexican Group, which fell 9.7% on fears that future profits could be hurt after the chain removed jalapeños from some of its restaurants following a salmonella outbreak. Chipotle said that Minnesota health officials have no ongoing concerns with it.

All told, the S&P 500 rallied 136.02 points to 7,736.52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 907.47 to 54,085.88, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 671.10 to 26,584.99.

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AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Many of Washington's monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reflect significant moments in the nation's history and evoke symbolism in being connected by sightline to other sites.

The proposed towering gilded arch, which last month received initial approval from a key federal commission, would impact the “integrity” of dozens of those historical properties because it would change “character-defining visual and spatial relationships” between them.

The NPS report, published recently, said the immediate project area is located within the Memorial Avenue Corridor cultural landscape, “a nationally significant historic designed landscape extending between the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.”

One of the most obvious elements the report cited is that the arch would break alignment between the Lincoln Memorial, Memorial Bridge and Arlington House that was formerly Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s home.

“The bridge alignment and associated ceremonial landscape were intended to physically and symbolically unite North and South through a coordinated monumental composition extending across the Potomac River,” the report said.

The Lincoln Memorial Arlington House connection was one of dozens of historic sites and structures listed as being impacted directly by the proposed structure. It added that the National Mall, the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument and grounds and Lady Bird Johnson Park would also be directly affected.

The report puts a snag in a project that has sailed through several steps of the approval process in front of planning bodies stocked with Trump appointees and allies.

The White House said in an email that it would follow all legal requirements in constructing the arch.

The proposed arch is one of several projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave his lasting imprint on Washington. With the potential to change the city’s sightline, it has already sparked opposition, including through a lawsuit filed by a group of veterans and a historian.

The arch design, proposed by Trump, has already received early approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The commissioners were all appointed by Trump. The National Capital Area Planning Commission approved the site and preliminary plans at its July meeting. The commission is expected to take up the matter again at its September meeting.

“The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” said White House spokesman Davis Ingle in an emailed response for comment. “It will enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen, and all Americans alike, serving as a visual reminder of the noble sacrifices borne by so many American heroes throughout our 250 year history so we can enjoy our freedoms today.”

The arch is one of several projects Trump has proposed that is involved in litigation. The plaintiffs, three veterans and a historian, have challenged its construction saying it requires Congressional approval.

“Our claim is essentially that none of this has any authorization to be happening in the first place,” said Nicolas Sansone, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group representing the plaintiffs. Authorization of the construction of a monument “in the core of Washington, D.C., on National Park Service land” requires an act of Congress, he said.

The National Park Service assessment confirms what the plaintiffs have said the construction will do to the symbolic and solemn area, he added.

“I think its very significant that the National Park Service itself understands that this is the effect that it's going to have,” Sansone said.