The proposal would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, something that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out in a Fox News interview Monday.

“We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point,” he said of the proposal, which was delivered to the U.S. by Pakistan.

The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump's national security team discussed the offer and Trump would address it later. The offer emerged Monday as Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Russia, long a key backer of Tehran. It was unclear what, if any, assistance Moscow might offer now.

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,521 people in Lebanon amid fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. Another 23 have been killed in Israel. The toll in Lebanon also includes 16 Israeli soldiers and six U.N. peacekeepers. Across the region, 13 U.S. service members have been killed, along with at least 10 crew members on ships and more than a dozen people in Gulf Arab states.

Here is the latest:

Israel has ‘no territorial ambitions’ in Lebanon, Israel’s foreign minister says

Gideon Saar said the Israeli military-controlled “buffer zone” that stretches 10 kilometers (6 miles) into Lebanon is necessary to protect residents in Israel’s north.

“Hezbollah has transformed the entire front line of southern Lebanon into a network of terrorist infrastructure, and this threat has not been properly addressed by the Lebanese government,” he said during a press conference with Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Đurić in Jerusalem.

Saar refused to comment on the fragile ceasefire with Hezbollah, which both sides have violated multiple times since Trump announced it last week, and whether Israel might expand its military operations beyond southern Lebanon. He did note Israel’s first direct negotiations with Lebanon in decades.

“Our direct negotiations with Lebanon are important, it could be an opening to a different, better future,” he said. “But the Lebanese government must take practical steps to restore its sovereignty against de facto Iranian control in its territory.”

Ukraine defense minister says it shot down 33,000 Russian drones in March, a monthly record

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range attack drones struck a Russian oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in less than two weeks. Ukraine has developed cutting-edge and battle-tested drone technology that has proved essential in holding back Russia’s bigger army.

The interceptor drones as part of a comprehensive air defense system are now being sought by Middle East and Gulf countries amid the Iran war, according to Ukrainian officials.

▶ Read more

The UAE is leaving OPEC and its production limits

The United Arab Emirates announced Tuesday that it will leave OPEC and the oil cartel’s wider OPEC+ group effective May 1, a move rumored for some time as the Emirates chafed under production restrictions and had increasingly frosty relations with neighboring Saudi Arabia.

The UAE had been a member of OPEC since before it became a country in 1971, but its foreign policy has become less aligned with Riyadh as Saudi Arabia began to directly challenge the Emirates in trying to draw foreign investments under assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and reinforces its commitment to a responsible, reliable, and forward-looking role in global energy markets,” the UAE said through its state-run WAM news agency.

▶ Read more

Iran’s economy has been battered. Its leaders still think Trump will blink first

U.S. and Israeli airstrikes crippled thousands of factories in Iran, and the economic damage is reverberating — millions more Iranians could lose their jobs. Most damaging, Israeli strikes knocked out most steel and petrochemical production, causing a surge in prices for metals and plastic. Things could get worse as the U.S. blockades Iranian ports. Economic woes sparked the mass protests that were crushed before the war, and could again push Iranians into the streets. But Iran’s leaders are betting that economic self-reliance built under decades of sanctions can help them endure the pain longer than Trump. ▶ Read more

United Nations General Assembly president urges ceasefire

United Nations General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock said urgent efforts to secure a ceasefire in the Iran war are critical.

During a visit Tuesday to New Delhi, Baerbock warned the conflict is disrupting global supplies and deepening regional crises, with attacks and blockades in the Strait of Hormuz increasing oil and fertilizer prices worldwide.

“Every effort to come to a ceasefire is highly needed,” Baerbock said, adding that the escalation is diverting attention from humanitarian crises in Gaza. “It overshadows the devastating situation for the people in Gaza. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is still heartbreaking.”

Doctors Without Borders says Israel uses water as weapon in Gaza

International aid group Doctors Without Borders accused Israel of “systemically depriving” people in Gaza of water in what it calls a “campaign of collective punishment” against Palestinians.

Known by its French acronym MSF, the group said in a report Tuesday that Israel has destroyed or damaged about 90% of Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure including desalination plants, boreholes, pipelines and sewage systems.

MSF said it also documented the Israeli military shooting at clearly identified water trucks and destroying boreholes that were a lifeline for tens of thousands of people.

The practices have far-reaching consequences for the health, hygiene and dignity of Gaza’s 2.1 million people, MSF said.

“Israeli authorities know that without water life ends, yet they have deliberately and systematically obliterated water infrastructure in Gaza – while consistently blocking water-related supplies from entering,” MSF emergency manager Claire San Filippo said.

COGAT, Israel’s military body that coordinates aid to Gaza, rejected the accusations and said the water supply in the Gaza Strip “consistently exceeds humanitarian thresholds.”

Israeli airstrikes against southern Lebanon reported

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Israeli airstrikes hit the villages of Chakra, Tebnine and Kafra in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

A drone strike also hit a motorcycle in the village of Mansouri, the agency reported.

There was no immediate information about possible casualties.

The strike came as Israel’s military asked residents of 16 southern village to evacuate, saying Hezbollah is using the communities to launch attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

Bahrain sentences 30 over Iran-related charges

Bahrain sentenced 30 people to life in prison and 10-year terms over accusations of spying for Iran and supporting Iranian attacks on the tiny Island kingdom.

The public prosecution said Tuesday that five people, including two Afghans, received life sentences after being convicted of spying for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The prosecution said 25 others were separately sentenced to 10 years each for supporting Iran’s “terrorist acts” in Bahrain.

Human rights activists have long criticized Bahrain’s rights records including convicting people in closed-door trials without allowing defendants to properly defend themselves.

Israeli forces kill 9-year-old boy in southern Gaza

A 9-year-old boy was killed Tuesday by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, Nasser Hospital said.

The hospital said Adel al-Najjar was collecting firewood in a roundabout in Khan Younis city when Israeli forces shot him about 400 meters (1,312 feet) west of the Yellow Line separating Israeli-controlled areas from the rest of Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

An Associated Press video shows two of the boy’s siblings crying over him on a stretcher at the hospital’s morgue. One knelt on his body and kissed his cheeks.

“What is the guilt of those children,” a woman said during the boy’s funeral. “God is plaguing you, Israel.”

The boy’s younger brother was killed a month ago, also while collecting firewood in Khan Younis, according to hospital records.

Since a ceasefire agreement went into effect in October, Israeli airstrikes and troops firing on Palestinians near military-held zones have killed at least 818 Palestinians, including at least 226 children and 179 women, according to Gaza health officials.

Pakistan and New Zealand prime ministers discuss de-escalation

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday briefed New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon by phone on Pakistan’s diplomatic outreach promoting regional peace and de-escalation.

Luxon expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts including outreach to the United States and Iran, according to Sharif’s office.

Sharif thanked Luxon for his support and reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to peace, dialogue and regional stability, the office said.

Nearly all of Gaza cropland damaged or inaccessible, study finds

The war between Hamas and Israel in Gaza has left 96% of the Palestinian enclave’s cropland damaged or inaccessible, a study has found.

A study released Tuesday by aid group Mercy Corps found only 7% of Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure remains functional.

The group said water systems have been severely degraded, wells have been damaged, salinity has risen and wastewater has infiltrated Gaza’s farmland.

“This destruction is not just environmental,” Mercy Corps said. “It is directly linked to the food crisis.”

The group warned full recovery of Gaza’s cropland could be hindered for years if Israel continued its restriction on goods delivery and the contamination of land and water was not addressed.

An October ceasefire stopped heavy fighting in the Gaza war, which began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

US official says Iran’s ‘illegal behavior’ should be energy wake-up call

A senior U.S. State Department official says Iran’s “illegal behavior” in the Strait of Hormuz should serve as a “wake-up call” for global energy security.

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker told at a gathering of Baltic, Black, and Adriatic Sea countries Tuesday in Croatia that more needs to be done to diversify supplies and connect to avoid future problems.

“Iran’s illegal behavior in the Strait of Hormuz should be a wakeup call for all of us with regard to the need to secure our supply chains and reduce our dependencies on unreliable countries and geographies,” Hooker said during a panel discussion in the southern Adriatic Sea city of Dubrovnik.

“We all need to do more,” Hooker said. “The world is changing under our feet.”

Rubio says preventing Iranian nuclear weapon remains 'core issue’

The secretary of state was asked in a Fox News interview about Iran’s latest proposal, which would postpone discussions on its nuclear program but end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade and ends the war.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

“That fundamental issue still has to be confronted,” he said. “That still remains the core issue here.”

Asked if he thinks the Iranians are serious about a deal, Rubio said they are skilled negotiators looking to buy time.

“We can’t let them get away with it,” Rubio said. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

The animals are part of an interactive installation by American artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) currently showing at Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie.

Each printed image shows a snippet of reality transformed by AI to resemble the personality of the dog or, in other words, the worldview of the human figure on its shoulders (i.e., the Picasso dog will produce images in Cubist style and Warhol's in pop art).

It's a commentary on how our perceptions are shaped by algorithms and technology platforms, the organizers of the exhibition write in the description of the event.

“In the past, our view of the world was shaped in part by how artists saw the world,” Beeple told the AP. “How Picasso painted changed how we saw the word, how Warhol talked about consumerism, pop culture, that changed how he saw those things.”

Now our view of the world is shaped by tech billionaires who own powerful algorithms that decide what we see and what we don’t see, the artist added.

“That's an immense amount of power that I don’t think we’ve fully understood, especially because when they want to make a change, they don’t need to lobby the U.N. They don’t need to get something through Congress or the EU, they just wake up and change these algorithms.”

The dogs also wear heads in Beeple’s own image.

Lisa Botti, the curator of the exhibition in Berlin, said that artificial intelligence was one of the phenomena most impacting our lives today and that “museums are the places where society can reflect” on such transformations, which is why she wanted to have Beeple’s work shown.

The work, entitled “Regular Animals,” was first shown at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025.

Beeple is a graphic designer from South Carolina who does a variety of digital artwork. He is one of the founders of the “everyday” movement in 3D graphics: For years, he has been creating a picture every day and posting it online without missing a single day.

According to Christie's, he is the third most expensive living artist to sell at auction, after David Hockney and Jeff Koons.

In the spring of 2021, Christie’s opened bidding for Beeple's digital collage entitled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” with the sale ultimately closing at over $69 million. The auction house described the artwork as “critiques of modern society, the government and social media” in the form of “grotesque, dystopian futures, often featuring celebrities like Donald Trump and Kanye West.”

Christie’s said the sale marked the first time a major auction house offered a digital-only artwork with a non-fungible token as a guarantee of its authenticity, as well as the first time cryptocurrency has been used to pay for an artwork at auction.

Non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs, are electronic identifiers confirming a digital collectible is real by recording the details on a digital ledger known as a blockchain. The tokens have swept the online collecting world recently, an offshoot of the boom in cryptocurrencies.

At the Art Basel 2025 event, Beeple gave away the photos pooed by his dogs to audience members, accompanied by a certificate that read “100% organic GMO-free dog shit.” Some prints had QR codes that gave access to free NFTs, which in practice meant Beeple was giving away his digital art for free for people (sometimes the subjects of the photos themselves) to potentially monetize.

——

Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland.

Poczobut, a correspondent for the influential Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and a leading figure among Belarus’ Polish minority, was serving eight years in prison in a case condemned as politically motivated.

His 2021 arrest after covering pro-democracy rallies in Belarus drew widespread criticism. He later was awarded the Sakharov Prize, the European Union’s most prestigious human rights award.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski described Poczobut as a symbol of the fight for freedom in Belarus but also of the effectiveness of the Polish state in leaving no one behind.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who welcomed Poczobut on the border with Belarus around midday Tuesday, posted on X that the journalist was “unwavering.” Poczobut’s first words to him were about his chances of returning to his home in Belarus, Tusk wrote, and said he replied: “Only you decide. You’re a free man now.”

The swap is the latest in a series of U.S.-negotiated prisoner releases that have marked stronger relations between Minsk and the West during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term.

A Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman said three of the five prisoners released by Belarus came to Poland in exchange for three sent by Poland to Belarus, with a total of 10 involving other countries.

Belarus’ presidential press service said the negotiations had involved intelligence services from seven countries. It described some of the prisoners who returned to Minsk as having "carried out particularly important missions in the interests of ensuring the national security and defense capability of our country.”

The Russian state news agency Tass identified one of those released as Alexander Butyagin, a Russian national due be extradited from Poland to Ukraine on allegations he conducted excavations involving artifacts at a site in Crimea that Ukraine considers part of its cultural heritage.

Seeking better relations

In March, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions.

A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Writing on X, Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, said three Poles and two Moldovans had been released as part of the swap. He thanked Poland, Moldova, and Romania for what he called “their invaluable support,” along with the willingness by Lukashenko "to pursue constructive engagement with the United States.”

It was this warming of U.S.-Belarus relations that gave Warsaw hope for reducing tensions with Minsk.

Poland has campaigned for Poczobut’s release alongside other Polish prisoners in Belarus, including the Rev. Henryk Akalatovich, a Catholic priest sentenced to 11 years in prison, and the recently detained 27-year-old Polish Carmelite monk Grzegorz Gaweł.

Poczobut became a symbol of repression

Large portraits of Poczobut had appeared regularly at the Poland-Belarus border, a reminder of the large-scale political repression in Minsk and of tensions on the EU and NATO frontier.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press that Poczobut was a hero who had never betrayed his principles.

"After years of unjust detention and isolation, he can breathe freely," she said, while calling for the release of the hundreds of political prisoners in Belarus.

Poczobut’s arrest followed his coverage of the pro-democracy rallies that engulfed Belarus in 2020 after the disputed presidential election that kept Lukashenko in office.

He decided to stay in Belarus despite the brutal crackdown that followed, resulting in over 65,000 arrests, thousands of police beatings and tens of thousands fleeing abroad.

Poczobut was sent to one of the country’s harshest maximum-security prisons to serve his sentence, despite ongoing worries for his health.

The Belarusian human rights group Viasna said he repeatedly was denied essential medications and refused contact with his wife and children. It also reported that he had been placed in solitary confinement for several months after refusing work that he was unable to perform due to his health.

Bartosz Wieliski, the deputy editor in chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, met Poczobut at the border and said the journalist went straight to a hospital for a checkup.

“For Poland, Poczobut is a national hero. For Belarus, he’s a reminder that a state cannot be built on fear,” said Andżelika Borys, head of the Union of Poles in Belarus, who spent more than a year in prison. “For Europe, he’s a witness to the fact that the struggle for freedom continues not in the pages of textbooks but in the prison cells of the 21st century.”

—-

Karmanau reported from Tallinn, Estonia.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.5% from its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which has less of an emphasis on technology stocks, held up better and was up 116 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite fell 1% from its own record.

Stocks enmeshed in the artificial-intelligence industry led the way lower. Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the AI revolution, sank 2.8% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500. Oracle fell 4.9%, and CoreWeave dropped 6.3%.

The weakness came after a report in The Wall Street Journal said some leaders at OpenAI are concerned about whether it can support its massive spending on data centers after missing targets for new users and revenue.

If the maker of ChatGPT pulls back on its investments, it could bolster criticism that the entire AI industry is in a bubble of over-the-top spending that may not produce the profits and productivity that would make it all worth it.

The drops come just a day before several of the biggest spenders on AI are scheduled to report their latest profits for the start of 2026. They could offer more clues on whether all the investment in AI is producing the kind of returns that shareholders care about. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are all reporting their latest quarterly results on Wednesday.

Also weighing on the stock market was another rise of more than 2.5% for oil prices on continued uncertainty about what will happen with the Iran war.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil to be delivered in June climbed 2.9% to $111.31. Brent to be delivered in July, which is where traders are focusing more in the oil market, rose 2.8% to $104.54.

After sitting around $70 in late February, Brent prices are moving closer to their peak of $119 reached when worries about the war have been at their heights.

The focus is centered on the Strait of Hormuz, which is closed to traffic and keeping oil tankers stuck in the Persian Gulf instead of heading to customers worldwide. The Trump administration seemed unlikely Tuesday to accept Iran’s offer to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade on the country.

The proposal would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, something that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out in a Fox News interview Monday.

Meanwhile, the average price of for a gallon of gasoline in the United States reached $4.18 on Tuesday, the most since 2022, according to the auto club AAA.

On Wall Street, Coca-Cola helped limit the market’s losses after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected thanks in part to strength from China, the United States and India. Its stock rallied 5.1%.

Oil companies were also strong thanks to the rise in crude prices. Exxon Mobil gained 1.7%, and ConocoPhillips rose 1.2%. In London, BP’s stock added 0.9% after the British petroleum giant said its first-quarter profit more than doubled.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher with the rise in oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged up to 4.36% from 4.35% late Monday.

The Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet Wednesday and announce its latest decision on short-term interest rates. The widespread expectation is that it will hold the federal funds rate steady and hold off on resuming its cuts. Lower interest rates would help the economy, but they also risk worsening inflation when oil prices are rising and tariffs are threatening to push prices higher.

Also Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will vote on whether to confirm Trump’s nominee, Kevin Warsh, to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The committee is expected to approve Warsh, sending his nomination to the full Senate.

In stock markets abroad, indexes mostly fell in Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 sank 1% for one of the world’s larger losses after the Bank of Japan opted in a split vote to keep its key interest rate unchanged.

“There are various risks to the outlook,” it said in a statement. “For the time being it is necessary to pay particular attention to the impact of the future course of the situation in the Middle East.”

___

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

The visit comes at a challenging moment for U.S.-UK relations. U.S. President Donald Trump’s up-and-down relationship with Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran.

The king, accompanied by Queen Camilla, will begin his day with a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump around 10:35 a.m. ET. The King is then scheduled to address the U.S. Congress at 3 p.m. ET, the body’s first address from a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II ’s in 1991. The day will end with an expectedly buzzy dinner at the White House.

Here's the latest:

Trump delights in allegedly being a 15th cousin of King Charles III

Is the U.S. president actually a distant royal?

The U.K.-based Daily Mail reported this week that Trump and King Charles III have a shared distant ancestor that would make the two 15th cousins.

According to research conducted for the tabloid, Trump and Charles are both related to the 3rd Earl of Lennox, who is a great-grandson of King James II of Scotland.

“Wow, that’s nice. I’ve always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace!!!” Trump posted on his social media site Tuesday morning shortly before he was to formally greet the king and Queen Camilla at the White House. “I’ll talk to the King and Queen about this in a few minutes!!!”

Charles has faced some calls to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein

Charles has faced some calls on Capitol Hill to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein while he is in the U.S. There’s no indication that he will do so, even as the scandal involving the convicted sex offender has ensnared his brother, the former Prince Andrew, who was arrested in February over misconduct allegations, which he denies.

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., urged the king over the weekend to at least address the issue during his congressional speech.

Trump has maintained warm relations with the King

The president has spoken in glowing terms about Charles, repeatedly referring to the monarch as his “friend” and a “great guy.”

He also continues to mention his “amazing” trip to the U.K. in September with Melania Trump for an unprecedented second state visit. Starmer hand-delivered the invitation from the king in the Oval Office five weeks after Trump returned to office, in a very public attempt to woo the Republican president.

The U.K. royal family laid on pomp and pageantry for the Trumps, with scarlet-clad guardsmen, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle.

“President Trump has always had great respect for King Charles, and their relationship was further strengthened by the president’s historic visit to the United Kingdom last year,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Associated Press.

The visit comes at a challenging moment for US-UK relations

Trump’s up-and-down relationship with Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran. Trump lamented that Starmer, who has largely resisted his overtures, was “no Churchill.”

Trump has also imposed tariffs on the U.K. and warned of additional levies despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that has made such unilateral moves more challenging. Still, Trump threatened just last week to slap a “big tariff” on the U.K. if it doesn’t scrap a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies.

Trump has more broadly challenged the traditional trans-Atlantic alliance with efforts to annex Greenland and threats to walk away from NATO. He has repeatedly imposed tariffs on and taunted Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.

A rare royal address to Congress

King Charles III will become the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Her speech highlighted the shared history of both countries and the importance of their democratic values, themes Charles will likely reinforce on Tuesday.

Such addresses are an opportunity afforded to only the most prominent world leaders, including Pope Francis, Václav Havel and Winston Churchill. It will likely mark the most extensive public remarks Charles will deliver during a four-day visit to the U.S. that’s intended to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of independence from Britain.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla head to the White House

The king, accompanied by Queen Camilla, will begin his day with a meeting at the White House with Trump. The Oval Office encounter offers the potential for the freewheeling, sometimes controversial meetings with foreign leaders that have become routine during Trump’s second term.

Given the expressly apolitical nature of the British monarch and Trump’s fondness for the royal family, the likelihood of an awkward meeting may be reduced.

Trump will host Charles on Tuesday evening for a state banquet at the White House.

McDonald’s said Tuesday it will launch six crafted beverages in U.S. restaurants on May 6. It’s joining other chains, like KFC, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, that have elevated their drinks in order to lure customers away from rivals like Starbucks and Dutch Bros.

McDonald’s will offer three refreshers, including a mango pineapple flavor with strawberry boba and a blackberry passion fruit flavor with freeze-dried dragon fruit. It will also offer three crafted sodas, including a dirty Dr Pepper with vanilla flavoring and a topping of cold foam.

McDonald's said visual appeal — think bright colors and foams — and drinks as a form of self-expression are increasingly important to customers.

“Our fans have an obsession with beverages – to them, drinks are more than just drinks. And soon, our beverages won’t just be a reason you come to McDonald’s, they’ll be THE reason,” Alyssa Buetikofer, the chief marketing officer for McDonald's USA, said in a statement.

The drinks are also more profitable for fast food chains than the standard soda fountain drinks or plain coffees. A small Pineapple Citrus Sparkling Energy drink cost $3.29 on Tuesday at a Michigan Wendy's, while a small drink from the restaurant's Coca-Cola Freestyle machine cost $1 less.

McDonald's said it's also adding a “beverage specialist” role at its 14,000 U.S. restaurants. Those employees will have dedicated spaces behind the counter where they can focus on drinks. Initially, high-performing employees will be selected for those roles, but eventually all employees will be encouraged to rotate through the beverage positions.

McDonald’s has been working on a beverage upgrade for years. In late 2023, the company announced it would open small stores called CosMc’s which would sell customizable drinks and treats to appeal to afternoon snackers. McDonald’s said its sales often slump in the afternoon between mealtimes, and it wants to change that.

“This is a $100 billion category that’s growing faster than the rest of (casual dining) and with superior margins. And it’s a space that we believe we have the right to win,” McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said at the time.

McDonald’s got creative with the CosMc’s menu, which included a turmeric spiced latte and a prickly pear slushie with popping candy on top. But it wound up closing its eight CosMc’s locations last spring. Kempczinski said many of the drinks were too complex for regular McDonald’s store operations, but he said the company would test some drinks at U.S. stores in the future.

Other chains are also jumping on the beverage bandwagon. KFC’s Kwench drink menu did so well in tests in Manchester, England, last year that it’s rolling out to 3,000 stores this year in the U.K., Australia and Canada. The menu includes shakes, like a Strawberry Shortcake Krunch, as well as boba refreshers and iced coffees.

Taco Bell, which is also owned by KFC parent Yum Brands, has a separate beverage brand called Live Mas Café. At kiosks within U.S. Taco Bell stores, employees dubbed Bellristas blend drinks like Churro Chillers milkshakes, iced coffees and fizzy energy drinks. Taco Bell opened its first Live Mas Café at the end of 2024 and added 30 more locations last year.

In a November conference call with investors, Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said that if sales perform well at those 30 locations, the Live Mas Café concept will likely be part of Taco Bell’s long-term growth plan.

“Through Live Mas Café, (we) add a new consumer use case, which is the destination beverage visit,” he said.

Wendy’s added customizable cold foam iced coffees and two sparkling energy drinks to its U.S. menu last fall. Burger King has also upgraded its beverage options, starting with a Frozen Cotton Candy drink with an optional foam topping that debuted in 2024 and returned last summer.

Constable deputies with Mark Herman, Precinct 4 Office, responded to a welfare check at a home located in the 3100 block of Dogwood Drive.

The constable deputies said the owner advised them that she was unsure of the total number of dogs inside her home, and said she had been attempting to rehome them, but was unsuccessful.

When the constable deputies entered the home, they found multiple dogs fighting and climbing into the walls where holes had been chewed.

The home was covered in urine and feces, and many of the dogs were covered in waste and had severe skin issues.

All 17 dogs have since been signed over to Harris County Animal Control.

The plot was thwarted, but Austrian authorities still canceled Swift’s three performances in August 2024. The singer’s fans, known as Swifties, who had flown to Austria from across the globe to attend a performance of her record-setting Eras Tour were devastated, but rallied to turn Vienna into a citywide trading post for friendship bracelets and singalongs.

The defendant, a 21-year-old Austrian citizen known only as Beran A. in line with Austrian privacy rules, faced charges including terrorist offenses and membership in a terrorist organization. He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, and has been in custody since August 2024.

The Vienna plot drew comparisons to a 2017 attack by a suicide bomber at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, that killed 22 people. The bomb detonated at the end of Grande’s concert as thousands of young fans were leaving, becoming the deadliest extremist attack in the United Kingdom in recent years.

Defendant regrets his actions

Anna Mair, his defense attorney, said her client pleaded guilty to the charges related to the concert plot.

“Of course, he deeply regrets it all,” Mair said outside the court, adding that “he says it was the biggest mistake of his life.”

Austrian media reported that he also pleaded guilty to being a member of a terrorist organization.

Beran A. is facing trial alongside Arda K., whose full name also has not been made public. They, along with a third man, planned to carry out simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates during Ramadan in 2024 in the name of the Islamic State group. Beran A. and Arda K. never carried out their attacks.

Only Beran A. was charged in connection with the concert plot. He pleaded not guilty to the charges related to the plot for simultaneous attacks.

He allegedly planned to target onlookers gathered outside Ernst Happel Stadium — up to 30,000 each night, with another 65,000 inside the venue — with knives or homemade explosives. The suspect hoped to “kill as many people as possible,” authorities said in 2024. The U.S. provided intelligence that fed into the decision to cancel the concerts.

Beran A. also allegedly networked with other members of the Islamic State group ahead of the planned attack. Prosecutors say they discussed purchasing weapons and making bombs, and that the defendant also sought to illegally buy weapons in the days ahead of the performance. In addition, he swore allegiance to the militant group.

Authorities searched his apartment on Aug. 7, 2024, and found bomb-making materials. The concerts were scheduled to begin the next day.

“Having our Vienna shows canceled was devastating,” Swift wrote in a statement posted to Instagram two weeks later. “The reason for the cancellations filled me with a new sense of fear, and a tremendous amount of guilt because so many people had planned on coming to those shows.”

A representative for Swift did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.

The trial is being held in Wiener Neustadt, about an hour south of Vienna. The proceedings are set to continue May 12.

Three attacks planned in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE

Prosecutors have also filed terrorism-related charges against Arda K. in the trial in connection with the plan for simultaneous attacks in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The third man in that plot, Hasan E., allegedly stabbed a security guard with a knife at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on March 11, 2024. He was arrested and remains in pretrial detention in Saudi Arabia, Austrian prosecutors said.

Beran A. and Arda K. did not carry out their plans in Turkey and the UAE. Beran A. returned to Vienna and then allegedly began plotting to attack a Swift concert there.

___

Dazio reported from Berlin. Daniel Niemann in Cologne, Germany, contributed to this report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s domestically developed long-range attack drones struck a Russian oil refinery and terminal on the Black Sea for the third time in less than two weeks, prompting the evacuation of local people as a precautionary measure.

Ukraine has developed cutting-edge and battle-tested drone technology that has proved essential in holding back Russia’s bigger army and has drawn military interest from around the world.

Interceptor drones as part of a comprehensive air defense system are now being sought by Middle East and Gulf countries amid the Iran war, according to Ukrainian officials.

Ukraine is scaling up supplies of interceptor drones to thwart Russian aerial attacks, and its military has introduced a new command within the air force to boost the country’s capabilities, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in a post on Telegram late Monday.

Ukraine’s offensive capabilities have also improved, with the Defense Ministry saying Tuesday that the country’s forces have more than doubled the range of their deep-strike capabilities since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

At that time, Ukrainian forces were able to hit military targets about 630 kilometers (400 miles) away, it said. They are now striking targets as far as roughly 1,750 kilometers (1,100 miles) behind enemy lines, the ministry said in a statement.

That improvement has allowed Ukraine to hit Russian oil installations that provide crucial revenue for Moscow’s war effort. It has also targeted manufacturing plants that supply Russia’s armed forces.

Ukraine struck a Russian oil refinery at the Black Sea port of Tuapse for the third time this month in a coordinated operation involving multiple branches of the country’s defense and security services, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces said Tuesday

The two strikes earlier this month destroyed 24 oil storage tanks and damaged four others, it said.

Independent verification of the claims was not possible.

People who live near the Tuapse refinery were being evacuated Tuesday, Krasnodar Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said. He didn’t provide any details about how many people were being evacuated or for how long.

The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday its air defenses overnight intercepted 186 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions, the annexed Crimea and the Black and the Azov seas.

In the Belgorod region on the border with Ukraine, three people were killed and three more were wounded in a drone attack, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Russian drone attacks on Ukraine, meanwhile, killed three civilians and wounded five others, Ukrainian authorities said.

Two people were killed in the city of Chuhuiv in the northeastern Kharkiv region, according to the head of the regional military administration Oleh Syniehubov.

A 40-year-old man died and five other men sustained injuries in Kryvyi Rih, the home town of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Another Russian attack on Konotop, in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region, knocked out the city’s power and water supply.

___

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

He will become the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Her speech highlighted the shared history of both countries and the importance of their democratic values, themes Charles will likely reinforce on Tuesday.

Such addresses are an opportunity afforded to only the most prominent world leaders, including Pope Francis, Václav Havel and Winston Churchill. It will likely mark the most extensive public remarks Charles will deliver during a four-day visit to the U.S. that's intended to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary of independence from Britain.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., became the first sitting leader of his chamber to address the U.K. Parliament earlier this year. He attended a garden party with the king in Washington on Monday and said he told him he would be “well received” in Congress.

The king, accompanied by Queen Camilla, will begin his day with a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump. The Oval Office encounter offers the potential for the freewheeling, sometimes controversial meetings with foreign leaders that have become routine during Trump's second term.

But it will be closed to the public, and, given the expressly apolitical nature of the British monarch and Trump's fondness for the royal family, the likelihood of an awkward meeting may be reduced. Trump will host Charles on Tuesday evening for a state banquet at the White House.

The visit comes at a challenging moment for U.S.-U.K. relations. Trump’s up-and-down relationship with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the Republican president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran. Trump criticized Starmer, who has largely resisted his overtures, by saying “this is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with.”

Trump has also imposed tariffs on the U.K. and warned of additional levies despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that has made such unilateral moves more challenging. Trump threatened just last week to slap a “big tariff” on the U.K. if it doesn't scrap a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies.

Trump has more broadly challenged the traditional trans-Atlantic alliance with efforts to annex Greenland and threats to walk away from NATO. He has repeatedly imposed tariffs on and taunted Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.

Meanwhile, Charles has faced some calls on Capitol Hill to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein while he is in the U.S. There's no indication that he will do so even as the scandal involving the convicted sex offender has ensnared his brother, who was arrested in February over misconduct allegations, which he denies.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., urged the king over the weekend to at least address the issue during his congressional speech.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York blamed Republican policies on Monday for straining the U.S.-U.K. relationship.

“Hopefully, the king's visit is going to go a long way toward repairing the damage that this administration has done to one of our most important allies in the world,” Jeffries said.

Charles and Camilla arrived at the nation's capital on Monday and held a tea with the president and first lady Melania Trump. The royal couple will continue their U.S. trip later this week with stops in New York City and Virginia.

___

Associated Press writer Stephen Groves in Washington contributed to this report.

And the Thunder did it with a sweep — again.

For the third consecutive season, the Thunder needed only four games to advance through the Western Conference quarterfinals. It was against New Orleans in 2024, Memphis in 2025 and this year, it was Phoenix that went out by the dreaded 4-0 count.

The Thunder became the second franchise — since the NBA went to a best-of-seven first round in 2003 — to go 12-0 in conference quarterfinal games over a three-season span. Cleveland did it in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Oklahoma City’s win Monday capped off the lone Round 1 sweep this season. There has been at least one sweep in the first round annually since 2003.

San Antonio and Boston could join the Thunder in Round 2 with wins on Tuesday. Both the Spurs (vs. Portland) and the Celtics (vs. Philadelphia) play at home with 3-1 series leads. Also on the schedule for Tuesday night: Game 5 of a knotted-up Atlanta-New York series, which returns to Madison Square Garden.

Monday recaps

— Magic 94, Pistons 88 for a 3-1 series lead. Detroit is in some trouble.

— Thunder 131, Suns 122 to win series 4-0.

— Nuggets 125, Timberwolves 113 to get within 3-2 in series.

Stories of note

— Damon Jones set to enter guilty plea

— Edwards (knee) officially week to week

— NBA going through bids from Europe

— Pat Riley says Heat will be ‘aggressive’

— An interesting year for Tiago Splitter

— There's a standard in Oklahoma City

— Taylor Jenkins set to return to Milwaukee

— AJ Dybantsa formally enters NBA draft

— Donovan steps down as Chicago's coach

— Warriors brace for possible Kerr departure

— Some news, notes going into the postseason

— Heat equipment manager needs transplants

Awards watch

The latest NBA award to be handed out: Rookie of the Year, where Dallas' Cooper Flagg edged fellow former Duke player Kon Knueppel of Charlotte for the trophy. That was revealed Monday.

Other awards being announced this week are Basketball Executive of the Year on Tuesday, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year on Wednesday and the Hustle Award on Thursday. They'll all be announced at 1 p.m. EDT on one of the NBA's social media channels.

A breakdown on other awards handed out to this point:

— San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.

— Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.

— San Antonio's Keldon Johnson topped Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.

— Boston's Derrick White was revealed as the Sportsmanship Award winner, as selected by the league's players. Indiana's TJ McConnell — who got more first-place votes than anyone else — was second.

— Atlanta now has back-to-back Most Improved Player winners, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker taking that trophy this year. Dyson Daniels won for the Hawks last year.

Among the announcements still to be scheduled:

— Most Valuable Player, which will be either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

— Coach of the Year, which will be either Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Tuesday's games

7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Philadelphia at Boston (ESPN)

8 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Atlanta at New York (NBC/Peacock)

9:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Portland at San Antonio (ESPN)

Wednesday's games

7 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Orlando at Detroit (Prime)

7:30 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Toronto at Cleveland (ESPN)

10 p.m. EDT — Game 5, Houston at LA Lakers (ESPN)

Betting odds

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder (-105) are favorites to win the NBA title, according to oddsmakers.

The Thunder are followed by San Antonio (+400), Boston (+425), Cleveland (+1500), Denver (+2500) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+2500).

New York is +3000, followed by Detroit (+5000). Minnesota, even with a 3-2 series lead, is at +30000 after injuries to Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards.

Key dates

— May 2, 3 or 4: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

Quote of the day

“Job's not finished." — Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley, channeling Kobe Bryant's famous quote, after the Magic took a 3-1 series lead on Detroit.

Stats of the day

— Orlando took a 3-1 series lead on Detroit on April 27, 2026. The last time an eighth-seeded Magic team took a 3-1 series lead on top-seeded Detroit was April 27, 2003.

— Entering the weekend, teams were 3-84 (since 1970) when shooting 32.6% or less in a playoff game. Teams are 2-0 so far this week doing that, with wins by Toronto on Sunday and now Orlando on Monday.

— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made his only fourth-quarter shot on Monday. The Thunder star has made 19 of his last 20 field-goal attempts in fourth quarters or overtimes, going back to mid-March.

___

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

The UAE had been a longtime member of OPEC, first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when the UAE became its own country in 1971.

But the UAE has been increasingly trying to leverage its own foreign policy in the Middle East that has contradicted some positions of Riyadh over time — particularly as Saudi Arabia began to directly challenge the Emirates in trying to draw foreign investments as the kingdom opened up under assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The UAE made the announcement via its state-run WAM news agency.

“This decision reflects the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile, including accelerated investment in domestic energy production, and reinforces its commitment to a responsible, reliable, and forward-looking role in global energy markets,” the UAE said.

“Following its exit, the UAE will continue to act responsibly, bringing additional production to market in a gradual and measured manner, aligned with demand and market conditions,” the country added.

Saudi Arabia long has been considered a heavyweight of OPEC, an oil cartel based in Vienna that has seen some of its market power wane as the United States increased its production of crude oil in recent years.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE increasingly have competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area. The two countries had joined in together in a coalition to fight against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December, when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.

Saudi broadcasters long based in Dubai, the economic hub of the UAE, have pulled back to the kingdom in recent months as well as the tensions rose.

On Monday, Mark Herman with the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 Office, said a man unlawfully entered a home through a window and was later found in bed with a 13-year-old.

The man has since been charged with indecency with a child.

“Protecting our children is a top priority. This suspect’s actions are deeply concerning, and our investigators worked swiftly to take him into custody. We will continue to pursue justice and ensure the safety of our community,” said Constable Herman.

Morgan McSweeney told lawmakers on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee that it had been “a serious error of judgment” to back Mandelson, whose ill-fated appointment has left Starmer fighting for his job.

Opposition politicians secured a vote in the House of Commons later Tuesday on whether Starmer should be investigated by a parliamentary standards watchdog with the power to censure or suspend him.

The Foreign Affairs Committee is also investigating how Mandelson, a scandal-tainted friend of Jeffrey Epstein, was given the key diplomatic job despite failing security checks.

McSweeney said that “the prime minister relied on my advice, and I got it wrong.” He apologized to Epstein’s victims, saying “I am sorry for any part this controversy has played in causing further hurt or distress.”

But he insisted that he didn't “ask officials to ignore procedures, request that steps should be skipped, or communicate explicitly or implicitly that checks should be cleared at all costs.”

Starmer fired Mandelson in September after new details emerged about the ambassador's friendship with Epstein, a convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.

Police opened an investigation into Mandelson in February over allegations that he passed sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a member of the U.K. government in 2009. He denies wrongdoing and hasn't been charged.

Starmer's former top aide says sorry

McSweeney, who called Mandelson an adviser and confidant, resigned in February, saying he took responsibility for the ambassadorial appointment.

He denied allegations by former Foreign Office chief Olly Robbins that Starmer’s staff pressured officials to rush through the confirmation so that Mandelson could be in the post at the start of the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump in January 2025.

McSweeney said that he felt Mandelson's experience as a former European Union trade commissioner would serve the U.K. well in striking a free trade deal with the Trump administration.

“I don’t think the prime minister would have chosen Mandelson if Kamala Harris had been elected president,” he said.

He said that at the time of the appointment, he had the impression that Mandelson's relationship with Epstein was “a passing acquaintance.” When emails were published showing the friendship was close, “it was a knife through my soul,” McSweeney said.

Starmer fired Robbins earlier this month after the revelation that Mandelson was approved for the job against the recommendation of the government’s security vetting agency. Starmer has called it “staggering” that Foreign Office officials failed to tell him about the security concerns.

Robbins has said that the concerns didn’t relate to Epstein, though he hasn’t disclosed what they were about.

Robbins' predecessor, Philip Barton, told the same committee that he was concerned that Mandelson's known links to “toxic, hot potato” Epstein “could become a problem.”

But he said that he wasn't consulted on the “political decision” to appoint Mandelson. It's rare but not unknown for U.K. ambassadors to be political appointees rather than career diplomats.

“I was presented with a decision and told to get on with it,” said Barton, who left his job for unrelated reasons in January 2025.

“There was pressure to get everything done as quickly as possible,” he said, but denied there was pressure for a specific outcome.

Starmer has denied that anyone in his office put pressure on the civil service.

Opposition hopes to force an inquiry

Critics say Starmer’s decision to appoint Mandelson is evidence of bad judgment by a prime minister who has made repeated missteps since he led the center-left Labour Party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

Starmer already defused one potential crisis in February, when some Labour lawmakers urged him to quit over the Mandelson appointment. He could face a new challenge if, as expected, Labour takes a hammering in May 7 local and regional elections, which give voters a chance to pass a midterm verdict on the government.

Later Tuesday, the House of Commons will vote on a demand by the opposition Conservative Party for Parliament’s Privileges Committee to investigate Starmer’s claim that “due process” was followed in Mandelson's appointment.

“It’s clear that full due process was not followed,” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said, adding that “appointing a known national security risk to be ambassador to the United States is a profound failure of government.”

Badenoch urged Labour lawmakers not to be complicit in a “cover-up.”

A finding by the committee that Starmer misled Parliament would likely be a resigning offense. But the inquiry is unlikely to proceed.

It would require a large number of Labour lawmakers to vote with the opposition for Starmer to be referred to the Privileges Committee, which has the power to suspend lawmakers, including the prime minister, from Parliament, for breaches of the rules.

Starmer urged Labour lawmakers to “stick together” and vote against the motion, calling it a “stunt” timed to damage the government before the May elections.

Censure by the committee exerts considerable moral pressure on politicians to resign. Its investigation into lockdown-breaking gatherings in government offices during the COVID-19 pandemic helped end the political career of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Johnson quit as a lawmaker in 2023 after the committee found that he had repeatedly misled Parliament over the “Partygate” scandal.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvia Hui contributed to this story.

The crash occurred Monday when a long-distance train crashed into the rear car of the stopped commuter train at Bekasi Timur Station outside Jakarta. The car was one designated for women only, a common accommodation to stop harassment.

A total of 88 injured people were taken to hospitals for treatment, said Bobby Rasyidin, CEO of state-owned railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia. The bodies of the dead were taken to a hospital for further identification.

“We are currently ensuring that all victims receive the best possible care,” said Rasyidin.

Rescue teams completed the evacuation of all victims from inside the wreckage about midmorning. “There are no further casualties,” said Mohammad Syafii, the head of the National Search and Rescue Agency.

All 240 passengers on the Argo Bromo Anggrek long-distance train were safe, officials said.

Police were investigating the cause of the accident, Jakarta Police Chief Asep Edi Suheri told reporters at the scene.

The Indonesian Ministry of Transportation said in a written statement that authorities believe the incident began when another commuter train hit a stalled taxi near Bekasi Timur Station.

That led staff to stop a second commuter train at the station, where it was struck by a long-distance commuter train.

“As for the chronology of events, we are leaving it to the National Transportation Safety Committee to investigate the cause of tonight’s train accident in greater detail,” Rasyidin said.

Accidents are common on Indonesia’s aging railroad network. In January 2024, two trains collided in West Java province, killing at least four people.

___

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

George was not present for the proceedings, which were presided over by Judge Jeth Jones. The case was filed by Fort Bend County resident Sarah Roberts prior to George’s March 20 felony conviction for money laundering.

Case background

Prosecutors argued George improperly transferred more than $46,000 from his campaign account into his personal account and used the money for personal expenses, including a down payment on a home. Campaign finances are required to be tracked and reported to the state.

During the trial, prosecutors presented financial records and witness testimony they said showed the transactions were not legitimate campaign reimbursements. The state argued the transfers violated campaign finance laws and were for George’s personal benefit.

George’s defense team maintained the transactions were legal, saying the money was reimbursement for loans he made to his own campaign. Attorneys argued the state failed to prove criminal intent and said any inaccuracies in state filings were not intentional.

George could face between two and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

• Fort Bend County Judge KP George found guilty in money laundering case tied to campaign finances

Immediately following the suspension, Jones appointed Republican nominee Daniel Wong to fill the role. The decision was made at the judge’s discretion.

“Judge Jones was guided by two factors. First, KP. George is now a Republican, in which case it is natural to replace him with a Republican rather than a Democrat. And then second, Judge Jones is a Republican himself, having been elected in Galveston County,” Mark Jones said.

Daniel Wong released a statement saying:

“I look forward to bringing Fort Bend County out of the cloud of corruption put on us by Democrat KP George and into a shining new era of hope, optimism, and results. As County Judge, my focus is and will always be on the people of Fort Bend County.”

But not everyone is on board with how this played out. Democratic candidate Dexter McCoy, who is set to face Wong in November, is now pushing back.

“Mr. Wong never managed a multi-billion dollar budget or guided our community through a natural disaster. Today, Judge Jones abandoned judicial independence and chose to put his thumb on the scale of our elections by blatantly selecting his own partisan candidate for the office.”

Political experts say the appointment could have an impact on the race moving forward.

“Instead of competing on equal terms as both non-incumbents, Wong will be the interim, which will give him a little more publicity, a little more name recognition, and a little more in the way of resources as he attempts to defeat Dexter McCoy, the most likely Democratic nominee,” Mark Jones said.

• KP George KO’d in primary race for reelection as Fort Bend County Judge

Wong will be sworn into office on Monday.

George still faces additional legal trouble. He is scheduled to go to trial on a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity tied to an alleged social media hoax campaign on May 5.

According to the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office, this marks the first time in the modern era that a sitting county judge in the county has been suspended.

George had been set to serve until 2027 after losing the primary election in March.

KPRC 2 has reached out to George’s team for comment.

As soon as you step outside, you’ll notice the clouds, the humidity and warm weather this week as temperatures continue to climb into the 90s.

However, thanks to the humidity, feels-like hit the upper 90s and triple digits by mid-week.

We’ll continue to track warmer weather however, thanks to a front, our temperatures will drop to the 60s by Saturday.

This front will likely come with showers and thunderstorms. Some of those could become severe with hail and damaging winds.

It will also lower humidity and temperatures down into the 70s, but forecast confidence will grow as we get closer.

Have storm or flood photos from your neighborhood? Share what you’re seeing with the KPRC 2 Weather Team through Click2Pins at click2houston.com/pins/.

Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud was convicted of torture, religious persecution and other inhumane acts in 2024 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Judges found he was a key figure in a reign of terror after Islamic extremist rebels overran Timbuktu in 2012.

“Mr. Al Hassan, as the person found responsible for the crimes, which caused the harm to the victims, is the person financially liable for the cost of repairing the harm,” Presiding Judge Kimberly Prost said, addressing the courtroom in the Dutch city of The Hague.

While the court has declared Al Hassan liable, it won't be able to collect the money from the 49-year-old, who was declared indigent and represented by a court-funded lawyer during his trial.

Instead, reparations for the more than 65,000 victims will be paid by the Trust Fund for Victims, set up by the court’s member states to distribute the funds.

We are “one of the many innovations of the Rome Statute,” the fund’s executive director, Deborah Ruiz Verduzco, told The Associated Press.

Under the court’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, the fund “responds to the harm resulting from the crimes under the jurisdiction.”

The 24 staff members in Ruiz Verduzco’s office are tasked with assisting victims and their families, establishing programs in communities destroyed by violence and drumming up financial support to fulfill its mandate.

In its two decades of operation, the trust fund has received money from perpetrators in only one case.

“Substantial fundraising will need to take place,” Prost said.

The bulk of the money will come from the court’s member states, though the fund also accepts private donations. In March, Germany gave 40,000 euros ($46,000). Sweden and the Netherlands are the two biggest supporters.

Judges guide how the reparations money will be allocated, though they solicit input from the victims through their lawyers and the trust fund.

In the Al Hassan case, the reparations will be used for “socio-economic support, educational programs or trainings and psychological support,” according to the decision. Projects should target women and girls, who suffered disproportionately under the extremist groups.

Communities in Mali have already seen some restitution. Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2016 for destroying historic mausoleums in Timbuktu. In 2021, the trust fund began a project to repair ruined buildings.

Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.

Tuesday's decisions comes days after an alliance of al-Qaida-linked militants and separatists carried out the largest coordinated attack in Mali in over a decade.

Gonzalez was terminated by the department last week after an Instagram video surfaced appearing to show her using racist slurs, as KPRC 2 News previously reported.

She had been relieved of duty until a meeting with HPD Chief J. Noe Diaz, where it was announced she had been terminated.

• PREVIOUS REPORT: Suspended HPD officer still on paid leave after racist Instagram video; meeting set with Houston Police Chief

pic.twitter.com/2rv4uvZ7Gt

— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) April 24, 2026

In the video, a woman sitting in her car can be heard using racial slurs and making offensive remarks targeting Black people. She also expresses hostility toward people of color and makes comments referencing slavery, racial discrimination, and stereotypes.

Gonzalez was identified as the speaker in the video.

Officials have released a new statement speaking out against Gonzalez’s conduct.

“Racism is abhorrent; the fact we have to lead the statement with this is disgraceful,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “The Harris County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Chief has already begun the thorough, analytical process of reviewing every case involving former Houston police officer Ashley Gonzalez. We take seriously our ethical obligation to notify defense attorneys regarding her discipline effecting open cases.”

• RELATED: ‘Extremely disturbed’: Houston Police Department officer relieved of duty after racist rant goes viral on social media

This comes after a Travis County Judge temporarily lifted the statewide hemp ban earlier this month.

Judge Maya Guerra Gamble granted the Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers a temporary restraining order against new testing requirements that creates 0.3% total THC threshold, effectively eliminating smokable products. Lawyers for the hemp industry argued that the agencies overstepped their constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019.

A hearing on the continuation of the lifted ban, originally scheduled for April 23, was postponed by agreement until today, April 28. The hearing could continue through April 30, depending on how long it lasts, according to the lawyers’ agreement.

The concept of the new total THC testing came from the federal government, which clarified the definition of hemp in November as containing a total THC concentration of less than 0.3% on a dry weight basis rather than only delta-9 THC, according to Zachary Berg, an attorney with the Texas Attorney General’s Office who represented Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Friday. Berg added that the federal government’s new definition doesn’t go into effect until November, but the state wanted to be in compliance early with federal law.

Jason Snell, one of the attorneys for the hemp businesses, said that by trying to mirror a federal law that isn’t yet in effect, the state clearly overstepped its regulatory authority. He also submitted to the court over 300 pages of testimony from Texans about how these new rules and regulations are already shuttering businesses and killing off the industry.

“The wave is getting bigger,” Snell said. “We are asking you to put up a barrier.”

The hemp businesses also asked for a temporary injunction on other rules that increase licensing fees for retailers and manufacturers and prevent businesses from selling smokeable hemp out-of-state. Guerra Gamble also temporarily unblocked interstate sales, but she deferred the topic of licensing fees to the next hearing on April 28.

The background: Even though Texas law bans marijuana, lawmakers legalized hemp in 2019. State law defines hemp as containing less than 0.3% levels of intoxicating Delta-9 THC.

To get around the law’s Delta-9 THC restrictions, manufacturers started cultivating hemp plants with another type of THC, called THCA, that, when ignited in a joint or smokeable product, can produce a high. Many lawmakers have said this legal loophole has allowed a recreational THC market to appear overnight without direct approval from the state.

Last year, the Texas Legislature voted to ban the products out of fear that these intoxicating products were consistently getting into the hands of children. But, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the decision last summer, before asking the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and DSHS to increase regulations on the industry instead.

The Texas Department of State Health Services released regulations on consumable hemp-derived THC products that went into effect on March 31. These new regulations include child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new labeling, testing, and bookkeeping requirements. The rules also codify the legal purchasing age to 21, which went into effect last year as an emergency directive.

Why the hemp industry sued: Also under the new rules, laboratories tests now measure the total amount of any THC in a product. If the THC levels exceed the 0.3% threshold, even if it’s only activated upon being smoked, the product will be noncompliant under state regulations. As a result, some of the most popular hemp products, like THCA flower and pre-rolled joints, have been banned.

Hemp businesses caught selling noncompliant products face a range of penalties and fines, including license revocation and up to $10,000 in violation fees for each day these products were sold in stores.

“An administrative agency may not substitute its own policy judgment for the outcome produced by the constitutional lawmaking process,” the lawsuit states. “The Texas Constitution vests legislative power in the Legislature, not administrative agencies.”

Retailers cannot sell hemp to out-of-state customers either.

The rules also increase licensing fees for manufacturers of hemp-derived THC from $258 to $10,000 per facility and retail registrations from $155 to $5,000, which industry leaders say will fulfill the ban by forcing businesses to close. The hemp business community’s lawsuit is not challenging the other new regulations, including the age verification or ones they say protect consumers.

“Texas hemp businesses wholeheartedly support those regulations, as they fall within the agency’s authority,” said David Sergi. “We are seeking to halt rules that would effectively end the in-state production of hemp and the sale of hemp products—items the Legislature chose not to ban during recent legislative and special sessions.”

What the state says: Concerns about the safety of these high-THC products among youth led lawmakers to attempt to ban hemp-derived THC products outright last year. While the overall ban didn’t succeed, lawmakers successfully banned vape pens containing THC and other hemp-derived intoxicating chemicals.

Data provided from the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a sharp increase in cannabis-related poisoning calls starting in 2019, a year after hemp-derived THC was legalized by the federal government, from 923 to a 10-year high of 2,592 in 2024. Calls climbed to 2,669 last year. The majority of these calls involve suspected poisoning of children under the age of five and teenagers.

Drug policy experts said these numbers seem alarming, but it is natural for poisoning calls to increase when a drug has become legalized, and the data needs additional context before making conclusions from it.

Jennifer Ruffcorn, spokesperson for HHSC, directed questions about the lawsuit and what it means for the new hemp regulations to DSHS.

Lara Anton, spokesperson for DSHS, declined to comment on pending litigation.

What’s next: The hemp industry’s battle to stay alive in Texas started back in 2021 when the state health agency classified any amount of a natural intoxicating hemp compound called delta-8 THC as illegal. The hemp industry sued the state over its ban on delta-8 and the Texas Supreme Court is expected to consider the case this year.

The delta-8 lawsuit will have an impact on the outcome of the most recent lawsuit over the smokeable hemp ban because both lawsuits challenge the authority of a state health agency to make changes to the market without approval from lawmakers or the public.

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta gave birth to a healthy 5-1/2 pound (2.5-kilogram) girl just before the Boeing 737 landed at Portland International Airport in Oregon on Friday night. Two paramedics who happened to be on the flight assisted, borrowing blankets from other passengers and using a shoelace to tie off the umbilical cord.

Baby Brielle Renee Blair came in about two weeks ahead of schedule; the plane, about 20 minutes.

Her mom, Ashley Blair, who is from Tennessee, was flying to Oregon to be with her own mother for the birth, but didn't quite make it. She went into labor about half an hour from Portland.

One of the paramedics, Tina Fritz, told The Associated Press on Monday that she and the other paramedic, Kaarin Powell, were returning home after vacationing in the Dominican Republic. They had been helping a nurse attend to the medical needs of another passenger at the back of the plane when a flight attendant asked them to check on Blair.

They found Blair was indeed in labor and contractions were getting close. It was a full flight with 153 passengers on board — soon to be 154 — so they began moving the passengers next to Blair back to their seats to make room for the delivery.

They asked flight attendants for blankets and an obstetrical kit, a sterile set of medical tools used in emergency childbirth. Fritz said they had to improvise when neither was available.

They got blankets from other passengers and a shoestring from a flight attendant to tie off the umbilical cord. Powell tore out one of her own shoes laces to use as a tourniquet to start an IV.

Then, Fritz recalled, the mother yelled: “OK, it’s time. I got to push.”

As she was doing so, flight attendants told Fritz and Powell they needed to sit, because the plane was about to touch down.

“We’re like, ‘No! No!’” she said.

Blair gave three “super, really good pushes, and the baby came out really quickly,” Fritz said. “It was nice.”

Powell cut the umbilical cord and sat down while holding the baby. Fritz sat down next to her, and the wheels hit the runway.

“Baby pinked up right away,” Fritz said. “She was gorgeous. Mom was a rock star.”

After the plane began taxiing to the jetway, they handed the baby to Blair, and everyone celebrated by taking photos.

A responding crew from Portland Airport Fire & Rescue “found the mother and baby healthy, and the new family was transported to a local hospital for observation,” Port of Portland spokesperson Molly Prescott said in an email to The Associated Press.

In a statement, Delta said a doctor and two nurses assisted flight attendants, but Fritz said there was no doctor and the only nurse stayed with the first ailing passenger. Delta didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking clarification.

“We extend our sincere thanks to the crew and medical volunteers on board who stepped in to provide care to a customer onboard prior to landing in Portland. The health and safety of our customers is always our top priority, and we wish the new family all the best,” Delta said in the statement.

Blair didn’t return messages from the AP. Fritz, who has been keeping in touch with Blair since the birth, said she's been a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

“I feel like we’re friends now forever,” Fritz said.

___

Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.

A new report from Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research finds that more residents are feeling squeezed, with financial pressure rising across all income levels.

According to the 2026 Kinder Houston Area Survey, more than 1 in 5 Houston-area residents say they are worse off financially than they were a year ago.

• Houston money-saving guide: Apps that help cut gas, grocery and dining costs

That number jumps significantly for lower-income households. About one-third of residents earning less than $25,000 a year say they’re worse off compared to last year.

But the strain isn’t limited to those at the bottom of the income scale.

The survey shows an increase across all income groups in the number of people who say they are either “finding it difficult to get by” or “just getting by.”

Even among households making $150,000 or more, the share of residents who say they’re struggling doubled in just one year, from 4% in 2025 to 8% in 2026, as measured by multiple indicators, including residents’ ratings of

Overall, slightly more than half of residents say their financial situation has stayed about the same over the past year, while about 1 in 4 say they are better off.

Still, the data points to a clear shift: more Houstonians are feeling the strain, especially when it comes to keeping up with day-to-day expenses.

• Graduating college this spring? What you need to know about student loan repayment options

Lower- and middle-income households are seeing some of the biggest impacts. The report notes that financial pressures have increased most noticeably among these groups, as measured by multiple indicators, including residents’ ratings of their financial well-being and their ability to cover unexpected expenses.

The findings come as the economy is now the most commonly identified “biggest problem” facing the Houston area, according to the survey.

About one-quarter of residents across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties named the economy as the top issue, nearly doubling in some areas compared to the year before.

At the same time, confidence in job opportunities has dropped sharply, marking one of the largest one-year declines in decades.

The percentage of Houston-area residents who rated job opportunities as good or excellent, dropped 29 points this year in Harris County. That is the second largest drop in the county ever reported, behind only the oil crisis from 1982 to 1983.

The Kinder Institute survey, one of the longest-running studies of any major metro area in the country, surveyed nearly 9,000 residents across the region earlier this year.

Researchers say the takeaway is clear: financial strain is no longer isolated to one group.

From households struggling to cover basic expenses to higher earners beginning to feel pressure, the sense of economic stability across the Houston area is shifting.

I hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday morning. Let’s grab some coffee and get to some of the news of the day.

How are we feeling about the Houston economy? Well, according to a new study dropped by the Kinder Institute, job optimism is the lowest since the 1980s. Many Houstonians reported feeling troubled about the future of their jobs and their finances.

Many residents reported feeling strained by financial pressure, including high earners. One in five Houstonians said they are worse off financially this year than last year.

To read more, click here.

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TODAY: 90° TONIGHT: 76°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“It’s going to be a hot day with severe weather returning tomorrow. Expect afternoon storms, including possible hail.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Survivor comes forward after 25 years, former Sweeny fire chief indicted on child sex crime charges

A survivor who waited 25 years to be believed is now seeing the man she accused of sexually assaulting her as a child behind bars.

Timothy Dale Webb, a former Sweeny Volunteer Fire Chief, has been indicted on multiple child sex crime charges, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual assault of a child, and prohibited sexual conduct. The alleged abuse occurred between 1999 and 2005, when the survivor was between 12 and 18 years old.

Ride-share safety: What every parent should teach teens before their next trip

Authorities are warning families after a case that shows how quickly a routine ride home can turn dangerous for teens using ride-share apps like Uber.

What should have been a safe trip instead became what authorities describe as an opportunity for a predator, highlighting risks experts say can affect any family.

Search ends with no remains found at Bacliff property connected to ‘Texas Killing Fields’ suspect

The search for human remains on a property in Bacliff ended on Friday, according to officials with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office.

The search was triggered by the recent indictment of James Elmore, Jr., on charges related to the murders of Laura Miller and Audrey Cook. Elmore was indicted on charges of manslaughter and evidence tampering and remains in the Galveston County jail.

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Orchid care 101: Simple tricks to keep your orchids blooming longer

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Armed with a shotgun, the gunman initially opened fire at the social security office, wounding an employee, police said. Police officers who arrived at the scene treated the man, but the gunman fled the scene.

Local media aired security camera footage that it said was from a local store near the social security office, which showed a man walking calmly across the street carrying what appears to be a short-barreled shotgun in his right hand.

The same man was suspected of later opening fire on the ground floor of a court building in another part of central Athens, with several people wounded there, police said, adding that authorities had found the shotgun.

Television footage showed ambulance crews transporting at least three people from the courthouse to waiting ambulances.

The head of the Athens Judicial Employees Union, Stratis Dounias, said that initial information indicated that the man had shot at the floor inside one of the offices in the court building. At least three female court employees were slightly wounded by ricocheting shotgun pellets, while media reports said that a fourth female employee was transported to a hospital without physical injuries.

The motive for the shooting was unclear. State broadcaster ERT said that the gunman had reportedly left envelopes with documents after the shooting at the courthouse, saying those were the reasons for his actions.

Alexandros Varveris, head of the National Social Security Fund known by its Greek acronym EFKA, said the gunman had gone to the fourth floor of the social security fund's offices in the Kerameikos area of central Athens and opened fire after calling out to an employee to duck. His shot hit another employee, who was wounded in the leg, Varveris said, adding that the gunman had been wearing a trenchcoat under which he had hidden the shotgun.

“He went in, went up to the fourth floor, raised his shotgun, told an employee to duck and hit another one,” Varveris told ERT radio. He said the gunman didn't appear to specifically target the employee he hit.

The wounded employee was transported to a hospital, after police applied a tourniquet to his leg at the scene.

Gun violence is relatively rare in Greece, where firearm ownership is allowed but tightly regulated.

Random House Books for Young Readers announced Tuesday that “EXTRAordinary! A Little EXTRA to Reach BIG Dreams” will be published Nov. 3. In rhyming verse, the WNBA star shares a message about the importance of effort and support.

Clark, whose book features illustrations by Adriana Predoi, was inspired by an inscription above the mirror that hung in her childhood bedroom: “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little EXTRA.”

“Basketball has given me so many incredible opportunities, but what has always meant the most to me are the people who’ve supported me along the way,” Clark said in a statement. “I hope this book reminds kids that they’re never alone in chasing their dreams and that giving a little extra to the people and moments is what makes them EXTRAordinary.”

The 24-year-old Indiana Fever guard, widely credited with raising the profile of women's basketball, returned to action recently after injuries limited her to 13 games in 2025. She scored seven points Saturday in a preseason victory over the New York Liberty.

The poll, conducted by Texas Public Opinion Research from April 17 to 20, found Talarico leading Sen. John Cornyn by three percentage points, 44% to 41%. The Austin Democrat leads Attorney General Ken Paxton by a margin of five percentage points, 46% to 41%. The survey included 1,018 likely general election voters and had a margin of error of +/-3.3 percentage points.

TPOR is a nonpartisan public opinion research group directed by Democratic strategist Luke Warford. No Democrat has won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, and in recent cycles, polls have routinely offered rosy projections for the minority party that are not borne out in November.

Still, Democrats are hopeful that President Donald Trump’s flagging approval ratings, paired with backlash from Latino voters over the economy and the White House’s immigration policies, will create an environment more akin to 2018, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within 3 points of unseating GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Cornyn and Paxton are competing in a May 26 runoff to be the Republican nominee for Senate and take on Talarico, who won a competitive primary of his own in early March. A handful of polls throughout the cycle, some nonpartisan and some sponsored by Democrats, have found Democratic candidates with narrow leads or within the margin of error in hypothetical general election matchups.

Closely watched by politicos around the country, Texas’ Senate contest already features the most expensive primary on record, with most of the money coming on the Republican side in support of Cornyn. The Cook Political Report considers the seat to be “likely Republican,” but the messy Senate Republican runoff, Talarico’s fundraising prowess and a wave of Democratic overperformances in special elections have both parties eyeing the race with heightened interest.

Cornyn and his supporters have argued the longtime senator would be a stronger general election candidate than Paxton in a cycle in which the national environment is expected to be tough for Republicans. The TPOR poll found little variance in how the two Republicans perform in hypothetical matchups with Democrats.

In both scenarios, Talarico’s support is heavily powered by voters of color, college-educated Texans and independents. Among Black voters, Talarico leads Cornyn by 51 percentage points and Paxton by 56 percentage points. Among Latino voters, Talarico leads Cornyn by a 32-point margin and Paxton by a 27-point margin.

Independents broke heavily for the Democrat in both matchups: Talarico leads 51% to 29% among the group against Cornyn, and 53% to 28% with independents against Paxton.

The poll also found that more voters had a favorable impression of Talarico than those with unfavorable views — 41% to 34%, with the rest saying they were unsure. Meanwhile, Paxton and Cornyn are underwater by 10 and 15 percentage points, respectively, the two lowest favorability marks among all candidates in the survey.

Most polling of the Republican runoff has found it to be a neck-and-neck contest or Paxton leading by single digits. A TPOR poll of the runoff, conducted April 6 to 7, found Paxton up by 8 percentage points.

Beyond the Senate race, the TPOR poll found Republicans leading in the high-profile contests for governor and attorney general — though the former race is also within the margin of error.

In the survey, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott led the Democratic nominee, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin, 48% to 43%.

The poll found that while Hinojosa is leading with both Latinos and independents, Abbott has stronger support than Cornyn and Paxton among those groups.

Paxton’s decision to run for Senate opened up the attorney general seat for the first time in over a decade, drawing crowded Democratic and Republican primaries that are both being decided by runoffs. On the Democratic side, Dallas state Sen. Nathan Johnson is facing former Galveston mayor Joe Jaworski. In the Republican runoff, voters will pick between Galveston state Sen. Mayes Middleton and Austin U.S. Rep. Chip Roy.

The TPOR poll asked voters whom they would pick between the Democrat and the Republican, rather than measuring each hypothetical general election matchup. It found Republicans leading the attorney general race, 45% to 39%.

TPOR-April-2026-TXSEN-pollDownload

I hope you are having a wonderful Monday morning. Let’s grab some coffee and get to some of the news of the day.

First off, these lovebugs are actually insane. I don’t know if you’ve seen them or been attacked by them the past couple of days, but I can’t seem to escape them. They are literally everywhere and in everything. I know they are harmless, but the sight of bugs terrifies me, so it’s actually a nightmare.

But why? According to experts, the surge is part of a seasonal phenomenon, but a combination of timing, weather, and biology is making them especially noticeable right now.

Lovebugs, scientifically known as Plecia nearctica, typically appear twice a year in Texas, usually in the spring and fall. But every few years, populations spike, leading to the kind of swarms many Houstonians are seeing now.

The seasonal insects don’t bite or sting, but many say their sheer numbers are becoming overwhelming.

To learn how to keep the lovebugs away from your vehicles, read the full story below.

To read more, click here.

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YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY: 90° TONIGHT: 77°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“As you get the kids ready for the bus stop - we’ll be in the 70s. By the afternoon, high temperatures will hit the upper 80s to low 90s. However, thanks to the humidity, some spots will feel like 100! Every day next week, we will feel like summer! Lows will be in the lower-to-mid 70s with afternoon highs in the upper-80s to lower-90s. There is a very small chance (less than 20%) of rainfall every day.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

1 dead, 2 injured in shooting after fight outside nightclub in downtown

One person is dead, and two others have been hospitalized after a shooting near a nightclub in Midtown.

Houston police responded to reports of a shooting in the 3000 block of Milam Street near Diosa nightclub. When officers arrived, they learned three people had been shot.

Teen injured in accidental shooting in Tomball

An investigation is underway after a 17-year-old was accidentally shot in Tomball on Monday morning.

Deputies with Harris County Constable Precinct 4’s Office responded to the shooting in the 21500 block of Reserve Hill Lane and found the teen shot.

Trump uninjured after security incident at White House Correspondents’ dinner

President Donald Trump was uninjured and other top White House officials were evacuated from an annual dinner of the White House Correspondents’ Association on Saturday night after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries, and one law enforcement official said a shooter had opened fire.

Authorities said the incident occurred outside the ballroom where Trump and other guests were seated. It was not immediately clear what happened. The event was scrapped and will be rescheduled.

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Orchid care 101: Simple tricks to keep your orchids blooming longer

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The Harris Central Appraisal District has launched an “Exemption Wizard,” a short questionnaire designed to help residents quickly determine which exemptions they’re eligible for and apply without visiting an office.

• Rising Houston property taxes? Here’s how homeowners can defer payments

“We’ve created an Exemption Wizard, a short questionnaire that will tell you which exemptions you qualify for and link you to the applications to complete electronically without setting foot in our office,” Chief Appraiser Adam Bogard said.

The most common way to save is through the residential homestead exemption, available to homeowners who both own and live in their property as their primary residence. Additional exemptions are available for those 65 and older or those with disabilities, as defined by the Social Security Administration.

• Whitmire disputes controller’s $174M deficit warning, says Houston will balance budget without raising taxes

“These all offer additional savings if you qualify,” said Jack Barnett with the appraisal district. “You can do this all from home, submit the application automatically. It can’t get any easier.”

Homeowners can access the Exemption Wizard on the Harris Central Appraisal District’s website.

For those planning to challenge their property values, the deadline to file a protest is May 15, or 30 days after a notice of appraised value is mailed.

“Once you get your value notice for 2026, if you don’t think it’s correct, you can file a protest online, too,” Barnett said.

Meanwhile, the Harris County Tax Office is offering a new option to help residents manage payments ahead of time.

At an April 7 press conference, Tax Assessor-Collector Annette Ramirez announced a pre-payment program that allows homeowners to begin paying toward their 2026 tax bill now in smaller, monthly amounts.

“We’ve introduced a new pre-payment option, which allows homeowners to start paying toward their 2026 tax bill right now in smaller monthly amounts,” Ramirez said. “It works similarly to an escrow system that gives homeowners more control.”

The tax office also continues to offer payment plans for those with existing tax debt, including 12-, 24-, and 36-month options with flexible due dates.

“At the end of the day, this is about more than taxes,” Ramirez said. “It’s about helping families stay financially stable and plan ahead.”

Officials encourage homeowners to review their eligibility and take advantage of available savings before the April 30 deadline.

The search was triggered by the recent indictment of James Elmore, Jr., on charges related to the murders of Laura Miller and Audrey Cook.

Elmore was indicted on charges of manslaughter and evidence tampering and remains in the Galveston County jail.

According to a search warrant filed in Galveston County, Elmore told investigators the property where he was living at the time of his arrest was previously connected to Clyde Hedrick, the man considered the prime suspect in the ‘Texas Killing Fields’ murders of Laura Miller, Heide Fye, Audrey Cook, and Donna Prudhomme.

• RELATED: Search underway for bodies tied to “Texas Killing Fields” case at Bacliff property owned by suspect, search warrant says

Investigators wrote that Elmore told them Hedrick set fire to a structure on the property with two women inside. The warrant reads that Elmore said he believes Hedrick then buried the women on the property.

A multi-day search of the property beginning Apr. 16 did not uncover any human remains, according to officials with the DA’s Office, who also said no other searches are planned at this time.

Hedrick committed suicide in March. Galveston District Attorney Ken Cusick said at the time of Hedrick’s death, his office was on the cusp of asking a grand jury to indict him in Miller, Fye, Cook, and Prudhomme’s murders.

• RELATED: Man accused of helping dispose of 2 bodies in ‘Texas Killing Fields’ murders arrested

Indictments filed against Elmore read that he prepared a vial of cocaine for Hedrick, who then injected Miller with the drugs, killing her. Court documents read that Elmore then saw Hedrick dispose of Miller and Cook’s bodies.

Miller and Cook were both found in a field off Calder Rd. in League City in 1986. Fye was found in the same location in 1984, and Prudhomme was found in 1991.

The state has added more than 2.6 million residents since 2020, bringing in a steady surge of workers and families who need homes. But Texas doesn’t have enough electricians to meet the demands of two competing priorities: building the housing to meet the needs of a growing state and becoming a global leader in AI.

The centers that drive AI technology require massive facilities to power and cool servers, making electricians critical from construction through long-term operations. Early industry projections show data centers projects will need thousands of licensed electricians, pulling from a limited labor pool.

“It’s taken us two months longer to build the houses than what it did before the data centers were coming in,” Lantrip, 69, said. “That’s the downside.”

On the outskirts of Abilene, mega companies OpenAI, Crusoe and Oracle invested into a 4 million-square-foot AI data center, Stargate. It joins more than 300 data centers already operating in Texas with about 100 more projects planned.

As tech companies rush to build data centers, they are drawing from the same talent that homebuilders rely on – and often come in with bigger pockets to pay. Between 45% and 70% of the entire budget for data center construction goes to electrical subcontractors, according to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, a labor union that represents electricians.

The data center in the Abilene area, for example, offers electricians double the wages his subcontractors can as officials aim to finish its construction by the end of the year, Lantrip said.

“My subcontractors don’t have the people. My electrician, he lost two of his lead men and several of his helpers to the data center,” Lantrip said. “Of course, the guys got to do good for their families.”

A strain on demand

The rapid buildout of data centers means a critical strain on demand for electricians, in large part because that workforce is aging out.

“The data center workforce impact begins with a truly large construction boom, but then tapers to a more specialized, smaller, longer term operational employment that does involve a lot of electrical and technician roles,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “This is really going to stress those pipelines.”

National trends show roughly 20,000 electricians leaving the workforce each year, with 1 in 3 electricians between the ages of 50 and 70 and nearing retirement.

Texas has about 71,000 electricians employed, according to federal labor data. Even as training programs expand, the pipeline cannot quickly adjust to this spike in demand. 

“We haven’t done a good enough job of backfilling with new people coming in,” said Scott Norman, the CEO of the Texas Association of Builders, referring to experienced workers retiring faster than new ones entering the trade.

Becoming a licensed electrician requires years of apprenticeship and hands-on experience, which limits how fast new workers can be added.

“You can’t just snap your finger and say, in six months, we’re going to have all these other electricians,” Norman said.

Recruiting across state lines

Texas is loosening licensing requirements to bring workers from across state lines.

Since November, the state has made it easier for electricians from Iowa, Alabama and Arkansas to transfer their licenses to Texas. The idea is that instead of requiring experienced workers from other areas to start over with testing and certification, Texas could quickly tap into an existing pool of trained electricians through a reciprocity agreement with those states.

State lawmakers last year sought to expand such partnerships, directing the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to maximize reciprocity agreements with other states, so long the level of training and testing is comparable.

Cameron Dodd, a journeyman electrician and the political director of the Austin chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said it’s too early to see the effects. Still, he’s optimistic that broadening eligibility will attract experienced workers who can step directly onto job sites, particularly for large, labor-intensive projects such as data centers and industrial developments.

“We’re trying to recruit more folks who are ideally already licensed…All the baby boomers and older electricians are going to retire,” Dodd said. “The reciprocity agreements, that should help.”

Various programs within the state are upping their efforts as well. For example, Texas State Technical College aims to grow its programs that train students in electrical skills. Its college officials are advertising the opportunity and higher wages that come with this workforce at job fairs.

Meanwhile, smaller builders are feeling the strain. For them, competing for a shrinking pool of electricians often means delaying projects or taking on the cost of training themselves.

Scotty Wristen, the owner of WE Electric in Abilene, lost five workers to the data centers. He can only afford to pay employees $20 an hour. The data centers outmatch him at $35 an hour, in addition to overtime and per diem benefits, he said.

“Some of them were guys that I’ve had for eight years, five years. They came, they got trained, and they left to go out there,” Wristen said. “I don’t blame them. … It’s less strenuous work but more time on the clock, or more money to take home to the family.”

Wristen tried to get trained electricians on board. But after dozens of students visited his job sites with their teachers, none came back for a job, he said.

To fill the gap, Wristen is hiring teens as apprentices right out of high school.

“They’re new. They don’t even have a set of tools,” Wristen said. “It’s usually about four or five months of hell where we have little mistakes that cost us time and money. It’s fixable. … And once they are trained in it, you don’t have those little deals anymore.”

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: The Texas Association of Builders has been a financial supporter 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 Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

The revised rules are expected to publish May 8, and the Texas Medical Board is scheduled to vote on the changes in June.

Supporters of ketamine regulations in Texas say the drug, which can cause comas and even death, has grown in popularity because it is easy to access. One of the most common ways people access ketamine is through telehealth prescriptions, which allows them to take it at home while a medical professional monitors them online.

Medical spas, which often do not have the stringent regulations of a medical clinic, also administer the highly addictive sedative, and night clubs promote it as a social drug instead of a potentially dangerous medication.

“People think ketamine is a wellness treatment when it’s not. Everyone wants a miracle cure. But the reality is this is a dangerous anesthetic,” said Rep. Tom Oliverson, R-Cypress, an anesthesiologist and a former medical board member who helped pass rules on administering sedatives for things like cosmetic surgery and dental work. “So then the question is, who should be allowed to administer those things so that it’s done safely?”

Ketamine’s role in the death of actor Matthew Perry has increased the drug’s visibility, including its dangers. The most recent medical report examining data from poison centers across the country found that ketamine poisonings are at their highest point in recent history, more than doubling since 2019 to 414 in 2023.

Data provided by the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a steady increase in ketamine-related calls beginning in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, from 15 to 40 calls in 2024.

Of the 167 cumulative ketamine-related calls to poison centers from 2020 to 2025, two resulted in death, and 75 reported moderate effects.

Although ketamine clinics in Texas usually have a physician on staff to respond to bad reactions to the treatment, a physician is rarely on site. Advanced-practice registered nurses and certified registered nurse anesthetists primarily administer and oversee several ketamine treatments at a time in clinics.

The proposed rules, first released in January, include a requirement that if a physician is not on site, medical staff can’t administer ketamine to more than two patients at a time. It also prohibits ketamine treatments outside of a registered clinic, including in-home use. The rules also require health providers to complete training on mental health treatment before being allowed to administer ketamine.

“Due to its potency, proper administration methods are essential. Ketamine, unlike opioids, cannot be counteracted by other medications like Narcan,” said Spencer Miller-Payne, spokesperson for TMB. “Therefore, it can be dangerous if a patient accidentally moves into moderate or deep sedation from ketamine.”

Miller-Payne said the board doesn’t want to reduce access to care, but it also recognizes that the environment in which these ketamine treatments are being offered plays an important role in ensuring patient safety.

Industry leaders criticized the proposal, saying that forcing them to choose between hiring an on-site physician or seeing fewer patients will severely limit the number of people they can serve and will raise the price of treatment by $300 to $500.

APRNs and other non-physician medical providers say requiring a physician to oversee them is confusing, unnecessary and insulting because they know the same life-saving measures that medical doctors do. They say the current proposal is a power grab by physicians under the guise of patient safety and will force clinics to shutter.

“It doesn’t make sense. Nurse practitioners are running the entire intensive care units with 25 patients who are very sick, and they are comfortable with them doing that, but they can’t be in a space with a very safe drug?” said Alli Waddell, CEO and co-founder of Illumma, an Austin ketamine clinic. “They keep telling us it’s about patient safety, and it’s not.”

When used in a clinical setting, ketamine is considered one of the safest drugs to use. In low doses, ketamine creates an altered state of consciousness and, paired with counseling, can lead to rapid relief of severe mental illness for a period of time.

Mental health providers say a lot of ketamine clients are low-income and highly suicidal and can’t afford the cost — financially or mentally — of these new rules.

The regulatory framework that Texas creates is likely to become the model for other states, ketamine industry leaders say.

“This is going to radiate throughout the entire nation, and there’s literally only a handful of people fighting for it,” said Will Ratliff, a nurse and paramedic, and the director of operations at Transcend Health Solutions, an Austin ketamine clinic. “Physicians are actively shutting down the practice of something that saves a lot of lives just because of ignorance.”

What is ketamine therapy?

Five years ago, Bradley Armendariz was studying to become a licensed provider when he decided to take a break for the day and try ketamine while listening to some contemplation audio tapes. He said what happened next was life-changing. The ketamine enhanced the words from the audio tapes and guided Armendariz through his self-doubts. By the end, he said he felt invigorated and determined about his next steps.

“It changed not only how I experienced ketamine, but also how I thought to help my clients,” said Armendariz, a licensed professional counselor in Big Sandy in East Texas who now provides ketamine treatments.

Ketamine is a synthetic compound that helps repair brain connections often damaged by mental illness. Mental health providers use ketamine to guide clients through deep-seated trauma without damaging their mental state, which can happen with talk therapy. Low-dose ketamine intravenous infusions, nasal sprays and oral medications are often used for treatment-resistant mental illnesses, such as depression, PTSD and suicidal ideation.

“Ketamine has some chemical effects that allow the brain to be more malleable for change, like when we were young children and could learn a new language or new instrument, without feeling down,” Ratliff said.

Ketamine has a high potential for dependency, which can lead to clients requesting higher doses to achieve the desired effect. The psychoactive drug can cause cardiovascular strain, respiratory depression and organ damage from long-term use.

Mental health providers say ketamine must be paired with ongoing mental health work.

“You can’t just take ketamine and fix your life. You will feel temporarily good and then go back down,” Armendariz said. “It still requires work and action on the client’s and the mental health providers’ part, too.”

‘Gut the industry’

Waddell said many ketamine industry leaders are grateful to see the state propose tighter restrictions.

“The industry is not against regulation. It just wants mindful regulation so that we can maintain access for people who are really struggling and use this tool to save their life,” Waddell said. “But these regulations will completely gut the industry because it will get rid of the model that makes this treatment possible.”

The main concern for many ketamine clinics is that they won’t be able to afford to pay for a physician to be on-site. Most clients are in severe mental distress and are either jobless or low-income, so they can’t pay high prices for treatment. Also, insurance doesn’t cover ketamine therapy treatments. Ketamine clinics said to make the drug affordable, they already have to break even on their profits.

Allowing two patients to undergo treatment at a time also will hurt their revenue, so these new regulations will force many clinics to close, ketamine advocates say. If at-home use is banned, rural users will be affected the most because the statewide physician shortage is worse in rural communities and many patients rely on in-home use.

“We have a lot of our patients from Texas. Most of them choose at-home. Not because they are choosing between us and in-person, but because we are their only option within a span of two hours,” said Leonardo Vando, the medical director of Mindbloom, one of the country’s largest telehealth programs.

Regulations can legitimize ketamine

Flavored ketamine nasal sprays advertised at parties and ketamine administered during massage therapy have given the drug a bad reputation, proponents of regulations say.

“It needs to be legitimized for insurance to get on board, but we can’t do that when you have a lot of bad actors out there running around giving it a bad name,” said Mary Moore, owner and clinical director of Lake Austin Psychotherapy, which provides ketamine treatments.

Oliverson said that under the current system, too many underqualified medical providers can administer a dangerous anesthetic, such as ketamine. He said paramedics and emergency medical technicians masquerading as nurses are administering the treatment.

“A lot of time, there wasn’t even a physician involved except on paper,” he said. “We have physicians who are only there via call or Zoom? I think that is a total joke. There’s no meaningful supervision actually going on there, and if something goes wrong, you are calling 911 because they can’t respond in time.”

Moore said she wants to see the state’s medical board require an on-site physician for every ketamine treatment because that is the safest way to conduct treatment.

“Is that more expensive? Yes. Does that hit their profit model? Yes. And I think that is part of the pushback,” she said. “The psychotherapy portion is really getting ignored in a lot of these clinics. It’s a conveyor belt model.”

Truman Milling Jr., medical director of Lake Austin Psychotherapy, suggested that the state medical board focus on the skills of the person administering the treatment rather than on whether they are a medical doctor. He said, for example, an APRN with ICU experience can meet the requirements of a physician, but not all medical providers have the same skill set.

“I think the demand [for ketamine] will go down somewhat, but if it’s done more appropriately, I think that’s the price you have to pay,” Milling said.

About the elected seat: The Railroad Commission, one of Texas’ oldest regulatory agencies, oversees a constellation of energy infrastructure across the state. Its elected commissioners and staff are tasked with regulating oil and gas production, natural gas facilities, hydrogen, pipelines, coal and uranium surface mining. The agency has not regulated railroads since 2005. With several field offices across Texas, the commission inspects facilities, enforces penalties and reports to the Texas Legislature. More recently, the agency has also taken on regulating hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide injection and storage, as companies look to create alternate sources of energy and take advantage of federal financial incentives to recapture carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change. 

What’s at stake: Far and away, Texas commands the U.S. oil and gas trade. The industry drills more oil and other hydrocarbons than all the other states combined. This massive industry employs nearly half a million Texans and pays billions of dollars in taxes to local and state coffers. And it’s changing. Seeking to become more profitable, oil companies are evolving their business models to expand their ability to deliver natural gas — which powers electricity generation — to data centers. Oil companies are also set to build facilities designed to inject carbon dioxide underground to reduce air pollution. The commission will oversee and regulate these ventures. Additionally, as Texas becomes more prone to extreme weather, the agency is responsible for ensuring that natural gas facilities are prepared to avoid shortages or incidents that could affect the state’s power grid and lead to widespread power outages. 

In the GOP runoff, incumbent Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright is pitching himself as a “proven advocate for Texas energy” who also values “high environmental and safety standards.” Meanwhile, challenger Bo French has cast himself as a “MAGA conservative” who wants “to give Trump the backing he needs” in the energy industry. 

Candidates at a glance:

Campaign site

Jim Wright

Republican, incumbent

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of Feb. 21: $125,965.35

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• Texas Oil and Gas Association Good Government Committee, industry trade group — $25,000
• Vicki Hollub, President and CEO of Occidental Energy, or Oxy —  $25,000
• Diamondback Energy TX PAC — $10,000
• Chevron Employees PAC, a political and lobbying arm of Chevron — $10,000

Experience: 

• President of an oilfield waste services company
• First elected as Railroad Commissioner in 2020, took office in 2021
• Career oil field worker

Political ideology: 

• A lifelong conservative, according to his campaign website

Policy stances:

• Wants to cut red tape, ending what he said are “unnecessary federal delays” for energy infrastructure, including pipelines and liquified natural gas terminals
• Initiated an effort to design oilfield waste rules
• Supports emerging technology, such as geothermal energy, carbon capture and hydrogen storage 
• Believes in landowners’ rights, and that operators on their property should “follow the rules” regarding land remediation, such as cleaning up possible contamination of soil and groundwater
• Says he wants to continue plugging abandoned oil and gas wells, known as “orphan wells,” a growing and expensive issue in Texas 

In the news: 

• Bo French, Jim Wright head to runoff for seat on Texas Railroad Commission, The Texas Tribune
• A rare recusal by Texas oil and gas regulator up for reelection, Inside Climate News
• Oilfield companies helped to craft Texas’ new waste rules for 2 years before the public got to see them, The Texas Tribune

Endorsements: 

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• State Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, chair of the Texas House Energy Resources Committee
• State Reps. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, Jeff Leach, R-Plano, Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, and others
• State Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock
• Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and other local elected officials

How to contact or learn more: 

• Campaign website 
• info@jimwrightfortexas.com

Campaign site

Bo French

Republican

💰 Campaign finance:

• Cash on hand as of Feb. 21: $179,639

💰 Major donors this cycle:

• Texas Freedom for the Advancement of Justice, PAC primarily funded by GOP megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks — $TK
• Miles Boldrick, owner of Statewide Minerals Company — $25,000
• Marcia French, president of French oil company — $20,000
• Richard Moncrief of Moncrief Oil International — $15,000

Experience: 

• Past chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party
• Decades-long investor in the energy sector
• Has a family-owned oil business in Midland

Political ideology: 

• French is a hardline conservative who describes himself as a MAGA Republican
• A political activist, French has led the push to shift the party further right in Texas
• French drew sharp criticism and calls to step down as county chair after posting a poll on social media that asked his followers whether Jews or Muslims were a bigger threat to the country. 

Policy stances:

• As commissioner, he wants to stop what he refers to as an Islamic invasion of Texas from stealing oil and gas resources
• Has pledged to end Diversity, Equity and Inclusion practices at the Texas Railroad Commission
• Has called to end Chinese government influence in the oil industry
• Has said he will promote more partnerships between the U.S. government and Israel, which he refers to as a key ally
• Vocal proponent of anti-abortion efforts and emphasizing the nuclear family, campaigning to establish a “pro-family credentialing program” for oil and gas operators

In the news: 

• Bo French was invited to Midland GOP forum, despite candidate’s claims he wasn’t, The Texas Tribune
• Hardline conservative donors Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks ballooned Bo French’s Railroad Commission campaign, The Texas Tribune
• Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French announces run for Texas Railroad Commission, The Texas Tribune
• Colleagues condemn Tarrant County GOP leader for repeated use of slurs, The Texas Tribune

Endorsements: 

• Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a fiscal conservative group championing pro-family government
• American Jewish Conservatives, a nonprofit group advancing religious and conservative causes 
• Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare and Commissioner Matt Krause 
• Republican congressional nominees Brandon Herrera and Steve Toth
• State Reps. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth, Brent Money, R-Greenville, David Lowe, R-North Richland Hills, and others

How to contact or learn more:

• Campaign website 
• info@bofrench.com

Literally.

Scenes of Japanese soccer fans sweeping stadiums and picking up trash after a match first drew public attention in France in 1998 — Japan's first appearance in the World Cup.

The tradition has continued every four years. It happened at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, and it's certain to continue when Japan opens play in June with group games in Arlington, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico.

The cleanup astonishes non-Japanese who might be accustomed to leaving stadiums and stepping over half-eaten food, shredded paper wrappers, and cups — empty or with liquid dribbling out.

At the World Cup in Russia in 2018, Japanese players famously cleaned the dressing room after a loss and left a thank-you note in Russian. In 2022, fans left thank-you notes on rubbish bags written in Arabic, English and Japanese.

A Japanese phrase explains why

It's not that complicated. Beginning in elementary school, students are socialized to behave this way — in the classroom, in the school yard or on a playing field.

“Japanese sports fans at world events who clean up the stadium are behaving much the same way they did when they learned how to enjoy sports as school boys and girls,” Koichi Nakano, who teaches politics and history at Sophia University, told The Associated Press.

There is a phrase in Japanese that explains it.

“Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu.”

The literal translation is: “A bird leaves nothing behind.”

Rendered in English the message is: “Return it the way you found it.”

Many Japanese elementary schools don’t have janitors, so the clean-up work is left to students. Office workers often dedicate time to sprucing up their areas.

Also, there are relatively few trash containers in public spaces in Japan, so people take their waste home with them. This keeps the sidewalks cleaner, saves the cost of emptying trash cans, and keeps away vermin.

“The way most ordinary soccer fans experience soccer at school is no different from other sports, and the emphasis is not just on physical education but also on moral education as well,” Nakano added.

Collective vs. the individual

Raised in Germany, Barbara Holthus is the deputy director of the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo. A sociologist, she agrees it's prudent not to put Japanese on a pedestal. Japan, like any country, has its own challenges and shortcomings.

“An academically sound explanation is that people in Japan just happen to be socialized different,” she told The AP. “If you grew up with a certain way of how things are being done, you apply that to even cleaning up a stadium afterwards.”

At work here is also the Japanese concept of “meiwaku,” which implies not causing trouble or annoying others. From the Japanese point of view, leaving rubbish piled up in a stadium would be a bother to others.

Japan is a relatively crowded place, and greater Tokyo alone has about 35 million people, almost the population of the entire state of California. People need to get along.

“Japanese learn early on that you don't want to inconvenience other people,” Holthus said.

She said the focus is often on the collective, compared with the West where the emphasis is on the individual and individual rights.

“You don’t want to bother people. It goes to all areas of life in Japan,” Holthus added. “We are raised (in the West) that we don’t have to clean up after ourselves in public spaces because there is going to be some kind of public service doing that.”

And because Japanese people have received widespread praise for the clean-up, the behavior has been reinforced.

“Now that the media has latched onto the story and lavished praise on Japanese fans, they have made it a point of pride to display those values and norms,” Jeff Kingston, who teaches history at Temple University in Japan, wrote in an email.

A Japanese tradition

The clean-up tradition is not limited to soccer's marquee tournament. The same thing happened last year at the Under-20 World Cup in Chile as Japanese fans cleaned up after a match. And even more recently last month at Wembley Stadium in London where Japan defeated England 1-0 in an international friendly.

“It’s one of our traditions,” said Toshi Yoshizawa, who was leading the cleanup in Chile. “We grew up with the teaching that we should leave a place cleaner than when we arrived.”

William Kelly, an emeritus professor of anthropology at Yale University and a specialist on Japan, said the tradition is linked to soccer more than other sports. He speculated it's tied to the establishment of Japan's professional football league more than 30 years ago.

“It (the J-League) was trying to distinguish itself from baseball by emphasizing teams’ community embeddedness and commitment,” Kelly wrote in an email. “Soccer fans felt, and feel, more a part of the club and its stadium.”

___

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

The government released draft legislation Tuesday it intends to introduce to Parliament by July 2 that would create a financial incentive for the social media companies to strike deals with news organizations to pay for journalism.

The platforms’ criticisms included that the proposal was a “digital services tax” that misunderstood the evolving advertising industry and would fail to deliver a sustainable news sector.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a monetary value needed to be attached to journalists’ work.

“It shouldn’t just be able to be taken by a large multinational corporation and used to generate profits for that organisation with no compensation appropriate for the people who produce that creative content,” Albanese told reporters.

“We think that investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy,” he added.

It’s Australia's second legislative attempt to make the platforms pay for the Australian news text and images that their users view.

Digital platforms had been pressured to strike deals with Australian news publishers to pay for journalism by legislation passed in 2021 that created the country's News Media Bargaining Code.

The platforms chose to reach commercial deals with news creators rather than be forced into arbitration and have a judge set the price.

But they have since avoided renewing those deals by removing news from their services.

The proposed News Bargaining Incentive would charge major platforms that choose not to strike commercial deals with news publishers a 2.25% tax on their Australian revenue.

The platforms would be given offsets and their overall costs would be lowered if they agree to pay publishers for journalism, the government said.

The government expects the incentive would raise between 200 to 250 million Australian dollars ($144 million-$179 million) a year. That was about as much as the platforms paid news outlets when the News Media Bargaining Code was working at its peak.

The government would distribute that income among news organizations based on how many journalists each organization employed, Communication Minister Anika Wells said.

The tax would apply to Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc., and TikTok, which is majority-owned by U.S.-backed investors.

Opposing the proposed legislation, Meta said news organizations “voluntarily post content on our platforms because they receive value from doing so.”

“The idea that we take their news content is simply wrong. This proposed legislation, which would apply to platforms regardless of whether news content even appears on our services, is nothing more than a digital services tax,” Meta said in a statement.

“A government-mandated transfer of wealth from one industry to another, with no connection to the value exchanged, will not deliver a sustainable or innovative news sector. Instead, it will create a news industry dependent on a government-administered subsidy scheme,” Meta added.

Google said “we reject the need for this tax.”

“It ignores the fact that Google already has commercial agreements with the news industry, misunderstands how the ad market changed and mandates payments from some companies while arbitrarily excluding platforms like Microsoft, Snapchat and OpenAI -- despite the major shift in how people consume news,” a Google statement said.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

All the targeted platforms are American. U.S. critics have argued that Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code had disproportionately cost American corporations.

Albanese was not concerned by potential pushback from the United States.

“We’re a sovereign nation and my government will make decisions based upon the Australian national interest,” Albanese said.

“We just didn’t quit,” Theodore said.

Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Las Vegas.

The Golden Knights appeared to have won the game earlier in OT when Pavel Dorofeyev tapped in a loose puck with 9:41 left, but the apparent score was waved off when it was determined Vegas was offside.

“It was good we never stopped,” Theodore said. “It sucks that one got called back, but it was good to get it done.”

Vegas’ Brett Howden scored his second goal of the game on a tip-in with 9:35 remaining in the third period, and that forced overtime after Utah had stormed back with four straight goals.

“I liked the way we responded in the third after they scored,” Howden said. “We stuck with it.”

The Golden Knights raced out to a 3-0 lead with two goals in the first and one early in the second by Dorofeyev, Howden and Cole Smith.

Utah countered with four straight scores, capped by Clayton Keller’s wrist shot off a deflection for a 4-3 lead at the 5:10 mark of the third period.

“I’m proud of the way our guys responded to adversity,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “It was a hard-fought game. We know how good they can be and I think we responded well in the second half of the game.”

Utah’s Karel Vejmelka stopped 31 shots. Carter Hart made 29 saves for Vegas.

Facing a three-goal deficit, Utah’s Nick Schmaltz and Ian Cole scored 29 seconds apart in the second period to set the Mammoth’s comeback in motion. Schmaltz got Utah on the board at the 8:04 mark, and Cole followed with a 50-foot slap shot at 8:33 of the second.

Michael Carcone tied it on another slap shot at 1:44 of the third.

Dorofeyev flicked home a wrist shot to put the Golden Knights in front just 72 seconds into the first. Howden then threaded another wrist shot past Vejmelka’s skate for a short-handed goal with 1:22 left in the period.

Smith’s tip-in at 3:27 of the second gave the Golden Knights their third goal.

“We started really well, lost ourselves for a bit,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “Momentum swung to their side, but we hung in there.”

Utah fell behind early after struggling to create scoring chances during the first period. The Mammoth tallied three shots on goal over the first 20 minutes. Only one came outside of a power play.

Vegas allowed 30 shots on goal over the final two regulation periods and overtime.

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Nikola Jokic snapped out of his prolonged funk with a triple-double, Spencer Jones provided a spark while subbing for injured Aaron Gordon, and the Nuggets staved off elimination with a chippy 125-113 win over the injury-riddled Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 5 of their playoff series Monday night.

“I think we're a multidimensional team that can win a variety of ways,” said Jones, who scored 20 points and keyed a third-quarter spurt that gave Denver its big cushion.

Jokic had 27 points, 16 assists and 12 rebounds for Denver, which trimmed its deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Jamal Murray scored 24 points as the Nuggets, who led the NBA in scoring, enjoyed a breakout after being held under 100 points twice in Minneapolis.

Jokic posted his 23rd playoff triple-double, third on the career list, as the Nuggets stopped a three-game skid and played the way they did most of the regular season in securing the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

Game 6 is Thursday night in Minneapolis.

“They’re a championship team. They have championship DNA," said Julius Randle, who led Minnesota with 27 points. "They’re going to come out and have a sense of pride on their home court. They did that tonight. So, credit to them. We get to go back to Minnesota and have a chance to close it out.”

The Timberwolves, who trailed by 27, were without their starting backcourt of Anthony Edwards (hyperextended knee) and Donte DiVincenzo (ruptured Achilles), both of whom got hurt in Game 4, and they briefly lost center Naz Reid to a rolled right ankle late in the third quarter Monday night.

DiVincenzo underwent surgery Sunday, and Edwards is out indefinitely — but an MRI confirmed the absence of structural damage, meaning he could return to action if the Timberwolves advance.

Game 4 star Ayo Dosunmu added 18 points for Minnesota, but Rudy Gobert was finally neutralized. He scored his only bucket with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter with the Wolves trailing by 25.

The Nuggets need to win the next two games to become just the 14th of 299 teams facing a 3-1 deficit to come back to win an NBA playoff series. Denver was the last team to accomplish the feat, doing it twice in the bubble in 2020, against the Jazz and Lakers.

The Wolves started out sloppy with nine first-quarter turnovers and finished with 25. Jokic swished a 29-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Denver a 60-51 halftime lead.

“It’s just a good win and then you move on,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “Tomorrow we’ll sit down and talk with the guys, get them right, give us a chance to go through things on Wednesday and try to win on Thursday.”

Jones, who scored 11 points in the first four games of the series, had 11 in a six-minute stretch in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets pulled away. He sank a trio of 3-pointers and added a breakaway dunk after learning just before tipoff that he'd start in place of Gordon (calf).

Jaden McDaniels, whose meaningless layup in the final seconds of Game 4 drew the wrath of Jokic and led to a dustup that resulted in ejections and fines and only added more fuel to an already-heated playoff rivalry, got into early foul trouble and scored 13 points. He was razzed by the Ball Arena crowd every time he touched the ball.

“We just ended up losing the day,” McDaniels said, “but we’re going to win the next one.”

___

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

A jury had previously convicted him of 13 charges, mostly related to sexual assault of three women.

Accusers and their families told Judge Jessica Peterson they continue to suffer from the trauma caused by Chasing Horse, 49, and struggle with their faith after he exploited his position as a spiritual leader.

“There is no way to get back the youth, the childhood loss, my first time, my first kiss, the graduation I never got to have,” said Corena Leone-LaCroix, who was 14 when Chasing Horse assaulted her. “The life that little girl could have lived has been taken from me forever.”

The Associated Press typically does not use the name of alleged sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly, as Leone-LaCroix has.

Chasing Horse, wearing his navy blue Clark County Detention Center uniform, stared straight ahead as victims read their statements and remained quiet as he was escorted out of the courtroom. He’ll be eligible for parole after serving for 37 years, and has continued to deny the charges against him.

“This is a miscarriage of justice,” he told the judge on Monday.

Peterson said she was struck by his continued denial of the charges despite the evidence shown in trial.

“You preyed on these women’s trusts and their spirituality, and you manipulated them for your own personal gratification," she said before she announced his sentence. When the hearing adjourned, more than a dozen people in the courtroom clapped.

Other charges in Canada are still pending

The sentencing wraps a yearslong effort to prosecute the former actor after he was first arrested and indicted in 2023. That initial arrest reverberated around Indian Country, with law enforcement in other states and Canada following up with more criminal charges. Those charges are still pending.

The British Columbia Prosecution Service said Chasing Horse was charged with sexual assault in February 2023, though the date of the alleged offense took place in September 2018 near Keremeos, a village about four hours east of Vancouver. In November 2023, the case paused due to Chasing Horse’s charges in the United States, but resumed the following year.

After all of Chasing Horse’s appeals have been exhausted, British Columbia prosecutors will assess next steps, Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the British Columbia Prosecution Service, said in an email.

A warrant against Chasing Horse remains outstanding in Alberta, the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service in Alberta said in a statement following Chasing Horse’s conviction in January. The Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service said that it is in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Office regarding the warrant.

January trial focused on his role as spiritual leader

Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. Following his appearance as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning film “Dances With Wolves,” Chasing Horse traveled across Indian Country to attend powwows and perform healing ceremonies.

During his trial, Nevada prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls.

Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse “spun a web of abuse” that ensnared many women.

Jurors heard from three women who said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted them. The jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges. He was acquitted on others.

Needing medical help

Multiple victims described how they participated in his ceremonies or went to Chasing Horse for medical help.

Chasing Horse allegedly told Leone-LaCroix when she was 14 that the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, according to Pucci. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said.

Chasing Horse denied the allegations and his attorney questioned the main accuser’s credibility, calling her a “scorned woman.” His attorney had filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that a witness was not qualified to talk about grooming and that the statute of limitations had expired. That motion was denied.

Victims and their family members testified that they struggle with their faith as a result of Chasing Horse’s actions. The mothers of the victims said Chasing Horse betrayed their trust and abused sacred traditions.

“Even to this day I struggle to regain my faith and spirituality,” said Lynnette Adams, the mother of Siera Begaye, one of the other victims.

The AP typically does not use the name of alleged sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly or approved the use of their names, as Begaye has.

Begaye said she still faces complications after suffering an ectopic pregnancy as a result of the assault and being forced to undergo surgery.

“I am choosing to see this moment as a fresh start," Begaye said. "I will rebuild my life, reclaim my voice and continue fighting for the future I deserve."

U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan and would leave unresolved the disagreements that led the U.S. and Israel to go to war on Feb. 28. And U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to rule out any deal that excludes Iran's nuclear program.

“We can’t let them get away with it,” Rubio said in a Fox News interview Monday. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

With a fragile ceasefire in place, the U.S. and Iran are locked in a standoff over the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passes in peacetime. The U.S blockade is designed to prevent Iran from selling its oil, depriving it of crucial revenue while also potentially creating a situation where Tehran has to shut off production because it has nowhere to store oil.

The strait’s closure, meanwhile, has put pressure on Trump, as oil and gasoline prices have skyrocketed ahead of crucial midterm elections, and it has pressured his Gulf allies, which use the waterway to export their oil and gas.

Renewed demands to end blockade

Frustration among many nations is mounting, with renewed demands Monday to end the blockade that has had far-reaching effects throughout the world economy, including raising the price of fertilizer, food and other basic goods.

The Iranian proposal would push negotiations on the country's nuclear program to a later date. Trump said one of the major reasons he went to war was to deny Iran the ability to develop nuclear weapons.

The two officials with knowledge of the proposal spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door negotiations between Iranian and Pakistani officials this weekend. Iran's proposal was first reported by the Axios news outlet.

The offer emerged as Iran’s foreign minister visited Russia, which has long been a key backer of Tehran. It’s unclear what, if any, assistance Moscow might offer now.

Iran’s ability to choke off traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, has proved one of its biggest strategic advantages in a war that has often boiled down to which side can take more pain.

Oil prices have risen steadily since the war began, and tankers full of crude became stranded in the Gulf, unable to safely pass through the strait to reach global distribution points.

On Monday, the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, closed above $108 per barrel, about 50% higher than when the war began.

Dozens of nations push for reopening of strait

Dozens of nations repeated calls to open the critical waterway in a joint statement led by Bahrain.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres told the Security Council on Monday that the humanitarian toll is mounting.

“These pressures are cascading into empty fuel tanks, empty shelves — and empty plates,” he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the U.S. for going into the war with what he said was no strategy. “The problem with conflicts like these is always the same: It’s not just about getting in. You also have to get out,” Merz said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot blasted all sides. He said the crisis began after the U.S. and Israel struck Iran without clear goals "in a manner that flouts international law.”

But he said Iran is responsible for closing the passageway. “Straits are the arteries of the world. They are not the property of any individual," he said.

Top Iranian diplomat meets Putin in Russia

Trump last week indefinitely extended the ceasefire the U.S. and Iran agreed to on April 7 that has largely halted fighting. But a permanent settlement remains elusive.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Russian state news agency Tass said. Putin praised the Iranian people as “bravely and heroically fighting for their sovereignty,” and he said Russia would do everything possible to bring peace to the Middle East, Tass reported.

Araghchi told a Russian state TV reporter that the U.S. and its leaders “have achieved none of their goals” in the war. “That’s why they ask for negotiation,” he said. “We are now considering it.”

The meeting came as Pakistan has been seeking to revive stalled talks between Iran and the U.S., and negotiations had been expected in Islamabad over the weekend. Instead, Trump called off a trip by his envoys and suggested the talks could take place by phone instead.

Iran wants to persuade Oman, which shares the strait with Iran, to support a mechanism to collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Oman’s response was not immediately clear.

The official, who is involved in mediation efforts, also said Iran insisted on ending the U.S. blockade before new talks and that Pakistan-led mediators are trying to bridge significant gaps between the countries.

Trump says Iran offered a ‘much better’ proposal

Trump told journalists Saturday that after he called off a trip by his envoys to Pakistan, Iran sent a “much better” proposal.

He did not elaborate but stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon.” Iran insists its program is peaceful, but the U.S. wants to remove Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which could be used to build a bomb, should Tehran choose to pursue one.

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,521 people in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group resumed two days after the Iran war started. Another 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 U.S. service members in the region and six U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has been extended by three weeks. Despite the truce, both sides continue to strike each other.

Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri in New York, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Jonathan Cooper in Phoenix contributed to this report.

They’re one loss away from a rare elimination.

Only six No. 8 seeds have defeated a No. 1 in a playoff series in NBA history. It’s happened only four times since the postseason was expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.

But the Pistons were sloppy with the ball and careless overall in a 94-88 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night, falling behind 3-1 in their first-round Eastern Conference series.

“We have to take care of the basketball. We have to win the rebound battle. We just have to be in the moment of what this is. This is playoff basketball,” said Tobias Harris, who scored 20 points. “We have to be more ready to just go out and there and scrap up. We are a little too casual. Everyone knows that in our locker room. We have to be better every single guy. All of us have to be better. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and be better.”

Harsh words from a veteran leader.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points but had eight of the team’s 20 turnovers. Meanwhile, the Magic turned it over just 12 times.

“We did so many positive things but 20 turnovers and give up 16 offensive rebounds. That’s hard to overcome and that’s what it comes down to,” Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “They’re sending a lot of bodies to (Cunningham). We have to help him by giving him more space so he has room to operate, set screens, be more physical, get the guys off of him but, again, we have to do a better job taking care of it.”

The Pistons haven’t advanced to the second round since losing in the East finals in 2008. They had five straight losing seasons before Bickerstaff came in last season and led them to 44 wins before losing to the Knicks in six games.

This is no ordinary 1-vs.-8 series. The Magic played well before faltering down the stretch and had to win an elimination game in the play-in tournament.

The Pistons, meanwhile, rose to the top of the conference while the second-seeded Boston Celtics didn’t have Jayson Tatum for the first several months.

Detroit has struggled in this series not only with turnovers but with finding scoring options beyond Cunningham and Harris. The Pistons shot 6 of 30 (20%) from 3-point range in Game 4 and 31 of 82 (37.8%) overall.

“Back’s against the wall. Whatcha gonna do? You’re gonna fight,” Pistons forward Isaiah Stewart said. “You have to fight until the end so let’s get back to the crib, protect the crib and take it one game at a time. The series is not over. We’re gonna keep fighting.”

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

Now, more than two years after DeSantis ended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump, the governor is returning to the national spotlight — at least for this week. He's pushing state lawmakers to redraw Florida's congressional map as part of a coast-to-coast redistricting battle ahead of November's midterm elections. His proposal would make it easier for Republicans to win four more seats, equivalent to Democrats' potential gains from last week's referendum in Virginia.

With DeSantis' second term coming to a close, the special legislative session that starts Tuesday is one of his final opportunities to remind Republicans that he could lead the party one day. But there are also plenty of risks ahead for the 47-year-old governor.

Some Republicans are worried that a new map will backfire and make it easier for Democrats to pick up seats. In addition, DeSantis wants lawmakers to increase regulations for artificial intelligence and loosen vaccine requirements, two proposals that have previously stalled in Tallahassee.

Trump may be constitutionally barred from running for a third term in 2028, but that doesn't mean there's a clear path for DeSantis, who would likely have Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio to contend with in a Republican primary.

“The window for Ron looks reasonably narrow at this point,” said Whit Ayres, who served as DeSantis' pollster in his first campaign for governor in 2018.

DeSantis, for his part, is embracing the national fight. When House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., last week dared Florida Republicans to go ahead with their special session, the governor punched back with the kind of aggressiveness he showed in the early days of his failed White House bid.

“I will pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign,” DeSantis said of Jeffries. “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We’ll take you fishing.”

DeSantis wants four more Republican seats

DeSantis unveiled his proposed map to Fox News on Monday even before it had been widely circulated among lawmakers. He argued that the 2020 census shortchanged the state's population, making it necessary to redraw the lines.

The governor's map, if approved, would reshape districts in Democratic areas around Orlando and Tampa Bay, while also condensing Democratic voters into fewer South Florida districts. The changes could cost Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.

The current maps yielded a 20 to 8 Republican tilt in 2024. DeSantis' version would aim for an advantage of 24 to 4.

DeSantis first announced the special session back in January, months after Trump started pushing Republican-run states to redraw their congressional boundaries. What followed has been a tit-for-tat redistricting battle, with each party looking for an edge in the midterms.

There's no guarantee that new maps would play out the way parties hope. For example, Texas based its revised lines largely on Trump’s performance in 2024, theoretically redistributing the president's voters across more districts to pull them into the Republican column. But Trump's popularity has waned since his reelection, including among Latino voters that figure prominently in the state.

Florida could face a similar conundrum. If the state creates more majority-Republican districts but with thinner margins, it could dilute their advantage and give Democrats more opportunities to win seats, especially if there's an anti-Trump backlash at the polls this year.

“If Florida moves like it can, the Republicans will at least be even,” said Karl Rove, a former top political adviser to President George W. Bush. If Republicans get too aggressive, “they may lose a seat or two.”

Brian Ballard, an influential Florida lobbyist who has been DeSantis’ top fundraiser, said it’s worth remembering that DeSantis was the muscle behind the 2021 map that expanded Republicans’ advantage in the state to its current levels.

“He’s incredibly smart and capable,” Ballard said. “And he doesn’t get enough credit for that map. He’s done this before.”

Florida legislative leaders appear hesitant

Still, DeSantis will be testing his relationships with lawmakers, especially in a state House chamber that has grown more willing to buck the governor in recent sessions. House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton made clear for weeks that they were not drawing their own proposals and would react only to what DeSantis put forward.

Albritton has sent multiple memos to senators reminding them of Florida’s state constitutional limits on redistricting and the requirement that it not be done as a blatantly partisan act. Perez, who convened a redistricting panel last year, has said in recent weeks that he expects something to get done, but he’s been circumspect in his public statements.

“We’re ready to have that conversation,” he recently told WPLG in South Florida, before DeSantis released his proposal.

Besides redistricting, other topics won't be much easier. DeSantis wants to require tech companies to ensure children cannot interact with chatbots without parental permission. He also wants to prevent AI from generating harmful material for minors. The proposal will put DeSantis at odds with Trump, who wants the federal government to be the regulatory arbitrator of AI technology.

On vaccines, DeSantis wants to add a conscience-based exemption to public school vaccine requirements, similar to the existing religious exemption. The push aligns him with the anti-vaccine portion of the Trump base that was instrumental in pushing the president to tap Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his health secretary.

Versions of DeSantis' proposals have passed the state Senate previously but did not advance in the state House, where Perez has been skeptical.

Ballard downplayed concerns. What may seem to some as strained relations with certain Republican legislative leaders, he said, is simply measuring DeSantis against the opening years of his tenure.

“I mean, he went from batting a thousand to maybe batting .600,” Ballard said, using a baseball analogy for the governor who played the sport while attending Yale. “That isn’t failure.”

The White House is watching

It's hard to say how the session will affect DeSantis' relationship with Trump or the president's supporters.

Trump grew frustrated at DeSantis when they were competing for the Republican presidential nomination, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” on the campaign trail. The governor, at least initially, gave conservative establishment figures and key donors an option other than the then-former president.

But Trump seemingly forgave DeSantis when he dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump following his victory in the Iowa caucuses. He even promised to call DeSantis by his actual name.

There's more bad blood within the White House, though. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a Floridian, managed DeSantis’ razor-thin 2018 victory, only for the governor to have a falling out with her.

Wiles did not respond to a request for comment. But Ayres said he’s certain she’s paying attention.

“Donald Trump has a long memory, and Susie Wiles has a longer one,” he said. “And that doesn’t bode well for Gov. DeSantis to be Donald Trump’s Republican successor.”

The remark about the president's wife was part of a routine on Thursday's “Jimmy Kimmel Live” where the host pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. That event two nights later was cut short when a man armed with guns and knives tried to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation's political leadership had gathered.

“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” Melania Trump said in a social media post later echoed by her husband.

Kimmel described the joke during his Monday night monologue as a light roast about the first couple's age difference and “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination."

He said he was sorry that the president and everyone at the event went through that traumatic and scary experience.

“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject," Kimmel said. "I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”

There was no comment Monday from ABC.

Trump has long been on receiving end of Kimmel's routines

Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall. Kimmel was suspended by ABC and some of the network's affiliates said they would take him off the air following a comment made about assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump's FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. ABC and the stations later brought Kimmel back.

Upon his return, Kimmel said that by saying that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he was not trying to make light of Kirk's killing and didn't want to leave that impression. He did not apologize, however, and he criticized station owners who took him off the air before later relenting.

Shortly after the incident, ABC signed Kimmel to a one-year contract extension that is due to keep him on the air until May 2027. His show has aired on the network since January 2003.

His late-night competitor Stephen Colbert — another frequent Trump critic — is seeing his CBS show end next month.

Dressed in a tux and standing behind a podium Thursday, Kimmel pretended to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner. His speech had false “cutaways” to the Trumps and others, taken from video clips.

He noted Melania in the “audience,” saying, “Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

“I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president said on his Truth Social platform. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired” by ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co., he said.

His wife said Kimmel's “hateful and violent rhetoric” is intended to divide the country. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him," Melania Trump wrote. “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”

White House press secretary also weighs in

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was part of a campaign of rhetoric from Democrats and some in the media that “has helped to legitimize this violence.”

“Who in their right mind says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband?” Leavitt said. There was no indication that Kimmel was referring to violence.

The National Religious Broadcasters association filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission, asking the agency to investigate ABC.

“We're seeing a pattern of violence in this country that didn't appear overnight,” said Troy Miller, NRB's president and CEO. “When influential voices joke about death or treat political opponents as disposable, it contributes to a culture where violence feels thinkable to the already unstable.”

During his routine, Kimmel noted Melania Trump's birthday Sunday, saying, “She's planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does — looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”

He also said: “Before we go any further, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein.”

Cole Tomas Allen, the California man arrested after attempting to rush into the correspondents' dinner on Saturday, was charged Monday with the attempted assassination of the president.

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Associated Press correspondent Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

They're not celebrating yet.

Desmond Bane scored 22 points, Franz Wagner had 19 in three quarters and the Magic beat the Detroit Pistons 94-88 Monday night to take a 3-1 series lead, putting the East’s No. 1 seed on the brink of elimination.

Game 5 is Wednesday night in Detroit.

“We put our ourselves in position to try to get four, but right now it means nothing,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “We have the advantage and now we have to try and make sure we keep that advantage.”

Orlando, which had to win an elimination game at home in the play-in tournament, is on the verge of becoming just the seventh No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 in a series in league history. It's happened only four times since the playoffs were expanded to a best-of-seven series for all rounds in 2003.

“This is a team that won 60 games. I’m sure they’re not blinking an eye about not being able to win three games in a row,” Bane said. “They did it multiple times throughout the regular season.”

Paolo Banchero scored 18 points for the Magic on 4-of-18 shooting. Orlando shot just 32.6%, with Jalen Suggs going 1 for 13, including 1 for 11 from 3-point range.

The Magic overcame their shooting woes by protecting the ball. They had only 12 turnovers to 20 for Detroit.

Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 25 points and Tobias Harris had 20. Cunningham had eight turnovers.

“We went into the series saying we needed to win a possession game,” Harris said. “That came down to the rebounding battle and also taking care of the basketball and in all of our losses that’s what we haven’t been at our best at. Obviously, we need to limit them from going to the free-throw line. They’ve been able to get us in close-out situations and break us down, get to the lane.”

Wagner left with 1:34 left in the third quarter due to right calf soreness.

Jamal Cain replaced Wagner and electrified the crowd with a driving dunk over Jalen Duren early in the fourth quarter. He also had a one-handed tip-in dunk that made it 87-85 with 4:55 to go.

Suggs missed his first eight shots before nailing a 3-pointer from the corner for an 85-80 lead. But Ausar Thompson’s layup tied it before Cain’s putback.

With former Grizzlies teammates Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. cheering him on courtside, Bane banked in a 3-pointer to extend Orlando’s lead to 92-86 with 1:16 remaining.

“It’s special. Those are guys I spent five years with, started my career with, made a lot of memories with,” Bane said. “I’m super thankful that they came out to support. It’s a friendship that will last forever. Those are guys that mean a lot to me.”

The 45-win Magic haven’t won a playoff series since 2010, when they lost in the Eastern Conference finals. The 37-year-old franchise has never won an NBA title.

The Pistons, who won 60 games in the regular season, have an even longer series drought. They haven’t advanced to the second round since losing in the East finals in 2008

The teams traded double-digit leads in the first half and the Magic led 54-52 going into the third quarter.

Riding a wave of energy from a frenzied, blue-clad crowd, the Magic scored the first eight points and led 19-7 before missing 13 straight shots during a 20-5 run by Detroit.

The Pistons had a 40-30 lead midway through the second.

The Magic improved to 8-1 at home in the playoffs over the past three seasons.

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

Barring a last-minute change, Jones will become the first person to plead guilty in a gambling sweep that led to the arrests of more than 30 people, including reputed mobsters and other basketball figures.

None of the other defendants have shown a willingness to plead guilty. On Monday, prosecutors said they were seeking additional charges against a co-defendant in the betting case, former Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.

Jones, 49, is scheduled to appear at back-to-back plea change hearings in Brooklyn federal court before Magistriate Judge Joseph Marutollo. Court records show he is expected to plead guilty to at least one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Jones previously pleaded not guilty in both cases to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Both charges carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. He remains free on bail.

Jones’ lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, declined to comment.

Jones was arrested last October along with Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, and others, including a sports bettor accused of cashing in on injury information.

Jones was one of three people charged in both the poker and sports betting schemes.

Jones, originally from Galveston, Texas, earned more than $20 million playing for 10 teams in 11 seasons from 1999 to 2009. He and James played together in Cleveland from 2005 to 2008, and Jones served as an unofficial assistant coach for James’ Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season.

Prosecutors say Jones sold or attempted to sell nonpublic information to bettors that James and former Lakers forward Anthony Davis were injured and either wouldn’t be playing or would play less time in certain games.

In the poker scheme, prosecutors say Jones was among former NBA players used to lure unwitting players into poker games that were rigged using altered shuffling machines, hidden cameras, special sunglasses and even X-ray equipment built into the table.

According to the indictment, Jones was paid $2,500 for a game in the Hamptons where he was instructed to cheat by paying close attention to others involved in the scheme. When in doubt, Jones was told to fold his hand, prosecutors said.

In response, according to prosecutors, Jones texted: “Y’all know I know what I’m doing!!”

Also Wednesday, the Senate Banking Committee will vote on whether to confirm President Trump's nominee, Kevin Warsh, to succeed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The committee is expected to approve Warsh, sending his nomination to the full Senate.

At a news conference later that afternoon, Powell may indicate whether he will remain on the Fed's board of governors after his term as chair ends May 15. Powell serves a separate term as a governor that lasts until January 2028. Chairs typically leave the board when their leadership terms end, but Powell has signaled he could stay on. It would be the first time a former chair remained on the board since 1948.

If Powell, who has made protecting Fed independence a key part of his legacy, chooses to stay, he would deprive Trump of the opportunity to pick his replacement and fill another seat on the Fed's seven-member board. Three of the seven current governors are Trump appointees. At the same time, it could worsen tensions with the Trump administration and would create what some analysts refer to as a “two Popes” scenario, with a chair and former chair both on the Fed's board, which could increase divisions among policymakers.

At the same time, it might not affect the trajectory of interest rates much. Powell has generally supported reducing interest rates and would likely do so again once a spike in inflation, stemming from the Iran war's increase in gas prices, fades.

Warsh argued for rate cuts last year, but is unlikely to be able to reduce rates anytime soon, given that most policymakers have signaled they would prefer to wait and evaluate the war's impact on the economy.

Warsh's path to the chair was cleared Sunday when Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said he would support him. Tillis had said he would block Warsh's nomination until a Justice Department investigation into Powell was dropped. On Friday, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, said she was closing the investigation.

Powell said at a news conference in March that he wouldn’t leave the Fed’s board until the Trump administration’s investigation was dropped, “with transparency and finality.” Pirro said her office could reopen the investigation if “the facts warrant doing so.” In addition, the Justice Department has said it would appeal a court ruling that threw out subpoenas it issued in its Fed investigation.

But on Sunday, Tillis said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he had been assured the appeal was just to challenge the principle behind the ruling, rather than to continue the investigation. Justice Department officials also said the investigation would only reopen if an ongoing probe by the Fed’s inspector general found evidence of criminal conduct.

“We worked a lot over the weekend to make sure that we were very clear that we had the assurances from the DOJ that I needed to feel like they were not using the DOJ as a weapon to threaten the independence of the Fed,” Tillis said.

Tillis even suggested, however, that Powell could remain on the board for some time after May 15: “I suspect Mr. Powell wants to see what happens with the appeal and to make sure that it is fully settled,” Tillis said on Sunday.

On Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked if Trump would oppose Powell remaining on the Fed board. She responded, “I think the president will be satisfied once Kevin Warsh is confirmed as the Fed chair," suggesting he wouldn't seek to fire Powell, as he has previously threatened.

Powell, meanwhile, said last month that even if the investigation was dropped he wouldn’t necessarily leave the board.

“I will make that decision based on what I think is best for the institution and for the people we serve,” Powell said.

The leadership turmoil comes while the economy remains unusually murky, putting the Fed in an difficult spot. Inflation has jumped to 3.3%, a two-year high, as the Iran war has sharply raised gas prices. That makes it harder for the central bank to reduce rates. The Fed typically leaves rates unchanged, or even raises them, if inflation is worsening. Fed policymakers are nearly certain to leave their key rate unchanged at about 3.6% on Wednesday.

At the same time, the unemployment rate declined in March and the number of people seeking unemployment benefits remains low, evidence that the job market may be stabilizing after signs of weakness earlier this year. Stable hiring would lessen the urgency for any rate cuts, which the Fed usually implements to boost borrowing, spending and job gains.

In a notable shift earlier this month, Christopher Waller, a key member of the Fed's board, voiced concerns that rising inflation could mean the Fed would have to stand pat this week. He also suggested that with the unemployment rate a still-low 4.3%, rate cuts might not be necessary anytime soon. Waller had dissented in favor of a rate cut in January.

A key change economists will look for is whether the Fed alters the statement it issues after each meeting to signal that it is possible that their next move could be either a rate cut or a hike. Right now, the statement indicates that any change to its key rate would be a cut. According to minutes of its last meeting in March, many of the 19 participants on the Fed's rate-setting committee support considering a hike, but it's unlikely to be a majority.

Now the administration is scrambling to put more durable tariffs in place to keep revenue flowing into the U.S. Treasury and to shore up the president’s protectionist wall around the American economy.

Starting this week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will begin hearings in two investigations that are expected to lead to a new round of U.S. tariffs — taxes paid by importers in the United States and usually passed on via higher prices to consumers who are already fed up with the high cost of living.

Trump’s newest tariff push is sure to face more challenges in court but is likely to prove sturdier than the one the Supreme Court tossed out.

First up is a hearing Tuesday and Wednesday into whether 60 economies — from Nigeria to Norway and accounting for 99% of U.S. imports — do enough to prohibit the trade in products created by forced labor.

“For too long, American workers and firms have been forced to compete against foreign producers who may have an artificial cost advantage gained from the scourge of forced labor,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in March. The administration could punish scofflaws with new tariffs.

Then, next week, the administration will hold hearings on whether 16 U.S. trading partners — including China, the European Union and Japan — are overproducing goods, driving down prices and putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage. The economies being investigated account for 70% of U.S. imports, according to Erica York of the Tax Foundation. Again, the probe could result in new tariffs.

Most major economies, including China, the EU and Japan, are on both lists.

Trump's top trade official insists he won't prejudge the investigations

The administration has brought the cases under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices.

U.S. Trade Representative Greer, who is overseeing the investigations, has insisted he won’t prejudge them.

But importers and foreign countries have doubts the process will be fair. After all, Trump’s Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, did not wait for the investigations to be completed to proclaim that the U.S. government will replace its original tariff revenues with new import taxes, including ones to be imposed under Section 301. The president himself has said that new tariffs “are going to get us more money.’’

“If you believe the Treasury secretary and the president, then the cake is already baked,” said Scott Lincicome of the libertarian Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies. “These investigations will result in tariffs that approximate what the Supreme Court overruled in February.’’

On Feb. 20, the high court ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose double-digit tariffs on almost every country on Earth. Trump had used the act to plaster taxes on imports with eager abandon. For example, he conjured up a new tariff on Canada (though he never actually imposed it) because he didn’t like a Canadian television ad criticizing his trade policies.

He used the threat of IEEPA tariffs to strong-arm top U.S. trading partners – including the EU, Japan and South Korea – into accepting lopsided trade agreements. The levies also brought in a lot of revenue -- $166 billion – before the Supreme Court shut them down, ruling that IEEPA couldn’t be used to impose tariffs. Now the federal government must refund money to importers who paid those tariffs.

Tariffs remain Trump's go-to

Trump had a handy way to quickly recoup some of the lost revenue — which had been expected to hit $1.6 trillion over the next decade – at least temporarily. Section of 122, also of Trade Act of 1974, allows the president to impose global tariffs as high as 15% for up to 150 days.

The administration wasted no time. Two days after the Supreme Court decision, it slapped 10% Section 122 tariffs on imports. Trump said he’d raise the levies to the maximum 15% but hasn’t.

The clock runs out on those tariffs July 24. Congress could extend them. But lawmakers have little enthusiasm for approving what amounts to a big tax as November’s midterm elections approach: American voters are already furious about the high prices, for which tariffs are at least partly to blame.

Section 301 offers another opportunity to replicate the the protectionist impact of the IEEPA tariffs. There are no limits on the size of Section 301 tariffs. They expire after four years but can be extended.

Perhaps best of all, from the Trump administration’s perspective after its Supreme Court defeat, Section 301 tariffs withstood legal challenges when the president used them in his first term to pound China in a dispute over Beijing’s sharp-elbowed policies to promote its own tech companies.

Any new 301 tariffs are sure to be challenged again in court. But judges might not throw them out.

“Even if it is a veiled — or less-than-veiled — attempt to reinitiate the IEEPA tariffs, he still has the cover of the process itself,’’ said trade lawyer Joyce Adetutu, a partner at law firm Vinson & Elkins.

Importer calls investigation a "sham''

Critics have latched onto the speed with which Trump’s latest investigations are proceeding. Imposing the Section 301 tariffs against China in the president’s first term took nearly a year of investigation and public comment. If the latest investigations produce new tariffs in time to replace the expiring Section 122 levies, the process will have taken less than half that long.

“It’s such a short timeframe,’’ said Kenya Davis, a partner at the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner who has done pro bono work on human trafficking and forced labor. “It’s so condensed that it doesn’t make a lot of sense that they can do it that quickly.’’

Importers bracing for the return of painful tariffs can take some comfort in knowing that Trump’s Section 301 tariffs likely won’t be as erratic as his IEEPA levies. He has to follow procedures before imposing them.

“One of the reasons Trump used IEEPA is because it was just a complete blank slate’’ — or seemed to be before the Supreme Court ruling, Cato’s Lincicome said, describing it as “a little tariff switch in the Oval Office that Trump could flip on and off anytime he wants; he wakes up in the morning and he doesn’t like a Canadian television commercial, he flips the switch ... You really can’t do that with 301.’’

Rebel groups have staged 26 attacks with explosives and drones since Friday, including a deadly blast Saturday on a highway between the cities of Cali and Popayan, according to Colombia’s defense ministry. The death toll in that explosion rose to 21 people on Monday.

Violence in the region is nothing new. Illegal groups have sought to control the area for decades, deeming it strategic for illicit activities, such as illegal mining and drug trafficking, including the cultivation of coca leaf, the raw material for cocaine.

Authorities blamed a group known as the FARC-EMC for the lethal explosion, near a tunnel on the Pan-American Highway. The group is led by Nestor Vera — commonly known as Iván Mordisco — a former member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known by its Spanish acronym FARC, who refused to join a 2016 peace deal with the nation’s government.

Sergio Guzmán, a political risk analyst in Colombia's capital, Bogota, said that Mordisco’s group could be trying to demonstrate that it has the capabilities to do serious damage, and is seeking to “establish its credibility” with Colombia’s next government as it positions itself for future negotiations.

“Part of what they are doing is establishing leverage towards the future,” Guzmán said.

Under President Gustavo Petro, a former member of a guerrilla group, the Colombian government has attempted to stage peace talks with the nation’s remaining rebel groups through a strategy known as " total peace."

The government has offered ceasefires to various groups in an effort to promote peace negotiations, but analysts say the strategy has failed, because these groups used the ceasefires to regroup, rearm and strengthen their grip over communities.

Groups like the FARC-EMC have been known to tax residents in areas under their control, and also forcibly recruit youth into their ranks.

“The government’s peace policy has been naïve,” said Javier Garay, a political science professor at Colombia’s Externado University. “They thought that if they had a condescending attitude towards these groups they would receive a positive response.”

In late 2023, the FARC-EMC entered peace talks with the Colombian government. But a faction led by Mordisco abandoned the talks in April 2024, and has been fighting the Colombian government since then.

Elizabeth Dickinson, a Colombia analyst at the International Crisis Group, said that Mordisco’s group is particularly strong in the provinces of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, where it's fighting for control of drug trafficking routes and illegal gold mines.

For the past two years, Mordisco’s group has also used drone attacks and car bombs, to respond to an offensive from the Colombian military in the Micay Canyon, a remote area covered with coca fields that is under the FARC-EMC’s grip.

Dickinson said that the latest attacks in southwest Colombia are one way for the group to show that it can sustain its “asymmetrical war” against the government.

Colombia’s defense minister on Sunday said that kidnappings and lockdowns enforced by rebel groups on communities had decreased in Cauca over the past year because of the government's actions.

In a nationally televised address Monday night, Petro said his government has fought drug trafficking and slowed down the cultivation of coca crops in Colombia, where he said 258,000 hectares (638,000 acres) were planted with coca in late 2025.

But the government’s total peace strategy has come under fire from the opposition, whose candidates are hoping to benefit from the nation’s security woes, as they promise to take a tougher stance on crime.

Petro is barred by Colombia’s constitution from running for another term. But his party’s candidate, Iván Cepeda, has promised to continue peace talks with rebel groups.

Cepeda said on X that he rejected the recent attacks in southwest Colombia, and urged authorities to investigate whether they were part of an effort to interfere with the election.

The request was echoed Monday night by Petro, who asked security forces in Colombia to investigate whether the explosives used in Saturday's attacks came from Ecuador, whose conservative government recently started a trade war with Colombia over security issues along their border.

“They want to sabotage our elections so that the extreme right wins,” Petro said without specifying who might be trying to undermine the May election. “They are scared,” he said in his televised address.

Voters in Colombia will head to the polls on May 31 to choose from 14 different presidential candidates, including Cepeda, and conservatives Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia.

While Cepeda favors the continuation of Petro’s “total peace” strategy, his conservative rivals have said that they favor confronting rebel groups and putting more military pressure on them before resuming peace talks.

Guzmán said that while this weekend’s attacks “deepen the discomfort” with the security situation in Colombia — where a presidential candidate was killed last year — both sides will try to profit from this new wave of violence.

“Government supporters will use the attacks as an opportunity to say that that this is exactly why we need to reach urgent agreements with (rebel) groups,” Guzmán said. “Detractors will say this is why we need to more aggressively attack them.”

___

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

Timothy Dale Webb, a former Sweeny Volunteer Fire Chief, has been indicted on multiple child sex crime charges, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual assault of a child and prohibited sexual conduct. The alleged abuse occurred between 1999 and 2005, when the survivor was between 12 and 18 years old.

KPRC 2 News reporter Corley Peel spoke with Police Chief Brad Caudle about Webb’s arrest.

The survivor, who Caudle said is close to Webb’s family, first reported the alleged crimes roughly 2 decades ago but was dismissed. He said she was as a troubled teenager.

“The threat was more, ‘nobody’s gonna believe you if you say it,’” Caudle said.

• Former Sweeny volunteer fire chief arrested, indicted on charges related to child sex crimes

Caudle said the police chief who served during that time period has since passed away, leaving questions about why the original report was not pursued.

“We don’t know,” Caudle said.

More than two decades later, the survivor came forward again after watching recent unrelated arrests of other Sweeny firefighters make headlines. Former volunteer firefighter Coleman Pollock faces multiple child sex crime charges. Webb’s son, Timothy David Webb, who is also a former Sweeny fire chief, is already in jail on 13 counts of child sex crimes, accused of forcing young girls to perform sex acts in exchange for money. Investigators say Timothy David Webb and Pollock are accused of exchanging explicit photos of child victims.

Caudle says the Webb family represents a disturbing three-generation pattern of men accused of child sex crimes.

“I can say in 35 years, it’s one of the first times I’ve seen it to this degree, a grandfather, father and son,” Caudle said.

• RELATED: Sweeny fire chief placed on leave amid criminal investigation as son remains jailed on child sex crime charges

When confronted about the allegations, Caudle says Timothy Dale Webb was largely uncooperative, offering only this response:

“If anything had happened, it wasn’t inside the city limits because I’ve never lived inside the city limits,” Caudle recalled Webb saying.

Despite that pushback, Caudle says the Sweeny Police Department pursued the case and will continue to do so regardless of Webb’s standing in the community.

“I can’t speak for every police department, but I can speak for the Sweeny Police Department. We’re going to follow through with any investigation, no matter what magnitude, no matter who it’s against,” Caudle said.

Timothy Dale Webb was removed from the fire department once the investigation began. He is now held in the Brazoria County Jail without bond. It is the same jail where his son is also being held.

Caudle believes there could be more victims across all three cases and is urging anyone with information to contact the Sweeny Police Department.

More than 56 million people in the Midwest and parts of the South were at risk of severe storms, with tornado warnings posted in southeastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Arkansas, the National Weather Service said.

A thunderstorm that whipped through Kent County, Michigan, with powerful winds caused a tree to fall and kill a 39-year-old man who had been outside with friends, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The friends said “the man warned them to move just before the tree came down, actions they believe likely prevented more of them from being struck,” according to the sheriff's office. The storm resulted in dozens of downed trees and wires.

Across Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan more than 250,000 people were without power Monday night.

We Energies in Wisconsin said it had restored power for more than 35,000 customers but thousands more remained without electricity. Milwaukee said it had nearly 100 emergency calls for downed trees and branches. Trees uprooted by strong winds blocked streets.

In Kansas City, Missouri, the fire department responded to 11 water rescues from vehicles starting at shortly before 6 a.m., Battalion Chief Riley Nolan said in an email.

He said most “were in our typical ‘high-water’ areas following heavy rains.” Nolan said no boats were required and no injuries were reported.

The weather service reported that 3.2 inches (8.1 centimeters) of rain fell in a six-hour period ending shortly before 7 a.m. at the Kansas City International Airport.

Hundreds of schools in the St. Louis area closed early, and many after-school activities were canceled.

Temperatures near 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) and other factors were contributing to “atmospheric instability,” said Evan Bentley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

The storms followed rounds of violent weather over the weekend.

In northern Texas, a tornado-producing thunderstorm left at least two people dead and displaced at least 20 families, with many homes sustaining major damage, authorities said Sunday.

National Weather Service teams confirmed that an EF-2 tornado with peak winds of 135 mph (217 kph) touched down in the Runaway Bay area on Saturday. An EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 105 mph (169 kph) was confirmed in the Springtown area, the weather service said.

Sidney Crosby shook off a shot to his left knee to add two assists for the Penguins, who cut the Flyers’ lead in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.

Game 6 is Wednesday in Philadelphia, where the pressure will be on the Flyers to avoid putting themselves in danger of becoming just the fifth team in NHL history to blow a series after winning the first three games.

“We know it’s a big challenge going into there," Crosby said. "But I think we have a lot of belief in our group, and we’ve done it time and time again.”

Alex Bump scored in his playoff debut for Philadelphia, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie it on Travis Sanheim's second goal of the series 15:06 into the second.

Crosby, who limped to the bench and then to the training room for treatment minutes earlier after a blast from the point by teammate Ryan Shea appeared to hit the top of his left knee, helped put the Penguins back in front just over two minutes later when he fed the puck to Letang at the top of the Philadelphia zone.

Letang sent a shot toward Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar that sailed wide of the net before bouncing back toward Vladar. The puck smacked off Vladar's left pad, then his right and across the goal line to give Pittsburgh the lead for good.

“Bounces are part of the game,” Penguins coach Dan Muse said. “But I think you earn them when you're working and you try to do the right things. That’s usually when the bounces go your way.”

After four games of mostly low-event hockey, Game 5 started with a frantic pace, a style that favors the Penguins, who finished as the NHL's third-highest-scoring team during the regular season.

That offense went largely missing while Pittsburgh fell into a 3-0 hole. Pushed to the brink, it has returned with a flourish, and this time it wasn't just Crosby, Letang and Evgeni Malkin shouldering the burden.

Soderblom's first goal of the playoffs and Dewar's second gave Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the second period. Philadelphia responded behind Bump and Sanheim, but Letang's fluky score late in the second was the difference.

Pittsburgh will take the ice on Wednesday, having all the momentum after two games in which they looked like the resilient, resourceful group that was among the NHL's biggest surprises.

The Flyers and their late playoff surge were one of the others, though Philadelphia and its talented young core will have the difficult task of finishing off a more experienced group with Hall of Famers scattered across the roster.

“They are a veteran team, they know what it takes to win,” Vladar said. "We are still a young team. We’ve got to learn that. We’ve got to bounce back. Still try to play our game, not their game.”

___

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing.

The fleeting scene, captured by a motion‑sensitive camera, showed a young Sumatran orangutan pause at the forest’s edge, grip a rope with deliberate care and step out into open air. Halfway across, it stopped, casting a glance down at the road below. Moments later, it crossed.

Conservationists said that it marks the first documented case of an Sumatra orangutan using an artificial canopy bridge to cross a public road that had divided its habitat.

“This was the moment we had been waiting for,” Erwin Alamsyah Siregar, executive director of Indonesian conservation group Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa, or TaHuKah, told The Associated Press. “We are very grateful that the canopy here provides benefits for orangutan conservation efforts.”

He said that the bridge spans the Lagan–Pagindar road in Pakpak Bharat district, a vital corridor connecting remote villages to schools, healthcare and government services. But the road also cuts directly through prime orangutan habitat, splitting an estimated 350 orangutans into two isolated forest areas: the Siranggas Wildlife Reserve and the Sikulaping Protection Forest.

When the road was upgraded in 2024, the gap in the forest canopy widened, eliminating natural crossings for tree‑dwelling wildlife.

“Development was necessary for people,” Siregar said. “But without intervention, it would have left orangutans trapped on either side.”

TaHuKah, working with the Sumatran Orangutan Society, or SOS, and local and national government agencies, proposed a simple solution: rope bridges suspended between trees, allowing arboreal animals to cross above traffic.

Five canopy bridges were installed each with a camera trap, carefully positioned after surveys of orangutan nests, forest cover and animal movement. The structures were designed to support the orangutan’s weight — no small feat for the world’s largest tree‑dwelling mammal.

The program is closely monitored, with camera traps on every bridge and regular patrols to prevent forest encroachment. Conservationists hope more orangutans will follow the first pioneer.

They waited two years for the first orangutan to cross the bridge. Before the accomplishment, only smaller animals used it. Camera traps recorded squirrels, langur monkeys and macaques, followed by gibbons — a promising sign.

The orangutan’s approach was slower, building nests near the bridge, lingering at its edges and testing the ropes over time.

“They observe,” Siregar said. “They don’t rush. They watch, they try, they retreat. Only when they’re certain it’s safe do they move.”

Then, one day, he crossed fully — a first not just for Sumatra, but for the species globally on a public road, conservations say.

Similar bridges have been used by orangutans elsewhere, but usually over rivers or on private industrial forest road. Conservationists say public roads — noisy, busy and unpredictable — pose a far greater challenge.

For orangutans, the stakes are high. Isolation leads to inbreeding, genetic weakening and eventual population collapse. Restoring connectivity gives them a chance to survive.

Once widespread across southern Asia, the animal now only survives on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Fewer than 14,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild, alongside just 800 Tapanuli orangutans and about 104,700 Bornean orangutans, according to conservation groups

“These bridges allow orangutans to move, to mix, to maintain healthy populations,” Siregar said. “It reduces the risk of extinction.”

It's no wonder they ended up in a tight Rookie of the Year race.

Flagg edged his former Duke teammate to win the award Monday night after becoming the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

The 19-year-old Flagg and Knueppel were first and second in rookie scoring, the first former college teammates to do that since UConn stars Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004-05. Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe was the other finalist.

Flagg and Knueppel traded places as betting favorites during the season, but Flagg's 96-point outburst over two games on the second-to-last weekend might have tipped the scales. Flagg was the favorite going into the announcement.

The first of those games was Flagg's 51-point showing against Orlando, the first time a teenager has scored 50 in the NBA. He broke his own record for a teenager of 49, set against Knueppel and the Hornets in January.

“I see the games every night. I can check the box scores,” Flagg said when asked how close of an eye he kept on Knueppel. “I think also I was watching Kon just because that’s one of my brothers. We had such a good connection, and we’re gonna be there for each other for the rest of our lives. I was watching him as a fan as well, but there was obviously that competition at the same time.”

It was, as expected, one of the closest votes in Rookie of the Year history.

Only 26 points separated Flagg and Knueppel in a balloting where 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league ranked their top three rookies, with five points going to first place, three to second and one to third.

In 2002, Scottie Barnes edged Evan Mobley by 15 points.

There were three years where the award was shared because of a tie in the voting, and two of those included Duke players Elton Brand and Grant Hill. Brand and Steve Francis tied for the award in 2000, Hill and Jason Kidd — Flagg’s current coach — tied in 1995 and Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie tied in 1971.

Knueppel, who was a one-and-done at Duke just like Flagg but turned 20 before his NBA career started, became the first rookie to lead the league in 3-pointers with 273.

He averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, while shooting 42.5% from 3-point range to join Larry Bird and Paul Pierce as only the only NBA rookies to average 15 points and five rebounds per game while shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc.

Behind Knueppel, Charlotte won 44 games before being eliminated by Orlando in the final round of the play-in tournament.

Flagg thought he was joining a playoff contender after the Mavericks converted a 1.8% chance in the draft lottery and took him No. 1 overall. Knueppel was the fourth pick.

Oft-injured center Anthony Davis was sidelined again as Dallas started slowly, and was traded to Washington before Flagg's fellow Duke alum, Kyrie Irving, could return from a knee injury. The Mavericks eventually decided to keep Irving out the entire season.

Despite his team's steady slide in the standings, Flagg kept making history a year after leading Duke to the Final Four as just the fourth freshman to be named AP men’s basketball player of the year.

Flagg and Jordan are the only rookies to record multiple games of at least 45 points since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.

Flagg was playing against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this month when he scored 45 points and passed the 41-year-old for the most 40-point games by a teenager with his fourth. That game was the capper to the big weekend that might have decided the rookie race.

The Mavericks ended up back in the lottery at 26-56, with Flagg having to carry a much heavier load than anticipated. He averaged 21.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 70 games.

“I think you talk about pressure and things like that, this season was a lot different going into it and what I was expecting and how the season ended up turning out,” Flagg said. “I think dealing with that and adjusting and kind of getting thrown in on the fly right away like that helped me long-term and throughout the season just getting really comfortable. I think I grew in a lot of different areas.”

The rookie award was the sixth to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. The others:

— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year.

— Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes to win the Clutch Player of the Year award.

— San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year.

— Boston’s Derrick White won the Sportsmanship Award. That award, unlike most others, is selected solely by active players.

— Atlanta’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker won Most Improved Player.

Other award announcements yet to be scheduled include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic) and Coach of the Year (either Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla).

The NBA will announce the Executive of the Year, the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year and the Hustle Award winner later this week.

___

AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, and AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

___

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

Edwards had an MRI that confirmed the absence of structural damage, a relief to the Timberwolves after he was injured in the second quarter of Saturday's Game 4 victory over the Nuggets.

“With Anthony, we dodged a bullet,” coach Chris Finch said. “That's a huge sigh of relief. I know he's frustrated because he's been dealing with the other knee and done all the things necessary to finally get himself off the injury report and as luck would have it, he takes that spill the other day.

“But if we can extend this playoff run for a bit then we'll be lucky enough to get him back, so I think for that he's excited. So, it gives him something to work toward.”

Edwards' availability for the second round if Minnesota advances would be in question. The team said he was week to week, suggesting that Edwards would likely miss at least the beginning of the next series before he's cleared to return.

“With the two injuries we had in one game, it was as positive as you can get it,” guard Mike Conley told reporters after the team's pregame shootaround. “Obviously we want him to get healthy. We want him to be recovered as quickly as he can, but his health is No. 1. He knows his body. When his body’s ready, he’s going to fight through it. We know if we can get out of the series, we’ll get him back.”

Minnesota, which led Denver 3-1 going into Game 5, lost its other starting guard, Donte DiVincenzo, for the rest of the postseason and much of next season with a ruptured right Achilles tendon he suffered in the opening minutes of Game 4.

Finch said he's had good conversations with both Edwards and DiVincenzo, who's already had surgery. Finch said he appreciated Boston star Jayson Tatum's kind words about being there for DiVincenzo after going through a similar injury a year ago.

“They're both in the best mental space that they can be, giving what they've been through,” Finch said of his sidelined guards. “I think Donte has kind of come to peace with what's happened, knows what's the next steps in the long road that's ahead. Things went really well for him in the surgery.

“So, Jayson Tatum's comments I thought were super classy, kind and compassionate, mean a lot. I know Donte's heard them and he's been such a great example of what's possible and of course a top-notch medical team and rehab team around him, it certainly provides inspiration. And that's what you need when you're coming back from an injury like that, is the confidence in all the steps to keep going.”

Edwards averaged 28.8 points this season, third best in the NBA behind Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. He missed 21 games, by far the most of his career, mostly because of a right knee injury.

Out for Denver in Game 5 were starter Aaron Gordon (left calf) and fellow forward Peyton Watson (right hamstring), who's missed the entire series.

___

AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minneapolis contributed to this report.

___

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

On social media Monday night, Hegseth posted photos of himself and Kid Rock at the base. “Kid Rock is a patriot and huge supporter of our troops,” Hegseth wrote.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, said the flights supported a “community relations event” for a White House-led initiative, called Freedom 250, that is coordinating events for America’s 250th anniversary commemoration.

“Robert ‘Kid Rock’ Ritchie participated in multiple troop touches with service members and filmed videos for Memorial Day, America’s 250th birthday, and for his Freedom 250 tour,” Parnell said in a statement.

Army aviators in March flew the same type of helicopters near the home of the musician, who is an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. The helicopters also flew over a “No Kings” protest against the Trump administration in Nashville, prompting questions about flight safety and whether either maneuver was authorized.

The Army initially said it would investigate the March flights, which involved crews from the 101st Airborne Division at nearby Fort Campbell, and suspended the pilots involved. However, Hegseth quickly intervened and shut down the inquiry.

Army officials said at the time that the helicopters were on a training mission when they stopped by Kid Rock’s house and that their presence had nothing to do with the protest.

Kid Rock's jet left Nashville early Monday and landed at Fort Belvoir in Virginia at 6:30 a.m., according to open source flight data.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a U.S. Army AH-64 Apache took off, did a few loops over the base and landed about 10 minutes later, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a group of open source data analysts who track military flight activity across the world.

That same helicopter was part of a group of four Apaches, as well as two H-60 Blackhawk helicopters, that had arrived at the base Saturday from Fort Campbell, which sits on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.

Drop Site News was first to report Monday’s flights in Virginia.

An Army Apache helicopter costs about $7,000 per hour to fly, said an Army official who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details not authorized for public release.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office took to social media to criticize the flights, saying, “Why are taxpayers paying to fly Kid Rock around on $100 million helicopters?”

Newsom is a sharp critic of the Trump administration and is seen as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate.

Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a former Army Ranger, posted on social media, “Why is Pete Hegseth spending your taxpayer dollars to give Kid Rock ‘joy rides’ on Apache helicopters?”

When asked about the costs associated with public events like flying celebrities or military flyovers, military officials typically argue that they help fulfill regular training requirements for pilots and so do not represent an additional cost for taxpayers.

Hegseth also posted a photo of Kid Rock speaking to a small group of servicemembers in the Pentagon’s press briefing room.

According to publicly available flight data, Kid Rock's jet landed back in Nashville shortly after 3 p.m. Monday.

Apaches typically have a two-person crew who can both fly the helicopter, though one typically focuses on managing the weapons system. A passenger would replace one of the crew members, meaning that Hegseth and Kid Rock would not have flown in the same aircraft at the same time.

Prosecutors told the court the grand jury is expected to hand down a capital murder indictment against Gonzalo Leon Jr., a move that could significantly raise the stakes in the case.

OUR FIRST REPORT: Suspect detained after 11-year-old shot in back during ‘ding-dong ditch’ prank dies

Leon is accused of shooting and killing Julian Guzman last August. Investigators said the child was playing “ding-dong-ditch” outside Leon’s home when he was shot.

NEW: Today, a grand jury is expected to hand down a capital murder indictment for Gonzalo Leon. He's the man accused of shooting and killing 11-year-old Julian Guzman, who police said was playing ding dong ditch at Leon's house last August. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/1lc51AhChT

— Jaewon Jung (@jaewonnews) April 27, 2026

During a court appearance, a scheduled hearing to try to reduce Leon’s bond was put on hold because of the expected grand jury action.

“In the event that indictment does get handed down, any sort of bail proceedings or writs of habeas corpus will have to be readdressed in a different manner.,” defense attorney J. Julio Vela said.

Leon’s defense attorneys had filed a writ of habeas corpus, or a legal filing challenging a defendant’s incarceration, to reduce his bond.

They argue Leon’s bond is too high for the charge he is facing, and presented an exhibit showing 39% of bail amounts for murder in Harris County range between $125K - $250K.

Leon’s bond was set at $1 million.

• Young witness describes moment 11-year-old boy was fatally shot during ‘ding-dong-ditch’ prank in east Houston

The defense also used the case to highlight what they describe as inconsistencies in the county’s bail system.

“Sometimes we see bonds at a million dollars… sometimes as low as a hundred to two hundred thousand,” Vela said. “Are those bonds people can actually make, or are they just numbers?”

If the grand jury does not return a capital murder indictment, the writ hearing is expected to take place on Friday.

No decision was made on Monday. A decision is expected potentially on Wednesday.

• ‘Ding-dong ditch’ shooting suspect’s attorneys demand return of seized cellphone

What changes if the charge is upgraded

Right now, Leon is facing murder, a felony punishable by 5 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

If indicted for capital murder, the punishment range shifts dramatically:

• Life in prison without parole, or
• The death penalty, if pursued by prosecutors

“It’s literally life and death,” said attorney Gianpaolo Macerola. “The stakes get higher when you’re facing a capital indictment.”

Attorneys emphasized Leon is presumed innocent.

“At least now we can get some definitive understanding as to how the state is proceeding,” Macerola said.

Winfrey's production company, Harpo Entertainment, struck a multiyear deal to give Amazon-owned Wondery exclusive distributing and advertising rights to “The Oprah Podcast,” the companies announced Monday. Under the agreement, Winfrey's podcast will expand to two new episodes a week starting this summer — and Wondery will distribute the show's audio and video across Amazon platforms.

Under the deal, Amazon has also obtained rights to the library of the widely-watched “The Oprah Winfrey Show” — which ran from 1986 to 2011 — as well as the talk show host's book club and “Favorite Things” franchises.

No financial terms of the agreement were immediately shared. In recent years, Winfrey also has had partnerships with Apple and Starbucks. Her new agreement could anger independent booksellers who regard Amazon as their primary competitor. A spokesperson for the trade group the American Booksellers Association did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Harpo shared a statement with The Associated Press that “'Oprah’s Book Club' will continue to support books wherever they are sold.”

Winfrey's podcast joins a lineup of other celebrity-led shows now at Amazon. In 2024, for example, Wondery similarly reached an exclusive distribution and advertising deal for “New Heights” — a podcast from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and his brother, former Eagles center Jason Kelce.

Winfrey launched “The Oprah Podcast” in December 2024. In a prepared statement Monday, Winfrey said that hosting the show “allows me to continue the work I feel called to do – opening the door for conversations that matter.” She added that expanding its reach “is an opportunity I embrace.”

Wondery will begin distributing “The Oprah Podcast” across Amazon services like Prime Video, Amazon Music, Fire TV Channels and Audible in July, according to Monday's announcement. Winfrey's podcast will also continue to be available on YouTube and other popular platforms.

Although the rain helped the firefighting efforts, it wasn't “nearly enough to put the fires out" and crews responded to 10 new blazes throughout the drought-stricken state Sunday, the Georgia Forestry Commission said Monday.

Blackened trees and charred palmetto fronds lined the shoulders of U.S. 82 on Monday in Brantley County, where Georgia's second-largest blaze, the Highway 82 Fire, has been tearing through the forest. Smoke poured from the ground in several spots beside the highway — a sign that fire still smoldered beneath the dirt.

Residents like Anna Beaver, who had to evacuate her home in the small community of Atkinson, are doing what they can to help each other. Beaver has been spending her time accepting and sorting donated clothing at her church, Southside Baptist Church in Nahunta, a community of about 1,000 people that is the Brantley County seat. The church has been offering shelter, food, diapers and other supplies to people displaced by the fire.

“My heart hurts for everyone who has lost their homes, and I just want to help any way I can,” she said.

Danielle and David Grantham have been hunkering down at their home in the Atkinson area. They live in a neighborhood that was under an evacuation order Monday, so they wouldn't be allowed back in if they left, and have been accepting donations of pet food and other supplies from friends.

“We haven’t left just because we’re trying to help other people out,” Danielle Grantham said.

All across Brantley County on Monday, there was praise for the efforts of firefighters and other emergency responders.

In the small community of Waynesville, a charred cinderblock shed stood near a wood-sided home that appeared unscathed. The house has been vacant and is being sold. Larry Ferrell, a carpenter hired to perform maintenance and repairs on the home before the owner closes with a buyer, returned there to work Monday.

“The firefighters got in here and saved it,” Ferrell said.

Georgia's biggest blaze, the Pineland Road Fire, has scorched more than 50 square miles (130 square kilometers) and at least 35 homes in a sparsely populated and heavily wooded part of the state about 35 miles (56 kilometers) north of Florida, which is also dealing with wildfires. The area has been full of highly combustible dead trees and other vegetation since Hurricane Helene carved a destructive path northward in September of 2024.

About 60 miles (97 kilometers) to the northeast, the Highway 82 Fire has been burning since April 20. It has destroyed at least 87 homes and torched more than 35 square miles (90 square kilometers), according to figures released Monday. It is only 6% contained.

“The fire basically doubled last night in size,” Brantley County Manager Joey Cason said in a Facebook post Sunday. “It is a dynamic fire event that will be impacted by the wind.”

Authorities believe the Highway 82 blaze was sparked by a foil balloon hitting live power lines. That created an electrical arc that ignited combustible material on the ground. They think the Pineland Road fire was started by sparks from a welding operation.

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock was in the area of the Highway 82 fire pm Monday. He said he assured residents that he's pushing to get federal resources “both to contain this fire and then to respond to the devastation that communities will continue to experience over the next few weeks."

Warnock said he's working closely with the governor's office on getting disaster relief funds. Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to survey damage from the Pineland Road Fire on Tuesday.

An unusually large number of wildfires are burning this spring across the Southeast. Firefighters have been battling more than 150 other wildfires in Georgia and Florida alone. Scientists say the threat of fire has been amplified by a combination of extreme drought, gusty winds, climate change and dead trees and other vegetation.

No fire deaths or injuries have been reported in Georgia. But in northern Florida, Nassau County Sheriff’s Office volunteer firefighter James “Kevin” Crews died Thursday evening after he suffered an unspecified medical emergency while suppressing a brush fire.

Florida's blazes are smaller than Georgia’s two biggest, but the 139 Fire has burned 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) of the Apalachicola National Forest in Liberty County, southwest of Tallahassee, since March 17. No structures have been lost in that fire, and no serious injuries have been reported, federal authorities said.

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Martin reported from Atlanta.

The new districts, which could net Democrats four additional seats, won narrow voter approval last week. But a Republican legal challenge contends the General Assembly violated procedural rules by placing the constitutional amendment before voters to authorize the mid-decade redistricting. If the court agrees that lawmakers broke the rules, it could invalidate the amendment and render last week's statewide vote meaningless.

The Virginia court proceedings mark the latest twist in a national redistricting battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an advantage in a November midterm election that will determine whether Republicans maintain their narrow majority in the U.S. House.

President Donald Trump kicked off a tit-for-tat round of gerrymandering last summer when he urged Texas Republicans to redraw districts to their favor in an attempt to win several additional House seats. That set off a chain reaction of similar moves in other states, leading to the voter approval last week of Virginia's new map.

Next up is Florida, where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed a congressional redistricting plan that could essentially cancel out Virginia's changes by giving Republicans an improved chance of winning additional seats. The redistricting is on the agenda for a special session of the GOP-controlled Legislature beginning Tuesday.

Virginia arguments focus on what counts as an 'election'

During Monday's arguments, the Virginia Supreme Court focused on whether the new congressional districts should be invalidated because of the process used by lawmakers. The justices issued no immediate ruling.

Because the state’s redistricting commission was established by a voter-approved constitutional amendment, lawmakers had to propose an amendment to redraw the districts. That required approval of a resolution in two separate legislative sessions, with a state election sandwiched in between, to place the amendment on the ballot.

The legislature's first vote occurred last October — while early voting was underway but before it concluded on the day of the general election. Judicial questioning focused on whether that was too late, because early voting already had begun.

Attorney Matthew Seligman, who defended the legislature, argued that the “election” should be defined narrowly to mean the Tuesday of the general election. In that case, the legislature's first vote on the redistricting amendment occurred before the election and was constitutional, he told judges.

But an attorney arguing for the plaintiffs, Thomas McCarthy, said “election” means the entire period during which people can cast ballots, which lasts several weeks in Virginia. If that's the case, then the legislature's initial endorsement of the redistricting amendment came too late to comply with the state constitution, he said.

Attorneys argue over the rights of voters

The purpose of Virginia's two-step amendment process, with an intervening election, is so voters can know whether legislative candidates support or oppose a proposed constitutional amendment, McCarthy said.

He pointed to the case of Democratic voter Camilla Simon, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit alongside Republican state lawmakers, who cast an early vote last fall for Democratic Del. Rodney Willett. After she voted, Willett sponsored the Democratic redistricting amendment, and Simon wished she could have undone her vote, McCarthy said.

“None of these voters had any idea this was coming, and that’s not how this process is supposed to work,” McCarthy told the justices.

Those defending the Democratic redistricting plan also contend that the voters' will should be respected.

The people voted to ratify the constitutional amendment, “and the challengers are asking to overturn that democratic result,” Seligman told reporters after the arguments.

Nationwide redistricting battle has no clear winner so far

So far, the two major parties have battled to a near draw in the states that have redrawn their congressional maps for this year's midterms.

Republicans think they could win up to nine more seats under revised districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. Democrats think they could win as many as 10 additional seats under new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But legal challenges remain in both Virginia and Missouri.

Virginia currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Democrats and five Republicans who were elected from districts imposed by a court after a bipartisan redistricting commission failed to agree on a map after the 2020 census. The new districts, which won voter approval last Tuesday, could give Democrats an improved chance to win 10 districts.

Some candidates already have begun campaigning based on the new districts in advance of the state's Aug. 4 primary election.

More court battles could remain in Virginia

In January, a judge in rural Tazewell County, in southwestern Virginia, ruled that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session last fall. Circuit Judge Jack Hurley Jr. also ruled that lawmakers failed to initially approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year’s general election and that the state had failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law. As a result, he said, the amendment is invalid and void.

The Virginia Supreme Court placed Hurley's order on hold and allowed the redistricting vote to proceed before hearing arguments on the case.

During Monday's arguments, justices also raised questions about the ability of lawmakers to expand the agenda for their special session and whether the three-month public notice requirement was important enough to thwart a voter-approved amendment.

Republicans have filed at least two additional legal challenges, which also are winding their way through the courts.

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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri. Associated Press writers Allen G. Breed in Richmond and Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.

Cole Tomas Allen appeared in court to face federal charges after the chaotic encounter Saturday that resulted in shots being fired, Trump being hurried off the stage unharmed and guests ducking for cover underneath their tables. He was ordered to remain jailed pending additional court hearings, and faces up to life in prison if convicted of the assassination count alone.

An FBI affidavit filed in the case Monday revealed additional details about the planning behind the assault, with authorities alleging that Allen on April 6 reserved a room for himself at the Washington hotel where the event would be held weeks later under its typical tight security. He traveled by train cross-country from California last week, checking himself into the Washington Hilton one day before the dinner with a room reserved for the weekend.

The dinner had barely begun when officials say the 31-year-old Torrance, California, man tried to race past a security barricade near the cavernous ballroom holding hundreds of journalists and their guests, prompting an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service agents tasked with safeguarding the event. Allen carried with him a 12-gauge pump action shotgun he bought last year and a .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol he purchased in 2023, authorities said.

“Violence has no place in civic life," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said at a news conference. "It cannot and will not be used to disrupt democratic institutions or intimidate those who serve them, and it certainly cannot continue to be used against the president of the United States.”

He added: “We are investigating this matter fully, we will apply the law fairly and we will ensure that accountability is swift and certain."

Allen was injured during the attack but was not shot. A Secret Service officer was shot but was wearing a bullet-resistant vest and survived, officials say.

Questions remain about how many shots Allen fired and how many officers discharged their weapons.

Blanche said investigators believe that a Secret Service agent fired five shots and that Allen discharged his shotgun at least once. But Blanche didn’t say whether authorities have confirmed it was Allen’s bullet that struck the agent in the vest, or whether any other officers used their weapons. Blanche said ballistics experts are still examining evidence to provide more clarity on those questions.

The Justice Department charged Allen with two additional firearms counts, including discharging a weapon during a crime of violence, but the affidavit does not allege that Allen was responsible for shooting the agent.

Suspect's email sheds light on motive

The shooting resulted in the cancellation of the dinner, the first Trump had attended as president.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday said the night was supposed to be one of joy but instead was “hijacked by a crazed anti-Trump individual who traveled across the country to assassinate the president and as many administration officials as possible.”

Allen invoked his constitutional right to remain silent after his arrest, but authorities say an email he sent to family members and a former employer just before the attack helps shed light on a motive.

In the message, a copy of which was included in the affidavit, Allen referred to himself as a “Friendly Federal Assassin" and alluded obliquely to grievances over a range of Trump administration actions. The rambling text moves between confession, grievance and farewell, with Allen apologizing to family members, co-workers and even strangers he feared could be caught in the violence while at the same time seeking to explain the attack.

A magistrate judge granted a prosecutor's request to keep Allen locked up pending additional hearings. A detention hearing is set for Thursday.

Allen did not speak at length during the quick appearance, as is customary. One of his lawyers, Tezira Abe, noted that he has no criminal record.

“He also is presumed innocent at this time," she said.

Records reveal that Allen is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer. A social media profile for a man with the same name and a photo that appears to match that of the suspect show he worked part-time for the last six years at a company that offers admissions counseling and test preparation services to aspiring college students.

Voter registration records from California lists Allen’s home address as his parent’s house on a tree-lined street in one of the most historic neighborhoods in Torrance, a city within the Los Angeles metro area. No one answered the door Sunday when an Associated Press reporter knocked. By the afternoon, several people who appeared to be law enforcement agents were canvassing the neighborhood, with one wearing an FBI sweatshirt.

A yard sign displayed at the family home supported a local candidate for judge who was endorsed by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. Federal campaign finance records show Cole Allen contributed $25 to a Democratic Party political action committee in support of Kamala Harris for president in 2024 and listed his employer as C2 Education, which said in a statement Monday that it was shocked to learn of the shooting and was cooperating with law enforcement.

Allen is registered to vote without a party affiliation in California and voted in the last three general elections, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in 2017 in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, according to his profile on the social networking site LinkedIn. The small university is academically prestigious with a very low acceptance rate. He also listed his involvement there in a campus group that battled with Nerf guns and a Christian student fellowship.

Allen’s profile photo on LinkedIn shows him wearing a cap and gown when graduating with a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills. The photo appears to have been taken May 2025.

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Associated Press writers Gary Fields and Collin Binkley in Washington, Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles and Amy Taxin in Torrance, California contributed to this report.

Lawmakers at the Capitol hearing sat attentive Monday as Garrett methodically offered one of the most detailed accounts to date of the horrors of July 4 at the camp. Family members of campers and counselors who died, wearing now-familiar buttons showing their faces, passed tissues in the audience. Members of the Eastland family that ran the camp also looked on.

In some Camp Mystic cabins, Garrett told a joint hearing of House and Senate flood investigative committees, counselors rushed girls to the recreation hall, which had a second-floor balcony. 

In other cabins, counselors passed girls through windows, piggy-backing the kids through the water to the safety of a nearby hill as lightning cut through the darkness and rain fell in sheets. 

In still another cabin, a night security guard and a counselor pushed heavy trunks of girls’ belongings out a window even as they tried to keep girls from getting swept away. The water’s path kept changing. Flashing vehicle hazard lights lit the space that, unlike other cabins filling with water, had a vaulted ceiling, giving campers room to breathe.

“It’s madness,” Garrett told legislators. “It’s mayhem.”

Camp Mystic hadn’t prepared counselors and staff with adequate emergency training, an evacuation plan or emergency preparedness supplies such as life jackets or ladders, Garrett said. Counselors performed “heroic actions,” she said — but did not execute a safe evacuation plan because there was none. 

As a result, Garrett concluded, neither grown adults nor college-age counselors had the preparation or organization to take advantage of the time they had to get girls out of cabins safely after the National Weather Service pushed out the first flood warning. 

The investigator offered some new details on what happened that morning, on top of extensive testimony that’s already been shared in an Austin courtroom and lawsuits, and Garrett’s even-handed, concise presentation packed a punch as she reviewed beat-by-beat the flood that killed 25 campers, two counselors and the camp’s executive director. 

In the harried evacuation, campers got temporarily separated on the hillside from counselors, Garrett said. At least one lost hold of a counselor’s hand and got swept away. One girl circled back for her sheet and was taken by the water. 

“I saw her,” said Garrett, quoting a camper. “And then I didn’t.”

“The fate of those girls was set before any first drop of rain ever fell,” said Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. 

“There was no system”

The night of July 3 felt normal at Camp Mystic, Garrett said, describing a rustic site with a culture rooted in obedience and in legacy. There, Garrett said, girls learned to follow rules. Women from the same families attended generation after generation. Moms put daughters on a waiting list at birth. 

Dick Eastland reigned as commander of the camp, Garrett explained — a man people knew not to cross, a man who ran the show. Counselors explained that they felt they would get in trouble with Eastland if they took girls into the lightning or ran to the camp office in the pouring rain, Garrett said. 

Counselors on July 3 performed skits. With a flood watch in place, camp staff could have moved the campers to a safer portion of the property for a slumber party, Garrett proposed. But they didn’t. Taps played on the loudspeakers.

Eastland — who Garrett said well knew the threat that flash floods could bring — monitored the weather. 

The hours proceeded. About 30 minutes after the weather service warned of life-threatening flash flooding, Eastland radioed a son about the heavy rainfall — 2 inches in an hour — saying they needed to move equipment from the waterfront, a common first step if it was flooding. 

Counselors in their pajamas ran in the dark and in the rain to ask for help because water had begun pouring into some cabins.

“Now things are starting to ramp up a little bit,” Garrett recounted.

Eastland acted as if he were waiting for the right moment to push a big red emergency button but waited too long, in Garrett’s opinion.(Legislators in a special session passed measures last year after the flood to implement new safety rules for youth camps — including taking action to evacuate flood-prone camps as soon as a flash flood warning is issued.)

Not until 3 a.m did Eastland radio to evacuate a cabin the counselors had told him about. But he and his son, Edward, didn’t round up all available adults on that side of camp — which included groundskeepers, nurses and another of Eastland’s sons who appeared not to know what was happening, Garrett noted. The investigator and her team found no evidence of staff trying to use the same speaker system that had played Taps. 

Three adults instead worked piecemeal, moving girls out of a few cabins at a time. In doing so, they missed a critical opportunity to direct girls to walk a short distance to safety. Some buildings had second stories, including the recreation hall, which ended up filled with 95 campers who had to go to the bathroom out the window, and water rising so high counselors started brainstorming what to do if they had to get out. 

“There was no system,” Garrett emphasized. 

Some of the camp’s youngest and neediest campers remained in their cabins, supervised by first-time counselors. Importantly, many cabins only had two counselors instead of the historically typical three, Garrett said.

Eastland radioed directions to evacuate those youngest girls from three cabins, including Bubble Inn, according to Garrett’s timeline.

“This loss of life was preventable”

Garrett displayed photos of the Bubble Inn campers. Each died in the Guadalupe River, she said, but what exactly happened remains a mystery. No one survived to be interviewed among the more than 140 people Garrett spoke with in recent months to prepare her testimony.

At least some of the girls wound up in Dick Eastland’s vehicle. 

“I have Bubble Inn cabin in my car,” Eastland radioed. “I’m stuck against a tree. I need help.” 

Edward, his son, replied: “Dad, I’m sorry. I can’t get to you.”

Eastland’s body was later found in his vehicle, along with the bodies of some of the girls.

Edward Eastland, meanwhile, couldn’t get the door to another cabin open and was desperately trying to find a way in from an attached cabin, giving directions to a trapped counselor through a vent. At some point, the outer door opened and the counselor started passing girls outside, ducking their heads under water to get them out.

One of the girls was found 6.5 miles down river — covered in ant bites but alive. Neighbors found two more surviving girls in a debris pile a mile away. 

And still more girls from those cabins lived by clinging to a tree — which would collapse later that day as the last of them was rescued from it, Garrett said. Another survived by gripping a limestone column on a cabin, holding with her arms and legs like a monkey and even her chin, which she dug into the stone.

“This tragedy could have been prevented,” Sen. Pete Flores, a Republican from Pleasanton and chair of the Senate investigating committee, said in his opening remarks. 

Garrett said the scope of her investigation was limited to events at Camp Mystic, though the flood killed more than 100 people when heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to surge through homes, RV parks and youth camps in the middle of the night. 

She urged lawmakers to take action and not let her work languish in a report.

Camp Mystic is planning to welcome campers back this summer to a portion of its property that is separate from where the girls died. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, though, has repeatedly called on the state to deny the camp’s operating license. He reiterated that call in a social media post after the hearing on Monday, pointing to the testimony as evidence justifying withholding the camp’s license.

“No one wants to close Camp Mystic forever,” Patrick said. “Once you see and hear the evidence, I think you will clearly understand why I, along with the Heaven’s 27 families who lost their children, have called on DSHS to not renew Camp Mystic’s operators’ license until all investigations are complete later this year and Camp Mystic and its operators are determined to be fit to protect and care for children in their custody.”

The camp also faces multiple lawsuits from families and is being investigated by the state agency that licenses them and the Texas Rangers. 

“This loss of life was preventable, and it is, it’s, I don’t know how to process that,” said Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso. 

Moody went on: “I can’t even imagine how these families wake up every day.” 

“It’s impossible to understand,” Garrett said. 

A new bill introduced by Republican senators would authorize $400 million — roughly the cost of the project — for construction and security infrastructure underneath. Trump has said that private money would pay for the ballroom, but Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the sponsors, said Monday that he believes those private dollars should only pay for “buying china and stuff like that.”

Graham said at a news conference that some people may think the ballroom was Trump’s “vanity project,” but said it is necessary to allow the president to hold events safely and avoid much less secure venues like the Washington Hilton, where Saturday’s event was held. The man who authorities say tried to storm the dinner with guns and knives had reserved a room in the hotel, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.

“It would be insane” to hold the dinner there again, Graham said, adding that he would advise any president not to do it, even as Trump has said he would like the dinner to be rescheduled.

Cole Tomas Allen appeared in court Monday to face federal charges of attempting to assassinate Trump after the encounter Saturday in which shots were fired outside the ballroom. The president was evacuated off the stage as thousands of guests dived under tables and ducked for cover.

Other lawmakers said they would push their own measures to approve the ballroom, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., and Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Tim Sheehy of Montana.

“It is an embarrassment to the strongest nation on earth that we cannot host gatherings in our nation’s capital, including ones attended by our president, without the threat of violence and attempted assassinations,” Sheehy posted on X.

It is unclear, though, whether the effort could get enough support. Democrats have opposed the ballroom’s construction since Trump demolished part of the White House to make way for it without permission from Congress, and as it has faced lawsuits. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters that the president should be focused on ending the war with Iran, healthcare and other measures to drive down living costs.

“These are the things that we should actually be focused on," Jeffries said.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that Trump wants to seclude himself in a “walled palace, literally.”

He said Republicans should instead pass a spending bill that includes money for the U.S. Secret Service, which is part of the Homeland Security Department and has been shut down for more than two months. The House has yet to act on two spending bills for the department that were approved by the Senate.

“If Republicans truly want to improve security, they should join Democrats in funding the Secret Service, not Donald Trump’s luxury ballroom,” Schumer said.

Republicans also used the incident to call for the Homeland Security funding, blaming Democrats who have blocked money for immigration enforcement agencies since mid-February.

The chaos at the annual dinner came after Trump has faced two attempts on his life and as members of Congress in both parties have received an increasing number of death threats in recent years.

Graham said the times are unusual.

“I’ve been up here a while now, and I’ve never felt the sense of threat that exists today,” he said.

Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, who sponsored the legislation with Graham, said the bill is not just about Trump.

“This will not be done until the end of his term,” she said. “This is about future presidents. This is about our nation having a place to gather.”

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Associated Press writer Stephen Groves contributed to this report.

Such is the promise sung by the artist known as Melanie C, or Mel C and Sporty Spice of the game-changing ‘90s girl group Spice Girls, in the lead single from her ninth album of the same name. Atop a sample of Diana Ross’ “Work That Body” and sleek house-pop production, it is equal parts club banger and workout anthem, something for the DJ booth and a runner's playlist.

Surprised? Don't be. Eight or so years ago, Melanie C began deejaying, reinvigorating her love of rave and dance music — early loves that predate her girl group days. “Deejaying is so much fun, and it’s brought so much joy into my life that it made it really important that this album, as an artist, was a lot closer to what I love to play as a DJ,” she told The Associated Press.

It might come as a surprise to some of her fans, but the truth is, this musical world has always held a special place in her heart. “Before I was part of the Spice Girls, I discovered rave culture,” she explains. “I was 19. I went into this nightclub. I was on holiday with some friends. I heard this music. I saw people dancing. It was like this utopia I’d never experienced.”

Then superstar fame happened, which makes “Sweat” an unusual release for her in at least one very specific way: “I feel like I brought some of my life pre-Spice Girls into this album,” she said. “Which is something I haven’t really done before.”

Dance floor therapy

Melanie C was hard at work on “Sweat” for two and a half years, writing and recording across London, Stockholm and Los Angeles, a period that proved to be uniquely transformative. “My life had twists and turns. You know? I had a long-term relationship that ended. I had a management change. I’m back with Virgin Records,” she lists. “I’m in a new relationship. So, there’s been difficult moments within it and there’s been great times. And all of that is reflected in the album.”

Appropriately, catharsis appears to be a major theme. Like on the song “Attitude” — with its sample of Inner Life's ’80s disco classic, “Moment Of My Life” — where she cheers, “Every night’s a Friday!”

Or, even more directly, the song “Pressure.”

“Under the pressure,” she sings on the explosive electronic track, before offering a one-word solution: “Release.”

“We’re under such incredible pressure and I think we put ourselves under it, too. And that’s why I’ve loved bringing in this joy of, you know, the club,” she said. “For me, as a human, that is the release.”

There has long been a connection between dance music, joy and resiliency — particularly in queer club culture. Melanie C says honoring her LGBTQ+ audience has always been key to her work.

“It’s a community that’s been important to myself and the Spice Girls for such a long time,” she said. “It's always going to be a big part of the music that I make.”

From Sporty Spice to Melanie C

If “Sweat” is an album about the freedom of a dance floor, it's a destination Melanie C has worked hard to arrive at— particularly considering her life now, three decades removed from the Spice Girls' heyday. For many, she is still Sporty Spice. And she understands that.

“I’m not Sporty Spice or Melanie C; I’m both of those things. And not just some of the time, but all of the time,” she said. “I think it’s really important to acknowledge that,” to embrace her legacy and build a new one.

“I want to make people feel good,” she says of this new musical era. “I want to empower them. I want to motivate people.”

But she also hopes they use “Sweat” as a break, an escape, some downtime.

“Recovery is a really important part of working out,” she laughs.

Spoken like Sporty Spice — and Melanie C.

What should have been a safe trip instead became what authorities describe as an opportunity for a predator—highlighting risks experts say can affect any family.

• RELATED: Montgomery County Uber driver arrested, accused of soliciting teenage boys he met during rides

Investigators say 28-year-old Josiah Carroll used his role as a driver to connect with teenage boys across Montgomery County. In one case, authorities say he persuaded a teen to exchange phone numbers before sending sexually explicit messages. In another, a 13-year-old reported being lured to a parking lot.

Officials say the interactions began through Uber’s teen account feature, but experts stress that built-in safeguards don’t eliminate risk—especially if communication moves off the platform.

Key safety rules for families

Experts say prevention starts with a few clear guidelines:

• Keep all communication inside the ride-share app
• Never share personal phone numbers with drivers
• Be alert to red flags, especially requests to continue conversations outside the app

They warn that grooming behavior often begins with friendly conversation before escalating quickly.

Use trip tracking and stay connected

Safety tools can help parents monitor rides in real time. Features like trip tracking allow trusted contacts to follow along during a ride, providing visibility from pickup to drop-off.

Experts also recommend regular check-ins during trips so parents know what’s happening as it unfolds—not just after the ride ends.

Ongoing conversations are critical

Child safety advocates emphasize that one conversation isn’t enough. Families should talk regularly about boundaries, body autonomy, and trusting instincts.

Kerry McCracken, executive director of the The Children’s Assessment Center, says kids need to feel empowered to act in uncomfortable situations—even if they’re alone in a car with an adult.

They should know they can call a parent at any time, speak up if something feels wrong, and refuse unwanted interaction.

The bottom line

Investigators believe there could be more victims in this case. Experts say the more families talk openly about these risks, the more likely kids are to recognize warning signs early.

Uber says the driver involved no longer has access to the platform.

U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer. The existing ceasefire keeps the U.S. and Iran in a fragile standoff over the strait.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Russia Monday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of a trip that included two stops in Pakistan, where leaders are scrambling to reignite stalled talks between Tehran and Washington.

Airlines worldwide have begun canceling flights as the war in the Middle East strains jet fuel supplies and pushes up oil prices. Here’s what to know if your flight is canceled.

Here is the latest:

Rubio says preventing Iran from a nuclear weapon ‘remains the core issue’

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked in a Fox News interview about Iran’s latest proposal, which would postpone discussions on its nuclear program but end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade and ends the war.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future if this radical clerical regime remains in charge in Iran, they will decide they want a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.

“That fundamental issue still has to be confronted,” he said. “That still remains the core issue here.”

Asked whether he thinks the Iranians are serious about making a deal, Rubio said they’re skilled negotiators looking to buy time.

“We can’t let them get away with it,” Rubio said. “We have to ensure that any deal that is made, any agreement that is made, is one that definitively prevents them from sprinting towards a nuclear weapon at any point.”

Bessent says doing business with Iranian airlines risks exposure to sanctions

After Iran recently resumed commercial flights, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that nations should not provide jet fuel, catering, landing fees or maintenance to Iranian commercial jets, otherwise Treasury “will not hesitate to act against any third parties that facilitate or conduct business with Iranian entities.”

“Iran’s creaking oil industry is starting to shut in production thanks to the U.S. BLOCKADE,” Bessent said. “Pumping will soon collapse. GASOLINE SHORTAGES NEXT!”

Netanyahu says Hezbollah is down to about 10% of its arsenal

Meeting with army commanders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hezbollah’s ability to fire into Israel has been sharply degraded, estimating the group retains about 10% of its arsenal. He did not clarify whether that figure refers to the Lebanese militant group’s stockpile from before the current war, or since the Gaza war began back in 2023.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is believed to still have tens of thousands of rockets, missiles and drones despite decades of efforts by Israel, U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanon’s government to disarm it. Despite Israeli pressure, it’s unclear whether Lebanese authorities have the capacity or political will to disarm Hezbollah.

Netanyahu said Israeli forces’ occupation of parts of southern Lebanon — which he described as a “security zone” — has made northern Israel safer. He said deals brokered with the U.S. and Lebanon gave Israel a “freedom of action” to counter threats inside that country. Beirut has not acknowledged any such right, and Hezbollah says it will keep firing as long as Israel does.

Trump national security team met and discussed Iranian proposal on Strait of Hormuz

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s national security team met Monday and was discussing Iran’s proposal on reopening the key waterway. But she offered no detail on what came of the discussion and how the proposal was being received. She instead said that Trump would address it later.

Israel cancels major holiday gatherings over fears of a Hezbollah attack

Typically, around 100,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews would gather next week on Mount Meron in northern Israel to celebrate the Lag BaOmer holiday.

However, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the large festival will replaced with a smaller symbolic ceremony, citing concerns about the gathering being attacked by Hezbollah. Similar restrictions were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and previous wars.

Mount Meron is only about 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the border with Lebanon. People normally light bonfires, dance and have large meals there in honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd-century sage and mystic who is believed to be buried on the mountain.

Across Israel, even in secular areas, people often celebrate Lag BaOmer with barbecues and bonfires in parks and forests.

US and Iranian officials clash during a UN nuclear weapons conference

Officials from the United States and Iran clashed over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions at the opening of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review, a dispute almost certain to continue during the four-week meeting.

At issue was the election of Iran as one of 34 vice-presidents of the conference. Iran was a candidate of the Nonaligned Movement, comprising 121 mainly developing countries.

The United States was backed by Australia and the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, France and Germany also expressed “concern.” Russia objected to singling out Iran.

The U.S. representative, whose name was not immediately available, said the Trump administration was “deeply shocked” that a country that has demonstrated “contempt” for the treaty is now a vice-president.

Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Vienna, Reza Najafi, categorically rejected the U.S. statement, calling the allegations “baseless and politically motivated.”

Iran’s top diplomat says the US wants to negotiate because it failed to achieve its war aims

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a Russian state TV reporter on Monday that despite the U.S. being a superpower, its leaders “have achieved none of their goals” in the war against his country.

“That’s why they ask for negotiation,” Iran’s top diplomat said. “We are now considering it.”

Araghchi was in St. Petersburg on Monday, meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials.

Asked by another reporter about Russia’s support, the minister said only that “Iran and Russia are strategic partners,” and that the two counties “have always supported” each other. “Our cooperation would continue,” Araghchi said.

French FM says international waterways are ‘not for sale’ while blaming the US, Israel and Iran for Hormuz crisis

At a U.N. Security Council meeting on maritime security, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the energy and humanitarian crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz began after “operations launched by the United States and Israel without a clearly set of goal, which were conducted in a manner that flouts international law.”

But Barrot added that Iran now holds responsibility for what it is doing with the critical waterway.

“Straits are the arteries of the world. They are not the property of any individual. They are not for sale, therefore, they cannot be impeded by any obstacles, tolls, nor bribery, neither by Iran, nor by any other party, and under no pretext,” he said.

UN officials and dozens of countries call for immediate action in releasing Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz

In a joint statement led by Bahrain, dozens of countries reiterated their weekslong “call for the urgent and unimpeded opening” of the critical waterway as negotiations between the U.S. and Iran remain stalled.

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary-general, told the Security Council on Monday that given the impasse in the negotiations, the world body should support an emergency framework in the meantime put forth by the International Maritime Organization.

The U.N. chief warned about the consequences of waiting to address the “worst supply chain disruption since COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine.”

“These pressures are cascading into empty fuel tanks, empty shelves — and empty plates,” he told the 15-member council. “The humanitarian toll is mounting.”

UK doesn’t support US blockade of Iranian ports, deputy minister says

Stephen Doughty, minister of state for Europe and North America, said that while the U.K. doesn’t support the U.S. blockade, it supports working with the United States and others to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — where he said the Iran is holding “the rest of the world to ransom.”

Maritime traffic must flow safely and unimpeded through the strait, he said, “and that includes no tolls, no security risk and, of course, adherence to the international laws on freedom of navigation.”

Diplomacy is crucial, Doughty told a small group of U.N. reporters ahead of a Security Council meeting Monday on the safety of navigation in the critical waterway, through which around 20% of the world’s crude oil normally passes.

He said de-escalation and a ceasefire are also crucial, stressing that Iran can’t be allowed to block the strait, attack its Gulf neighbors and civilian infrastructure, and develop nuclear weapons.

Rubio says a purported Iranian offer on the Strait of Hormuz is not acceptable

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a purported offer from Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz under strict conditions is not acceptable to the United States or others.

Speaking in a Monday interview with Fox News, Rubio said Iran has a different view of the strategic waterway than most of the rest of the world.

“What they mean by opening the straits is, yes, the straits are open, as long as you coordinate with Iran, get our permission, or we’ll blow you up and you pay us,” Rubio said.

“That’s not opening the straits. Those are international waterways. They cannot normalize, nor can we tolerate them trying to normalize, a system in which the Iranians decide who gets to use

Lebanon’s Health Ministry raises death toll there to 2,521

The ministry added Monday that 7,804 people were wounded since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war started March 2.

Despite a ceasefire that’s been in place since April 17, there have been repeated violations by both sides.

Merz says the American nation ‘is being humiliated’ by the Iranian leadership

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday criticized the U.S. for going into the Iran war without any strategy, saying this also makes it harder to end the conflict.

“The problem with conflicts like these is always the same: it’s not just about getting in; you also have to get out. We saw that all too painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq,” the chancellor said while speaking Monday to students in Marsberg in the Sauerland region of Germany.

The lack of U.S. strategy and the fact that the Iranians are stronger than previously thought made it hard to end the conflict now, he said.

“Especially since the Iranians are negotiating very skillfully — or rather, very skillfully not negotiating,” he added. “And then letting the Americans travel to Islamabad, only to send them back without any results. An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards.”

Germany, he said, maintains its offer to send minesweepers in order to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but only after the fighting is over.

Pakistan clears transit of third-country goods to Iran

Pakistan has cleared the way for Iran to import goods from third countries through its territory by opening new transit routes.

According to a government notification issued Saturday, six routes have been designated linking ports including Karachi, Port Qasim and Gwadar with key border crossings in southwestern Balochistan province.

The notification was issued during a visit to Islamabad by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who met Pakistani officials for talks amid tensions between the United States and Iran.

The order took immediate effect.

Analysts said Monday the new policy allows cargo bound for Iran to move across Pakistan swiftly without facing delays due to bureaucratic hurdles. They said it could also help Pakistan strengthen its role as a regional transit route and improve connectivity with Iran and beyond the region in future.

Iran turns to the Caspian Sea for food with Persian Gulf routes choked by the US blockade

With the United States trying to squeeze Iran by blockading goods from entering or exiting its ports, food suppliers are rerouting imports via the Caspian Sea to ensure food keeps getting into the country.

The head of the Association of Iran’s Food Industries said Monday that alternative import routes are being “incorporated into the supply chain for essential goods.”

“At present, there is no problem with the country’s food security, but maintaining this situation requires careful planning,” Mohammad Reza Mortazavi said, according to the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

The Caspian is the world’s largest inland body of water and its southern coastline stretches more than 430 miles (700 kilometers) in northern Iran. Iran is a net importer of food staples like grain and cooking oil.

US stocks are mixed as their record-breaking rally slows, while oil prices rise

The U.S. stock market’s record-breaking rally is slowing Monday after uncertainty rose over the weekend about what will happen next in the Iran war, while oil prices are rising.

The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1%, coming off its latest all-time high driven by strong profit reports from U.S. companies and hopes that the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the economy because of their war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 86 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq was 0.3% lower after setting its own record.

The moves were stronger in the oil market, where prices climbed more than 1.5% as tankers still find the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed. That’s keeping crude stuck in the Middle East and away from customers worldwide, including crude produced by Iran that’s being blockaded by the U.S. Navy.

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Israeli military videos show weapons discovered and homes leveled as fighting in Lebanon grinds on

It released videos Monday showing troops operating in Lebanon, including coordinated explosions in unnamed villages, toppling homes it said were infrastructure used by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Footage also showed a brigade discovering a cache of rifles and missile launchers stashed in a children’s room, which it said were hidden beneath toys, beds and elsewhere in kids’ rooms.

Despite a ceasefire nominally in place in Lebanon, both Israel and Hezbollah continue to strike each other, while Israeli forces occupy a buffer zone in Lebanon and have been demolishing neighborhoods in towns and villages in that area.

The military says it destroys buildings that were used as outposts by the Iran-backed militant group, but the wide scale of destruction has Lebanese officials and residents increasingly worried that displaced people will have nowhere to return.

Bahrain strips 69 people of citizenship

The island kingdom’s interior ministry said it revoked citizenship rights “of those who expressed sympathy and praise for Iran’s hostile and criminal acts.” It noted the move also applied to the families of individuals accused.

Bahrain is among several countries in the region that tightly controlled information about Iranian strikes during the war, arresting residents and foreigners who filmed them. The Sunni-ruled monarchy, like Iran, has a majority Shiite population and saw pro-Iran demonstrations early in the conflict. Authorities arrested protesters and those who filmed demonstrations en masse, charging dozens with misusing social media, inciting hatred or treason, an offense that can carry the death penalty.

The country is also one of several in the Gulf with laws allowing courts to strip citizenship from people convicted of certain crimes, potentially rendering them stateless. Such measures in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have drawn criticism from rights groups, which say the laws are tools of repression, used to squash and punish dissent.

For ships stuck in the Gulf, crew changes are difficult

Fleet Management Limited usually communicates multiple times a day with dozens of stranded ships that are staffed by more than 400 seafarers, its CEO Capt. Rajalingam Subramaniam said.

Stock checks are regularly maintained for food supply, and pickups have been arranged to ensure availability by moving vessels to the nearest points where they can pick up fresh and dry provisions, he said.

Some crew changes were still happening, but in limited numbers. “Who wants to go on the ship?” Subramaniam said. “The inbound crew has the right to refuse and we respect (that).”

Most of the stranded mariners have been in the Gulf since the war began. “(For) mariners who did not sign up to be in warlike area, they also (need) to be respected so that they do not become the unintended collateral,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

The meeting happened Monday in Saint Petersburg, Russian state news agency Tass said.

Putin praised the Iranian people as bravely fighting for their sovereignty and said Russia would do everything possible in the interest of Iran and other countries in the region to bring peace to the Middle East, Tass reported.

Tired and worried, seafarers have been stranded in the Persian Gulf for weeks

Around 20,000 seafarers on hundreds of vessels, including oil and gas tankers and cargo ships, have been stuck in the Gulf, unable to cross the Strait of Hormuz. Normally about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transits the waterway.

Roughly 80 vessels passed through the strait in the week of April 13-19, according to the maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence, compared to approximately 130 or more transits per day before the war. Dozens of ships have come under attack since the war started, and the U.N. says at least 10 seafarers were killed.

Even as U.S. President Donald Trump last week extended the ceasefire indefinitely, the U.S. kept the blockade of Iranian ports. In response, Iran fired on ships in the strait and seized two.

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Israel and Iran spent less on defense in 2025 than 2024, tracker says

Military spending in the Middle East plateaued in 2025, even as it climbed in other parts of the world, according to a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The think tank, which goes by the acronym SIPRI, said regionwide spending increased 0.1% but actually fell in both Israel and Iran.

Israel’s military spending fell 4.9% to $48.3 billion, reflecting a less intense year of fighting than in 2024 after it entered ceasefires in Lebanon in November 2024 and in Gaza in October 2025. Even as large-scale combat subsided, Israel continued carrying out lethal strikes and maintained a ground presence in both. Spending remains sharply elevated — up 97% compared with 2022 — and the war has strained public finances, with Israel reporting wider deficits and increased borrowing since it began.

Iran’s spending fell 5.6% to $7.4 billion. SIPRI attributed that to inflation and broader economic strain, though researchers warned that government reports are likely understated.

“Iran also uses off-budget oil revenues to finance its military, including the production of missiles and drones,” SIPRI researcher Zubaida Karim said.

Lebanon president blasts Hezbollah for rejecting talks

Lebanon President Joseph Aoun blasted militant group Hezbollah on Monday over its rejection of direct talks with Israel.

Lebanon’s decision to hold negotiations with Israel is not “treason,” Aoun said in a statement, adding that treason is when “someone takes the country to war to achieve foreign interests.”

Harshly criticizing Hezbollah without naming it, Aoun asked whether there was a “national accord” when the Iran-backed group took Lebanon to war last month.

Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran. The fighting has killed over 2,500 people, wounded more than 7,000 and displaced over 1 million people.

Aoun asked how long people in south Lebanon will pay for the wars of other nations or groups, “the latest of which was the war for backing up Gaza and the war for backing up Iran.”

“I totally reject this war” when the goal is to benefit others, he said.

Aoun said he wants to end the state of war with Israel in the manner of the 1949 Armistice Agreements that brought calm along the border for years without normalizing relations.

“Was the armistice agreement humiliation? I will not accept reaching a humiliating deal,” Aoun said.

Skenes rented the inflatable kids' attraction as a part of a belated celebration for rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin, who turned 20 on Friday and celebrated by hitting his first major league home run in a win at Milwaukee.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get to get in it, but I love it,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said of the bounce house. “Teammates, it’s good camaraderie and I know that Konnor’s a great sport about it. There are not too many guys that get to celebrate their 20th birthday in the big leagues. Really cool.”

Griffin made his debut on April 3 after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis. He signed a $140 million, nine-year contract five days later.

The Minor League Player of the Year last season, Griffin is hitting .224 with one homer and six stolen bases in 22 games. He was the Pirates’ first-round pick in the 2024 amateur draft.

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The ruling by a divided three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit isn't the final decision in the newspaper's lawsuit over a new Pentagon press credential policy. But the panel's majority opinion said the administration is likely to succeed in showing that the policy's escort requirement is legally valid.

The panel granted the government's request to suspend an April 9 decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman, who ruled that the Defense Department was violating his earlier order to restore access to the Pentagon for reporters.

Circuit Judges Justin Walker, J. Michelle Childs and Bradley Garcia heard the case, with Childs dissenting from the 2-1 majority.

“Reporters can hardly verify sources, gather information, or speak candidly with Department personnel with an escort looming over their shoulders,” Childs wrote.

Friedman found that the Pentagon’s new credential policy violated journalists’ constitutional rights to free speech and due process. He said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s team had tried to evade his March 20 ruling by putting in new rules that expel all reporters from the building unless guided by escorts.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said it welcomes the panel's decision and looks forward to arguing the merits of its “full case” before the same panel. In a statement posted on social media, Parnell said unescorted access to the Pentagon has led to the “regular unauthorized disclosure of sensitive and classified national defense information.”

“Since implementing the current access policy, the Department has seen a meaningful reduction in these unauthorized disclosures, which when they occur can endanger the lives of service members, intelligence personnel, and our allies,” he wrote.

Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for The Times, said the panel's ruling is “a narrow, preliminary one" and “casts no doubt” on the strength of the newspaper's constitutional arguments.

"We look forward to defending the full scope of the district court’s rulings in The Times’s favor in this appeal,” Boutrous said in a statement.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, nominated Walker. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, nominated Garcia and Childs. Friedman was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is calling on Governor Greg Abbott to suspend the state’s gas tax, a move he says could help Texans struggling with rising fuel costs.

The proposal comes as other states, including Georgia and Indiana, have already taken similar steps during periods of high gas prices.

Texas currently charges a state gas tax of 20 cents per gallon. Most of the gas tax money is used to build and maintain roads. After costs are taken out, roughly three-quarters go to transportation projects, and the rest helps fund schools.

Houston Gas Prices

About $3.74 per gallon for regular gas

Texas (statewide average)

Roughly $3.70–$3.80 per gallon (varies by day and region)

U.S. average

About $4.11 per gallon nationwide

Houston is sitting just under the national average

Texas remains cheaper than most states, but is still elevated compared to past years.

Prices are volatile, shifting week-to-week based on oil markets and global factors.

If that tax were paused, the savings for drivers would be noticeable — but modest:

• 15-gallon tank: about $3 in savings per fill-up
• 20-gallon tank: about $4 in savings per fill-up

For drivers who fill up weekly, that could add up over time:

• Compact car (weekly fill-up): roughly $12/month in savings
• SUV or truck (larger tank): up to $16/month

Households with multiple vehicles: potentially $25–$40/month combined

While not a massive cut, for many families already stretched thin, every dollar matters.

Why now?

The push comes amid ongoing global instability and market volatility that continues to impact fuel prices.

For many Texans, especially in cities like Houston, where driving is essential, gas prices are a daily concern tied directly to the cost of living.

From groceries to rent, rising expenses are hitting household budgets, and fuel costs are a major part of that strain.

Would drivers see the savings immediately?

That’s still an open question.

Experts say that while suspending the gas tax lowers the base price, it doesn’t guarantee gas stations will pass along the full savings to consumers.

There are also concerns that:

• Increased demand could push prices back up
• Oil market fluctuations could offset any tax relief
• Savings may vary depending on location and competition between stations

Still, in states that have tried similar pauses, drivers generally saw at least some level of price drop.

Where does the gas tax money go?

The proposal also raises questions about how Texas would make up for lost revenue.

Currently, gas tax funds are a major source of money for the state:

• About 75% goes toward road construction and maintenance
• The remaining portion helps fund public education

Pausing the tax, even temporarily, could impact infrastructure projects unless lawmakers shift funding from elsewhere.

Would the governor support it?

So far, it’s unclear whether Governor Abbott will take action on the proposal.

Any suspension would likely require coordination at the state level and could involve legislative input.

KPRC2’s Re’Chelle Turner has reached out to the Governor’s office for comment.

The bottom line.

A pause on Texas’ gas tax could offer short-term relief, especially for commuters and families juggling multiple vehicles.

But the actual impact on your wallet may depend on market conditions and whether savings are fully passed down at the pump.

For now, it remains a proposal, but one that’s gaining attention as Texans look for relief anywhere they can find it.

Police said one person was killed and two others were injured in a shooting outside the Midtown nightclub Diosa just after 2 a.m. as crowds were leaving late at night. The investigation is ongoing.

The incident comes days after an April 8 shooting inside Confessions Restaurant in Upper Kirby, where two people were shot.

• RELATED: 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting after fight outside nightclub in downtown

The shootings come as Mayor John Whitmire has pushed a public safety initiative targeting bars and after-hours clubs, aimed at increasing oversight and enforcement.

In response to the Midtown shooting, some people commenting online called for more accountability from nightclub operators, while others said efforts to control crowds can lead to accusations of discrimination.

Video from another popular club along Westheimer shows people running across the street as crowds spill out late at night.

City documents from that same location show the mayor’s public safety bar and nightclub initiative task force conducted an inspection. The report states the business was “not in compliance” and “temporarily closed” before later returning to compliance and continuing operations.

• RELATED: Michigan rapper charged in connection to shooting at popular Upper Kirby restaurant

Questions remain about how the initiative is being enforced and whether it is having an impact across the city.

A spokesperson for Abbie Kamin said the Midtown shooting did not occur in her district but spoke out about it. In a statement, Kamin said, “Once again we see a headline of senseless gun violence outside a nightclub. But this is more than just a headline for our communities. As we continue to push for commonsense measures to reduce gun violence, it will take all of us.”

City officials and council members have not yet provided detailed responses to questions about enforcement of the task force initiative.

You can visit Houstonhealth.org/safewatch to learn more about the city’s gun safety initiatives.

The incident happened February 13 during installation by Ezee Fiber, leading the city to issue a stop-work order.

In a video shared on Facebook, Mayor Robin J. Elackatt said the city has since reached a new agreement with the company, allowing construction to restart April 27 under stricter rules.

“Your safety remains our highest priority,” Elackatt said, adding that the city has strengthened oversight and accountability.

New measures include enhanced safety protocols, clearer identification of underground utilities, increased on-site supervision, and improved communication with residents. The city will also monitor progress through regular updates and meetings.

City leaders say they cannot block companies providing lawful utility services, but they can regulate how the work is done.

Ezee Fiber says it supports the new requirements and expects construction to wrap up in about two weeks. Installations for roughly 700 customers who have already signed up could begin within a month.

“We fully support the mayor’s message. We also want construction activities to proceed that deliver the high-speed fiber internet that residents want, but also done safely and responsibly,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to KPRC 2 News. “We’re grateful for the partnerships we have with governments in all locations, especially in Texas our home state.”

The proposal, backed by the Service Employees International Union Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion and who were living in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. The goal is to generate $100 billion in revenue, which would largely be used to offset federal funding cuts to healthcare for low-income people.

“California’s health is at stake,” said Liz Perlman, executive director of a chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a major labor union. “Hospitals are closing and people will die. Why? So billionaires can get another tax cut that they don’t need.”

The California Secretary of State still has to verify the signatures and officially place the measure on the ballot. Backers say they collected more than 1.5 million signatures, well over the roughly 875,000 they needed. California allows ballot initiative campaigns to pay people per signature they gather. The cost of gathering petition signatures can vary widely, but it typically runs around $15 for each signature.

If the measure goes before voters in November, it could prompt one of the costliest ballot fights ever and will draw national attention as a litmus test for voter attitudes on raising taxes on the rich. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has campaigned in support of the idea. Meanwhile, Google founder Sergey Brin has already donated $57 million to a political committee called “Building a Better California” that’s backing a variety of initiatives designed to blunt the billionaires’ tax. It’s raised over $90 million, counting Brin’s contributions, from fewer than a dozen donors.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and Silicon Valley tech moguls are adamantly opposed. They warn it will drive California's wealthiest residents out of the state. Nearly half of California's personal income tax revenue comes from the top 1% of earners. Some have already purchased properties out of state in case it passes.

“After playing with matches since October, the SEIU has succeeded in lighting a ‘Tax the Rich’ wildfire by getting enough signatures,” said David Lesperance, a tax consultant who's advised some of his wealthy clients who left California because of the proposal. “The many billionaire targets of their efforts have already responded by executing fire escape plans by relocating to other states.”

Brian Brokaw, a longtime Newsom adviser who is leading a political committee opposing the tax, said the measure was poorly constructed and would deal a huge blow to the state’s budget.

“Enacting a so-called wealth tax in just one state wouldn’t target a small group -- it would impact all 40 million Californians,” he said in a statement. “This proposal trades a short-term revenue bump for long-term losses.”

At least 25 billionaires listed among Forbes magazine’s 2025 rankings of the world’s 500 wealthiest people either lived in California or had some significant ties to the state, based on a review by The Associated Press. But determining whether they were full-time residents or just frequent visitors could turn into a matter of dispute, since many of them own property elsewhere.

The big tax and spending cuts law President Donald Trump signed last year will cut more than $1 trillion nationwide over a decade from Medicaid and federal food assistance.

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Associated Press writer Michael R. Blood in Los Angeles contributed.

Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind have agreed to end their offshore wind leases in exchange for reimbursements totaling nearly $900 million. Both companies have decided not to pursue any new offshore wind projects in the United States, the Interior Department announced Monday.

Bluepoint Wind is an offshore wind project in the early stages of development off the coasts of New Jersey and New York, while Golden State Wind is a floating offshore wind project proposed off California’s central coast.

Interior said it's following the model of its recent deal with the French energy company TotalEnergies, which is getting a $1 billion payout to walk away from projects off the coasts of North Carolina and New York. TotalEnergies agreed in March to what’s essentially a refund of its leases, and will invest the money in fossil fuel projects instead.

The deals come after the administration's efforts to block offshore wind have been thwarted by the courts. A federal judge vacated President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking wind energy projects in December, declaring it unlawful as she sided with state attorneys general from 17 states and Washington, D.C., who challenged the order.

Two weeks later, the administration ordered that construction stop on five major East Coast offshore wind projects, citing national security concerns. Developers and states sued, and federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government didn’t show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt.

Environmental groups and Democrats have questioned the legality of the TotalEnergies deal and said it could be harmful to the U.S. economy and environment. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the administration for stopping Bluepoint Wind, calling it “a reckless decision that hurts working families and the economy” and will likely increase electricity prices in New York.

“Once again, Donald Trump is attacking New York offshore wind at the behest of his fossil fuel donors with no justification,” he said in a statement Monday.

Both Bluepoint and Golden State are co-owned by Ocean Winds, a joint venture of EDP Renewables and French energy giant Engie. Bluepoint's lease cost $765 million, while Golden State Wind will be eligible to recover approximately $120 million in lease fees, Interior said.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said companies were sold a product that was only viable when propped up by massive taxpayer subsidies when they bid for these offshore wind leases in 2022, under former President Joe Biden.

“Now that hardworking Americans are no longer footing the bill for expensive, unreliable, intermittent energy projects, companies are once again investing in affordable, reliable, secure energy infrastructure,” Burgum said in a statement. “We welcome each of the projects’ willingness to actually support baseload power and lower utility bills for American families.”

Bluepoint Wind and Golden State Wind were slated to be major offshore wind projects, each capable of powering more than 1 million homes when complete and helping the states of New Jersey, New York and California meet their clean energy goals. If the projects were to ever move forward, a developer would have to buy new leases. But under the Trump administration, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has rescinded all designated wind energy areas in federal waters.

Bluepoint Wind is a partnership between Ocean Winds and Global Infrastructure Partners. Global Infrastructure Partners, a part of investment giant BlackRock, has committed to invest up to $765 million into a U.S.-based liquefied natural gas facility. Interior said it would cancel the offshore wind lease and reimburse the company for the amount invested in the LNG project.

Golden State Wind is a joint venture by Ocean Winds and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Under its agreement, Golden State Wind can recover about $120 million in lease fees after the same amount is invested in oil and gas assets, infrastructure or projects along the Gulf Coast, Interior said.

The companies said they appreciated the constructive engagement with the administration.

Michael Brown, CEO of Ocean Winds North America, said the deal provided “clarity” for the company and its investors. "Our priority remains disciplined capital allocation and delivering reliable energy solutions that create long-term value for ratepayers, partners and shareholders,” he said.

In his second term, Trump has gone all in on fossil fuels, which he says will lower costs for families, increase reliability and help the U.S. maintain global leadership in artificial intelligence.

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McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.

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

The events — one in each of the city's five boroughs — will include watch parties for the matches and other festivities. They will be staged at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, a shopping center near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and a minor league baseball stadium in Staten Island.

A separate fan event planned for Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey, where the New York Red Bulls play, will cost $10.

World Cup matches will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where just getting to and from the matches on public transit could cost $150.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a noted soccer devotee, announced the free events alongside New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat.

"Every fan should be able to watch the greatest tournament on earth without dipping into their savings," Mamdani said.

Similar fan events are being planned for other U.S. host cities.

“I was confident that this combination, which would have been about adding and not subtracting, creating a truly great airline that customers love, could get regulatory approval,” Scott Kirby wrote in a statement released Monday. “I was hoping to pitch that story to American, but they declined to engage and instead responded by publicly closing the door.”

Kirby's confirmation comes after weeks of public speculation about a potential merger between two of the biggest U.S. airlines, amid rising jet fuel prices tied to the Iran war and reports that he had approached the White House about the idea. Kirby said Monday that he had approached American directly about a tie-up, but it's unclear whether that was before or after his White House meeting.

American publicly shot down the idea of a merger, saying in an April 17 statement that it “is not engaged with or interested in any discussions regarding a merger with United Airlines.” Additionally, a combination of the two carriers “would be negative for competition and for consumers” and possibly raise antitrust concerns, the company said.

Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines is itself the product of a 2013 merger with US Airways Group.

President Donald Trump also said last week that he was against a merger of the airlines.

In his statement Monday, Kirby, who previously served as president of American Airlines, argued that merging the carriers would expand service, create a more globally competitive airline and boost the U.S. economy by creating jobs and strengthening the aircraft manufacturing sector.

The rivalry between United and American has played out for years in pricing battles and disputes over gate access at major hubs like Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, where both airlines have fought to expand their footprint.

Amid that competition, the Federal Aviation Administration this month ordered about 300 daily flights cut from peak summer schedules at O'Hare, saying planned increases by both carriers risked overwhelming an airport already plagued by severe delays.

The order will take effect June 2, later than initially planned, after the FAA said last week it wanted to give airlines additional time to adjust their schedules.

Shares of Chicago-based United fell 1.2% on Monday, to $91.90. They are down about 18% this year amid the Iran war, which began in late February and has driven fuel prices sharply higher. American shares were down about 3.5% on Monday, to $11.68. American is down nearly 24% for the year.

Jet fuel is typically one of the largest expenses for airlines, leaving them especially vulnerable to price spikes and supply shocks.

In some markets, the price of jet fuel has more than doubled as fighting near the Strait of Hormuz squeezes global supplies, raising operating costs for airlines. In response, carriers around the world have raised fares and fees, with both United and American among the major U.S. airlines that have raised checked baggage fees.

A stomach virus or food poisoning has affected Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Marin Cilic and a few others, causing some concern.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka avoided an upset by Naomi Osaka on the court on Monday and said she's trying to avoid illness by sticking to a simple diet of chicken breast, rice and salad.

The rumor among the players was bad shrimp tacos were to blame.

Sabalenka knocked on wood and said, “So far, so good. I heard that I have to avoid those tacos (laughing). I stick to the same food, same meal that I’ve been having since the very beginning of the tournament.”

Sabalenka said she was spending as little time as possible on site at the Caja Magica tennis complex.

"I try not to stay for too long," she said. “Extra vitamin C, I guess, extra IM8, and I’m good to go, hopefully."

Gauff vomited on the court on her way to a victory over Sorana Cirstea on Sunday. The American didn't show signs of illness on Monday in her 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (5) loss to Linda Noskova, last year's runner-up to Sabalenka.

“I’ve heard there is some virus going around,” six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek said after withdrawing from her match in Madrid on Saturday. “I've been feeling terrible.”

Cilic couldn't play his match against João Fonseca on Friday.

“Unfortunately, I got food poisoning,” Cilic said. “After trying to recover all night my body is unfortunately exhausted and not at the proper level to get into the battle.”

Sabalenka rallies

Sabalenka rebounded from a set and a break down against Osaka in their fourth round contest.

She prevailed against No. 15 Osaka 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-2 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to reach the quarterfinals and stay on track to defend her title.

“Oh my God, that was an incredible level,” Sabalenka said. “She played incredible tennis. I feel like I just got lucky in a couple of shots in the third set, that’s why it went that fast. I’m happy she brought that fight, I had to fight through to level up my game.”

Sabalenka won her 15th straight match and advanced to her 17th consecutive quarterfinal. She hasn't lost before that round since February 2025 in Dubai. The Belarusian said her team kept pushing her to “keep fighting, keep going.”

“I'm really happy that I didn't give up and I was pushing until the very last point,” Sabalenka said.

Longest tiebreaker since 2024

Sabalenka will next face American Hailey Baptiste, who defeated Belinda Bencic 6-1, 6-7 (14), 6-3 after losing the second set in the longest tour-level regular tiebreaker since 2024, according to the WTA.

Baptiste broke the racket on her leg in frustration after the loss in a set in which she wasted six match points, including five during the tiebreaker.

The 32nd-ranked American was able to rebound and clinch the victory in 2 hours, 42 minutes.

Rybakina's line-calling frustration

World No. 2 Elena Rybakina lost in straight sets to lucky loser Anastasia Potapova in a Monday night match.

Rybakina said on Sunday she had no trust in the electronic line-calling system in Madrid. She complained to the chair umpire after her opponent, Zheng Qinwen, was awarded an ace in the second set. Rybakina said the mark on the court was out. The umpire refused to inspect the mark and backed the system. Rybakina eventually won in three sets on Sunday.

“Well with this thing, I won’t trust it at all,” Rybakina said. “Because there was no mark even close to what the TV showed."

She felt it was a similar situation to what happened to men's player Alexander Zverev last year in Madrid, where he ended up grabbing his cell phone and taking a photo of a mark of an alleged wrong call. Zverev was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“You can’t not see it,” Rybakina said. "It’s kind of a stolen point. I understand it was her serve and she was serving really well, but it’s really frustrating.”

Jódar only Spaniard left

Daniel Mérida lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina lost to defending champion Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1 on Monday, leaving 19-year-old Rafael Jódar as the only Spaniard left in the tournament.

Jódar, one of the promising stars on tour, needed three sets to get past Fonseca, another teen sensation.

World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz, Spain's current top player, withdrew from the home tournament because of a right wrist injury.

Unusual rally

There was an unusually long rally in the Rudd vs. Davidovich Fokina match when the Spaniard resorted to 15 straight lob shots to the back of the court.

The high returns in the 32-shot rally kept Rudd from attacking until one shot came up a little short and allowed him to power a forehand and take the point.

In the match between Francisco Cerundolo and Luciano Darderi, Cerundolo won a point after reaching over the net to get to a high return that spun back into Darderi's side of the court. Cerundolo won the match 6-2, 6-3.

___

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

Trump and first lady Melania Trump greeted Charles and Queen Camilla as they arrived, posing for photos and exchanging small talk before they went inside for tea in the Green Room. Afterward, the couples went down to the south grounds to see a new beehive in the shape of the White House that the first lady had installed last week.

Charles and Camilla both support beekeeping. He keeps at least three beehives at his private residence in England as part of his support for the environment and sustainability.

After the White House visit, the royal couple attended a garden party at the British Embassy.

Trump praises the king but derides Starmer

A rift between the U.K. government and Trump over issues including the Iran war had already raised the political stakes for the British monarch's visit.

In recent weeks, Trump has lambasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer over his unwillingness to join U.S. military attacks on Iran, dismissing Britain’s leader as “not Winston Churchill,” the World War II prime minister who coined the phrase “special relationship” for the U.K.-U.S. bond.

It's part of a wider rift between Trump and the United States’ NATO allies, whom he has called “cowards” and “useless” for not joining action against Iran. A leaked Pentagon email suggested the U.S. could reassess support for the U.K.'s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands in the south Atlantic. Britain and Argentina fought a 1982 war over the islands, also known as the Islas Malvinas.

The president insists the political chill won’t affect the royal visit. Charles “has nothing to do with that,” Trump said in March, meaning NATO.

The president has spoken in glowing terms about Charles, repeatedly referring to the monarch as his “friend” and a “great guy.”

He also continues to mention his “amazing” trip to the U.K. in September with Melania Trump for an unprecedented second state visit. Starmer hand-delivered the invitation from the king in the Oval Office five weeks after Trump returned to office, in a very public attempt to woo the Republican president.

The U.K. royal family laid on pomp and pageantry for the Trumps, with scarlet-clad guardsmen, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle.

“President Trump has always had great respect for King Charles, and their relationship was further strengthened by the president’s historic visit to the United Kingdom last year,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Associated Press. “The president looks forward to a special visit by Their Majesties, which will include a beautiful state dinner and multiple events throughout the week.”

Trump, meanwhile, told the BBC that the king’s visit could “absolutely” help repair the trans-Atlantic relationship.

“He’s fantastic. He’s a fantastic man. Absolutely the answer is yes,” the president said.

Some called for the trip to be canceled

Kristofer Allerfeldt, a University of Exeter professor specializing in American history, said the two governments have very different objectives for the trip.

He said that for Charles, the trip is about “reinforcing long-term ties, showcasing the monarchy’s soft power and reminding the world that Britain still carries diplomatic weight.”

For Trump, it’s more about “a media event,” with emphasis on the optics of a visit that resembles a meeting of “two gilded monarchs.”

Some U.K. politicians worry that the trip is fraught with opportunities for embarrassment. Trump’s recent broadsides at Pope Leo XIV have heightened those concerns.

Ed Davey, leader of the U.K. centrist opposition Liberal Democrats party, earlier this month called Trump “a dangerous and corrupt gangster” and implored the government to cancel the trip.

“I really fear for what Trump might say or do while our king is forced to stand by his side,” Davey said in the House of Commons. “We cannot put His Majesty in that position.”

Starmer defended the visit, saying “the monarchy, through the bonds that it builds, is often able to reach through the decades” and bolster important relationships.

Andrew and Epstein cast a shadow

Raising the stakes is the shadow of the king’s younger brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who has been stripped of his royal title of Prince Andrew, exiled from public life and put under police investigation over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. He has denied committing any crimes.

Epstein victims have urged the king to meet with them and other sexual abuse survivors. It's unlikely he will do so.

Charles has visited the U.S. 19 times, but this is his first state visit to the country since becoming king in 2022. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, made four state visits to the U.S.

The king, who is 77 and was diagnosed in early 2024 with an undisclosed form of cancer, will spend four days in the U.S. accompanied by Queen Camilla.

In Washington on Tuesday, the king and queen will attend a formal White House state dinner.

The royal couple will also visit the Sept. 11 memorial in New York and attend a 250th birthday block party in Virginia, where Charles will also meet Indigenous leaders involved in nature conservation — a favorite cause of the environmentalist king.

Three centuries after Britain’s kings and queens gave up any real political power, the royals remain symbols of soft power, deployed by elected governments to smooth international relationships and send messages about what the U.K. considers important.

A key moment will be the king’s speech to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. It’s only the second time, after Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, that a U.K. monarch has addressed a joint meeting of both houses.

Elizabeth praised liberalism on that trip, spoke against the idea that “power grows from the barrel of a gun” and praised the “rich ethnic and cultural diversity of both our societies.”

The king’s treasured causes, including the environment and harmony among religious faiths, are in contrast to Trump’s. He's unlikely to accentuate differences, but Allerfeldt said that, in the monarch’s subtle way, the king could use his speech to send a message.

“He does have an unorthodox way of looking at the world, and I think maybe he can actually have something valid to say when he addresses Congress,” Allerfeldt said.

___

Jill Lawless reported from London.

Lawmakers heard an emotional and sweeping review of a camp “obedience” culture that paired poorly trained teenage counselors with the youngest campers; was complacent about flood warnings; had poor communications; and critically delayed evacuation efforts.

“There was never any real training, no drills of any kind,” for counselors or campers of what do to or where to go in a flood threat, said Casey Garrett, a special legislative committee's investigator. She was addressing the committee's first hearing on the July Fourth flood that swept through the all-girls Christian camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

Twenty-five campers and two teenage counselors were killed. Camp owner Richard Eastland was also killed as he desperately tried to evacuate girls to higher ground.

Training and an earlier evacuation call likely would have saved every girl, some of whom would have needed to walk just about 20 steps to get to a two-story building, Garrett said.

Garrett noted that most of the victims were under age 10, some attending camp for the first time, and that the counselors in the hardest hit cabins were among the youngest and most inexperienced at the camp.

Many of the grim details had already been made public through hearings, media reports and interviews, but the state report presentation — built on interviews with about 150 people including campers, counselors, the Eastland family and victims' families — presented them in a stark, streamlined review. A written report of findings is expected later this year.

“The fate of those girls was set before any drop of rain fell.” Sen. Charles Perry said during the hearing.

He continued: “The things that were common sense and the things that should have been done, didn’t get done.”

Families of the victims pack the hearing

Dozens of victim family members attended the hearing. Some sobbed or walked out when photos of their girls and the destroyed camp site were displayed, or when they heard their loved ones' names read aloud.

The report laid out almost a minute-by-minute account of flood warnings, communications among Eastland family members and calls for help. It also noted some harrowing survivor accounts, including of a girl who was swept more than 6 miles downriver. She told investigators she was sucked underwater several times before she washed up on a debris pile and fell asleep. She was rescued the next morning by two women who heard her cries for help.

One girl recalled how the floodwaters in her cabin rose so high that her chin touched the ceiling. Garret described another girl bear-hugging a column with her arms and legs to stay out of the water. One counselor told investigators she pushed girls underwater to get them through the door of a flooded cabin.

The committee saw video of water rushing into a building through cracks in the door. In cellphone video shot by a stranded camper, a girl can be heard yelling “Help!” in the dark, raging floodwaters.

Campers and counselors had no emergency training

Garrett, a Houston attorney who also helped with the Legislature's report on the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, several times noted the lack of emergency training for the teenage counselors and child campers.

There was no detailed evacuation plan, she said, and the only instruction for the girls in low-lying areas of the camp was a one-paragraph directive that told them to “stay in their cabins unless told otherwise by the office. All cabins are constructed on high, safe locations.” A state inspector approved that plan two days before the flood.

Eventually, some counselors took matters into their own hands and pushed girls through cabin windows to scramble up a hill.

“It wasn’t a plan. It wasn’t a safe plan, It was an option taken, thank God,” Garrett said. “It was very ad hoc.”

Some of the young counselors had told their parents before the flood they were concerned about a lack of training for emergencies, she said.

Camp Mystic’s owners want to reopen in late May and have said they will only use parts of the camp that didn’t flood. They expect nearly 900 girls on campus this summer. Those plans have angered victims’ families, and some prominent state officials have called for state regulators to deny or delay renewal of the camp's license, which is under review.

Last year, Texas lawmakers passed new measures to demand more detailed planning and training, and the installation of emergency warning systems. The Legislature doesn’t meet again until January 2027 and the panel does not control the review of Camp Mystic's license.

Investigator describes the camp's formidable owner

Some counselors told investigators they feared getting into trouble if they were to take children to higher ground or out into the storm without explicit instructions.

Garrett described the camp's “obedience-encouraged” culture dominated by Eastland, the campus patriarch. Some members of the Eastland family and camp staff referred to him as “The General” and “The Eagle.”

“He ruled,” his wife, Tweety, told investigators. Several Eastland family members attended the hearing and some are expected to speak to the panel on Tuesday.

“He was running the show over there. … You just really didn’t cross him,” Garrett said of Richard Eastland.

The camp relied almost exclusively on Eastland for how to act in a flood emergency. The owner's son, Edward Eastland, testified in a lawsuit last week that any detailed flood evacuation plan was simply inside his father's head. Family members told investigators Richard Eastland was “obsessed” with weather and monitored warnings.

Richard Eastland and several girls were was found dead in his vehicle after he tried to drive them to safety. Edward Eastland was swept by the floodwaters into a tree. Camp security officer Glenn Juenke survived although he was trapped in a flooded cabin with campers.

Garrett also described Richard Eastland as a popular camp leader who taught generations of girls how to fish. He also had a knack for comforting young campers who were nervous about their first time away from home.

“We do know Dick Eastland loved every little girl who came to Camp Mystic,” Garrett said.

Jay Bryant pleaded guilty to a federal murder charge, telling a judge that he helped other people get into a recording studio to ambush the DJ, born Jason Mizell.

“I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell,” Bryant told a federal magistrate. “I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.”

Bryant’s admission brings some closure — but also adds complexity — to a knotty case.

Bryant didn’t name the other people with whom he acted. But a jury in 2024 convicted two other men, Karl Jordan Jr. and Ronald Washington, yet a judge subsequently cleared Jordan.

Washington has also challenged his conviction. His lawyer, Susan Kellman, noted Monday that evidence against Bryant included his DNA on a hat at the crime scene and witness testimony that Bryant once claimed he fired the gun himself. Jordan's lawyers declined to comment.

Bryant, 52, is expected to face a sentence somewhere between 15 and 20 years in prison for the killing plus unrelated drug and gun charges, to which he pleaded guilty earlier. No sentencing date has been set.

He gave a thumbs-up to someone in the audience before leaving court. The person declined to comment afterward, as did Bryant's attorneys.

Prosecutors had no immediate comment.

Mizell handled the turntables in Run-DMC, a pathbreaking trio he formed with friends Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Joseph Simmons, known as DJ Run and Rev. Run.

With such 1980s hits as “It’s Tricky,” “My Adidas,” and a version of Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” they helped rap climb the ladder from an urban genre into mainstream popularity. Run-DMC was the first rap group with gold- and platinum-selling albums, a Rolling Stone cover, and a video on MTV. The trio was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Mizell also mentored other hip-hop artists, including a young 50 Cent.

At 37, Mizell was gunned down in his studio in the Queens neighborhood where he’d grown up. His October 2002 death followed the late 1990s killings of two other hip-hop greats, Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. Authorities struggled with all three cases for years.

Jordan and Washington — Mizell’s godson and old friend, respectively — were arrested in 2020. Prosecutors said the men were bitter about losing out on a piece of a failed cocaine deal that Mizell had tried to line up. Though Run-DMC was known for its anti-drug message, prosecutors and a trial witness said the DJ moonlighted in the cocaine trade in his later years to cover his bills and keep being generous to friends after music money dried up somewhat.

According to prosecutors and trial witnesses, Jordan shot Mizell while Washington blocked the door during the shooting and ordered one of Mizell’s aides to get on the ground. Both men denied the allegations. Jordan’s attorneys said he was at his girlfriend’s home when the DJ was shot, and Washington’s lawyers said he had no incentive to kill the famous friend who helped him financially.

Nearly three years after their arrests, prosecutors abruptly brought Bryant into their picture of the killing.

Saying that Bryant’s DNA had been found on a hat in the studio and that he’d been seen entering the building, prosecutors added him to the murder indictment. He was already jailed on the drug and gun case.

Bryant knew someone in common with Jordan and Washington, according to testimony at their trial. But unlike them, Bryant had little, if any, connection to Mizell.

Bryant said in court Monday that he was connected with people who were involved in a cocaine deal with the DJ and that he "helped them kill Jason Mizell by helping them gain entry to the recording studio.”

Bryant’s uncle has said his nephew told him he shot Mizell after the artist reached for a gun. But no one else testified that Bryant even entered the studio.

Instead, prosecutors contended that Bryant was enlisted to make his way into the studio building and open a back fire door, allowing Washington and Jordan to walk in without buzzing up and alerting Mizell they were coming.

While neither Jordan’s nor Washington’s DNA was on the cap, then-prosecutor Artie McConnell suggested one of them had accidentally left it behind, and that Bryant had simply touched it at some point beforehand.

The attack took place in an "isolated area" of Lokoja, capital of Kogi State, according to a statement by the state’s commissioner, Kingsley Femi Fanwo. The facility, Dahallukitab Group of Schools, was operating illegally, he said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The region has seen an increase in kidnappings for ransom.

The statement did not say how old the abducted children are, but the term “pupil” in Nigeria usually refers to someone in kindergarten or primary school, covering ages up to 12.

“Intensive operations are ongoing to secure the safe return of the remaining eight victims and apprehend the perpetrators," Fanwo said.

Students’ kidnappings have come to define the insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation. Analysts say armed gangs see schools and students as “strategic” targets to draw attention.

Nigeria is battling a complex security crisis, especially in the north, where an insurgency has simmered for more than a decade.

Among the most prominent Islamic militant groups are Boko Haram and its breakaway faction, known as ISWAP. There is also the IS-linked Lakurawa group operating in communities in the northwestern part of the country bordering Niger.

___

This version corrects the spelling to Fanwo on second reference.

Houston police responded to reports of a shooting in the 3000 block of Milam Street near Diosa nightclub. When officers arrived, they learned three people had been shot.

EN ESPANOL: Un muerto y dos heridos tras tiroteo afuera de un club en el centro de Houston

According to witnesses, there was a fight between several men, and someone pulled out a gun.

All three men were transported to the hospital; one of the men died at the hospital, one is in critical condition, and the third person was shot in the arm and is expected to survive.

The trial, which started Monday with jury selection, centers on the 2015 birth of ChatGPT maker OpenAI as a nonprofit startup primarily funded by Musk before evolving into a capitalistic venture now valued at $852 billion.

The trial's outcome could sway the balance of power in AI — breakthrough technology that is increasingly being feared as a potential job killer and an existential threat to humanity's survival.

Those perceived risks are among the reasons that Musk, the world's richest person, cites for filing an August 2024 lawsuit that will now be decided by a jury and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California.

The civil lawsuit accuses Altman, OpenAI's CEO, and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company's founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. The lawsuit alleges they shifted into a moneymaking mode behind his back.

OpenAI has brushed off Musk's allegations as an unfounded case of sour grapes that's aimed at undercutting its rapid growth and bolstering Musk's own xAI, which he launched in 2023 as a competitor.

Gonzalez Rogers questioned potential jurors Monday about their views on Musk, Altman and artificial intelligence. Some jurors said they had negative views of Musk, but most said they would still be able to treat him fairly and focus on the facts of the case.

Trial promises clashing testimony from two tech titans

Musk, who invested about $38 million in OpenAI from December 2015 through May 2017, initially was seeking more than $100 billion in damages.

But any damages now are likely to be much smaller after a series of pre-trial rulings that went against Musk. Musk has since abandoned a bid for damages for himself and instead is seeking an unspecified amount of money to be paid to fund the altruistic efforts of OpenAI's charitable arm. The money would be paid primarily by OpenAI's for-profit operations, and Microsoft, which became the company's biggest investor after Musk cut off his funding.

Musk's lawsuit also seeks Altman's ouster from OpenAI's board. Musk's decision to stop funding the company contributed to a bitter falling out between the former allies. Musk says he was responding to deceptive conduct that OpenAI's board picked up on when it fired Altman as CEO in 2023 before he got his job back days later.

But the trial also carries risks for Musk, who last month was held liable by another jury for defrauding investors during his $44 billion takeover of Twitter in 2022. Any damaging details about Musk and his business tactics could be particularly hurtful now because his rocket ship maker, SpaceX, plans to go public this summer in an initial public offering that could make him the world's first trillionaire.

However it turns out, the trial is expected to provide riveting theater, with contrasting testimony from two of technology's most influential and polarizing figures in the 54-year-old Musk and the 41-year-old Altman.

“Part of this is about whether a jury believes the people who will testify and whether they are credible,” Gonzalez Rogers said during a court hearing earlier this year while explaining why she believe the case merited a trial. The judge will make the final decision on the case, with the jury serving in an advisory role.

Evidence has included glimpses of the AI race's early days

Musk, whose estimated fortune stands at about $780 billion, has long been hailed as a visionary for his roles creating digital payment pioneer PayPal, electric automaker Tesla and rocket ship maker SpaceX. But he has also provoked backlashes with his social media commentary, unfulfilled promises about Tesla's self-driving technology and his cost-cutting role last year in President Donald Trump's administration.

Some of Musk's erratic behavior has been tied to allegations of taking hallucinogenic drugs, but Gonzalez Rogers ruled that he can't be asked during the trial about his suspected use of ketamine. But the judge is allowing Musk to be questioned about his attendance at the 2017 Burning Man festival in Nevada, a free-wheeling celebration known for widespread drug use. The judge is also allowing Musk to be questioned about his relationship with former OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, the mother of several of his children.

Altman, currently sitting on a roughly $3 billion fortune, didn't emerge in the public consciousness until the late 2022 release of ChatGPT. The tech boom triggered by that conversational chatbot has led some to liken Altman to a 21st-century version of the nuclear bomb inventor, J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Although Altman was initially hailed as trailblazer he is now facing blowback amid worries about AI's potential dangers. Earlier this month, the New Yorker magazine published a profile that painted him as an unscrupulous executive. Days later, a 20-year-old man worried about AI's effect on humanity was arrested on attempted murder charges after throwing a Molotov cocktail at Altman's San Francisco home.

The dueling testimonies of Altman and Musk are expected to open a window into some of the thinking that helped trigger the AI race, as well as the unraveling of their friendship. The kinship was forged in 2015 when they agreed to build AI in a more responsible and safer way than the profit-driven companies controlled by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, according to evidence submitted ahead of the trial.

Details of the bitter break between the two men were captured in a February 2023 email exchange that surfaced as part of the evidence leading up to the trial.

After letting Musk know “you're my hero,” Altman tells him: “I am tremendously thankful for everything you’ve done to help —I don't think OpenAI would have happened without you — and it really (expletive) hurts when you publicly attack OpenAI.”

Musk's response: “I hear you and it is certainly not my intention to be hurtful, for which I apologize, but the fate of civilization is at stake.”

EN INGLES: 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting after fight outside nightclub in downtown

Qué ocurrió

De acuerdo con la policía, el incidente se registró alrededor de las 2 de la mañana en la cuadra 3000 de la calle Milam, cerca de Anita, en el estacionamiento frente a un club.

Oficiales que trabajaban en un servicio adicional dentro del establecimiento escucharon varios disparos provenientes del otro lado de la calle y corrieron hacia el estacionamiento para investigar.

Al llegar, encontraron a varias personas con heridas de bala.

Cómo comenzó la violencia

Investigadores informaron que todo comenzó como una pelea entre varios hombres. En algún momento, al menos una persona sacó un arma de fuego y comenzó a disparar.

Tres personas resultaron heridas.

Uno de los hombres cayó en el lugar, mientras que otro intentó huir, cruzó la calle y se desplomó del otro lado.

Ambos fueron trasladados al hospital por el Departamento de Bomberos de Houston. Uno de ellos fue declarado sin vida.

Una tercera persona, que recibió un disparo en el brazo, llegó al hospital por sus propios medios.

Lo que dicen testigos

Un hombre que se encontraba dentro del club le dijo a KPRC 2 que la pelea comenzó dentro del establecimiento. Según su relato, varias personas fueron expulsadas del lugar y la confrontación continuó en el estacionamiento, donde finalmente se registraron los disparos.

El testigo no quiso aparecer en cámara.

Investigación en curso

La policía informó que dos personas han sido detenidas mientras continúa la investigación.

Hasta el momento, no se ha confirmado quién fue el responsable de disparar ni si se presentarán cargos.

Las autoridades también trabajan para identificar a la persona fallecida y esclarecer exactamente cómo se desarrollaron los hechos.

KPRC 2 continuará informando conforme se den a conocer más detalles.

That question is at the center of an unfolding situation involving a Splendora High School teacher. So far, the agencies involved are not offering clear answers.

The case stretches across three entities: Splendora ISD, Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD and the Texas Education Agency. Each plays a role in how educator misconduct is reported, tracked and investigated.

Here’s where things stand.

• RELATED: Splendora High School teacher accused of hoax has lengthy history of discipline, complaints; records show

The Texas Education Agency depends on school districts to report serious allegations involving educators. If a district does not report concerns, the agency may never know there is an issue.

The TEA manages the state’s “Do Not Hire” registry and investigates misconduct. But in this case, it remains unclear whether past concerns tied to the teacher’s time at Coldspring-Oakhurst High School were ever reported.

Those concerns include allegations of physically touching students and telling students to fail a beginning-of-year test.

An attorney for Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD said the district is now turning over more than 200 pages of records tied to the teacher, but only after the most recent incident.

• RELATED: Teacher cuts self, blames student in ‘hoax’ attack at Splendora High School, police say

When asked whether those earlier allegations should have been reported to the state, the attorney did not answer.

There is another key detail.

That same attorney said there is no evidence Splendora ISD requested the teacher’s personnel file before hiring. Instead, the teacher requested her own records twice.

That leaves several critical questions unanswered.

• Did Coldspring-Oakhurst CISD follow reporting requirements?
• Did Splendora ISD do enough to vet the teacher before hiring?
• Did the Texas Education Agency have any knowledge of these concerns before this month?

We have asked all three agencies for answers. So far, none have provided clear responses.

Pool safety basics

As the school year ends and summer gets underway, water safety should be a top priority. Child injury attorney Drew Bivona, founder of Bivona Law and known as “The Voice for Kids,” recommends simple, proven steps: keep pool gates locked, never leave children unsupervised near water, and learn CPR. Don’t put a child in water activities beyond their ability — swim lessons and floatation devices can help, but supervision is still essential.

Camps and activity centers — ask the right questions

Before sending your child to day camp or an activity center, know the rules. Ask for written safety policies, the chain of command, and contact information for supervisors. Find out how staff handle medical care and emergencies. At activity centers, inspect equipment, mats and flooring for hazards, and be mindful about supervisor-to-child ratios. Bivona notes that waivers may apply in some cases but aren’t always enforceable; it’s important to understand what you’re signing before you do.

After an injury — what to do

If an injury happens, start with medical care. Document the scene: take photos, save text messages or emails, and get an incident report from the facility. Speak directly with owners or administrators and keep a record of those conversations. If anything about the explanation or handling of the incident doesn’t sound right, consult an attorney — especially when the injury may indicate negligence.

For parents and caregivers in Houston, a little preparation can prevent a lot of heartache. Bivona Law offers free case evaluations. To learn more, visit bivonalaw.com or call 832-662-6948.

She had spent three daystelling a jury that the ex-movie mogul raped her, explaining why she continued a relationship with him afterward and discussing other deeply personal aspects of her life, once sobbing so hard that court ended early. Weinstein had then been convicted, in a 2020 verdict seen as a victory for the #MeToo campaign against sexual misconduct.

Yet six years later, Mann again walked to a witness stand Monday, passed Weinstein in court and began — for a third time — to give a jury her account of what happened between them.

“One of the things he said is that ‘my friends go far — my enemies don’t step a foot in this town,’” she recalled while describing the early stages of a relationship that, by her account, started out with professional advice, abruptly turned sexual and descended into rape.

Weinstein denies sexually assaulting anyone. He watched from his wheelchair at the defense table as Mann testified, occasionally leaning over to talk with his lawyers. Mann looked at Weinstein only when asked to point him out.

Mann’s allegation of a 2013 rape in a Manhattan hotel is again up for consideration because of a series of legal switchbacks. First, Weinstein's 2020 conviction was overturned for reasons unrelated to her testimony. Then a jury failed to decide her part of a retrial that involved multiple accusers and allegations last year, leaving only her rape charge to be tried again.

“I am ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served,” Mann said in a statement at the time.

That determination now stands to be tested.

Mann returns Tuesday to the witness stand, where she could face days of additional questioning by prosecutors and Weinstein's new lawyers. Like their predecessors, they have portrayed Mann as a canny wannabe who got involved consensually with a Hollywood heavy-hitter, enjoyed his connections and invitations, then turned on him after news reports about other women’s claims about Weinstein. The 2017 reporting catalyzed the #MeToo movement.

Mann, 40, grew up in a small town in Washington state and trained as a hairstylist, but she yearned to pursue acting and moved to Los Angeles in her 20s. She was sometimes so broke that she lived in her car, but she had done some commercial and film work before she met Weinstein at a party in early 2013. The Oscar-winning producer complimented her looks, she recalled Monday.

“I thought I just got discovered,” she told jurors.

Thrilled at the prospect of a breakthrough, Mann accepted invitations to a shopping trip for books about cinema, dinners and glitzy Oscars-season events, she testified. Soon, she said, Weinstein started making intimate overtures.

First, she said, there was an awkward request for a massage that she parried by unenthusiastically giving Weinstein a back rub instead. Then she and her then-roommate accompanied him to a Los Angeles-area hotel suite to see a movie script, and he pulled Mann into a bedroom and started aggressively kissing her, she said.

She told him, “whoa, whoa, whoa,” but he said he wouldn't let her leave until she let him “do something,” so she submitted to oral sex and pretended to enjoy it, she recalled. Mann said the experience left her feeling “confused and sick.”

Court ended for the day before she was asked about what happened next. In prior testimony, Mann has said she embarked, with jumbled feelings, on a relationship with the then-married mogul.

In March 2013, she arranged to meet Weinstein for breakfast with her pals in New York. She previously testified that he got her alone in a hotel room, slammed the door shut when she tried to leave and ultimately raped her, though she told him, “I don't want to do this” and “no.”

Afterward, Mann kept seeing and having what she has said were largely consensual sexual encounters with Weinstein. At points over the next roughly four years, she emailed him “miss you,” that no one “understands me quite like you” and “I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call.”

Weinstein's lawyers have argued that the messages show there was nothing but a caring relationship. Mann has said she was trying to manage a complicated dynamic with a volatile man.

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

United moved three points above its rivals and took a huge step toward ensuring it will play Champions League football next season for the first time since 2024.

Casemiro, just weeks before he departs the club, sneaked in at the back post to head United into the lead after 11 minutes. It was his 11th headed goal since he joined United in August 2022, a record bettered only by Erling Haaland (18), Ollie Watkins (16) and Chris Wood (13).

Although Brentford was equal to the host in an entertaining first half it was United which doubled its lead on the cusp of the break.

Benjamin Sesko took a simple pass from Bruno Fernandes to finish off a swift counterattack and assure the talismanic midfielder of his 19th assist of the season, a league high, and only one away from equalling the Premier League record.

“Me and Bruno Fernandes work a lot on the training pitch and it is paying off," Sesko said. “Knowing I have a teammate with this quality is a pleasure and I have to use it.”

Both sides had chances in a quieter second half but Brentford especially was profligate in front of goal.

Mathias Jensen’s long-range strike in the 87th minute gave it some hope but United held on to ensure another disappointing result for Keith Andrews' men.

“Bitterly disappointed," Andrews told the BBC. "Overall our performance was very good. As a collective we went toe to toe with a good side and controlled large parts of the game. They were more clinical than us.”

Brentford remained in ninth place, tied on points with Chelsea and Fulham, but it has not won in the league since February.

However, its hopes of clinching European football for the first time remain alive and Andrews was optimistic.

“There is absolute belief in everything we do," Andrews said. "We are not playing safe, I don’t want us to be that team. We set up in a brave fashion against a top team tonight and unfortunately we couldn’t quite get there’”

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

The situation is now raising broader questions about what rights utility companies have when working on private property and what homeowners can expect in return.

The homeowner, who doesn’t want to be identified, shared photos showing what he described as significant damage to his lawn after crews working for Ezee Fiber came through his neighborhood.

“I came outside and saw they had completely destroyed a section of my front lawn,” he said in an email to KPRC 2 News Rilwan Balogun. “Since this case was opened, I have called in multiple times only to be told that it is being scheduled, and I will receive a call back. None of those things have taken place.”

According to the homeowner, he repeatedly contacted the company over a two-week period, trying to get repairs scheduled. He says crews eventually returned over the weekend but only after he told the company he had reached out to KPRC 2 News.

Company says it aims to “make it right”

A spokesperson for Ezee Fiber says the company works to address any issues homeowners report.

“If there’s any damage, we absolutely want to be in contact with the homeowner and make it right,” said Jim Schwartz, spokesperson for the company.

• 2026 Kinder Institute survey finds Houston residents’ feelings on marijuana, death penalty, other political issues

Schwartz added that restoring property can sometimes take time, especially when crews try to match original landscaping.

“We’ll send somebody from our construction team out there. Sometimes people have certain rocks or certain plants in their yard and they want them brought back exactly the way it was before,” Schwartz said. “We will bend over backwards to make sure it gets done that way… but it may take a couple days because we have to find the right materials.”

What the law says about utility access

Under Texas law, utility companies are allowed to access private property through easements, which are areas where infrastructure like cable lines, water systems, or sewage lines are installed and maintained.

These easements are common and typically run along a narrow strip of land, often three to five feet wide, on a property. In most cases, companies do not need a homeowner’s permission to enter these areas to perform work.

• Grand jury expected to indict man on capital murder charge today in ‘ding-dong ditch’ shooting of 11-year-old boy

However, the Texas utility code does not clearly define how long companies have to restore property after completing work. It also does not set strict requirements for ongoing communication with homeowners during the process.

Homeowners still have rights

Legal experts say that while utility companies have access to easements, homeowners are still protected in several important ways.

According to Guerra Days Law Group, utility companies must:

• Provide reasonable notice before entering a property
• Use the least invasive methods possible to access and maintain equipment
• Repair any damage caused during construction or maintenance

Homeowners who want to know where utility easements are located on their property can check their home survey, which is typically provided during the closing process.

If that document isn’t available, a copy can usually be obtained through the county clerk’s office.

The shooting happened near the intersection of S. Loop 610 and Cullen Blvd.

METRO PD says the shooting stemmed from a domestic dispute.

• 1 dead, 2 injured in shooting after fight outside nightclub in downtown

The male suspect allegedly shot the woman in the leg. Her injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

It is unclear if the suspect has been arrested at this time.

METRO PD says the investigation remains active and asks the public to avoid the area.

Texas Tech said it is “committed to supporting Brendan through his recovery process and to ensure his long-term health and well-being.” There was no immediate word on whether Sorsby will be available for the upcoming season and no potential timetable was provided for the treatment.

The 22-year-old Sorsby started his college career at Indiana in 2022 before a transfer to Cincinnati to play the past two seasons. ESPN, citing unidentified sources, reported that the QB allegedly made “thousands of online bets on a variety of sports via a gambling app,” which could impact his eligibility depending on the details.

NCAA rules were eased in 2023 to recognize the proliferation of legalized gamblilng but still call for a permanent ban for athletes who bet on their own games.

According to the outlet, Sorsby bet on Indiana football games in 2022 and only to win. He did not place a wager on the one game in which he appeared that season as a freshman, when he maintained that season of eligibility before playing 10 games for the Hoosiers in 2023. The NCAA is now investigating the case, ESPN reported.

“Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current, pending or potential investigations,” the NCAA said in a statement released to news organizations. “However, the NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition. The association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever reports are received.”

Sorsby was one of the biggest names in this year’s transfer portal, and left Cincinnati for a reported $5 million from Texas Tech, which last season won its first Big 12 championship and made the playoff after being among the nation's biggest spenders putting together its roster.

“We love Brendan and support his decision to seek professional help,” Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said in a statement released by the school. “Taking this step requires courage, and our primary focus is on him as a person. Our program is behind Brendan as he prioritizes his health.”

In the statement, Texas Tech said its “primary focus remains on fostering an environment where student-athletes feel empowered to prioritize their mental health and seek professional assistance.” The school said it would have no further comment on Sorsby’s status “to protect the integrity of the recovery process.”

Cincinnati, which announced Feb. 26 it would sue the quarterback for allegedly breaching his name, image and likeness contract, declined comment.

According to the lawsuit, Sorsby signed a NIL agreement in July 2025 covering the 2025 and ’26 seasons and that there would be a $1 million buyout if he transferred, payable within 30 days. Sorsby announced on Dec. 15 that he was entering the transfer portal and announced on Jan. 4 that he would play for Texas Tech.

The Red Raiders brought in Sorsby after Lubbock native Behren Morton completed his eligibility. Morton threw for 8,989 yards and 71 touchdowns in 45 games for the Red Raiders since 2021, and led them to a school-record 12 wins last season before a 23-0 loss to Oregon in the Orange Bowl.

In 35 career games, including 31 starts, Sorsby has passed for 7,208 yards and 60 touchdowns, along with 1,295 rushing yards and 22 TDs.

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The 29-year-old Kenyan pulled off the feat that was long considered unthinkable when winning the London Marathon on Sunday in a time of 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds.

There have been a slew of high-profile doping cases involving Kenyan runners in recent years, notably women’s marathon world record-holder Ruth Chepng’etich getting a three-year ban in October.

So, in agreement with his coaches and management team, Sawe said he volunteered to undergo “multiple” doping tests to dispel any suspicion around his own performances, including victories at last year’s marathons in Berlin and London.

“Doping has become a cancer in my country,” Sawe told reporters on Monday.

Sawe said he and his team decided to implement the stringent testing regime because the possibility of people looking at his results “with a lot of doubts was not good,” and he wanted to “show the world that we can run clean and also run fast.”

The BBC, which holds the broadcast rights for the London Marathon, reported that Adidas provided $50,000 to the Athletics Integrity Unit, track and field’s anti-doping body, to frequently test Sawe over a 12-month period, including 25 out-of-competition tests leading up to the Berlin Marathon in September and a similar number ahead of the London race.

The Athletics Integrity Unit didn't immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment on Sawe's testing regime.

Sawe is urging other runners to volunteer for more doping tests.

“Everyone will feel comfortable running with his fellow athlete because there will be no doubt thinking (that) someone is using what he’s using," he said. “And so, it’s important to run clean and to show the world (that) talent, with hard work, discipline and patience,” can lead to big achievements.

Sawe also credited his footwear for helping him break the marathon record by an astonishing 65 seconds in Sunday’s race.

He wore an Adidas shoe that weighed less than half the weight of an average running shoe. After the race, he held up the shoe, which had his winning time written next to it.

“The shoe is very nice, very light, comfortable and so supportive,” he said, “and is pushing (me) forward.”

Sawe was already a superstar in marathon running but has suddenly become a global sensation, something the softly spoken Kenyan is going to have to get used to.

“Being in the history books is not something easy,” he said. “So it means a lot to me in my life and I’m so happy.”

Sawe said he kept things simple after his world-record run.

“I just celebrated in style — I just relaxed and slept well and woke up,” he said.

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Douglas reported from Sundsvall, Sweden.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

During an emotional hearing in a Queens courtroom packed by uniformed police officers and Officer Jonathan Diller’s family, the judge said Guy Rivera “most certainly will” die in a prison cell.

“Your sentence to me was determined the second you pulled that trigger,” Judge Michael Aloise told Rivera. “It took me five minutes to calculate the numbers. It’s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you caused.”

A jury found Rivera guilty earlier this month of aggravated manslaughter and other charges in Diller's killing, but acquitted the 36-year-old Queens resident of murder.

The shooting happened on March 25, 2024, when Diller and other officers were on patrol in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. Authorities say one of the officers spotted a suspicious object bulging from Rivera’s hoodie as he and another man walked to a parked car and got in.

Police say the officers were questioning the driver when Rivera, who was in the passenger’s seat, suddenly pulled out a gun and shot Diller. The bullet struck the officer below his bulletproof vest, mortally wounding him. Another officer then shot and wounded Rivera.

At the time, Diller was the first NYPD officer to be killed in the line of duty in two years. The 31-year-old’s wake and funeral in his hometown on Long Island drew thousands of people, including President Donald Trump, and the case briefly became a focal point during his 2024 campaign to reclaim the White House on a message of “law and order.”

The Republican president hailed Diller an “unbelievably wonderful person and a great officer” in a March 2025 speech to a joint session of Congress.

Prosecutors had argued that Rivera was deserving of life behind bars because he was a “persistent felon” with prior criminal convictions who had made a “calculated, deliberate and evil choice” to inflict violence.

“This was not an accident,” Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Zawistowski said. “We ask that you honor Jonathan’s life. We ask that you honor his sacrifice."

Rivera's lawyer, Jamal Johnson, argued, as he did during the three-week trial, that Rivera was “not a murderer” because he did not intend to kill Diller.

He maintained the gun accidentally discharged as officers pulled the firearm from Rivera’s pocket. He pleaded with the judge not to issue a “sensational” sentence and complained that Rivera did not receive a fair trial.

Johnson, in a statement after the court hearing, said he intended to appeal his client's conviction.

“The fact that the court stated it had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted reveals the bias and uphill battle the defense faced throughout this case,” he said.

The second suspect, Lindy Jones, is due back in court Tuesday as he awaits trial on weapons charges.

On Monday, Rivera declined to address the court but members of Diller's family delivered tearful remarks.

Stephanie Diller, the officer's wife, said she and the couple's young son had been given a life sentence without their husband and father, so Rivera should also be given one.

“You took my husband and the life we were building,” she said speaking directly to Rivera through tears. “In a single moment, everything that was my life was gone.”

Fran Diller, the officer's mother, said she is haunted by her son's death every day.

“He had a future so incredibly bright,” she said. “My world has been completely shattered. Everything feels empty without him. All I feel is unbearable ache."

Patrick Hendry, president of the police officers’ union, said after the hearing that the manslaughter verdict “did not send the right message” to police officers but that the sentence had.

“He should never ever walk the streets again, and he won't,” Hendry said of Rivera.

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

Both sides filed lawsuits against each other this week over allegations that Holt coerced the former employee to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States, according to court records obtained by KSAT Investigates.

In his lawsuit, Holt’s former yacht captain of over a decade, Jay Jones, claimed he “quit in protest” in January after his repeated refusals to transport the drugs were ignored. He claims Holt “is an addict and alcoholic,” and said that the first “illicit request” began in 2017, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Harris County.

In his lawsuit filed a day earlier in Blanco County, Holt claimed the allegations by the former employee were made up and part of an effort to extort him by exploiting Holt’s past addictions. And, that the former employee “threatened to publicly disclose these allegations unless Plaintiff attended a mediation (which they did) and paid millions of dollars (which they won’t). We call this what it is: extortion.”

Holt is the former CEO of Holt Cat and retired as chairman and CEO of the San Antonio Spurs in 2016.

Holt’s lawsuit seeks for a judge to declare he did not wrongfully terminate Jones, and seeks court and attorney costs and other damages.

Chip Babcock, a Houston attorney, is representing Holt. He told KSAT in a text message Friday evening that “Mr. Holt denies the allegations in the second suit filed by Mr. Jones in Houston. The first suit was brought by Mr. Holt in Blanco County, where he lives, and addresses the threats by Mr. Jones to either pay millions of dollars in hush money or face public exposure and embarrassment. As a highly decorated war hero and successful businessman, Mr. Holt does not give in to this sort of coercion and looks forward to airing out these false allegations against him in court.”

The lawsuit filed by Jones lists Holt, several of his business ventures, including Holt Cat, as defendants. A Spurs official declined to comment. The team is not listed as a defendant in the suit.

“Holt used his power and connections to force Captain Jones to illegally acquire drugs in a foreign country and transfer them through Houston, Texas to wherever Holt was at the time,” said the lawsuit filed by Jones.

Jones said Holt “tricked [Jones] into transporting an entire cooler full of illegal drugs,” records show. Holt is also accused having Jones use his own passport to get drugs from multiple Costa Rican pharmacies.

Photos included in the filing show a cooler containing “copious amounts of marijuana in all forms imaginable” brought to Texas from Florida, as well as boxes of generic versions of prescription drugs Xanax and Provigil, which the lawsuit said Holt asked Jones to transport from Costa Rica on a commercial flight in 2025.

Jones “had to make an impossible decision: either quit a high-paying dream job; or risk imprisonment, losing his [U.S. Coast Guard] license, and losing his ability to travel international,” court records state.

Jones said Holt’s requests for narcotics increased soon after, including by bringing drugs to the U.S. from Costa Rica through the Panama Canal.

“When the powerful Peter Martin Holt’s need for narcotics outstripped his ability to acquire the same legally, he turned to those with whom he most interacted and controlled, his employees to satisfy his addiction,” according to the lawsuit.

Records show Jones is seeking an unknown amount of financial damages for wrongful termination and emotional distress. He is demanding a jury trial.

“The lawsuit on file is detailed and compelling,” said Tony Buzbee, the attorney representing Jones, in a text to KSAT Friday. “I am proud to represent this brave man. We won’t allow him to be bullied or deterred. We look forward to a jury trial in this matter where we expect there will be many other shocking facts revealed.”

“May the Lord bless from his height, the meal our belly will take with delight,” they chanted in unison before beginning their lunch, a ritual that takes place three times a week in the dining hall adjacent to the church.

Among the nearly 50 elderly people was Carmen Casado, an 84-year-old retired chemical engineer who attends without fail. Her monthly pension of 2,000 Cuban pesos is equivalent to $4 at the informal exchange rate that people use on a daily basis. She lives alone, has no children and does not receive remittances from relatives abroad.

She says the church meals are a needed supplement to the meager rations, such as bread, rice and beans, that she can obtain for free from state-run stores, or bodegas.

“This is a lifeline for us retirees with small pensions," said Casado, speaking in a rapid-fire tone. “What we get from the bodegas alone is not enough.”

The elderly are among the hardest hit by the severe economic crisis on the island, which has worsened dramatically since the beginning of the year following an oil embargo imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Most are former government employees — teachers, doctors, nurses, technicians, custodians, lawyers — whose pensions are usually less than $10 a month and who must face cuts to the basket of goods that have been subsidized for decades, as well as the loneliness brought on by the growing emigration of young people.

They were young when Fidel Castro entered Havana and lived through all the major events on the island, from the Bay of Pigs invasion to U.S. President Barack Obama shaking the hand of Raúl Castro in 2016.

Now, their revolutionary spirit is being tested in the latest crisis, which is forcing them to sell cigarettes on the streets, line up for a loaf of bread and seek free meals offered by churches and some state institutions.

An aging country

After lunch, Casado walked the four blocks home to tend to household chores she still performs without assistance. Her home is on the second and top floors of a 19th-century building that, like many in the capital, is falling apart.

Born in 1942, Casado was a teenager when the revolution led by Castro triumphed. Her life has spanned the island’s most defining moments, from the 1962 Missile Crisis to the so-called Special Period following the collapse of the Soviet Union. She also lived through the 1970s and 80s, when the island's economy was heavily subsidized by the Soviets and when the Cuban system seemed to promise a brighter future.

“This is our life; we were born and raised here,” she said.

Even before the economic crisis worsened and before the wave of emigration over the past five years, Cuba was already one of the countries with the oldest populations in Latin America, a trend nudged further by high life expectancy and low birth rates.

According to Cuba's National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2024, almost 26% of the population was aged 60 or older. That is almost twice the regional average of 14.2% in the same year, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, CEPAL.

The last five years have seen a population decline in Cuba of nearly 1.5 million, primarily due to migration. The number of Cubans residing on the island, which stood at 11.1 million, has fallen to just 9.7 million.

The impact of the crisis and the exodus of youth is visible at a glance. Elderly people walk the streets alone —some rummaging through trash, others standing in long lines for the bread and rice provided by the ration book, the basic subsidized foods the state guarantees to every Cuban.

The plight of the elderly is so critical that the government recently authorized private entrepreneurs to operate elder care services and residential facilities, a move marking a significant departure from the island’s traditional model of total state control.

Casado insists that she is still privileged. She is mentally sharp and has no physical impairments — she doesn’t even use a cane — and manages entirely on her own. Her only medication is half a tablet for blood pressure, which, “so far,” remains available at the state-run pharmacies.

Despite the poverty and loneliness, she continues to have faith in the government and blames the country’s woes on the United States.

“We’re doing everything we can here to move the country forward,” she said. “But the thing is, we have a very powerful enemy, and he’s right there, right on our doorstep."

___

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

The S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher to its latest all-time high, a downshift following weeks of big gains driven by strong corporate profit reports and hopes that the economy can avoid a worst-case scenario because of the war. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 62 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2% to its own record.

The moves were stronger in the oil market, where prices climbed more than 2.5% as tankers find the Strait of Hormuz still effectively closed. That’s keeping crude stuck in the Middle East and away from customers worldwide, including oil produced by Iran that’s being blockaded by the U.S. Navy.

Iran has offered to reopen the strait if the United States ends its blockade, while proposing that discussions on the larger question of its nuclear program would come in a later phase. But U.S. President Donald Trump seems unlikely to accept the offer, which was passed to the Americans by Pakistan.

Over the weekend, Trump told U.S. envoys not to go to Pakistan, which has been playing a crucial mediating role. By saying the Iranians could call Washington with any proposal, Trump appeared to signal he’s content to try to continue to squeeze Iran with the blockade.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in June climbed 2.8% to settle at $108.23. Brent to be delivered in July, which is where more of the trading is happening in the oil market, rose 2.6% to $101.69 per barrel.

Brent prices were at only about $70 per barrel before the war and have briefly shot to nearly $120 a couple times when fears about the war have hit their heights.

Even with more expensive fuel bills, most big U.S. companies have nevertheless been reporting profit growth for the start of 2026 that’s even stronger than analysts expected. That in turn has helped the S&P 500 jump 13% since hitting a low in late March.

This upcoming week could be a blockbuster for the market, with several of Wall Street’s most influential stocks scheduled to deliver their profit reports. Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft are all scheduled to report on Wednesday alone. Apple will report on Thursday.

Verizon Communications joined the list of companies topping analysts’ expectations on Monday, and its stock rose 1.5% after the company said it added more postpaid phone customers than it lost during a first quarter for the first time since 2013. It also raised its forecast for profit growth this year, even though its revenue for the first quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Domino’s Pizza helped drag on the market and fell 8.8% after it reported weaker profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 8.83 points to 7,137.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 62.92 to 49,167.79, and the Nasdaq composite rose 50.50 to 24,887.10.

In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following the rise in oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 4.33% from 4.31% late Friday.

The Federal Reserve will announce its latest move on short-term interest rates Wednesday, and the consensus expectation among traders is that it will hold the federal funds rate steady. Lower rates would give the economy a boost, but they would also threaten to worsen inflation when oil is more expensive and tariffs are threatening to raise prices for all kinds of other products.

Wednesday will likely be the final meeting where Chair Jerome Powell will lead the Fed. His term as chair is scheduled to expire next month, and Trump has already named a nominee to replace him, Kevin Warsh.

The European Central Bank, Bank of Japan and Bank of England will also be announcing their own interest-rate decisions this week.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.2%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.4% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

___

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

Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office “on behalf of President Donald J. Trump" stating that their position was “terminated, effective immediately.”

“I wasn’t entirely surprised, to be honest,” said dismissed board member Keivan Stassun in an email. Stassun, who works at Vanderbilt University, added that the decision was “enormously disappointing.”

The National Science Board was created in 1950 to advise the president and Congress on science and engineering policy, approve major funding awards and guide NSF’s future.

It's typically made up of 25 members appointed by the president who serve staggered, six-year terms. The fired scientists hail from academia and industry and specialize in areas including astronomy, math, chemistry and aerospace engineering.

Every member of the current 22-person board was let go, according to terminated member Yolanda Gil. The board had planned to meet in person next week and was finalizing a report on the state of U.S. science, Gil said in an email.

“I think this is one more indication of the sweeping changes that the administration has in mind for the NSF,” said Gil, who works at the Information Sciences Institute of the University of Southern California.

Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said in a statement the move was “a dangerous attack on the institutions and expertise that drive American innovation and discovery."

The Trump administration tried to cut the science foundation's $9 billion budget by more than half last year. Congress maintained NSF's funding, but a similar slash is once again on the table for the coming year.

Without an advisory board in the way this time, Stassun said, such cuts may be easier to execute.

It could “eviscerate investments in fundamental research and in the training of the next generation of scientists and engineers for our nation," Stassun said.

The science foundation's headquarters was also relocated to a smaller building. Last year, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it would be moving into the NSF's former base in Alexandria, Virginia.

The National Science Foundation directed a request for comment to the White House. In an emailed statement, the White House said the powers given to the National Science Board when it was created may need to be updated. The science foundation's work “continues uninterrupted,” the statement 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 case came before the justices after a tidal wave of litigation that included some multibillion-dollar verdicts against the global agrochemical manufacturer Bayer, which owns Roundup maker Monsanto.

Several justices seemed sympathetic to the company’s argument that it can’t be sued under state law because federal regulators have found Roundup likely doesn’t cause cancer. Others, though, grilled attorneys about whether that wrongly stops states from responding to changing research.

Roundup maker Monsanto is backed by the Trump administration, a legal position that's at odds with some allies in the Make America Healthy Again movement who want to rein in pesticide use.

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

A jury agreed that the company failed to warn him about possible cancer dangers and awarded him $1.25 million. It's one of thousands of similar cases, including some multibillion-dollar damage awards.

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

The agency approved a label without a cancer warning, and Bayer argues that it’s required to follow those federal standards — not the state laws that Durnell and others have sued under.

EPA reviews its labeling determinations every 15 years, which can be a relatively long period in terms of scientific advancement, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said.

Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether waiting for EPA review ties the hands of state courts. “Throughout that long process, in response to information that suggests there is a risk that’s not on the label, the states cannot do anything?” he questioned.

Durnell's lawyers, on the other hand, say that federal law doesn't stop Bayer from putting a warning about possible cancer risk on its products under state law.

But Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan both seemed concerned that facing liability under a thicket of different state laws could make it tough for companies and undermine the purpose of federal regulations. “Do you think it’s uniformity when each state can require different things?” Kavanaugh said.

Bayer disputes the cancer claims but has set aside $16 billion to settle cases, and proposed a major settlement earlier this year. At the same time, it has tried to persuade states to pass laws barring new cases, and a few have agreed.

The company has faced more than 100,000 Roundup claims, mostly from home users. It has stopped using glyphosate in Roundup sold in the U.S. residential lawn and garden market. The company has said it might have to consider pulling glyphosate from U.S. agricultural markets if the lawsuits persist.

American Farm Bureau Federation said in court documents that removing it from the market would have an "immediate, devastating risk to America's food supply" at time when the industry is already under pressure.

Environmental groups say Bayer wants to keep juries out of the lawsuits because of its state court losses.

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

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

Dozens of MAHA activists and supporters on Monday gathered outside the Supreme Court for what they called a “People vs. Poison” rally to decry Monsanto’s efforts to shield itself from lawsuits.

The Supreme Court is expected to decide the case by the end of June.

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Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in New York contributed to this report.

That’s according to Luminate, an industry data and analytics company that provides insight into changing behaviors across music listenership.

A blockbuster was the cause: “Michael,” the big-budget Michael Jackson biopic released Friday, earned $97 million in U.S. and Canada theaters its opening weekend, according to studio estimates. A few weeks prior, estimates for “Michael” were closer to $50 million. Last week, the studio estimated closer to $70 million.

As a result of the movie's incredible popularity, Jackson received 31.7 million streams on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 in the U.S. and 16.3 million streams the previous weekend, Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. That's a 95% increase.

But before Michael Jackson was Michael Jackson, he was the youngest member of The Jackson 5. The classic boy group also received a huge jump in streams. The group earned 2.4 million streams on Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 compared to 1.3 million streams the previous weekend, Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18. That’s an 85% increase.

Jackson also saw a boost in plays on Apple Music. According to the streaming giant, on Monday, Jackson had eight songs on Apple Music’s Daily Top 100 Global Chart. “Billie Jean” led the pack at number 11.

And Shazam found that Jackson streams were 140% higher in volume last weekend, April 24 through April 26, than the previous weekend. As a result, there are currently seven Jackson songs on Shazam’s global top 200.

“Michael” is a box office smash despite negative reviews from critics. In his review, The Associated Press' Jake Coyle awarded the film one-and-a-half stars out of four, describing it as “a kind of fantasy film, one that relives the extraordinary highs of Michael Jackson while turning a blind eye to the lows.”

A Cape Cod seafood company has donated a rare two-colored lobster to a science center, sparing the critter from the kettle because of its remarkable coloration. The lobster found is the typical brown color on one side and bright orange on the other, and the two-toned pattern goes all the way from its head to its tail.

Representatives for Wellfleet Shellfish Company in Eastham, Massachusetts, said Monday they have been fielding inquiries about the crustacean for days. The company gifted the lobster to Woods Hole Science Aquarium in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and it will be put on public display when the aquarium reopens, the company said.

“The lobster is now with Woods Hole Science Aquarium’s animals currently being housed in holding tanks at the Marine Biological Laboratory during the aquarium’s construction period. When the aquarium reopens, the lobster will be on display, offering visitors a rare look at one of the ocean’s most striking natural anomalies,” the shellfish company said in a statement.

Fishermen caught the lobster off Cape Cod on April 16. Oddly colored lobsters often make their way to New England's docks over the course of the spring and summer, but the two-colored specimen is rarer than most.

The American lobster is usually a mottled brown, but they can experience color abnormalities due to gene mutations that affect the proteins that bind to their pigments. Some are blue or orange, some are spotted calico and others are so brightly color they're called “cotton candy” lobsters.

A two-colored lobster can occur because two lobster eggs fused and grew as one animal, marine sciences professor Markus Frederich of the University of New England in Maine told The Associated Press in 2024. There are estimates about the rarity of different lobster colors, though Frederich has also cautioned that such figures are approximations.

On Cape Cod, Wellfleet Shellfish Company said it's treating the two-colored lobster as a “remarkable and exciting find.”

Around 6 a.m., deputies with the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office executed the search warrant at the home where Elmore was living, located at 4422 18th Street.

The warrant comes after Elmore, 61, was charged with three felonies related to the 1986 deaths of Laura Miller and Audrey Cook earlier this month. His bond was set for $1.5 million in the manslaughter case and an additional $1.5 million for two tampering with evidence charges.

According to the search warrant, authorities are looking for possible human remains or other evidence buried on the property.

Prosecutors allege Elmore helped longtime suspect Clyde Edwin Hedrick conceal Miller’s and Cook’s remains and prepared a vial of cocaine that Hedrick allegedly administered to Miller, killing her.

OUR FIRST REPORT: Man accused of helping dispose of 2 bodies in ‘Texas Killing Fields’ murders arrested

Hedrick died by suicide in March, officials confirmed to KPRC 2 Investigates Robert Arnold.

“He was taken to the hospital for some breathing issues on Friday, and due to some of his other health issues, he was placed on a ventilator Friday. On Saturday, he removed that ventilator,” prosecutor Kate Willis said.

According to the search warrant, on March 25, 2026, days after Hendrick committed suicide, Elmore told Tim Miller, Laura Miller’s father, that he believed there was a body buried on his property. Elmore said the property was once owned by Hedrick, but has since been acquired by him.

He said that the human remains had been buried underneath where a structure had once been. Elmore added that Hendrick buried the remains underneath rubble, which has since grown out. He said he wasn’t sure of the body’s exact location anymore.

The district attorney’s office was preparing to seek capital murder charges against Hedrick.

RELATED: Galveston officials say ‘significant headway’ has been made in unsolved ‘Texas Killing Fields’ case after new arrest

A trial date for Elmore is set for August 24, 2026.

KPRC 2 Investigates has covered the Texas Killing Fields for years, documenting the decades-long hunt for answers in its four-part docuseries, “The Evidence Room.”

The shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner attended by President Donald Trump on Saturday night played out in front of some of the nation's most powerful reporters and editors who snapped into action in real time to provide detailed accounts from the scene.

What resulted was a steady stream of facts from myriad reputable media outlets — hardly an information vacuum. Despite this, unfounded conspiracy theories from both the left and the right proliferated, chief among them that the shooting was staged. Some spread in spite of the facts, while others used real information to create false narratives.

Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland who studies conspiracy theories, said a lack of trust in institutions and an inability to sort fact from fiction create a “textbook recipe” for such rumors. But, she said, even when an abundance of information is available the entertainment value of conspiracy theories can still prevail.

“The thing about conspiracy theories that makes people enjoy them, even if they're not politically extreme, is that you get to go looking for breadcrumbs,” she said. “It's a way to feel smart and accepted when you come up with a nugget to contribute and people like it.”

Live reporting both helped and impeded

Some possible avenues of speculation were shut down before they could begin because of the live reporting being presented — and corroborated in real time — by hundreds of professional journalists at once. Plenty still made it through.

One prevailing (and unfounded) theory: The shooting was somehow staged, perhaps as a distraction from issues such as the Iran war, or as a push for the completion of Trump's White House ballroom. The latter has been tethered to the facts that Trump pointed to the incident as evidence his ballroom is needed and that the president's Justice Department is using it to try to pressure preservationists into dropping a lawsuit over the $400 million project.

Others speculated without credible evidence that the Israeli government or military played a role — an allegation often used as an antisemitic trope. And press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during an interview with Fox News before the dinner began that “there will be some shots fired tonight in the room" — a metaphorical reference to Trump’s planned speech that was used as evidence she had prior knowledge about the shooting.

Some connected it to Butler shooting

Many found parallels between what happened at the correspondents' dinner and during the attempted assassination of Trump in July 2024 during his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, such as the fact that after both shootings there was a delay before the president was removed from the scene. Some cited video of Vice President JD Vance being escorted out of the room first as evidence that Trump and the Secret Service knew the shooting was going to happen.

Emily Vraga, a professor at the University of Minnesota who studies political misinformation, said that sometimes more information is not necessarily better, especially in such a polarized time when people can pick and choose the facts they like and assemble their own narrative puzzles.

“We just can't process that much information,” she explained. “And so when there is just this flood of information and it's contradictory and ever-changing as new information comes in, that can actually reinforce this tendency to go to a simplified, understandable narrative. And that narrative can include conspiracy theories.”

She added, “Meaning doesn't have to be tied to reality."

Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week, as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: a TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” on Prime Video, the anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” on Crunchyroll and two Matthew Rhys projects — the movie thriller “Hallow Road” and the Apple TV horror comedy “Widow’s Bay.”

New movies to stream from April 27-May 3

— Emerald Fennell’s loose adaptation of Emily Brontë’s“Wuthering Heights” is on its way to heat up the small screen, streaming on HBO Max on May 1. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi play Catherine and Heathcliff in the hyper stylized film which lets its tortured characters do something about all that pent up lust. In my review for The Associated Press, I wrote “There are myriad pleasures to be had in the bold, absurd pageantry and devilish scheming. Yet for all the big swings, Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ amounts to something oddly shallow and blunt: garish and stylized fan fiction with the scope and budget of an old-school Hollywood epic.”

— Newly minted Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan voices a tiny woodland creature who switches bodies with his sworn enemy, a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) in “Swapped,” streaming on Netflix on Friday, May 1. “Tangled” filmmaker Nathan Greno directs the movie, which also features the voices of Cedric the Entertainer and Tracy Morgan. If it sounds a bit like “Hoppers,” remember, that was an “Avatar” situation. This is “Freaky Friday.”

— The anime hit “Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc” will be streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursday. Tatsuya Yoshihara directed the film, based on the manga series by Tatsuki Fujimoto about a teenager who was murdered by the Yakuza and reborn with a unique ability: transforming body parts into chainsaws, which he uses to help fight devils now. It’s also a romance! And rated R.

— “Conbody vs Everybody,” about an ex-con attempting to rebuild his life in New York, might not technically be a movie (OK, it’s a five-part docuseries), but it’s from the great Debra Granik (“Winter’s Bone” and “Leave No Trace” ) and it’s debuting exclusive on the Criterion Channel on Friday, May 1. Filmed over eight years, Granik chronicles Coss Marte’s journey to building a New York gym that employs formerly incarcerated people.

—And finally, in the eerie “Hallow Road,” streaming on Hulu on Saturday, May 2, Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys play parents rushing to help their daughter after an accident late one night. I wrote in my review for The Associated Press that “it’s an effectively minimalistic thriller that leaves much room for interpretation and debate.”

— AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr

New music to stream from April 27-May 3

— Hold her beer, Sabrina Carpenter. It’s time. Kacey Musgraves has returned to corner the market on too-clever, comedic country-pop songs about arousal. Such is the case of Musgraves’ “Dry Spell,” the first single from her highly-anticipated seventh studio album, “Middle of Nowhere,” out Friday, May 1. But a one trick pony she is not. The release was inspired by her home state of Texas, as evidenced by a song she premiered at Coachella earlier this month: “Uncertain, TX,” which on the album features the patron saint of the Lone Star State, Willie Nelson. Yeehaw and carry on.

— Many might know the Irish-language, Belfast-based hip-hop trio Kneecap from the headlines they inspire: From criticism for their political statements, which previously saw them banned in Canada and Hungary — they’ve accused critics of trying to silence them because of their support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza — to their BAFTA award-winning self-titled biopic. But Kneecap is a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos, and a hip-hop group with a DIY ethos they remain. On Friday, May 1, listeners will be able to form their own opinions: They’ll release another new album, titled “FENIAN,” a reference to the 19th-century Irish revolutionaries dedicated to independence from British colonial rule. It opens with “Éire go Deo,” a rallying cry for the protection of the Irish language, and builds in intensity from there.

— Even if you haven’t heard of them, you’ve heard them — or the results of their legacy. American Football, like the cult classic film version of a rock band, have been undeniably influential in independent music circles for the last three decades. That’s namely for their role as progenitors of a very distinct guitar sound often referred to as “twinkly,” or with the genre term “Midwest emo.” It is an immediately recognizable sound, defined by it's characteristics: An unusual, complex time signature, intricate fingerpicking and tapping but with a clean tone, no distortion, generous reverb and so on. If that’s too technical an explanation, just press play on their latest album, “LP4.” It’s not too late to become obsessed. And “No Feeling,” which features Brendan Yates of the Grammy-award winning Turnstile, is not a bad place to begin.

— A new high-concept album from Tori Amos? Why not! On Friday, May 1, she’ll release “In Times of Dragons,” a 17-track release that sees the singer performing an alternative universe version of herself as she “continues her flight from a dangerous and powerful billionaire husband,” according to the record’s official press materials. It’s allegorical and political, to be sure, and she’s not going it alone. She’s joined by the “Gasoline Girls” — there’s power in numbers — which is also a jaunty piano number about not giving up the good fight.

— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman

New series to stream from April 27-May 3

— Roku has a new program for younger first time home buyers. “This First House ” follows millennial and Gen Z families as they go through the daunting process of buying a home. They’re guided by renovation experts Zack and Camille Dettmore. The show is a spinoff of the PBS staple “This Old House.” It hits The Roku Channel on Monday.

— The TV adaptation of Isabel Allende’ s beloved novel “The House of the Spirits” debuts on Prime Video on Wednesday. The Spanish-language series follows the trials and tribulations of a multi-generational Latin family. The cast includes Alfonso Herrera, Dolores Fonzi and Nicole Wallace with Allende and Eva Longoria among executive producers.

— Matthew Rhys plays the mayor of a small coastal town that’s more creepy than charming in a new horror comedy for Apple TV called “Widow’s Bay.” He wants to make the island a tourist destination but the locals aren’t on board. The reason? They think it’s haunted. The series launches Wednesday.

— If you don’t scroll through real estate websites fantasizing about your dream home then what do you do with your downtime? HGTV’s “Zillow Gone Wild” is hosted by Jack McBrayer and takes you on a tour of some of these outrageous houses. A new season begins streaming Saturday, May 2 on HBO Max.

— Alicia Rancilio

New video games to play from April 27-May 3

— Artemis II made space travel look fun, but things get scarier the farther you get from Earth. Take Carcosa, the setting of Sony’s Saros. Not only is it filled with hostile life-forms, but the planet itself is a shape-shifter — meaning its geography changes with each new mission. Fortunately, you have an arsenal of high-tech weapons as well as a nifty shield that absorbs alien projectiles and sends them back as missiles. Housemarque, the Finnish studio that helped launch the PlayStation 5 with 2021’s Returnal, calls it “bullet ballet, evolved.” Start dancing Thursday on PS5.

— Aphelion hits a little closer to home. It takes place on Persephone, a frozen planet on the edge of our solar system. Two astronauts are separated after their spacecraft crashes, and they have to use their exploratory skills and sharp observation to figure out what went wrong and find each other. French developer Don’t Nod says it collaborated with the European Space Agency to create “a realistic depiction of near-future space exploration” — but don’t relax too much, because there’s a hostile life form on your trail here too. Break the ice Tuesday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S or PC.

— Lou Kesten

With his last legal option exhausted, Householder will return to his efforts to seek a presidential pardon, his attorney said.

The high court's ruling leaves in place a unanimous decision by a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati last May. Householder and Borges had appealed to justices after the lower court denied their requests for an en banc hearing before all active judges.

Householder's lawyer, Scott Pullins, said in a statement that it was “a sad day” for the Borges and Householder families and "even a sadder day for free speech and the rule of law.”

“Lower courts have asked for years for the Supreme Court to clarify its rulings and they have once again declined to do so,” Pullins said. "We will now return to our efforts to release Speaker Householder from his unjust, excessive incarnation via executive action.”

Pullins had floated the idea of Householder seeking a pardon earlier, then backed off.

The Department of Justice secured Householder's and Borges' convictions in March 2023 after a yearslong investigation and a more than six-week trial.

Householder, now 66, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a scheme illicitly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to elect allies, secure power, pass a $1 billion bailout of two of its affiliated nuclear plants and then defend the bill, known as House Bill 6, from a repeal effort.

Borges, 53, got a five-year sentence for helping undermine the repeal effort. A former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, he was released to a halfway house in Cincinnati in October, from which he's to be released Nov. 12, according to the Bureau of Prisons.