Lettuce prices rose sharply in the first half of 2026 due to hot weather in Arizona, where about one-third of America’s lettuce is grown. Now, restaurants are dealing with the fallout from a cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce that has sickened thousands of Americans.

Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, said Thursday that Taco Bell's same-store sales are down 2% so far in the July-September period due to customers' concerns over the outbreak. That compares to a 7% same-store sales increase in the April-June period.

Federal health officials first tied the diarrhea-causing outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said customers in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania were also affected.

Taco Bell removed shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms from its U.S. restaurants on July 17. The following day, Taylor Farms recalled iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico.

Taco Bell's sales bottomed out the weekend of July 18-19 but have been steadily improving since then, Yum Brands Chief Financial Officer Ranjith Roy said Thursday in a conference call with investors. Over the last four days, Taco Bell's U.S. sales have climbed halfway back to their year-ago level, he said.

Yum Brands CEO Chris Turner said Taco Bell's quick action to contain the issue and its clear communication on social media helped bring diners back. The brand also enticed fans with daily specials like $1 Mexican pizza.

“With respect to the consumer sentiment, we’ve seen real improvement as consumers have understood better the nature of the issue,” Turner said. “They understand that it is not a Taco Bell specific issue.”

Yum Brands shares rose 6% in morning trading Thursday.

Other chains are also feeling some impact from the outbreak even though they haven't been named in government investigations. Chipotle Mexican Grill said Wednesday that it expects its same-store sales to rise only 1% in the July-September period because of lower traffic due to the outbreak. It had previously expected same-store sales to rise 3% in that period.

Foot traffic at Chopt, a salad-focused chain with 105 locations, was down 12% as of July 23, according to Placer.ai. M Science, another market research firm, found that weekly spending at the salad chain Sweetgreen dropped 10 percentage points compared to last year during the first half of July.

Chopt didn't respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. Sweetgreen, which has 285 U.S. locations, did not confirm a drop in sales and said in a statement that its food hasn’t been connected to the current cyclospora outbreak.

“We follow rigorous food safety standards and can trace our ingredients from restaurant to farm,” the company said.

Cyclospora cases have continued to grow. Last week, federal health officials began investigating a new outbreak involving 72 people. As the FDA investigation progresses, officials should get a better understanding of which illnesses are connected and “how complex this outbreak actually has become," said Craig Hedberg, a food safety researcher at the University of Minnesota.

The outbreak came on top of an already difficult year for the lettuce industry and people who love eating salads. The retail price of a pound of iceberg lettuce jumped nearly 20% between January and June of this year, according to government data. Consumers paid an average of 33% more last month for all fresh lettuce compared to a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Lettuce prices advertised by major grocery stores last week averaged $1.86 for a head of iceberg, 25 cents more than the same week a year earlier, according to the USDA. A head of red leaf lettuce cost 52 cents more at $1.66, and a bunch of romaine had an advertised price of $2.49, which was $1.55 higher, the department reported.

Shoppers caught a break with some types of salad mixes, though, which stores advertised at prices 7 to 24 cents cheaper than a year prior, the USDA said.

Elizabeth Canales, an associate professor of agricultural economics at Mississippi State University, said unusually hot weather in Arizona early in the year caused crops to mature too early. That caused big supply gaps until California production began in late April.

Fuel costs, which increased after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran and Iran blocked most oil tankers from leaving the Persian Gulf, have also been an issue, according to Canales. Lettuce is especially perishable and requires energy for cooling from the time it's picked to the time it's sold, Canales said.

“The cold chain needs to be maintained. Cooling and transporting it is very important,” Canales said.

Lettuce has been linked to multiple food poisoning outbreaks in the past, including two in 2018 involving E. coli linked to romaine lettuce grown in Arizona and California.

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Associated Press Writer Mike Stobbe contributed from New York.

• When: Friday, July 31, 2026, 4–7 p.m.
• Where: Sunnyside Community Center, 3502 W. Bellfort Ave., Houston, TX 77051

The event mixes practical services with a festival atmosphere. Along with supply distribution, families can access free health and dental checkups and student-focused grooming services, including haircuts and stops at a nail spa bus.

• From Braids to Backpacks: Houston foundation hosts a one-stop back-to-school boost for families

Basketball fans will also find plenty to do. Rockets staff are set to run a basketball clinic, and the event is expected to feature appearances from former Houston basketball standouts Cynthia Cooper and Rafer Alston, who will help welcome families and support students during the giveaway.

Organizers say the afternoon is designed to feel more like a neighborhood celebration than a standard drive-through distribution. The site will include inflatables, face painting, snacks, interactive activity stations and other kid-friendly attractions. Students will also be able to pick out and keep a book from the Curiosity Cruiser, a mobile library effort tied to the Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation and the Houston Public Library.

• LIST: Back-to-school freebies — backpack and supply giveaways around Houston

The bash is part of a broader NRG back-to-school push happening across multiple cities, with employee volunteer events focused on school readiness and other community needs.

Note: Availability is typically first-come, first-served and may be limited while supplies last. Some events require kids to be present to receive items.

19th Annual Back to School Drive, Health Fair & Business Expo

• When: Saturday, July 25 | 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Where: PlazAmericas Mall 2nd Floor, 201 Sharpstown Center, Houston
• What to know: This is a free, family event giving out 5,000 backpacks and school supplies; free immunizations and medical screenings; health and wellness resources; business expo exhibitors; and family activities.

Operation Backpack (Attorney Brian White) — 3,000 filled backpacks + free entertainment

• When: Saturday, July 25 | 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Where: Launch Family Entertainment, 13331 Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77077
• What to know: Organizers say the event will distribute 3,000 backpacks filled with essential school supplies. Families will also get free admission to Launch during the event, with access to attractions (including trampolines and other activities).
• Details: Backpacks are available while supplies last; children must be present to receive a backpack.

Vida City Church Back 2 School Bash

• When: Saturday, July 25 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: Vida City Church Houston, 1300 W Mount Houston Road, Houston
• What to know: Organizers are offering free backpacks and school supplies in addition to community resources.

Verizon retailer Round Room “School Rocks” Backpack Giveaway (Houston-area locations)

• When: Sunday, July 26 | Starts at 1 p.m. (lines expected before start)
• Where (Houston area):
• • 3420 7th Street, Bay City
  • 1140 North FM 3083 West Road, Suite 300, Conroe
  • 27117 Fulshear Bend Dr., Ste 200, Fulshear
  • 3351 Clear Lake City Blvd., Ste 600, Houston
• What to know: Round Room, a Verizon authorized retailer, says it is giving away $3 million worth of free backpacks nationwide during its annual “School Rocks” event.

Pasadena to Fill the Bus for Local Students

• When: Monday, July 27 | 8 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Where: Pasadena Convention Center, 7902 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena
• What to know: The City of Pasadena is collecting donated school supplies for students. Community members will then deliver the supplies throughout the day. Volunteers will receive and organize the donations.

Back to School Community Giveaway (Attorney Kristopher A. Alvarez) - school supplies giveaways + free food

• When: Wednesday, July 29 | 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
• Where: 6841 Avenue I, Houston
• What to know: Organizers said the event will offer free backpacks with school supplies. There will also be food and drinks, games, activities, free haircuts and live entertainment. More than 200 children are registered for the event, organizers say.

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

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

The Mayor’s Back 2 School & Health Fair presented by Shell

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
• Where: George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida de las Americas, Houston
• What to know: The Houston Mayor’s Office will be holding its 16th annual back-to-school fair with backpack and school supply giveaways in addition to free health/dental screenings and routine immunizations. Make sure to register your student beforehand.

HISD “Ready, Set, School!” Back-to-School Resource Fair & School Supply Giveaway

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 9 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Where: Delmar Fieldhouse, 2020 Mangum Road, Houston, TX 77092
• What to know: Houston ISD says families can receive free backpacks and school supplies, plus free routine health screenings.
• Extras: District teams including enrollment, transportation and nutrition will be available to help families get ready for the school year.

Fellowship of Love Church Operation Backpack Drop

• When: Saturday, Aug. 1 | 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• Where: Missing Bend Boys & Girls Club, 8709 Addicks Clodine Road, Houston
• What to know: Love Works is holding their annual school supplies giveaway and health fair. Organizers say the first 300 school-aged children will receive free sneakers. There will also be family activities at the event.

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

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

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

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

Judge Bob Wolfe Back to School Supply Giveaway

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

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

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

Terry Bryant Accident & Injury Law — $200 gift card giveaway (Texas residents)

This is a statewide drawing (not an in-person Houston backpack event), but it may still help some families.

• What: The firm says it will award 15 Texas residents a $200 gift card through a random drawing.
• Deadline: Runs through 10 a.m. CT on Aug. 19 (per the announcement).

Have a giveaway to add?

Send details (date, time, address, what’s being given away, and any registration requirements) to Desk@kprc.com and we can update this list.

The blitz expanded Russia’s almost daily bombardment of Ukrainian cities, including the capital of Kyiv where tens of thousands spent the night sheltering in subway stations, as Moscow apparently looked to exploit Kyiv’s critical shortage of Western-supplied anti-ballistic missile defenses.

NATO said a Russian missile entered Polish airspace during the onslaught and landed in a rural area. It caused no injuries or damage but could deepen tensions between the military alliance and Moscow, as wary European countries fear the 4-year-old war could spill into their territory.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “a very serious incident,” but added: “There are absolutely no reasons to believe that Poland was the target.”

Russia's barrage struck areas of Ukraine where weapons are believed to be stored and manufactured. Ukrainian long-range drones and missiles have battered Russia's oil sector, causing a fuel crisis.

The attack came two days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. President Donald Trump and representatives of American defense companies as he pleads for swifter and bigger deliveries of Patriot air defense systems to stop Russia’s ballistic missiles.

The Iran war has drained stockpiles of the U.S.-made interceptors. Trump has promised to grant Ukraine licenses to build its own Patriots, but production could take many months.

“Given the critical shortage of air defense missiles from our partners, our warriors are accomplishing truly incredible things, demonstrating a very high level of professionalism,” Zelenskyy said on social media.

“This Russian terror once again proves that protection against the Russian missile threat is the most important task when it comes to saving the lives of our people,” he said.

Russia says its attack targeted military sites

Zelenskyy said at least 10 Ukrainian regions were attacked, with dozens of homes, businesses and infrastructure facilities destroyed or damaged.

Russia launched more than 70 missiles, a significant number of them ballistic missiles, he said, and over 280 attack drones, of which more than 260 were intercepted.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it aimed at Ukrainian air bases, arms factories and military telecommunications and logistics facilities. The targets included drone production factories and storage depots, a missile plant, an aircraft repair plant, a factory making electronic components and a chemical plant, it said.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Russian attack killed six people and wounded 10, said Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, in a post on Telegram. Children were among the dead — a 6-year-old girl and boys aged 11 and 17 in the area of Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy's hometown, Hanzha added.

The children’s parents were killed in the same attack, but two more children were pulled alive from the rubble, Zelenskyy said.

“It was an ordinary home, blown (to) smithereens by a ballistic missile,” he said on X.

In Kyiv, Russian forces struck the capital with ballistic missiles, killing a 31-year-old man and wounding two others, the National Police press service said.

More than 56,000 people sheltered in Kyiv’s subway stations overnight, according to the Facebook post from the capital's metro.

A cruise missile attack struck the western city of Lviv, killing one person and wounding over 30, including children aged 6, 13 and 15, said Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional military administration.

In the Poltava region, a drone hit company warehouses, killing one person, regional military head Vitalii Diakivnych said.

Russian forces also dropped three powerful glide bombs on an industrial zone in the southern city of Kherson, killing a 56-year-old man, local officials said.

Poland says fragments indicated a Russian cruise missile

A Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crossed into Poland overnight, violating NATO airspace, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X, calling it a clear demonstration that strengthening Ukraine’s air defense would also serve as a guarantee of wider European security.

The object was tracked in Polish airspace and an F-16 fighter jet was scrambled to identify and intercept it, but it quickly disappeared from radar, the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces said on X. A helicopter flew to its last known location, where the crew discovered a probable impact site in a farming area in Lublin province, the command said.

Investigators found fragments indicating that the object that fell from the sky was a Russian Kh-101 missile, Polish news agency PAP reported.

Tusk had met with Zelenskyy in Lublin on Wednesday to discuss defense issues.

NATO scrambled two fighter jets, an attack helicopter and two other aircraft, and activated ground defenses, said Col. Michael O’Connell, the spokesperson for the alliance’s military command in Belgium.

NATO military commander Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich told Poland’s Defense Chief Gen. Wiesław Kukułan the military alliance “will continue to take all necessary measures to defend NATO territory,” O’Donnell said.

Ukr

aine hits more depots of major Russian online retailer

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 258 Ukrainian drones overnight.

A depot belonging to Wildberries online retailer was set ablaze in Russia's Penza region southeast of Moscow, in the latest strike on the company's warehouses, Penza Gov. Oleg Melnichenko.

Four people were injured and 200 workers were evacuated, he said, adding that about 100 firefighters were deployed.

Wildberries also reported its warehouse in Sarapul in the Udmurtia region more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Ukraine, was struck by a Ukrainian drone and set ablaze. It said the workers had been safely evacuated.

The Russian online news outlet Astra reported that another Wildberries depot in the Perm region in the Urals was also set ablaze by a Ukrainian drone strike. Regional authorities reported a Ukrainian drone attack but didn’t give information about the damage.

Thursday’s attacks on Wildberries warehouses brought to 14 the number of the retailer’s depots struck by Ukrainian drones in under two weeks. Ukraine accuses Wildberries of supplying goods that can be used by the Russian military.

Ukrainian drone units destroyed four more vessels belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” of sanctions-busting tankers, bringing the total to 205 since the operation began July 6, Robert “Madyar” Brovdi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces, said on his Telegram channel.

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AP reporter Stefanie Dazio in Berlin and Rafal Niedzielski in Warsaw, Poland, contributed.

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

Colin Gray's sentencing comes just days after his 16-year-old son, Colt Gray, pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in the Sept. 4, 2024, shooting at the school about 45 miles (70 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta. Colt Gray was sentenced to serve life in prison without the possibility of parole.

His father is one of a handful of American parents who have been criminally charged after their children were accused in shootings.

The sentencing hearing began with victim impact statements from family members of the people who were killed.

A jury in March found Colin Gray guilty of second-degree murder in the deaths of two 14-year-old students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo. Georgia law defines second-degree murder as causing the death of a child by committing the crime of cruelty to children. Gray was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the killings of teachers Richard Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53.

Another teacher and eight other students were wounded.

Second-degree murder is punishable by at least 10 years but no more than 30 years in prison, while involuntary manslaughter carries a penalty of one to 10 years in prison.

The father was also convicted of multiple counts of reckless conduct and cruelty to children.

Prosecutors say Colin Gray gave his son the rifle as a Christmas gift along with ammunition, a gun sight and other shooting accessories.

Barrow County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Jason Smith testified that Colt Gray carried the semiautomatic rifle onto the school bus with the barrel sticking out and wrapped in poster board. The teenager left his second-period class and went to a bathroom, emerged with the rifle and shot people in the hallway and a classroom, the investigator said.

Colt Gray, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, had shown signs of deteriorating mental health in the weeks leading up to the killings, according to testimony during his sentencing hearing. He also had more than a dozen photos of Nikolas Cruz — the shooter in the 2018 massacre at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School — on his bedroom wall, an investigator testified.

The teen's mother, Marcee Gray, who was separated from Colin Gray, told investigators that she had argued with her estranged husband weeks before the shooting, asking him to secure his guns and restrict their son's access.

In interviews with investigators on the day of the shooting, Colt Gray falsely said his father had made efforts to hide the gun from him, but investigations showed the gun was stored in the teenager’s bedroom, Smith said.

Prosecutors have in recent years held some parents responsible when they believe they can prove a parent contributed to a killing.

Jennifer and James Crumbley were the first U.S. parents to face such charges after their son, Ethan, killed four students and wounded others at Michigan’s Oxford High School in 2021. Like Colin Gray, they were unaware of their son’s plans but had gifted him a gun before the shooting. They are serving 10-year prison terms for involuntary manslaughter.

Barrow County District Attorney Brad Smith told reporters after Colt Gray's sentencing that the father was the only parent who could appropriately be charged in the Georgia shooting, citing Marcee Gray's limited contact with her son in the years preceding the shooting.

Prosecutors played recordings during the teenager's sentencing hearing of phone calls between Marcee Gray and her son while he was in custody in the months following the shooting. They discussed his online notoriety, and Marcee Gray told her son she'd bring him printouts of “fan art” posted online, describing the images as “extremely cute” and “awesome.”

Smith called Marcee Gray “disgusting” and said her “actions are contemptible,” but he didn't find cause to bring charges.

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This story has been corrected to show the school is called Apalachee High School, not Appalachee.

Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general stalled Wednesday as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote after key Republicans demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll. The results are a stark repudiation of Trump’s approach to the conflict, which has dragged on far longer than he originally predicted.

Here's the Latest:

Opposition to FIFA’s World Cup private equity plan grows

Global opposition is growing to FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan for selling a stake in World Cup revenue to private investors.

The FIFA project would be underwritten by a New York investment vehicle, Thrive Eternal, created by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Infantino has had close ties to Jared Kushner and held secret talks with potential backers the U.S. about creating the $20 billion FIFA Forward Enterprise subsidiary with $4.2 billion of private equity.

“FIFA’s unilateral actions appear to undermine the very foundations of continental football,” the Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa warned in a letter Thursday to member federations that was seen by The Associated Press.

It circulated as the 55-nation European soccer body UEFA prepared meet Thursday to shape a resistance strategy. The 35-member North American soccer body CONCACAF, meanwhile, said it is “deeply concerned by the lack of due process” in Infantino’s project.

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US economy turns in sluggish 1.5% second-quarter growth and inflation remains above Fed target

The U.S. economy expanded at a sluggish 1.5% pace from April through June as rising imports weighed on growth. But consumer spending rose. And the Federal Reserve’s favored measure of inflation grew more slowly last month, by 3.7%, but remained above the central bank’s 2% target.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that growth in U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — decelerated from 2.1% in the first three months of 2026 and came in below economists’ expectations.

The Fed on Wednesday chose to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth straight meeting. But three regional Fed presidents dissented, saying they wanted to raise rates to combat elevated inflation.

Higher costs have frustrated Americans ahead of November’s midterm elections, which will determine whether Trump’s Republicans keep full control of Congress.

US filings for jobless benefits rise to 197,000 last week, but layoffs remain historically low

The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but layoffs remain in the historically healthy range of the past few years.

U.S. filings for jobless aid in the week ending July 25 rose by 9,000 to 197,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week’s figure was revised up by 1,000 to 188,000 but remains the lowest in more than 50 years.

Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 207,000 new applications.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market.

Urban League report says Trump harms Black Americans’ chances at American Dream

The American Dream may not be dead for many Black Americans, but a National Urban League report warns that it’s further away than at any point since the Civil Rights Movement.

The 50th annual “State of Black America” report released Thursday grimly describes Black Americans ’ economic and political prospects as having worsened due to Trump’s policies. A copy obtained by The Associated Press says all Americans should be concerned.

“While they have targeted and focused on Black Americans, these attacks are going to impact broadly working Americans, poor Americans, aspirational middle-class Americans, and this is what this report points to,” said Marc Morial, the league’s president and CEO.

Morial urged concerned Americans to respond at the ballot box and with their pocketbooks. “We cannot be dejected. We cannot be cynical. We must act,” Morial said.

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Most say it’s important to keep gas prices down: AP-NORC poll

Many Americans continue to be concerned about the pocketbook impact of the Iran war, the new poll shows.

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults — 72% — say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. to prevent domestic oil and gas prices from rising, up slightly from 67% in March.

A similar share, 70%, say it’s highly important for the U.S. to reach a ceasefire agreement with Iran.

Americans’ goals for the Iran war may not be fully aligned with Trump, who has repeatedly said the war was launched to keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran’s hands.

While about two-thirds of U.S. adults say it’s “extremely” or “very” important to keep Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon — with Republicans especially likely to say this — Americans are more likely to prioritize low gas prices and a permanent ceasefire with Iran.

About two-thirds say the Iran war is not worth fighting: AP-NORC poll

Most U.S. adults say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, according to a new AP-NORC poll. About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has not been worthwhile. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% Republicans.

The poll shows little appetite among Americans for a prolonged conflict.

Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults want to continue military action in Iran, while about 3 in 10 say the U.S. should pause military action and seek a renewed ceasefire through negotiations. About 2 in 10 want to completely stop military action in Iran and roughly one-quarter don’t know enough to say.

Trump announces a $22.5B makeover of Dulles airport that will eliminate the ‘people movers’

Trump on Wednesday announced a $22.5 billion renovation of Washington Dulles International Airport that will end the use of the widely disliked “people movers,” the mobile lounges that have been used for decades to shuttle travelers to and from the main terminal.

In place of the people movers, the airport will add a new U-shaped passenger train, a central walking tunnel, more moving walkways and new concourses. An above-ground parking garage closer to the main terminal with space for 32,000 vehicles is also in the offing, according to Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

The airport makeover would add to a long list of renovation projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting mark on the Washington region after his term ends in January 2029. Among other undertakings, he is building a new White House ballroom and wants to build a towering triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.

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Trump’s approval rating for handling of Iran has declined slightly: AP-NORC poll

The president's approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Just 28% of U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling Iran, a slight decline from 34% last month.

Republicans also appear to be increasingly unhappy with the prolonged conflict: 61% approve of how Trump is handling Iran, an apparent decline from 71% in June.

The margin of sampling error for Republicans is 6 points, so that 10-point decline is considered slight – but it’s still noteworthy given Republicans’ higher approval of how Trump is handling the presidency overall. About 7 in 10 Republicans, 73%, approve of Trump’s job performance.

Trump’s overall job approval rating is 33% among U.S. adults. That’s slightly below where he was at this point in his first term, and similar to where former President Biden stood about one and a half years into his presidency, as inflation peaked.

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Senate panel delays vote on Blanche attorney general nomination as key Republicans withhold support

Todd Blanche’s nomination to become attorney general stalled Wednesday as lawmakers scrapped a planned committee vote after key Republicans demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had been expected to vote Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full chamber. But resistance from two Republican senators on the committee who could block Blanche’s nomination threw his confirmation into doubt.

A spokesperson for the committee said in a statement Wednesday night that the vote would be postponed “as work continues to secure sufficient support.” The delay came after hours of negotiations between the Justice Department and Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis over the controversial settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits.

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The US and Iran trade missile barrages as hopes dim for a quick resolution

The United States and Iran each fired barrages of missiles Thursday, as the pattern of back-and-forth strikes took hold again and hope dimmed for any quick resolution.

After a brief respite, the risk of a return to all-out war emerged once more, with the fighting threatening to engulf even more countries: Jordan said Thursday it intercepted Iranian missiles for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait said a strike in the northern part of the country killed one person. Also this week, drones caused fires on ships at an Egyptian port, and Saudi Arabia said it came under fire from Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The spiraling violence underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has sent the price of fuel and other basics soaring, jolted the world economy, and added to concerns about American stockpiles of weapons needed to defend its bases and allies. After an earlier hiatus had given hope that diplomatic efforts were moving forward, there was no public sign of progress.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Wall Street was poised for a rebound Thursday and oil prices fell modestly even as the U.S. said it had conducted a “heavy wave” of strikes against Iran.

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 0.5%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4%. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.3%.

Markets appeared to shift their focus toward mostly solid corporate earnings while still absorbing the Federal Reserve's decision a day earlier to leave its benchmark borrowing rate alone for the time being.

Microsoft shares soared more than 9% after it breezed past Wall Street profit expectations on the strength of its Azure cloud services business.

On the flip side, Facebook parent company Meta tumbled 8.3% after it missed profit targets while logging $42 billion in costs and expenses, a 55% increase over the same period a year ago. Investors remain concerned about if and when companies like Meta will begin to see profits from their massive investment in artificial intelligence.

In South Korea, the Kospi fell modestly after losing more than 16% over the past two days due to selling of AI stocks.

The Kospi fell 1.2% to 5,593.56, after a 10.8% drop on Tuesday and a nearly 6% loss on Wednesday. The benchmark is down more than 38% from its all-time closing high of more than 9,100 in June, though it’s still up nearly 30% so far this year.

Wild swings in the Kospi, a big beneficiary of the global boom in artificial intelligence, have been viewed by some analysts as a reflection of broader doubts about massive investments in building AI capacity.

Samsung Electronics fell 0.7%, even after the South Korean technology giant reported a record operating profit for the latest quarter, largely in line with estimates.

Chipmaker SK Hynix lost 5.6% after sinking more than 9% on Wednesday, when it also reported a record quarterly operating profit, which ballooned nearly sixfold. That was still lower than what analysts had expected and disappointed investors dumped its shares.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 61,867.43, recovering some of its losses after falling 1.5% a day earlier. Open-AI investor SoftBank Group fell 2.5%. But computer chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron climbed 4.5%. Memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings added 2.9%.

Taiwan’s Taiex, which was also lifted by the AI boom, closed 0.3% lower. Its leading chipmaker TSMC edged up 0.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged up 0.2% to 25,858.88. The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.6% to 3,804.69.

U.S. markets stabilized Thursday morning after falling a day earlier when Fed officials voted to keep the U.S. central bank's benchmark interest rate steady. Three members of the policymaking committee did want to raise rates. The Fed’s chairman, Kevin Warsh, implied the bond market may already be doing some of the work to restrain inflation, and he pointed to how yields have climbed since the central bank’s last meeting six weeks ago.

In the bond market, the yield of the U.S. 10-year Treasury was at 4.68%, up from 4.61% late Tuesday.

Warsh reiterated his commitment to get inflation back to 2% following years of faster-than-hoped increases in prices, but he also stuck to his plan of giving financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed may do with interest rates in the near future.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they can also slow the economy and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

In energy trading, the recent jump in oil prices subsided somewhat despite ongoing fighting in the Middle East.

Brent crude, the international standard, slipped $1.06 to $87.03 per barrel after rising earlier. It was trading around $72 a barrel in late February, before the Iran war began.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.10 to $83.36 per barrel.

At midday in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4%, France's CAC 40 surged 0.9% and Germany's DAX ticked up 0.2%.

The Hollywood star behind the Ocean’s Eleven franchise and other films made the statement in a letter to Didier Bremond, the mayor of the town of Brignoles, some 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Marseille, publicist Guido Gotz told The Associated Press in an email.

Addressed “Dear Didier,” the letter said: “At this point we have no idea whether our beautiful home makes it through this terrible moment and as we evacuate Brignoles,” the family wanted to “emphasize two things.”

“(F)irst we hope you and the people of our city are safe and second that Amal and I are committed to making sure that whatever happens to our village, we are part of this community and we’ll be part of making it whole,” Clooney wrote, referring to his wife Amal, a human rights lawyer.

The fire near Brignoles broke out Wednesday afternoon and burned some 100 hectares (247 acres), local officials said. The blaze was far smaller than a vast inferno that has swept up the Bordeaux region in southwestern France in recent days.

About 700 residents were evacuated and were allowed to return to their homes on Thursday after the fire was brought under control, they added.

The French government in December announced that the Clooneys along with their their twins Ella and Alexander were awarded French citizenship.

The couple purchased their estate in France in 2021. In an interview with Esquire last October, Clooney described their “farm in France” as their primary residence.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that growth in U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — decelerated from 2.1% in the first three months of 2026 and came in below economists' expectations. But consumer spending — which accounts for about 70% of U.S. economic activity — increased at a 3.2% annual clip, up from 0.5% in the January-March period.

Business investment, excluding housing, rose at an 8.4% pace, down from 10.6% from January through March but strong, reflecting a surge in investment in artificial intelligenc e.

Imports are subtracted from the economic figures because GDP is only supposed to count what is produced in the United States. Imports rose at an 11.5% pace, partly on a surge in shipments of computer chips and other products that support AI investment. The imports shaved 1.5 percentage off second-quarter GDP growth.

The Commerce Department also said Thursday that its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the one favored by the Fed, rose 3.7% last month from June 2025 , down from a 4.1% year-over-year increase in May. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core consumer prices were up 3.3% from a year earlier, little-changed from 3.4% increase in May.

The Fed on Wednesday chose to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the fifth straight meeting. But three regional Fed presidents dissented, saying they wanted to raise rates to combat elevated inflation.

Higher costs have frustrated Americans ahead of November’s midterm elections, which will determine whether President Donald Trump’s Republicans keep full control of Congress

The American economy has been surprisingly resilient in the face of the Iran war and the spike in energy prices it caused. The job market has bounced back this year from a lackluster 2025, giving consumers the wherewithal to spend. Employers are adding an average 92,000 jobs a month this year, compared with fewer than 10,000 a month in 2025 when high interest rates and President Donald Trump’s erratic use of tariffs discouraged businesses from hiring.

Still, Americans remain frustrated over the high cost of living as inflation remains stubbornly stuck above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.

Thursday’s GDP report was the first of three Commerce Department estimates of second-quarter economic growth.

Europe is sweltering under an exceptionally hot and arid summer, creating tinderbox conditions for unprecedented fires that have flared from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean and forced hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate homes and vacation spots.

Firefighters battled flames in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany and Turkey on Thursday and were tamping down smoldering forests in southwest France where 224,000 people had been forced to flee. Romania shut down both reactors at its Cernavoda nuclear power plant due to low water levels in the Danube River used to cool them.

Returnees in France clear away ash

Evacuees streamed back to nine localities in the Bordeaux region of southwest France that are now deemed safe. Among them was 50-year-old Sanachit Pho Ne Keo and his wife, who were relieved to discover that apart from black ash on an outside terrace, their home in Martignas-sur-Jalle wasn't damaged.

“Everything seems OK and it’s a good feeling!” he said.

“The fire was pretty close, the last smoking embers are still close,” he added. “But we could’ve expected worse.”

Regional health authorities recommended that returnees wear gloves and face masks as they clean up and wash children’s toys and pets’ feeding bowls and paws. France’s public health agency reported that call-out doctors and hospital emergency wards in Bordeaux had seen a spike in cases involving asthma sufferers last weekend when the raging wildfire was still spewing choking smoke clouds.

“We’re on the right track,” said Sophie Brocas, prefect of Bordeaux's Gironde region who gave the go-ahead for nearly two-thirds of the 224,000 evacuees to go home. They include 60,000 people allowed back to three Bordeaux suburbs on Tuesday.

Returnees were told to keep phones on and pack bags in case they have to be evacuated again.

The A63 highway south of Bordeaux also was being reopened, clearing a major artery for road traffic with Spain and vacationers as France enters its peak August holiday period.

Fire still smoking but not spreading

Gironde authorities said the blaze is no longer growing beyond the 420 square kilometers (about 162 square miles) already affected — an area four times that of Paris. Some expressed hope that hard-hit businesses could soon get back to work.

Capitalizing on the shift of momentum in fire crews' favor, police water cannons usually used for riot control are being added to the massive effort to extinguish embers and flare-ups, involving 3,300 firefighters and a fleet of two dozen planes and helicopters dumping water and retardants, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said. More aid came from other countries, too.

Crews using heavy diggers continued ripping up trees and bushes to carve barriers of land between woodlands that burned and those that didn't, boxing in the blaze with new firebreaks — now exceeding a total of 130 kilometers (80 miles) through the forests.

Emergency crews also set fires deliberately to burn away scrub that could fuel the wildfire.

“If we light a fire here, we know that our fire will move toward the incoming fire. So we’re not taking much of a risk,” said Lt. Col. Jérôme Jallet, overseeing a burn.

A heat wave — France's fourth of the year — gave way Thursday to cooler weather, higher humidity and even a little rain, helping the effort.

Tinderbox conditions across southern Europe

Successive heatwaves have created tinder-dry conditions across swaths of southern Europe and whack-a-mole emergencies for fire crews, with blazes flaring as others are extinguished.

Authorities in Greece said Wednesday that three firefighters had died on the island on Crete.

In Spain, battling one of its largest wildfires on record this week, firefighters tackled multiple blazes in northwestern Zamora and eastern Castellón, after progress the day before to stabilize two main fires of concern in the Madrid region and Ávila.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez warned of a new heat wave, saying: “Let us all exercise the utmost caution and prevention, as some of these fires are caused by human recklessness.”

At the peak of evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain.

In France, two firefighters suffered light injuries battling a woodlands blaze in the eastern Burgundy region that was contained Thursday. Another four were injured fighting a fire in the Var region of southern France that was brought under control with a dozen planes and helicopters dropping water and retardant, authorities said.

In Germany, firefighters using drones and helicopters battled a forest fire in the Chiemgau Alps, near the Austrian border, the dpa news agency reported.

In England, more than 90 firefighters were tackling burning heathlands near the eastern coast, with dozens of people evacuated from homes, vacation cottages and a mobile home park.

Half of England is suffering drought after more than a month without rain in many areas.

In Turkey, firefighters tackled forest fires in four western provinces, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.

Blazes in touristic Mugla and Antalya and elsewhere raged overnight amid hot weather and strong winds, with residents evacuated and firefighting planes and helicopters deployed.

___

Turnbull reported from Martignas-sur-Jalle, France, and Leicester reported from Paris. Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Jill Lawless in London, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, and Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England contributed to this report.

U.S. filings for jobless aid in the week ending July 25 rose by 9,000 to 197,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The previous week's figure was revised up by 1,000 to 188,000 but remains the lowest in more than 50 years.

Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 207,000 new applications.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered representative of layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market.

Despite surging oil prices resulting from the U.S.-Iran war, the American job market remains healthy. However, analysts say a prolonged war and higher than normal energy costs may eventually upend that, forcing companies to trim their costs by reducing head counts.

Following a 6.6% rise a day earlier, the price for a barrel of U.S. crude fell slightly more than 1% Thursday to $83.36 a barrel. Gas prices in the U.S. are also back up above $4 a gallon on average. Besides squeezing consumers’ budgets, it also hits businesses hard, especially those which are heavily dependent on fuel.

Also Thursday, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation metric, PCE, came in at 3.7%, still well above its 2% target. On top of that, the government reported Thursday that the U.S. economy grew at an unexpectedly sluggish 1.5% pace in the April-June quarter.

If inflation remains elevated, Fed officials say they are ready to raise interest rates to combat higher prices, raising costs for businesses and making them less likely to hire.

In its expansive June jobs report earlier this month, the government reported that employers pulled back on hiring, adding only 57,000 jobs. That’s less than half the previous month’s total and a sign that companies remain cautious about adding to their head counts. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% from 4.3% in May, though that decline is mostly because many out-of-work people gave up looking for jobs and were no longer counted as unemployed.

June’s tepid hiring comes after a relative surge in job gains the previous three months, countering concerns that the war in Iran could trip up an already wobbly labor market.

Weekly jobless aid applications have stabilized in a range mostly between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. economy emerged from the pandemic recession. However, hiring began slowing about two years ago and tapered further in 2025 due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, his purge of the federal workforce and the lingering effects of high interest rates meant to control inflation.

Among the companies that have trimmed their workforce recently are Verizon, UPS, Amazon, Disney, Starbucks, Walmart and Microsoft.

The Labor Department's report Thursday also showed that the four-week moving average of weekly jobless claims, which softens some of the weekly volatility, fell by 5,000 to 202,750.

The total number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the previous week ending July 18 was 1.78 million, a decline of 7,000 from the previous week.

The bank’s monetary policy committee voted 6-3 to keep the rate at 3.75%, in line with the expectations of most economists. Policymakers have kept the rate at that level since December after four rate cuts in 2025.

The split decision highlights growing tensions within central banks around the world about how to respond to stubbornly high inflation and concerns that the war in Iran will lead to another round of price increases. The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its key rate at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, with Chairman Kevin Warsh saying the Fed “will not hesitate to act” to keep inflation under control.

“The impact of the energy shock on the UK economy remains uncertain,” the committee said in a summary of its deliberations. The interest rate changes required to meet the inflation target “will depend on the scale and duration of the shock, and how it propagates through the economy,” it added.

But three policymakers disagreed, saying the potential inflationary effect of the recent surge in energy prices was too great to ignore, even though price spikes earlier in the war haven't yet pushed up prices and wage demands in Britain. All three voted to raise rates by a quarter point to 4%.

“I remain concerned about more insidious second-round effects driven by catch-up dynamics in wage and price setting,” committee member Huw Pill said. “While these may be slower to emerge, they could prove more lasting and create greater intrinsic inflation persistence.”

Adjusting central bank interest rates, which serve as a benchmark for loans and credit cards, is the primary tool central banks use to control inflation. Higher rates make it more expensive to borrow money, tending to reduce spending and lower prices. Lower rates make it cheaper to borrow, tending to increase spending and boost prices.

Consumer price inflation in the U.K. slowed to 2.6% in the 12 months through June from 2.8% the previous month, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. While the drop was bigger than economists expected, inflation remained above the bank’s 2% target for a 21st consecutive month.

Renewed attacks by the United States and Iran in the Middle East sent oil prices soaring this month due to concerns about the continued disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all crude oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime

Brent crude, the benchmark for world oil prices, jumped to more than $100 a barrel on July 23 from less than $71 three weeks earlier as the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran broke down. Brent crude traded for about $92 a barrel on Thursday.

In Britain, economists are also closely watching the tax and spending policies of new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to see if his efforts to shield consumers from rising prices and spur economic growth are likely to add to inflation.

As of Tuesday, 3,442 cases had been recorded, with 1,521 deaths, according to the latest government update.

The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, has been linked to the Bundibugyo virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.

There are currently 797 patients in isolation or hospitalized, while a further 615 patients have recovered, the data showed. Contact tracing continues to lag, with only around 78% of known contacts monitored nationwide, well below the 95% target health officials say is needed to interrupt transmission.

Displacement from armed conflict and illegal mining in the region have made it difficult to trace thousands who have come in contact with infected individuals.

The outbreak is mostly concentrated in eastern Congo's remote Ituri province, which accounts for nearly 90% of cases, but there have been others confirmed in five provinces, including one of the country's largest cities, Kisangani.

Neighboring Uganda declared itself free of Ebola on Tuesday following the discharge of the country’s last patient in mid-June.

Ebola is rare, but highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is severe and often fatal.

The latest outbreak has killed more people at a quicker rate than any previous outbreak, including in 2014-2016 when 28,000 cases were reported, of which over 11,000 people died. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.

The World Health Organization says the global risk of spread remains low because Ebola spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids, not through the air, making it much harder to spread than respiratory viruses. Cases detected outside the affected region have so far been quickly identified and contained without leading to sustained transmission, the agency said.

In Congo, however, the risk of the spread remains “very high,” according to the WHO.

The speed of transmission in the current outbreak comes amid public concern that many communities in the affected provinces are either unreachable or have been abandoned by responders in recent days over safety concerns amid attacks from angry residents and rebels.

Misinformation asserting that the deadly virus isn’t real and the restriction of traditional funerals to limit the outbreak’s spread have angered some residents and led to attacks on health facilities.

International partners supporting the Ebola response in Ituri’s Nyakunde health zone temporarily relocated after a July 15 attack on a hospital and a treatment center, sparked by a patient’s death.

Officials say the relocation of aid groups, including Africa CDC and Mercy Corps, has disrupted surveillance, contact tracing and supplies.

Dr. Désiré Duabo, chief medical officer for the health zone, said partners had provided much of the supplies, equipment and operational support, warning that the small stocks left are “almost depleted.”

Attacks such as the one in Nyakunde are causing anxiety among health workers and making it difficult for them to carry out their duties, said Pierre Akilimali, the Ebola response incident manager at the National Public Health Institute of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“They are working amidst risks of infection as well as risks to their personal safety,” he said.

Local health officials say security has since stabilized and are urging partners to return, with Africa CDC saying teams could redeploy as soon as next week.

——

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.

Released on Thursday, the annual “State of Black America” report grimly describes Black Americans ' economic and political prospects as having worsened due to policy changes from President Donald Trump's administration, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The report contends that the challenges it highlights for Black communities are warning signs for the prosperity of all Americans.

“It may be the focus is us, but the impact is not just us,” said Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League. “While they have targeted and focused on Black Americans, these attacks are going to impact broadly working Americans, poor Americans, aspirational middle-class Americans, and this is what this report points to.”

Tracing the arc of American history, the Urban League describes Black Americans' struggle for emancipation from slavery and equal economic and political rights as a gruesome but optimistic part of the American story.

Now, the report says, the Trump administration is at odds with the goals and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement, citing the overhaul of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, as well as the president’s focus on overhauling voting laws through the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, as examples of rollbacks of long-sought civil rights policies.

The report's authors offer policy and strategy recommendations for civil rights groups aiming to combat the Trump administration.

“The civil rights community must consolidate its legal resistance and turn courtroom wins into durable policy,” the report says. “The movement must build economic infrastructure that doesn’t depend on the goodwill of any one administration.”

Report contributors include a potential Democratic presidential contender

This year’s report includes contributions from members of Congress, and policy and legal experts, as well as some media personalities.

U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Raphael Warnock all contributed to the report, as well as Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey contributed a video message to the report.

Moore, who is widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender, submitted an essay focused on closing the racial wealth gap and Black Americans' history of economic advancement in the face of adversity.

“With wisdom and grit, my mom was able to lift me and my family to a higher rung on the economic ladder. But too often wisdom and grit aren't enough,” Moore wrote.

He later called closing the racial wealth gap “a matter of moral clarity” but cautioned that “government alone cannot close the racial wealth gap. It's going to take all of us,” referencing the private sector and civil society.

Report blasts 'economic assault' on Black Americans

Whether corporate America and major nonprofits are still willing to participate is an open question. The report condemns the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back diversity initiatives and economic advancement projects in the private sector, and expresses frustration with companies that cooperated with an “economic assault” on Americans, especially Black Americans.

“This has been a campaign of coercion and oppression directed at these institutions who have been out here working hard to, if you will, change America,” Morial said. “The important thing about companies is that every company has not bent the knee. Some may have done some cosmetic changes. Some have been in full and complete retreat.”

The DEI rollbacks are a jarring reversal for the Urban League, which held sway in the Biden White House on economic and social policies. The report lauds President Joe Biden's administration for signing a sweeping COVID-19 stimulus package, as well as laws supporting minority small businesses and a bipartisan infrastructure bill.

“Not every promise was kept, and the current administration is pushing to roll our wins back, but these wins serve as a blueprint for what is possible through sustained advocacy and a clear vision,” the authors write. The agenda, the Urban League declares, was “the most consequential federal investments in Black America since the Great Society.”

The organization and its civil rights allies now find themselves in a strikingly different political environment under the Trump administration.

“Looking at our current political landscape, the calls for racial healing and righting of this nation’s wrongs in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd feel like a fever dream,” the report reads.

But the study also acknowledges that Black Americans have overcome more dire and discriminatory moments.

Latest Black America report is the Urban League's 50th edition

The Urban League's inaugural 1976 report on the state of Black America was described by the New York Times at the time as “a profoundly depressing document” that laid out the persistent disparities between the economic outlooks of Black and white Americans, a decade after the Civil Rights Movement's crowning achievements were signed into law.

The report was established as a response to that year's State of the Union address by President Gerald R. Ford and the Democratic response, neither of which mentioned the economic outlooks for Black Americans. The report offered policy recommendations on crime, education, housing, social services and general economic policy.

“It is a document that does not attempt to cover up the seriousness of the situation black people find themselves in,” the authors wrote at the time. Several of its recommendations were later taken up by President Jimmy Carter, who was elected to the White House months after the report’s release.

This year's 50th anniversary document echoes the frustration found in the inaugural report. While Morial acknowledged that the Urban League's assessments may lead to pessimism, he urged Americans concerned about civil rights and economic progress to respond at the ballot box and with their pocketbooks.

“We cannot be dejected. We cannot be cynical. We must act,” Morial said. “We have to fight to make sure that those that are really trying to kill the essence of the American dream don’t win.”

The 44-inch (112-centimeter) steel-tipped pole passed through the flesh beneath Cifaldi’s left arm, missing any vital organs, and protruded from his back. After conferring with his friends — and considering the high cost of a helicopter rescue — Cifaldi knew who would save him: himself.

“I was like, ‘We’ve got to get off this mountain.’ And they're both like, ‘I don’t know about that,’" Cifaldi said of his friends' initial reaction. “I’m pretty confident this is outside my chest wall. ’Tis but a flesh wound.”

The 32-year-old nurse, who works in wound care at a hospital in Billings, Montana, did a self-assessment. He was alert. There was little pain or blood. And the pole wasn’t moving. The group used a satellite-based communication device, a Garmin inReach, to contact local authorities and inform them of their plan to self-rescue.

Then they started hiking out. They carefully descended from the plateau along an unmarked route, navigating through boulders and snowfields before bushwhacking their way to an established trail.

After more than six hours in which they traveled about 10 miles (16 kilometers) and descended roughly 5,000 feet (1,500 meters), the group reached a trailhead where one of them, Cifaldi's friend Jesse Ross, had parked a vehicle.

“The only reason it was possible at all was his confidence,” Ross recalled. “Who are we to say anything? He's the medical person. Our job is just to support at that point.”

Cifaldi had long wanted to climb Granite Peak. At 12,800 feet (3,900 meters), Montana’s tallest mountain is prone to unpredictable weather including dangerous lightning storms and bitter cold. Hundreds of people annually try to reach the rocky summit; many come up short. In 2019, authorities said a 65-year-old Minnesota man who was an experienced climber fell about 150 feet (45 meters) to his death after reaching nearly the top of Granite Peak with his son.

As Cifaldi and his companions started hiking out, the pole awkwardly sticking out of his side, Stillwater County Search and Rescue team commander Ty Williams monitored the group's progress via a dispatcher who took calls from the group.

The first call came in at 9:44 a.m. on July 20, right after Cifaldi impaled himself. At 1:30 p.m. the trio said they were getting closer to the trailhead and to let the nearest hospital know they were coming, Williams said.

"There was no danger to anybody else. He didn’t want our help and so we’re not going to essentially violate his rights or go against his wishes by forcing our help on him,” Williams said.

By about 3:30 p.m. the hikers were in Ross' vehicle headed to the nearest clinic, Cifaldi said.

When they arrived, they were told Cifaldi needed more advanced treatment in Billings. So they got back in Ross' truck and kept driving to the hospital where he works, St. Vincent Regional Hospital.

Doctors removed the pole, bandaged him up and Cifaldi was back at work this week.

"I think 99 times out of a hundred I would make the same decision," Cifaldi said as he sat in Ross' front yard in Billings. “Search and rescue coming to help you is free. The flight's not. That was a factor in me deciding to self-rescue. But the fact that I had two experienced great friends with me and we had the ability to contact search and rescue if something went wrong made that a lot more of an easy decision.”

Time was running out to find survivors, as rescuers continued to work in the Kumamoto area on Japan ’s southern main island of Kyushu, where the magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Tuesday.

The number of those missing was unclear. Of the deaths given in the latest tally, 25 have been confirmed as related to the disaster, but there were nine more deaths under investigation as likely to be connected, the Kumamoto prefectural government said. The quake left at least 86 people injured, five of them seriously, it said.

Survivors spoke about coming home and desperately pulling family members out of the wreckage. Some had suffered injuries and were rushed to the hospital.

Thousands of people spent another night at evacuation centers set up throughout the area in gymnasiums and other big spaces. Some homes were still without water or electricity, while others were simply afraid to go back.

Nearly 19,000 homes were still without electricity and more than 9,000 people were staying in the roughly 400 shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.

Concerns were growing about illness, including from the sweltering heat. The Ministry of Environment sent out a heatstroke alert for the Kumamoto area, with temperatures expected to reach as high as 33 C (91 F) Thursday.

Some evacuees sleep in cars

In the town of Hikawa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Kumamoto, many residents are without water or electricity, or both, and some are staying inside their vehicles in parks or at the town hall parking lot.

At the front entrance of the town hall, officials delivered bottled water and packaged instant rice, while the Ground Self-Defense Force service members came with a trolley to provide fresh water.

Yoshiaki Nakashima, a 66-year-old resident who came with two bottles and his beloved pet dog to get water, said he is staying in a car because of his reluctance to stay at one of the three evacuation centers in the area. He also said he doesn’t want to sleep at home because aftershocks made him feel uneasy.

“It’s difficult to turn over while sleeping in a car,” he said, but that living at a shelter is even more difficult.

Akiko Inazaki, another resident in her 30s, is living in a tent set up in the yard of her home, which has been without water and electricity since the quake. Inazaki, who also came to get water, said she will use it little by little.

“Fresh water is so valuable,” she said. Inazaki said she drank so little that she almost had a heatstroke.

Risks of heatstroke are a major concern among officials.

Yutaka Kobayashi, a doctor dispatched from central Japan's Aichi prefecture, said he was touring evacuation centers Thursday to assess the condition of evacuees, especially elderly people and those with injuries as they cope with a harsh environment.

“We have to make sure elderly people are not developing heatstrokes or dehydration,” he said in Hikawa.

While the town parking lot was nearly packed the first night, some residents have moved to three public schools where air-conditioning is running, Hikawa officials said.

A town official, Yuzuru Tamura, said they are starting to run out of emergency food supply, such as canned bread and instant rice.

Emergency personnel search for missing people

The most serious damage was at the Aeon Mall shopping center in the town of Kashima, which was bustling with thousands of people when the quake struck in the late afternoon.

The company said some 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking lot before the explosion happened in another part of the mall, where some people were still working. The mall’s second floor collapsed, trapping people.

As of early Thursday, six people were confirmed to have died at the mall site among the 11 people pulled out of the wreckage, according to Kumamoto authorities.

In the Yatsushiro area, where a chimney collapsed at a Nippon Paper Industries factory, 10 people were rescued, but eight others died, and one remained missing, according to the Kumamoto prefectural government disaster team.

Footage provided by the Japanese government and military showed rescue workers drilling through the collapsed parts of the building in an attempt to get to anyone who may still be trapped inside.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told reporters the central government will take a lead role in coordinating the various rescue efforts. Restoring electricity, gas and water to stricken areas, while providing a supply of fresh water is key, she said.

“The needs on the ground are constantly changing. To put to rest the people's feelings of uncertainty, we will do all that needs to be done,” she said.

___

Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Au is the first publicly known arrest under Macao’s national security law since its 2009 enactment and critics say his case signals Beijing’s emphasis on security and intolerance of dissenting voices, even though Macao’s pro-democracy activism has never been as influential as the movement in neighboring Hong Kong.

Au is accused of providing false information to anti-China organizations overseas to incite hatred against Beijing and the government in Macao, which has become a Chinese casino hub.

He has faced several restrictions since his arrest including the choice of a lawyer, raising concerns over the fairness of a future trial.

Au's daughter in London, Au Hon I, said a lawyer found by the family was not allowed to see him in prison and authorities seized books from his home linked to the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement.

“For almost a year my family could not speak with my father as he was kept in cruel incommunicado detention,” she said. “Now we are still unable to speak to him about his case nor provide him with a lawyer so he can properly fight his case.”

The family learned through a court statement that the 69-year-old had a preliminary proceeding on July 2, she said. The statement said his lawyer was appointed by the court and approved by Au.

“He always believed in the justice system of Macao,” his daughter said. “He believed it so much that he feels that he will be protected by the very own justice system that is putting him in where he is right now.”

The Macao government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Au accused of assisting anti-China groups

Macao is a former Portuguese colony that has operated, like Hong Kong, as a special administrative region since its return to Chinese rule in 1999. Au served as a lawmaker in the legislature dominated by Beijing loyalists before stepping down in 2021.

Prior to his arrest, Au remained a rare voice who regularly criticized government measures and political development on Facebook and in interviews, although many considered his critiques to be mild.

When he was arrested, police alleged Au had colluded with an unspecified anti-China group outside the city and provided false and seditious materials for public display online or abroad. He also was accused of maintaining long-term contact with multiple entities beyond Macao that oppose China and repeatedly providing false information to them or their media outlets.

A court upheld the indictment on July 2, ruling Au was the “perpetrator” in multiple offenses including subverting state power, breach of confidentiality and establishing contact with organizations, groups or people outside Macao to commit acts endangering national security.

A defendant convicted on multiple charges could face up to 30 years in prison.

The judge also approved the appointment of Au's lawyer, citing the need to protect national security interests and a binding opinion issued by the city's national security committee, which is led by Macao Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai.

The court said Au's rights were ensured by law. The prosecution office website said this kind of preliminary hearing is not open to the public.

There was no indication whether the trial would be public and a date was not announced. Macao law allows judges to hold proceedings behind closed doors when the court and the security committee decide hearing a case publicly could harm national security.

Macao's treatment of Au differs from Hong Kong cases

While Au's case has no precedent in Macao, Hong Kong has made over 400 arrests linked to acts alleged to endanger national security and convicted more than 180 people under a yearslong crackdown that began after Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020.

Critics say Au's situation, in some ways, is even more difficult than Hong Kong cases.

Former media mogul and pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai was arrested in 2020. But even Lai, who received the harshest sentence of 20 years imprisonment, could receive visits in jail from his family shortly after he was locked up. While a British lawyer was blocked from representing Lai, he was able to hire other lawyers of his choice.

“It’s much worse than Hong Kong,” Au Hon I said of her father's case.

Michael Polak, a barrister who represents Au overseas, said the Portuguese consulate requested but was denied access to Au, who also is a Portuguese citizen. That situation is similar to Lai, a British citizen denied U.K. consular access because China does not recognize dual nationality.

Polak called on Portugal and the European Union to speak up about Au's case. The Portuguese consulate did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The EU said in a statement that denial of judicial due process violates Au’s rights and it continues to raise concerns directly with Macao authorities.

Macao and Hong Kong have distinct legal landscapes

Macao lawyers need approval from designated judges to participate in proceedings considered necessary for national security protection and the requests are vetted by the security committee.

Jorge Menezes, a Portuguese lawyer who practices in Macao, said while Hong Kong’s security law was implemented more forcefully, the former British colony's courts still have a strong tradition of separation of powers.

Lawyers in Macao typically don’t fight for civil rights in the same way as their peers in Hong Kong and judges are less independent, he said.

“The trial itself will be a farce,” Menezes said. “It’s a politically conducted trial.”

Hong Kong has a more influential legal community, while Macao is “the land of silence” where complaints are less likely, he said.

Urania Chiu, a lecturer in law at Oxford Brookes University in England, said clear comparisons between Hong Kong and Macao are difficult because Au is the first person arrested under the casino city's security law.

Still, Chiu pointed to the inability of journalists to learn details of Au's case and his family's difficulties in contacting him, noting “the complete secrecy that all of these procedures have been conducted in.”

Au's case takes a toll on his family

Au Hon I said she was saddened to see her father portrayed as “a villain” even though he had spent much of his life putting the needs of others above his own.

“Seeing all that, like kind of like swept away, it’s really heartbreaking,” she said.

Before his arrest, her father told Au not to mind him and “live your life” if he encountered trouble. She isn't leaving him alone, but that comes with a cost.

“I don’t think it would be wise for me to set foot in Macao again, which is also very sad because I don't know when I could ever see my dad again,” Au said as she wept.

Thursday, July 30

• KK Cheesecakes
• Houston Christian University Linda R. Dunham School of Nursing
• Garbage Girlfriend

Wednesday, July 29

• Houston Shakespeare Festival is back at Miller Outdoor Theatre with a reimagined lead in “The Tempest”
• • Houston Shakespeare Festival
• In the CLASSROOM with Kroger: How they’re helping parents and kids start the school year happy, healthy, and prepared
• • KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for your chance to win a $250 Kroger gift card!
  • Kroger
• Happy National Lipstick Day! Here’s the lowdown on choosing a matte, glossy, or satin pigment 💄
• • Makeup Artist Darcie Teasley
• Tony Danza is coming to Houston this week, here is where to see him
• • Doc’s Houston Presents Tony Danza - “Standards and Stories”

Monday, July 27

• Back-to-school safety: What kids should know and what parents should watch for in case of a school emergency
• • CPR and Safety Lady Gail Gould
  • Back to School Safety Webinar with CPR and Safety Lady Gail Gould
• Anaheim: The Urban Basecamp You Didn’t Know You Needed In Southern California
• • Gabe Saglie The Travel Guy
• Houston students turn thousands of plastic bags into an award-winning business
• • Plastic Free July
  • Next Use
• Allied Outdoor Solutions

Friday, July 24

• Houston celebrates Art House Theater Day with a “Car Wash” screening and preshow party
• • Houston Art House Theater Day
• The best tacos in Texas arrive in Houston this weekend + Texas Monthly Taco Editor‘s spicy gig getting paid to eat tacos
• • 2026 Texas Monthly Taco Fest South
  • Huncho’s Tacos
• BISSELL Pet Foundation Empty the Shelters
• Rosenberg Animal Control and Shelter

Thursday, July 23

• Meet the Houston Rig Hands: The city’s pro 3-on-3 basketball team 🏀🏀
• • Follow Houston Rig Hands on Instagram
  • BIG3 Playing at Toyota Center Tickets
• Houston City College’s Coleman Campus: Training the next generation of health care workers
• • Houston City College
• Vic Mignogna on Anime Matsuri, Star Trek & life with Dominique Sachse
• • Follow Vic Mignogna on Instagram
  • Anime Matsuri

Wednesday, July 22

• 16th annual Mayor’s Back 2 School & Health Fair brings free supplies, screenings to Houston families
• • Mayor’s Back to School & Health Fair
• Tips for Planning the Perfect Summer Getaway
• • Travel Expert, Jeanenne Tornatore | The Outside Insider
  • Marriott Bonvoy
  • Official Guide to Breckenridge
• Celebrate National Tequila Day at Zanti Cucina Italiana in River Oaks
• • Zanti Cucina Italiana
• Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman heading to Houston for blues experience
• • Performing Arts Houston Presents "Morgan Freeman’s Symphonic Blues Experience"

Tuesday, July 21

• How CenterPoint Energy says they’re building a stronger, more resilient electric grid
• • CenterPoint Energy Action Center
• NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”
• Ox St. Kitchen
• Ivan Chavez Chavos BBQ
• The world’s fragrance community comes together at FRAGCON in Houston
• • Global Fragrance Convention

Monday, July 20

• Houston’s Girl Gone Grilling shares her buffalo chicken stuffed garlic bread
• • Katherine Salom “Girl Gone Grilling”
• Powerhouse performer Christina Wells, now in a wheelchair, is still lighting up Houston stages
• • Christina Wells
• When a smile needs more than veneers: one Houston patient’s transformation
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, July 17

• Hidden Omakase serves up a Summer favorite while continuing its comeback story
• • Hidden Omakase
• East Houston Medical Center works to improve access to health care in the community
• • East Houston Medical Center
• “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
• 13th Annual Ohana Surf Dogs Competition

Thursday, July 16

• 93Q’s Cowboys & Angels Concert Brings Country Stars to Houston
• • 93Q’s Cowboys & Angels
• Here’s Blue Willow Bookshop’s summer reading picks you need to add to your TBR
• • Blue Willow Bookshop
• UniverSoul Circus brings big top thrills to Houston Life
• • UniverSoul Circus

Wednesday, July 15

• Llamas, haunted houses, and mermaids?! Houston realtor Noel Collier talks HGTV’S ‘Extreme Buyers Club’
• • HGTV’s ‘Extreme Buyers Club’
  • Noel Collier Group
• Protect Yourself After a Crash: What to Do If You’re Illegally Solicited
• • The Miller Law Firm, home of The Texas Bulldog
• Skip the oven and beat the summer heat with this no-bake chocolate raspberry tart
• • Florence Jackson
• Raising Cane’s and the Norris family to honor Chuck Norris’ legacy on National Chicken Finger Day
• • Raising Canes

Tuesday, July 14

• Casa de Cultura turns a Houston gallery into a living archive one family story at a time
• • Photographer Violeta Álvarez
  • FreshArts
• The late Chuck Norris continues to empower kids through Kickstart Kids martial arts program
• • Kickstart Kids
  • Raising Canes
• Protein-Packed Plates: Casa do Brasil, Los Tios and a High Protein Bowl with Tanji Patton of Goodtaste TV
• • Goodtaste for the Soul with Tanji Patton

Monday, July 13

• Remembering the iconic artist David Adickes on his 99th birthday and his lasting legacy in Houston
• • David Adickes Art
• Spend the Summer at Moody Gardens: Animal encounters, weekly themes, and how to register
• • Moody Gardens
• There’s a story behind every building: Take a tour of Downtown Houston with Preservation Houston
• • Preservation Houston
• Celebrate 713 Day with Houston Rap Legend Lil’ Keke
• • Follow Lil Keke on Instagram
• Best places and deals around Houston to celebrate 713 Day

Friday, July 10

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Houston Hula Academy brings the spirit of Polynesia to Houston Life
• • Houston Hula Academy
  • Drums of the Pacific
• A car lover’s dream! Where to see life-size Hot Wheels cars in the Houston area
• • Hot Wheels Legends Tour
• Fire Up The Grill: Easy Grilling for a Crowd
• • III Catering
• Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Thursday, July 9

• Meet the Houston 6-year-old golfer makes national tournament history
• • Ascend Golf Academy
• Fort Bend County Fair Celebrates 90 Years with Pat Green, Sawyer Brown and a Star-Studded 2026 Lineup
• • Fort Bend County Fair
• Houston City College: College that fits your schedule
• • Houston City College
• Goode Company Seafood celebrates 40 years
• Goode Company Seafood x Texas Parks and Wildlife

Wednesday, July 8

• Fort Bend County Fair
• Fung’s Kitchen
• East Houston Medical Center hosts free FIFA World Cup 2026™ watch parties and a chance to win a free trip to the final
• • East Houston Medical Center
• Houston’s Ensemble Theatre marks 50th anniversary with premieres, revivals and, honoring the past
• • The Ensemble Theatre
• Stars of Netflix’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ chat reimagining the iconic story
• • Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie

Tuesday, July 7

• KPRC 2 Insider
• Inside the New Era of Fitness: How 24 Hour Fitness Is Rethinking the Modern Gym
• • 24 Hour Fitness
• Cosmic Ice Cream and Trill Burgers teaming up for National Ice Cream day
• • Cosmic Ice Cream
  • Trill Burgers
• Houston Ballet’s Dance 2 Thrive program brings movement, music and wellness to the Community
• • Houston Ballet
  • Dance 2 Thrive registration form

Monday, July 6

• Why Trae Tha Truth Keeps Turning His Birthday Into Houston’s Biggest Give-Back
• • Traeday 2026
• PopUp Bagels lands in Houston — grip, rip and dip your way to a viral bagel
• • PopUp Bagels
• When a smile needs more than veneers: one Houston patient’s transformation
• • Texas Dental Implant Center
• Your Bucket List Guide
• Flora Houston
• Make this at home! The Two-Ingredient Cocktail Popping Up Around Houston During the FIFA World Cup 26™
• • Bucanita by Buchanan’s

Thursday, July 2

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• These women athletes from Afghanistan escaped Taliban rule. Now the players of Houston Shine FC find joy in soccer again
• • Houston Shine FC
• ‘Read With Jenna’ debuts cozy Book Nook aboard MSC Seascape sailing from Galveston
• • ‘Read with Jenna’
• Keep Kids Safe Around Water: Expert Guidance on Supervision and Drowning Prevention
• • Bivona Law Firm
• New Sprouts in Kingwood Is Here | And Yes, You Can Sample Just About Anything
• • Sprouts Farmers Market

Wednesday, July 1

• Celebrate America’s 250th with Houston Life’s special Fourth of July Show
• • Houston Christian University’s Independence Hall
  • Baytown’s Fourth of July Festivities
  • PBS’s Annual A Capitol Fourth celebration
  • Houston Zoo
  • Blue Bell Creameries
• LIST: Fourth of July fireworks, parades, celebrations across Greater Houston

Tuesday, June 30

• This Thai-inspired hot dog brings new flavor to your Fourth of July cookout
• • MaKiin Concepts Hospitality Group
• Firework Safety | Cy-Fair Fire Department, TX
• United Against Human Trafficking
• Houston native shares how being stranded at sea during COVID inspired a documentary, memoir and mission to help others
• • Angela Harger Productions
• 5 Things Houston Homeowners Should Know Before the Next Power Outage
• • GenPro.com

Monday, June 29

• Meet the cast of ‘Young Washington’ ahead of the film’s July 3rd release
• • ‘Young Washington’
• From Houston to American homes: Good Ranchers celebrates America’s 250th with homegrown meat
• • Good Ranchers
• New Zealand by train: Scenic journeys, culture and food
• • Gabe Saglie The Travel Guy
• Gexa Energy gives back: Make-A-Wish reveal brings joy to local child
• • Gexa Energy
• Hands-on training at Houston City College prepares students for high-demand careers
• • Houston City College

Friday, June 26

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Best Friends Animal Society hosts a free pet adoption event this Saturday
• • RSVP to Best Friends “Bring Love Home” Adoption Event
• Houston’s own Tyce Green stars in Disney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’
• • Houston Broadway Theatre’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
• Stay connected with reliable internet during hurricane season
• • Ezee Fiber
• Better STAAR scores, bigger goals: Here’s why Good Reason Houston focuses on a path to a living wage
• • Good Reason Houston
• Baytown Is Going Big for the Fourth of July
• • Visit Baytown
• Rodney Atkins

Thursday, June 25

• Best Friends Animal Society hosts a free pet adoption event this Saturday
• • RSVP to Best Friends “Bring Love Home” Adoption Event
  • Best Friends Houston
• A New Sprouts Farmers Market Has Opened in Webster—Here’s What You’ll Find Inside
• • Sprouts Farmers Market
• Why this financial expert says small business success starts with financial organization
• • Aragon Tax Return Services
• Mattress expert links poor sleep to serious health risks
• • Texas Mattress Makers

Wednesday, June 24

• Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announces historic agriculture complex benefitting Texas youth
• • Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Vegan recipes to add to your summer cookout menu
• • Dr. Chinwe Orabuchi
• Could your roof be hiding storm damage: What Houston homeowners should know
• • Adams Roofing
• Companion Energy brings ‘Energy that Cares’ to the Houston Humane Society
• • Companion Energy
• Travel Mom Emily Kaufman says now’s the time to book Australia
• • Travel Mom
  • Visit Sydney
  • Visit South Wales

Tuesday, June 23

• Houston Life goes LIVE from new IKEA Webster ahead of Grand Opening
• • KPRC 2 Insiders, Enter for a chance to win IKEA gift cards!
  • IKEA
  • IKEA Webster: Friends and Family Shopping Event

Monday, June 22

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Family-owned restaurant Foreign Grill shares Uzbek flavors ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ match
• • Follow Foreign Grill on Instagram
• Prime Day Picks to upgrade your home
• • Home Improvement Expert, Kathryn Emery | Be The Best Home
• Meet the Houston skincare brand embracing beef tallow with no frills and all the beneficial ingredients
• • NutréLux Beauty
• Future-Proof Careers: Celebrating the HVAC Technicians Who Keep Houston Cool
• • Fortis College
• Why cruises are the hottest ticket this summer - expert tips & where to go
• • Carnival Cruises
  • Travel Expert, Jeanenne Tornatore | The Outside Insider

Thursday, June 18

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for your chance to win a $250 Kroger gift card!
• • Kroger
• The South Dakota Road Trip You Didn’t Know You Needed
• • Your Bucket List Guide
  • Travel South Dakota
• Hands-on training at Houston City College Southeast prepares students for high-demand careers
• • Houston City College
• Stay connected with reliable internet during hurricane season
• • Ezee Fiber

Wednesday, June 17

• WANTED: An audience ready to laugh at the Texas Outlaw Comics tonight at Houston Improv
• • Texas Outlaw Comics
• The cast of Netflix’s ‘I Will Find You’ talks bringing the bestselling thriller to life
• • Netflix’s Harlan Coben’s "I Will Find You"
• Saunawelt opens Houston’s first public European sauna house
• • Saunawelt
• Village Plumbing, Air & Electric shares summer safety tips as company celebrates 80 Years of servicing Houston
• • Village Plumbing

Tuesday, June 16

• ‘Heart & Hustle: Houston’ Star Muneera Page opens up about fame, friendship and season two
• • OWN’s “Heart & Hustle: Houston”
• Looking for a Father’s Day activity? See more than 100 exotic cars at Velocité in Houston
• • Velocité – A Father’s Day Tradition in Motion
• AEW Star Thunder Rosa balances two wrestling worlds while inspiring fans to chase their dreams
• • All Elite Wrestling at Smart Financial Centre
  • Follow Thunder Rosa on Instagram
• Transform your outdoor space with Carvestone - Plus, a chance to win $5,000 in outdoor furniture
• • Allied Outdoor Solutions

Monday, June 15

• Local 17-year-old filmmaker makes her mark with movie focusing on men’s mental health
• • “Used to Be” tickets
• WWE star Braun Strowman chats season 2 of ‘Everything On The Menu’
• • USA Network’s “Everything on the Menu With Braun Strowman”
• How Houston Habitat for Humanity is helping families build generational wealth
• • KPRC 2 Habitat for Humanity
  • Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Houston’s own Cris Sosa competes on NBC’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ Season 21
• • Comedian Cris Sosa
  • NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”

Friday, June 12

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Why the Rothko Chapel may be Houston’s most transformative space
• • Rothko Chapel
• Keep your home cool and save on energy with these tips from Champion & Nash
• • Champion and Nash
• Marco’s Pizza brings New York-style pizza to your neighborhood
• • Marco’s Pizza
• Meet Yassine Cheuko, personal bodyguard to soccer superstar Lionel Messi

Thursday, June 11

• FIFA Fan Festival™ Houston

Wednesday, June 10

• Houston physician and educator Dr. Tim Garson makes history approachable and relatable to modern life in new book
• • Dr. Arthur “Tim” Garson
  • Book: “Five Thousand Years of Controversies: A Family’s Journey Through World History”
• Ishida Dance Company presents ‘Waiting/Rex’ at Asia Society Texas
• • Ishida Dance Company Tickets
• Father’s Day finds and summer-ready home upgrades
• • Kathryn Emery
• Peptides and functional health: How Antiage Institute helps Houstonians age better
• • Antiage Institute

Tuesday, June 9

• How a community effort saved Houston’s printmaking legacy
• How custom coasters are made by hand at Red Bird Press studio
• • Red Bird Press
• A 34-Day soccer watch party in Houston with Diplo, wagyu burgers and VIP lounges?
• • The Ranch Presents Pitch Live
• Find the right mattress with expert help in Texas
• • Texas Mattress Makers

Monday, June 8

• Meet Saxboy Billy, the man behind the viral “Puerto Rico Song”
• • Follow Saxboy Billy on Instagram
• Celebrate Culture through music and movement with Tx2 Dance Company
• • T2 Dance Company
• NBC’s ‘American Ninja Warrior’ Season 18: What Lauren Kelly learned from the Hosts
• • NBC’s “American Ninja Warrior”
• Replace an entire arch, not just a tooth: How ONEARCH changes lives
• • Texas Dental Implant Center
• Visit San Antonio

Friday, June 5

• The music collective behind the Houston remix for FIFA World Cup 2026™
• • Bombón
  • Official FIFA World Cup 26™ Houston Sonic ID
• Why Alley Theatre’s “Misery” is leaving Houston audiences gasping
• • Misery at Alley Theatre
• Young Houstonians will learn how to train like a pro at the Simple Truth Will Anderson Jr. ProCamp
• • Will Anderson Jr. Football ProCamp

Thursday, June 4

• Magician Michael Carbonaro is ready to wow fans in Houston with his new show ‘WONDERBOY’
• • Michael Carbonaro at Houston of Blues
• HCC Southwest ramps up hands-on training in AI, robotics and cybersecurity
• • Houston City College
• The Travel Mom’s tips for planning and booking a breathtaking Alaskan cruise
• • The Travel Mom
  • Holland America Cruises
• Spice Routes: Cardamom Challenge a culinary passport awaits at Houston’s stunning Ismaili Center
• • Ismaili Center

Wednesday, June 3

• Celebrate Freedom Festival returns to Emancipation Park this Saturday
• • Juneteenth Houston
• Why this red velvet cornbread recipe belongs on your Juneteenth table
• • Chef Cassi
• Houston Rockets Skills Camp returns to various locations this summer
• • Houston Rockets Youth Skills Camp
• KPRC 2’s 2026 Hurricane & Flood Survival Guide
• IMDB “Masters of the Universe”

Tuesday, June 2

• CPR and AED basics: Simple skills that can help save a life
• • Register for FREE CPR webinar on June 3
  • Gail Gould
• Meet the local break dancers uplifting women and youth through hip-hop, culture, and the arts
• • BGirl City Worldwide
• Cool Treats in the Heights: Where to find Hawaiian shaved ice and frozen cocktails
• • Happy Go Lucky

Monday, June 1

• Houston Author Jenny Block drops new book about finding authenticity, success and joy in life
• • Follow Jenny Block on Instagram
• The laughs keep coming in season 2 of Netflix’s ‘The Four Seasons’
• • Netflix’s “The Four Seasons”
• Discovery Green celebrating summer with free family fun and soccer-inspired events
• • Discovery Green
• Why natural looking dental implants are the new luxury in facial rejuvenation
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, May 29

• Texas Teen Pageant Queens use their platforms to empower foster kids, fight bullying, and inspire future farmers
• • Kyleigh’s Kidz
• Immersive Gamebox is launching ‘Soccer Arcade,’ the world’s first immersive soccer experience
• • Immersive Gamebox
• Tanji Patton reveals what’s next after 11 seasons of Goodtaste TV
• Sweet, Savory & Spicy: Creative cantaloupe recipes worth trying this Summer
• • Goodtaste with Tanji Patton

Thursday, May 28

• Game day skin care tips for FIFA World Cup 2026™ watch parties and summer heat
• • Board-Certified Dermatologist Dr. Sherry Ingraham
• A Quick Drive From Houston, This Louisiana Resort Delivers Vegas-Style Luxury Without the Flight
• • Coushatta Casino Resort
• Licasa Treatment Center Opens in Conroe to expand compassionate mental health and addiction care
• • Licasa Treatment Center

Wednesday, May 27

•  Powering Houston’s future: Electrical apprentices showcase skills at annual Wire-Off Competition 
• • IEC Texas Gulf Coast
• Los Souldees is the local band bringing the sounds you love from the past with a fresh Houston twist
• • Los Souldees

Tuesday, May 26

• Lone Star College
• A Houston little boy’s toughest battle led to a monster surprise!
• • Gexa Energy
• Captain MC’s Seafood
• The Window Source Houston

Friday, May 22

• Get your bike ready for summer rides with these simple safety tips
• • Sun & Ski Sports
• This easy road trip from Houston comes with luxury suites, gaming, and a powerful legacy
• • Coushatta Powwow
  • Coushatta Casino Resort
• Hear the hits - ‘Beautiful: The Carole King Musical’ in Houston
• • “The Carole King Musical” at Theatre Under the Stars
• Support local veterans while having fun at the Patriots Charity Classic
• • Patriots Charity Classic Event

Thursday, May 21

• The World comes to Houston! Here’s what to expect ahead of the FIFA Fan Festival™ kicking off in EaDo
• • FIFA Fan Festival™
• This easy road trip from Houston comes with luxury suites, gaming, and a powerful legacy
• • Coushatta Casino Resort - New Legacy Tower
• SUMMER SWEEPSTAKES: Enter to win 3 weeks of free airport parking from The Parking Spot
• • The Parking Spot
• Train for Houston’s in demand jobs at HCC Northeast - Public Safety, Automotive, & more
• • HCC Northeast
• Schlotzsky’s Deli launches new stacked subs in Houston - Try three bold flavors
• • Schlotzsky’s Deli

Wednesday, May 20

• Schlotzsky’s Deli launches new stacked subs in Houston - Try three bold flavors
• • Schlotzsky’s Deli
• Swap, shop, sustain: Houston’s eco-friendly clothing event returns this Sunday
• • The Houston Clothing Shop
• A Houston little boy’s toughest battle led to a monster surprise!
• • Gexa Energy
• Early detection, AI tools, personalized care redefine preventive health
• • Fountain Life Houston Clinic
• Get your backyard summer ready with pest control, pool upgrades, trampolines and whole home backup power
• • Kathryn Emery
• Need summer plans? This easy Galveston getaway has dinosaurs, beaches & lazy rivers
• • Moody Gardens

Tuesday, May 19

• In the Kitchen with Kroger: Memorial Day hosting doesn’t have to start from scratch
• • KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for your chance to win a $250 Kroger gift card!
  • Kroger
• Moody Gardens
• Houston Ballet closes 2025-2026 season with two standout productions
• • Houston Ballet
• From award-winning tv to action-packed films, Bob Odenkirk chats ‘Normal’
• • Follow Bob Odenkirk on Instagram

Monday, May 18

• Celebrate World Ocean Day in Galveston with art, music & ocean fun for free 🌊 🌊
• • Artist Boat
• A collector’s dream: U.S. Coins & Jewelry opens brand new showroom for buying and selling
• • U.S. Coins and Jewelry
• Mental Health Awareness Month: How to spot the signs when stress becomes something more
• • The Harris Center for Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD)
• Spring couple transforms builder-grade patio into beautiful backyard with Allied Outdoor Solutions
• • Allied Outdoor Solutions
• Why natural looking dental implants are the new luxury in facial rejuvenation
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, May 15

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• At Houston’s Alley Theatre, “Dear Alien” explores the beautiful weirdness of being human
• • “Dear Alien at Alley Theatre
• Gear up inside the newly renovated and relocated Sun & Ski Sports Memorial City
• • Sun & Ski Sports Memorial City
• The Travel Mom on the perks of RV life on the road
• • The Travel Mom
  • Go RVing

Thursday, May 14

• Musaafer Houston Beekeeper cocktail program highlights honey from local neighborhoods
• • Musaafer
• Help us save lives at the KPRC 2 Community Blood Drive with Gulf Coast Blood
• • Schedule an appointment
• Port Aransas
• Children’s Museum Houston

Wednesday, May 13

• Why one Fulshear homeowner calls his generator “The Easy Button”
• • GenPro.com
• Family fun meets coastal charm in Port Aransas, Texas’ premier Gulf Coast getaway
• • Port Aransas
  • Red Dragon Pirate Cruises
• Local chef turns pandemic setback into a thriving Filipino food pop-up business
• • Aleng Nina’s
  • Chef Nina’s Pop-up Event at Third Place

Tuesday, May 12

• Rob Riggle among authors featured in ‘A Celebration of Reading’ 2026
• • Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation
• Texas’ legendary 1877 tall ship ELISSA joins Sail250 voyage to New York Harbor
• • The Official Official Tall Ship of Texas
  • Galveston 250 Kickoff Party Tickets
• The Future of noninvasive wellness is in Sugar Land
• • Oasis Aesthetics & Wellness and Oasis Dry Eye Center
• Chef Jose Hernandez on his roots, restaurants, and fresh pasta
• • Savoir Restaurant
  • Patton

Monday, May 11

• Texas breweries shine at World Beer Cup as American Craft Beer Week kicks off
• • What’s on Tap Radio
• Could Retirement Living Actually Feel Like a Resort? Inside Life at Eagle’s Trace
• • Eagles’ Trace by Erickson Senior Living
• Empty Bowls Houston returns for its 20th anniversary
• • Empty Bowls Houston
  • Houston Food Bank

Friday, May 8

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Children’s Museum Houston and Houston Life present a first look inside the ‘Gallery of Wonder’ on KPRC 2
• Easy at-home kitchen STEM activities to spark curiosity with Children’s Museum Houston
• • Children’s Museum Houston
• Rung Film Festival returns to Houston, highlighting Pakistani storytellers on the big screen
• • Rung Film Festival
• Scammed out of $90,000: Houston woman shares warning for seniors
• • AARP Houston
• KPRC 2’s “Eat Like a Local”

Thursday, May 7

• Celebrate National Hamburger Month with OMG! Burger
• • OMG! Burger
• How Houston City College Is Building the City’s Workforce
• • Houston City College
• The Insperity Invitational presented by United Healthcare happening in The Woodlands this weekend
• • Insperity Invitational
• Bridge the Gaps

Wednesday, May 6

• From local finds to feel-good vibes, ‘Shop Fulshear First’ family-friendly night market
• • “Shop Fulshear First”
• Why you keep repeating the same unhealthy relationship patterns and how to change them
• • Jenn Pinkerton
• Houston Grand Opera

Tuesday, May 5

• Bun B announces “UGK Been Ridin’ Dirty,” Celebrating 30 Years of a Southern Hip-Hop Classic
• • Bun B Presents “Been Ridin’ Dirty” Tickets
• From classroom to center stage: The Tommy Tune Awards showcase Houston’s rising theatre talent
• • Tommy Tune Awards Finalists List
• Houston Life co-hosts learn calligraphy with live event artist Jenny Blaschke
• • Jenny Blaschke

Monday, May 4

• “Houston’s Enchilada Queen” Sylvia Casares serving up big flavor & family tradition
• • Sylvia’s Enchilada Kitchen
• This Houston program uses comedy to build confidence and change lives
• • Comedy Unlocked
  • The Opportunity Center
• Hot products: Summer grillin’ and chillin’ with Lifestyle and Home Improvement expert Kathryn Emery
• • Kathryn Emery
• New Smile: AI-driven design at Texas Dental Implant Center
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, May 1

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Teatro Indigo
• Teatro Indigo at Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
• Mahjong for a Cause
• Sam Houston Race Park

Thursday, April 30

• St‑Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• National Pet Month is here! Houston SPCA offers tips for responsible pet ownership
• • Houston SPCA
• From Knee Replacement to the Boston Marathon: A Story of Movement, Medicine, and Meaning
• • Dr. Richard A. Berger Outpatient Hip and Knee Surgery
• Tyler Henry “The Hollywood Medium” heading to Houston for unforgettable live show
• • Tyler Henry Live at Smart Financial Center
  • Connect with Tyler Henry

Wednesday, April 29

• In the Kitchen with Kroger: Celebrate Mother’s Day with Kroger, the world’s largest florist
• • KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for your chance to win a $250 Kroger gift card!
• Sail into Alaska with Princess Cruises - tips from The Travel Mom, Emily Kaufman
• • The Travel Mom
  • Princess Cruises
• How wearing denim became an international symbol of supporting assault survivors and victims
• • National Denim Day
  • Fort Bend Women’s Center
• Country superstar Parker McCollum surprises nurses ahead of National Nurses Week

Tuesday, April 28

• Inside Golden Roastery: A popular Middle Eastern shop serving traditional desserts and coffee
• How to make a popular Arab dessert Kunafa
• • Golden Roastery (Walk-in offer only; get 20% off Kunafa items from now to May 10)
• Help us save lives at the KPRC 2 Community Blood Drive with Gulf Coast Blood
• • Community Blood Drive at KPRC 2
• Cedric The Entertainer brings the laughs in new Netflix animated film ‘Swapped’
• • Netflix’s ‘Swapped’

Monday, April 27

• Summer safety for kids: what parents need to know
• • Bivona Law Firm
• From Blueprint to Backyard Oasis: A Missouri City Transformation Designed for Real Life
• • Allied Outdoor Solutions
• First annual AAPI Fest coming to Alief
• • AAPI Fest
  • Kaminari Taiko of Houston,
• The story behind Agnes and Sherman where Asian flavors meet American comfort food
• • Agnes and Sherman
  • AAPI Restaurant Weeks
• Hosts Mike “The Miz” Mizanin and Rocsi Diaz chat reboot of ‘American Gladiators’
• • American Gladiators

Friday, April 24

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Step inside August Wilson’s “Fences” at Houston’s Alley Theatre - A timeless story of love, legacy, and second chances
• • August Wilson’s “Fences” at Alley Theatre
• Prime Video’s ‘Cocaine Quarterback’ Owen Hanson visits Houston, shares incredible comeback story
• • “Cocaine Quarterback” on Prime Video
• National Bucket List Day: A Trafalgar River Cruise with The Travel Mom
• • The Travel Mom
  • Trafalgar

Thursday, April 23

• Silambam Houston highlights the beauty of Indian classical dance at the Hobby Center
• • Silambam Houston
• A preview of Great Age on the Green, Houston’s new festival celebrating aging boldly
• • Great Age on the Green
• Kids learn money the fun way with Financial Fortunes card game
• • Financial Fortunes Card Game
• Teeing off for the LPGA’s first major of the season - The Chevron Championship
• • The Chevron Championship

Wednesday, April 22

• Houston is driving the Biotech future - starting with students
• • Texas Medical Center BioPath Program
• From ‘Dance Moms’ to the stage and page: Nia Sioux’s next act
• • Follow Nia Sioux on Instagram
• From ‘Dance Moms’ to the stage and page: Nia Sioux’s next act
• • Nia Sioux’s Memoir “Bottom of the Pyramid”
• Wildflowers, western heritage, and a Mother’s Day to remember at The George Ranch
• The George Ranch

Tuesday, April 21

• Orchid care 101: Simple tricks to keep your orchids blooming longer
• • Ace Berry
  • Flora & More
• Affordable luxury: New upholstered bed collection unveiled at Texas Mattress Makers
• • Texas Mattress Makers
• Music, food and rodeo fun for all at the Galveston County Fair & Rodeo
• • Galveston County Fair & Rodeo
• Texas Dental Implant Center

Monday, April 20

• Robins Landing Neighborhood Floor Plans - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Homeownership Process - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Volunteering - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• ReStore - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Third Ward - Houston Habitat for Humanity

Friday, April 17

• ‘Houston Life’ is live today at the Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market Spring
• • Houston Ballet Nutcracker Market® SPRING
  • Dog Collar World
  • Linked by Stevi
  • The Hive
  • Big Creek Farms
  • EK The Boutique
  • House of Cottonwood
  • ParkerJoe

Thursday, April 16

• TUTS presents ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ rides into the Hobby Center
• • Monty Python’s Spamalot at TUTS Tickets
• One ticket, endless fun at the Galveston County Fair and Rodeo
• • Galveston County Fair and Rodeo
• Carpet Giant celebrates 50 years of proudly serving generations of Houstonians
• • Carpet Giant Website (mention Houston Life to get $150 off your purchase of $1,000)
• Faith ‘One Arm Wonder’ Malton and Zack ‘Pitbull’ Ruhl rappel 30 stories for non-profit Camp For All
• • Camp For All
  • Faith Malton

Wednesday, April 15

• Brush up on your makeup routine at Blushington River Oaks
• • Houston Life Deals (Get 20% off beauty services at Blushington River Oaks)
  • Blushington River Oaks
• The King himself shares how to save 20% on tickets to the Texas Renaissance Festival
• • Texas Renaissance Festival
• Ethan’s Ohana
• Cube Against Cancer 2026 Houston
• Cube Against Cancer
• Fortis College

Tuesday, April 14

• Former Texans WR Steven Sims Jr. to host FREE youth football camp
• • Must See Foundation
• Why it’s not just the generator - it’s the company behind it
• • Gen Pro
• How the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce helps local companies grow
• • Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Step Onward Foundation uses music to fight homelessness in Texas
• • Step Onward Foundation
  • Sunday Funday Community Celebration

Monday, April 13

• Robins Landing Neighborhood Floor Plans - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Homeownership Process - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Volunteering - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• ReStore - Houston Habitat for Humanity
• Third Ward - Houston Habitat for Humanity

Friday, April 10

• Your guide to the Houston Barbecue Festival this weekend: Top pitmasters, unlimited BBQ samples, and more
• • Houston BBQ Festival
• Texas CASA’s partner agencies train volunteers to be a voice and a lifeline for children in the foster care system
• • Become a CASA
• ‘Grow the Game’ Initiative expands soccer access in Houston ahead of the World Cup with Guinness World Records attempt
• • Airbnb GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™
• Houston’s Garden Theatre celebrates 5 years with Stephen Sondheim’s “Company”
• • The Garden Theatre
• Father daughter duo Steve Zahn and Audrey Zahn chat new film ‘She Dances’

Thursday, April 9

• The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary kicks off 22nd annual ‘Chic Boutique’
• • Chic Boutique
• Aramie Payton brings Broadway pedigree to Alley Theatre’s revival of “Fences”
• • Alley Theatre
• Layoff leads Houston creator to viral small business mission
• • Follow David on Instagram
• At just 19, Jalyn Hall is stepping into his moment
• • NBC’s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins”
• KPRC 2’s “Eat Like a Local”

Wednesday, April 8

• Houston Underwater Film Festival returns this weekend with stunning ocean films 🌊🌊
• • School, college and scuba students: claim a free ticket by emailing huff@hups.org
  • Houston Underwater Film Festival Tickets
• Celebrate Earth Month by sipping sustainably!
• • Wine and Travel Contributor Daniela Garrido
• Shred Day Houston: Safely destroy documents and fight hunger on April 18
• • Comerica Shred Day Houston
• Trade-show-tested home picks: Coffee, Water, Bidets and Moving Gear
• • Kathryn Emery Home Improvement & Lifestyle Expert
• A kid’s guide to top play picks to cut screen time and spark creativity
• • Kid-trepreneur Dylan Emery

Tuesday, April 7

• Grand Marshals Kam Franklin & Brian Ching preview the 39th annual Art Car Parade
• • Houston Art Car Parade
• This Texas artist is turning Titanic artifacts into art
• • Souls of the Titanic
• In Houston, Your Windows May Not Last as Long—Here’s What to Know (and What to Do About It)
• • Pella Windows and Doors
• Houston’s Trillest Chef bringing bold flavors of H-Town the national stage
• • Follow Chef Machete on Instagram
• Texas Dental Implant Center

Monday, April 6

• Houston’s Garden Theatre celebrates 5 years with Stephen Sondheim’s “Company”
• • The Garden Theatre
• Sysco’s World Cup-themed food show is a preview of how Houston plans to feed the world
• • Sysco World Cup-themed food show
• The Houston Art Car Parade

Friday, April 3

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• WWE Wrestler Je’Von Evans
• WWE Monday Night Raw at Toyota Center Tickets
• IBEW Local 66
• KPRC 2’s “Eat Like a Local”

Thursday, April 2

• Disney on Ice
• The Chevron Championship
• Maxine Sharf brings ‘Maxi’s Kitchen’ to Houston Life with her mom
• • Follow Maxine Sharf on Instagram
  • "Maxi’s Kitchen: Easy Go-To Recipes to Make Again and Again"
• Father daughter duo Steve Zahn and Audrey Zahn chat new film ‘She Dances’

Wednesday, April 1

• Spring gets sweeter with two easy recipes: Carrot cupcake and blueberry crumble bun
• • Follow Cookbook Author Florence Jackson on Instagram
• This Houston Restaurant Hasn’t Raised Prices Since Its Food Truck Days
• • Black Restaurant Week
  • Chitalian Pizzeria
• Tarot, the Fool card and finding meaning on Derrick’s birthday (April Fool’s Day)
• • Tarot Card Reader Amber Ambrose
• Theatre Under the Stars presents ‘Back to the Future: The Musical’ through April 5th
• • TUTS “Back to the Future: The Musical”

Tuesday, March 31

• Send Well Wishes to Tessa on her last day
• • Tessa Barrera announces she’s leaving ‘Houston Life’
• Calling all book lovers: Houston indie bookstore crawl returns for its third year of literary adventure
• • 2026 Houston Bookstore Crawl
• Preview the 13th annual Insperity Invitational presented by United Healthcare
• • Insperity Invitational
• Texas roots and coastal growth, how the Oyster Bros in Palacios are redefining the gulf oyster
• • Oyster Bros
• Goodtaste with Tanji Patton

Monday, March 30

• How Autism Moms of Houston became a lifeline for families raising children who are neurodivergent
• • Autism Moms of Houston
  • Autism Awareness Festival
• An offer fit for a new you! Grab the Alloy Personal Training Houston Life Deal
• • Alloy Personal Training Houston
  • Houston Life Deals
• Who’s responsible when a child is hurt at daycare?
• • Bivona Law
• At just 19, Jalyn Hall is stepping into his moment
• • NBC’s “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins”

Friday, March 27

• Family fun, charity, & of course golf shine at Texas Children’s Houston Open ⛳
• • Texas Children’s Houston Open
  • TCHO Cleats for Kids

Wednesday, March 25

• Tessa Barrera announces she’s leaving ‘Houston Life’
• Plan aims to turn Garden Oaks Theater into an arts hub before it’s too late
• • Save the Garden Oaks Theater
• Fore! Preview the 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open
• • Texas Children’s Houston Open
• Women, Wealth, and breaking ‘The Success Lie’
• • Chantell Preston
  • “The Success Lie” by Chantell Preston
• McGovern Allergy & Asthma Clinic
• Gexa Energy

Tuesday, March 24

• From puppy playtime to pesky nipping, helpful springtime tips for dog owners
• • Stephanie Bennett’s Believe in Dog Training
• How one Houston program is helping kids discover confidence—and their future
• • Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America
• Houston Ballet’s Busy Spring: Nutcracker Market, Sons de L’âme & YAGP Finals
• • Houston Ballet
• Breaking barriers and popping corks with CEO and Master Sommelier June Rodil
• • Master Sommelier June Rodil
  • Goodnight Hospitality

Monday, March 23

• Blooming Wonders at ARTECHOUSE
• • Spring arrives at ARTECHOUSE Houston with ‘Blooming Wonders’
• Texas Dental Implant Center
• • Trusted Dental Implant Care in Houston — Board-Certified Periodontist Helps Complex Cases
• Disability Attorney Marc Whitehead
• • Expert tax advice: Are your Social Security and Disability benefits taxable?
• Allied Outdoor Solutions
• • From basic to beautiful: See this stunning backyard transformation in Weston Lakes

Thursday, March 19

• Springtime fun at the Houston Zoo
• • Zoo Bloom
  • All you can Zoo
  • Saving the Galápagos Islands

Wednesday, March 18

• Houston Latino Film Festival celebrates 10 Years with Cheech Marin
• • Houston Latino Film Festival
• Find the good vibes every weekend for Jazzy Sundays in the Parks
• • Jazzy Sundays in the Parks
• Get to know Dash rising star, Avery Patterson
• • Houston Dash
• Kevin Williamson makes fans SCREAM all over again in latest franchise installation
• • Kevin Williamson
• Self Employed? Tax Filing Moves That Help You Qualify for a Mortgage
• • Habayit Home Loans
  • Mortgage Expert Rich Bonn’s Upcoming Webinar

Tuesday, March 17

• Houston’s Mezclada Dance Company blends hip hop, Latin and contemporary dance forms into high-energy performances
• • Performing Arts Houston New/Now featuring Mezclada Dance Company
• METRO rolls out systemwide changes: A first look at the new technology to help streamline your ride
• • Metro Houston
• Houston Life Deals: Fun & savings for the entire family
• • HoustonLifeDeals.com
• Frontier Utilities teams with Kids’ Meals Houston to pack thousands of meals
• • Frontier Utilities

Monday, March 16

• Affordable rodeo-ready outfits you can find at Target this season
• • Target.com
• Houston’s growing need for linemen: Why the trade pays and how to start
• • IBEW Local 66
• ET hosts Nischelle Turner and Kevin Frazier share highlights from the 98th Academy Awards
• • Entertainment Tonight Oscars Coverage
• Houston Ballet principal dancer Karina González brings Frida Kahlo to life in Broken Wings
• • “Broken Wings” at Houston Ballet Tickets
• The Largest Indoor Waterpark in the U.S.? It’s Just a Road Trip from Houston
• • Kalahari Resorts and Conventions

Friday, March 13

• HL Rhythm Energy Question of the Week
• Houston Life Deals: Fun & savings for the entire family
• Outriding the Devil: Angela Ganter’s incredible rodeo comeback
• • Outriding the Devil premieres at River Oaks Theatre
• ‘Aliens’ 40th anniversary cast reunion and more at Pop Culture Con 2026
• • Pop Culture Con
• Alley Theatre brings Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest” to Houston with a fresh twist
• • “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Alley Theatre Tickets
• Bounce your way to better fitness: trampoline workouts in West U
• • Motiv Fitness at West University
• Moon 2 Mars Festival returns to Space Center Houston with out-of-this-world fun and concerts this spring break
• • Space Center Houston

Thursday, March 12

• KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for your chance to see Tim McGraw at RODEOHOUSTON
• The Birthday Joy Program helps kids in foster care, shelters and group homes celebrate their special day
• • the Birthday Joy Program Website
• Inside “The Feminine Universe” Houston’s new all-women immersive art experience
• • The Feminine Universe Art Show Tickets
• Bring the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo home with these sips and bites
• • Entertaining Expert Paul Zahn
• Spring is in full swing at CITYCENTRE Houston
• • CITYCENTRE
• Kalahari Resorts and Conventions

Tuesday, March 10

• Enjoy Spring Break at the Houston Museum of Natural Science
• • Houston Museum of Natural Science
• Honoring the fallen & recognizing community heroes
• • Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
  • BP America
• Houston author Margie Seaman proves it is never too late to chase a dream
• • Margie Seaman
  • “Someday Is Our Horizon” by Margie Seaman on Amazon

Monday, March 9

• NestFest beach cleanup invites volunteers to protect nesting sea turtles on the Galveston Coast
• From bumper boats to STEAM activities, enjoy a FUNonmenal spring break at Discovery Green
• • FUNomenal Spring Break at Discovery Green
• This veteran-owned business is helping Houstonians keep the heat the out and the savings in with new windows
• • The Window Source
• You’ve been diagnosed with cancer, now what? Non-profit CanCare pairs you with survivors who can help
• • CanCare
• Spring Break Staycation: Why The Travel Mom says Houston families love Great Wolf Lodge
• • The Travel Mom
  • Great Wolf Lodge

Friday, March 6

• Houston Life Deals
• Pickle vs. anime: Largest pickle festival in Texas comes to Rosenberg with anime-inspired food
• • In A Pickle Festival
• Expedia’s 2026 Air Hacks: Best days to book, when to fly and top savings
• • Expedia Air Hacks Report
• The Parking Spot making airport parking a breeze
• • The Parking Spot
• A rustic dream venue just outside Houston
• • Country Oaks Venue
• Rare Texas artifacts step out ‘From the Vault’ at The Bryan Museum
• • The Bryan Museum
• Rhythm Energy Question of the Week

Thursday, March 5

• Gold Buckle Foodie Awards at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Houston Life Deals
• Avoiding vacation headaches: New Vrbo survey on group travel reveals common pet peeves
• • Vrbo
• Houston wellness trend: A local body sculpting technique focused on lymphatic health
• • The Tox
• Catching up with Russell Dickerson ahead of debut RODEOHOUSTON performance
• • RODEOHOUSTON

Wednesday, March 4

• Houston Life Deals
• Moon 2 Mars Festival returns to Space Center Houston with out-of-this-world fun and concerts this spring break
• • Space Center Houston
• What to Wear to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: Your Ultimate Style Guide 
• • Boot Barn
• Destin-Fort Walton Beach, more than beaches: reefs, fishing, little adventures
• • Visit Destin-Fort Walton Beach
• Baz Luhrmann’s ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ gives fans a front-row seat to The King
• • “EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert” Film

Tuesday, March 3

• Diana Ross coming to Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
• Learn about the untold history of Black baseball
• • Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy
• Houston Life Deals
• Modern dental implants give Houston patients natural, comfortable smiles
• • Texas Dental Implant Center
• Houston native Kyrie McAlpin Talks ‘The Burbs’, Keke Palmer & a very Seth MacFarlane Christmas party

Monday, March 2

• Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• • Houston Life kicks off opening day at 2026 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Suits & Boot Injury Lawyers

Friday, February 27

• Gabriel Basso takes us behind the scenes of Netflix’s ‘The Night Agent’
• • Netflix’s “The Night Agent”
• Mudbug Mania: Tanji Patton celebrates crawfish season in Houston
• • Goodtaste with Tanji Patton
  • Crawfish Shack
  • Crawfish Hideaway
• Theatre Under The Stars reveals 2026-27 season with Broadway tours & local shows
• • Theatre Under the Stars
• Boot Barn
• What to see and do in Malta — beaches, history and booking tips from The Travel Mom
• • The Travel Mom

Thursday, February 26

• Diana Ross at The Sugar Land Smart Financial Center
• KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for a chance to see Creed perform at RodeoHouston
• Get a peek inside RodeoHouston’s World Championship BBQ Cookoff
• • Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Soulful river cruises that connect Black travelers to heritage and culture
• • AmaWaterways Soulful Experience River Cruise
• Houston Life Deals
• Allied Outdoor Solutions
• HCC Southeast College

Wednesday, February 25

• Behind the scenes of TUTS’ ‘Million Dollar Quartet’
• • Tickets to ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ at Theatre Under the Stars
• Houston influencers share their best thrifting tips for Rodeo
• • Find your nearest Goodwill store
• Plan the ultimate spring break getaway for everyone at Moody Gardens
• • Moody Gardens
• Ride along: METRO Police Chief explains new safety measures for Houston transit
• • Metro Houston

Tuesday, February 24

• Spring Break, but make it San Antonio
• • Visit San Antonio
• Alley Theatre’s ‘English’ explores identity, belonging, and the weight of learning a new language
• • Tickets to ‘English’ at Alley Theatre
• Looking for a Career Change? Here’s How You Could Be Job-Ready in 10 Months
• • Learn more about programs at United Education Institute Houston

Monday, February 23 (WE ARE BACK!!!)

• Indian Film Festival of Houston celebrates France with film, food and culture
• • Indian Film Festival of Houston Website
• KPRC 2 INSIDERS: Enter for a chance to see Riley Green perform at RodeoHouston
• • Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo
• Chris Hemsworth will keep you on the edge of your seat in ‘Crime 101’
• • “Crime 101” Movie Times
• Modern dental implants give Houston patients natural, comfortable smiles
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

February 6 - 20

• Houston is off air due to the Winter Olympics, but that doesn’t mean we’ll stop entertaining you. Be sure to follow us on social media to see all the HL fun. We’ll be back Feb. 23.
• • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest

Thursday, February 5

• Papa Johns Pizza
• The Cody Stephens Foundation saves lives with free heart screenings for young athletes
• • Cody Stephens Foundation
• Get ready for the return of the one and only Monster Jam in Houston
• • Tickets to Monster Jam at NRG Stadium
• Getting your best night’s sleep: How the latest materials and technology can help you sleep better
• • Texas Mattress Makers
• What is an “Orphan Generator”? And why it could put Houston homes at risk during an outage
• • GenPro.com
• Follow Mersha the Mini Panther on Instagram (Use MERSHA20 to get a discount at PrettyLitter)

Wednesday, February 4

• Simon & Garfunkel Story at The Sugar Land Smart Financial Center
• Behind the scenes of ‘Real Women Have Curves’ on stage at Alley Theatre
• • Tickets to ‘Real Women Have Curves’ at Alley Theatre
• Decoding body language: How to spot liars, read subtle signals, and communicate with confidence
• • Jan Hargrave
• In the Kitchen with Kroger: Why they are your one stop shop for the Big Game and Valentine’s Day
• • Kroger

Tuesday, February 3

• MFAH’s new exhibit explores Frida Kahlo’s lasting legacy
• • ‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’ at MFAH
• United Way of Greater Houston’s 211: Help is one call away
• • United Way of Greater Houston’s 211 Helpline
• After the freeze - now what? How to care for perennials and shrubs in Houston
• • Gardening with Skip
  • Houston Home and Garden Show
• Go back in time at Popfancy Dessert Bar’s new retro 80’s sci-fi arcade cafe
• • Popfancy Fan Cafe

Monday, February 2

• Kenny G at The Sugar Land Smart Financial Center
• The relationship advice that helps couples feel closer — even during hard conversations
• • Connection Expert Jenn Pinkerton
  • Connectin Cards Couples Edition on Amazon
• Paris Hilton’s “Infinite Icon”
• Arandas Bakery
• Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, January 30

• Monster Energy Supercross heads into Houston featuring the world’s fastest racers
• • Monster Energy Supercross at NRG Stadium This Weekend
• From Trinidad and Tobago to Top Chef: Tristen Epps’ journey is rooted in culture
• • Chef Tristen Epps
  • A Classically Black Dinner - Vibrant + Modern + African
• Few physicians leave a legacy like this: Houston honors cancer pioneer Dr. Philip Salem
• • Salem Oncology Center
• The Travel Mom: Family-Friendly Wave-Season Deals from Princess
• • The Travel Mom
  • Princess Cruises

Thursday, January 29

• The Simon & Garfunkel Story at The Sugar Land Smart Financial Center
• Former KPRC 2 reporter shares ‘With Love From Harlem’: The story behind America’s First Black power couple
• • ReShonda Tate’s new book ‘With Love from Harlem’
• American Home Buyer
• How personalized aesthetics - Botox, fillers & lasers - can help you age better
• • Anti Age Institute
• The cast of ‘Bridgerton’ takes us behind-the-scenes of the ton for season 4
• • Netflix’s Bridgerton Season 4

Wednesday, January 28

• KPRC 2’s new evening anchor Stephania Jimenez makes her Houston debut with passion and purpose
• • Follow Stephania on her KPRC 2 Instagram Account
• Cars, boats and more: What to know about this year’s Houston AutoBoative Show 2026
• • Houston Autoboative Show (Save $20 with Family Four Pack Option)
• Get a taste of Old Town Katy with Tanji Patton of Goodtaste TV
• • Goodtaste with Tanji Patton
  • Peanut Butter Pie from Southern Dough
  • Southern Dough Baking Co.
  • Humble Grounds Coffeehouse
  • Harvest Kitchen & Bakery
• A Family Business Built on Trust: Luke’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning Serves Houston for Over 30 Years
• • Luke’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning

Tuesday, January 27

• Remembering the iconic artist David Adickes on his 99th birthday and his lasting legacy in Houston
• • David Adickes Art Website
  • Follow ‘Adickes Art’ on Instagram
• Plan a Vacation Day: Experts share 2026 travel trends and how to protect your trip
• • The Travel Mom
  • Follow The Travel Mom Emily Kaufman on Instagram
  • Travel Guard Insurance
• Texans Serving Texans: Gexa Energy gives back
• • Gexa Energy
• Bill Skarsgård steps beyond horror roots in new film, ‘Dead Man’s Wire’

Monday, January 26

• Houston relationship and intimacy expert dishes on the small relationship habits that make love last
• • Houston Relationship Therapy
  • VIVID Relationships app
• Crawfish & Noodles gearing up for a busy crawfish season
• • Crawfish & Noodles
• Traveling smarter in 2026: What travel experts say to book now
• • Travel Expert Jeanenne Tornatore
  • Follow the Outside Insider on Instagram

Friday, January 23

• Discover why Sam Houston Race Park is a top spot for family outings with “Houston Life”
• • Sam Houston Race Park
  • Corgi Races
  • Shannon Jewelers Presents Diamond Dig
  • Wiener Dog Races

Thursday, January 22

• WEIGH IN: What are your must have products during a freeze?
• Cars, boats and more: What to know about this year’s Houston AutoBoative Show 2026
• • Houston Autoboative Show (Save $20 with Family Four Pack Option)
• Honoring Dr. Philip A. Salem for innovations in cancer care and research
• • Salem Oncology Center
• Bert Kreischer talks fatherhood, fame, and his new scripted comedy series, “Free Bert”
• • Netflix’s “Free Bert”
• Last chance to enjoy the Green Mountain Energy Ice at Discovery Green
• • Ice at Discovery Green

Wednesday, January 21

• Seth Rogen, Ike Barinholtz & Chase Sui Wonders chat comedy series ‘The Studio’
• • Apple Tv+’s ‘The Studio’
• Allied Outdoor Solutions
• Living Designs Furniture
• The Women’s Resource empowers women and girls through free financial and career coaching services
• • The Women’s Resource
• Houston woman helps bring Black cowboy history to PBS
• • Alma’s Way on PBS Kids
  • Black Cowboy Coalition

Friday, January 16

• School Makes You Super: KPRC-TV reporter and mom Haley Hernandez debuts first children’s book to ease school anxiety
• • Buy ‘School Makes You Super" here
• Children’s Museum Houston celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• • MLK Day Celebration at Children’s Museum Houston
• Two experts explain why Key Largo, Florida should be on your 2026 travel list
• • The Travel Mom
• The man known as “the human lie detector” works to keep serial killers behind bars
• • Killer Confessions

Thursday, January 15

• Young voices, lasting legacy: Houston students honor Dr. King in 30th Annual Oratory Competition
• • Foley MLK Jr. Oratory Competition
• Breaking through the plateau with Dr. Ian Smith’s ‘The Last 15′
• • Follow Dr. Ian Smith on Instagram
  • Purchase “The Last 15″ on Amazon
• Mindful eating tips and a pesto vinaigrette recipe to kickstart a healthier new year
• • Leaf & Grain
• Stay powered and protected with GenPro.com, Houston’s premier generator specialists
• • Call or log on to book an estimate and receive a functional mini generator worth $50 for FREE

Wednesday, January 14

• Check out the fun, food and giveaways for Houston Rockets fans this week
• • Houston Rockets Game Day Tickets
• A Kroger pharmacist’s guide to everyday wellness in 2026
• • Enter for a chance to win a Kroger gift card
  • Kroger
• Mix-MATCH Festival returns with over 20 performances celebrating Houston’s creative spirit
• • Tickets to 3rd Annual Mix-MATCH Festival
  • Daisies & Pancakes

Tuesday, January 13

• Kick off the new year with magic: Magician Curt Miller returns with his show “The Conjurer”
• • Curt Miller
  • Tickets to The Conjurer: An Intimate Magical Experience with Curt Miller
• Brad Meltzer Book Signing
• • Follow Brad Meltzer on Instagram
• Innovative Lasers of Houston

Monday, January 12

• Turn to tea this year to slow down, reset, and satisfy without regrets
• • Tea Please
• The Travel Mom: Family fun at Knott’s Berry Farm - a California getaway everyone will love
• • The Travel Mom
  • Visit Buena Park
  • Knott’s Berry Farm
• Pet adoption events for the new year at Fort Bend County Animal Services
• • Fort Bend County Animal Services
• New Year, New Smile: AI-driven smile design at Texas Dental Implant Center
• • Texas Dental Implant Center

Friday, January 9

• Shop The Sale Houston with proceeds benefitting childhood cancer research
• • The Sale Houston
• A new chapter begins: Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones chat about their new pairing
• • TODAY with Jenna & Sheinelle
• Former radio personality, Sarah Pepper returns to Texas to emcee 2026 Chevron Houston Marathon
• • Follow Sarah Pepper on Instagram

Thursday, January 8

• Belle comes to Houston - Kyra Belle Johnson stars in Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’ now at the Hobby Center
• • Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” Tickets at Hobby Center
• Mathew Knowles launches new Destiny’s Child nationwide tribute tour; Houston is first stop
• • Destiny’s Child: Iconic Reimagined Tribute Tickets
• Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo

Wednesday, January 7

• The story behind Luke’s Plumbing and Air Conditioning serving Houstonians since 1991
• • Luke’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning
• Where karaoke meets claw machines: Welcome to Klaw‑Oke Kingdom in Pearland
• • Klaw-Oke Kingdom
• Brace yourself, the 1993 Oilers vs. Bills game is featured in new docuseries ‘Don’t Call it a Comeback’
• • VICE TV’s “Don’t Call It A Comeback”
• New Year, Strong Start: EōS Fitness Experts Share Tips to Crush 2026 Goals
• • EōS Fitness

Tuesday, January 6

• Houston bagel pros talk schmear, slices and specials ahead of National Bagel Day
• • Bagel Shop Bakery
• Comedian Chinedu Ogu takes H-Town-rooted comedy on a national tour
• • Chinedu at Punch Line Houston
• Start your new year weight loss journey at Health Solutions and Weightloss
• • Health Solutions and Weightloss
• Enroll Now: Key deadlines and tips for 2026 Marketplace coverage
• • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas

Monday, January 5

• Rosca de Reyes Season is here - and this Houston bakery is busy
• • Arandas Bakery
• Damp or Dry January? These non-alcoholic wines actually taste like wine
• • Daniela Garrido | Wine and Travel Expert
• New Year, New Smile: AI-driven smile design at Texas Dental Implant Center
• • Texas Dental Implant Center
• Freeze Miser

Friday, January 2

• Tough but fair: NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Llamas visits Houston Life
• • NBC Nightly News
  • Tom Llamas
• Tarot Card Reader Amber Ambrose
• Opening weekend kicks off at Sam Houston Race Park TODAY!
• • Sam Houston Race Park

Thursday, January 1

• New Year’s fitness made simple: Tips and a low-impact workout for beginners
• • Hoodfit
• Chantell Preston
• HiFi at The Finn

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It’s also chance for some 2 million voters to pass judgment on the governing Labour Party, whose sagging popularity Burnham hopes to revive. Polling stations are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., with vote-counting starting Friday morning.

Burnham was mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years until he won a special election for a seat in Parliament last month with the intention of challenging then- Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership.

Burnham’s momentum spurred Starmer to announce he would resign after just two years in office. Burnham was the only candidate in Labour’s leadership election, and he became prime minister on July 20.

He has established a branch of the prime minister’s office in the city, dubbed “No. 10 North,” to help fulfil his pledge to give local leaders more powers and spread economic growth around the country.

The Greater Manchester region has a population of about 3 million and includes the city of Manchester and surrounding towns. Burnham won three straight mayoral elections, in 2017, 2021 and 2024, and Labour candidate Bev Craig, the current leader of Manchester City Council, is hoping to retain the mayoralty for the party.

Burnham said serving as mayor had been an “immense privilege,” and he urged voters to back Craig to “build on the progress we’ve all made together.”

Craig faces six other candidates, including Sian Astley from the anti-immigration party Reform UK, which won big in many areas of Greater Manchester in local elections in May.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Astley, a city councilor, is “someone with real-life experience of building successful businesses from scratch, not yet another career politician who will keep enriching the city center while leaving behind towns and communities like Bolton and Wigan” on the outskirts of Greater Manchester.

Labour has also lost voters to the Green Party, which won a special parliamentary election in the Gorton and Denton district of Greater Manchester in February, pushing Labour into third place and heightening concerns in the governing party about Starmer’s leadership. Those worries came to a head after the May election rout, leading to Starmer’s fall and Burnham’s rise.

Voters can mark a first and second choice on their mayoral ballots. If no candidate reaches 50% of the votes on the first round, the top two compete in a runoff in which the second-preference choices of eliminated candidates are added.

Rob Ford, professor of politics at the University of Manchester, said, “Labour want a show of strength in a city region where the party has long been politically dominant.”

“A big win in his former stomping ground will provide a significant boost for Andy Burnham,” Ford wrote in a blog post for the U.K. in a Changing Europe think tank.

The results are a stark repudiation of the Republican president's approach to the conflict, which has dragged on far longer than he originally predicted.

About two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran, which began Feb. 28, has not been worthwhile, according to the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That includes the vast majority of Democrats and independents, as well as about 37% of Republicans.

The poll was conducted July 23-27, as the U.S. and Iran paused attacks following a nearly two-week escalation in the war. During the escalation, the U.S. targeted Iranian military and commercial sites while Iran attacked U.S. military facilities in the Middle East, resulting in additional deaths of American service members. Since the war began, 18 U.S. service members have been killed, but the Trump administration has sought to revise those numbers.

The survey reinforces how unpopular the Iran war has become at home, a potential problem for congressional Republicans up for reelection in November who have defended Trump’s military actions. Just 28% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling Iran, a slight decline from 34% last month. Even Republicans appear to be increasingly unhappy with the prolonged conflict. Roughly 61% of Republicans approve of how Trump is handling Iran, an apparent decline from 71% in June. The margin of sampling error for Republicans is 6 points, so the decline is considered slight, but it’s still noteworthy given Republicans’ much higher approval of how Trump is handling the presidency overall.

Trump’s overall approval rating is at 33%, slightly below where he stood at this point in his first term and similar to where former President Joe Biden stood about one and a half years into his presidency, when inflation peaked.

Robert McClary, a 52-year-old Republican from Sugar Grove, Ohio, is skeptical the war could be brought to an easy conclusion and disapproves of Trump’s handling of it. McClary voted for the president once, in 2016, but recalls that during the last election, Trump campaigned on not starting new wars in the Middle East.

“I don’t have any trust in this administration at all and to why they brought us into this war, why they’re putting our soldiers at risk again,” he said.

The findings also indicate that most Americans’ goals for the conflict may not be aligned with Trump, who has repeatedly said the war was launched to keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran’s hands. While about two-thirds of U.S. adults say it’s “extremely” or “very” important to keep Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon — with Republicans especially likely to say this — even more Americans say it’s highly important for the U.S. to keep gasoline prices low or negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Iran.

McClary added: “I really don’t know what you can do now. I mean, you’ve kind of gotten yourself buried into this mess.”

Relatively few want military action against Iran to continue

There’s little appetite among Americans for a prolonged conflict.

Only about 2 in 10 U.S. adults want to continue military action in Iran, while about 3 in 10 say the U.S. should pause military action and seek a renewed ceasefire through negotiations. About 2 in 10 want to completely stop military action in Iran and roughly one-quarter don’t know enough to say.

About half of Republicans say the U.S. should continue military action against Iran, particularly those who identify as “very conservative.” Republicans who identify as MAGA — part of Trump’s Make America Great Again movement — are much likelier than non-MAGA Republicans to say the war should continue. Non-MAGA Republicans are more likely to want a ceasefire or a complete halt to the military action.

Jennifer Norton, a 71-year-old Republican from Crossville, Tennessee, supports military action in Iran but has been displeased to see prices rising for things like beef roasts and hamburgers. Norton lives on a “modest income,” and things are getting expensive.

“I am getting a little impatient, but when I start to dwell on that for a minute, I remember Mr. President Trump is a brilliant businessman,” she said. “He can’t tell us exactly what he’s doing, but I trust that he’s doing something. I mean, he is doing fine.”

Independents and Democrats are more likely than Republicans to want to stop military action against Iran immediately, although about 3 in 10 Republicans want either a pause or complete stop to military action.

Ryan Sloan, a 39-year-old Republican in Lakeland, Florida, has come to disapprove of the conflict in Iran recently because he wants a better explanation from the Trump administration about why the war intensified in late July.

“Let’s face it, not everybody’s going to be happy with him,” Sloan said. “I just wish I’d have had more transparency about why things were going on the way they were.”

Most say it’s important to keep gas prices down

Many Americans continue to be concerned about the pocketbook impact of the Iran war. About 7 in 10 U.S. adults — 72% — say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. to prevent domestic oil and gas prices from rising, up slightly from 67% in March.

Oil topped $100 a barrel last week, ending a brief period of lower prices when hostilities between the U.S. and Iran eased in June. Gas prices rose above $4 per gallon on average, and the elevated fuel price is hitting consumers in other ways, too. Inflation cooled last month but remains elevated, and consumer spending has slowed, with signs that Americans are taking advantage of sales and other incentives.

There are also indications that fluctuating gasoline prices are an increasingly big problem for many Americans. About 4 in 10 say the cost of gas for their car is a “major source” of stress in their life right now, compared with about 3 in 10 in February.

Mikal Baker, a 47-year-old political independent in Sandy Springs, Georgia, disapproves of the war in Iran and is frustrated by the effect on gas prices.

“I don’t see the benefit. I don’t see the total benefit of the American citizen for this war,” he said. But Baker is skeptical it will ever come to an end. “I can’t say it will ever be over with.”

Some Americans may be hoping that gasoline prices could stabilize or go down. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned about being able to afford gas in the next few months, down slightly from 45% in March.

Republicans prioritize keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon

Even as most Americans prioritize keeping gas prices from rising, a similar share say it’s “extremely” or “very” important to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Iran.

About 7 in 10 Americans say it’s “extremely” or “very” important for the U.S. to reach a ceasefire agreement, slightly higher than the roughly two-thirds who say it’s at least “very” important to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That’s also well above the 4 in 10 who say it’s “extremely” or “very” important to prevent Iran from threatening Israel.

Early in the conflict, Trump said the United States’ primary objectives were to degrade Iran’s military capability, eliminate their Navy and Air Force, keep them from gaining nuclear weapons and protect U.S. allies in the region.

Republicans, in particular, say it’s highly important to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. About 8 in 10 say this is at least “very” important, compared with roughly 7 in 10 who say that about preventing oil and gas prices from rising and negotiating a permanent ceasefire with Iran.

Sloan, the Florida Republican, believes it’s important to keep Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, adding: “We are most definitely their number one targets once they do have nuclear capabilities.”

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,165 adults was conducted July 23-27 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 6.0 for Republicans overall and plus or minus 5.4 for Democrats overall.

We have a lot happening this morning, so keep scrolling below and let’s get into it.

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Weather ⛅

TODAY: 96° TONIGHT: 87°

KPRC Meteorologist Daji Aswad says:

“Thursday will be sunny and brutally hot, with Houston expected to reach around 100 degrees. Several communities west and south of the city could also hit the century mark, while coastal areas remain slightly cooler. Make sure to limit strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the afternoon and stay hydrated.”

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Houston’s Top Headlines 📰

1 dead, another critically injured after shooting during gathering in northeast Houston

A 20-year-old man was killed and another man was critically injured in a shooting Wednesday night at what police described as a regular neighborhood domino gathering in northeast Houston.

The shooting happened around 10 p.m. in the 4900 block of Laura Koppe Road.

1 dead after house fire in Pasadena, officials investigating

One person has died after a house fire in Pasadena on Thursday, according to officials.

The Pasadena Fire Department responded around 2 a.m. to a fully involved house fire in the 2800 block of Camile Street.

Woman’s body found partially burned along Gulf Freeway, near Houston bayou

An investigation is underway after a woman’s body was found partially burned in a grassy area at 8139 Gulf Freeway near Sims Bayou.

Police said the call came in around 9 a.m. Wednesday.

ICE releases witness in fatal Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shooting after federal judge’s order

José Trinidad Rojas Pliego has been released from the Montgomery Processing Center at an undisclosed location, according to his family’s attorney.

Rojas Pliego was inside a van in Magnolia Park when ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7. A federal judge gave ICE 48 hours to release him on Tuesday.

Back 2 School - Moms 💌

Summer Survival: What parents should be doing now before back-to-school

We’re almost two months into summer, and the countdown to back-to-school is getting closer. In this week’s Moms Blog with Houston Moms, we’re checking in on summer regression, what it is, how it can impact kids, and what parents can do now to help their children transition smoothly back into a school routine.

Plus, our Surviving Summer tip covers simple ways to make the most of the season, from planning a fun “Yes Day” with your kids to setting healthy boundaries around digital devices and screen time.

Things 2 Know 💡

Houston drivers feeling the pinch as gas prices rise again; see how much more you’re paying

LIST: Back-to-school freebies — backpack and supply giveaways around Houston

How to keep children with autism safe around water this summer

In case you missed it... 👀

• Check your fridge: Latest FDA food recalls impacting Texas
• Texas City man sentenced 90 years in prison, convicted of sexually abusing several young children
• Teen from El Salvador charged with murder in two separate Houston shootings

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"All because of Trump,” he said.

It was a message the Republican president repeated while touring a collection of new vehicles, predicting that "it’s amazing what tariffs will do for General Motors" before autographing a white Corvette commemorating America’s 250th anniversary. He later told a crowd of cheering supporters that “Michigan is thriving.”

That's not exactly true, according to many metrics. Tariffs have cost businesses in Michigan and across the country billions of dollars while helping to stoke inflation that has continued to run hot — despite Trump's assurances his business background would wipe it out.

Many Americans believe tariffs have pushed prices higher and the war in Iran has increased gasoline prices, hurting consumer confidence in the economy while keeping Trump's approval ratings low.

There are few places where contradictions between the president's boasts and the economic reality of his tariffs are more likely to collide ahead of November's midterm elections than in battleground Michigan, which holds its primary on Tuesday. Trump won the state in 2016 and then again in 2024, after it had flipped to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

During Trump's rally in Milford, northwest of Detroit, the crowd was adoring. But even some of his ardent supporters said prices are too high and tariffs had caused short-term economic pain — even as they still support him overall.

Lisa Scherer, a 64-year-old who used to run a landscaping company and work as a bus driver and union steward, acknowledged high gas prices are “hurting a lot” and it's “very rough” to afford things.

“But I’m just hoping, if we hang in there,” she said, emphasizing she still thinks the president is doing a good job.

Michigan and Canada have deep trade ties

Though the Supreme Court struck down many of the tariffs Trump ordered upon first returning to the White House, his administration has launched new import taxes and recently invoked the Tariff Act of 1930 to accuse Canada of using discriminatory practices and plans to impose 50% tariffs on many imports from that country.

Michigan relies on supply chains that are heavily integrated with Canada after decades of policies that encouraged reducing bilateral trade barriers. That included the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement from Trump’s first term. Trump chose not to renew that trade pact, setting up years of negotiations.

GM said it was “honored to spend time showcasing our vehicles and facilities” for Trump. But automakers have long said tariffs increase production costs — so much so that the president offered them a reprieve from his auto parts tariffs, extending in October what was supposed to have been a short-term rebate until 2030.

Veteran Michigan pollster Bernie Porn said Trump's rosy words can't hide how his tariffs are helping intensify voters' concerns about inflation and affordability.

“When I was listening to him, I said, ‘What planet are you on?’" Porn said.

Porn noted that some Republicans nationally are worried their voters won't be motivated to turn out in November and “I doubt if Michigan is going to be very different."

“He is like an anchor around Republicans,” Porn said.

Trump's policies don't bother Joe Miskovich, the 57-year-old owner of an aerospace business from Fenton, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Milford. He said of tariffs that “the American public needs to look at the bigger picture."

People need to see, Miskovich said, that "yes, granted, there might be a little higher increase in price. But the long-term effect is going to be absolutely positive to the nation.”

Trump is helping decide next week's primaries

As he's done in key midterm primary races nationwide, Trump has used his endorsements to help ensure candidates he sees as most loyal or potentially helpful to his policies prevail. In Michigan's Republican gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, Trump has endorsed congressman John James over rival Perry Johnson.

Also speaking was former Rep. Mike Rogers, who's again running for Senate after narrowly losing to Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin two years ago.

More national attention has been focused on the state's Democratic Senate primary, which will decide if Rogers faces Rep. Haley Stevens or progressive favorite Abdul El-Sayed. But Rogers said Michigan needs a senator who promotes Trump's agenda, not someone who works to stymie it.

“This is the time that we will stand up and get Michigan up off of her knees,” he said at Trump's rally.

Scherer, who once ran the landscaping company, drove nearly five hours from her home in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio, to see Trump's speech. She's nonetheless worried the president has left behind some supporters like herself who helped get him back to the White House.

“I’m brutally honest, like Trump is, aren’t I? He’s forgot about the people on a fixed income,” said Scherer, who lives on Social Security benefits of $1,100 per month. “But I look at it like, I guess, no pain, no gain.”

Automakers plan to increase domestic production — eventually

Republican Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall praised tariffs at Trump’s rally, while also noting the president last year announced a new fighter jet mission that secured the future of the state’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base.

“This is what putting Michigan first looks like,” he said.

Some auto companies have pledged to ramp up U.S. production, yet those benefits aren't being felt yet. GM announced in June 2025 it planned to invest $4 billion to shift some vehicle production from Mexico to the U.S. starting next year.

Ford and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, have a similar timeline for expanding domestic operations.

Toyota also said it would invest $3.6 billion and relocate production of its Tacoma pickup from Mexico to Texas, but that will happen over roughly four years.

In the meantime, Michigan has seen only modest increases in auto sector job creation during Trump's second term, while jobs tied to auto parts manufacturing declined by about 4,000 statewide through June when compared with the same month last year.

Michigan has lost 8,300 manufacturing jobs since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April of last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Among some of Trump's base, economic worries show

Outwardly, the rally was a lovefest. When Trump told of encountering a “beautiful” waitress in Las Vegas during the 2024 campaign, a man in the audience bellowed, “You're beautiful!”

Later, the crowd began chanting “10 more years!” when Trump talked about needing to leave office after January 2029.

“Trump is, like, No. 1. You know, he’s the best,” said Rose Stroud, 75, who attended the rally from Commerce, Michigan. “He thinks about the people, about what they need.”

Some attendees insisted the president should get the benefit of the doubt — even as concerns about kitchen table issues tick up.

“There’s always a method to the madness, and people sometimes don’t understand or get it," said Roy Parks, 49, a self-employed handyman, photographer and videographer from Milford. “But there’s always a reason he’s doing things a certain way, and it may not make sense at first, but after six, 12 months, it all comes together."

He said the same goes for tariffs: "You may not like it at first, but it’s a short-term pinch, short-term pain, but long-term good. It works out in the end. It’s for the best.”

“When you rip off the Band-Aid right away, it stings," Parks added. "But, after a few minutes, there’s no pain. You have to go through a little bit of pain at first to get to long-term good.”

Today’s temperatures:

A steamy morning again to kick off Thursday with temperatures generally sitting in the upper 70s to low 80s.

Thursday’s Forecast:

Thursday will be sunny and brutally hot, with Houston expected to reach around 100 degrees. Several communities west and south of the city could also hit the century mark, while coastal areas remain slightly cooler. Make sure to limit strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the afternoon and stay hydrated.

High pressure dome is responsible for the extreme heat:

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

These systems are very stubborn and hard to move so expect very hot days with very humid mornings generally in the low 80s. Storm chances will be very hard to find for most of the next 5 days.

The peak of the heat arrives Thursday through Saturday, with highs around 100 to 101 degrees and very little rain relief. Sunday finally brings a slight change, with temperatures falling into the mid-90s and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

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

The tropics will stay quiet:

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

10 Day Forecast:

The intense heat continues through Saturday, with highs near 100 Thursday and Friday before climbing to around 101 Saturday. A few isolated storms may pop up this weekend, with a 20% chance Saturday and a slightly better 30% chance Sunday. Temperatures ease into the upper 90s next week, but there is no major break from the summer heat, and overnight lows remain near 80 degrees.

The Pasadena Fire Department responded around 2 a.m. to a fully involved house fire in the 2800 block of Camile Street.

• 1 dead, another critically injured after shooting during gathering in northeast Houston

When firefighters arrived, the home was engulfed in flames. After extinguishing the fire, crews remained at the scene as investigators began working to determine what caused the blaze.

Officials have since confirmed the fire was fatal, but they have not released the identity of the person who died.

Neighbors told KPRC 2 they were concerned because an elderly man with Alzheimer’s disease lived at the home.

• Woman’s body found partially burned along Gulf Freeway, near Houston bayou

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The shooting happened around 10 p.m. in the 4900 block of Laura Koppe Road.

• Woman’s body found partially burned along Gulf Freeway, near Houston bayou

According to the Houston Police Department, officers arrived to find a 20-year-old man dead at the scene. A second victim, a 50-year-old man, had been shot in the face while inside a vehicle.

Police said a friend drove the injured man to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

Investigators believe the victims had been at the location to play dominoes and do not believe both men were involved in the incident that led to the gunfire.

• ICE releases witness in fatal Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shooting after federal judge’s order

Authorities said it’s unclear how many suspects were involved, but they believe there may have been two shooters.

Officers recovered numerous pistol shell casings at the scene but found no rifle casings. No weapons were recovered from the deceased victim.

Investigators said large groups regularly gather at the location, but there were no reliable witnesses who could provide information about what led to the shooting or identify the suspect or suspects.

• Teen from El Salvador charged with murder in two separate Houston shootings

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Houston Police Department Homicide Division or Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Jurors heard testimony from four victims who are now adults. They described abuse that spanned roughly 15 years and began when one of the victims was just 4 years old.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning its verdict.

During the punishment phase, Pena testified and admitted to being a “monster,” but described the abuse as normal.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Quinten McConico urged jurors to impose a sentence that would ensure Pena never reenters the community, saying, “These girls do not need to look forward to the day the defendant gets out.”

The jury sentenced Pena to 90 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Prosecutors say the offense is not eligible for parole under Texas law.

After the sentencing, McConico said, “These women deserve to close this chapter and begin healing, and the verdict returned by this jury is the beginning of that.”

After a brief respite, the risk of a return to all-out war emerged once more, with the fighting threatening to engulf even more countries: Jordan said Thursday it intercepted Iranian missiles for the second consecutive day, while Kuwait said a strike in the northern part of the country killed one person. Also this week, drones caused fires on ships at an Egyptian port, and Saudi Arabia said it came under fire from Iran-backed militias in Iraq.

The spiraling violence underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has sent the price of fuel and other basics soaring, jolted the world economy, and added to concerns about American stockpiles of weapons needed to defend its bases and allies. After an earlier hiatus had given hope that diplomatic efforts were moving forward, there was no public sign of progress.

The US and Iran trade strikes

An Iranian strike hit a Chinese firm’s building in Kuwait on Thursday, severely damaging the structure and killing a worker, Kuwait’s military said, hours after Jordan’s air defenses shot down five missiles launched from Iran.

No casualties were reported from Jordan’s interception, Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said, quoting the spokesman for the country’s armed forces. Both countries are U.S. allies and host American troops.

The attacks came after the U.S. military said it completed “a heavy wave of strikes against Iran,” conducted in response to an earlier Iranian missile attack on a U.S. base in Jordan. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted the base.

The military's Central Command said in a social media post that the U.S. struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said three people were killed and two were wounded in a strike on the island of Qeshm, which lies just off the Iranian mainland in the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial waterway for the world's energy supplies that has been at the center of the conflict.

The latest barrage came after the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Iran-backed militias in Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters and six Iranian advisers on Wednesday.

Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table.

Pakistan, which had helped broker an interim agreement to end the war, said Thursday that diplomatic efforts were continuing.

“The negotiations between the parties are ongoing to normalize the situation, particularly the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, and as well to de-escalate,” Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during a news briefing.

Fires were reported on two natural gas vessels at an Egyptian port

Elsewhere, British maritime security firm Ambrey said drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.

The office of the Egyptian prime minister said initial investigations showed the fires on the two vessels had been caused by a drone.

Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.

Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the vessels, Trump responded: “It’s a little more of the same.”

The Damietta Port Authority said in a statement on Facebook on Thursday that the facility was fully operational.

The war has wreaked havoc on the global economy

Since Iran began threatening and firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz early in the war, the conflict has wreaked havoc on the global economy as energy shipments through the waterway ground to a near halt. Much of the diplomacy around ending the war has focused on reopening the strait, through which 20% of oil and natural gas shipments passed in peacetime.

The strait is once again effectively closed — and in recent weeks, fighting elsewhere has squeezed energy supplies further.

Saudi Arabia has accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.

The Houthis have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping and threatened to choke off another crucial Middle East trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden. That route became even more important during the war, as Saudi Arabia used it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. The rebels said the attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said breached Yemen’s airspace.

Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by The Associated Press showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility, which is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately on Wednesday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly about the private meetings.

They said the Saudi decision to join the U.S. attacks against the Iraqi militias was meant to send a message to Iran that it wouldn’t tolerate Iran or its proxies targeting the Saudi oil industry and other critical infrastructure. At the same time, the defense minister underscored to Trump and Vance that the Saudis want to see a de-escalation in the war and for Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations.

___

Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, and Fatma Khaled in Cairo contributed.

For the past two summers, Maya Hampton has been driving nearly 200 miles from Killeen to Houston to attend one of the largest Black-owned gaming, anime and pop culture conventions in the country, Dream Con.

She, like many across the state and the country, views the annual summer event like a family reunion of Black nerds, who lovingly call themselves Blerds, where old friends catch up and new friendships are born.

“A lot of people travel here, but I am a little shocked how many people turn out (to Texas) every year for this,” said Hampton, who was cosplaying at the convention as Froppy, an anime character from My Hero Academia.

Founded in 2018 by a group of You Tubers, Dream Con debuted in Waco before quickly outgrowing its space, moving cities and finally landing in Houston last year. This year’s record-breaking multi-day convention drew 45,000 attendees and put it on par with another pop-culture staple in the South — Comicpalooza, the largest event of its kind in the region. Last year, Dream Con brought more than $19 million to Houston, up from $15 million when it was held in Austin the year prior.

Despite the success Dream Con has experienced, Texas is at risk of losing it to other large cities, like Atlanta or Los Angeles — cities that might be willing to offer more financial and marketing support than Texas.

This year, the conference was held in July at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. The conference drew high-profile panelists — including a fireside chat with actress, writer, director and producer Issa Rae — and vendors from across the country hoping to get in front of a lucrative audience.

In a statement, Houston First Corporation, the city’s tourism and convention entity that operates the George R. Brown Convention Center, said Dream Con attracts thousands of out-of-town visitors, generating millions of dollars for downtown hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses during the slow summer season. Houston First said it is actively talking to Dream Con to continue hosting its event in Houston.

“Dream Con is a great event that has grown exponentially here in Texas since its creation in 2018,” Houston First said in its statement. “The conference draws a significant out-of-town attendee base, which strongly benefits the local hospitality industry. We look forward to Dream Con continuing to grow here in Houston in the years to come.”

Vendors said Dream Con is one of the few events that features Black creators, and losing it will strip away a local showcase of creative diversity among the Black community.

Kendale King, Dream Con’s chief financial officer and director of partnerships, said he can’t guarantee the event will stay in Texas next year, but is hopeful things can be worked out between them and officials from the city or state now that they seem aware of each other.

“It’s crazy because it’s not like we are trying to stay a secret. We just haven’t been tapping the right levers until this year,” King said. “We are navigating the process right now and having conversations with different pieces of the state and city. Now that we’re as big as we are, I’m actively looking for funding, saying y’all can keep us in the city, keep us in the state.”

Creating safe spaces

Dream Con was founded and is run by RDC World, short for Real Dreamers Change the World, a Texas-based collective of online video creators founded by Mark Phillips and Affiong Harris, along with members Leland Manigo, Desmond Johnson, Benjamin Skinner, Dylan Patel and Johnathan Newton.

Their original goal was to create a YouTube channel to build a large enough audience to eventually create their own manga and anime. The channel, registered in 2012, took off in popularity, amassing over 1.85 billion views and 7.33 million subscribers, built on comedy sketches about anime, sports, gaming and pop culture.

Despite their success, when RDC World attempted to attend anime and comic conventions as guests to meet and interact with their fans, they were often ignored or turned away, with organizers saying they wouldn’t “fit in” with the convention’s vibe, most likely because of their race.

The issue of not “fitting in” plagues Black nerds and other minority groups because there are few visual representations of them in science fiction, anime and comics. Interpretations of a popular character as an alternative race or gender are often met with hostility at large conventions due to fandoms being protective of the original representation.

“When you go to these conventions, sometimes dressed up as your favorite character, people aren’t too shy to walk up to you and say, ‘That person’s not Black,’ or they aren’t this or that,” King said.

King said many Black fans feel alienated from traditional large pop-culture conferences because of this.

“Some people take their fandom very seriously, and while they believe they are protecting their reality and their truth, they’re simultaneously stomping on somebody else’s view on it,” he said.

The group of YouTubers instead decided it was time for a Black-owned gaming and anime convention where the only limit on attendees is their own imagination, which led to the name Dream Con.

“It’s for us, by us.”

When the members of RDC World decided to launch their own convention, having it in Texas just seemed obvious to them.

“Being from Texas, this state has always been home for us, so there was always a pull to make our biggest moment happen here,” said Jay Sutton, event director for Dream Con.

The convention debuted in Waco in 2018 with about 800 attendees. Each passing year saw attendance increase as it moved to Arlington, then Austin, before settling over the past two years in Houston, with attendance reaching a 70-fold increase from when it started.

“Seeing where we are now, it’s not just about the number; it’s about what the number represents. It means more underrepresented fans feel like there’s space built specifically for them to celebrate the things they love, out loud, without having to explain themselves,” said Skinner, a member of RDC World.

At its core, Dream Con is a space for those who love anime, video games, pop culture and sports, offering an opportunity to gather like-minded individuals in either community. The convention features an artist alley, cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, concerts, panels, sporting events and much more.

Cameron Browning, who traveled from North Carolina, said this was his third time attending Dream Con, but this year was special because he brought his girlfriend, Mel Brown.

“I have always loved anime, and I have always loved this kind of environment, but I just got my girlfriend into anime, and she fell in love with it,” he said with both of them dressed up as anime characters from Seven Deadly Sins. “I wanted her to get this experience as well.”

Browning said a convention like Dream Con is needed because once a year, Black nerds have a home to return to, catch up and encourage each other.

“Nobody is second-guessing. Nobody is saying I don’t know if I will be welcome. It’s for us, by us,” he said. “It’s one of a kind, and I love it.”

Jahlil Rojas, founder of Nerd Square, a Black-owned clothing brand, has driven to Dream Con from Atlanta three years in a row to sell his merchandise. He said he plans to do it again because the community that assembles at the event each year is special.

“I love that this allows people to express themselves, be themselves, giving them spaces to drift away from what is normal or promoted as normal. You see more personality here, and that is what I really appreciate about it,” he said.

The success of the convention is partly due to King’s funding efforts, which have turned a concept into a business opportunity for Black creatives by securing major sponsors like YouTube, Twitch, Red Bull, and others to be right alongside them.

However, local business integration has also been a key piece of the convention’s revenue model, partnering with organizations like Bun B’s Trill Burgers to offer a limited-time collab menu and hosting the Dream Con Film Fest in partnership with Black Cinema Club HTX.

“Our focus has always been to create opportunities for those who maybe feel they are a bit underlooked and undervalued. Now that we’re on a higher trajectory, we have been looking at ways to bring other groups,” King said.

King said he is now ready to serve as the mouthpiece for content creation to lawmakers and local officials this year, as he tries to secure additional funding from the state of Texas or prepare to find it elsewhere.

“We have just been so focused on executing the event that it wasn’t really much of a thought for us to be like, let’s engage our congressman, or let’s engage the mayor or anything like that,” he said.

Figuring out what’s next

Yasmine Duhe, of digital media company OhSoYas Media LLC, said this is her fourth year attending Dream Con, and she has already seen how it has changed perceptions of her hometown of Houston.

“We don’t have spaces like this too often, especially in Houston,” she said. “Houston is not known as a media city or as a city with these types of spaces. You normally see this type of thing in LA or somewhere.”

Duhe said Dream Con not only benefits self-made media organizations like hers but also local businesses across the city, as she has personally witnessed its impact over the past couple of years. She said Houston is known for music, but the city’s creative space is much larger, with film, art and other content often overlooked. Dream Con is one of the first to put a spotlight on the city’s burgeoning Black creative scene at such a large scale.

This year, Chris Hollins, Houston City Controller, presented Dream Con’s content creators with an award for establishing the region as a major convention destination.

The founders of the convention view Houston as a potential launch pad for whatever Dream Con becomes next, whether it be a touring model or an international expansion.

“We’re still figuring out what’s next. Houston has given us so much this year, and there’s a real chance we stay right here. We’re keeping the conversation open and will have dates for 2027 soon,” said Newton, Dream Con co-founder.

The City of Houston does have mechanisms it can apply to Dream Con, such as economic development grants, hotel occupancy tax rebates and more, but King said the group hasn’t looked into them, partly due to a previous lack of knowledge.

“We are just now deepening our relationship with Houston. In the past, I think we’ve been so used to kind of just leaving every other year that this is the first time we have been able to work towards really deepening partnerships and connections,” he said.

While the group of Texas-raised content creators isn’t ready to commit their convention to Texas long-term, their appreciation for the state’s residents can’t be expressed enough.

“We want Texans to know this started with us, and it’s still ours,” said Phillips, co-founder of RDC World and Dream Con. “Every year, we get bigger. It’s because Texas showed up for us first.”

Disclosure: Houston First 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 Texas Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

That would be a high-water mark for the Lone Star State, which has more Republicans in Congress’ lower chamber than any other state, yet has continued to send mostly GOP men to Washington as the ranks of Republican women have grown elsewhere in recent years.

But that could change this November, thanks to Texas’ new congressional map and a wave of retirements, which helped make way for two Republican nominees in the Houston area — Alex Mealer and Jessica Steinmann — who are favored to win their red-leaning districts. They were among the 31 Republican women who filed for a U.S. House seat in Texas this cycle, outnumbered 4-to-1 by the 124 male candidates in the GOP primaries.

Also emerging from those contests were incumbent Reps. Monica De La Cruz, R-Edinburg, and Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving. But that cohort still has to make it through the general election, when De La Cruz will be defending one of Texas’ most competitive congressional seats. And while Mealer is running in a newly drawn district that President Donald Trump carried by 20 points in the 2024 presidential race, Democrats also see an outside shot of competing for her Hispanic-majority district if a blue wave lands this fall.

Two other GOP women, Martha Fierro and Lauren Pena, secured nominations in heavily Democratic districts that are generally seen as out of reach for Republicans.

The tough fight ahead for De La Cruz is one example of why groups like Winning for Women have focused their recent efforts on safer districts like those of Mealer and Steinmann, both of whom are backed by the organization.

Winning for Women, which operates a super PAC and a nonprofit arm, provides financial and mentorship support for female GOP candidates. They spent more than $300,000 on Steinmann’s campaign and over $450,000 on Mealer’s, contributing to a total $48 million raised and spent since the 2020 cycle, working to reverse the fallout from the prior midterms, when the number of Republican women in the House cratered to 13, a low point this century. Since then, Winning for Women and other like-minded groups have helped shepherd more than 30 Republican women in Congress.

Winning for Women President Danielle Barrow said her group made a deliberate choice to move away from battleground districts — and this year, Texas offered an opening to continue that approach.

“Having women serve in those battleground seats means it’s more difficult for them to really grow in seniority and build leadership if they’re constantly running to just save their seat every two years,” she said.

The pivot traces back to Mayra Flores, the former Republican congresswoman who won a June 2022 special election for a South Texas congressional district only to lose the seat five months later to Democrat Vicente Gonzalez. It was a reminder of how fragile any such gains have been since Kay Granger became the first Republican woman to represent Texas in Congress in 1997. It wasn’t until Flores’ election 25 years later that the number would grow to three in the House.

Mealer said the push for more GOP women is about securing seats at the table for voices like hers and Steinmann’s that she argues are underrepresented in the current Republican conference.

“It’s about being a mom with young kids — it’s a different set of issues, generically, much more focused on basic kitchen table issues, and I think a little bit more of an emphasis on trying to get something accomplished,” she said, noting that Steinmann is also a mother.

Mealer credited her candidacy to generational turnover in the Texas delegation, made possible in part by last summer’s redistricting that forced some members to retire or run in different districts — as was the case with U.S. Rep. Al Green, a Houston Democrat whose district was dismantled to make way for the new seat Mealer is seeking.

Green’s district was one of the five Texas Republicans approved redrew to be more favorable for the GOP in its new congressional map.

Mealer said the wave of departures, which also included retirements unrelated to redistricting, opened the door for more young parents like herself to run. Steinmann’s district opened up through one of the voluntary retirements, with U.S. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Magnolia, deciding not to seek election after just two terms in the solidly Republican seat anchored north of Houston.

Even as Winning for Women tries to increase the number of GOP women in Congress, Barrow said her group is careful not to flatten its candidates into a single mold just because they share the same gender.

“They each bring their own unique value to the Republican conference and the Texas delegation, and the fact that they have diverse perspectives and represent diverse areas is what’s going to benefit” the party, Barrow said.

Since Winning for Women’s launch, Texas’ roster of GOP women has barely budged: of roughly 21 open primaries since 2017, only Van Duyne, who succeeded Kenny Marchant in 2020, has gone to a woman. Granger’s seat, after nearly three decades in the hands of the first Republican woman to represent Texas on Capitol Hill, went to then-state Rep. Craig Goldman.

Meanwhile, Democrats have made relatively more progress. Texas sent its first Democratic women, Lera Thomas, to Congress in 1966, and has since elected 8 more to the House.

Research on voter behavior suggests that voters in both parties use candidate gender as a cue for ideology, typically assuming women are more liberal than men. That dynamic works in favor of Democratic women in primaries while creating a headwind for Republican women in their intra-party contests, in which voters tend to favor the candidate perceived as most conservative.

“The fact that we still have to explain why there’s a value in electing women tells me that there’s still so much more work to be done,” Barrow said, pushing back on critics who dismiss her mission as “identity politics” by pointing instead to candidates’ qualifications, which she said was a big reason for Steinmann and Mealer’s success in their primaries.

During her campaign, Steinmann has pitched herself as ready to hit the ground running, pointing to a resume that includes time as Sen. Ted Cruz’s regional director, leading the Justice Department’s crime victims office under Trump and serving as executive general counsel at the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute.

“I’m not running to spend years learning how Washington works – I’m running with the experience, the relationships, and the proven record to deliver results for the people of Texas’ 8th District from day one,” Steinmann, whose campaign declined an interview request, said in a statement to The Texas Tribune.

Mealer, meanwhile, has touted her background as an Army bomb squad officer who went on to a career in energy finance before running for Harris County judge in 2022, a race she narrowly lost.

She is also pitching her experience raising two young children as a professional asset, one that taught her to be “more efficient with your time, more solutions oriented,” she said, because your kids “take up most of your bandwidth.”

Winning for Women’s Executive Director Meredith Allen Dellinger said female members often shoulder family obligations that limit their ability to build seniority.

“A lot of women members’ heartstrings are pulled to make sure they can go home,” Dellinger said, contrasting that with male colleagues’ greater freedom to travel and fundraise. Part of Winning for Women’s mission, she said, is to help members fulfill those competing demands whether with hard dollars or counseling.

But the party’s challenge is not just electing women, but also winning them over as voters. Statewide exit polls in Texas have consistently registered a sharp gender, with men voting for Republicans at much higher rates than women, who tend to lean Democratic. The GOP has struggled at times to sell itself to suburban women in particular, costing them their U.S. House majority in 2018, the most recent midterm under Trump.

“There’s clearly no shortage of conservative women, but we’re well aware we’ve had a problem with suburban women for a while compared to the Democrats,” Mealer said.

Winning for Women is not carrying the conservative cause on its own. Other groups include Maggie’s List, a federal PAC backing conservative women that launched in 2010, and the National Federation of Republican Women, which has been around since 1938 and launched a Texas chapter in 1955.

But Winning for Women says it remains the only group spending tens of millions to compete in Republican primaries. Still, that sum pales next to its Democratic counterparts such as EMILY’s List, which has raised more than $850 million since 1985 toward its mission of electing Democratic women who support access to abortion.

Mealer, who is Hispanic, said that gap underscores how rarely her party has been associated with candidates who look like her.

“When you look at most office holders, people of my demographic are typically only represented on the Democratic side,” she said.

If she makes it to Washington, Mealer’s gameplan is to lean into her district’s industrial backbone with the hopes it will keep her there. She is angling for a coveted seat on the Appropriations Committee, with an eye toward its energy and water subcommittee, which could help her steer projects to her coastal district that includes the Houston Ship Channel and the many refineries and petrochemical facilities that line it.

“Taking care of the district to me is completely aligned with what people say is America First, because what’s more America First than high quality of living?” she said.

With Mealer and Steinmann favored to win, Winning for Women is already looking past November to the 2030 census and the reapportionment that will follow, when Texas is expected to gain three to four congressional seats. That means a new crop of open races — the next front in the fight to finally establish a lasting bench of Republican women in Texas.

“Jessica and Alex are the opportunity for that next wave,” Dellinger said. “How do we snowball that into two, ideally four? We will certainly still remain focused on getting Jessica and Alex elected, but we’re looking even beyond 2028 right now at what Texas opportunities look like.”

The organization said the national blood supply fell nearly 25% in June as donations dropped significantly following Memorial Day. At the same time, hospitals are seeing increased demand during the summer trauma season, when serious injuries often lead to a greater need for blood transfusions.

• Teen from El Salvador charged with murder in two separate Houston shootings

According to the Red Cross, it is distributing nearly 3,500 more units of blood to hospitals each week than expected. Officials say busy summer schedules and the seasonal loss of school blood drives have contributed to the shortage.

The shortage is especially severe for O-positive and B-negative blood, though donations of all blood types are needed.

“A readily available blood supply serves as the backbone of modern medicine. Without it, lifesaving treatments and critical access points to care are not possible,” said Dr. Courtney Lawrence, medical director for the American Red Cross.

• Houston teen fires at deputies responding to Westpark family disturbance, taken into custody

Lawrence warned that emergency departments, operating rooms, labor and delivery units, and cancer treatment centers all depend on a stable blood supply. Without enough donations, hospitals could be forced to delay care or make difficult decisions about which patients receive blood first.

The Red Cross also released survey findings showing many Americans underestimate how fragile the nation’s blood supply is.

The survey found:

• Fewer than 1 in 5 people knew blood cannot be stockpiled because it has a limited shelf life and must be continuously replenished.
• Only about half of respondents believed they or someone close to them would likely need a blood transfusion one day, even though someone in the U.S. receives blood every two seconds.

How to donate

The Red Cross is encouraging eligible donors to schedule an appointment as soon as possible via the Blood Donor App or at RedCrossBlood.org. Appointments can also be made by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

As a thank-you, anyone who donates blood between July 13 and July 31 will receive a Fandango movie ticket by email, valid for up to $15 toward a ticket and fees. Additional details about the promotion are available on the Red Cross website.

The Red Cross later escalated the situation, declaring only the second national blood supply crisis in its history, citing blood donations that have fallen to a four-year summer low and warning that some hospitals are already experiencing the effects of the shortage.

The incident occurred around 8:30 p.m. on July 29, 2026, at a complex located at 14906 Westpark Drive. Deputies were called to the scene in reference to a family disturbance with a weapon involved.

• Teen from El Salvador charged with murder in two separate Houston shootings

Upon arrival, a male teen — believed to be approximately 17 years old — fired shots at the responding deputies. No deputies were reported injured. The suspect was subsequently taken into custody.

No additional agencies were involved in handling the incident.

“He ran into that water despite those conditions that are deadly. You have 10 foot waves; you have riptides and currents coming in,” Sumit Rai told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “It is not safe for him to go into that water. So he’s risking his own safety.”

Rai’s son Nathaniel was standing in shallow water when he lost his footing and was pulled into the ocean Saturday by powerful swells that suddenly came ashore at Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz, about 60 miles (about 100 kilometers) down the coast from San Francisco. Rai, who was in his home city of Dallas, said he heard about what happened when he spoke to his kids on the phone that evening.

“My son told me that he drowned and my son told me that he went unconscious,” he said. “He was very subdued, still in a state of shock.”

By the next morning, Rai had watched the video of the rescue that has since caught the attention of President Donald Trump.

Ryder Williams, 16, the lifeguard who saved Nathaniel, said he saw the boy lose his footing in ankle-deep water. He radioed in and then raced toward Nathaniel.

“After the first wave, I was unable to pull him out because he was limp and the waves were pushing so hard,” he said in a statement.

California State Parks, which employs the lifeguards at that beach, said the boy was swept about 15 yards (13.7 meters) into the ocean before the lifeguard made contact with him.

In the video, Williams can be seen diving into a coming wave while holding tight to the boy.

Another lifeguard jumped in to help, along with some bystanders, who Williams said he warned to go back to the shore.

“I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to return the child to his family safely,” he said. “This is my job and I love what I do. I’m thankful to my fellow lifeguards who perform rescues just like this every day.”

The boy had no serious injuries, and after an medical evaluation he was released to his family, the California State Parks said in an emailed statement.

Rai said his son told him that he got sand in his lungs and was coughing it out after getting to the shore. Now his son, who is expected back from California in a few days, is dealing with the psychological effects of what happened.

“He’s still been thinking about it a lot. It’s on his mind,” he said. “It bothers him when he’s sleeping. So it’s obviously traumatizing.”

Rai has reached out to Williams and said he hopes to be able to thank him directly.

“What he did, I can never ever repay," he said. "I'm forever grateful.”

The United Arab Emirates-based app, which reports having 1 billion users worldwide, faces a fine of up to 54.6 million Australian dollars ($38 million) if convicted in the Australian Federal Court for “alleged failure to detect and remove pro-terror material,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said Thursday.

The civil action is a test of Australia's 2021 law requiring tech platforms to work to keep illegal and pro-terrorism material off their networks.

Telegram denied the claims. “We reject these allegations and will contest them in court,” a spokesperson said in a written statement sent on Telegram.

Regulator says app must take responsibility

The platform is one of the world's most popular messaging apps. The Australian regulator is taking issue with what's shared in group chats of up to 200 people and channels with unlimited reach.

“This case concerns content linked to some of the most notorious acts of known extremist violence in recent history, including material associated with the Christchurch and Buffalo terror attacks,” Inman Grant said in a statement.

“We allege that this content remained accessible on the service long after Telegram had been put on notice,” she said.

The crimes cited by Inman Grant were ideologically-driven massacres performed for online audiences. Years later, digital artifacts of the massacres are still confounding regulators, who fear the power of videos and so-called manifestos to radicalize others.

In Buffalo in 2022, an American white supremacist livestreamed on Twitch part of a shooting at a supermarket in which he killed 10 Black people. He cited among his motivations the crimes of an Australian white supremacist who in 2019 livestreamed on Facebook a shooting at two Christchurch mosques, where he murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.

Telegram channels established after these and other hate-fueled crimes were populated by users who endorsed the killers and shared videos and other content from the massacres. The Australian watchdog's claim, filed to the federal court Wednesday, said the unlimited broadcast size of Telegram channels meant the app must take responsibility for culling harmful material.

Telegram says it blocks 'terrorist-related communities'

The messaging app's statement said that the platform's “extensive anti-terrorism efforts are well-documented," adding a link to its published figures recording blocked content and channels. More than 150,000 “terrorist-related communities” have been blocked from the platform this year, according to the figures.

Inman Grant said eSafety began urging Telegram to comply with its own policies in March 2024, but the platform had been “non-responsive” for months.

The Australian official said that changed after France arrested Telegram’s Russian billionaire founder and CEO Pavel Durov in August 2024 over allegations that his platform was being used for illegal activity, including drug trafficking and the distribution of images of child sexual abuse. He was released after four days of questioning on bail of 5 million euros ($5.7 million).

Telegram had "become more compliant initially with us and with other regulators after France took action against the company,” Inman Grant said.

“They've still kept a permissive hosting environment for terrorist content,” she added.

The Australian court case also related to IS beheadings and other “horrific material used for propaganda and for radicalization,” she said.

“When platforms are alerted to terrorist content, they must act,” Inman Grant said.

On Wednesday, Russia’s Federal Security Service accused Durov of aiding what it called terrorist activities. The service also said it was adding Durov’s name to international wanted lists.

Telegram said in its statement supplied to The Associated Press on Thursday that it is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly. It said it had played a prominent role in pro-democracy movements around the world, including in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong.

___

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.

The Danube River, which runs through 10 countries from southwestern Germany to the Black Sea, has receded to never-before-seen lows along much of its course, exposing rocks, sand bars and old shipwrecks that have rarely been seen before.

In Budapest, Hungary's capital, the national water authority measured the Danube's water level at 23 centimeters (9 inches) on Wednesday morning, well below the previous all-time low of 33 centimeters (13 inches) set in 2018.

The river is expected to further ebb in the coming days with no significant rain in the forecast and temperatures expected to rise to over 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) across the region.

Drought upends boat traffic

As Danube levels sank to a new low on Tuesday, photographer Gábor Kertész went to the base of Budapest’s Margaret Bridge — typically underwater but now an exposed shoal — to document the sight.

“The bare rocks, the dry sand bars around the bridge pillars ... it’s all shocking to see how things were before and how they are now,” he said. “Where will this lead, what will happen? We don’t know that yet, but this must be the result of climate change.”

Much of Central Europe has been under a prolonged drought for most of the year, and successive heat waves have accelerated evaporation and caused waterways to dry out.

According to the Hungarian Meteorological Service, 90-day precipitation totals are between 80-130 millimeters (3.1-5.1 inches) lower across nearly the entire country compared to multi-year averages.

The low water level has forced popular cruise ships, where passengers usually disembark for sightseeing in Budapest, to dock far upriver, while cargo ships have stopped operating nearly entirely, according to Hungary’s Ministry of Transport and Investment.

In Bulgaria, where the Danube forms a border with Romania, police on Tuesday evacuated 186 tourists from a cruise ship that had run aground near the port city of Vidin.

Passengers of the Viking Ullur ran out of food and water after the vessel, which had been scheduled to take on supplies in Vidin, was unable to reach the port after running into a shallow shoal, according to Bulgaria’s state news agency BTA. The ship's 52 crew members could have to remain onboard for an extended period depending on navigation conditions and refloating options, police said.

In Serbia, hundreds of small boats and dozens of cargo ships were marooned on the dried out river bank near the northern city of Novi Sad.

One house boat owner, Radovan Segrt, who runs river excursions on his vessel, told The Associated Press that the water in the Danube had withdrawn “some 15 to 20 meters (50 to 65 feet) from it's shore.”

“The summer season is over now, as far as boat riding is concerned,” he said.

Low water levels force nuclear plant shut downs

The receding waters are also affecting nuclear energy production in numerous countries where water from the Danube is typically used to cool reactors.

In Romania, where Danube water flow had fallen to 1,630 cubic meters per second, around a third of a typical July average, authorities shut down a reactor unit at the Cernavoda power plant on Tuesday for safety reasons and announced another would be shut down soon after.

Similarly, Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant, which supplies nearly half of the country's electricity, began powering down a reactor on Wednesday due to restricted cooling-water supplies. That came after two successive reductions in power output in two reactors over the previous two days.

Drought exposes treasures and dangers

The exposed river bed can also pose dangers. Last week, authorities in Budapest closed the Margaret Bridge after a bomb dating from World War II was exposed at its base by the receding water levels.

Treasure hunter Zsolt Horváth was using the extreme conditions to fish metal objects from the exposed bank with a powerful magnet on Tuesday. He said he got a lot of pleasure from finding things like an old radio amplifier or bullet casings from the World Wars.

Horváth said that while "having so little water in the Danube is a blessing for this kind of activity, otherwise, it’s a curse.”

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Associated Press writers Stephen McGrath in Leamington Spa, England, Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, Béla Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary and Radul Radovanovic in Novi Sad, Serbia contributed.

Despite their soaring profits, the companies’ shares have fallen sharply this week in South Korea’s volatile stock market, where retail investors often drive sharp swings in share prices, as concerns grow over their plans to spend massively on increasing manufacturing capacity and the prospects of intensifying competition from China.

Samsung’s second-quarter operating profit was a more than 19-fold increase from a year earlier, and nearly all of it came from its semiconductor business, which benefited from rising chip prices driven by demand for AI servers and increased shipments of advanced high-bandwidth memory chips used to power AI applications. That outweighed an operating loss in its mobile, TV and home appliances division, partly due to higher component costs.

Samsung’s quarterly revenue of 171.5 trillion won ($119 billion) was also an all-time high. The company said it expects demand for its memory products to remain strong in the second half of the year, driven by continued expansion of AI infrastructure and broader adoption of agentic AI. Demand for server chips is expected to accelerate further, keeping the market undersupplied, it said in a statement.

Samsung’s report came a day after SK Hynix also reported a record second-quarter revenue of 60.5 trillion won ($42 billion). However, SK Hynx’s profit was still below the loftier market expectations and the company’s shares declined by more than 9% on Wednesday. Samsung’s share prices have also declined this week.

Kim Jaejune, an executive of Samsung’s memory chip division, said the company expects the gap between chip supply and demand to widen further in 2027. He said Samsung plans to begin construction of its second semiconductor fab in Taylor, Texas, before the end of this year, with the goal of starting production by 2030.

Kim said Samsung has secured long-term chip supply contracts with what he called the “five major global data center clients” — a possible reference to Amazon Web Services, Google, Meta, Oracle and Microsoft –- and is in talks with other major technology companies as demand for AI infrastructure surges.

“Despite our efforts to increase production, demand growth is outpacing our efforts,” he said in a conference call.

Samsung and SK Hynix together produce about two-thirds of the world’s memory chips. While the companies have embarked on major investments in semiconductor manufacturing facilities and data centers as South Korea expands its AI ambitions, some analysts say there are growing concerns about whether such massive spending will ultimately generate sufficient returns.

Shares of South Korean chipmakers have also been pressured by concerns over intensifying competition from China, with reports that a state-owned Chinese company had begun mass-producing domestically developed immersion deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machines, a key technology for advanced chipmaking. Investor concerns were also heightened by the strong stock market debut of Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, some analysts say.

Samsung and SK Hynix last month announced plans to invest a combined 800 trillion won ($554 billion) in a new chipmaking hub in the country’s southwest to capitalize on surging AI-driven demand.

The chiefs of Samsung, SK and South Korean automaker Hyundai joined President Lee Jae Myung on his San Francisco trip last week, where they announced hundreds of billions of dollars in planned cooperation with major U.S. technology companies, including AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic and chip designers Nvidia and Broadcom. The agreements span chip technologies, data centers and other AI infrastructure.

In a roundtable with foreign media last week, Kim Yong-beom, Lee’s chief policy adviser, said the initiatives reflect how global technology companies are rushing to secure long-term partnerships with South Korean chipmakers as they seek reliable supplies of memory chips for AI.

However, the volatility of the companies’ stock prices, along with those of other global tech firms, shows that investors are shifting their focus from short-term earnings to long-term sustainability, Son In-joon, a semiconductor analyst at South Korea’s Eugene Securities, said in a report this week.

Wildfires that have burned an area four times the size of Paris and driven 220,000 people from homes and some of the region's tourist attractions promise to sting France's already squeezed economy.

“It’s a physical apocalypse when you see all these sites where there’s nothing left aside from burnt homes and forests, and then there’s the economic apocalypse,” said Patrick Seguin, president of the regional chamber of commerce, his voice choking with emotion in a phone interview.

It's “going to be a stab in the back for what remains of our economy.”

Le Grix de la Salle is among entrepreneurs bracing for pain. French government appeals for people to avoid the region are causing consternation.

“It’s incredible that they’ve said such a thing, especially when wine tourism is becoming more and more important,” Le Grix de la Salle said.

Bordeaux’s legendary wine has seen consumption plunge as young people turn to other beverages and competition from vineyards abroad has grown. U.S. President Donald Trump ’s tariffs have given winemakers — and much of the global economy — an added hangover.

“The wine business has been in crisis for several years now and it’s worsening with the geopolitical problems, the now widespread problems of inflation and the fact that wine is falling out of fashion among younger people,” Le Grix de la Salle said.

“Tourism was really the only dynamic part of the business that was still growing, both for us and, more generally, for Bordeaux wines,” he said. “And now this comes along as a brake.”

His family's Grand Verdus wine estate is roughly 35 kilometers (20 miles) from the fires that have raged since last week on the other side of the Garonne River that runs through Bordeaux. Bordeaux's Gironde region is mainland France’s largest by area and the fires have hit only a small percentage of it. But the mark on its reputation is sizable.

“How did they not think about protecting that sector? And the cultural sector, too. There’s so much to visit in Bordeaux. There are so many museums, there are châteaux. It’s unbelievable,” Le Grix de la Salle said.

The region in southwest France is replete with vacation spots for tourists lured by soft-sand beaches, winemaking châteaux, some of France's largest pine forests and the historic city of Bordeaux, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The oyster-rich Arcachon Bay draws foodies. But the fire and evacuations have emptied some prime spots.

The chamber of commerce says 39,000 businesses have been affected in the region that's a hub of defense and aerospace industries, including Airbus, Dassault and Thales.

Even before the fires, the chamber of commerce said rising energy costs were squeezing profits. Some 94% of businesses responding to a poll of regional enterprises in mid-July said they face difficulties.

“We’re getting more and more calls from heads of small- and medium-sized businesses, tiny businesses and craft businesses that are calling for help and saying, ‘What am I going to do tomorrow?’” Seguin said.

Two commercial courts in the cities of Bordeaux and Libourne reported a 37% increase in business liquidations from June 2025 to the same month this year, he noted.

Bordeaux Mayor Thomas Cazenave said some restaurateurs told him that reservations have plummeted. He is pushing back against other officials' pleas that people avoid the region. He repeatedly has noted that the city hasn't been evacuated and isn't closed for business.

“The museums are open, the cafes and restaurants are open,” he said. “Life also goes on in our beautiful city.”

___

Keaten reported from Lyon, France, and Leicester reported from Paris.

Despite several days of relative calm, both sides carried out military strikes in the last 24 hours that once again risk a return to all-out war — and further expansion in the region — while little is clear about what strategy, if any, American or Iranian officials have for a path forward.

While President Donald Trump and his allies have spent recent days arguing that Iran is begging to return to the negotiating table, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said Tuesday that his country has made no requests to restart the diplomatic track in more than two weeks.

Following a thwarted attack on the U.S. base in Jordan, Trump turned back to threats Wednesday even while sustaining the prospect of continued talks.

“They’ve already apologized, but, you know, we got to smack them a little bit,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. He added: “It’s our turn, and we’ll see if we get there with an agreement at some point. But we’re going to hit them very hard.”

Hours later, the strikes followed as the U.S. military said it launched a “a powerful response to yesterday’s attempted Iranian attacks on U.S. forces based in the Middle East” in a social media post. It did not immediately disclose the targets of the attack.

There's a sense of déjà vu as the Republican president has vacillated for the past several months between insisting a deal was near to end the war and Tehran's nuclear program and then using vulgarities and threats to get Iran to capitulate to U.S. demands — to no avail.

The stakes for continued U.S. military action have never been higher for Trump and his party as the conflict, unpopular among many Americans, has jolted the world economy just months before critical midterm elections in November. The renewed fighting also has killed and injured more American troops and been complicated by concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down stockpiles of key air defense systems needed to defend its bases and allies.

In the past day, Iran said it fired ballistic missiles at Jordan’s Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key U.S. military hub for the region, which Trump said were intercepted. And Saudi Arabia joined the U.S. in striking multiple logistics and weapons sites used by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.

The first publicly announced joint U.S.-Saudi strikes followed drone attacks on the kingdom, complicating a conflict that now includes nearly every country in the region. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military operations, said the two attacks were not connected.

Saudi defense minister makes White House visit

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately Wednesday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly about the private meeting.

The defense minister conveyed the view of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom's de facto leader, that Iran has lost leverage in Syria and Lebanon but is still managing to provide support to the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq, according to one of the people familiar with Prince Khalid’s talks with Trump and Vance.

The Iran-aligned Houthi group earlier this week said it fired ballistic missiles at a Saudi oil tanker, days after declaring it was imposing a naval blockade on Saudi vessels in the Red Sea.

The Saudi decision to join the U.S. attacks against the Iraqi militias was meant to send a message to Iran that it wouldn’t tolerate Iran or its proxies targeting the Saudi oil industry and other critical infrastructure, the person added.

At the same time, the defense minister underscored to Trump and Vance that the Saudis want to see a de-escalation in the war and want Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations.

Drone strikes also ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at a port in Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator that is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared from direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.

The U.S.-Saudi strikes came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed his first meeting with Trump since they launched the war against Iran on Feb. 28.

An Israeli official briefed on the meeting Tuesday at the White House said Netanyahu assured Trump that it is the U.S., not Israel, that is in the driver's seat with Iran, attempting to push back on the notion that he’s increasingly out of step with his closest ally on the way ahead.

Yet, Israeli officials also have privately expressed concern that Trump, with midterm elections looming, is trying to “keep this war on a low flame,” according to a person familiar with Netanyahu's government’s internal deliberations. The person and the Israeli official were not authorized to comment and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The person added that Israeli officials have become increasingly concerned about Trump’s sensitivity to surging oil prices as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to global energy shipments and about the growing trepidation among some in the U.S. administration about the burn rate of critical missile interceptors.

The recent fighting with Iran used up more of the U.S. military’s already diminished stockpiles of Patriot and THAAD interceptors, potentially putting American troops at more risk if hostilities resume, according to an analysis released this week from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told Trump that the state of the munitions stockpile could have an impact on military operations in Iran, according to another U.S. official. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations, said the message was delivered as part of Caine’s regular duties of providing military advice and options to Trump.

A history of failed diplomacy plagues US-Iran prospects

The Trump administration does not seem to have a strategy to resume negotiations with Iran over ending the conflict.

Despite efforts by some mediators to get talks restarted — or at least find a point at which they could begin again — the administration is not actively pursuing talks at the moment, a senior U.S. official said.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the latest developments in the region suggested that any resumption in direct diplomacy was not imminent.

Analysts called the uncertainty and lack of strategy a result of deep, growing mistrust between Washington and Tehran, especially after an interim ceasefire proposal signed in mid-June collapsed in recent weeks.

Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said senior Iranian officials were nearly unanimous in their decision to approve that memorandum of understanding with the U.S.

“But now none of them believe that Trump is a reliable negotiating partner,” he said. "The problem, I think, is that Trump also has now the same impression about the Iranians."

In some respects, the on-again, off-again nature of talks and back-and-forth military attacks should not be surprising.

The history of U.S. negotiations with Iran after 1979 is littered with failure, false starts and stops, and military actions that have nonetheless stopped short of the kind of conflict the two countries are now in.

Despite its flaws, the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran secured by the Obama administration was the first major agreement between the two countries since the Algiers Accords in 1981 that ended the American hostage crisis and laid a patchwork path for the resolution of other issues, including the unfreezing of Shah-era Iranian assets seized by the U.S. after the Islamic Revolution.

However, even from the beginning, both sides accused each other of violating the terms of these deals.

Accusations of violations of the Algiers Accords, which led to a period of great animosity, including U.S. support for Saddam Hussein’s Iraq during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, became the norm.

Despite the semi-rapprochement around the 2015 nuclear deal, Trump’s withdrawal from it in 2018 during his first term, his imposition of a “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Tehran, and the U.S. assassination of Iran’s top military leader Qassem Soleimani in early 2020, sent the relationship to new lows.

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Amiri reported from New York. Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.

Central Command said in a social media post that over two hours the U.S. struck “dozens” of targets belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, including military command centers as well as missile and drone facilities, and coastal surveillance and defense sites.

The new strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to hit Iran “very hard” after it targeted a base in Jordan that hosts U.S. troops.

Iranian state media said two people were injured in attacks on the island of Qeshm in the Strait of Hormuz and that explosions were also reported in Khuzestan province to the northwest.

Elsewhere, drone strikes ignited fires on two natural gas vessels at the Egyptian port of Damietta, according to British maritime security firm Ambrey. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the strikes on a U.S.-owned floating storage facility and a Greek-owned tanker. No injuries were reported.

The flare-ups on multiple fronts after several days of relative calm raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.

Egypt, a close U.S. ally and regional mediator, is one of the only countries in the Middle East to have been spared direct military action during the war. A strike by Iran or its allies, if confirmed, would mark a significant widening of the conflict.

Asked during an Oval Office event if Iran was responsible for the strikes on the natural gas vessels, Trump responded: “It's a little more of the same.”

“In the meantime, we’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them," he added.

Saudi Arabia had accused the Iraqi militias of firing drones against its oil facilities over the past two days. An umbrella group of Iraqi militias initially denied the allegations, while another Iran-backed group — the Houthi rebels in Yemen — said they had attacked Saudi energy facilities as part of a separate but related conflict.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman met separately on Wednesday with Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly about the private meetings.

They said the Saudi decision to join the U.S. attacks against the Iraqi militias was meant to send a message to Iran that it wouldn’t tolerate Iran or its proxies targeting the Saudi oil industry and other critical infrastructure. At the same time, the defense minister underscored to Trump and Vance that the Saudis want to see a de-escalation in the war and Washington and Tehran to return to negotiations.

Before the latest eruption, mediators had expressed optimism about bringing the U.S. and Iran back to the negotiating table. An interim agreement collapsed in recent weeks over renewed fighting in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies that Iranian attacks have again effectively closed.

A regional official said mediators are “still trying with both sides” to restore calm and get the ceasefire back on track. He gave no details on whether progress was being made and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door diplomacy.

The renewed hostilities sent oil prices spiking. Brent crude, the international standard, jumped 7.3% to $88.093 a barrel.

Jordan intercepts missiles and US strikes militias in Iraq

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it fired missiles Tuesday at Jordan's Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, a key U.S. military hub for the region, in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Jordan’s military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed.

The U.S. military later announced that American and Saudi fighter aircraft had struck multiple logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in response to the alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of primarily Shiite Iranian-backed armed groups that is officially under the command of the Iraqi military, said at least 20 fighters were killed and 32 wounded in the overnight strikes.

Six Iranian advisers were also killed, according to two Iraqi militia officials, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. Iran's deputy governor for political, security and social affairs in Markazi province told Iranian state media that four advisers were killed.

The coalition joined the fight against the Islamic State group after it seized large sections of Iraq in 2014. The Iraqi government later designated the coalition as an “independent military formation” within the armed forces, but the militias have significant autonomy and some have attacked U.S. facilities.

Iraq’s government decried the U.S.-Saudi attacks, though a Fox News reporter said in an on-air segment that Trump told him they were done in coordination with the Iraqi government.

Iraq’s National Security Council said the strikes had been carried out “while the Iraqi government was in contact with relevant parties to investigate and address all the concerns raised by the Saudi and American sides.” It said “a number of innocent people” had been killed and wounded.

A visit to Saudi Arabia by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi that had been scheduled for Thursday was postponed indefinitely, said two Iraqi government officials on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Attacks on Saudi oil facilities could worsen global energy crisis

Saudi Arabia is also locked in a renewed conflict with the Houthis. The rebels have declared a blockade of Saudi shipping that could choke off another crucial Middle East trade route, the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Red Sea into the Gulf of Aden.

On Monday, the Houthis said they had launched drones targeting oil facilities used to transport oil across Saudi Arabia to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key bypass for Saudi exports blocked by Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

The rebels said the attack was in response to a Saudi drone they said had breached Yemen’s airspace.

Planet Labs satellite imagery from Monday analyzed by AP showed damage to Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil-processing facility. The massive facility is capable of processing approximately 7 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Iran rejects Oman proposal for managing Strait of Hormuz

The Strait of Hormuz has been a major flashpoint in the conflict. Iran's deputy foreign minister said his country had rejected a proposal from Oman, which lies on the other side of the strait, to jointly manage ship traffic.

In an interview with Iran’s state-run television, Kazem Gharibabadi said Oman's proposal included dividing the strait into two routes.

Iran offered a counterproposal with a temporary plan for the transit of vessels through its territorial waters, he said, adding that Tehran's policy is for the strait “never to return to its prewar situation,” when ships moved freely.

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Toropin reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo; Abby Sewell in Beirut; David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany; Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece; Matthew Lee, Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani in Washington, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

It happened at a complex located at 14906 Westpark Drive, in the West Oaks area of Harris County. Deputies were called at 7:18 p.m.

The sheriff’s office says deputies were responding to a family disturbance involving a weapon when the suspect, who they say is possibly 17-years-old, fired two shots at the deputies.

@HCSOTexas deputies responded to a complex at 14906 Westpark, reference to a call for service involving a family disturbance with a weapon involved. Upon arrival, a teen male (possibly 17) fired shots at deputies. No reported injuries to our deputies. The suspect was subsequently… pic.twitter.com/mVT284yHb2

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) July 30, 2026

No deputies were hit and the suspect was subsequently taken into custody.

Son scored two goals in a three-minute span in the first half off assists from Carles Gil to propel the MLS All-Stars past the LIGA MX All-Stars 4-3 in Wednesday night’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game.

The Los Angeles Football Club forward celebrated both goals with his signature “camera” celebration — mimicking holding an old-fashioned camera, framing the shot with his fingers and then pretending to snap a picture.

Son was named the game's MVP.

“I had great players, amazing players around me and that made my job easier,” said Son, who played for South Korea in the World Cup. “Scoring two goals makes the night really special.”

Chicago Fire’s Philip Zinckernagel and FC Cincinnati’s Evander da Silva Ferreira also scored for the MLS All-Stars in front of 35,197 at Bank of America Stadium.

Luis Gabriel Rey sent a running header off a free kick past Matt Freese, the United States men’s national team goalkeeper, 10 minutes into the game to give Liga MX a 1-0 lead.

Then Son took over.

The LAFC forward fielded a pass from Gil on the left side of the pitch, settled the ball and slid a well-placed shot past a diving Carlos Acevedo to even the score at the 20-minute mark.

Son gave MLS the lead for good just moments later when Gil hustled to stop the ball from going out of play and fired a pass back in front of the goal. Son buried the shot in the back of the net.

“He’s an unbelievable player,” said Hany Mukhtar, a midfielder for Nashville FC, said of Son. “He’s a world class player for a reason. He shows it every week, and we all know how good he is. We see it in training, and I’m not surprised at what he did.”

Zinckernagel made it 3-1 MLS in the 42nd minute when he scored off a rebound.

Liga MX got to within 3-2 early in the second half on a goal by Salomon Rondon, before Ferreira’s goal in the 58th minute gave MLS some cushion. Jose Pardela added a late goal in extra time for LIGA MX to make it 4-3.

Messi sits out after Argentina’s deep run in World Cup

MLS’ biggest star, Lionel Messi of Inter Miami, did not play.

Messi was not at the game after Argentina made a deep run in the World Cup before falling to Spain in the finals. Messi has 12 goals and eight assists for Inter Miami at the All-Star break.

He and teammate Rodrigo De Paul received an excused absence from Major League Soccer.

Charlotte hopes ASG is a precursor to 2031 World Cup

Charlotte is hoping that hosting the MLS All-Star Game serves as a precursor to being selected as a host city for the 2031 Women's FIFA World Cup.

The city has strongly supported its Charlotte FC team, and the stadium also drew rave reviews from the USMNT team after its friendly against Senegal, which was well attended.

Bank of America Stadium is undergoing a $1.3 billion renovation project that should be completed by 2030.

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

José Trinidad Rojas Pliego was released from ICE custody on Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison ruled Monday that his continued detention without an individualized bond determination violated his constitutional right to due process.

• RELATED: ICE releases witness in fatal Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shooting after federal judge’s order

The July 27 order required immigration officials to release Rojas Pliego within 48 hours. It also prohibited the government from re-detaining him during his ongoing removal proceedings unless he first receives notice and a hearing before an immigration judge.

At that hearing, the order states, the government would have to prove by clear and convincing evidence that Rojas Pliego is a flight risk or danger to the community.

Rojas Pliego has since been released, according to his attorneys.

However, in a motion filed Wednesday, federal attorneys asked the judge to stay his entire order while the government appeals the ruling.

The filing does not explicitly state that ICE intends to take Rojas Pliego back into custody. But if the judge grants the request in full, it could suspend both the order requiring his release and the protections preventing ICE from re-detaining him without a prior hearing.

Until the judge rules on the government’s request, the July 27 order remains in effect.

Rojas Pliego was one of the passengers inside a vehicle stopped by ICE officers on July 7. During the encounter, officers opened fire, killing the driver, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

• RELATED: José Trinidad Rojas Pliego ordered released from ICE processing center

ICE officials previously said the driver attempted to evade officers and “weaponized” the vehicle. Voluntary statements submitted by Rojas Pliego and another passenger offer a conflicting account of what happened.

Rojas Pliego was taken into ICE custody after the shooting and placed in removal proceedings. According to the court order, he entered the United States without inspection in 1998 and has lived in the country continuously for nearly three decades.

The judge noted that Rojas Pliego has no criminal history, has a common-law marriage to a U.S. citizen and is the father and stepfather of multiple U.S. citizen children and stepchildren.

Rojas Pliego has also applied for a U visa, which is available to certain crime victims who assist law enforcement. His application was certified by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

In granting his habeas corpus petition, Judge Ellison acknowledged that federal law subjects Rojas Pliego to mandatory immigration detention. However, the judge ruled that applying the law to him without any individualized justification violated the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

The government argues that Judge Ellison’s decision conflicts with a recent published stay issued by the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in a group of similar immigration-detention cases known as Rodriguez v. Ortega.

In those cases, the Fifth Circuit agreed to reconsider the dispute as a full court and temporarily stayed orders granting habeas relief to three detained immigrants.

Federal attorneys contend that the Fifth Circuit’s action is binding on the Houston court because Rojas Pliego’s case also challenges detention under the same federal statute without a bond hearing.

Federal attorneys are asking the judge to suspend his July 27 order for the duration of the appeal. If the request is denied, the government could seek a stay directly from the Fifth Circuit.

Rojas Pliego’s removal case remains pending. His release from detention does not end those proceedings or grant him lawful immigration status.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said:

“ICE complies with all lawful court orders.

“DHS-OIG is leading an investigation into the agent-involved shooting. FBI Houston is leading an investigation into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer. We refer you to them for additional questions.”

Yorlan Rafael Reyes, 31, escaped from the custody of a Liberty County Sheriff’s Office correctional officer during the early morning hours of July 18, 2026, while receiving medical treatment at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood. He was last seen wearing an orange Liberty County Jail-issued jumpsuit and orange jail-issued shoes.

The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office says Reyes is approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs approximately 190 pounds and should not be approached by the public.

• RELATED: Liberty County deputies search for inmate who escaped after hospital trip in Kingwood

Reyes was originally transported to the Liberty County Jail from Madison County, Texas on July 17, 2026, on an outstanding Liberty County felony warrant. He suffered a medical emergency and was transported by ambulance to HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood. At approximately 5:30 a.m., he escaped from custody and fled the hospital on foot.

At the time of his escape, Reyes was being held on a state jail felony charge of unlawful disclosure or promotion of intimate visual material under Texas Penal Code § 21.16.

Following the escape, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office conducted two separate reviews of the incident.

The Criminal Investigations Division reviewed the circumstances for possible criminal wrongdoing. The correctional officer cooperated throughout the process and no criminal wrongdoing was found.

However, a separate administrative review by jail administration found violations involving inmate transportation and supervision — specifically that the inmate was able to get outside the officer’s supervision and flee the hospital on foot. As a result, the officer was terminated.

“Although no criminal wrongdoing was identified, that review found violations involving inmate transportation and supervision, and the officer was terminated,” the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

The on-scene investigation at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood has been completed and normal hospital operations have resumed. No active law enforcement activity remains at the hospital related to this incident.

The search for Reyes remains active. The Liberty County Sheriff’s Office is working in coordination with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Rangers. Investigators have reviewed surveillance footage from the hospital and continue to pursue all available leads.

Anyone who sees Reyes or has information about his whereabouts is urged not to approach him and to call 911 immediately. Tips can also be submitted to:

• Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch: (936) 336-4500
• Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch: (936) 760-5800
• Multi-County Crime Stoppers tip hotline: (800) 392-7867
• Online at multicountycrimestoppers.org

Crime Stoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of felony suspects.

ATC Management told broadcaster RTE Hansard's family was “deeply shocked and heartbroken.”

News of his death brought tributes from fellow musicians including Bruce Springsteen, who said on Instagram he was “heartbroken” at the loss of “a great musician, a good friend and a generous and gracious man.”

Irish police said a man in his 50s died in single-vehicle motorcycle crash in Lucan, on the western outskirts of the Irish capital, before 4:30 a.m. Wednesday. The man, who they did not name, was treated at the scene but pronounced dead a short time later.

Hansard combined acting and a musical career. He played a member of a Dublin soul band in the hit 1991 movie “The Commitments” and won an Oscar in 2008 for the song “Falling Slowly,” which he co-wrote for the indie musical “Once" with co-star Markéta Irglová.

“Once,” a love story about two struggling musicians, was later adapted for Broadway, again with songs by Hansard and Irglová. It won eight Tony Awards in 2012, including best musical.

Hansard was long-serving front man for rock band The Frames, half of rock duo The Swell Season with Irglová and released solo albums including “Didn’t He Ramble,” which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2016.

Ireland's President Catherine Connolly said he was one of Ireland’s great singer-songwriters.

“Glen was one of the vital driving influences of the Irish music world, bringing people together in the sharing of live music," Connolly said. "He will be sorely missed by all who knew him or experienced his work.”

Actor-comedian Chris O’Dowd said Hansard’s “energizing melodies and soulful, searching voice made the tough times more manageable, the stagnant times more beautiful, and the joyful times even more memorable.”

Hansard started out as a busker on the streets of Dublin. He became famous for leading the Christmas Eve busk outside Dublin's Gaiety Theatre, where members of the public gathered to see famous Irish musicians perform in aid of a homelessness charity.

Former Irish president Michael D. Higgins said Hansard was a “wonderful musician and performer” who also "placed great emphasis throughout his life to the importance of tackling the problems of society."

At the funeral of The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan in 2023, Hansard performed a rousing version of The Pogues' song “Fairytale Of New York” with Irish singer Lisa O’Neill that had the congregation dancing in the aisles of the church.

Hansard is survived by his wife, Finnish poet Maire Saaritsa, and their 3-year-old son, Christy.

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A previous version of this story incorrectly stated Hansard was awarded an Oscar in 2007. He received the award in 2008.

The deaths on Crete brought a fatal new dimension to a wildfire emergency stretching from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean. At the peak of the evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain.

In France’s Gironde region, the country’s biggest blaze had not spread during a calm night, authorities said. But as temperatures approached 40 C (104 F) Wednesday afternoon and winds strengthened, the reprieve threatened to be short-lived.

The landscape was so combustible that investigators believe routine brush-clearing work near a high-voltage line may have sparked the inferno, even though the work appeared to comply with regulations.

At the command center in Lège, firefighters bent over maps spread across a car hood, tracking three danger zones: northern Cap-Ferret; the wooded corridor around Marcheprime, Cestas and Saint-Jean-d’Illac; and a military site near Martignas, where a major outbreak forced a large deployment.

Both firefighters and residents mobilize against the blaze

More than 2,200 firefighters and over 20 aircraft remained mobilized, backed by crews from across France and European partners.

“We strike quickly and strike hard at any new smoke emissions,” Gironde fire commander Matthieu Jomain said.

Beyond the command center, civilians were trying to hold the line themselves. At Souge, volunteers flooded the edges of dirt tracks while a local digger driver plowed through still-burning soil, trying to keep flames from crossing back when the expected west wind arrived. In Lacanau, residents pumped water from a lake into tanks headed for hot spots and firefighters’ cisterns.

“If one day the fire starts in our neck of the woods, I know very well that all the people here would do the same for us,” said Flavien Dubuch, 33, who drove from Saint-Émilion with his father to help.

Hottest day this week

The advance of major fires in the Landes and Var regions has been halted. That left Gironde as France’s biggest remaining wildfire battle, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said.

The Gironde fire forced 220,000 people to flee at the peak of the crisis. Tens of thousands have since been allowed home, but authorities warned that the danger had not passed.

Extreme heat strips moisture from vegetation and drives down humidity, turning grasses, brush and forest litter into faster-burning fuel.

Investigators believe contractors working near a high-voltage line for power-grid operator Enedis ignited the blaze while using a brush-cutting machine, Bordeaux prosecutor Renaud Gaudeul said.

Météo-France said Wednesday would be the hottest and driest day of the week, with elevated wildfire danger across every region of France. Drought now covers mainland France and Corsica, with soils nearing the record dryness reached in August 2022.

Smoke from the Gironde and Landes fires also pushed particulate pollution higher across both departments, regional air-quality monitors said.

More evacuations ordered in France

Gironde authorities ordered 4,000 more people out of tourist sites along the Atlantic coast on Tuesday, widening what may be France’s largest peacetime evacuation.

“The situation remains complicated. That’s clear. We’re not out of the woods,” said Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas, who also authorized 60,000 evacuees to return to three Bordeaux suburbs untouched by fire.

The opposing movements — thousands ordered out of coastal resorts as others returned with mobile phones on and emergency bags packed — captured how precarious the situation remains.

The disruption was spreading beyond the burn zone into Bordeaux’s peak tourism season.

Edouard le Grix de la Salle, who runs Château du Grand Verdus with his brother, said official appeals to avoid the region threatened its wine-tourism trade. “How did they not think about protecting that sector?” he told The Associated Press.

At one point the Gironde blaze created a black thundercloud, electrified and lit from within, that generated lightning, violent winds and new fires beyond the original front. The pyrocumulonimbus was the first recorded in France.

Fire in Greece turns deadly for firefighters

Two firefighters died Wednesday while battling a wildfire in the Rethymno region of Crete, Greece’s fire department said. They were among about 125 firefighters confronting flames fanned by strong winds, with four helicopters and four water-dropping planes deployed.

The circumstances of their deaths were not immediately clear. The department said they died “in the line of duty to protect the lives and property of citizens and the natural environment.”

A third firefighter also died Wednesday outside the fire perimeter, after tackling a separate blaze in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region.

Tens of thousands begin returning home in Spain

At the height of the crisis, roughly 330,000 people were driven from homes and vacation sites across France and Spain.

Tens of thousands of people began returning home in central Spain after firefighters made progress around Madrid and Ávila. Evacuation orders were lifted for about 20,000 people in the Madrid region, while stay-at-home restrictions ended for another 14,000.

But 10,000 people remain under evacuation orders in Castellón, where a fire was still out of control as Spain braced for its fourth heat wave of the summer.

More than 1,160 square kilometers (448 square miles) have burned across France this year, according to the Interior Ministry.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, warming at more than twice the global average, according to the European Union’s Copernicus climate service. Western Europe recorded its hottest June on record, with extreme heat and widespread dryness contributing to the spread and intensification of fires in France and Spain, Copernicus said.

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Adamson reported from Paris. Elena Becatoros in Athens, Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Alex Turnbull in Souge, France, and John Leicester and Masha Macpherson in Paris contributed.

The Senate Judiciary Committee had been expected to vote Thursday on whether to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full chamber. But resistance from two Republican senators on the committee who could block Blanche's nomination threw his confirmation into doubt.

A spokesperson for the committee said in a statement Wednesday night that the vote would be postponed “as work continues to secure sufficient support.” The delay came after hours of negotiations between the Justice Department and Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis over the controversial settlement that afforded Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits.

At the center of the fight is the resolution of Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. It included a deal to drop tax claims against the president and a now-scrapped plan to create a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate people who believe they were wronged by the Justice Department. The department said in June that it was no longer moving forward with the “Anti-Weaponization Fund" amid bipartisan outrage, but officials have said the audit immunity agreement remains in place.

Cornyn and Tillis have demanded additional assurances in writing that the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is dead and have pressed for clarification on the scope of the tax immunity deal. Cornyn has said he wants the administration to modify that piece of the settlement to make clear that it covers only existing audits and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

Cornyn, who recently lost the Republican primary in Texas, accused the Justice Department earlier Wednesday of “stonewalling" and said “the ball is in Blanche’s court."

“We’re been trying to help them get to a conclusion here and they won’t let us. It’s befuddling to me,” Cornyn told reporters.

Blanche didn’t answer shouted questions from reporters as he left Capitol Hill, where he had been meeting with senators Wednesday. The Justice Department sent Cornyn and Tillis new language Wednesday evening in an effort to satisfy their demands, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about sensitive discussions surrounding Blanche’s confirmation.

After the vote was postponed, the department said in a statement that it looks “forward to continuing to work productively with Senators to address any concerns.”

Trump on Wednesday downplayed any concerns about Blanche's path to confirmation, calling his attorney general pick and former personal attorney “outstanding."

“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump told reporters in response to questions about the senator's requests.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the state's Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, easily defeating Cornyn. Trump had endorsed Paxton.

Some lawmakers have questioned whether the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” could be resurrected absent a commitment in writing from the Trump administration that it is not moving forward, especially since Trump has expressed continued support for the idea. Blanche had previously resisted requests for a formal written retraction, though he told senators at his confirmation hearing earlier this month that the administration would be willing to help craft legislation to bar the creation of the fund.

The settlement resulting from Trump's lawsuit over his leaked tax returns has drawn intense scrutiny both in Congress and in court. The judge handling the case said in a scathing ruling earlier this month that Trump had effectively engaged in self-dealing through the lawsuit and that she was troubled Blanche had signed the settlement, given his prior representation of Trump.

Blanche has said he disagrees “with the judge’s insinuations" about him.

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Associated Press reporters Seung Min Kim and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

The magnitude 7.1 earthquake that hit a day earlier in the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu also left at least 62 people injured, six of them seriously, the prefectural government said. The tally has been steadily growing, fanning fears it may continue to rise.

Some of the most serious damage was at the Aeon Mall shopping center in the town of Kashima, which was bustling with thousands of people when the quake happened. The company said some 3,000 customers were evacuated to a parking lot before a gas explosion happened in another part of the mall, where some people were still working.

Fumika Ono was shopping at a mall with her older sister when the ground shook so fiercely she lost her balance and ducked. Children began screaming and goods scattered on the floor.

The 19-year-old was among the crowd of shoppers who managed to escape safely.

The sweltering weather heightened worries about the survivors as rescuers braved the heat. It remained unclear how many people might still be missing.

The mall’s second floor collapsed, trapping people. Witnesses said the explosion shook the area as much as the quake.

Three people remained missing, while four deaths were confirmed at the mall site, according to Aeon President Akio Yoshida.

“We take it seriously that an explosion happened and precious lives were lost,” Yoshida told a news conference in Kumamoto, where he bowed deeply along with two other executives.

Japanese media footage of the mall showed that part of the ceiling had caved in, and metal pieces and other debris were scattered about as helmeted and masked rescue workers searched the area.

Kiyoshi Matsunaga, 74, who lives in the mall's neighborhood and was at a supermarket just a few blocks away, said Tuesday's quake reminded him of a deadly quake 10 years ago that hit Kumamoto and killed 50 people.

He stopped in his tracks when the shaking began while he was pushing his cart toward a cash register. Things scattered from the shelves. He could not move, he recalled.

“I was frightened," he said.

Japan is one of the most quake-prone nations in the world.

In the Nuyamazu district, a pair of temple gates at a 16th-century Buddhist temple collapsed. They had just been repaired five years ago.

Yuki Kiyozumi, deputy chief priest at the temple, recalled how she had to crawl on the floor because the shaking was so violent. She had just returned home from a meeting and was about to feed her cat.

“I don’t even know if or how we can rebuild them again,” she said, while cleaning up damaged ornaments and furniture.

In nearby Yatsushiro, a chimney collapse at a Nippon Paper Industries factory killed five people while seven others were rescued from the debris, according to the Kumamoto prefectural government disaster team.

Four people were still believed to be trapped there, it said.

In the first reported death of a foreign national, a Vietnamese technical intern was killed after a crane fell on him at a factory where he worked, according to the Vietnamese government. He had arrived in Japan in January. Seven other Vietnamese technical interns at the factory evacuated safely.

Separately, a Vietnamese woman married to one of the workers was injured when a wall collapsed and was being treated at a hospital.

Nearly 34,900 homes were still without electricity and some 15,000 homes without running water, Kumamoto officials said. More than 8,800 people left their homes to stay in over 400 shelters, where power sources were being added to provide air conditioning.

Aerial police footage showed some homes in residential areas were completely flattened, including a few that crumbled into a nearby river.

Service members of Japan's Self-Defense Force joined rescue workers in the search and rescue operations. Hundreds of professionals were helping with the effort, including firefighters from Taiwan.

“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.”

Takaichi said the government was preparing to deliver food and other necessities to hard-hit areas. She also offered her condolences to the victims and sympathy to their relatives, while urging those affected by the quake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.

Bullet train services remained suspended. Although operations at Aso Kumamoto Airport resumed Wednesday, some airlines canceled flights as a precautionary measure.

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Associated Press writers Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo and Aniruddha Ghosal in Hanoi, Vietnam, contributed to this report.

The teen repeatedly shot an untraceable ghost gun into a crowd, police said, and the King County prosecutor’s office filed charges of first-degree assault with a firearm and unlawful possession of a handgun.

In a statement supporting the charges, police said preliminary testing of bullets recovered from the two bystanders killed showed they did not match that weapon.

The shooting in the waning hours of the Bite of Seattle festival near the Space Needle left three people dead, including a 19-year-old suspect, and at least four bystanders injured, including a toddler. Police believe it was gang-related, and they continue searching for others who might have been involved.

Police Chief Shon Barnes had previously said there was possibly another person with a gunshot wound that investigators were looking to speak with, but the department said Wednesday there was no eighth victim.

Testing on shell casings found at the scene suggest four weapons were fired, the statement said. Police said they recovered three guns, but only two of them had been fired, which means two weapons involved in the gunbattle were not found at the scene. It isn’t clear which weapon or weapons fired the bullets that hit the festival attendees.

Dozens of officers were at Seattle Center, a sprawling park, providing security for the event, when the shooting began. Some heard the gunshots, and one officer saw the 15-year-old firing, police said.

A witness told investigators that he heard gunshots and saw the people around him duck, Detective Matt Blackburn wrote in the statement. The witness saw a man in a light blue top who started running; the witness believed that was where the first shots came from.

The witness reported that he then saw the 15-year-old unzip a bag that was strapped around his torso and pull out a gun with an extended magazine. The teen shot multiple times toward the other suspect, Blackburn wrote. Two shell casings from the teen’s ghost gun were found at the scene.

The teen surrendered when confronted by an officer. As police escorted him past the dead 19-year-old's body, he said, “Love you bro,” Blackburn wrote.

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to move the case to adult court, a decision that can take months after the judge considers arguments from both sides. The teen's public defender, Hong Tran, said in an email Wednesday the teen would contest the effort to try him as an adult.

If the teen is convicted as an adult, the charges would carry a sentencing range of about eight to 10 years in prison, plus possibly another five years for the firearm enhancement. However, judges in Washington may also choose to sentence juveniles as juveniles even if they are convicted in adult court.

In juvenile court, the charges would carry a sentencing range of two to 2 1/2 years. It was not immediately clear whether the firearm enhancement might add additional time in juvenile detention.

The King County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the dead bystanders as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, and Ashley Whitehead, 56. The suspect killed was Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.

Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses.

Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told The Associated Press. She was taken to the hospital and died in surgery, she said.

The police department opened an online portal on Wednesday for the public to share video and photos from the shooting.

On July 7, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by an ICE agent while on his way to work in the Magnolia Park neighborhood.

Rojas Pliego witnessed the shooting from inside a van.

What the city can, can’t do

KPRC 2 asked Houston Mayor John Whitmire directly what options Houston leaders have to protect undocumented immigrants with no criminal record from being detained.

“Well, most objective individuals know that it is a federal program. We have state laws that require us to follow Senate Bill 4,” Whitmire said. “So the law requires HPD to at least let ICE know they have someone with a warrant. More times than not, they are released.”

• RELATED: ICE releases witness in fatal Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shooting after federal judge’s order

At-Large Council Member Alejandra Salinas said there is one component the City of Houston can control, and that is the extent of HPD’s interaction with ICE. Salinas said she wants to ensure Houston police is not interacting more with ICE than it is legally obligated to.

“While I wish in my heart that we could control the actions of a federal agency, we are very limited in our ability as a local government to do so,” Salinas said. “What we can do is control how our resources and our police department is facilitating ICE operations.”

Newly released data from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows the number of detentions made by federal agents in recent months like June spiked — including arrests of individuals with no criminal record.

Ordinance under pressure

Back in April, a Houston ordinance restricting how police can cooperate with ICE went into effect. It was quickly amended, however, after Governor Greg Abbott warned that $114 million in public safety funding could be at risk.

Of that amount, $64 million was tied to FIFA World Cup security. Now that the tournament has concluded, the question remains whether city council will revisit the ordinance.

“We have to decide as a council, how much is too much? How many events need to occur until we decide that we are going to take a stand against ice,” said Salinas.

When KPRC 2 asked District A Council Member Amy Peck whether public pressure might prompt another look at the ordinance, Peck drew a clear line.

• Feds ask judge to suspend order releasing witness in Houston’s deadly ICE shooting

“I don’t want HPD to be ICE, and I don’t think anyone really does,” Peck said. “HPD has a job that they have to do, and with the limited resources, I want to make sure they are doing those public safety components — but we also have public obligations when it comes to warrants, whether that is ICE or other public agency.”

Whitmire also made clear he wants to see changes in how ICE operates on Houston streets.

“It is frustrating. I want changes with ICE. I want their masks off, get marked vehicles, and they have to get back to getting the worst of the worst criminals,” Whitmire said.

When asked what residents and elected officials can do, Whitmire pointed to political advocacy.

“You speak out, as I’m doing right now. Support our congressional delegation, U.S. senators — so whether it be conducted by Congress or other restrictions,” Whitmire said.

As part of the motion, the board said it supports the principles of a rare consolidation between two Olympic sport organizations. But the board also wanted a “definitive agreement that more specifically defines them and ensures governance autonomy for U.S. biathlon.” A working group is being set up and will present a draft by late August.

The board’s decision followed a long closed-door meeting to decide whether to remove the board’s chair, Bob Hall, over an ethics claim. It was dismissed.

The integration became necessary, officials said, to boost biathlon’s revenues and performance. It also drew concern among athletes who felt it might hurt the sport. Hall said the alliance means a $3 million improvement to its budget over the next four years.

Athlete representative Jake Brown said the board recognizes there could be good opportunities with the merger, but added, “we also need to do it right and do it with the membership, the community, athlete support.”

U.S. Biathlon Association’s board of directors began working on the proposal in March after the U.S. again failed to win a biathlon medal at the Winter Olympics, and told members in May.

Leading into the vote, U.S. Biathlon CEO Jack Gierhart told members the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee was cutting 22% of its funding and sponsors were pulling back. That led the board to consider an offer to join USSS, where biathlon would have access to more money and could add athlete services and expose more skiers to biathlon.

But the effort has sparked pushback and ethics complaints from longtime biathletes and supporters, who spoke out during town halls and started an opposition website, saying the board has fast-tracked a plan that threatens the sport’s future. The concern was biathlon would get lost among larger, more popular sports like Alpine skiing, they said. Decisions would be made by people who don’t know the sport and many fear losing financial support for the national team.

“I don’t want to see biathlon disappear into another organization,” said Art Stegen, author of the book, “Unique and Unknown: The Story of Biathlon in the United States.”

Merging Olympic sport organizations is rare. USSS CEO Sophie Goldschmidt tried to take over USA Surfing last year but dropped the bid after opposition from members. She's now in talks with USA Skateboarding, she said.

In April, USSS brought the U.S. Para Nordic ski team — cross-country skiing and biathlon — under its umbrella. The move continued the expansion of Para sports within the U.S. ski team.

Gierhart said USBA worked carefully to comply with federal law and ensure US Biathlon’s independence while taking advantage of a USSS collaboration.

Opposing opinions on whether merger is a good idea

USSS is a powerhouse in winter sports, overseeing 11 sports and 250 elite athletes, including Alpine ski champion Mikaela Shiffrin and snowboarding superstar Chloe Kim. They have a budget of $70 million and 40,000 members, compared with biathlon's $4 million budget and 1,407 members. Biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, has never won an Olympic medal. It's wildly popular in Europe.

Cross-country ski Olympian Kikkan Randall, who's on the USSS board, said the collaboration would benefit both groups.

“There's a recognition of how big biathlon is in Europe. Being able to tap into that popularity and marketability is really intriguing," Randall said.

But some biathletes feared USSS would cut the sport's funding, as it did for U.S. Ski Jumping in 2010 and Nordic Combined in 2014. Longtime biathletes Jon Schafer of Colorado and Marc Sheppard of Montana conducted interviews with people in biathlon and cross-country ski communities and produced an analysis of the merger that concluded working with USSS should be a “last resort.”

“The overwhelming consensus is that everyone is terrified of destroying the long-term future of the organization for possible short-term financial gain," they wrote.

U.S. Biathlon has held town halls, athlete meetings and working groups to discuss the merger. USSS has not reached out to clubs or members but has had board discussions, Goldschmidt said.

Stegen, sports lawyer Ed Williams and Olympian Joan Wilder filed a complaint Friday with the USBA ethics committee against Hall, saying he improperly hosted meetings on the merger without notifying members.

An ethics complaint was also filed against Dexter Paine, because he sits on the USSS and USBA boards. He recused himself before the merger vote.

A potential legal obstacle to the plan

Steven Bank, a law professor at University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in sport law, said USSS has more diversified revenue sources, so it’s not surprising that the USOPC would want biathlon connected to it.

But a federal law could be an obstacle, he said.

Under the 1978 Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, a national governing body, like USSS and U.S. Biathlon, can’t be overseen by multiple international federations. USSS is under the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, while biathlon is under the International Biathlon Union.

The law was created to avoid legal disputes that can arise over things like picking national teams, governing standards and rules, he said.

Biathletes say growth could happen without a merger

Biathlon's funding would stay with its programs. Biathlon's board, which would expand to include USSS representation, would keep making decisions about governing the sport. Biathlon staff would transfer to USSS and biathlon would have two seats on the USSS board.

Biathletes who oppose the plan say there are other ways to grow the sport, pointing to existing programs that already are attracting more skiers.

Gierhart said the alliance could bring in more resources so they can help clubs get equipment and expand existing programs.

“The long-term implications of what this could bring is really profound from a growing-the-sport perspective and pushing support out to the communities and clubs that need it," he said.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — Martha Bellisle is an amateur biathlete who has won several U.S. national and world championship gold medals in the master’s division. She is a member of the U.S. Biathlon Association.

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https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

The show's new executive producer, Nick Bilton, announced the news in a staff memo Tuesday, shared on X. Joining Douthat and O'Donnell will be author Sebastian Junger, Trevor Phillips and Gianna Toboni. All will be contributors to the show.

The new journalists join current correspondents Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Bill Whitaker. Their hirings come two months after a shakeup at the storied program, led by the network's new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.

Weiss installed Bilton, who has little substantive broadcast news experience, as executive producer, replacing Tanya Simon, who was let go after a 30-plus year tenure with the show. Also let go were correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega — and soon after, Scott Pelley, after a tense confrontation with his bosses over the changes.

In addition to the three dismissed, Anderson Cooper — whose primary job is at CNN — said earlier this year he was leaving of his own accord after two decades.

CBS News leaders enthused about the hires

Weiss and Tom Cibrowski, the CBS News president, praised the new hires in an internal memo. “We couldn’t be more excited about this news,” the two said, welcoming the new additions. “Onward!”

Bilton called Douthat “one of the preeminent public intellectuals in America today, a thinker of uncommon rigor and a journalist of deep empathy.” The columnist has spent nearly two decades at the Times and is an author of numerous books.

The producer called O’Donnell “a powerhouse.”

“You’ve seen her all over the network. She’s launched a new podcast. And you’ll see much more of her in our halls because Norah will be a correspondent on 60 Minutes."

Bilton praised Junger for his nonfiction work “The Perfect Storm,” about a catastrophic 1991 storm. The book “landed with an electric charge in the world of reported nonfiction, defining an intense and intimate form of storytelling and establishing Sebastian as a generational talent,” Bilton said.

Toboni joins“60 Minutes” as a contributor and CBS News as a national correspondent. Previously a senior correspondent with VICE News and VICE on HBO, she comes to the program from CNN.

Calling her a journalist of “extraordinary range,” Bilton noted that Toboni has interviewed members of ISIS, investigated cartel violence in Mexico and has written a book on the death penalty.

Also serving as contributor will be Trevor Phillips, announced last month as the news division's senior global affairs correspondent. Based in London, he is “one of the most respected and trusted voices in the United Kingdom for his ability to ask the toughest questions and hold anyone in power to account,” Bilton wrote in his memo.

‘60 Minutes’ has faced upheaval for a while

Turmoil had raged at “60 Minutes” for more than a year before the May shakeup. Much of it came after President Donald Trump sued the show over its editing of a 2024 interview with then-Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

That became part of a broader shakeup at CBS News after Weiss was named to the new role of editor-in-chief by parent company Paramount late last year following David Ellison’s arrival as the network’s corporate leader.

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Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was one of three men riding in a work van July 7 being driven by Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was shot by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. Salgado Araujo was shot after the van was stopped by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles. Rojas Pliego has disputed the Trump administration's account of the shooting in court documents, calling it a “lie.”

A federal judge this week ordered Rojas Pliego's release and previously instructed the government not to deport him.

Rojas Pliego has lived in the U.S. for several decades and does not have legal status, according to his stepdaughter Griselda Silva. She said that the family could not afford to pay the legal fees to try to adjust his status.

Around the time Rojas Pliego walked out of the detention center Wednesday, federal prosecutors asked for a stay of his release pending an appeal, arguing that U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison’s ruling on Monday conflicted with decisions in other immigration cases.

Wearing an ankle monitor, Rojas Pliego visited the curbside memorial commemorating his former boss on Monday and recalled when the group was followed by ICE agents.

“We were on our way to work when they took Lorenzo Salgado’s life," he said in Spanish. "Instead of giving him first aid right away, they handcuffed him and pushed him to the ground. That’s not right. I want justice for Lorenzo Salgado, my boss.”

The Department of Homeland Security said shortly after the shooting that Salgado Araujo had “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer,” and that the officer had fired in self-defense. But Rojas Pliego and another passenger wrote in statements submitted in court that the officers were on the sides of the van, never in front of or behind it.

Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old father of three, had been living in the U.S. for 35 years and was close to obtaining legal status, according to his family. He had no criminal record.

His death is one of at least 10 during immigration enforcement operations since the start of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, sparking widespread protests in Houston and calls for an independent investigation.

At the memorial site, Rojas Pliego played a song over his phone on speaker and told reporters that he missed Salgado Araujo. “I worked alongside him through thick and thin. My whole life,” he said, describing him as a “good boss.”

“Rest in peace," he said. "I couldn’t be present at your funeral, but you have me here now."

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Associated Press reporter Valerie Gonzalez contributed from McAllen, Texas.

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Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Residents of the Meridian of Galveston say management relocated them to the Inn at the Waterpark following the incident. But they say the conditions and level of care at the hotel are not the same as what they were promised — and what they’re paying for.

“My biggest complaint is I’m paying $3,400 to live in a single hotel room,” one resident said.

The frustration runs deeper than the accommodations. John Schreiber says he feels like residents have been forgotten by management.

“The advertisements they put out to get people to come to the Meridian advertised active transportation available and certain amenities — and they haven’t been delivering on them,” Schreiber said.

Gary Delzer says the problems started when a pipe on the sixth floor failed, causing flooding that spread throughout the building. He took photos of the damage that followed. What was supposed to be a short-term fix has stretched far longer than anyone expected.

“At first they said it would be a very short number of weeks or months to fix everything, and now it’s been a year — and it always gets postponed,” Delzer said.

KPRC 2 took those concerns directly to Barry Goldstein, executive director of the Meridian of Galveston. He acknowledged the delays but says the facility is now moving toward getting residents back home.

“Right now, where we’re at is we’ve submitted our application for certificate of occupancy,” Goldstein said. “What that allows is the city to go and review all the inspections they’ve had and to conduct further inspections to determine and ensure that it’s safe for the residents to return.”

As for why the process took so long, Goldstein said the scope of the damage was far greater than initially anticipated.

“Two-thirds of the building had damage to it,” Goldstein said. “It’s basically like an onion — when you find an area to fix, it leads to things that require new code, and we would have to repair to that code. We had challenges with the contractors to get the appropriate work done and changed contractors a couple of times throughout the process.”

Goldstein says the city now has 10 days to review the certificate of occupancy request. He is optimistic there will be no further delays and that residents could begin moving back in shortly after.

As an added incentive for residents who choose to return, Goldstein says the Meridian will offer a two-year freeze on any rent increases.

After just a couple of hours of deliberations, a jury found Hadi Matar guilty of all the charges against him, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

Rushdie, who was about to speak on writers’ safety, was slashed 15 times on an amphitheater stage in 2022. He was gravely wounded and lost the sight in his right eye.

Prosecutors asserted that Matar was motivated by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ’s 1989 call for Rushdie’s death because of “The Satanic Verses.”

“His brutal attack on Mr. Rushdie during a peaceful speaking event is a chilling reminder of the global reach of Iranian terrorism," Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said in a statement after the verdict, adding that “justice has been done.” Iran’s government has denied involvement in the attack.

Matar’s defense: No evidence of his state of mind

Messages seeking comment on the verdict were sent to Matar's attorneys and Rushdie's assistant. During the trial, defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone said the government had no proof of what was in Matar’s head.

Matar himself declined to testify. Rushdie did, telling jurors: “I can’t say what his ambitions or his aim was, but the wounds were dispersed across my body.”

Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction in the stabbing. His federal sentencing is set for Nov. 3, when he faces a potential life term.

Rushdie won Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for his 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children,” about his native India. “The Satanic Verses,” a novel of magical realism about the lives and dreams of two actors who survive a plane explosion, followed in 1988.

It drew critical acclaim in the United Kingdom but engendered protests around the Muslim world over what some believers saw as blasphemous suggestions about Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, particularly in a dream sequence. Over the ensuing years, at least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, a Japanese translator was stabbed to death, and an Italian translator and Norwegian publisher were attacked.

Rushdie, who was born into a Muslim family, has said the dream sequence was just that. But he went into hiding for years, gradually emerging after Iran’s government distanced itself in 1998 from Khomeini’s fatwa, or religious edict.

“For two decades or more, I led a public life without a hint of trouble,” Rushdie testified at the trial in Buffalo, New York.

Yet the fatwa was never rescinded; indeed, Khomenei’s successor, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, indicated in 2017 that it remained in effect. An Iranian foundation has offered a more than $3 million bounty for killing Rushdie.

Prosecutors: Matar’s messages showed him zeroing in on Rushdie

Matar broached the fatwa with contacts in messaging apps in 2021 and 2022, according to exhibits shown in court. The messages showed Matar fuming that he felt Rushdie had attacked Islam and, by surviving, emboldened others to insult the faith. Matar alluded to a 2006 comment along those lines by the late Hezbollah militant group leader Hassan Nasrallah, the messages showed.

Born in the U.S., Matar also holds citizenship in Lebanon, where Hezbollah is based. Prosecutors said that photos in Matar’s New Jersey bedroom and on his computer indicated his support for Hezbollah, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.

Matar “spent months planning and preparing to carry out what he hoped would be the execution of Salman Rushdie,” U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo said in a statement Wednesday.

The messages showed Matar initially talked about wanting to “expose” Rushdie, then about taking his life. In a private note to himself, he wrote: “We need to kill him ASAP,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch said in an opening statement on July 22. The prosecutor said Matar framed the planned killing as part of what he considered a jihad, or holy war.

By spring 2022, the electronic chats showed, Matar wrote that he had discerned where Rushdie lived and was tracking his public appearances, eventually pointing out his scheduled August 2022 talk at the Chautauqua Institution, a western New York arts and intellectual center.

As Rushdie was being introduced, his attacker climbed on stage behind him, then stabbed him as the audience gasped. Spectators and another speaker, Henry Reese, scrambled to aid Rushdie. Law enforcement officers, assigned to the event, arrested the attacker — soon identified as Matar — after civilians restrained him.

Rushdie published a 2024 memoir about the attack, then returned to fiction with last year’s “The Eleventh Hour.” The author, who was knighted by Britain’s late Queen Elizabeth II, received a Dayton Literary Peace Prize lifetime achievement award in November.

___

Associated Press writer John Wawrow contributed from Buffalo, New York.

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Matei said the issue came to light after she tried to find local teachers’ wish lists in hopes of donating before the new school year. She said when she could not find any lists online, she posted on social media urging teachers to reach out with their lists, and CFISD teachers responded.

“That’s when I got the DMs coming in saying, ‘I’m not able to publicly post this. I can sometimes privately share it,’” Matei said. “It made me so sad that these teachers are having to jump through all these loopholes.”

So Matei went to TikTok and posted a new video expressing teachers’ claims that CFISD was not allowing them to post their wish lists online.

Here’s what teachers were saying in her comments:

@user1503194302939

• “Girl I just post mine and block my coworkers from seeing it.”

@madison.elise.adams

• “I just left CFISD. We were told we couldn’t even post them on our personal Facebook. I still did it because it’s a ridiculous rule, and it was MY friends and family who were donating to ME!”

@life-of-des66

• “As a current employee of CFISD, I’m so confused because we never heard of this.”

One of the most puzzling parts of the story is the inconsistencies in what is being communicated.

Matei said the varying reports and teachers’ lack of awareness about certain rules are what concern her most.

“There are so many varying reports,” Matei said. “Some teachers are saying they can’t share anything. Some are saying they have no issues doing that.”

Matei said the only way she has been able to make sense of this is that she believes the policy may be tied to the public perception that school districts are not properly providing resources for their teachers and students, although she stressed it was her opinion.

“I think the school districts are doing this because it’s all PR,” Matei said. “They don’t want to seem like they’re not providing. But if it sounds like a duck, it’s a duck.”

CFISD, however, says teachers can share classroom lists once they receive proper approval.

CFISD issued KPRC this statement:

“To ensure compliance with Board Policy CDC (LOCAL) and District Regulation CDC-R, CFISD has an approval process in place for its two district-authorized crowdfunding websites, DonorsChoose.org and Amazon Classroom Wish List. Once an authorization form is completed and approved by their campus principal, the lists may be made live, and teachers may share links to these lists online. Donors financially support programs like DonorsChoose, in part, based on the needs of students at specific campuses promoted in the description. As such, materials acquired through these donations remain at the campus to continue supporting the students and programs for which the donations were intended. This ensures that donor contributions directly benefit the campus community identified in the funding request.”

Still, Matei said some teachers have privately told her they created personal “birthday” wish lists as a workaround to get classroom items.

Matei also said she has heard from other educators around Texas who have reached out and commented with similar stories.

“I want to support my friends and family. I want to support their kids and their community,” Matei said. “All we want to do is help our teachers and help our kids.”

Constable deputies responded to the incident in the 24600 block of Cypresswood Drive at James C. Leo Drive.

Constable Deputies, Fire Department personnel, and EMS worked to safely rescue the man.

Authorities say the man was successfully rescued and has been taken to a hospital.

His current condition is unknown and it is unclear how he ended up falling into the manhole.

LUBBOCK — What would normally be unassuming, small parcels of land have caught the eye of Lubbock’s city leaders and have residents up in arms.

On Tuesday, Lubbock City Council approved changes to two parcels of land — one to annex an 8-acre tract of land into city limits and another to rezone 52 acres of land from single-family residential to industrial.

The 8-acre tract of land sits in North Lubbock near a rail line, and the other is on the opposite side of the rail line near Interstate 27. Lubbock Economic Development Alliance, or LEDA, requested the changes.

While city leaders haven’t explicitly said what the properties will be used for, residents suspect the locations will serve as a gateway to connecting an industrial site — specifically a data center — to the city’s main utility lines.

Prior to the City Council meeting, a group of residents started a petition that would force the council to vote on an 18-month data center moratorium. Before the petition could be verified, however, the council placed an agenda item to change the two pieces of land.

What resulted was a tense confrontation by residents who cried, shouted and threatened to recall city leaders.

“You can vote with us today, the people that voted and put you in place, or you can watch us do a recall,” said Phyllis Gant, a Lubbock resident and community activist.

Lubbock residents have been embroiled in a monthslong fight with city and county leaders about a possible hyperscale AI data center project. They aren’t the only ones. Texans all over the state have pushed back. Some have successfully gotten data center projects pulled.

Concerned Lubbock residents have taken their worries to meetings all over the city — from City Council to county commissioners. Earlier this month, hundreds of residents packed the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center to once again express their concerns to city leaders. They also held a protest against data centers, which current Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller attended.

Despite several meetings, many residents in Lubbock felt their pleas fell on deaf ears, which is why the petition was created. If the council votes against the moratorium the petition would prompt, the organizers can elect to put it on the ballot in November. This would give Lubbock voters a say on any hyperscale data center developments, and if they approve the moratorium, it would effectively stop all the plans the city has been working on. Organizers are planning to submit the petition and its nearly 2,500 signatures, next week.

Lubbock Mayor Mark McBrayer recently said the council would not be in favor of the moratorium, saying “a lot of what they want to happen during that moratorium, we’ve already been doing.”

Terry Holeman with Hugo Reed and Associates, a land surveying and planning firm working with LEDA, said one of the properties was never purposely zoned as residential and the label was the result of when the property came into city limits.

Councilwoman Christy Martinez-Garcia, who represents a district that is largely in Lubbock’s industrial zone and voted against the zone change, asked Holeman directly if the property will be used for a data center. Holeman deferred to John Osborne, LEDA’s president, who told Martinez-Garcia neither piece of land would be conducive for a data center development.

Osborne said one piece of land has a rail line going through the property, and the other has narrow dirt roads. The annexation would help them connect utilities to the smaller land. He said the bigger piece of land is good for a manufacturer, but not a regular-sized or hyperscale data center. “While technically a data center could go on a property like this, it’s not the highest and best use for that property,” Osborne said. “A data center could potentially go there, [but] I don’t anticipate a data center ever going there primarily because we’re trying to put the highest and best use for properties.”

Stephen Sanders, one of the organizers of the petition, spoke to the council and encouraged members to listen to their humanity.

“If you approve this, tomorrow morning, I believe LEDA will take a permit out for a data center,” Sanders said.

Sanders also said if the council does approve a data center, the citizens will “have to recall you.” His statement was met with applause and cheers from the crowd.

Speaking with The Tribune, Osborne said he did not know about the timeline of the petition or when it was going to get turned in. The land annexed is not being marketed to data centers, he said, and they submitted the request to the council before Tuesday. However, LEDA owns the 377 acres around the property, and is allowed to have utilities go through the site. The annex brought the land into city limits so LEDA can use the city’s utility services.

“We’re not trying to market this property to data centers. We’re trying to market it to manufacturers that need rail service,” Osborne told The Tribune. “I don’t understand all the major concerns being presented because that’s not our intention. Our intention is to bring the manufacturer here because that’s the highest and best use of it.”

Tensions flared during the meeting. Martinez-Garcia tried to calm the crowd by saying residents can meet with council members individually instead of making assumptions on where people stand on an issue. She also said LEDA is not a bad organization and has to work with sensitive information. Someone in the crowd responded by cursing at Martinez-Garcia.

“We are very aware of your interests, but we also have to have a balance,” Martinez-Garcia said. “So just be understanding of any decisions that are made.”

Brayden Rose, an outgoing council member, said the city can help with some resources that people are concerned about, such as providing water. He reiterated that a data center would not be going up in that location.

“We’ve already come up here and said a data center is not going here,” Rose told the crowd, who began talking back to him.

Sanders said the annexation approvals do not stop the purpose of their petition since it is aimed at the possible hyperscale data center. He said the meeting Tuesday was an opportunity for people to see how LEDA and city leaders operate.

“We are still on the right path,” Sanders said. “We will be able to stop those big massive hyper-scale projects, and that is a blessing.”

On Tuesday night, hours after the council meeting ended, a local news station revealed a partnership between LEDA and CORVA, a data center company. The deal was approved last month to put a small data center in East Lubbock. The plan for “Project Infrared” is for a 50,000-square-foot inference data center within city limits. Osborne confirmed it is not connected to the zoning cases debated Tuesday.

“We purposely had not announced that project coming to Lubbock primarily because it’s not a done deal,” Osborne told The Tribune. “They still need to get their interconnect with ERCOT through Lubbock Power and Light, and if that fails to happen then they would not end up coming to that site at all.”

Osborne said he has heard the concerns residents raise about data centers. At the same time, he said, he hears about people wanting lower tax rates and the way to do that is with an increased tax base.

“While not every data center is a good project for Lubbock, there are projects that are out there that fulfill the needs of those that want additional properties on the tax rolls at significant amounts,” Osborned said. “As well as ones that don’t use our local resources in a way that would be difficult for our community.”

Now, more viewers are sharing nearly identical stories.

Following our original report, homeowners from across the Houston area contacted 2 Helps You to report abandoned cables draped across fences, or left tangled around utility boxes and trees.

Homeowners we’ve spoken with say they’ve repeatedly contacted Xfinity but have struggled to get the issue addressed.

In Sugar Land, Brian Schnupp said a cable has remained in his backyard, despite multiple attempts to have it removed.

“Going on 2 years.”

Asked how long the cable had actually been hanging, Schnupp said it dates back to October 2024.

“I have tried to get in contact with them, but they are very difficult to get a hold of if you are not a customer.”

• RELATED: Disappearing Act: After failed calls, Houston woman calls 2 Helps You and gets backyard nuisance removed days later

On Houston’s east side, Sonia Gonzalez has been dealing with a similar issue. A cable has remained overshadowing her backyard fence since November.

Gonzalez showed 2 Helps You a paper trail documenting her efforts to get the issue resolved.

“This is all the times I’ve contacted Xfinity.”

Despite those repeated contacts, Gonzalez said she still hasn’t received a clear explanation as to why the cable remains.

Another complaint came from Sugar Land resident Gage Divin, who noticed a bundle of abandoned cables stretched between utility boxes in the backyard of his family’s residence, “It’s been over here from this box to this box... at least three months.”

Ironically, Divin was working alongside the 2 Helps You team as the photographer assigned to this story when he mentioned in passing that he was dealing with the same problem at his own residence and has been attempting to figure out how to get it handled.

The latest complaints mirror the concerns highlighted in the original 2 Helps You investigation involving Linia Lee.

During the first investigation, 2 Helps You encouraged viewers to document abandoned cables with photos and to contact every utility or communications provider that could potentially own the equipment.

Keeping records of every report and service request can also help if additional follow-up becomes necessary.

Within days of Linia’s story airing, her abandoned cable was removed, “I feel wonderful. I am so happy to have this taken care of,” she told Investigator Mario Diaz after the fix.

Regarding the new cases, Xfinity didn’t waste any time, as crews removed cables that had been left behind after previous work days after we reached out to the company.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We know how important it is for customers to stay connected, and our priority is to restore service as quickly as possible when disruptions occur. In some cases, we use temporary lines to quickly restore connectivity while permanent repairs are planned and completed. These permanent repairs are now complete,” said an Xfinity spokesperson via email on Tuesday.

These reports all started with Houstonians contacting the 2 Helps You desk. Remember we shouldn’t be your first call, but we don’t mind being the last.

The Redmond, Washington, company earned $90 billion, or $4.81 per share, in the April-June quarter. That is up 18% from the same period a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had expected the company to earn $4.24 per share on revenue of $87.62 billion this quarter.

Microsoft Cloud revenue was $59.3 billion this quarter, up 27% year-over-year. That growth reflects the demand across Microsoft's cloud computing platform Azure, as well as its first-party AI applications and services. Azure and other cloud services revenue increased 43%.

For the full fiscal year, which closed out at the end of June, the company brought in $331.8 billion in revenue.

“This year, Azure revenue surpassed $100 billion for the first time, and Microsoft 365 Copilot reached over 30 million paid seats, reflecting the confidence customers are placing in us to power their AI transformation,” CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement Wednesday.

The concurrent Azure and Copilot growth indicate that Microsoft is “winning on both fronts,” Michael J. Wolf, founder and CEO of Activate Consulting said in a statement. Microsoft is doing so by “supplying the cloud infrastructure for enterprise AI while monetizing the AI tools embedded in the products workers use every day.”

Investors had been looking for evidence that Azure and Copilot, Microsoft's flagship AI assistant, could eventually produce returns as concerns about high AI spending have steadily grown across the industry.

Chief financial officer Amy Hood told investors on a call that the company’s capital expenditures and investment expectations remain unchanged for the 2026 calendar year. An accounting change will bring that guidance closer to approximately $175 billion, Hood said, but in practice, the expectations remain “unchanged.” This move marks a break from competitors that have been steadily increasing their spending forecasts.

Hood said earlier this year that the company expects to invest $190 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, a figure that includes approximately $25 billion from the impact of higher component pricing. Microsoft's capital expenditures were $41 billion this quarter.

Bryan Hayes, an investment strategist at Zacks Investment Research, said in a statement that “for the first time in three quarters, the market appears willing to grant that the spending is buying something real.”

“We remain very confident in the long-term return on these investments, given these strong demand signals, the increasing product usage we’ve seen and the efficiencies that we’re driving across the platform,” said Danielle Criste, Microsoft's director of investor relations, in an interview.

Microsoft’s shares rose about 9% to $426.03 in after-hours trading.

Records show both deadly shootings happened under similar circumstances involving large gatherings, and according to records, Velasquez has a pattern of allegedly robbing people of their chains at large parties.

Velasquez is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning on the new murder charge.

The first killing: A teen shot at a crowded house party

The first shooting happened Aug. 30, 2025, at a party of about 200 people on Waldine Street in East Harris County, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

Deputies say 17-year-old Angel Garcia was murdered after Velasquez and others approached him — investigators described it as a possibly targeted act. Many of the witnesses were underage and left before deputies could interview them, which stretched the investigation out over several months.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrested Velasquez in June for Garcia’s death.

The second killing: A fight spills outside a Midtown nightclub

While Velasquez was free, he is also accused of fatally shooting 27-year-old Noah Ramirez.

That shooting happened in late April outside the Diosa Nightclub in Midtown, where Houston police say a fight inside led to the shooting. Two other people were also hurt.

Ramirez’s father spoke with KPRC 2 News by phone. He said his son was not a troublemaker and had goals for his life, including going back to college, getting married, and having children.

“I just want justice for him,” Jesus Ramirez said. “I just don’t understand why they did what they did. It’s just painful and something I’ll never know or understand, I just want the person responsible to pay for what they did.”

What’s in Velasquez’s record

Velasquez is in jail with bonds totaling $800,000. In addition to the two murder charges, he is also facing unrelated aggravated robbery charges connected to the alleged chain robberies.

Records show Velasquez is from El Salvador and has an immigration hold from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

His defense attorney Keaton Forcht has not commented on the new murder case.

Law enforcement is asking anyone who has been robbed or assaulted by Velasquez to come forward or call Crime Stoppers.

Rojas Pliego was inside a van in Magnolia Park when ICE agents shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7. A federal judge gave ICE 48 hours to release him on Tuesday.

Attorney Raed Gonzalez said Rojas Pliego has no criminal record and that this was his first interaction with federal agents.

• RELATED: José Trinidad Rojas Pliego ordered released from ICE processing center

“His family is traumatized as well. They saw the videos of (Lorenzo Salgado Araujo) dying on the floor, and suddenly their father, their husband, breadwinner is detained,” Gonzalez said. “Certainly looking forward to this reunification.”

A federal judge ordered ICE to release Rojas Pliego and provide his attorney with at least three hours’ notice before doing so.

Rojas Pliego has applied for a U visa, and the judge noted that his immigration case could take years to resolve.

Concerns about future ICE detention remain

The possibility of being detained again remains a concern for Rojas Pliego and his legal team. Gonzalez pointed to what he described as a pattern that has affected even U.S. citizens.

“There have been cases of U.S. citizens being detained three times, and the government continues to arrest them,” Gonzalez said. “The judge asked the government ... to provide a hearing in the case they want to re-arrest him.”

Other witnesses still waiting

The two other men who were in the van with Salgado Araujo have not been granted release orders, although their attorneys have filed petitions on their behalf. Gonzalez said the disparity is not uncommon because release decisions are made on a case-by-case basis by individual judges.

Gonzalez also said bond hearings are no longer required, a change that directly affects people detained by ICE at the Montgomery County processing facility.

A news conference is expected to be held Thursday.

The Miller Outdoor Theatre is the perfect setting with its outdoor stage and open hills. Houstonians can sit under the vast sky and watch the festival’s performances just like in Shakespearean days.

Since 1975, UH School of Dance and Theater has entertained audiences with classic tales — and this year is a little different.

The beloved character Prospero has been reimagined as a powerful sorceress named Prospera. Veteran actor Laure Frye, with credits from Houston and New York City, takes on the new role with her fresh take.

Plus, if you arrive 30 minutes before the performance, you’ll experience the festival’s version of Bard Talk. So bring a blanket and enjoy the shows from tomorrow, July 30, through Aug. 8.

• “The Tempest” performs July 30 and Aug. 1, 3, 5 and 7
• “The Comedy of Errors” performs July 31 and Aug. 4, 6 and 8
• Performance begins at 8:15 p.m.
• Bard Talk begins at 7:45 p.m.
• Hermann Park’s Miller Outdoor Theatre (6000 Hermann Park Drive)
• Event is free
• But if you prefer covered seating, grab your tickets here.

Sharon Ott, executive director of the Houston Shakespeare Festival and director of the University of Houston’s School of Theatre and Dance — along with actors Brandon Morgan and Frye stopped by “Houston Life” with a preview. Watch their conversation in the video above.

For more information about the festival, visit uh.edu/shakespeare.

The decision, at least for now, shielded Fauci from answering questions that could expose him to accusations of lying under oath. Though he received a pardon in early 2025 from Democratic President Joe Biden, some Republicans pursuing a yearslong campaign for his arrest had suggested he could still face charges for any perjury committed during Wednesday’s hearing.

The scientist, who helped lead the nation’s COVID-19 response, was subpoenaed to testify under oath by Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who has long had an antagonistic relationship with Fauci.

In response to angry, sometimes mocking questions from Republican senators, Fauci declined to answer more than 100 times, injecting new drama into partisan divides that have festered for years about the origins and handling of the pandemic. Fauci himself has become a polarizing figure, even receiving death threats that prompted him to seek security.

In his opening statement, Fauci said Paul has an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”

“The only conclusion I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, ‘behind bars,'” Fauci said, adding that while it pained him to do so, he was following his attorney’s advice by taking the Fifth.

Paul, who has long argued that Fauci should be criminally investigated, based on his belief that the scientist was dishonest in previous testimony to Congress, announced that the committee will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt for declining to answer questions.

He did not say whether he would push for a criminal contempt referral to federal prosecutors or another charge. He also raised questions about whether Fauci’s pardon affects his eligibility for Fifth Amendment protections.

Republicans accuse Fauci of lying while Democrats say he didn't deserve that

In the combative hearing, Paul and other Republicans accused Fauci of lying in earlier testimony about the coronavirus’ origins, something the longtime National Institutes of Health scientist has forcefully denied. Democrats called the hearing a politically motivated attempt at entrapping Fauci and praised the scientist for his work during the pandemic.

With Fauci declining to answer questions throughout, Paul dominated the approximately three-hour hearing, listing a litany of accusations and detailed questions.

“Today will be the capstone to Anthony Fauci's 40 years of abuse of power at NIH,” Paul said. “History will judge, but the facts as we now know them paint a sordid tale of dishonesty, misjudgment and ultimately the hubris, the likes of which the world has never seen.”

In a heated moment during the hearing, Paul ejected Fauci’s attorney, David Schertler, from the room after he tried to speak without being recognized. In a statement, Schertler said the removal was “outrageous and demonstrates the completely biased and baseless nature of this proceeding.” In another statement, he called Paul’s accusations about Fauci “false and disgraceful.”

Democratic senators praised Fauci and said he didn’t deserve the treatment he was getting.

“This hearing is designed to entrap you,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.

Paul released some of Fauci's diary

Leading up to the hearing, Paul released more than 1,000 pages of Fauci’s personal diary covering the pandemic years. Pointing to some notes about early efforts at understanding how the virus emerged, Paul said on social media that what Fauci “wrote privately and what he told the country are two different stories.”

Some of the diary entries — including Fauci’s uncertainty in the pandemic’s earliest days as scientists around the world raced to understand the new virus and how best to curb it before vaccines could be created — already were reflected in a 2024 memoir and in interviews at the time.

But they have nonetheless drawn attention from people who blame Fauci for mask mandates, school closures and other policies they believe infringed on their rights as hundreds of thousands of people were dying.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday wrote on social media that he stopped relying on Fauci over the course of the pandemic because he felt the scientist made bad decisions about masks, shutdowns, and other issues. He later told reporters he watched the entire hearing.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist before entering public office, said on social media that his department had found the diary entries on government property and had given them to the committee.

Dozens of disease experts defend Fauci in letter

Scientists also scrambled to Fauci’s defense ahead of the unusual hearing — the second time he has been back before Congress to discuss pandemic origins since leaving the government in 2022. While the COVID-19 pandemic introduced him to millions of Americans, he talked the nation through numerous outbreaks over decades, including HIV, Ebola and the 2001 anthrax attacks, while advising seven presidents.

In a public letter, more than 150 infectious-disease experts and other scientists wrote that “no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges” and that they are urging elected officials to “stop these witch-hunts.”

Among topics discussed at Wednesday's hearing was whether NIH-funded research in China may have played a role in how the pandemic started.

Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, coming to light when it spread at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan. There’s no new scientific evidence supporting the theory that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory, a theory Paul champions. A GOP-led subcommittee that studied the question in 2024 found no evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.

Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there’s more evidence supporting COVID-19’s natural origins.

Republicans also have accused Fauci of lying about whether his agency funded what's known as gain-of-function research — the practice of enhancing a virus in a lab to study its potential real-world impact — at a lab in Wuhan.

The NIH, for years, gave grants to a New York nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance, which used some of the funds to work with a Chinese lab studying coronaviruses commonly carried by bats. But the definition of gain-of-function covers both general research and especially risky experiments that enhance the ability of potential pandemic viruses to spread or cause severe disease in humans. Fauci has previously stressed he was using the risky experiment definition and “it would be molecularly impossible” for those bat virus experiments to have turned into the pandemic virus.

Trump, a Republican, paused some federally funded gain-of-function research last year, and on Tuesday his administration announced new rules to tighten oversight.

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Swenson reported from New York.

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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.

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Follow the AP's coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.

PHARR — Leaders within the construction industry in South Texas delivered a clear message to lawmakers: Stop the mass deportation of workers or risk losing in November.

During a gathering Wednesday hosted by the South Texas Builders Association and the American Business Immigration Coalition Action, industry leaders discussed possible solutions for immigrant workers. Lawmakers who don’t engage with their concerns or don’t support worker protections, the group warned, will lose their races in the November midterm elections.

The South Texas Builders Association had been for months raising the alarm on how immigration enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had scared immigrant workers from showing up to work sites, causing a labor shortage and a delay in construction projects.

After the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a construction worker in Houston who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier this month, ICE’s targeting of immigrant laborers has once again come into focus, and now, the builders association is demanding worker protections, such as permits that would allow immigrants to work legally in the country.

“I want to send a clear warning to every political leader: If you don’t stop the worksite raids, the mass deportations, if you don’t pass the work permits for long-term, law-abiding immigrants, or citizens, or our Dreamers, you will lose,” said Massey Villarreal, CEO and president of Precision Task Group, a business solutions firm based in Houston.

Villarreal, a Republican, serves as co-chairman of the Comité de 100, a bipartisan group of Latino business leaders who advocate for immigration policies that enable border security alongside a pathway for legal status for workers.

He said that Latinos in Texas should take it personally when ICE targets people like Salgado Araujo because he said it’s an attack on the community.

“I won’t tolerate it, even in our own party,” he said.

Ronnie Cavazos, chairman of the South Texas Builders Association, said his own father was an immigrant and a hard worker. He imagined that Salgado Araujo, who was killed on his way to work, was similar and questioned why the community had supported a presidential administration that would shoot and kill a worker like him.

“Let’s be real, we voted for it,” Cavazos said. “So whose fault was it?”

He would take the blame, but he and the organization are paying attention now, he said, adding that the only way to change things is to vote.

“When I go to that ballot box in November, Lorenzo’s name is going to be in my mind,” Cavazos said.

The three congressional races in South Texas are among the most competitive in the state. Two of the incumbents — U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, Democrats from Laredo and McAllen, respectively — attended Wednesday’s gathering and reiterated their support for limiting ICE operations for the deportation of violent criminals and assured they supported work permits for immigrant laborers.

U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Edinburg, did not attend Wednesday’s meeting, though she has met with the builders association in the past. Following talks with the group, De La Cruz said she would favor a legal status for construction workers.

She has also worked behind the scenes to secure the release of people from ICE custody including high school mariachi students and a nun who was detained on her way to Mass last month.

“As I have repeatedly said, our immigration enforcement should target violent criminals,” De La Cruz said in a social post when the nun, Sister Leticia Ugboaja, was detained.

However, De La Cruz has faced criticism from immigrant activist groups for voting for President Donald Trump’s signature funding bill, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, which allocated more funding for ICE’s immigration crackdown.

De La Cruz is in a closely watched congressional race against Tejano star Bobby Pulido who is hoping to flip the seat back to Democrats in November.

Pulido, whose delayed flight kept him away from Wednesday’s gathering, spoke to the group in a video message.

“I do believe that we want common-sense immigration reform that doesn’t hurt businesses and doesn’t separate families and have people living in fear,” Pulido said. “I’m with you all, and you all have a friend.”

Andy Garza, a sales consultant for a concrete company based in Mission, said he was disappointed the meeting became political after it was advertised as an open discussion that put politics aside.

Garza, who voted for Trump 2024, said if Democrats had secured the border to begin with, ICE raids wouldn’t be happening now.

Because of culture war issues, Garza said he would never vote for a Democrat again. However, he said immigrants are needed for construction and agriculture work.

“I do believe there should be changes,” he said. “Leave the people that are working, are construction workers, leave them alone. We need them.”

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

27-year-old Noah Ramirez was killed in the shooting, and two others were hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

Houston police responded to reports of a shooting around 2 a.m. and found three people who 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 one of them pulled out a gun.

Investigators say there was a fight inside the club the led to the shooting.

Jefferson Velasquez in currently in the Harris County Jail and due in court Thursday morning.

A crowd of a few dozen gathered outside Climate Pledge Arena to both support Cunningham and promote statewide initiatives IL26-638, which would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ athletics at Washington schools, and IL26-001, which would expand the state's “Parents’ Bill of Rights.”

Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN article published last week. Cunningham was booed by Storm fans when she checked into Tuesday’s game, as well as when attempting her first free throws of the night.

Media members asked to speak to Cunningham and Clark postgame, but neither player was made available. Kelsey Mitchell and Monique Billings addressed the media instead, alongside head coach Stephanie White.

When White was asked about the rally and Cunningham’s recent comments, a Fever public relations representative intervened with the following statement:

“Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,” the statement said. “Our only goal as a team, whether at home or away, is to win basketball games and make Fever fans for life, and we are united in that mission.”

Storm head coach Sonia Raman answered a question about the pregame protest following her team’s seventh consecutive loss.

“Seattle and this organization and Climate Pledge, we always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building,” Raman said. “I think we’ve always done a really good job with that. So, I know our organization was working closely with Climate Pledge and the security just to make sure that everybody feels safe and included and welcome when they walk in this door.

“From what I understand, that was successful.”

Heather Weiner, a spokesperson for No Hate in Washington State, a coalition of doctors, nurses, anti-domestic violence groups and other community organizations opposing statewide Initiatives 638 and 001, found it to be a positive experience on the whole outside Climate Pledge Arena.

“Washington State is a very caring, inclusive place,” Weiner said. “We don’t always agree, but we do agree against hate, and we will come together about that.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

In place of the people movers, the airport will add a new U-shaped passenger train, a central walking tunnel, more moving walkways and new concourses. An above-ground parking garage closer to the main terminal with space for 32,000 vehicles is also in the offing, according to Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

The airport makeover would add to a long list of renovation projects the Republican president is pursuing to leave a lasting mark on the Washington region after his term ends in January 2029. Among other undertakings, he is building a new White House ballroom and wants to build a towering triumphal arch near the Lincoln Memorial.

But of all the construction projects Trump is pursuing, the renovations at Dulles could prove to be his most popular and benefit the greatest number of people. The airport, the area’s primary international airport, served roughly 29 million passengers over the past year, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

“This transformation is another step in our ongoing efforts to make Washington, D.C., safe and beautiful again,” Trump said. “We’re doing something with Dulles that’s going to make it the top anywhere in the world.”

Trump says Dulles modernization is ‘sorely needed’

Trump, who used a laser pointer to explain the renovations displayed on renderings, said the “crazy distances” travelers must walk to get from place to place make Dulles “the worst airport.”

Congress would need to approve some aspects of the renovation plan, Trump said. Construction could start next spring, Duffy said. The plan does not call for expanding Dulles' runways or adding new ones.

Officials said the airlines and the airport authority that operates Dulles would pay for the project with municipal bonds, but they did not spell out how much of the cost might be passed on to travelers through higher fees or ticket prices when flying out of the airport.

John Potter, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates Dulles, said his agency, United Airlines and other airlines operating there have agreed “to fund this thing.” Dulles is one of United's hubs.

“So this is not requiring federal dollars,” Potter said at the Oval Office event. “This is going to be airport-generated dollars, airline contributions, which is phenomenal."

Dulles, located in northern Virginia, is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from downtown Washington. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is located in Arlington, Virginia, which is closer to downtown, making it popular with members of Congress and local residents.

The president, a former real estate developer, said in December that Dulles was “incorrectly designed.” He nonetheless praised Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect and designer of the airport's main terminal. Trump and Duffy said the president reviewed presentations from about 30 architects before Trump settled on the redesign he announced Wednesday.

Some costs might eventually be shared by taxpayers and travelers

Even if the project is largely paid for by the airlines, industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said taxpayers might be asked to cover upgrades to the runways and safety measures as well as new customs and security facilities. The president of Atmosphere Research Group said he also wouldn't be surprised to see a passenger facility fee added eventually.

“I’m not taking the statement that they are not going to use taxpayer money at face value,” Harteveldt said.

The reason United and other airlines are willing to invest in Dulles, he said, is that they believe it will help them expand by adding more flights and passengers, boosting their revenue. But this could also contribute to higher ticket prices.

“United is going to try to charge as much for its tickets as it can. Other airlines will do the same,” Harteveldt said. “I think part of the statement that no tax money will be used could be something to placate the public right now.”

Dulles has relied on people movers since it opened in 1962

Designed by Chrysler Corp., the people movers shuttle passengers between the terminal and aircraft. The airport operates a fleet of 19 mobile lounges, each capable of carrying up to 102 passengers, according to its website.

When Dulles debuted, the airport touted the system as a major convenience. Passengers, it said, “had to walk only 200 feet once they entered the terminal until they were seated in a mobile lounge for the short trip directly to their aircraft,” a service it described as unique to Dulles.

But they have become one of passengers' least favorite aspects of transiting through Dulles, with travelers — and Trump — complaining that the system is outdated, balky and slow. At times, planes have to wait for a people mover to cross and vice versa, which slows operations at the airport.

One of the lounges crashed in November, sending 18 people to the hospital.

Dulles began a multibillion-dollar construction program in 2000 to begin to address future passenger demand. Major projects included two new parking garages, a fourth runway, a new concourse, a new Air Traffic Control tower, pedestrian walkways, and an airport train system, according to the airport authority’s website.

The airport authority says significant modernization work is already underway at Dulles. Later this year, the first segment of the new Concourse E will open with 14 additional United gates that will help the airline expand its international network, provide direct access to the airport’s AeroTrain system and debut new and enhanced concessions options and passenger lounges.

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Associated Press writers Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego left the Montgomery ICE Processing Center in Conroe, north of Houston, on Wednesday — within the 48 hour window the judge’s Monday order gave DHS to set him free. He had been held in the facility since the July 7 shooting. 

Roja Pliego, a Mexican citizen, was one of three men who were passengers in Salgado Araujo’s van when Immigrations and Custom Enforcement officers began following the group and ultimately shot the longtime Houston resident. Rojas Pliego has lived in the United States since 1998, has several children and stepchildren who are U.S. citizens and has no criminal record, according to the order. 

Because the officers who stopped the men had no body cameras or dashcams, Rojas Pliego and the other men are the only known witnesses to the shooting. He and another passenger have countered federal officials’ recollection of events, asserting that agents rammed Salgado Araujo’s van with their vehicles prior to shooting him. Federal officials have maintained Salgado Araujo attempted to ram an agent’s vehicle before he was shot.

U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison’s order for Rojas Pliego’s release comes less than a week after he issued a separate order blocking Rojas Pliego’s deportation, and he noted in Monday’s order that Rojas Pliego’s request is “one of hundreds of similar petitions” amid the Trump administration’s application of immigration detention protocol.

Ellison’s order states that the government is not permitted to detain noncitizens without “individualized justification” only because they did not enter the country lawfully. It also stipulates that DHS must seek a pre-detention hearing before it seeks to re-detain Rojas Pliego. 

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the order. 

The agency and the Trump administration have provided little detail about the circumstances leading up to Salgado Araujo’s death beyond their initial statement. More than a dozen attorneys and law enforcement officers who The Texas Tribune asked to review available footage of ICE agents’ pursuit of Salgado Araujo said it raised red flags and possibly violated the law. 

The relative speed of the federal judge’s decision, coming a week after the petition was filed, is the latest in a series of unusual circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting that experts have said raise further questions about whether it was justified.

In addition to the lack of footage of the shooting, federal officials sought and subsequently unsealed a search warrant that claimed there may have been methamphetamine in Salgado Araujo’s van. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare and U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, said on Friday that the substance was tested and found not to be an illicit substance.

Teare’s office has also said that federal investigators have withheld evidence — including the name of the agent who shot Salgado Araujo — preventing local authorities from conducting their own investigation.

Raed Gonzalez, one of Rojas Pliego’s attorneys, said that Rojas Pliego himself was not yet aware of the release order. He also said the judge’s ruling for an immediate release was indicative of the strength of Rojas Pliego’s petition.

“He could have ordered a bond hearing to be taken in immigration court,” Gonzalez said. “That’s what … sometimes some of the judges have done. Thankfully, this one knew what he was doing.”

Gonzalez said it was still too early to tell whether similar orders would be issued for the other two witnesses, Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Salgado Araujo’s brother, Victor Hugo Salgado Araujo. The two have submitted similar petitions to be released from immigration detention.

Lomi Kriel contributed to this story.

Celebrini had one year remaining on his three-year, $2.925 million entry-level contract before signing the deal that keeps him locked up with the Sharks through the 2031-32 season.

The $18.8 million average annual value of the deal that Celebrini reached with general manager Mike Grier and owner Hasso Plattner is the richest in NHL history, topping the $18 million a year Leo Carlsson got when Anaheim matched a five-year offer sheet from Philadelphia.

“We wanted to make sure Mack felt valued here and he was compensated fairly,” Grier said. “In our eyes, he’s the best young player in the league. So we felt like we wanted to pay him an amount that was commiserate with that. He was willing to take a little bit less to leave us some flexibility, so we can keep building out the roster as we go along.”

Celebrini could have signed a deal worth up to about $20.8 million a year, and Grier said Plattner was willing to pay that much if necessary. But Celebrini made clear early in the negotiations that he was willing to take a little less to make sure the Sharks had the flexibility to build a championship roster around him.

“That meant a lot to me,” Grier said. "He showed his faith and his commitment to the organization, and him wanting to be here and be successful here. It was pretty important and pretty cool for me to hear that from such a young player having that maturity.”

Celebrini, who turned 20 in June, has established himself as one of the game's top young stars since being picked first overall by San Jose in 2024. His 178 points are the fifth most for a teenager and his 70 career goals are seventh best for a player before turning 20.

Celebrini had 45 goals and 70 assists last season, with his 115 points breaking Joe Thornton’s franchise record of 114 set in 2006-07 and trailing Wayne Gretzky (137 in 1979-80) and Sidney Crosby (120 in 2006-07) for the most in a season for a player before turning 20.

“I couldn’t be happier to sign an extension today,” Celebrini said in a statement. “The faith and support that Mr. Plattner, Mike Grier and the entire staff have shown me throughout the past two seasons is proof that we are building something special here. My teammates and I are ready to take another step toward the ultimate goal of bringing a Stanley Cup to this city and its incredible fans. I can’t wait to get going.”

He had the 10th most points ever for a player who missed the playoffs, recording a point on 46.2% of San Jose goals for the second-best rate in the league behind Connor McDavid (48/9%) and the best ever for a teenager.

He also was the leading goal scorer in the Olympics, with five goals to help Canada win the silver medal.

Grier said he had no hesitation giving a young player like Celebrini so much money, saying he followed advice he got from his late father, Bobby, and brother, Chris, who were both longtime executives in the NFL.

“If you’re going to do a long-term extension with someone and pay them a lot of money, you’ve got to bet on the person first and foremost,” Grier said. “In this case, I think you couldn’t bet on a better kid than Mack. If it does anything, it’ll motivate him just to be even better than he already is. But I don’t think it will change him at all.”

Despite Celebrini's exploits, the Sharks still missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season. They improved by 34 points for the 10th best single-season jump in the last 30 years but landed four points out of the playoffs.

Celebrini is part of a strong young core in San Jose alongside fellow promising players like Michael Misa, Will Smith, Igor Chernyshov and Sam Dickinson. The Sharks added even more young talent this offseason with three first-round picks headlined by Swedish left winger Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 overall. They also added North Dakota defenseman Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9 and WHL Vancouver play-making defenseman Ryan Lin at No. 21.

Grier also brought in veteran reinforcements at the start of the offseason, trading for defenseman Darnell Nurse and signing defenseman Jacob Trouba and forward Mason Marchment.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Finding the correct school supply list can sometimes be one of the biggest back-to-school challenges.

A simpler way to shop for school supplies

Shayna Barrett, head of communications and public affairs for Kroger, says the company’s Back-to-School List tool is designed to make shopping easier for families.

Parents can scan a QR code in stores or visit Kroger online, enter their ZIP code, select their child’s school and choose the appropriate teacher to access the correct supply list. Items can then be added to an in-store shopping list or an online cart for pickup or delivery. Families with multiple children can also create separate lists for each student.

As the new school year approaches, Kroger Health says combining healthy habits with the right school supplies can help students feel prepared, confident and ready to learn from day one.

According to Danny Harper with Kroger Health and Wellness, a child’s overall well-being includes preventive care, healthy eating habits, quality sleep, regular physical activity and emotional wellness. Having the right school supplies also helps students feel prepared and confident when they walk into the classroom.

Here are a few ways families can help children start the school year on the right foot.

Fuel kids with healthy meals and snacks

Nutritious foods help support growing bodies, improve concentration and provide steady energy throughout the school day.

Harper recommends simple options such as bananas, Greek yogurt, lean proteins, apple slices with almond butter, trail mix and cubed cheese. Families looking for meal inspiration can also find recipes through Kroger’s Fresh Lane blog and use the OptUP app to compare the nutritional value of grocery items.

Make sleep a priority

A consistent bedtime routine can make a big difference once school starts.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends elementary school-aged children get between nine and 12 hours of sleep each night. Adequate rest helps improve focus, learning and overall health.

Encourage movement every day

Physical activity does more than keep kids active. It can also help reduce stress, improve mood and support long-term health.

Harper encourages families to build movement into their daily routines and limit recreational screen time whenever possible. Spending time outdoors is another easy way to help children stay active.

Practice healthy habits

Good hygiene remains one of the simplest ways to help prevent illness during the school year.

Parents should remind children to wash their hands with soap for about 20 seconds, roughly the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” twice. Keeping lunchboxes clean and making sure kids stay hydrated throughout the day are also important habits that support overall wellness.

Stay current on physicals and vaccinations

Annual physicals give health care providers an opportunity to monitor a child’s growth, track developmental milestones and identify potential concerns before they become more serious. They also help ensure students are ready to participate in sports and other school activities.

Kroger Health also encourages families to stay up to date on recommended vaccines, including Tdap, MMR and meningococcal vaccines, which help protect children and reduce the spread of illness in schools. Many Kroger pharmacies offer vaccinations without an appointment.

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Lawyers for Comey made the allegations of misconduct in motions filed late Tuesday that also call the case a vindictive and selective prosecution, demand access to transcripts of grand jury proceedings to expose what they say are “irregularities” in how the indictment was secured, and describe “unlawful” surveillance of Comey by the Secret Service.

Taken together, the new motions, along with an earlier one this week that called Comey's social media post protected speech rather than a threat, represent a multipronged defense effort to dismantle a case that defense lawyers say exemplifies a Trump administration retribution campaign targeting one of the president's vocal critics.

“Ample objective evidence — much of which comes directly from government officials’ own public statements and admissions — establishes that the President’s animus toward Mr. Comey led to this vindictive and selective prosecution,” Comey’s lawyers wrote in one of the filings.

The case centers on a picture of seashells on the beach

Comey was charged in April with threatening Trump through a photo he posted on Instagram a year earlier depicting seashells he said he found on the beach in North Carolina in the numerical arrangement of “86 47.”

The Justice Department has said the photo constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Comey deleted the post shortly after he put it up, saying he did not know that anyone interpreted the numbers as a call to violence. His lawyers have said that the slogan has long meant to “get rid of” or “eject” and has been featured on thousands of items sold online and regularly displayed at protests.

Defense lawyers say investigators who tried to prove that Comey intended a physical threat, or knew that the number “86” suggested violence, repeatedly came up empty but withheld that from federal magistrates as they applied for warrants to search the digital accounts associated with Comey and his wife.

For instance, the FBI searched an internal database of information about open and closed investigations for any indication of an association between Comey and the term “86” but found inconclusive results. An FBI agent also requested a review of the FBI file for the case against reputed mobster John Gambino, which Comey worked on as a young prosecutor, but found no references to the term “86.” Investigators also interviewed a key government cooperator in the case, Salvatore Gravano, who said he did not recall ever discussing the term “86” with Comey or hearing it in connection with the trial.

Defense lawyers say the search warrant affidavits were marred by “false statements,” including what they say were incorrect insinuations that one of Comey's attorneys had sought to hide evidence or that his wife had misled investigators.

“Evidence obtained during discovery supports at least a substantial preliminary showing that the affidavits submitted in support of two of the search warrants contained intentionally false statements and material omissions, and that those defects vitiate any conceivable showing of probable cause,” Comey's lawyers wrote.

Defense lawyers say the case is rooted in Trump's personal animus

In addition, defense lawyers say the warrant applications distort statements made to investigators by a person who knew Comey but has now been estranged from him for years.

The person, whose name is not disclosed in court documents, is described in an affidavit as saying that they immediately perceived Comey's post to have a violent meaning. But investigators omitted that the person said their initial impression was that “86” referred to being “out of something on the menu” and only later concluded that it could be understood as a call to violence.

The person said that view was influenced by having listened to an episode of Rudy Giuliani's online show in which the Trump loyalist claimed that Comey had worked on mob cases as a prosecutor in which mafia members used “86” to mean “kill.” But the FBI's own investigation determined Giuliani's claims to be untrue, defense lawyers said.

The case against Comey over the seashells was the second in recent months targeting the ex-FBI director, a long-running Trump foe whom the president has, over the years, said deserves to be prosecuted.

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

Comey's lawyers describe the prosecutions as rooted in Trump's own personal animus. The Secret Service closely coordinated with the Justice Department and with Trump himself about Comey's interview, according to Comey's lawyers, who also say the president was sent frequent updates on Air Force One and had asked to be briefed.

As Comey returned to Washington with his wife to be interviewed by law enforcement about his post, Secret Service agents were directed to conduct “unlawful” electronic surveillance, “including as they stopped to visit the grave of their deceased son," his lawyers said. The surveillance had been requested by a senior Justice Department official.

Comey was the FBI director when Trump took office in 2017, having been appointed by then-President Barack Obama and previously serving as a senior Justice Department official in President George W. Bush’s administration. Trump fired Comey in May 2017 as the FBI was investigating potential ties between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign. The men have been openly at odds ever since.

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

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

On the roughly 7-minute recording, Patrick Clancy can be heard speaking with his wife upon finding her badly injured and bleeding in their yard, after she jumped from the home’s second-story window.

“Look at me,” he says. “Say my name.”

He then tells the dispatcher he's going to check on the children. Moments later, he howls and cries after finding them in the basement. The confused dispatcher repeatedly asks what happened.

“She killed the kids!" he yells.

Three years after their deaths, the murder trial has centered on Lindsay Clancy’s mental state at the time. Her lawyers will seek to prove she had postpregnancy psychosis, a rare mental illness linked to the stress, sleep deprivation and hormonal changes that follow childbirth.

Prosecutors say Clancy, a former labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, acted intentionally and is criminally responsible for the deaths of 3-year-old Dawson, 5-year-old Cora, and 8-month-old Callan in January 2023.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org

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Her lawyer said in opening arguments Monday that she had bipolar disorder, and that antidepressants prescribed after the birth of her third child worsened her condition. On the day of the killings, Lindsay Clancy said she heard a voice telling her, “This is your last chance. Kill the children so you can kill yourself,” according to her lawyer.

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

Patrick Clancy has said in interviews that he forgives his ex-wife, whom he viewed as ill rather than evil. The trial marks the first time he has seen Lindsay Casey since the killings.

A husband's emotional testimony and a chilling 911 call

Patrick Clancy testified Wednesday that his last image of Dawson was of the boy sitting on the couch, eating chicken nuggets and green beans. Lindsay Clancy had asked her husband to make a quick trip for takeout food and medication at a pharmacy for Cora. Prosecutors say this was an excuse to get him out of the house.

Jurors were shown surveillance video from the pharmacy of Patrick Clancy on the phone with his wife, asking a question about the medicine.

“She was pretty quiet. It sounded like she was busy,” he testified Wednesday. “I remember hanging up thinking she was probably in the middle of giving baths or something like that.”

Returning home, it was unusually silent. He called out to his family.

When no one answered, he searched the children’s rooms and the bathroom, again thinking they might be in the tub, before finding blood throughout the main bedroom and a window open.

Injured but conscious, Lindsay Clancy told him she’d tried to kill herself and that the kids were in the basement, without saying they were dead. He didn’t realize he was still on the phone with 911 as he ran downstairs to find each had been strangled with exercise bands.

Lindsay Clancy's parents, seated in the front of the court, also cried as the call was played. Patrick had already left the room after finishing his testimony.

Jurors were shown the clothes each child had been wearing, with a prosecutor pulling the items from clear plastic evidence bags: pajamas and a pink robe for Cora; a nightshirt and dinosaur underwear for Dawson; a red onesie decorated with snowflakes for Callan.

The trial will hinge on Lindsay Clancy’s mental state

Patrick Clancy testified Monday about his wife's deteriorating mental health in the months before the killings, including her telling him about intrusive thoughts of harming the children and of suicide.

Lindsay Clancy had sought care from experts in postpartum mood disorders, was put on multiple psychiatric medications, and when nothing worked, checked in to a psychiatric hospital. She killed the children 19 days after she was discharged.

No one ever told Patrick Clancy his wife shouldn't be alone with the children, he testified Wednesday. “I didn’t know what psychosis was until after this happened.”

Clancy and her ex-husband accuse her medical providers of failing to properly diagnose, treat and monitor her, according to lawsuits filed earlier this year.

On cross-examination, Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, aimed to demonstrate she took her medications and closely tracked her declining mental health. He introduced daily, handwritten notes she took of her medicines and her mood, including repeatedly writing “horrible thoughts.” She also had a book and fact sheet on postpartum anxiety and a chart where she tracked her mood.

Reddington also got Patrick Clancy to acknowledge that many of her medical appointments starting in the summer of 2022 were with nurse practitioners and on Zoom calls lasting only 20 minutes. They also went through multiple medications she was prescribed, including Seroquel -- an antipsychotic medication for which doctors increased her dosage in December.

“The idea was that it would help with sleep, but she didn’t get better. She got worse,” Patrick Clancy said.

The latest Dangerous by Design study shows Houston’s pedestrian fatality rate continues to worsen, despite years of safety campaigns and efforts aimed at protecting people who use the region’s streets.

Safety advocates say the biggest opportunity for change may not come after a crash happens — but before it ever occurs.

Advocates: Safer roads start with better design

For years, conversations about pedestrian safety have often focused on what happens after someone is hit. But groups like LINK Houston say the most effective solutions begin with the way roads are designed from the start.

Robin Holzer with LINK Houston says updating design standards can have the biggest impact because safety improvements can become part of every future project.

“Where we get the most bang for the buck is when we change design standards so that every project where a private developer or a city or a county is improving a street or putting in something new, that we make it safer from the outset.”

The City of Houston has already updated its roadway design standards, and Harris County is working toward a similar approach.

The goal is to create streets that better protect everyone who uses them — including drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders.

Potential safety improvements include:

• Better lighting
• More visible crosswalks
• Pedestrian refuge islands
• Protected bike facilities
• Road designs that encourage slower vehicle speeds

Houston region ranks among more dangerous metro areas for pedestrians

The latest Dangerous by Design report ranks the Houston metropolitan area as one of the more dangerous large metro areas in the country for people walking. The region ranked 34th among the most dangerous large metros, moving up from 38th in the previous report.

Between 2020 and 2024, 986 people were killed while walking in the Houston area, according to the data cited by safety advocates.

Those numbers represent more than statistics — they represent family members, friends, neighbors, and people simply trying to get where they need to go.

Advocates say the problem is not only about how people cross streets. It is also about how many roads were historically designed to move vehicles quickly, sometimes without enough consideration for people walking, biking, or using public transportation.

The cost of unsafe streets

Using Texas Department of Transportation crash data, LINK Houston found more than 13,000 pedestrian crashes in Houston over the last decade, with an estimated cost of more than $3 billion.

Advocates say the impact extends beyond fatalities, affecting families, emergency services, transportation access, and the overall quality of life across the region.

Changing Houston’s streets will take time

Houston covers hundreds of square miles, and advocates acknowledge that changing the way streets are built will not happen overnight.

They say progress will require long-term investment, updated standards, and a shift in how communities think about roadway safety.

The goal, they say, is not to blame drivers or pedestrians.

It is to build streets that are more forgiving when mistakes happen — and safer for everyone who uses them.

The latest Dangerous by Design study from Smart Growth America is available here.

You can also access the downloadable report page here.

The report examines pedestrian deaths across the United States and includes metro-area rankings, data tables, and recommendations for safer street design.

The Seattle company said global same-store sales in its fiscal third quarter rose 7.9%, which was well above the 5.7% increase Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Same-store sales also were up 7.9% in the U.S. during the April-June period, the company said.

Starbucks said it now expects global same-store sales to grow 6% for its full fiscal year, which ends Sept. 28. The company previously forecast same-store sales to grow 5% for the year. The company also expects full-year earnings per share of $2.55 to $2.65, up from $2.25 to $2.45 previously.

Starbucks shares were up more than 5% in after-hours trading Wednesday.

Starbucks said its business grew across customer income levels and in the morning as well as the afternoon. Customers spent more per visit, partly due to growth in delivery orders but also due to innovative drinks, the company said.

S’mores Cold Brew, which features marshmallow syrup, marshmallow cream cold foam and a graham cracker topping, was particularly popular with Generation Z customers and is one of the company’s strongest limited-time summer offerings in years, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol said.

Niccol said Starbucks' fruity Refreshers also continued to see strong demand despite growing competition. McDonald's added fruity drinks to its U.S. menu in May, for example.

Niccol said Starbucks' redesign of stores to give them a cozier, coffeehouse feel helped in improving sales.

“People just feel better about, you know, even doing their mobile order pickup when they go to a coffeehouse versus a place that maybe wasn’t up to our Starbucks standards,” Niccol said Wednesday during a conference call with investors.

Starbucks has revamped more than 1,000 stores across North America so far and plans to complete another 500 before the end of its fiscal year.

Revenue fell 1% to $9.3 billion for the quarter, which also beat analysts’ forecast of $9.2 billion. Part of the drop in revenue was due to Starbucks' sale of a stake in its China business, a transaction that was completed in April.

Starbucks said its results also got a boost from a tariff refund it applied for and received during its fiscal third quarter. The refund largely offset tariffs that Starbucks paid in the first three quarters of its fiscal year, the company said.

Starbucks said its net income rose 87% to $1 billion. Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned 85 cents per share, which surpassed analysts' forecast of 66 cents.

The Storm didn't elaborate on the nature of the incident and didn't say which Storm co-owner was involved.

“We are aware one of our co-owners made comments to two fans in attendance at last night’s game. We apologize that this happened,” Storm majority owner Ginny Gilder said in the statement released Wednesday. “Everyone who attends a Storm game deserves to feel welcome, and we remain committed to creating an inclusive environment where every fan is treated with respect."

The incident occurred Tuesday night during an evening that began with a demonstration outside Climate Pledge Arena. The team didn't say if the exchange was related to the protest.

Ahead of the game, a crowd of a few dozen gathered to both support Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and to promote a statewide ballot initiative, IL26-638, that would bar transgender students from participating in girls’ athletics at Washington schools.

Some members of the group carried signs in support of Cunningham or wore T-shirts depicting the XX and XY chromosomes. Some of them were also inside the arena during the game.

Cunningham voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports in an ESPN article published last week. Cunningham was booed by Storm fans when she checked into Tuesday’s game, as well as when attempting her first free throws of the night.

Cunningham was not made available to answer postgame questions.

Kelsey Mitchell and Monique Billings addressed the media instead, alongside head coach Stephanie White.

When White was asked about the rally and Cunningham’s recent comments, a Fever public relations representative intervened with the following statement:

“Neither our organization nor Sophie had any knowledge of this demonstration and no contact with its organizers,” the statement said. “Our only goal as a team, whether at home or away, is to win basketball games and make Fever fans for life, and we are united in that mission.”

Storm head coach Sonia Raman also briefly addressed a question about the pregame protest following her team’s seventh consecutive loss.

“Seattle and this organization and Climate Pledge, we always want to be an area where people feel welcome coming into this building,” Raman said. “I think we’ve always done a really good job with that. So, I know our organization was working closely with Climate Pledge and the security just to make sure that everybody feels safe and included and welcome when they walk in this door.

“From what I understand, that was successful.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Police said the call came in around 9 a.m. Wednesday.

A crew mowing grass in the area found the woman’s body.

A preliminary investigation by HPD homicide investigators, the Houston Fire Department Arson Bureau and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences determined the body had been partially burned.

Police said the body appears to be a Black woman with a star tattoo on her hand.

An autopsy will determine the manner and cause of death.

Anyone with information in this case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

Interlochen Center for the Arts operates a summer camp and performing arts school that draws students from around the world. It hired a law firm in 2024 to investigate reports of sexual abuse by faculty and staff. Subsequently, it expanded the work to include information about Epstein, the 66-year-old financier who killed himself in jail in 2019.

Interlochen removed Epstein's name from a lodge after he was convicted of sex offenses in Florida in 2008. The building, renamed the Green Lake Lodge, was recently demolished after the U.S. Justice Department released millions of pages about him that had been compiled over the years.

Sanghavi Law Office says it collected 70 accounts from alumni alleging “physical conduct of a sexual nature” by 47 faculty and staff members affiliated with Interlochen from the 1950s through the 2010s, most before 2000.

“The information gathered during this investigation is, simply, devastating,” the 97-page report says, noting that alumni reported grooming, flirting, sexual touching and sex.

Interlochen said it has provided names of people accused of misconduct to Grand Traverse County authorities in northern Michigan to determine what steps, if any, might be taken. None are currently employed there, and more than a third are dead.

“We are deeply sorry for the harm experienced by members of our community and extend our apologies to those impacted by abuse at Interlochen,” president Trey Davey and board chair Barrett Rollins said in a letter to the community posted online.

“While the vast majority of the incidents described in the investigation took place many decades ago, and reports of abuse at Interlochen have significantly decreased over the past 25 years, the passage of time does not diminish the experiences of our alumni,” they said. “Sexual abuse committed by an adult in a position of power or trust against a student is wrong, then and now.”

Interlochen today “is fundamentally different from the institution described in this report,” Davey and Rollins wrote, with comprehensive safety policies and a changed culture.

Epstein, who played the bassoon, was an Interlochen camper in 1967. He donated more than $400,000 to the school between 1990 and 2003.

Two women told investigators that Epstein engaged in conduct of a sexual nature with them, one of them at the Interlochen lodge that bore his name.

He brushed against her body “over her clothes, in a manner in which he indicated was accidental,” according to the report.

Epstein also paid for her to visit him in New York while she was a student. She said “every time he was ‘handsy’ with her, she would freeze until he would stop,” the report states.

The other woman said she gave Epstein a massage at his home, according to the report, and he may have asked her to remove her top. She never had any further contact with Epstein or his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Outside of the school investigation, at least two Interlochen alumnae made allegations of grooming and abuse against Epstein and Maxwell, according to federal records and media reports. Their identities were not made public.

One testified against Maxwell in 2021 when she was convicted of sex trafficking. It’s unclear whether those women spoke to the law firm hired for the Interlochen investigation.

Musk's company sued Monday in federal court, days before the law is set to take effect Saturday and make Minnesota the first state to try to outlaw the increasingly proliferating technology that lets people use AI to to create fake nude images of real people. The law was signed in May.

In the 38-page lawsuit, xAI — whose AI model chatbot and image generator Grok is available on the social media platform known as X, formerly Twitter, and elsewhere — said it does not contest the state's interest in banning the distribution of AI-generated nude images of real people without their consent. But it said Minnesota's law “extends far beyond that goal,” banning many constitutionally protected images and video and subjecting the company to a penalty of $500,000 per violation.

The lawsuit argues there is no “safe harbor” provision for companies that make good-faith efforts to prevent such images from being created by users, and that it covers images that were consented to by the depicted person, or even created by that person.

It also says the law’s definition of “intimate part” is overly broad, covering body parts that are routinely displayed in public.

In a statement, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said his office had not been served with the lawsuit yet or seen it.

“But I know that using AI to generate nude images of people against their will is appalling. There are plenty of worthy debates to have about AI policy. This is not one of them. AI nudification robs the target of their dignity and can cause immense harm on an emotional, personal, and professional level,” Ellison said.

State laws over election deepfakes have had mixed results in courts. California's law was blocked over First Amendment speech protections. Minnesota's law has thus far survived a 2025 court challenge by Musk's company.

The law is distinct from state and federal laws that outlaw deepfakes, AI-generated sexually explicit images of people without their consent. Those laws typically penalize the people who use the tools to make these images, not the makers of the tools themselves. The federal Take it Down Act, passed last year, also requires websites and apps to implement a process to remove those images.

Texas last year took on nudification in a slightly different way. It made a website or app owner liable to civil damages from a person depicted in a nudified image — and potentially criminal penalties — if the website or app owner knew the person hadn't given consent to its creation or fails to take it down promptly when told about it.

In the lawsuit, xAI said the terms of service for using Grok prohibit using it for “any illegal, harmful, or abusive activities" that violate someone's privacy, including altering their image to nudify them or depict them in a sexually explicit image. It said it enforces those rules against violators through account suspensions or terminations, and by reporting suspected child sexual abuse content.

XAI also said earlier this year that it has “zero tolerance for any forms of child sexual exploitation, non-consensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.”

After a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, Grok said in January it will geoblock content if it violates laws in a particular place, preventing people from editing photos of real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal. Grok’s “spicy mode” had allowed users to create explicit content, leading to a backlash from governments worldwide.

“We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis, underwear and other revealing attire,” xAI said in a January statement.

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Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter.

The Facebook and Instagram parent company earned $15.85 billion, or $6.18 per share, in the April-June period. That's down 14% from $18.34 billion, or $7.14 per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue grew 28% to $60.8 billion from $47.52 billion.

Analysts, on average, were expecting earnings of $7.19 per share on revenue of $60.22 billion, according to a poll by FactSet.

“AI is accelerating our core business today, powering our next generation of products, and opening the door to entirely new enterprise opportunities,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement. “The results are already showing, and I’m optimistic about the potential ahead.”

Meta said the number of daily active users on its “family of apps” — Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp and Threads — grew 3% from a year earlier to $3.6 billion. Zuckerberg said Instagram reached the 2 billion daily users milestone during the quarter, while Threads has 500 million monthly active users.

The Menlo Park, California-based company had 75,472 employees as of June 30, a decrease of 1% year-over-year. This still includes the roughly 8,000 workers the company said it would lay off. Meta said its third-quarter earnings report will have the updated figure.

“Earnings come just as Meta pushes out an ad campaign and media blitz that aim to clarify Meta’s stance and goals regarding AI. It’s not surprising that Zuckerberg wants to come out with a more cohesive message around the company’s AI ambitions, especially as Meta tries to carve out its own lane,” said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley. Zuckerberg wrote a glowing op-ed about AI's future in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, arguing that AI may soon deliver "personal superintelligence to everyone.”

But Smiley said the "optimistic, positive tone he’s striking stands in stark contrast to the negative sentiment that’s building toward social media companies over claims that they’ve harmed and addicted kids. This juxtaposition could make it more difficult for Meta to build credibility in an area where it’s already a laggard.”

For the current quarter, Meta is forecasting revenue in the range of $61 billion to $64 billion, the midpoint of which is lower than the $63.14 billion that analysts are expecting.

Meta also raised the lower end of its expense outlook to incorporate the $2.4 billion in legal expenses. It now expects total 2026 expenses to be in the range of $165 billion to $169 billion.

Expenses for the second quarter were $42.03 billion, an increase of 55% year-over-year. Meta said this includes $2.40 billion of charges related to legal proceedings and $1.18 billion of severance expenses in connection with the layoffs announced in May.

The company's free cash flow — money left over after paying operating costs and capital expenditures — dropped 91% to $784 million from $8.55 billion a year earlier.

Meta's shares fell $24.76, or 4.2%, to $560.85 in after-hours trading after the results came out.

Tonight’s Forecast:

Another warm and muggy night is ahead with mostly clear skies and temperatures only falling to around 80 degrees in Houston. Winds will stay light, and there is little to no chance of rain overnight.

Thursday’s Forecast:

Thursday will be sunny and brutally hot, with Houston expected to reach around 100 degrees. Several communities west and south of the city could also hit the century mark, while coastal areas remain slightly cooler. Make sure to limit strenuous outdoor activity during the hottest part of the afternoon and stay hydrated.

High pressure dome is responsible for the extreme heat:

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

These systems are very stubborn and hard to move so expect very hot days with very humid mornings generally in the low 80s. Storm chances will be very hard to find for most of the next 5 days.

The peak of the heat arrives Thursday through Saturday, with highs around 100 to 101 degrees and very little rain relief. Sunday finally brings a slight change, with temperatures falling into the mid-90s and a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

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

The tropics will stay quiet:

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

10 Day Forecast:

The intense heat continues through Saturday, with highs near 100 Thursday and Friday before climbing to around 101 Saturday. A few isolated storms may pop up this weekend, with a 20% chance Saturday and a slightly better 30% chance Sunday. Temperatures ease into the upper 90s next week, but there is no major break from the summer heat, and overnight lows remain near 80 degrees.

The ruling deals a blow to Democrats, who filed a lawsuit seeking to give voters a do-over because of a chaotic party primary in the governor’s race.

More than 117,000 absentee ballots had been returned by Wednesday. Democrats were concerned that many of those might have been cast for Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who had been seen as a Democratic frontrunner before she dropped out on July 17 amid a campaign finance scandal. A day later, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who had bowed out on July 8, reentered the race.

Rodriguez’s name remains on the ballot, along with former state economic development director Missy Hughes, who dropped out in June.

The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 4-2 on July 9 to distribute guidance to clerks saying absentee voters cannot change their ballot after it has been returned. The rarely used process is known as ballot spoiling.

Democrats objected and supported the lawsuit filed by three voters, arguing that state law allows voters who have submitted absentee ballots to change their mind before those ballots are counted on Election Day.

“Voters across Wisconsin will be disenfranchised” if not allowed to do that, attorney Eduardo Castro argued in court on Tuesday.

But Dane County Circuit Judge David Conway disagreed, ruling on Wednesday that “the unambiguous language of the statute does not allow a voter to spoil an absentee ballot after it is returned.” He said the guidance issued by the elections commission to the roughly 2,000 clerks who run elections at the local level was consistent with the law.

The judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order sought by Democrats. They had wanted the judge to order the state elections commission to rescind its guidance.

“The judge got it right,” said Don Millis, the Republican chair of the elections commission. “The law is clear. Once a voter returns an absentee ballot to the clerk, the voter cannot decide to change his or her vote. The law does not permit do-overs.”

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Devin Remiker said the ruling was wrong, but didn't say if the party would appeal.

The Republican National Committee opposed the effort to allow for revoting.

Ballot spoiling was the subject of a 2022 lawsuit brought by a Republican group. In that case, a Waukesha County judge agreed that the elections commission must rescind its guidance that allowed voters to cast a second ballot. But the state appeals court earlier this year vacated that ruling on technical grounds and did not rule on the merits.

The winner of the Democratic primary will advance to November’s general election, most likely against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has only token opposition in his party’s primary. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is not seeking a third term.

Democrats hope to keep the governor’s office and flip both chambers of the Legislature to gain full control of state government for the first time since 2010.

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This story corrects the spelling in a second reference to 'Rodriguez.’

What happened after Skubal left made it all the more likely this was indeed goodbye.

Skubal was cheered at every opportunity by a crowd of 34,406 while taking a shutout into the seventh inning against Baltimore, but then the Orioles rallied from a 7-0 deficit to beat Detroit 10-9 in 12 innings. The loss leaves the Tigers 51-58 and well outside playoff position in the final year they have Skubal under contract.

The vibes were great early. Skubal got first standing ovation came when he struck out leadoff hitter Taylor Ward on a 3-2 changeup to record his 1,000th career strikeout.

“For some reason, strikeout marks hit differently for me,” he said. “Reaching 200 strikeouts for the first time was a huge milestone for me, and as I was getting close to 1,000, it just felt really cool.”

He reached the mark in 857 innings, breaking Max Scherzer's franchise-best mark of 944 2/3 innings.

He got another ovation when Tigers manager A.J. Hinch removed him after Leody Tavares' RBI single with two out in the seventh.

“It is always special when our fans get to their feet and give you a pretty good ovation,” he said. “Hopefully, they feel like I've given everything to the team and the city, because I truly have.”

The Tigers led 7-1 when Skubal came out and appeared to be well on their way to a win over a team they could be battling for a wild-card spot in September. Instead, the Orioles turned one seventh-inning run into five, tied the game with two in the eighth, then got three more in extra innings.

“Obviously, this was a tough one,” Skubal said. “We were up 7-0 and end up losing. ... I don't even know what the final score was, but this one hurts.”

The Tigers seem increasingly likely to deal their ace ahead of next Monday’s trade deadline. Skubal is eligible for free agency after the World Series. He has a $32 million salary, a record total in arbitration, after the team offered $19 million, and is expected to sign a massive contract in the offseason.

“I'm just trying to live in the moment,” he said. “There are a lot of things going on around me that I can't control.”

Hinch feels the same way.

“I just can't think in hypotheticals — I just can't,” he said when asked about the possibility of Skubal leaving. “I'll have a ton to say when and if and where and whenever, but it's just a waste of my time talking hypotheticals.”

The 29-year-old lefty said earlier this month that it was his preference is to finish the season with the Tigers to compete for a World Series championship, which has eluded the franchise since 1984.

“Going into spring training and the whole offseason, I’ve never been more motivated to try and win a World Series for this city, the team that drafted me and helped develop me,” he said on July 23.

Skubal had experimental surgery on May 6 to remove a loose body from his pitching elbow and returned to pitch on June 13.

“The way the surgery went is exactly how it was supposed to go,” he said in July. “I don’t know if remarkable is the word I would use.”

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

After Graham was eulogized Tuesday in the nation's capital as an indefatigable dealmaker by the president, vice president and others, mourners in Columbia recalled him as the son of pool hall owners who “was born with a plastic fork in his mouth,” as former Rep. Trey Gowdy put it.

The Republican seemed to know every mayor and small-town police chief and the location of every Chick-fil-A in South Carolina, and made sure GOP candidates had money to run in legislative and local elections across the state.

“Lindsey Graham understood the hopes and dreams and needs of his state and delivered every time,” said Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who ended his remarks by telling Graham he loved him.

Friends recall his humor, work ethic and love of people

Graham died suddenly on July 11 at his home in Washington, likely of an aortic tear, according to preliminary findings. He had just returned from a whirlwind trip to a NATO summit in Turkey, where he celebrated his 71st birthday, and a visit to Ukraine as he negotiated punishing sanctions against Russia. Senators voted late Tuesday to advance the package as a final gesture for their colleague.

Wednesday's funeral was at First Baptist, the giant downtown church where his predecessor Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond was eulogized 23 years ago.

One of Graham's many friends in Congress, Gowdy said the senator rose to power through humor, genuine caring for all people and a relentless work ethic. He joked the governor should change the name of the state capital of Columbia to honor Graham, even though his friend wouldn't want it.

“It wasn't the trapping of office he cared about. It was the work,” Gowdy said.

Graham also remembered for peacemaking and unpopular votes

Gowdy spoke for nearly 30 minutes. He remembered a man who knew who he was, cast unpopular votes because they were the right thing to do, loved kids even though he was never married or a father — one joking bit of advice Graham gave youngsters was to “never do for yourself what someone else will do for you” — and was the least pretentious person in politics.

“He was the worst at carrying a grudge,” Gowdy related, drawing laughter from the crowd. “I had to keep a list of who we were mad at because he could not remember who had done what.”

People who thought Graham was a warmonger were wrong, Gowdy said. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that “Lindsey liked war.”

“Blessed be the peacemakers. He was on a trip that turned out to be his last trip trying to broker peace in a war where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives,” Gowdy said.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the only remaining member of the South Carolina delegation in power when Graham arrived in Washington in 1995, read Psalm 23.

In a memory that reflected Graham's ability to see across party lines, McMaster recalled how Graham, newly elected to the Senate, grasped the hand of longtime Democratic Sen. Fritz Hollings and raised it up to a largely Republican crowd. Applause for Hollings had been “polite,” he said, but “began to swell” as Graham was announced.

“So there we were, if you get this picture, our two U.S. senators, hands held high, waving to the crowd, when the thunderous applause washed off both of them,” McMaster said. “I believe that not many men would have done what Lindsey did.”

Funeral process included a horse-drawn caisson and military jets

On Tuesday, Graham’s flag-draped casket was at the U.S. Capitol, where the Republican spent more than 30 years talking and laughing and badgering his colleagues into action. Trump then joined foreign leaders at a memorial service at the Washington National Cathedral, a testament to Graham’s stature on the global stage, calling him “a giant of the United States Senate, a true American original who left us much too soon.”

Wednesday's ceremonies began at the Statehouse, where Graham started his political career in 1993. A horse-drawn caisson carrying his casket paused in front of a dozen law enforcement officers for a flyover by four military jets, and then proceeded to the church, where his family followed military pallbearers inside. A 130-member choir sang hymns.

Hundreds of movers in South Carolina politics gathered, including both nominees for governor — Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson and Democratic state Rep. Jermaine Johnson — along with longtime Republican politicians like former House Speaker and Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins and former U.S. Rep. Henry Brown.

Graham's burial Wednesday near his home in Pickens County was planned as a private ceremony.

Graham's sister now faces a special primary

Several speakers praised the senator's younger sister Darline Graham, who dabbed her eyes as she sat with her family in a front pew.

“What a powerful, graceful person to show up here under such immense pressure,” Sen. Tim Scott said in his eulogy.

Graham's death, after winning the Republican nomination for a fifth term, has created opportunities for political change. McMaster named Darline Graham to hold his seat until January. She then surprised many by deciding to run for the full six-year term herself.

Darline Graham now has eight competitors in a special primary on Aug. 11 to decide the Republican nominee, including former Gov. Mark Sanford and U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, all three of whom attended Wednesday’s service. Three other candidates who paid the filing fee were kicked off the ballot because they didn’t meet new party requirements. A runoff, if needed, is Aug. 25.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

The Fed’s rate-setting committee reached its decision after two days of deliberations, marking the fifth straight meeting at which the benchmark rate was kept at around 3.6%.

Some economists and Wall Street analysts had predicted the Fed would hike its rate by a quarter point. But while the decision to stand pat could be seen as good news for consumers, they might not feel much relief with the average credit card rate still near 20% and mortgage rates the highest since last August.

Inflation has been stuck above the central bank’s 2% target for more than five years. The Iran war has generated uncertainty over the economic outlook and has driven energy prices higher, intensifying inflationary pressure and creating a quandary for Fed policymakers. In addition, the vast amounts of money being spent by technology companies on artificial intelligence are both driving manufacturing and have resulted in increased prices for items such as computer chips and electricity. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on foreign goods are also adding to inflation pressures.

The three regional Fed bank presidents who dissented — Beth Hammack of the Cleveland Fed; Neel Kashkari from Minneapolis; and Lorie Logan from Dallas — had previously called for or signaled that they would be open to raising rates to combat high prices.

“The dissents send a clear message: The Fed is not yet convinced the inflation battle has been won,’’ said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management.

At a press conference following the rate decision, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh reiterated the Fed's commitment to combating inflation. At the same time, Warsh said, “We have no magic wand. This isn’t something we’re going to be able to carry out in days or weeks.”

Warsh said he welcomed vigorous debate at the committee meeting. “I asked for a good family fight and I got one,'' he told reporters at a press conference.

Warsh has sought to make the central bank more tight-lipped about what it's doing. When Fed officials make their views public, he reasons, they are less likely to adjust to new information. Even without much guidance from the Fed, he said approvingly that financial markets had made their own judgments about interest rates, pushing up yields in the past few weeks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, for instance, has risen from around 4.50% in mid-June to 4.64% just ahead of the Fed's rate decision.

The market is “learning to play the ball and not the referee,” Warsh said.

But some economists were frustrated by the Fed chair's ambiguous answers to questions. Thomas Ryan and Stephen Brown of Capital Economics, for instance, complained in a commentary that Warsh's “vague'' responses ”make forecasting the Fed’s next move even trickier than it already was.''

Coming into Wednesday, traders on Wall Street saw a 33% chance the Fed would issue a rate hike, although most expected policymakers to hold off, reluctant to risk disrupting financial markets. But most expect a rate hike in September, according to data from CME Group.

Trump, who had persistently pressured the Fed to cut rates, voiced support for Warsh. “He’s fantastic. He’s a brilliant guy. Smart. I know he’d love to see lower interest rates, but he’s got a board and it’s a political board and they want to keep rates up,” Trump told reporters.

Fed officials likely want to see more economic data before changing the benchmark rate. On Thursday, the Commerce Department delivers the first look at April-June economic growth and it will also publish the Fed’s preferred inflation measure – the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index – for June.

Adding uncertainty to the Fed’s decision-making process is the rising violence in Iran. The price of oil briefly blasted past $100 a barrel last week on intensifying fighting.

After the U.S. and Israel attacks on Feb. 28, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz – through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas pass. That caused the greatest disruption in oil supplies in history and sent energy prices surging. They’ve since bobbed up and down depending on the ever-changing state of the conflict and negotiations to de-escalate it, but the average cost for a barrel is $10 to $15 more today than it was at this point last year.

Inflation has exceeded the Fed’s 2% target since early 2021 when the U.S. economy overheated as it roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns. Inflation peaked at just over 9% in mid-2022 and began to drop in the face of 11 rate hikes by the Fed in 2022 and 2023. But progress has more or less stalled.

So-called core inflation – which excludes volatile food and energy prices – cooled in June, partly because apartment rents aren’t rising as fast as they had been. And a temporary drop in gasoline prices last month also helped contain overall inflation.

But several Fed policymakers have been arguing that the Fed will have to raise rates to return inflation to the 2% target.

“Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option,’’ Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s governing board, said in a speech this month. Still, Waller voted to leave rates alone this week.

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AP Writers Josh Boak and Damian Troise contributed to this story.

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Earlier versions of this story erroneously reported the name of an economist at BNP Paribas as Joseph Egelhof. His first name is James.

The panel postponed a key Thursday morning vote on the acting attorney general’s nomination — demonstrating both Cornyn’s current lack of support and the outgoing Texas Republican’s leverage over the White House’s nominees.

Blanche, who was formerly President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has led the Justice Department on an acting basis since April. Cornyn, unburdened by the usual political pressures after losing his Republican primary in May, has been a key undecided vote on putting Blanche permanently in charge of the agency, maintaining his opposition to a nearly $1.8 billion settlement agreement that the DOJ, under Blanche, reached with Trump to pay out victims of alleged DOJ weaponization.

Critics have voiced unease over the possibility that the fund could be used to compensate rioters who assaulted police officers when they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Though the DOJ backtracked and declared the fund dead, Cornyn has insisted that Blanche pen a written agreement nullifying it and assuring that it will not be revived in lawsuits. The outgoing Texas senator also wants the DOJ to modify, in writing, an audit immunity shield that the agency extended to Trump and his associates as part of the settlement agreement.

Cornyn and Blanche were set to meet Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s committee vote, but the senator said the meeting was called off. He told reporters the DOJ has not come through with the written guarantees he’s requested, and that if his demands were unsatisfied by Wednesday afternoon, the Judiciary Committee may need to pull tomorrow’s vote.

Less than two hours before the deadline, Cornyn said the DOJ had not followed up with him after he had sent over a “redline strikeout of what we need.”

“We’ve tried to make it easy for them,” Cornyn said. “They won’t take the help.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who, like Cornyn, sits on the Judiciary Committee and is in his final term, has expressed similar reservations about confirming Blanche.

True to Cornyn’s prediction, the committee postponed Thursday’s vote as negotiations with the holdouts continued.

“Senators Cornyn and Tillis want written assurances from the Department of Justice regarding the Trump-IRS settlement,” a committee spokesperson said, adding that work would continue “to secure sufficient support in committee to favorably report Attorney General-nominee Todd Blanche, who is highly qualified for the job.”

The Blanche episode is the most prominent example yet of how Cornyn — long a team player and steady hand within the Republican conference — is using his leverage over the administration in the final months of his Senate career. Republicans control 12 of 22 seats on the Judiciary Committee that is deciding whether to advance Blanche’s nomination to the full chamber, meaning a defection from Cornyn would leave the committee deadlocked in a tie.

Cornyn ran for a fifth term but lost the Republican nomination to Attorney General Ken Paxton in a May runoff. The senior senator was the Senate’s second-in-command during Trump’s first term and pushed heavily for the president’s endorsement in his primary, even filing a bill to rename a section of highway after the president. After holding out for months, Trump endorsed Paxton, a longtime ally who tried to overturn the 2020 election results in key battleground states.

In the months since his runoff loss, Cornyn has played hardball.

“Maybe they think I’m just going to give up or go along,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday morning. “But they’re mistaken.”

He successfully urged the Trump administration to move faster in releasing funds that Congress appropriated last year to reimburse states for border spending during the Biden administration, much of which is expected to go to Texas. And he threatened to vote against diplomatic nominations unless he received assurances that the Trump administration would distribute unspent funds on a global program combating HIV that began during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Meanwhile, Trump said he expected Blanche’s confirmation to be routine — and offered his own interpretation of Cornyn’s position.

“Maybe John Cornyn’s upset with me because I didn’t endorse him,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon in the Oval Office. “I don’t know what it is. But I haven’t heard that there’s a problem. I heard he’s going through quite nicely.”

But Cornyn disagreed with that assessment.

“That’s a convenient excuse and it happens to be untrue,” he said Wednesday evening.

Blanche did not answer questions from reporters Wednesday about his discussions with Cornyn or what he’s offered the senator.

At issue in Blanche’s nomination is whether Trump, or others, will be able to access taxpayer money over claims that the government was weaponized against them, and whether certain guardrails will be placed on the immunity from tax audits. Cornyn wants a guarantee in writing that the audit protection applies only to people who were parties to the lawsuit, and that it does not provide immunity for would-be future cases nor prevent other federal agencies from pursuing audits.

“They know what they need to do,” Cornyn said Wednesday morning. “But they simply refuse to do it.”

He added that he is “not prepared to vote yes” on Blanche’s nomination.

Could Trump’s potential support of the fund and the audit shield be the obstacle?

“I can see why he wants it, because it provides immunity from audits that no other taxpayer could possibly get,” Cornyn said. “That’s why we need to conform the actual document to what Todd Blanche testified to under oath.”

In a highly unusual move, Trump sued his own government in January, bringing a case against the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of the Treasury over the unauthorized release of his tax returns in 2019 and 2020. As part of the May settlement between Trump and the DOJ, which represented the IRS, Blanche issued an order barring the tax agency from auditing or examining the tax returns of the president, his family and his businesses.

The agreement was met with widespread criticism and allegations of corruption. Blanche eventually agreed to terminate the “anti-weaponization fund.” At his nomination hearing in mid-July, he called the issue moot and assured Cornyn that the fund was dead.

The verbal commitment proved insufficient for Cornyn, who has remained set on establishing concrete assurances that the fund cannot be brought back to life in any form and that the audit immunity will be as narrow as Blanche said he intends it to be during his Judiciary hearing. At Blanche’s nomination hearing, Cornyn pressed him on the potential for the fund to be resurrected by end-runs such as future breach of contract lawsuits from Trump or others in his orbit. Blanche continued to state that the fund was dead but conceded that, absent a written agreement or addendum, a plaintiff could sue.

The question-and-answer period between Cornyn and Blanche was, in typical Cornyn fashion, a polite exchange. But the former Texas attorney general and Supreme Court justice pointed out that Blanche’s promises were not reflected in the text of the agreement, and he has been unwilling to budge on his quest for the settlement agreement to be changed in writing.

Leading up to the nomination vote, Cornyn reiterated to reporters that this remained the key sticking point for whether he would support advancing Blanche to the Senate floor. He suggested Thursday’s vote could be postponed in order to get a termination clause on paper.

Cornyn and Tillis’ opposition has left Blanche’s nomination at serious risk, a rare occurrence in a GOP-led Senate that has shown significant deference to the White House on nominees. The Senate has yet to formally reject any of Trump’s picks, and the White House has only had to withdraw a handful of picks.

Beyond the anti-weaponization fund, a group of Jeffrey Epstein survivors has also pushed senators to block Blanche’s nomination based on his handling of the late child sex trafficker’s case and alleged treatment of them. They met with Cornyn’s staff Wednesday morning.

The World Food Program's acting executive director, Carl Skau, told The Associated Press during a visit to the hard-hit Ituri province that the outbreak is a “crisis on top of a crisis” that has compounded a catastrophic situation with over 5 million Congolese already experiencing emergency-level food insecurity.

The long-running conflict in eastern Congo has driven nearly 10 million people into crisis or emergency levels of hunger, with Ituri — the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak — among the most affected with 1.9 million in need of food, according to the WFP.

“My number one message is that this situation requires much, much more attention,” Skau later told a video news conference with U.N. correspondents. “This is the fastest growing Ebola crisis ever.”

Ebola's impact is spiraling

Since the outbreak was declared on May 15, it took just over two months for 1,000 people to die of Ebola in eastern Congo, compared to the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa that had been considered the worst in history and when it took about eight months to reach that number.

The dramatic surge shows the urgent need to scale up food, protective equipment, trained staff and funding, Skau said, stressing that the lack of money has forced WFP to cut the number of people it is assisting in Congo from 3 million last year to 1 million this year.

U.N. senior Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis, who was with Skau on the visit to Ituri, said the $2.1 billion humanitarian appeal for Congo is only 45% funded.

The separate Ebola response appeal is being revised upward because it only covered two provinces and now there are four, he said.

The outbreak has been particularly difficult to fight because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments, unlike most of Congo’s past outbreaks. Harneis said a vaccine trial is underway, but getting a vaccine to Congo is months away.

The United Nations is working with the government and community workers to build trust so that people with symptoms will seek treatment quickly, Harneis said. If they do, he added, “they have a very good chance of surviving Ebola.”

Ebola drives up malnutrition in affected communities

Across some 48 health zones affected with Ebola, WFP said more than 2.7 million people face acute food insecurity, including 628,000 in emergency conditions.

“Now with the Ebola crisis, this is getting worse. Markets are impacted, supply routes are impacted and so people are struggling even more to have enough to eat,” Skau told the AP, and malnutrition is rising.

Since it erupted, the ongoing Ebola outbreak has recorded 3,360 confirmed cases, including 1,487 deaths. Harneis said that in the last 24 hours, 50 people died of Ebola.

Measures introduced to slow the spread — including border closures and restriction of movements and large gatherings — have disrupted life and businesses, driving up food and fuel prices, the WFP has said. The agency said it has so far delivered more than 160,000 hot meals to patients, contacts and front line workers in 17 treatment and isolation centers.

In Mongbwalu, a mining town about 69 kilometers (43 miles) from Bunia, Ituri's provincial capital, residents said Ebola and the measures introduced to fight it have made it difficult for some families to feed their children.

Kahambu Deborah, a 40-year-old mother of six, said she had been struggling to access her farmland due to rebel violence, and that the restrictions linked to Ebola had made things more challenging.

“Sometimes, because of the insecurity, we can’t even go to our fields, and our children are suffering as a result,” she said.

Health workers seek to limit the movement of people

Dr. Richard Lokudu, director-general of the Mongbwalu General Hospital, said health workers are seeing more malnutrition cases in the region, compared to before the outbreak, “even at the Ebola treatment center.”

In Mongbwalu, the U.N. agency’s food support program has helped to “limit the movement of people seeking the means to survive,” said Tourne Kasereka, a monitoring assistant with the WFP.

A critical aspect of that response is getting food to those in need of it, according to Skau.

“The World Food Program needs resources (and) donors to step up so that we can do more, to alleviate the pressures on the people here in Ituri,” he said.

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Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal, contributed to this report.

It's the second time Trump has asked the justices to nix damages awarded by a jury to Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host. The Supreme Court refused in June to hear his appeal of another verdict, for $5 million, that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The latest case centers on comments Trump made during his first term as president. The Justice Department wants to invoke the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs.

“Absent this Court’s intervention, the sitting President is facing nearly a hundred million dollars of personal liability for conduct that was well within the scope of his federal office,” federal attorneys wrote. “That alone deserves this Court’s attention.”

The documents were reviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press and expected to be formally docketed with the court shortly.

Trump's lawyers, meanwhile, argued that an appeals court “engaged in procedural contortions” to avoid addressing Trump's claims that presidential immunity protects him from the $83 million award because he made the statements in question in 2019 while he was president.

The lawyers argued that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled in a manner that “cries out for this Court's review in this unprecedented case" and called the damages “grossly excessive.”

“This is the first case in our nation's history in which a court has imposed damages liability on a president for his conduct in office,” the lawyers wrote.

Carroll's lawyers have declined to comment on the latest Trump filing.

Trump has long argued he cannot be sued over comments he made about Carroll during his first term where he disavowed knowing her and attacked her motivations for going public with her story in a recent memoir. He's also asking the Supreme Court justices to reconsider their rejection of his appeal in the $5 million verdict.

The appeal comes about two years after the Supreme Court granted Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

Carroll testified twice before New York juries that Trump sexually assaulted her in spring 1996 in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury retailer across the street from Trump Tower. She first went public with the claims in a 2019 memoir.

She sued Trump for defamation after he accused her of making up the allegation to help book sales, adding that he’d never met her and “she’s not my type.” He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

A Manhattan jury awarded her $83 million in damages in January 2024. Lower courts have so far rejected Trump’s appeals to overturn the verdict, though the New York-based appeals court split over the decision and agreed to delay that payout until the Supreme Court weighs in.

In 2023, another jury said Carroll was entitled to $5 million after concluding that Trump had subjected her to sexual abuse in the department store encounter and for defamation for remarks he had made after his first term ended. That judgment has been paid.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done.

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Neumeister reported from New York.

The ruling resolves a long-running legal dispute known as the “Minor Issue,” which has affected thousands of ancestry-based citizenship cases involving families who left Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, experts say.

The ruling — dated Sunday but published Wednesday — was made by the Court of Cassation's highest-level panel for resolving conflicting legal interpretations.

At the center of the dispute was whether children automatically lost Italian citizenship when an Italian parent later acquired a foreign nationality while the children were still minors.

Under a restrictive interpretation adopted in a series of court decisions beginning in 2023, many applications by later generations were rejected because authorities considered the line of citizenship transmission to have been interrupted.

What the court decided

In its new ruling, the court said that under Italy’s historical citizenship laws, children who were already Italian citizens by birth under the principle of “iure sanguinis,” or citizenship by bloodline, did not automatically lose their Italian citizenship when a parent became a citizen of another country.

The court clarified that children born in countries that automatically grant citizenship at birth — including the United States — retained their Italian citizenship even if their parents later naturalized there. Because they remained Italian citizens, they could pass that citizenship on to subsequent generations.

The ruling represents a reversal of recent practice

Lawyer Marco Mellone, who represented applicants in the case, explained that the ruling reversed a restrictive interpretation that had blocked citizenship claims in recent years, many by U.S. citizens.

“The Supreme Court of Cassation has completely changed its position and gone back, confirming that all these Italian-American families — and, more generally, families in all countries where this situation existed — regain the right to Italian citizenship by descent,” Mellone told The Associated Press.

What the decision means for people of Italian ancestry

The decision could have broad implications for descendants of Italian emigrants, particularly in North and South America, where large Italian diaspora communities have ancestral ties to Italy. Mellone estimated that several hundred thousand families may have been affected by the restrictive interpretation adopted in recent years.

Legal experts say the judgment is likely to strengthen the position of applicants whose claims were rejected solely because of the Minor Issue and provide authoritative guidance to judges handling pending cases. The ruling could also influence how Italian administrative authorities and consulates assess future citizenship applications.

Whether the Interior Ministry and Italian consulates formally adjust their practices to reflect the court’s interpretation remains unclear. However, decisions issued by the panel — known as the “Sezioni Unite” or United Sections — carry particular weight because they are intended to resolve conflicting interpretations of the law.

Mellone noted that “there's no one above” the panel, which has only very rarely reversed decisions.

The ruling comes as Italy faces growing demand for citizenship by descent and legal disputes over the scope of ancestry-based citizenship rights.

Separately, a law championed by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani that restricts citizenship transmission through more distant generations has been referred to the European Union’s Court of Justice, with proceedings expected next year.

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% after swinging sharply between gains and losses in the last hour of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,153 points, or 2.2%, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 1.7% to fall 9.8% below its record set last month.

The action was more decisive in the oil market, where the price of Brent crude leaped 7.3% to settle at $88.09 per barrel after fighting resumed in the war with Iran and raised worries about the global flow of oil.

Brent oil’s price had swung as low as $72 early this month and as high as $102 last week on uncertainty about whether the United States and Iran could reach a deal to allow oil tankers to move freely again from the Middle East to customers worldwide.

The swings have raised worries that inflation will reaccelerate, and traders came into the day betting on a roughly 34% probability that the Fed would raise its main interest rate in the afternoon, according to data from CME Group.

Higher rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they can also slow the economy and undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

Fed officials instead voted to keep the federal funds rate steady, though three members of the policymaking committee did want to raise rates. The Fed’s chairman, Kevin Warsh, implied the bond market may already be doing some of the work to restrain inflation, and he pointed to how yields have climbed since the central bank’s last meeting six weeks ago.

He reiterated his commitment to get inflation back to 2% following years of faster-than-hoped increases in prices, but he also stuck to his plan of giving financial markets fewer clues about what the Fed may do with interest rates in the near future.

With less guidance from the Fed, financial markets may be set for more volatile trading amid the uncertainty.

“Did the Fed take an explicit change in its policy rate today?” Warsh asked rhetorically in a press conference following the Fed’s decision. “No, but I think that’s the beginning of the story.”

Treasury yields swiveled up and down following the Fed’s decision and Warsh’s insistence on not guiding the market.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.24% from 4.26% late Tuesday.

But the 10-year Treasury yield, which moves more with expectations for inflation and economic growth in upcoming years, went in the opposite direction. It jumped to 4.68% from 4.61% late Tuesday.

That’s up from 3.97% before the war with Iran sent oil prices much higher, and the increase has already sent long-term U.S. mortgage rates to their highest level in nearly a year.

Higher rates particularly hurt stocks seen as the most expensive, and scrutiny has already been rising on makers of computer chips and other winners of the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology.

The recent surges for sellers of computer processors and memory are backed by real revenue and profits, but the exceptional growth won’t be sustainable if AI does not produce as much profit and productivity as hoped.

The skepticism has hit South Korea’s stock market in particular because it’s dominated by two tech giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Seoul’s Kospi index tumbled 6% Wednesday, a day after it plunged 10.8%, and trimmed its gain for the year so far to 34.4%.

SK Hynix’s stock in Seoul dropped 9.6%. It reported record amounts of revenue and profit for a quarter thanks to strong demand because of AI. But its 257% growth in revenue still wasn’t enough to meet analysts’ expectations.

On Wall Street, Nvidia was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after the chip company fell 3.6%.

KLA Corp., whose products and services help make semiconductors, lost 10.8% even though it reported stronger-than-forecast profit and revenue for the latest quarter. Expectations were high after its stock surged nearly 150% in this year’s first six months.

On Tuesday, gains for stocks outside of AI helped offset weakness for tech companies. Analysts have been saying such a rotation in the market from AI to less-loved areas could be healthy, but the majority of U.S. stocks fell with tech on Wednesday.

Hims & Hers Health tumbled 14.7%, for example, after the Federal Trade Commission, Utah and California alleged it shared consumers’ sensitive health information about medical conditions with third-party advertising platforms despite claiming its services maintain consumers’ privacy. Hims & Hers said their lawsuit is contorting “the law to try to manufacture claims,” which it called baseless.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 112.63 points to 7,316.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1,153.18 to 51,594.14, and the Nasdaq composite sank 433.97 to 24,442.94.

In stock markets elsewhere around the world, indexes were mixed. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% for two of the bigger moves.

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

The agency says the discovery was made last Friday when a DPS Corporal assigned to the Radiological/Nuclear Threat Detection (Rad/Nuc) Unit was conducting routine patrol duties and received an alarm from his vehicle-mounted radiation detection system.

• Funeral director accused of stealing dead man’s $2M estate released on bond

Using additional radiation detection equipment, the Corporal conducted a systematic survey of the area and determined that a Cs-137 radioactive source was emitting radiation from beneath the ground.

After confirming the presence of the source, the Corporal requested help from other local, state, and federal agencies to safely recover the object.

On Saturday, multiple agencies conducted radiological assessment and came up with a plan to recover the object.

“Continuous radiological monitoring was conducted throughout the operation, and designated hot and cold zones were established to ensure the safety of all personnel. Radiation exposure levels were closely monitored, and personnel rotations were conducted in accordance with established safety protocols,” DPS said.

• Spring Branch ISD to open Guthrie Center career hub, with real-world training for teens

Eventually, the source of the radiation was found six to eight inches below the surface.

The recovered item was identified as a 100-millicurie sealed radioactive source manufactured in April 1967.

“After the source was documented and radiation readings were verified, it was safely recovered without incident. The operation concluded with no injuries, no personnel contamination and no threat to the public,” DPS said.

It is unclear how the capsule ended up buried in the area, but the capsules are used in industrial gauging systems in the oil and gas industry.

• PREVIOUS: Judge sets $800K bond for Houston funeral home director accused of trying to steal $2M estate

Green, who also is referred to as Michael in court records, is accused of stealing a dead man’s more than $2 million estate while posing as his spouse and working as an unlicensed funeral director at A Community Funeral Home.

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Green was released from jail just before 5 a.m. on Tuesday. The bonding company would not provide information about who paid any of the money that led to Green’s release.

Houston Police and the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office had been investigating Green for months after executing a search warrant at the funeral home mid-service late last year.

The family of Lawrence Gammon contacted investigators after they said they hired Green for funeral arrangements, provided his personal information over email, but ended up not getting any funeral services and realized they may have been scammed, according to records.

Green filed documents in probate court, including what attorneys have argued was a fake last will and testament, claiming that Gammon left his entire estate to Green. An attorney representing Green in that case told KPRC 2 News last week that Green maintains having rights to the estate, but wouldn’t clarify the relationship between the two.

Gammon’s family has said they did not know Green or any connection between the two prior to his death, according to records.

In addition to allegedly trying to steal his estate, Green is also accused of submitting fraudulent documents to the Texas Funeral Service Commission to obtain a license to be a funeral director and embalmer, including claiming to have fake military service, before running A Community Funeral Home without a license.

Green has an arraignment hearing scheduled for Friday.

Stefanski described the injury as a “flare-up” and said he doesn’t anticipate a long absence from the former Dolphins quarterback. He said Tagovailoa will be present at training camp but not yet participating.

The first-year Falcons coach kept the details of Tagovailoa’s injury secret, saying one of the perks of training camp is not having to divulge every detail.

ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday that Tagovailoa is dealing with a tight back.

The Falcons swapped one veteran quarterback for another as a result, releasing veteran Trevor Siemian and adding Cooper Rush. Heading into his ninth year in the league, Rush has appeared in 42 career games and has thrown for 3,766 yards, 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Rush was out throwing alongside Michael Penix Jr. and undrafted rookie Jack Strand at the Falcons' first day of training camp on Wednesday morning.

Rush and Strand are expected to split snaps during 11-on-11s. Penix, who started nine games for Atlanta in 2026 before a season-ending ACL tear, will compete in individual and 7-on-7 drills.

Stefanski is encouraged by Penix's recovery, though he doesn't have a precise timetable for the quarterback's return to 11-on-11 drills.

“I don't know the exact date on when that would happen," Stefanski said. "All along, as you guys can imagine, we have put total trust into Mike, the medical team and the doctor who performed his surgery. So I'm very, very comfortable with where we are and the plan that we have.”

Penix had a slightly more definitive timeline, revealing that four weeks was the most recent benchmark he was given. While recovering from his third ACL tear, the third-year quarterback said he's eager to get back, but he's not taking the process lightly.

“Just trusting the process,” Penix said. “It's more seeing how my body is feeling with these practices. I was told like another four weeks, possibly, going into that next stage. At the same time, it could be earlier."

The Falcons had another nonparticipant in All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson, who was present but did not take part in drills. Robinson appeared healthy and is widely speculated to be holding in for a contract extension after the Falcons exercised his fifth-year option.

The team did not comment on Robinson’s lack of participation.

___

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

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky subpoenaed Fauci to appear before a Senate committee. It’s part of Paul’s yearslong accusations that the now-retired infectious disease expert had lied about the pandemic, something Fauci has called “preposterous.” Paul closed the hearing by saying lawmakers will vote next week on whether to hold the now-retired infectious-disease expert in contempt for refusing to testify.

Democrats on the committee generally defended Fauci for refusing to engage, but Republicans hold an 8-7 majority on the panel. President Donald Trump told reporters, “I watched the whole thing today,” when asked about Fauci’s testimony.

Iran, meanwhile, launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Wednesday as the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters. The flare-up on multiple fronts shattered a brief pause in fighting that followed nearly two weeks of daily bombing by the U.S. military.

Here's the latest:

Trump shrugs off Fed’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged

Trump showed no regrets over his handpicked Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, neglected to cut benchmark interest rates as the president has called for since returning to the White House.

Fed officials voted 9-3 to keep the federal funds rate steady, with the dissenters calling for a rate hike because inflation has stayed above the Fed’s 2% target.

“Kevin’s got a board. He’s fantastic. He’s a brilliant guy. Smart. I know he’d love to see lower interest rates, but he’s got a board and it’s a political board and they want to keep rates up,” Trump told reporters.

The president said the country is fighting through higher rates, saying he has achieved $19.2 trillion in investments in one year. That figure is bloated and inaccurate as it would constitute the bulk of U.S. gross domestic product and cannot be observed within broader economic data.

Trump says he watched all of Fauci testimony

The U.S. president apparently took keen interest in the former COVID official’s appearance before a Senate committee earlier Wednesday.

“I watched the whole thing today,” Trump told reporters when asked about his testimony.

He used the question to tout his first-term efforts on COVID-19, including Operation Warp Speed, which was the administration’s initiative on developing and distributing a COVID vaccine.

Trump added: “COVID was a disaster, but Fauci did not help.”

Fed holds benchmark rate steady, as some officials express worries about inflation

Federal Reserve officials voted 9-3 to keep their benchmark rates unchanged, but the dissenters favored rate hikes as inflation continues to run above the central bank’s 2% target.

The federal funds rate — which determines the interest charged on overnight loans among banks — will stay in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

The bank statement said the economy is “expanding at a solid pace,” but stressed that there is “uncertainty” because of the Iran war and its impact on oil prices.

The three Fed officials who sought to raise the benchmark rates by 0.25% were Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, and Fed Dallas President Lorie Logan. A rate hike would imply that inflation risks are mounting and could drive up the cost of mortgages, auto loans and government borrowing.

Trump has long attacked the Fed for not slashing its rates, but he has refrained from criticizing his pick as Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, for not delivering on his preferred policy.

Most GOP governors get on board with Trump’s election rules

All but three Republican governors in the U.S. signed a letter Wednesday supporting Trump’s push for requiring proof of citizenship for anyone registering to vote.

The governors said in a letter to Trump, who has made the measure a priority, that the SAVE America Act is “critical for restoring Americans’ trust in our electoral process.”

It’s not clear how much sway the Republican governors will have. GOP Majority Leader John Thune has said that Republicans lack the votes to pass the bill or get around a filibuster.

The GOP governors who didn’t sign are the leaders of New Hampshire, Ohio and Vermont.

Voting experts have warned that the requirement could disenfranchise 20 million voters who don’t have birth certificates or other documents available.

Paul-Fauci Senate hearing concludes after 3 hours

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee ended a three-hour session with Dr. Anthony Fauci that offered two vastly different versions of his role leading the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For his part, Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment even as the Republican majority protested and demanded answers to their questions.

Chairman Rand Paul led questioning about coronavirus origins, trying to cast doubt on Fauci’s earlier contentions that it didn’t come from a Chinese lab. Other Republicans framed Fauci as a seeker of fame and fortune who has diminished public trust in science and government.

Some GOP members also doubled down on misinformation about COVID vaccines and public health precautions.

Democrats, meanwhile, cast Fauci as a victim of conspiratorial obsessions meant to take down an 85-year-old who spent more than a half-century as a physician and immunologist.

Paul says committee will vote next week on holding Fauci in contempt

The chairman said senators will vote next week on whether to hold Fauci in contempt for declining to answer questions.

Paul argued that Biden’s presidential pardon means Fauci no longer has a Fifth Amendment privilege, though he added that it’s a “legal question that the courts may have to decide.”

The senator did not say whether he would push for a criminal contempt referral to federal prosecutors, a civil contempt charge referral to a federal court or the rarest form of congressional contempt, an internal Senate charge in which the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms can detain a witness.

Several Republicans hammered Fauci for not engaging, while Democrats generally defended him.

One Republican, Oklahoma’s Mark Lankford, told Fauci multiple times that “you have the right” to invoke the Fifth.

Republicans hold an 8-7 majority on the panel.

Iran resumes missile attacks as US and Saudis strike Tehran-backed militias in Iraq

Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the Middle East early Wednesday as the U.S. partnered with Saudi Arabia to strike Tehran-backed militias in neighboring Iraq, killing at least 20 fighters.

Six Iranian advisers were killed in the U.S.-Saudi strike, two Iraqi militia officials told The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear if the advisers were included in the fighters who were killed. The militia officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.

The flare-up on multiple fronts, after several days of relative calm, raised the risk of a return to all-out war. It also underscored the difficulty of winding down a five-month conflict that has jolted the world economy and is unpopular among Americans. The fighting was also likely to add to concerns that the U.S. is further drawing down already diminished stockpiles of sophisticated munitions needed to defend its bases and allies.

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— Samy Magdy and Elena Becatoros

Trump and DOJ ask Supreme Court to toss $83 million defamation verdict in E. Jean Carroll case

Trump and the Justice Department are asking the Supreme Court to toss the verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault, saying he can’t be sued for comments he made while he was president.

It’s the second time Trump has asked the justices to nix damages awarded by a jury to Carroll, a longtime advice columnist and former TV talk show host. The Supreme Court refused in June to hear his appeal of another verdict, for $5 million, that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

The latest case centers on comments Trump made during his first term as president. The Justice Department wants to invoke the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs.

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Sen. Josh Hawley hammers Fauci for pleading the Fifth

“Well, nothing says honesty like taking the 5th, huh, doc?” the Republican Missouri senator said, launching immediately into a searing critique of Fauci declining to answer questions.

Hawley proceeded with a mocking exchange.

“What day of the week is it today?”

“What color tie are you wearing?”

“What color is the carpet in front of you?”

Each time, Fauci answered, “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

Hawley then proceeded to a lengthy list of questions that accused Fauci of misconduct in his government role.

Fauci’s answer was the same.

So was Hawley’s: “Yeah, well, silence is admission.”

In fact, individuals who invoke constitutional protections not to answer questions under oath are not admitting guilt of any crime.

Some disease experts criticize the accusations against Fauci

In a public letter, more than 150 infectious-disease experts and other scientists wrote that “no credible evidence has been produced to support these absurd charges” and that they are “urging our elected representatives in Congress stop these witch-hunts.”

Conservative influencer Laura Ingraham spread COVID misinformation. She’s in the audience at hearing

The Fox News host used her show and social media platform to repeatedly spread misinformation during the pandemic.

In the pandemic’s early stages, Ingraham downplayed the spread of COVID-19. She went on to mock mask mandates, social distancing guidelines, people who wore masks and those who got vaccinations.

She also endorsed unproven remedies — including hydroxychloroquine — that the FDA had warned against.

Recently on her show, Ingraham has discussed Fauci’s diary entries that Sen. Paul released. She called Fauci a “little man with a big ego” and had Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on her show to blast Fauci’s “mismanagement” of the pandemic.

Paul has a Fauci representative removed from the hearing room

A representative who was among those who accompanied Fauci tried to speak without being recognized, angering Paul and leading to the man’s removal.

“He is not recognized by the committee or the chair. If he speaks again, he will be removed from the room,” Paul said. “This testimony is from Anthony Fauci. This is not a game with his lawyers.”

Paul said Fauci’s representatives and advisers “are all allowed to talk to him. ... But the attorneys are not recognized” to address lawmakers.

When the man persisted, Paul summoned Capitol Police.

“Please remove him from the room,” Paul said.

Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking Democrat, said he wanted to hear what Fauci’s counsel had to say. The Republican chair quipped back that Fauci “will still have the advice of the other half a dozen attorneys that he brought along today.”

Fauci has a presidential pardon. Why plead the Fifth?

Before President Joe Biden left office, he gave Fauci a preemptive “full and unconditional” pardon, dating back to 2014. So, why would Fauci need to invoke the Fifth now?

The decision may center on several Republicans’ comments that Fauci could still be criminally prosecuted for perjury if he lies under oath.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist before entering office, was among the Trump allies suggesting that possibility this week.

Fauci said in his opening statement that he believed Paul wanted him to testify so he could say something that might justify his arrest.

Paul gets to dominate the hearing with Fauci pleading the Fifth

The Kentucky senator is an ophthalmologist who’s conversant, if not fluent, in the language of scientific and medical research.

And with Fauci pleading the Fifth, Paul is free to go through his account of the record, asking detailed questions he knows the witness will not answer.

He’s asked about NIH funding of Chinese research.

Fauci responded: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment.”

The senator delved into details about virus mutations and the dangers of such research.

Fauci stuck to his script: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment.”

And throughout their exchange, Paul weaved in his analysis of Fauci’s actions to frame the one-sided conversation his way.

Invoking the Fifth offers protection for witnesses

The Fifth Amendment is a constitutional protection against self-incrimination during questioning by law enforcement authorities and Congress.

By invoking it, witnesses are not acknowledging any criminal liability at all, and many people who profess their absolute innocence choose to exercise their right to remain silent. Witnesses who do so are able to avoid testimony they think could be damning or that they fear could be used against them by zealous interrogators or prosecutors determined to use their own words against them.

In the case of Fauci, for instance, some Republicans have talked openly about their desire to see the doctor prosecuted, and in opting to invoke his rights, Fauci cited his concern that Republican Sen. Rand Paul would try to elicit testimony that “could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.”

Crux of Fauci hearing is over pandemic origins and NIH-funded research in China

Many scientists believe the virus most likely emerged in nature and jumped from animals to people, coming to light when it spread at a wildlife market in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

There’s no new scientific information supporting that the virus might instead have leaked from a laboratory, a theory Paul champions. A GOP-led subcommittee that studied the question in 2024 did not find any evidence linking Fauci to wrongdoing.

Fauci has long said publicly that he was open to both theories but that there’s more evidence supporting COVID-19’s natural origins, the way other deadly viruses, including coronavirus cousins SARS and MERS, jumped into people.

Trump tells Fox News he’ll retaliate hard against Iran for overnight attacks

Fox News reporter Trey Yingst, who’s based in the Middle East, said in an on-air segment that he spoke with Trump on Wednesday and the president told him the United States will hit back hard in response to the attacks in Jordan from Iran.

Iran launched a barrage of missiles at American forces in the region early Wednesday.

Senate committee’s top Democrat says Fauci hearing is a GOP stunt

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the panel, says Paul’s hearing is a partisan exercise and that the chairman has denied the minority access to some of the evidentiary record he’s cited.

Paul called that “categorically false.”

Peters tried to pivot to the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal work force and the departure of career scientists from the government’s public health programs.

The senator said Trump’s policies have slowed the response to the ongoing cyclospora outbreak and added that “cuts to global health programs and international partnerships have greatly reduced our ability to contain dangerous diseases.”

That’s more important than “relitigating the past,” Peters said.

“We should be asking how to strengthen our bio defense efforts to deter our adversaries and prevent biological attacks against our country,” while assessing “how our government can better coordinate and communicate during public health emergencies,” Peters said.

Fauci isn’t answering questions after invoking the Fifth

In his remarks at the top of the hearing, Fauci accused Sen. Paul of having an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution.”

“The only conclusion that I can reach is that the sole reason he is calling me before this committee is to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote.”

He said he would refrain from answering questions upon advice from his attorneys.

Fauci pleading the Fifth, according to prepared remarks

A draft of the 85-year-old’s opening statement shows he won’t be getting into the details Sen. Paul wants to discuss.

Anyone under oath has the right to cite the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment that ensures no person can be compelled to give self-incriminating testimony.

Fauci’s decision diminishes the potential for fireworks between Fauci and the chairman. But it also could give Paul a relatively uninterrupted platform to frame his arguments on the pandemic, its origins and the federal response.

Sen. Paul opens hearing accusing Fauci of covering up COVID-19 origin

The senator is trying to build the case that Fauci and other officials helped produce the COVID-19 pandemic by approving funding of research on virus mutations and then covered up their complicity.

Fauci’s lawyers and his supporters vehemently deny those accusations.

Paul said Fauci should admit that “funding this research in China” was “a mistake” and that he made false statements during the pandemic — including to Congress — that the virus was not conceived in a laboratory.

“Your primary concern was hiding the fact that you had approved funding for this dangerous research,” Paul said.

The senator called Fauci’s “categorical public denials indefensible” and said he has “destroyed trust.”

COVID-19 Senate hearing starts with Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has opened its hearing with Fauci.

The physician and immunologist who helped lead the U.S government response to the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to face aggressive questioning from Republican members, especially Chairman Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Paul has for years questioned the origins of the COVID virus and federal health officials’ accounts.

The senator already has released reams of Fauci’s diary entries during the pandemic and said that what scientist “wrote privately and what he told the country are two different stories.”

Investigators in Comey seashells case omitted key facts and distorted others, defense lawyers allege

Federal officials involved in the prosecution of James Comey misled judges, submitted false statements and withheld key facts during the course of the investigation, according to new defense filings that seek the dismissal of a case charging the former FBI director with threatening Trump on social media.

Lawyers for Comey made the allegations of misconduct in motions filed late Tuesday that also call the case a vindictive and selective prosecution, request access to transcripts of grand jury proceedings to expose what they say are “irregularities” in how the indictment was secured, and describe “unlawful” surveillance of Comey by the Secret Service.

Taken together, the new motions, along with an earlier one this week that called Comey’s social media post protected speech and not a threat, represent a multiprong defense effort to dismantle a case defense lawyers say exemplifies a Trump administration retribution campaign targeting one of the president’s most vocal critics.

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Trump’s attacks on mail balloting and concerns over delays turn midterms spotlight on Postal Service

Roughly six weeks before the first midterm ballots are mailed out, the U.S. Postal Service is emerging as a pivotal player in an election season that will determine control of Congress.

Trump is seeking greater control over mail balloting through an executive order while a change to how the agency processes mail is leading to criticism that it’s failing to deliver ballots on time.

Democratic officials have raised concerns over the past week about how quickly the Postal Service will process ballots after tens of thousands of them in California and hundreds in Wisconsin arrived at local election offices too late to be counted in elections earlier this year. The top election offices in Kansas and Michigan are urging voters who want to cast their ballots early to avoid the mail and instead drop them off in person.

The Postal Service replied to those concerns Tuesday by saying it remains “committed to fulfilling our role in the electoral process.”

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Anthony Fauci again faces questions from Senate Republicans about pandemic origins

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. scientist who helped lead the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic response, is set to face off — again — with a Republican senator probing the origins of the coronavirus.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky subpoenaed Fauci to appear before a Senate committee Wednesday. It’s part of Paul’s yearslong accusations that the now-retired infectious disease expert had lied about the pandemic, something Fauci has called “preposterous.”

Leading up to the hearing, Paul released more than a thousand pages of Fauci’s personal diary covering the pandemic years. Pointing to some notes about early efforts at understanding how the virus emerged, Paul wrote on the social media platform X that what Fauci “wrote privately and what he told the country are two different stories.”

But they’re likely to further inflame a partisan divide that, years after the pandemic, still makes Fauci a target of vitriol from people who blame him for mask mandates and other policies they believe infringed on their rights as hundreds of thousands of people were dying.

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The good news? There are no hard rules when it comes to lipstick. The best choice comes down to personal comfort, your style, and the occasion.

Before reaching for any lipstick, makeup artist Darcie Teasley says healthy lips should always come first.

No matter how beautiful the color, lipstick won’t look its best if lips are dry or flaky.

1. Start by gently exfoliating to remove dead skin. A soft toothbrush or disposable mascara wand works well for buffing away rough patches before makeup application.
2. Next comes hydration. Apply a true lip balm while you’re doing the rest of your makeup so your lips have time to absorb the moisture before lipstick goes on.

Teasley also points out that not every product marketed for lips serves the same purpose. While products like ChapStick, Carmex, EOS, and Burt’s Bees are household names, they aren’t the same as moisturizing lip balms. Instead, she recommends reaching for products such as Vaseline, Aquaphor, Rosebud Salve, Kiehl’s Lip Balm, or other formulas designed to deeply hydrate lips.

Once your lips are prepped, it’s time to choose the finish that best fits your day.

satin finish

This is the most versatile option. It delivers rich color with a creamy, moisturizing feel that’s especially flattering for dry or textured lips. It’s comfortable enough for everyday wear and remains one of the most popular lipstick finishes available.

Matte finish

If you’re looking for maximum staying power, a matte lipstick is a classic choice. Matte formulas offer bold color payoff with no shine, making them ideal for weddings, parties, long workdays, or any event where you want your lipstick to last. While they can be more drying, they create a polished, sophisticated look that makes a statement.

Glossy finish

Gloss delivers a completely different effect. Its reflective finish helps lips appear fuller, smoother, and more youthful while providing lightweight hydration. Whether worn alone or layered over lipstick, gloss creates an effortless look that’s perfect for casual days or adding extra dimension to your favorite shade.

Still not sure which finish to choose? Think about how your lips feel and where you’re going.

If your lips tend to stay dry, satin or gloss may be your best bet. If you’re heading to a special event and want long-lasting color, matte is a great option. Satin sits comfortably in the middle, offering hydration with noticeable pigment.

Your lips, but better

Lip liner can also make a dramatic difference. For a natural “my lips but better” look, choose a liner that’s one or two shades deeper than your natural lip color. To create the illusion of fuller lips, use a liner slightly deeper than your lipstick, concentrating the darker shade around the Cupid’s bow and the center of the bottom lip. And for a timeless, classic lip, simply match your liner to your lipstick to create a clean edge while preventing feathering and bleeding.

One final pro tip: Always blend your lip liner by gently pressing your lips together before applying lipstick. It softens harsh lines, evens out pigment, and creates a smooth base that helps lipstick wear more evenly throughout the day.

Happy National Lipstick day, muah! 👄💄

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The new facility, which is scheduled to open for the 2026–27 school year, was approved by voters as part of SBISD’s 2022 bond program. The bond dedicated $290.3 million to CTE improvements districtwide, including the construction of the new Guthrie Center.

“Our vision is T-2-4, so we want every student when they graduate our school system to be prepared with either a technical, a two-year, or a four-year degree, or go into the military,” SBISD Superintendent Dr. Jennifer Blaine said. “We don’t want to ever limit that ability by what we do or don’t provide.”

• Harris County Clerk to hold Saturday birth certificate event to help families get ready for school

SBISD introduces CTE courses in middle school, exposing students to different career paths. Freshmen and sophomores continue taking CTE courses at their home campuses, before moving to the Guthrie Center as juniors and seniors for more advanced instruction.

One of the unique aspects of the Guthrie Center is that students have the chance to serve the public through their automotive, cosmetology and culinary arts programs.

The community can enter through the “enterprise entrance” and get their oil changed, a new set of nails or enjoy lunch at the cafe.

“There’s a whole side of this where not only are our kids learning in the classroom with their teachers, but they’re practicing the service that they’re then delivering in a real-world setting so that they get accustomed to that,” Blaine said.

• LIST: Back-to-school freebies — backpack and supply giveaways around Houston

Speaking of teachers - students will be learning from real architects, welders, chefs, and more.

“That really lends credibility to the program,” Principal Joe Kolenda said. “Students walk in and it’s not just teachers that learned something out of a book. It’s teachers that did it.”

For more information on the Guthrie Center and its programs, click here.

Tony Danza’s Standards & Stories takes the stage at Doc’s Houston this Thursday, July 30th, giving fans a chance to experience the Hollywood icon in a whole new way.

Rather than a traditional concert, Standards & Stories is an intimate evening where Danza performs beloved classics from the Great American Songbook while sharing memorable stories from his remarkable life and career. Along the way, audiences can also expect plenty of humor, tap dancing, a little ukulele playing, and the effortless charisma that has made Danza a fan favorite for generations.

And not only does Danza sing, but he also tap-dances, plays the ukulele, and tells stories in a way that only he can. Get tickets and more info --> HERE.

Most people know Tony Danza from his unforgettable television roles as Tony Banta on Taxi and Tony Micelli on Who’s the Boss?—two of the most beloved sitcoms in television history. Over the years, he’s also appeared in films including Angels in the Outfield, She’s Out of Control, Hollywood Knights, and Don Jon.

Watch as Lauren Kelly catches up with Tony about his upcoming event, and some of the unforgettable moments from his incredible career.

Travel expert Gabe Saglie joins Houston Life from Anaheim to show how this Orange County city is doubling down on the concept with walkable neighborhoods, rooftop bars and curated experiences that let visitors stack multiple vacations into one trip.

Eat, drink and rooftop: culinary as a calling card

Culinary experiences are a major driver of the urban basecamp idea. From bustling food halls and craft breweries to chic rooftop bars, Anaheim is serving up options for families and grown-ups alike. The Anaheim Packing District has become a magnet for food lovers, while a new generation of rooftop spots is drawing visitors for sunset cocktails and skyline views. Local breweries and small-batch producers add another layer to the city’s taste profile.

Connected and convenient: transit that matters

One of the biggest selling points of an urban basecamp is connectivity. Anaheim’s transit hubs make it easy to arrive and then explore without a car. The ARTIC station provides regional rail and shuttle access to local attractions, shortening travel time and letting visitors spend their stay doing, not commuting.

Sports, culture and year-round events

Vacationing around sports and live entertainment is another part of the movement. Anaheim hosts professional sports, concerts and cultural venues that book events across seasons, giving travelers plenty of reasons to return. Whether you’re planning a family trip, a couples’ getaway or a friends’ weekend, Anaheim’s mix of venues and calendar-packed events helps stretch one visit into many memories.

Plan your visit online — visitanaheim.org.

The $20 billion FIFA subsidiary was blasted by international soccer organizations. European soccer body UEFA aims to call its 55 member federations to an emergency online meeting, likely on Thursday. The organization said “there is significant and growing opposition to FIFA’s scheme.”

The effort is being bankrolled by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law.

The effort marks Infantino's latest effort to align with those in the orbit of Trump: by creating the FIFA peace prize, letting Trump intervene in a process that led to United States forward Folarin Balogun playing at the World Cup, and now trying to lock in Joshua Kushner's investment firm to a 12-year ownership deal with the Switzerland-based not-for-profit soccer body.

Infantino set out the “singular and unique funding opportunity” in a letter detailing why he wants to create the $20 billion FIFA subsidiary — 20% owned by private investors — that would run the soccer body’s competitions and events like World Cups and Club World Cups.

“It is my duty and responsibility as FIFA president to present such game-changing opportunities to you, our members,” Infantino wrote in the letter seen by The Associated Press.

The effort elevates the status of Joshua Kushner, who has long been connected financially to his brother Jared.

When Joshua Kushner founded a venture capital firm rather than follow into the family’s real estate business, his elder brother was an early investor and a board member.

The brothers are reportedly close, and their father, Charles Kushner, received a pardon from Trump and now serves as the U.S. Ambassador to France.

But the younger Kushner has a history of six-figure donations to Democrats and his wife, the model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss, attended last month’s opening of the Obama presidential library and told Bloomberg earlier this year she’s never met Donald Trump.

The proposal revealed Tuesday and backed by Joshua Kushner's investment firm Thrive Capital was met with immediate fury from Infantino’s former colleagues at UEFA, which said the World Cup “is not FIFA’s to sell.”

One option open to European soccer is threaten a boycott of FIFA competitions — a tactic used in 2021 when UEFA-led opposition helped stop Infantino's plan to play the World Cup every two years instead of four.

On Wednesday, UEFA and its president Aleksander Čeferin hosted a video conference between its five member federations with the biggest soccer leagues: England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

“President Čeferin expressed his stance against this (FIFA) project,” Giovanni Malagò, the new president of Italian soccer said during the presentation of new Italy coach Roberto Mancini. “The situation is really total conflict."

Infantino's ambitions

FIFA’s private equity plan is the latest ambitious project proposed during Infantino’s 11-year presidency in which he has increasingly seemed to be an executive leader acting without consulting with soccer’s major stakeholders.

Previous plans include creating a FIFA Peace Prize — awarded to Trump in December at the World Cup draw — and trying to push through a secretive $25 billion private equity plan in 2018 to create new and bigger men's competitions. That was resisted by UEFA.

Concerns about the latest and previously secret plan were aired Wednesday by the continental soccer bodies for Asia and the North American region known as CONCACAF.

“We are deeply concerned by the lack of due process,” CONCACAF said in a statement.

The Kuala Lumpur-based Asian Football Confederation said it was “disappointed that a matter of such significance entered the public domain before the AFC family had been afforded the opportunity to examine and discuss it.”

Continental bodies that organize their own international club and national-team competitions plus qualifying games — such as the Champions League, European Championship and Copa America — likely will see threats to those events from FIFA wanting to increase revenue and value for investors by playing World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women more often, along with adding more teams.

The influential, 850-member European Football Clubs group — which has a joint venture with UEFA to manage the Champions League — said it “learned about this proposal in the same way as most global football stakeholders — without warning and through the media.”

Inviting in private investors could also, sports governance academic Antoine Duval suggested Wednesday “incentivize FIFA to further commodify the World Cup (think more hydration breaks and dynamic pricing ) in a drive to increase its revenue.”

What's on offer to FIFA member federations

If the FIFA Forward Enterprise subsidiary is approved by a majority of the 211 members, they also each are promised $20 million in funding from the four-year commercial cycle tied to the men’s 2030 World Cup.

That would lead, Infantinto wrote, to “a pool of diverse international investors” joining Joshua Kushner's Thrive as the anchor investor: “This process will be led by J.P. Morgan.”

If Infantino’s plan is rejected, those members will get their previously promised $10 million over the next four years, his letter stated.

The cash difference on offer Wednesday to FIFA members appears to be $86 million over 12 years compared to about $36 million in existing promised funding for rejecting the private equity deal.

The rushed deadline to claim an initial $20 million “says everything you need to know about this plan,” UEFA said. “FIFA cannot continue to use our sport to enrich themselves and their friends.”

Dozens of member federations typically rely on FIFA for funding, have national teams with little realistic chance of qualifying for World Cups, and whose best players rarely, if ever, join clubs playing at the highest level of international competitions.

FIFA's one-member, one-vote democratic system means the most powerful soccer nations on the field easily can be outvoted by those who rarely play top-level games.

Resistance in Britain

FIFA’s plan met quick opposition from British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, whose government is preparing to support hosting the 2035 Women’s World Cup in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. FIFA is set to confirm that lone bid for 2035 at an online meeting in November.

“Football does not belong to investors,” Burnham, a longtime soccer fan, said in a video message on Instagram. “Once you have sold a piece of (the World Cup), you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.”

Resistance by British lawmakers — including threats of legislation by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2021 — previously helped stop the divisive European Super League project that was an existential threat to UEFA's Champions League, and which Infantino had discreetly supported. J.P. Morgan bankers also worked with top European clubs on that project, which collapsed within 48 hours.

Infantino's future

Infantino has seemed to be cruising toward being reelected unopposed as FIFA president for a fourth and final term through 2031.

Promising more FIFA funds to member federations was a decisive part of his initial election-day speech in February 2016, and at his unopposed reelections in 2019 and 2023.

Some observers have long suspected Infantino wants a longer-term role running the sport. A CEO or commissioner role at a FIFA subsidiary FFE would fit that bill.

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AP Sports Writer Andrew Dampf in Rome contributed to this report

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

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the workout that Mia Bieniemy had been released from the intensive care unit, where she was being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. But there was no timetable for when Eric Bieniemy would be back with the team.

“She's making progress,” Reid said, “so we're happy about that.”

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

Elijah Bieniemy has a court date to hear motions scheduled for Thursday. His preliminary hearing date is Aug. 31.

Eric Bieniemy returned earlier this year to the Chiefs, where he experienced his greatest success as an assistant. He was instrumental in Kansas City reaching three Super Bowls and winning two of them before departing for the Washington Commanders in 2023, where he had wanted to build upon his resume in the hopes of landing a head coaching job.

Bieniemy was part of Ron Rivera's staff that was let go following that season, though. He spent one season as offensive coordinator at UCLA before spending last season coaching the running backs with the Chicago Bears.

However long he misses training camp is noteworthy, given Bieniemy is trying to get up to speed with any changes to Reid's playbook over the past few years. But the Chiefs are uniquely suited to press on without him during an important part of training camp.

Not only do they have continuity on their coaching staff but have veteran leaders on the offensive side of the ball.

Pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier, who has been with the Chiefs for the past decade and is widely considered a rising star in the profession, has assumed many of Bieniemy's responsibilities. Others have fallen upon veteran offensive line coach Andy Heck, who has held that job ever since Reid's initial Kansas City coaching staff was put together following the 2012 season.

There's also the fact that Reid has a heavy hand in running the Chiefs offense. He receives plenty of input from his coordinators, but it is ultimately Reid who calls the plays on gameday, and who has the ear of quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

As for the two-time MVP, who is coming off reconstructive surgery on his left knee, Mahomes knows the Kansas City offense as well as anybody besides his head coach. And when you add in veterans such as tight end Travis Kelce, offensive linemen Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy, there is plenty of experience out on the field.

“We’ll be able to keep it moving here,” Reid said.

Meanwhile, Mahomes looked sharp in his first 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work of camp Wednesday, even though the Chiefs won't have pads on for several more days. At one point, he zipped a pass between two defenders to Kelce for a nice gain in the red zone.

“I feel stronger than I've ever felt as far as strength and lifting and stuff like that,” Mahomes said, "so now it's just about getting that quarterback stuff down, the stuff moving in the pocket quick — making those quick movements — reacting and doing stuff like that.

“I feel like I wasn't playing my best football at the end of last year before I got hurt,” he added. “I've got to find ways to get better, kind of navigating the pocket, run the offense better, getting the ball out of my hands and letting guys make plays. So I think this injury has kind of helped me focus on those little things as I kind of get back to who I am.”

Notes: DE Ethan Downs had surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee and was placed on injured reserve. ... Rice (knee) and CB L'Jarius Snead (knee) participated in about half the practice before spending the rest of the time with the training staff. “That was the plan,” Reid said. ... First-round CB Mansoor Delane (shoulder) participated in most of practice in a yellow no-contact jersey.

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

As part of the Fifth Amendment, the right against self-incrimination is well known to the general public thanks to years of legal and police procedural shows on television as well as instances of high-profile use in real life. The amendment also includes a right to due process and protects against being prosecuted twice for the same offense.