Storm surge, in basic terms, occurs when strong winds from a hurricane or tropical storm push water towards shore, causing it to rise rapidly.

The Gulf Coast is no stranger to this destructive wall of water - Rita’s storm surge towered 15 feet, Ike’s storm surge climbed to 17 feet, and Katrina reported a 28-foot storm surge , which is the height of a telephone pole! Katrina and Rita were Category 5 storms, while Ike was a Category 2 - despite the vastly different wind speeds, the storm surge impact remained the same, devastating.

Water during hurricanes and tropical storms is responsible for 90% of fatalities, according to NOAA, and half of those are due to storm surge.

Remember, we can hide from wind but can’t run from water, so if your zip code is ever in an evacuation order, you’ll want to take those instructions from local officials seriously.

The narrow upset Tuesday revealed cracks in Trump's coalition in the red state that helped the president mount his comeback, encouraging Democrats who are hopeful they can flip control of the governor's office this year. It also marked a potential breakthrough moment for the Make America Healthy Again movement, which has clashed with the Trump administration over its embrace of pesticides and backed Lahn's message in favor of regenerative farming and against large agricultural corporations.

“I will take on the big ag cartels. I will break up their monopolies, and I will get Iowa farmers a fair deal," Lahn said in his victory speech late Tuesday.

Members of the MAHA movement, a diverse coalition of supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with priorities ranging from ending vaccine mandates to promoting healthy soil and organic food, cheered the win as a sign their political message was resonating with voters.

“This election is a signal that pro-pesticide does not mean pro-farmer,” said Tony Lyons, president of Kennedy-aligned MAHA PAC, which endorsed Lahn. “Zach Lahn made transitioning away from toxic chemicals the cornerstone of his campaign and won this election decisively with strong farmer support.”

Lahn carved out a MAHA fandom

Lahn, a farmer and former conservative political director, was relatively unknown in Iowa before launching his campaign in November. He championed traditional policies that appealed to Iowa's conservative voters, such as further restricting abortion and keeping liberal ideology out of schools.

But Lahn, who owns an investment company and lives on an eastern Iowa farm that had been in his family for a century, also carved out a niche with the MAHA movement, vocally rebuking agricultural monopolies and acknowledging health questions involving farming products.

MAHA activists loudly backed Lahn as they grew increasingly impatient with the Trump administration and its Environmental Protection Agency for actions they view as antithetical to making America healthier.

Earlier this year, they revolted after Trump issued an executive order aimed at boosting production of a controversial herbicide ingredient known as glyphosate. They also protested at the Supreme Court in April against glyphosate producer Monsanto's Trump-backed effort to protect itself from lawsuits.

Lahn has opposed liability shields for pesticide companies.

“Iowa has the fastest growing cancer rate in the world,” Lahn said in Tuesday's speech. “We all know something is terribly wrong. But too many politicians from Washington, D.C., to Des Moines have had their heads stuck in the sand while big ag and big pharma printed money. This will not go on when I’m governor.”

Those positions helped Lahn gain endorsements from MAHA PAC and the late Charlie Kirk's conservative political organization, Turning Point Action. Figures from both celebrated Lahn's victory as their own.

“MAHA has done its job proving it’s politically radioactive to stand with chemicals over children,” Turning Point USA podcaster Alex Clark said on social media. “Iowa knows pesticides are causing cancer which is exploding in their state. Tonight they opted for change.”

Kelly Ryerson, a Florida-based activist whose social media account Glyphosate Girl focuses on nontoxic food systems, said she wants candidates in other states to take note. Ryerson had previously criticized Trump's endorsement of Feenstra, describing the congressman as “straight from the poison swamp.”

“Decreasing pesticides and improving food quality are common ground issues that drive votes,” she said.

A setback for Trump after repeated victories

Trump had stayed quiet on Iowa's gubernatorial race until last week, when he praised Feenstra as “MAGA all the way” and said he would “fight tirelessly” for Iowa on the economy and border security.

The power of the president's endorsement was proven earlier in the primary season, taking down two senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

The Republican National Committee denied the Iowa results signaled a weakening of Trump’s influence with voters.

“President Trump’s endorsement is the most valuable force in politics and worth its weight in gold,” spokesman Zach Kraft said in a statement. “The record speaks for itself.”

Some political observers viewed Massie's loss as a stumble for the MAHA movement. The Republican congressman had helped lead a bipartisan effort to remove liability protections for chemical companies from the recent farm bill, in line with activists' concerns.

Trump campaign veteran and Iowa political operative Alex Latcham said Tuesday's result does not detract from the grassroots goodwill Trump has built in Iowa. After all, Latcham said, it was Trump who recognized and embraced the MAHA issues that middle America cares about, which led him to appoint Kennedy as health secretary.

Latcham emphasized that all five Iowa primary candidates ran pro-Trump campaigns. Ultimately, Latcham said, Iowans want to see candidates up close to make their own assessments. Lahn and others criticized Feenstra for avoiding debates and spending limited time on the campaign trail.

“At the end of the day the president still remains the undisputed leader of the party,” said Latcham, who currently serves as executive director of Senate Republicans' main super PAC. “I wouldn’t necessarily read into this as being a diminishment of the president’s political standing.”

But Feenstra's loss, marking a win for MAHA and a miss for the president, creates an opening Democrats may try to seize.

State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat currently holding statewide office, is the party’s nominee for governor. Unopposed in the primary, Sand has been able to hone his moderate message, remind voters of his rural upbringing and amass an $18 million campaign fund.

Lahn, looking ahead to November in his victory speech, pivoted from talking about cancer rates and family farms to the cultural issues that have riled up the GOP base in recent cycles, saying Sand would “veto any culture war bill.”

“Rob Sand is not a moderate," Lahn said. "He’s a liberal career politician pretending to be someone he’s not.”

___

Swenson reported from New York.

Storms are ranked from Category 1 to Category 5 based on their wind speeds using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

The scale was developed in the early 1970s by engineer Herbert Saffir and National Hurricane Center director Robert Simpson.

At the time, there wasn’t a simple way to communicate the damage potential from hurricane-force winds, so they created a system that focused specifically on wind intensity and the type of damage those winds could cause.

But there’s a problem with how hurricanes are categorized.

The current scale only measures wind.

It doesn’t account for storm surge, inland flooding, or rainfall, even though storm surge is the deadliest part of a hurricane.

That’s why researchers in South Florida are proposing the idea of an “Enhanced Hurricane Scale.” The goal would be to rate hurricanes not just on wind speed, but also on storm surge and rainfall impacts.

The idea is similar to the Enhanced Fujita Scale used for tornadoes. Instead of focusing on just one factor, the scale would combine wind, storm surge, and rainfall into a single impact rating.

For example, imagine a storm with relatively modest winds, but catastrophic storm surge and historic flooding rainfall totals. Under this proposed system, that storm could receive a much higher rating because of its overall impact.

What you are looking at in the above graphic is how Harvey would have been rated for Houston.

Harvey made landfall near Corpus Christi as a Category 4 hurricane. But by the time it stalled over Southeast Texas, it had weakened significantly in terms of wind speed. It was not classified as a hurricane in Houston.

Yet we all know what happened next.

Historic flooding devastated Houston and changed countless lives. Under an enhanced scale focused on total impact, Harvey would have been categorized as a Category 5 in Houston before the storm ever made landfall.

But does an enhanced hurricane scale make sense?

There are definitely benefits. It would help communicate the full danger of a storm, not just the wind threat. It could better highlight flooding rain and storm surge, which are bigger, life-threatening hazards.

But there are also challenges.

Unlike wind speed, rainfall and storm surge impacts can vary dramatically from one location to another depending on the track and movement of the storm. One community could experience catastrophic flooding while another nearby sees far less impact. That could make the ratings more confusing for the public.

And for now, this idea is still just a proposal. Changing the scale isn’t being considered by NOAA, the people in charge.

So, what’s the most important takeaway?

Never focus only on the category number.

Whether it’s a tropical storm, a Category 1 hurricane, or a major hurricane, the real question should always be:

What are the impacts where you live?

That’s what helps families make the best decisions to stay safe, no matter the category.

To help get you prepared for this hurricane season, the KPRC 2 Weather Team is presenting our Hurricane & Flood Survival Guide on Wednesday night at 8:00. You can watch on TV, click2houston.com or KPRC 2+. Hope you can tune in.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. This year, most of the major forecast groups are calling for a season that’s near or slightly below average.

Colorado State University, which has issued hurricane forecasts for the past 42 years and is considered one of the most accurate groups, is forecasting 13 named storms, six hurricanes, and two major hurricanes. NOAA, the National Hurricane Center, is also forecasting a season that’s close to average or slightly below average. WeatherBell, one of the forecast companies we work with, is predicting an even quieter season with 11 named storms, four hurricanes, and two major hurricanes.

But those aren’t the only forecasts out there.

More than 30 organizations, including universities, government agencies, and private weather companies, issue seasonal hurricane outlooks. When you compare them side by side, most are pointing toward fewer storms than average this year. There are a couple of exceptions, including 268Wx and the University of Arizona.

The University of Arizona uses machine learning and artificial intelligence in its hurricane outlook. Their forecast is more active because of the warm waters in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf could overpower some of the suppressing effects of El Niño.

And that’s the key battle this season: El Niño versus the Gulf.

You’ve probably heard we’re expecting a strong El Niño pattern this year. In simple terms, El Niño changes global weather patterns by warming the equatorial Pacific Ocean. One of the biggest impacts of hurricane season is increased wind shear across the Atlantic Basin. Wind shear rips apart storms and usually limits hurricane development in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

At the same time, though, Gulf waters are exceptionally warm.

Right now, Gulf temperatures are already running in the lower to middle 80s, and current data ranks this among the top three warmest Gulf water temperature years ever recorded. That’s plenty warm enough to fuel tropical systems.

While the overall number of storms may be lower, my concern is where storms form.

History shows that even during strong El Niño years, it only takes one storm close to home to make it a dangerous season.

In 1983, another strong El Niño year, Hurricane Alicia rapidly developed near the Louisiana coast and strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane before making landfall near Galveston and Houston. It went from a cluster of thunderstorms to a major hurricane in 36 hours!

That’s the type of setup we have to watch carefully this year.

When storms form close to the Gulf Coast, they can sometimes avoid the stronger wind shear that’s farther out in the Atlantic. That means they can organize quickly and rapidly intensify with very little warning time.

Unlike storms that spend days crossing the Atlantic or Caribbean, these systems may develop close to land, giving people far less time to prepare.

That’s why the most important message this hurricane season is simple:

Be prepared now... not later.

If a storm develops near the coast, you may only have 24 to 48 hours to make important decisions for your family. The goal is to avoid scrambling at the last minute because supplies aren’t ready, plans haven’t been made, or evacuation decisions haven’t been discussed.

Preparation today brings peace of mind tomorrow.

That’s what the KPRC 2 Weather Team tries and do for you, to help you stay informed, stay prepared, and most importantly, keep you and your family safe this hurricane season.

LaBeouf must attend an alcohol treatment program under the sentence handed down by an Orleans Parish judge, according to Sarah Chervinsky, an attorney for the actor.

LeBeouf, most widely known for his starring roles in 2007’s “Transformers” and in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull,” had been released on bail following his arrest near the city's historic French Quarter. Video of the Feb. 17 encounter shows a shirtless LaBeouf outside a bar shoving one person to the ground and hitting another person in the face, “causing his nose to possibly dislocate,” according to a New Orleans police report. Police said LaBeouf repeatedly used homophobic slurs, including while he was arrested.

LeBeouf pleaded guilty to three counts of simple battery. Orleans Parish Judge Juana Marine-Lombard handed the actor a six month suspended sentence and two years of probation. LaBeouf also must stay away from the victims and the bar.

Chervinsky said LaBeouf wanted “to take accountability for his part in what happened" and called it a “minor Mardi Gras bar tussle.” Chervinsky said there was “no evidence it was about bias or prejudice.”

Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said in a statement that his office consulted with the victims to ensure their support before offering LaBeouf the plea deal.

Jeffrey Damnit, a local entertainer whom police identified as Jeffrey Klein, said he was one of the people attacked by LaBeouf. He has said LaBeouf had pushed him from behind at the bar earlier in the night, shouting homophobic slurs and threatening his life.

Damnit's attorney said his client hopes LaBeouf's behavior improves after the actor undergoes substance abuse treatment.

"In New Orleans we are all equal, we should all feel safe, and we don’t treat people different based upon relative fame,” attorney Michael Kennedy said.

After LaBeouf was charged in February, a judge ordered him to return to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

Days later, LaBeouf denied having a “drinking problem” in an interview with journalist and YouTuber Andrew Callaghan. LaBeouf said he doubted rehab would help him. He told Callaghan that the issues leading led to his aggressive behavior during Mardi Gras were more rooted in “anger and ego” than alcohol.

LaBeouf also said that “big gay people are scary to me.”

“When I’m standing by myself and three gay dudes are next to me touching my leg, I get scared,” he told Callaghan. “I’m sorry. If that’s homophobic, then I’m that.”

LaBeouf, who converted to Catholicism a few years ago, has had several run-ins with the law during his career, including a 2017 New York City arrest on suspicion of assault that happened during a livestream.

While on location in Georgia filming “The Peanut Butter Falcon” later that year, he was arrested for public drunkenness and accused of disorderly conduct and obstruction and sentenced to probation.

In 2020, he was charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft in Los Angeles.

That year, the English singer and actor FKA Twigs, whose legal name is Tahliah Barnett, also filed a lawsuit alleging LaBeouf was physically and emotionally abusive to her during their relationship, which they settled in July.

The actor first gained acclaim as a child for his role on the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens.”

___

Brook 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.

The statement marked the first time the sheriff has spoken publicly since the fatal shooting early Monday morning.

Just after midnight on June 1, a deputy followed Mendoza Jr. into his father’s garage after an attempted traffic stop led to a pursuit.

The deputy fired a single shot that dispatch communications later described as an accidental discharge.

RELATED: Surveillance video shows seconds before Brazoria County deputy shot and killed Texas State student

“Our limited public comments should not be interpreted as a lack of concern, urgency, or recognition of the seriousness of this incident,” Sheriff Stallman wrote.

He said his office is committed to full cooperation with the investigation “no matter the results,” but cited the ongoing nature of the probe as the reason he cannot address specific facts publicly.

The deputy involved has not been identified by law enforcement. The case is being investigated by the Texas Rangers and the Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office.

The reason for the original attempted traffic stop has not been disclosed. The deputy remains on paid administrative leave.

“Please continue to keep the family, our community and all those affected by this tragedy in your prayers as our community grieves,” the sheriff added.

The statement comes after surveillance footage obtained exclusively by KPRC 2 News and shared by family attorney Charles Adams showed Mendoza Jr. pulling into his father’s driveway just after midnight Monday. Within eight seconds of the deputy’s sirens stopping, a shot is heard.

In the video, no audible commands from the deputy can be heard before the shot was fired.

RELATED: ‘Life will never be the same’: Father grieves as questions remain in teen’s shooting death by deputy in Lake Jackson

More than 30 seconds after the shooting, scanner traffic appears to capture the deputy reporting an accidental discharge. The first ambulance arrived roughly 10 minutes after the shot was fired.

Mendoza Jr. had just completed his freshman year at Texas State University, where he played football. His father described him as a dedicated student and athlete.

Adams said Mendoza Jr. had spent the evening at a park with childhood friends, all of whom were unarmed.

“My son was murdered in his garage, and this just isn’t right,” John Mendoza Sr. said. “This is a senseless situation that could have been avoided.”

District Attorney Tom Selleck issues statement

Brazoria County District Attorney Tom Selleck also issued his first public statement Wednesday, saying the findings of the investigation will be presented to a grand jury for review.

According to prosecutors, investigators are conducting a “thorough and comprehensive investigation” that will include forensic testing and other evidence analysis.

Officials said those investigative steps could take several months to complete.

Once finished, investigators will present the case “in its entirety” to a grand jury for review and possible action.

“Our office extends its deepest sympathy, our thoughts and our prayers to all parties involved. We thank the community for its cooperation, understanding, and patience as we move through this process,” Selleck wrote.

The District Attorney’s Office also said no additional public comments will be made while the matter remains under grand jury consideration.

FULL STATEMENTS

Sheriff Bo Stallman:

I know there are many questions surrounding the recent officer-involved shooting that resulted in the tragic loss of a young man.

This is a serious matter, and I hear the concerns and emotions expressed throughout our community. I also understand why people are seeking answers. I assure you, we seek those same answers. Our limited public comments should not be interpreted as a lack of concern, urgency, or recognition of the seriousness of this incident.

From the outset, I requested an independent investigation of the shooting and the events that led up to it. This investigation is being conducted by the Texas Rangers and the Brazoria County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. One of my responsibilities as your Sheriff is to ensure that this investigation proceeds objectively and without interference. The Sheriff’s Office is committed to full cooperation with the investigation, no matter the results.

Because this investigation is ongoing, I am unable to comment on specific matters and facts related to the active investigation.

Please continue to keep the family, our community and all those affected by this tragedy in your prayers as our community grieves.

Respectfully,

Sheriff Bo Stallman

District Attorney Tom Selleck

The District Attorney’s Office provides this statement concerning an officer involved shooting that occurred on June 1, 2026, in Lake Jackson.

It is the policy of the District Attorney’s Office to request that the Texas Rangers investigate all officer-involved shootings concerning the law enforcement agencies within Brazoria County.

Accordingly, this matter is currently being investigated by the Texas Rangers with the assistance of this office.

A thorough and comprehensive investigation is being conducted and this matter will be presented, in its entirety, to the grand jury for their review and action. It is anticipated that necessary investigative tasks, such as forensics and other testing, may take several months to complete. In accordance with the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure and other applicable law and rules, this office, the Texas Rangers, and the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office will not publicly discuss any aspect of the ongoing investigation or proceedings at this time.

Our office extends its deepest sympathy, our thoughts and our prayers to all parties involved. We thank the community for its cooperation, understanding, and patience as we move through this process.

No further comment will be provided by this office while the matter is pending before the grand jury.

So how do you prepare, especially if you’re already living paycheck to paycheck?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, grocery prices in Houston rose 1.7% over the 12 months ending February 2026.

Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research reports that only 34% of Harris County residents are financially secure, meaning they could cover three months or more of living expenses using savings if they lost their paycheck.

After Hurricane Beryl hit Houston, lower-income residents recovered more slowly. Among families earning less than $25,000 a year, nearly one in three were still struggling just weeks after the storm; after a year, three in ten had not fully bounced back, compared with higher-income households. But even higher-income households are feeling the squeeze: the number of households reporting difficulty getting by doubled between 2025 and 2026, including some earning more than $150,000.

With all this in mind, here are realistic steps for Houston residents living paycheck to paycheck to prepare hurricane kits focused on the basics, items you can gradually buy now:

• Water (one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation)
• Food (at least several days’ supply of non-perishable items)
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
• Flashlight
• First-aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle (to signal for help)
• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape (to shelter in place)
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags, and plastic ties (for personal sanitation)
• Manual can opener
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery

Experts recommend stocking up slowly so you don’t break the bank but are prepared for whatever comes our way this hurricane season.

Warmer oceans are the starting point

Hurricanes run on heat. The warmer the ocean, the more energy a storm can pull from the water below it. Right now, global sea surface temperatures are running well above average — in 2026, nearly tracking the record-breaking levels we saw in 2024. That sustained ocean warmth is not a seasonal anomaly. It is a trend, and it is loading the atmosphere in favor of stronger storms.

Storms are spinning up faster

One of the most alarming changes scientists are tracking is rapid intensification — when a hurricane’s winds increase by at least 35 miles per hour in a 24-hour window. Data from 1980 through 2024 shows this phenomenon is becoming more frequent. Storms are going from manageable to dangerous with very little warning time.

• What is Saharan Dust? How it travels to Texas and impacts hurricanes, air quality, sunsets and the whales

Houston knows this firsthand. When Hurricane Beryl crossed the Gulf in July 2024, it rapidly intensified fueled by record-warm ocean temperatures and sustained that strength all the way into the metro area. The power outages that followed lasted weeks for some residents. Rapid intensification is not a forecasting problem — it is a climate signal.

A warmer atmosphere means heavier rain

It is not just the winds getting more dangerous. The atmosphere itself is holding more water. For every degree of warming, the air can hold approximately 4% more water vapor. That translates directly into rainfall — storms that might have dropped several inches a generation ago are now capable of dropping significantly more.

• KPRC 2’s 2026 Hurricane & Flood Survival Guide

Here in Houston, that trend shows up in the data. Rainfall intensity has increased 22% since 1970. We are not just getting more rain — we are getting it harder and faster. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 dropped more than 60 inches in some areas, a record that reshaped how meteorologists and engineers think about extreme rainfall. Harvey was not a fluke. It was a preview.

Rising seas make storm surge worse

Storm surge — the wall of ocean water pushed ashore by a hurricane’s winds — is historically the deadliest part of any storm. As global sea levels continue to rise, that surge starts from a higher baseline. Water that once stopped at the shoreline now reaches further inland, threatening neighborhoods that never flooded before.

For a low-lying, flat city like Houston, the math on storm surge is sobering. Infrastructure built to handle the storms of the last century is increasingly being tested by the storms of this one.

What this means for Houston

These are not distant threats. They are showing up in our data, in our streets, and in our power grid. Warmer oceans fuel stronger winds. Rising seas worsen storm surge. A warming atmosphere brings heavier rainfall. For Houston, all three converge at once.

• Living paycheck to paycheck? Here’s how Houston families can build a hurricane kit affordably

No zip code is immune. The question heading into every hurricane season now is not whether these storms are getting more dangerous — the science has answered that. The question is whether we are ready.

Authorities stormed the building in downtown Bakersfield overnight, ending a nearly 16-hour standoff during which the suspect tied up half the hostages, police said.

The hostages — employees of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools — were found unharmed inside the building that also houses a bank, said Bakersfield Assistant Police Chief Jeremy Blakemore.

“Throughout the night, their families questioned whether or not they would be seen again but we are very grateful for the outcome,” Blakemore said during a news conference Wednesday.

Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, 41, was shot and killed around 4:20 a.m., according to Sid Patel, special agent in charge in the FBI’s Sacramento office. Authorities said he was an Army veteran who was dishonorably discharged, had a history of trouble with law enforcement and was a registered sex offender.

Searles-Harris told police he had a bomb after barricading himself within the second floor of the building, Blakemore said. Authorities were testing the devices Wednesday that Searles-Harris said were explosives, but Patel said they do not appear to be a concern.

One of the hostages was able to communicate with law enforcement using her phone until her battery died, Patel said. She was diabetic and didn’t have her medicine so officials knew she was at risk, he said.

“I’m sure there’ll be mental scars that they’re living with, and we’ll have our victim specialist to help them,” Patel said.

While authorities declined to discuss details about how they ended the standoff or the motive behind it, Blakemore said some of the demands Searles-Harris made involved asking for materials from an earlier case.

"He had concerns related to how his previous case had been handled and what the aftermath of that was, the sentencing and those kinds of things,” Blakemore said, without specifying details.

California Department of Justice and court records show Searles-Harris was on the state’s sex offender registry due to convictions in 2014 for sexual crimes related to a child under 14 years of age. Those records show he was released from prison in 2018.

FBI officials said Searles-Harris served about a year in the Army before being dishonorably discharged in 2007 for going AWOL.

Court records in Kern County, California, show Searles-Harris filed a petition to prevent domestic violence, and was involved in divorce proceedings that began in 2009 and note a young child, as well as a fight for guardianship years later in which he was listed as an objector.

During the news conference, Blakemore said he was aware of videos Searles-Harris had apparently posted criticizing the sheriff’s office and claiming he was innocent of his previous sex crimes convictions. He said the videos were being reviewed but the department had no plans to investigate the claims of innocence.

It wasn't clear why Searles-Harris targeted the school district office.

"What unfolded was undoubtedly a terribly frightening and unsettling experience, and the composure our employees demonstrated throughout the 16-hour ordeal was extraordinary, John Mendiburu, the county schools superintendent, said in a statement.

The standoff began early Tuesday afternoon, when officers responded to a call of a bomb threat at the Chase Bank building, a four-story office building with dark-tinted glass windows in Bakersfield, a city of about 380,000 residents about 100 miles (160 kms) northeast of Los Angeles.

The police department’s crisis negotiation team talked with Searles-Harris by phone and he released two hostages Tuesday.

Authorities evacuated buildings nearby, including City Hall and the police headquarters that are just a block away.

More than 100 FBI personnel assisted, including two SWAT teams, bomb technicians and crisis negotiation teams, Patel said. A hostage rescue team was deployed from its headquarters on the East Coast, he said.

___

Associated Press reporters Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed.

Workers carefully hoisted the big guns one-by-one from the back of a truck and wheeled them inside their new home at the Savannah History Museum, which will put them on display just in time for the Fourth of July celebration of America's 250th birthday.

“They look brand new,” said Andrea Farmer, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers archaeologist who was part of the team that researched and preserved the cannons. "They could pretty much be fired if someone wanted to.”

The artifacts were discovered in 2021 when a dredge scooping sediment from the riverbed as part of an Army Corps project to deepen Savannah's shipping channel pulled up a cannon in its metal jaws. The crew soon dug up two more.

In the course of just over a year, a total of 19 cannons were hoisted from the location just downstream from Savannah, which is where Georgia was founded in 1733 as the last of Britain's 13 American colonies.

After being pulled from the river, most of the cannons left Georgia for several years to undergo cleaning and preservation work at a Texas lab.

One of the Revolution's bloodiest battles was fought in Savannah

Archaeologists initially assumed the cannons likely dated to the Civil War. But further research indicated they’re likely almost a century older and sank during the buildup to the American Revolution’s bloody siege of Savannah.

Savannah was under British occupation in the fall of 1779, when colonists planned an attack to retake the city with help from French allies.

When French ships carrying troops were spotted off the Georgia coast, British forces scuttled at least six ships in the Savannah River downstream from the city to block the French vessels.

The land battle that followed was one of the bloodiest of the war. British forces killed nearly 300 colonial fighters and their allies, and wounded hundreds more.

The Savannah History Museum sits right next to the battlefield. Its staff on Wednesday hoisted the cannons, weighing up to 1500 pounds (680 kilograms) apiece, onto custom display mounts that staffers likened to giant wine racks.

The cannons will be part of a new exhibit on Savannah's role in the American Revolution, which is scheduled to open Fourth of July weekend, said Samantha Moss, the museum's curator.

"Our great team has been prepping for months -- building mounts and planning how we can safely display these very large, very special artifacts,” she said.

Cleaning the crusty cannons took years

Each of the iron cannons emerged from the river covered by a thick crust of mud and minerals.

Two were left in that raw state and put on display at the museum. The other 17 were sent to Texas A&M University, which has a lab that specializes in preserving underwater artifacts. Its staff spent years painstakingly cleaning the big guns and coating them in paint and wax to prevent rusting and corrosion.

“A lot of them have scour marks on the side from anchors or dredging, so there’s some scarring on the cannons," said Chris Dostal, a professor of nautical archaeology who leads Texas A&M's Conservation Research Lab. "But most of them look pretty exceptional.”

Most of the cannons arrived with wooden plugs still sealing their bores, which remained packed with cannonballs and gunpowder charges.

Dostal said radiocarbon dating of the wooden stoppers placed them roughly in the late 1700s. His team shared the cannons' measurements and other details with experts in London, who concluded three of them were very likely forged by the British military.

The rest appeared to be of French design but bore no telltale markings. Dostal said he suspects those guns may have been cast in America around the time of the war.

Other artifacts found with the cannons included pieces of anchors and a portion of a ship's bronze bell. Like the cannons, none of them bore engravings indicating which ship they came from.

That means many details of the cannons' origins remain a mystery.

“You don't have all of the information,” Farmer said. “You're trying to piece it together as best as you can.”

The dip in hurricane activity is tied to an El Niño pattern that will develop this summer. When El Niño is in place, it creates more wind shear in the parts of the Atlantic Basin. The wind shear limits storm development, as it acts like scissors, shredding the hurricane’s circulation apart.

However, it will be a tug-of-war, as NOAA predicts warmer waters in the Atlantic that could aid storm development. The bottom line is to stay prepared.

Although hurricane activity is trending lower this season, it only takes one storm to cause devastation. As a reminder, hurricane season runs from June 1st to November 30th. We want to help you prepare, so be sure to let us know if you have any questions related to hurricane season.

You can submit your question here: What questions do you have about Houston’s 2026 hurricane season?

Flood Advisory issued for for Wharton, Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties until 4:15 PM. Watch for flooding along I-10 West, 99, and 36. 1 -3 inches of rain have already fallen.

CHECK RADAR HERE: YOU CAN TRACK RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS BEFORE YOU LEAVE YOUR HOUSE.

Planning your afternoon into the evening:

With more rain and thunderstorms this afternoon. With the heat and instability, any storm that forms can turn severe.

• We’ll watch for storms south of I-10 around 3 pm, pushing to the west of I-10 in the Columbus area by 5 and spotty showers by 8 pm.

Timing can change, so your weather team will update you throughout the night.

Thursday’s Forecast:

Similar to Wednesday, there will be more afternoon thunderstorms. We’ll wake up in the 70s with a high in the mid-80s. We’ll keep a close eye on radar as we get into the afternoon.

Tracking tropical moisture at the end of the week:

There is a large, disorganized area of tropical moisture in the Gulf. It shouldn’t form into a tropical storm or depression, but it will bring more organized heavy rain to the Gulf Coast. There is a 60% chance of moisture here on Friday and Saturday. Both of these days we have a street flooding threat.

Your extended forecast:

After these next several stormy days, things are expected to trend drier as we get closer to the middle of next week. Have your plans ready for changing weather, keep the Storm Tracker 2 radar handy, and check back for the latest local updates.

Watch: Building a hurricane kit without breaking the bank:

Hurricane season officially begins June 1. Are you ready? Many Houstonians, regardless of income level, are continuing to keep a close eye on their budgets. To help you prepare before the season ramps up, be sure to tune in to our KPRC 2 Hurricane & Flood Survival Guide next Wednesday at 8 p.m. We’ll cover everything you need to know as we head into the 2026 hurricane season.

View this post on Instagram

In the meantime, check out our list of 2026 hurricane names and learn about the history behind how hurricanes are named.

Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris and Matagorda counties are divided into hurricane evacuation zones — Coastal, A, B and C — each corresponding to a level of storm surge risk and a priority order for when residents should hit the road. The interactive TxDOT evacuation route map below shows the corridors designed to move residents safely inland.

Find your hurricane evacuation zone and route

Search any Houston-area address to see whether it falls within a mapped evacuation zone and view nearby evacuation routes.

What the zones mean

Not every storm requires a full regional evacuation. The zone system exists precisely to prevent that — staggering departures so roads don’t gridlock and those at the highest risk get out first.

The “Know Your Zone” map, published as part of KPRC 2’s 2026 Hurricane & Flood Survival Guide, lays out four evacuation zone designations across the five-county Houston-Galveston region:

Zone Coastal — The highest-risk areas, closest to open water and most vulnerable to life-threatening storm surge. Residents here are ordered to evacuate first.

Zone A — High-risk areas that face significant surge and flooding threats. Zone A residents should be prepared to leave immediately after Coastal zone orders are issued.

Zone B — Moderate-risk areas with serious flood potential. Evacuation orders for Zone B follow Zone A.

Zone C — Lower-risk inland areas that may still require evacuation in a major or direct-hit storm event.

Evacuation corridors vs. evacuation connections

The map identifies two types of evacuation road designations — and knowing the difference matters.

Evacuation Corridors — shown in red — are the primary, high-capacity routes designed to move the greatest number of evacuees inland as quickly as possible. These are the routes TxDOT prioritizes for contraflow operations during large-scale evacuations.

Evacuation Connections — shown in blue — are secondary roads that feed evacuees onto the main corridors. These are the roads most residents will use to get from their neighborhood to a primary evacuation route.

Together, the two systems work like a funnel: local evacuation connections channel residents from neighborhoods and zip codes onto the high-capacity corridors that lead safely inland and away from the storm.

When to go: Follow the zone order

When local officials issue evacuation orders, they do so in zone sequence — Coastal first, then A, B and C. Evacuating in order is critical. Leaving too early can clog routes for those in higher-risk zones who need them most. Waiting too long puts lives at risk.

Here’s what officials recommend:

• Monitor local news and official government channels for evacuation orders specific to your zone.
• Leave immediately when your zone is called. Don’t wait to see how the storm develops.
• Use designated evacuation corridors, not shortcuts. Unmarked roads may flood or become impassable.
• Fill your gas tank before your zone is called. Fuel availability drops fast once orders go out.

Democrats chose a nominee for a House race in New Jersey that could decide control of the chamber. But much of the focus was on California, home to Hollywood but not a governor's race packing much star power.

Here are takeaways from primary elections Tuesday in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota.

Iowa Democrats rally behind former Paralympian in marquee Senate race

Democrats stunned by how Trump has remade American politics have spent the past decade debating which type of candidate is best positioned to energize voters and win elections, not moral victories.

Iowa marked the latest stop in this sometimes agonizing conversation.

The party’s establishment supported Josh Turek, a state representative who presented a compelling personal biography that included competing for the United States in four Paralympics. State Sen. Zach Wahls offered himself as a more disruptive figure, refusing to back Chuck Schumer of New York as the Senate Democratic leader if he were elected.

Democratic voters united behind Turek, who will face Republican Ashley Hinson in November.

At this point, many of the party’s most fractious races are behind them. But Turek's win could be closely watched in Michigan, where one of the last major Democratic primaries will unfold on Aug. 4. Rep. Haley Stevens is emerging as the establishment candidate there vying against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and progressive Abdul El-Sayed.

Both races are important for Democrats increasingly bullish about regaining the Senate majority. To get there, they must retain the open seat in Michigan while looking for pickup opportunities in places such as Iowa.

The results in the fall could have longer-term implications as Democrats look to rebuild their standing in the Midwest, which swung to the Republican president in 2024.

Trump's endorsement streak faces setback in Iowa

In just the past month, the power of Trump’s endorsement helped end the political careers of two senators — John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — and Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

But Trump was unable to lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary for governor. Even though Trump jumped in with his backing last week, Feenstra narrowly lost to Zach Lahn.

The outcome was a rare setback for Trump, who basks in his ability to sway the vote among Republicans with his endorsement. It now sets up what Democrats see as one of their best opportunities to pick up a governorship this year.

Democrats nominated Rob Sand, who ran unopposed in the primary. He has the rural roots that have become rare among Democrats and is a proven winner in a Republican-leaning state, having been elected twice as auditor.

Lahn was not well known in Iowa politics when he launched his campaign in November, but he built support among conservatives. He championed policies including a total ban on abortion and keeping liberal ideology out of public school classrooms.

Lahn also developed a following with the “Make America Healthy Again” movement, which has clashed with the Trump administration over its embrace of pesticides.

The California drama drags on

The Los Angeles mayor's race was jolted by the candidacy of Spencer Pratt, who starred on the reality television show “The Hills.” The Republican has been trying to capitalize on dissatisfaction with Democrat Karen Bass, who is seeking a second term.

Bass secured enough votes to make the November runoff, but it was unclear who her opponent will be. Also running is Nithya Raman, a progressive members of the City Council.

The race for California governor has been especially chaotic.

With Democrat Gavin Newsom barred from seeking a third term, about 60 names were on the ballot to succeed him. Some of the state’s most prominent politicians, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla, did not run. One who did, former Rep. Eric Swalwell, withdrew after being accused of sexual assault, which he denied.

Under the state’s primary system, all candidates appear on a single ballot and the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of party.

In the final days of the campaign, much of the attention focused on Democrats Xavier Becerra, a former congressman and state attorney general who was health secretary under Democratic President Joe Biden, and Tom Steyer, a billionaire known for his climate activism. Republican Steve Hilton campaigned with Trump’s endorsement.

The three were leading in early returns after polls closed.

If Becerra were to advance to one of the two slots on the fall ballot, he presents a natural choice for voters more comfortable with a traditional candidate. Steyer and Hilton have both presented themselves as advocating significant changes.

California has been governed by establishment-oriented Democrats for two decades. The primary results will indicate the level of change being sought in a state confronting serious challenges ranging from affordability to crime and will signal whether the $200 million Steyer put into the race from his own money turned out to be a good investment.

Independents emerge in Senate races in Republican strongholds

If Democrats hope to compete in Senate contests in Republican strongholds this fall, they may have to abandon their party’s nominees and rally around independents.

That’s one of the takeaways after voters on Tuesday finalized general election matchups in Montana and South Dakota, where little-known Democrats earned their party’s nominations. In both states, however, higher-profile independent candidates also qualified for the general election ballot.

It’s much the same in Idaho and Nebraska, which held Senate primaries last month. Democratic leaders in Nebraska are openly endorsing independent Dan Osborne over their party’s nominee, who has promised to drop out to make it easier for Osborne to win.

In Montana, independent Seth Bodnar, a former University of Montana president, looks like the strongest opponent to Republican Kurt Alme — on paper, at least. Bodnar raised more money than all of the five Democratic primary candidates combined. He has even significantly outraised Trump-backed Alme.

In South Dakota, Sen. Mike Rounds cruised to the Republican nomination on Tuesday. He will face Democrat Julian Beaudion, a former highway patrol trooper and small business owner. But it’s a former Democrat now running as an independent, military veteran Brian Bengs, who some Democrats believe may be the tougher challenger.

The Democrats shift toward independents reflects the party’s toxic brand in Republican strongholds.

Absent congressman gets a Democratic challenger

Democrats nominated Rebecca Bennett to take on Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, which stretches from the New York City suburbs to the Pennsylvania border.

The seat is critical for Republicans as they defend a narrow majority in Congress. The race was always going to be one of the most competitive on a map that has been increasingly gerrymandered to protect both parties. But it’s under particularly close scrutiny because of Kean’s extended and unexplained medical absence.

He's missed more than 100 votes since casting his last one on March 5.

Bennett, a former Navy pilot, was among the Democrats in the primary who made the absence and the lack of clarity surrounding it an issue, arguing Kean wasn’t around to protect money for a new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City. That line of criticism will likely only grow heading into the general election.

Trump reiterated his endorsement of Kean on Monday. The congressman released a statement Tuesday saying he is “focused on my recovery" and would return to “in person work within a matter of weeks.”

New Mexico could make history in governor's race

The stage is set for Deb Haaland to make history this fall after Biden's interior secretary secured the Democratic nomination for governor in New Mexico.

Haaland was the first Native American to serve in the Cabinet. This fall, she could become the first Native American woman in U.S. history to be elected governor.

She defeated Albuquerque-based District Attorney Sam Bregman, the father of Chicago Cubs All-Star Alex Bregman, in a Democratic primary campaign that emphasized her ancestral roots in addition to lowering costs and her governing experience.

Haaland will face Republican Greggory Hull in the general election.

___

Peoples and Lodhi reported from New York. Associated Press writer Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa contributed to this report.

Congo's military said an attack late on Tuesday by an Islamic State affiliate — a group known as the Allied Democratic Forces — killed 16 people in the Beni territory in North Kivu province.

The militants struck in response for a joint operation of Congolese and Ugandan armies, which have been battling the group that operates in the border regions of the two countries. Last month, the group attacked Congolese villages near the Ugandan border, killing at least 40 people and burning and looting homes.

The violence has hampered efforts to combat the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, which was announced in mid-May in eastern Congo's provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.

Since then, Congolese authorities have confirmed 60 deaths in the outbreak out of 344 cases. The number of suspected cases has gone down from 906 to 116. Neighboring Uganda has 15 confirmed cases, including one death, its health ministry said Tuesday.

WHO chief offers some hope for the outbreak

The agency's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that testing is improving in the struggle against Ebola, with scaled-up laboratory and diagnostic capacity though contact tracing in Congo “is not yet where it needs to be.”

"The outbreak had a big head start, and we’re still behind,” he said. But “we are catching up.”

Tedros spoke a day after returning to Geneva from Congo, where he visited the epicenter of the outbreak. "What I saw gave me hope, although challenges remain.”

He also said that blanket travel restrictions imposed by some countries “are disrupting supply chains and hindering the response,” and asked for them to be lifted. He stressed that WHO recommends exit screening at airports, ports and border crossings.

He avoided a reporter's question about a U.S. quarantine center in Kenya where American Ebola patients would be quarantined, which has drawn protests.

“I think based on their risk assessment … they (the United States) can do whatever they think is right for them,” the WHO chief said.

The outbreak struck in an extremely vulnerable region

Experts have said the virus spread for weeks in one of the world's most vulnerable regions before lab testing confirmed it. Resources, including protective gear, have been rushed to the outbreak for a type of Ebola with no approved medicine or vaccine.

At least five people have recovered from the virus, rare signs of hope.

“The true extent of the outbreak remains difficult to assess. Extremely limited testing capacity and difficulties accessing certain areas necessitate interpreting these figures with caution,” Doctors Without Borders, said Monday about the case numbers.

Getting a potential vaccine to the region could take months.

“It’s difficult to have an effective vaccine that adheres to the scientific protocol available quickly," Dr. Aruna Abedi, a Congolese epidemiologist who has managed previous outbreaks in the country, told The Associated Press.

While laboratory and diagnostic resources improve for the outbreak, Tedros said the tracing of people who had contact with infected people in Congo is still behind.

"Only about 45% of contacts have been followed up, and to get ahead of the outbreak we need to get that number up to above 90%,” he said. “Insecurity, displacement and mobile populations make contact tracing especially difficult.”

Congo has long struggled with a multitude of security crises and insecurity has over the years created a huge and vulnerable displaced population. Eastern Congo, where the latest Ebola outbreak is taking place, has several active armed groups, including the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group that seized key cities Goma and Bukavu over a year ago, and the IS affiliate.

Wary residents have attacked health centers in the outbreak, at times demanding the bodies of loved ones. Health workers also have been battling mistaken beliefs among some residents that Ebola isn't real, which has kept some from seeking care.

___

Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Jean Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.

The 10 rotating seats on the 15-member Security Council are earmarked for different regions of the world. The assembly elects five countries by secret ballot every year to serve two-year terms alongside the council’s five permanent veto-wielding members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

In the other contested race, after four rounds of voting in the 193-member General Assembly, Kyrgyzstan defeated the Philippines by a vote of 143-49 and will join the council for the first time.

Zimbabwe, the African candidate, and Caribbean candidate Trinidad and Tobago had no opponents and both were elected with more than 180 votes.

The Security Council is mandated under the U.N. Charter with ensuring international peace and security, but it has failed in the three major current conflicts because of the veto power of Russia on Ukraine and of the United States, Israel’s closest ally, often on Gaza and on Iran.

There have been decades of efforts to reform the Security Council to reflect the geopolitical realities of the current world, not of the post-World War II era 80 years ago, when the United Nations was established. But they have all failed, though a new attempt is underway.

In the race for the two seats for the group of mainly Western nations, Portugal received 134 votes and Austria 131 votes, while Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse which had served six previous terms on the council, received 104 votes.

“Obviously, the result is a real disappointment,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told reporters. He said Russia campaigned against Germany because of its strong support for Ukraine. “It also may have cost us votes that Germany must always assume a special responsibility for Israel with regard to the Middle East conflict," he said.

Austria’s foreign ministry said its election capped a 15-year campaign and is a “strong international sign of confidence” in the country.

Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev told reporters “we understand now is a turbulent time” and said Kyrgyzstan will work together with other council members.

The five new members will take up their seats on Jan. 1. They will replace Denmark, Greece, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia.

___

Associated Press writer Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna, Austria contributed to this report.

The Senate voted 53-46 on Wednesday to begin debate on the roughly $70 billion bill to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol. The legislation was delayed for weeks as Republican senators navigated the various obstacles to passage created by President Donald Trump and the White House, but they are now moving quickly to pass it after paring it back to its original form.

“Right now, the goal is to get the base bill across the finish line,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Still, Republicans will need to find enough votes to beat back multiple amendments that Democrats — and potentially some Republicans — say they will offer. Republicans are using a process called budget reconciliation that enables them to pass the legislation without any Democratic votes, but they must first wade through a long series of amendment votes that could pose problems for the bill. That process could start as soon as Wednesday evening.

Democratic amendments will test GOP unity

The primary threat during amendment votes is a series of expected Democratic proposals to permanently ban Trump’s $1.776 billion settlement fund, which his administration scrapped on Tuesday after fierce Republican pushback. While acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told Congress that “we are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Democrats say they want it written into the law.

“It is only a matter of time before Blanche and Trump go back on their word,” said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Thune said Blanche’s comments were “extremely helpful” and he thinks most GOP senators were satisfied by the decision. “We’ll find out,” he added.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said he was assured by Blanche's promises.

“I think that particular issue is dead,” he said.

Some Republicans still have concerns about settlement

Not everyone is satisfied. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has said he will offer an amendment to block any attempt at resurrecting the fund, which was part of a settlement resolving Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns.

Tillis said he has plans to offer an amendment to put Blanche's promise into law.

“We’ve got a sufficient number of Republicans who have been very clear they’ve got concerns there,” said Tillis.

Thune said he is working with Tillis and others who have discussed amendments as he tries to ensure he has enough votes for a simple majority in the 53-47 Senate.

“Keep in mind, we’ve got to keep them all together, make sure we’ve got 50 votes for it,” Thune said.

Money dropped for Trump's ballroom

The legislation was also delayed by the opposition to $1 billion in security funding for the White House, including for Trump’s new ballroom, that was added to the original bill.

Democrats and some Republicans questioned using taxpayer money for the massive project in a time of economic hardship for many voters. Democrats had planned amendments to strip that language, as well.

As various side issues temporarily derailed the legislation, Republicans have said their top priority is passing the ICE and Border Patrol funding that Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

But success requires GOP unity in the Senate and the House before it can reach Trump.

Republican House leaders said Wednesday they would like to pass the bill before the end of the week, if the Senate can finish it. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said they are having internal conversations now to make sure they have enough support.

“We just need to make sure everybody’s there,” Scalise said.

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7% from its all-time high for its first drop in 10 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 620 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 0.9%.

Weighing on the market was a climb of 1.9% for the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, which brought it back to $97.81. It rose after both the United States and Iran said they launched retaliations for earlier attacks or attempted ones.

Palo Alto Networks helped drag the market lower, and it fell 5.6% even though it reported profit for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. Investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day with a surge of 61.3% for the year so far, more than quintuple the S&P 500’s already big 11.2% rise.

Stocks also felt pressure from higher yields in the bond market, which climbed with the price of oil. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.49% from 4.46% late Tuesday and from just 3.97% before the war began.

High yields worldwide are threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. They have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level in nine months, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the artificial-intelligence data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

More expensive loans can hurt smaller companies in particular because many need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks fell 1.3%, more than the rest of the market.

Reports released Wednesday on the U.S. economy came in mixed. One from the Institute for Supply Management said growth accelerated more last month for U.S. construction, agricultural and other services businesses than economists expected.

That’s an encouraging signal, but the survey also showed businesses are feeling the pinch of higher prices caused by tariffs and more expensive oil. “This is the definition of inflationary pressure starting to affect us,” one company in the accommodation and food services industry said in the survey.

Still, stocks remain near their records, even with all the pressure on the global economy created by higher inflation.

Oil prices remain below their peaks from earlier in the war with Iran, and hope seems to be remaining on Wall Street that the United States and Iran will ultimately agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers. That would improve the global flow of crude and hopefully lower its price.

Such hopes, along with strong profit reports from U.S. companies, helped launch the S&P 500 on its nine-day winning streak that ended Wednesday, one day shy of its longest in three decades.

Medtronic climbed 5.7% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also increased its dividend payout going to investors.

GameStop rose 6% after the video-game retailer said its revenue in the latest quarter grew 14% from a year earlier. It also announced a program to send up to $2 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock.

Macy’s added 0.6% after swinging between gains and losses through the day. The retailer reported profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ forecasts, while saying an overhaul of its merchandise and better customer service is resonating with customers.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 56.10 points to 7,553.68. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 620.72 to 50,687.07, and the Nasdaq composite sank 239.93 to 26,853.98.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes fell following a mixed finish in Asia.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.6%, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% to another record.

Excitement around the boom created by AI technology has been a huge engine for stock markets worldwide. On Wall Street, Marvell Technology rose another 3.7% following its best day on record, a surge of 32.5%, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested at a conference in Taiwan that Marvell could be “the next trillion-dollar company.”

The last company to enter the expanding club of behemoths was Micron Technology, which is likewise riding the AI wave.

___

AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

The drones flew more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to hit the terminal in Russia’s second-largest city, Zelenskyy said on social media, a day after Moscow launched a major drone and missile attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

Russian authorities said only that the Ukrainian drone strike targeted St. Petersburg’s infrastructure, without providing details. The city's airport briefly suspended flights overnight because of the attack. Authorities cut off mobile internet services.

With the front line barely moving as swarms of drones hinder advances, both sides have sought an edge by launching long-range strikes. The war that followed Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor is more than four years old, with no end in sight.

Ukraine's drone successes embarrass Putin

The latest strikes are another embarrassment for Putin, weeks after he pruned back an annual Victory Day parade in Moscow because of fears of Ukrainian drone attacks.

Putin is set to speak on Friday at the economic forum in St. Petersburg that the Kremlin views as a prestige event. The gathering is sometimes called Russia’s Davos, likening it to the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland.

Major Western investors and officials have stayed away since Russia launched its all-out war against Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. Saudi Arabia is a special guest this year and is due to send a large business delegation.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine aimed only at “legitimate targets” related to Russia's war effort and indicated that Kyiv plans to escalate its long-range drone attacks. "It is only a matter of time when we will be able to increase the scale of our own mass strikes,” he told reporters.

The strikes on St. Petersburg came a day after Russia's attack on Ukraine killed 23 civilians and wounded 151 other people, as Moscow followed through with its threat of escalating its barrages.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Russia’s deep strikes have already taken on a “systematic” character.

Ukraine needs more air defense help

Ukraine’s own long-range attacks are aimed at diminishing Russia’s oil production, which is a key source of funding for Moscow, and disrupting weapon production. Kyiv has repeatedly targeted oil facilities in St. Petersburg and nearby ports.

But Ukraine is short of American-made Patriot air defense missiles, in part because of U.S. stocks being depleted by the Iran war, leaving Ukrainian territory vulnerable to Russia's ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy on Wednesday expressed frustration with his own government's officials, saying there's an agreement “at the highest political level” for the purchase of Patriot systems, but implementation is being held up by financial, legal and technical considerations.

“The wait has taken too long,” he said on social media, demanding that officials unblock the purchase or there will be “serious personnel decisions.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, visiting Kyiv on Wednesday for talks with Ukrainian officials, said the flow of interceptor missiles from the U.S. to Ukraine continues. The U.S. is “doing what it can” to keep supplying them although it is limited by the production rate, he told a news conference.

Rutte also said young Russians and their families “are being sold a raw deal” by Moscow, as incorporation in the Russian military dooms soldiers to poor training and equipment and low chances of surviving battlefield wounds.

Ukraine also strikes a Russian naval base

Other Ukrainian drone attacks overnight set fire to the Russian guided-missile corvette Boikiy, which was in dry dock at the Kronstadt naval base, according to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. Kronstadt is an old base for Russia’s Baltic Fleet located west of St. Petersburg. Satellite images showed fire crews working to control the fires onboard.

Drones also hit a Russian manufacturing plant involved in weapon production in the Tambov region, 600 kilometers (370 miles) from Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 354 Ukrainian drones overnight.

In the Russia-controlled part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, a Ukrainian strike hit a bus that was traveling from Moscow to the Crimean Peninsula, killing seven people and wounding 11 others, according to the Kremlin-appointed head of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin.

In the Smolensk region, two firefighters were killed by a Ukrainian drone attack, according to the regional governor, Vasily Anokhin. He said that two other firefighters and a local resident were wounded.

Meanwhile, Russia fired 198 long-range drones at Ukraine last night, according to Ukraine’s air force, with air defenses neutralizing 189.

Authorities in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region said that over the previous 24 hours, one civilian was killed and 15 more were wounded, including three children, by Russian strikes.

In the southern Kherson, Russian overnight shelling and drone strikes killed an 86-year-old woman and wounded five other people, according to regional authorities.

___

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

McALLEN — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a suspected case of New World screwworm — the parasitic fly poised to harm the state’s $15 billion cattle industry — in South Texas.

The USDA is testing a sample of the potential infestation at the USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, lowa, the agency announced on social media on Wednesday.

The USDA added it had already activated personnel on the ground and were working with local partners.

The announcement comes one day after Secretary Brooke Rollins debunked the claims of a state lawmaker that the screwworm was less than 1 mile from the U.S.-Mexico border.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

Last year, global data centers used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries of the world, said the report issued Wednesday. That electricity use produced about 208 million tons (189 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, about the same amount as Argentina, and producing that much energy consumed about 1.2 trillion gallons (4.5 trillion liters) of water, according to the report on the environmental consequences of AI's energy use.

By 2030, data centers will account for nearly 3% of the world's projected electricity use, with 935 trillion watt-hours. If data centers were a country, the country would be projected to rank sixth-highest in power use in 2030. That would produce nearly 440 million tons (399 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, the report said. The study focused on energy use and didn’t examine the massive amount of water used to cool data centers.

“If you look at these numbers, we're seeing scales comparable to nations,” said study co-author Kaveh Madani, a water scientist and director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health in Canada. “The demand is enormous.”

Much of the growth of data centers is being driven by AI. About 20% of data centers’ energy is currently due to AI, but that should grow to 40% by 2030, the report said.

First global look at ecological impact

The report is significant because of the credibility and authority of the U.N., not just because of any one set of eye-popping numbers, said Fengqi You, a Cornell University energy engineering professor who directs the college’s AI sustainability issues.

“Its value is that a U.N. institution is putting carbon, water, land, life-cycle impacts and environmental justice into one frame” for an issue that is often shrouded in secrecy and partial disclosures, said You, who was not part of the report.

“The general public should be concerned, but not panicked,” he added.

Jean Su, director of the Energy Justice Program at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the report is important because it is the first U.N., or even global, report “that shines a light on the environmental harms of AI.”

National Artificial Intelligence Association President Caleb Max emphasized how his industry is becoming more efficient and how it benefits the public: “AI is rapidly becoming part of our everyday lives and adding benefits that improve safety, live longer, work more efficiently, enhance food production, and reduce poverty. The evidence is growing daily that the energy return on investment of AI development is transformative for our world and therefore more than worth it.”

Josh Levi, president the Data Center Coalition, said the industry takes its environmental impact seriously.

“We remain committed to working with policymakers, local communities, and industry partners to ensure that as data centers grow, they do so responsibly, transparently, and in ways that reflect the best available practices,” he said in a statement.

How much energy your query uses and how to trim it

Madani, also the winner of the most recent of the Stockholm Water Prize, said the numbers show the environmental cost of AI, which may seem cleaner at first glance than other mechanical devices, such as cars and furnaces, that have visible pollution.

"AI is not just a virtual thing. We’re talking about something that has physics, something that has real impacts. There is infrastructure there. There is energy that is being used,” Madani said. “A lot of hardware is behind all these operations that to us seem very, very clean because we don’t see smoke out of our devices. On our cellphone, there is no visible smoke or out of our computer or something. But somewhere else someone is suffering.”

People can reduce AI’s massive energy appetite by being less polite and more concise in their queries, Madani said. The report found that cutting word use in requests by 30% can reduce energy used by AI by 25%. That would save about the same amount of electricity as what about 700,000 people in Africa use in a year, the report said.

“If you’re too polite, then that extra ‘please’ you put there can make a huge difference,” Madani said. “You’ve got to be very precise and be short.”

A typical ChatGPT-style query is about 200 times more energy-intensive than the type of basic text classification used in an email spam filter, for example. AI-generated images or video require much more energy.

And the more complicated the AI, the more energy it takes to train or learn. The report said GPT-3 used about 1.3 billion watt-hours to train, but the next version used 50 to 70 billion watt-hours.

But it's not training that really feasts on power, said study co-author Miriam Aczel, a United National University environmental policy researcher. About 90% of the power use of AI comes from operational requests, she said. GPT alone accounts for 2.5 billion prompts a day, she said.

Efficiency still means more power use

Even though tech advocates can argue that their machines are becoming more efficient, there's a common paradox that finds when things get more efficient, they are used more often and total energy use soars even if individual uses are more efficient, Madani said. While some companies tout the use of renewable energy for data centers, Madani said that means the supply of clean electricity is depleted and thus dirtier energy is used elsewhere.

One of the problems in conducting this study is that many companies and places are not transparent about what data centers and AI are consuming or even where and how big they are, Aczel and Madani said.

“We cannot manage what companies do not disclose,” Cornell's You said.

___

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

The strike reinforced the risks to residents and travelers in Gulf countries that had considered themselves relative havens before the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. Iran denied causing the damage.

Talks have dragged on for weeks as mediators seek a more enduring truce in the war, now in its fourth month. They are increasingly strained by Israel’s broadening war with Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

A regional official said Iran wanted a separate ceasefire in Lebanon enforced before returning to talks. U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiations continue.

The fighting in Lebanon has also exposed a rift between Israel and the U.S., which is pushing its ally for restraint. In a measure of the friction, Trump acknowledged that he'd called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “crazy” during a phone call earlier this week. Nonetheless, both men say their rapport is solid.

Iran maintains its hold on the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial waterway for the world’s oil and natural gas and related products like fertilizer — and the U.S. continues its blockade of Iranian ports. Global fuel prices remain high, and the effects of the conflict are felt well beyond the region.

In Washington, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he, Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio huddled for three hours at the White House Monday as Trump worked on “that final piece” of getting commerce flowing. Rubio, meanwhile, faced grilling in Congress over the war and its economic fallout.

An Indian national is killed at Kuwait's main airport

A spokesperson for Kuwait's Defense Ministry, Brig. Gen. Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, said “a number of hostile drones” targeted a passenger building at Kuwait International Airport. It had opened only Monday after a months-long closure because of the war, which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it didn't fire at the airport, instead claiming via state broadcaster IRIB that the terminal was damaged by a U.S.-made interceptor that failed to hit Iranian missiles. U.S. Central Command called the claim false and said on X that Iranian drones made a “deliberate, calculated and unjustified attack” on the airport. Neither side provided further information.

India’s embassy said the person killed was an Indian national. Authorities said 63 were wounded, including passengers and workers, and some suffered serious injuries.

Kuwait's Defense Ministry said it destroyed over a dozen missiles and a similar number of drones from Iran.

The airport partially reopened later, with Kuwait Airways flights resuming at a different terminal, according to civil aviation authorities. No other flights were operating.

The Foreign Ministry said Kuwait will “neither accept nor tolerate” the attacks and was kicking out two Iranian diplomats. Such expulsions are an established means of communicating international ire.

US and Iran say they are retaliating for earlier attacks

The U.S. military said two Iranian missiles fell apart en route to Kuwait and that it “downed multiple drones” targeting American forces in the country.

The military also said U.S. and Bahraini forces intercepted missiles aimed at the Gulf kingdom, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th fleet. Bahrain’s Defense Ministry said its military intercepted and destroyed three missiles and a number of drones fired by Iran.

The Revolutionary Guard acknowledged that it targeted the headquarters of the 5th Fleet and U.S. military facilities in another country.

Both the U.S. and Iran said they were retaliating for earlier attacks or attempted ones.

Netanyahu told the American business-news channel CNBC that Iran was “playing with fire,” but he said any decision about whether to scale up a military response would rest with Trump. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi declared on X that “any hostile act will be met with an immediate, decisive response.”

The U.S. military said it launched strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. strikes on the island, where it said a telecommunications tower was struck, and other previous strikes. It called them “acts of aggression” that it said violated the ceasefire.

The war is increasingly tied to Israel’s fight in Lebanon

Israeli forces have moved deeper into Lebanon than at any time in over a quarter-century, while Hezbollah has launched rocket and drone attacks. The declared ceasefire in Lebanon is officially in place, and no side has formally withdrawn or declared it over even as attacks continue.

Iran insists that any larger potential truce must quell the fighting in Lebanon. Netanyahu wants to keep the issues separate and is under domestic pressure to strike Hezbollah as he prepares for elections this fall.

In a podcast interview released Wednesday, Trump confirmed a report that he had called Netanyahu “crazy” Monday in a phone conversation peppered with an expletive. Trump told The New York Post’s “Pod Force One” that he was “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fight with Hezbollah was holding back talks with Iran.

Still, Trump said his relationship with Netanyahu was good, and “we’ve worked very well together.”

Netanyahu responded that he and Trump sometimes have “tactical disagreements” but have “common goals” and “agree on the main things.”

“He respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences,” the prime minister said on CNBC.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi, Sam Mednick in Jerusalem, Jennifer Peltz in New York and Lisa Mascaro and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump, in an interview released Wednesday, confirmed an earlier report that he criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “crazy," and said he's “a little bit perturbed” that Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon is holding back peace talks with Iran.

The Trump administration is sticking with a deal to permanently drop tax claims against Trump, an extraordinary flex of executive power that could help shield the president from further examination of his finances and legal conduct, even as it scraps a $1.8 billion fund to compensate the Republican president's allies amid a fierce political backlash.

Trump's endorsements helped end the political careers of two senators and a congressman deemed insufficiently loyal, but he couldn't lift Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s Republican primary, setting up a Democratic opportunity to pick up a governorship. See other AP coverage of Tuesday's primary results here.

The Latest:

Republicans have won the partisan redistricting battle

Since Trump urged Republicans to redraw U.S. House districts last year, officials in eight states have enacted new districts that could help Republicans win up to 16 additional seats in the November elections.

Democrats suffered setbacks in their counterattacks. But they could gain up to six additional seats from new districts in two states.

The aggressive mid-decade redistricting carries high stakes, because Democrats need to gain just a few seats in the midterms to win control of the House. It remains to be seen whether the redistricting will help Republicans hold on to their slim majority.

US reduces the forces it would provide to NATO in a crisis

The U.S. military is reducing the number of forces it would contribute to NATO during an emergency, a change that’s been expected from the Trump administration as it pushes European allies to shoulder more of the continent’s defense burden.

U.S. European Command on Wednesday publicly announced changes to the NATO Force Model, a contingency plan for European defense in the event of serious security concerns, such as increased Russian aggression. The announcement lacks specifics, but said allies could step up with planes and ships as the U.S. reserves more of its own forces to thwart potential threats in other parts of the world.

U.S. and British officials said the change was already announced in classified meetings to NATO allies in recent weeks.

Demonstrator kicked out as Rubio kicks off 4th and final Capitol Hill hearing

As the secretary of state entered his fourth and last congressional hearing, a young demonstrator who said she was 18 years old yelled that the foreign policy actions of the Trump administration were being taken “against the will of the American people” before being removed from the Senate hearing room.

She yelled, “Free Palestine,” as the door was closing.

It was the first interruption of the day but part of a series of protests against Rubio and the administration in the past two days, specifically against U.S. support for Israel and the impacts of that on war-torn Gaza.

3 UN experts accuse US of `unlawful coercion’ against Cuba’s sovereignty

The independent U.N. human rights investigators urged the Trump administration in a statement Wednesday to immediately halt all threats against Cuba’s sovereignty and revoke sanctions “adopted contrary to international law.”

The experts said efforts to change Cuba’s “constitutional order” through threats and coercion “echo colonial-era practices.”

They said Trump’s declaration of a “Donroe Doctrine” in March, asserting U.S. predominance in the Western hemisphere, has raised “significant alarm.” And they said his statements about the “honor of taking Cuba” reflect “a deeply concerning strategy of coercion” against the country.

The experts on democracy, the negative impact of sanctions and counterterrorism, also pointed to the longstanding U.S. embargo and recent fuel blockade of Cuba.

They called the recent U.S. indictment of former Cuban president Raúl Castro “a misuse of domestic judicial proceedings” and “an instrument of coercive foreign policy,” and the announced deployment of the USS Nimitz to the southern Caribbean another element of “unlawful coercion.”

Rubio wraps up nearly 4-hour congressional hearing

The secretary of state has finished nearly four hours of testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he received praise from Republicans and sparred with Democrats over the Iran war, President Donald Trump’s relationship with NATO and U.S. aid to Africa.

The hearing before lawmakers on Capitol Hill was the third of four in two days for the former Republican senator from Florida. The purpose of each hearing has been to discuss the State Department’s budget. But they’ve often veered into discussions about the Trump administration’s dealings with countries around the world.

Rubio insists to lawmakers that any US-Iran deal will be ‘better’ than Obama agreement

Republicans and Democrats have raised concerns about the reported details of a deal between Tehran and Washington. And on Wednesday, Rep. Andy Barr, a Republican from Kentucky, questioned whether the deal was similar to the one former President Barack Obama made in 2015.

Rubio went on to outline the various issues being discussed and how they differ from the previous nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018.

“Ultimately, any deal we do will be a good deal, or there won’t be a deal, and it’ll be better than JCPOA,” Rubio said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

That agreement, which included Germany, France and Britain, had lifted most U.S. and international economic sanctions against Iran for restrictions on its nuclear program, making it impossible to produce a bomb and establishing rigorous inspections.

Rubio says Trump still wants to be part of NATO, but alliance needs significant reform

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration has no intention of abandoning NATO but won’t back down on demanding significant reforms.

Rubio told lawmakers Wednesday that the president plans to attend the annual NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey next month, at which he will make the U.S. case for changes and again call for allies to increase their defense spending. The summit is to be held in Ankara on July 7-8.

“The president himself will be attending the next NATO, a meeting of heads of state where all of these points will be made clear. We’re still in NATO, but NATO needs significant changes, and the president has made that clear,” Rubio said.

Trump has been particularly irked by some NATO countries, mainly Spain, denying the use of airbases for the war against Iran.

Senate GOP officially strips $1 billion in White House security funding from immigration spending bill

After weeks of discussions, the Senate has officially dropped a $1 billion proposal for White House security and Trump’s ballroom project.

The Senate is set to begin voting on legislation to fund immigration enforcement agencies on Wednesday afternoon, and the bill’s final text, released just hours before the vote, does not include the security funding.

Republicans had already indicated they would drop the security proposal after backlash from within their own caucus and criticism from Democrats.

Rubio says Greenland is part of Denmark ‘for now’

Rubio made the “for now” statement when Democratic Rep. Sarah McBride of Delaware asked Rubio about Trump’s calls for the U.S. to own the semiautonomous territory of Denmark to better defend the U.S.

Rubio said talks about the use of Greenland for collective defense are “in a good place,” though he declined to publicly discuss the details.

McBride had asked Rubio if he shares Trump’s belief that the U.S. needs to own land within NATO to defend it.

“The president’s view is that it’s a lot easier to defend it when you have control and complete control of it,” Rubio said. “We are obviously having conversations with both Denmark and Greenland. They are ongoing on a monthly basis now. I think we’ll have pretty good news.”

Abelardo de la Espriella thanks Trump for endorsement, predicts stronger US-Colombia ties

Colombian lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, who pulled ahead in the first round of Colombia’s presidential race, on Wednesday thanked Trump for endorsing his campaign, saying he predicts stronger bilateral ties if the conservative defeats progressive Iván Cepeda in the presidential runoff.

Writing on the Truth Social platform the previous day, Trump offered his “complete and total endorsement” for de la Espriella, calling him an “intelligent, strong, and tough leader” who will take on a “radical leftist Marxist” in the June 21 runoff election.

“With my head held high and my heart throbbing with patriotic gratitude, I receive your words and your steadfast support,” de la Espriella, known as “El Tigre” or “The Tiger,” wrote on the social platform X. “Thank you, Mr. President!”

Tillis asks Bessent about his fisticuffs with Pulte

During the Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Thom Tillis asked Bessent about his past reported conflicts with Bill Pulte, the current head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Trump picked Pulte for director of national intelligence.

“Did you actually tell Bill Pulte you were going to punch him in the face?” the North Carolina Republican asked Bessent.

“I actually said I was gonna kick his ass,” Bessent said. “That was last summer, the summer of ’25.”

Tillis has stated he doesn’t support Pulte for the intelligence role.

Rubio says Venezuela transition progressing well, but needs more time

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Venezuela’s transition to democracy is progressing but needs more time to consolidate and advance the reforms it has made since the U.S. ouster of former President Nicolas Maduro in early January.

In response to questions from lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Rubio stressed that it had only been five months since Maduro had been deposed and that conditions for free and fair elections – including the creation of independent media and political parties – are still works in progress. Rubio did say that Venezuela’s oil revenue had increased significantly under U.S. supervision since January.

“It’s not where it needs to be, but it is a long ways from where it was five months ago and poses not nearly the threat it once posed to America’s national security. We’re not satisfied with where it is, but we’ve come a long way,” Rubio said.

House Speaker says Trump wants US allies to help reopen Hormuz

Speaker Mike Johnson said he spent three hours at the White House with the president, Vance and Rubio, as Trump is working on “that final piece” to reopen commerce.

“I am, all of us, are calling on our allied nations and friends — the Arab states in the region, and NATO partners and everyone else,” the Republican told reporters at the Capitol about the Monday meeting. “The entire world has an interest in the Strait of Hormuz being reopened for commerce. That’s what he’s working on.”

Johnson also defended the president for suggesting the war’s unpopularity and the resulting high gas prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections aren’t impacting his decision-making. The speaker said Trump, who fielded phone calls from reporters during the lengthy meeting, is “laser focused” on domestic issues.

Trump compares White House UFC cage to the Eiffel Tower, says ‘maybe we’ll never ever take it down’

In a video posted to his TikTok account, the president offered a history lesson on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, noting that it was built to be a temporary structure for the 1889 World’s Fair.

“They said, you know we sort of like it, let’s leave it up a little bit longer,” he said. “And then they said, let’s leave it up longer and longer and longer. Well, they never took it down.”

Trump drew a parallel with the UFC octagon being built on the White House’s South Lawn for a June 14 bout celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.

“You know, we’re building something in front of the White House that’s quite attractive to a lot of people,” Trump said in a video posted on Tuesday. “It’s going to have the big UFC fight on June 14. And I’m looking at it, and maybe we’ll never ever take it down.”

Bessent talks freezing Iranian government funds

He was asked what Treasury is doing to address sanctions evasion as the Trump administration pressures Iran into accepting a deal to end the war.

“We have seized a substantial amount of crypto assets,” Bessent told lawmakers. “We have sanctioned ships, and in fact, the Navy has seized some of these ships, and we are tracking mostly the IRGC funds, and we are freezing those for the day that they can be given back to the Iranian people.”

Mullin says ‘primary’ border wall will be done in a year

Detailing progress on the wall the Trump administration is building separating the U.S. and Mexico, Mullin said the first layer — referred to as the “primary wall” — will be finished by “this time next year.”

On some stretches of the border, Customs and Border Protection is building a secondary wall so that people trying to cross the border would have to go through two layers. That “secondary wall” will be finished by the summer of 2028, he said.

Homeland Security received $46 billion last summer from Congress to finish the wall along the border from San Diego to the Gulf of Mexico. Most of that will be protected by a physical wall, but CBP says 535 miles (860 kilometers) of remote, rugged border terrain will solely rely on detection technology.

Turmoil deepens at ’60 Minutes’ with firing of longtime correspondent Scott Pelley

CBS News fired Pelley a day after he reportedly said Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was “murdering the show” and accused Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison of casting aside the show’s reputation “apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

Pelley criticized management Monday during a fiery staff meeting with Nick Bilton, the program’s new executive producer installed by Weiss last week, according to a detailed report on the Status website. In a termination notice obtained Tuesday night by The Associated Press, Bilton, a technology journalist and filmmaker with no traditional broadcast news experience, accused Pelley of carrying out an “ambush” in a “performative display of hostility.”

Pelley said in a statement that “60 Minutes” has lost its DNA and that the new management had asked him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into his work.

▶ Read more

The California drama drags on

About 60 names were on the ballot to succeed Democrat Gavin Newsom as governor. Under California’s primary system, all candidates appear on a single ballot and the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of party.

Republican Steve Hilton campaigned with Trump’s endorsement, and in the final days of the campaign, Democratic attention focused on Xavier Becerra, a former congressman and state attorney general who was health secretary under President Joe Biden, and Tom Steyer, a billionaire known for his climate activism.

The three have been leading in early returns after polls closed. If Becerra were to advance to one of the two slots on the fall ballot, he presents a natural choice for voters more comfortable with a traditional candidate. Steyer and Hilton have both presented themselves as advocating significant changes.

▶ Read more

Rubio says Iran retains drone capabilities, but they’re not as robust

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada pushed Rubio to explain Iran’s military capabilities. Trump and others claim American forces have decimated the Islamic Republic’s military, and yet ships are still being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, she said.

“So is the war still on or is the war off?” Titus asked.

Rubio acknowledged that Iran still has small boats with machine guns as well as some drone capabilities. But he said Iran lacks the ability to attack targets with swarms of drones as it once did.

Titus noted that the U.S. military has been using expensive weapons systems to take down the drones. Rubio said “that needs to change.”

Democrat shows Rubio videos of Trump with his eyes closed, says ‘something is wrong’

California Rep. Ted Lieu displayed several clips of what he described as Trump sleeping while Rubio spoke during Cabinet meetings, saying they reflect concerns about the president’s health. The short clips show Trump with his eyes closed on several instances during meetings from the last few months.

“I’m going to ask you to come clean with the American people and the White House as well: There’s something wrong with Donald Trump’s health or cognitive abilities,” Lieu said.

In response, Rubio said, “I don’t even know how to respond to that other than to tell you that it’s absurd and ridiculous.”

Mullin doesn’t back down from threats to pull CBP officers from airports

Mullin was asked about his threat to remove Customs and Border Protection officers from airports in cities that don’t typically cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.

Mullin said he isn’t “punishing” places dubbed sanctuary cities by the Trump administration.

But he blamed those cities for “refusing to allow local and state enforcement officers to respond when we called” and said he needs to protect his staff. “If that means I gotta pull them out of Customs and Border Protection from processing international flights, I will,” Mullin said.

Mullin did not say when he might implement his threat, which has sparked criticism from the travel industry for its potential to cause chaos just ahead of the World Cup.

GOP congressman tells DHS secretary to use more discretion in ICE arrests

In a rare example of a Republican criticizing the Trump administration’s deportation program, Rep. Carlos Gimenez urged Mullin to put more emphasis on apprehending violent criminals.

“I think you need to use your discretion a little bit more as to who is being deported, who’s being arrested, etc. Let’s go after the worst of the worst,” said Gimenez, whose South Florida district has a large heavy Cuban population.

Referring to a comment from Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, Gimenez said it’s unacceptable that ICE recently failed to take six criminal suspects into custody in Orange County, California.

Mullin said ICE only has 48 hours after defendants are booked into local jails to take them into custody, a difficult deadline if not immediately informed of arrests.

“There’s no excuse for it, but we just don’t have the resources to get there like we need to,” Mullin said.

Since its founding, UAHT has served more than 272,000 individuals through three core pillars: preventing exploitation, educating the community, and empowering survivors.

Scale of human trafficking

Human trafficking is not a distant problem. It is happening in Houston — and across Texas — every day.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 10,227 cases were reported across the United States in 2024 alone. In Texas, the University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work estimates 313,000 survivors of labor and sex trafficking. Globally, the International Labour Organization reports 24.9 million people are victims of trafficking worldwide.

Traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion to exploit people for commercial sex or forced labor. Their tactics range from physical restraint and debt bondage to fake job offers and false romantic relationships. For survivors, the effects do not end with escape — trafficking can disrupt their ability to work, find safe housing, rebuild trust, and create the stable, fulfilling lives they deserve.

Preventing exploitation

UAHT’s prevention work starts with youth. The organization has reached more than 27,519 young people through awareness programming since 2016, equipping teens with the knowledge to recognize the signs of trafficking and avoid exploitation.

Informed youth are less likely to fall victim to traffickers’ tactics, which often include intimate partner or marriage propositions, false promises of jobs or housing, and recruitment through social networks. UAHT also helps community members identify red flags — such as someone accompanied by a controlling person, evidence of physical or mental abuse, or a lack of identification — so trafficking can be spotted and reported before it escalates.

Educating the community

Education is at the heart of UAHT’s mission. Through targeted workshops and training programs, the organization equips frontline professionals, first responders, and community members to recognize and respond to human trafficking situations with a trauma-informed approach.

UAHT has conducted 282 educational trainings and reached 106,762 individuals through its education programs. The organization’s podcast further extends its reach, helping everyday community members understand and dismantle the systems that allow trafficking to flourish.

Empowering survivors

For those who have experienced trafficking, UAHT offers a lifeline through its client services program. Survivors receive wrap-around care, including advocacy, counseling, housing assistance, and financial literacy training.

UAHT’s Real Talk program — a trauma-informed support group for teens and adults — has served 7,972 participants since 2017. The group helps survivors process their experiences, build resilience, and connect with others who understand their journey.

The organization also runs Stopping Sexual Exploitation (SSE), a prevention-focused program for men that provides education and accountability to help break the cycle of exploitation.

“I’m a different man because of SSE. UAHT’s work stays with you, even long after the sessions end. I’m ready to come back and support the next group,” one SSE participant said.

Since 2020, UAHT’s client services program has logged 249 client service touchpoints and 270 SSE touchpoints, connecting survivors with the resources they need to reclaim their freedom.

A vision for freedom

UAHT’s vision is simple and powerful: “We fight so that all may live free.”

Human trafficking is a violation of basic human rights, and UAHT believes no human life should be for sale. The organization marked its 20th anniversary in 2025, and its work is a reminder that ending trafficking requires a community-wide commitment — to prevention, education, and restoration.

To learn more about United Against Human Trafficking or to get involved, visit their website.

KPRC 2 and our partners at Energy Transfer and Houston Christian University are proud to feature United Against Human Trafficking in our KPRC 2 Community June spotlight.

The government says the development on the Adriatic coast would be transformational for the former communist nation as it seeks to enter the high-end tourism market and pushes for European Union membership.

But the venture, spanning an abandoned island and a nearby stretch of seafront on Albania’s southern coast, has drawn opposition from environmental campaigners and critics of long-time Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Kushner and Ivanka Trump found the site on a barefoot hike

The luxury project has two components: a coastal development in the Narta Lagoon area, which is a wildlife reserve, and a smaller resort on the nearby uninhabited island of Sazan, a communist-era military base.

The planned development of hotels, apartments, villas and a marina is linked to Kushner and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.

In an interview this week with U.S. podcaster David Senra, Ivanka Trump said they discovered the site by accident.

“We were on a friend’s boat, and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that’s how we found it,” she said. “We swam to the island. We went on a hike, barefoot all the way up to the top, and we were just captivated.”

An investment firm linked to Kushner has been granted special investor status by Albanian authorities.

Harsh rule, pristine beaches

Albania has 450 kilometers (280 miles) of coast that remained largely underdeveloped during decades of harsh communist rule.

Protest groups fear the sections of that pristine coastline could be snapped up by powerful investors. And public anger grew after video showed an activist being dragged by a private security guard while demonstrating at the site.

The development is planned within a nature reserve and one of Albania’s most valuable biodiversity areas, a key stopover for migratory birds along the Adriatic coast.

Protesters have carried cardboard cut-outs of pink flamingos, one of the protected migratory bird species, at rallies in the capital Tirana.

Since late May, excavators and other heavy machinery have entered the area, opening access routes, digging into the sand, clearing land among pine trees and installing fencing.

Environmental groups from Albania and elsewhere in Europe condemned the work, with one prominent local group charging that long-protected habitats are being "irreversibly destroyed.”

A multi-billion dollar bonanza?

Albania’s state anti-corruption agency has confirmed it opened an investigation related to the project but has not disclosed details.

The government says the land earmarked for the project is privately owned. But competing claims have emerged questioning the privatization — a common type of legal dispute.

Rama has committed to the venture, saying it would align with Albania’s ambition to become a major global tourism destination.

“Albania should not be a country that fears an extraordinary project like this one, where exceptional partners have come together to invest 4 billion euros ($4.6 billion),” Rama said.

He added: “There is no chance for this investment to stop as long as I am here.”

However, the demise of a similar project in Serbia offers a cautionary tale. In November, Serbia's Parliament passed a special law to enable the building of a luxury complex in the capital, Belgrade, to be financed by an investment company linked to Kushner.

The following month, Serbia's prosecutor for organized crime charged four people, including a government minister, with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for the development.

Kushner later withdrew from the planned multi-million investment that would have replaced a sprawling bombed-out military complex, a designated heritage zone whose legal protection was lifted by the former officials now on trial.

The administration this week has proposed slapping double-digit tariffs on products from dozens of major U.S. trading partners after an investigation into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor. And more tariffs are likely coming.

Under the proposal released in Washington late Tuesday, 16 economies — including Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Taiwan and the United Kingdom — would face 10% levies for allegedly failing to enforce bans on forced labor. Another 44 trading partners — including China, Japan, India, South Korea and Switzerland — would be hit with 12.5% import taxes.

The tariffs are part of Trump's push to replace revenue lost when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down sweeping global tariffs he'd imposed last year. This latest barrage is likely to unsettle key trading partners that have been hit with waves of tariffs since Trump returned to the White House early last year.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable," U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement. "This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field.''

Greer's office said failure to prevent such imports is "unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce."

Trump's tariffs are paid by U.S. importers who usually try to pass along those higher costs to customers.

The administration, mindful that Americans are growing increasingly unsettled by high prices with midterm elections just months away, said that it would limit the impact by exempting from the latest proposed tariffs a long list of products, including aircraft parts, food products (from coffee to beef) and rare earth minerals crucial in the production of smartphones and cars. Also spared would be products from Canada and Mexico covered by a North American trade pact.

The new tariffs would not take effect immediately. They are subject to public comment and review. Public hearings on the proposed duties are due to begin on July 7.

The plan drew immediate pushback. A Chinese government spokesperson denied the forced labor allegation and called for resolving economic issues through dialogue, saying a trade war doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.

“There is no such thing as forced labor in China, and we oppose using it as an excuse to engage in political manipulation,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

The U.S. has long said imports of goods that include material from China’s far-western Xinjiang are at risk of using forced labor. Beijing denies allegations of forced labor in the Muslim majority region.

But critics saw the proposed tariffs as a pretext to reinstate tariffs on dozens of countries across the globe that hadn’t passed legal muster.

“Accusing EU of not doing enough against forced labour is absurd,″ Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s trade committee, posted on social media. “The EU has adopted the world’s most stringent rules against products made with forced labour. This looks very much like trying to make the facts fit a legal justification for tariffs that has already been decided.″

The new maneuver shows how determined the Trump administration is about keeping a wall of tariffs around the American economy, the world’s largest, despite repeated setbacks in court.

In February, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority by invoking the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose double-digit tariffs on almost every country on Earth last year. The justices struck down the tariffs and set the stage for companies who paid them to seek refunds.

After the loss in court, Trump turned to another law to impose temporary 10% tariffs globally. But those stopgap levies expire July 24. And a specialized trade court ruled last month that they, too, were illegal – though the government can continue collecting them while that case works its way through the courts.

Trump’s tariffs have provided tens of billions of dollars in revenue for a federal government that persistently spends more than it collects in taxes. He had been counting on the IEEPA tariffs to make up for some of the revenue lost to his massive 2025 tax cuts.

But tariff collections have begun to fall since the legal defeats. They peaked at more than $31 billion last October but were down to $22 billion in both March and April of this year, according to the Treasury Department.

Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have vowed to replace the lost revenue. And they’ve turned to a legal authority that has withstood legal challenges in the past: Section 301 of Trade Act of 1974, which authorizes tariffs and other sanctions against countries found to engage in “unjustifiable,” “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” trade practices. Trump used Section 301 to impose big tariffs on China in his first term.

"What's somewhat brilliant about this way of approaching 301 is that politically it's very hard to argue that you shouldn't go after forced labor and force countries to enforce forced labor laws on the books,'' said trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his government will soon introduce legislation on forced labor in supply chains. “Canada has a very strong legislative regime against forced labor in supply chains,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “We don’t want any element of forced labor coming in goods and services, and we want to use our influence to eliminate this practice of forced labor and child labor.”

In its nearly 100-page report on forced labor, the USTR said that even if a country enforces a ban on forced labor domestically, importing goods made with forced labor violates the rules of fair trade.

Majerus expects to the new tariffs to be ready by the time the temporary ones expire next month. “The USTR is under enormous pressure to make sure there's no gap (in tariff revenue), probably from the White House,'' he said. ”I'm confident, based on the schedule they're on now, that they will have these done and ready to implement.'' He noted that the investigation on forced labor is "working at about two times the normal speed'' of typical 301 cases.

The administration is also pursuing a Section 301 case into whether 16 U.S. trading partners (accounting for 70% of U.S. imports) — including China, the EU and Japan — are overproducing goods, driving down prices and putting U.S. manufacturers at a disadvantage.

And on Monday the administration proposed 25% Section 301 tariffs on Brazil, charging that the world's 10th-biggest economy with "unreasonable'' trade practices including lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs of its own.

Tuesday's report defined forced labor as “work or service exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.”

It cited an estimate by the UN’s International Labor Organization that as of 2021, 27.6 million people were engaged in forced labor.

Rice imported from Myanmar, tobacco from Malawi, beef from Brazil, and cotton and polysilicon from China were among the many products it said are prone to involving forced labor.

___

Elaine Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok.

Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this story.

Writing on the Truth Social platform the previous day, Trump offered his “complete and total endorsement” for de la Espriella, calling him an “intelligent, strong and tough leader” who will take on a “radical leftist Marxist,” referring to progressive Iván Cepeda, in the June 21 runoff election.

He emphasized the importance of the elections for the two countries' relationship.

“With my head held high and a heart full of patriotic gratitude, I receive your words and your steadfast support," de la Espriella, known as “El Tigre” or “The Tiger,” wrote on X. "Thank you, Mr. President!”

This is not the first time Trump has backed candidates in foreign elections, a practice that has drawn criticism from opponents who say the U.S. should not meddle in other countries’ domestic politics. Last year, Trump endorsed Honduras’ National Party presidential candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura, who went on to win. He also backed libertarian President Javier Milei in Argentina during legislative elections that proved critical to the leader’s political agenda.

Cepeda in comments to the press Wednesday denounced Trump's remarks as having an “interventionist tone” and called on him to respect Colombia's sovereignty.

Trump’s support in the Colombian presidential campaign underscores the current tension between Washington and Bogota as relations between the countries have grown strained under Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Sharp disagreements have emerged over migration, Israel’s military actions in Gaza and anti-narcotics strategies, particularly regarding the bombing of drug boats in the Caribbean.

Petro rejected Trump’s support for the conservative candidate and urged citizens to vote freely so as to “not become anyone’s slaves or colony.”

“When a country intervenes in the decisions of another country, freedom dies,” Petro wrote on X.

While the U.S. remains Colombia’s largest export market and was long considered Washington’s primary ally in the hemisphere, relations have cooled significantly under the current administration.

De la Espriella, who holds dual Colombian and U.S. citizenship, is a Trump supporter and a member of the Republican Party. With no prior experience in elected office, he secured 43.74% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, followed by Sen. Cepeda — an ally of Petro — with 40.90%, according to preliminary counts.

The candidate has said his views align with U.S. policies, particularly regarding the fight against narcotics. He has promised to eradicate thousands of hectares of coca leaf crops — the raw material for cocaine — and to halt the trafficking bound for the United States.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The space agency confirmed Wednesday that the mission had ended after more than a decade of observations.

“The team really did experience the loss of a loved one with the end of the mission here,” said NASA project manager Mike Moreau.

Launched in 2013 to study the red planet’s atmosphere from orbit, Maven mysteriously fell silent in early December after passing behind Mars. Data indicated the spacecraft went into a fast spin, which disrupted its orbit and drained the onboard batteries.

A review board convened by NASA earlier this year concluded that the spacecraft is useless and unable to be recovered. It's expected to remain in orbit for another 50 to 100 years before crashing into the planet, posing no issue to other spacecraft until then. An investigation continues into what caused the problem.

Besides studying Martian weather and observing a stray interstellar comet last year, Maven helped relay information from NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers on the surface. NASA officials said four other spacecraft around Mars — two U.S. and two European satellites — will pick up the slack, with no rover science lost.

"The team is certainly broken up about this, but at the same time we are incredibly proud of the science we've accomplished over the last decade,” said Maven's lead scientist, Shannon Curry of the University of Colorado Boulder.

The spacecraft advanced scientists' understanding of the Martian atmosphere and evolution, Curry said.

___

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.

But even as the U.S. president conceded the tensions in an interview released Wednesday, he insisted that his relationship with Netanyahu was solid and that they connected, in part, because they are both “wartime” leaders.

“We’ve worked very well together. I like Bibi a lot. And I work very well with him,” Trump told The New York Post’s “Pod Force One.”

In an interview on the American business-news channel CNBC, Netanyahu responded that he and Trump sometimes have “tactical disagreements” but have “common goals” and “agree on the main things.”

“He respects me. I respect him. We always find a way to work out our differences,” the prime minister said.

The president's comments about the Monday call offered a sign of the growing pressure he faces to resolve the Iran war as higher energy prices and economic uncertainty threaten Republican prospects in the midterm elections and hamper global commerce.

Talks have dragged on for weeks as mediators seek to extend a fragile ceasefire into a more enduring truce. The negotiations are further strained by Israel’s broadening war with the Iranian-backed militia group in Lebanon. The conflicts have become increasingly intertwined as Iran insists that any potential truce in the war there must also quell the fighting in Lebanon.

Trump does not commit to timeline for ending Iran war

Trump remained noncommittal about a timeline for settling the Iran conflict, saying the Strait of Hormuz might stay blocked through the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7. He has insisted that Iran stop any efforts that could lead to a nuclear weapon and that the strait be reopened for shipments of oil and natural gas.

“I don’t know. I mean, I think it could be (closed through Labor Day), but I think it’s unlikely. I think that we’ll have it. I think this will resolve itself fairly quickly,” Trump said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his late father, is “involved” in peace talks, Trump added.

“They have a lot of respect for him,” the president said in the interview.

Trump said that Khamenei is not doing well due to wounds sustained in an airstrike, but “they say he’s giving approval because that’s the way it has been for a long, long time." Khamenei's father was killed in an airstrike when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran at the end of February.

Meanwhile in the Persian Gulf region, Kuwait briefly shut its main airport Wednesday after Iranian drones hit a passenger terminal building, killing one person and wounding dozens. It was the latest in the back-and-forth attacks by Tehran and Washington that have tested the ceasefire.

The strike again brought home the risks to residents and travelers in Gulf countries that had considered themselves relative safe havens before the war, now in its fourth month.

Path to a lasting ceasefire in Lebanon is obscured by new strikes

The path toward a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remained unclear as hostilities continued in Lebanon.

An Israeli strike Wednesday hit a car on a busy highway just south of Beirut, hours before the second day of talks between Lebanon and Israel in Washington were set to take place. The strike in Khaldeh came without warning, and it was not immediately clear if the person targeted was killed.

Israel and Lebanon on Monday reached a U.S.-brokered agreement in which Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs and Hezbollah would end its attacks on northern Israel.

The agreement was made hours after Israel announced that it was going to launch strikes across the sprawling urban neighborhoods near the Lebanese capital in what would have been the most intense strikes since a nominal ceasefire went into effect on April 17.

Lebanon hopes to widen the scope of the ceasefire so it becomes comprehensive across the country. Israel wants to disarm Hezbollah immediately before the Israeli military ends its operations in Lebanon and withdraws its troops from dozens of villages and towns.

Not long after the strike on Khaldeh, the Israeli military said it intercepted what it called a hostile aircraft coming from southern Lebanon, but it did not immediately blame Hezbollah. Hezbollah has not claimed a cross-border attack since the agreement.

Israeli military warning rattles coastal city

Israeli strikes over southern Lebanon continued, especially in and around the battered cities of Tyre and Nabatiyeh. Two overnight strikes near Tyre, a coastal city, killed four Syrians and two Palestinians.

Israel warned the Christian neighborhoods in Tyre that Hezbollah members were among them. Many Lebanese Shiite Muslims fled to those areas in recent days because they were spared from the aerial bombardment along the Mediterranean coast.

After the warning, the Lebanese army deployed to the Christian district of Tyre in an effort to prevent Israeli attacks there and to show that Hezbollah has no armed presence in the area.

Israel launched an invasion of southern Lebanon days after the latest war was sparked on March 2, when Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran. Israeli troops have pushed deeper into Lebanon over the past week, as Hezbollah continues to claim rocket and drone attacks.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,468 people in Lebanon and displaced 1.2 million people. According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 27 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

Strike on village kills most of a family

Many residents of southern Lebanon remained in villages near the hostilities or returned to areas where strikes occurred after evacuation warnings.

The Al-Abdallah family returned to their home in Marwanieyh, which they left because they thought the village was unsafe following earlier strikes. A day later, two rockets hit the home, bringing down the three-story building and killing six family members, said the brother of Hassan Al-Abdallah, who was killed.

Ahmed Al-Abdallah, 13, was thrown away from the building by the force of the blasts and was the only member of his family to survive. His uncle, Eissa Al-Abdallah, said the boy has two broken legs and shrapnel wounds all over his body.

“What good is talking now? They are gone, and nothing will bring them back,” the uncle told The Associated Press in a phone call Tuesday. “This land costs blood.”

___

Boak reported from Washington.

___

This version has been updated to correct that the Iran war began at the end of February, not March.

HISD says those schools will no longer participate in the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, which lets every student eat free without an application. The district hasn’t said why the change is happening, but it comes as federal cuts to SNAP could reduce the number of students qualifying for assistance—one factor that can affect whether a campus remains eligible for CEP.

• HISD defends special education changes as parents raise concerns over student transfers

Free lunch isn’t going away—but families who qualify may now need to apply to make sure their kids keep getting meals this fall.

The USDA bases eligibility on household income. A family of four qualifies at or below $61,050. For a family of five, it’s just under $72,000. And for a family of six, it’s just over $82,000.

Families can apply online through the SchoolCafe app. To request a printed application, contact HISD’s Student Eligibility and Accountability Department at 713-491-5944 or email eligibilityinfo@houstonisd.org.

And HISD says this change does not impact its free summer meals program. Summer meals are scheduled June 10 through July 17, offering free breakfast and lunch at select campuses for all kids and teens 18 and under—even if they’re not enrolled. Campus locations are listed at houstonisd.org/summerschool.

The leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee held the hearing as they push legislation unveiled last week that supporters hope can break the congressional gridlock over how to regulate college athletics. But it's already facing criticism from some senators and the two most influential conferences in college sports.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would regulate payments to athletes, limit them to one “free” transfer during their careers and create a “Lane Kiffin Rule” restricting coaches from leaving programs during the season. Cruz touted the proposal as “the last, best hope we have to save college sports.”

“If you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari that you could ever have and it was going 150 miles an hour toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes. And I think that’s what we all need to do here,” Saban said in his opening remarks.

Notably absent from the the witness list, which included Notre Dame’s athletic director and the commissioner of the newly reconstructed Pac-12 conference, were any representatives from either the Big Ten or Southeastern Conferences. Saban won seven national championships at SEC schools Alabama and LSU but said he was not in Washington to represent any conference or team.

The SEC and the Big Ten, the two most powerful conferences in college sports, oppose the bill, arguing it “leaves critical issues unresolved.”

Asked after the hearing about opposition from the SEC and Big Ten, Cruz told the Associated Press he remains confident the bill can pass Congress.

“We're going to get the votes," Cruz said. “If we do nothing, there is no alternative. As every witness testified, college sports is facing a crisis.”

Cantwell said at Wednesday's hearing that the legislation is intended to restore competition to college athletics by ensuring success is determined by how universities “build a team, and not because they have a billionaire in their back pocket.”

She also addressed the conferences’ opposition directly, suggesting they fear a more level playing field and the idea “that somebody’s going to come in and rearrange the deck chairs of those conferences, steal the eyeball schools, and then basically leave everybody with everything else.”

While Cruz and Cantwell, the two top-ranked lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee, support the bill, passage through the Senate is far from certain. President Donald Trump has yet to comment on the bill publicly.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, an ally of Trump's, said he had “grave concerns” about the bill. He said his most important concern was “it does nothing about protecting, biological women from competing with men and sports" — an issue that Trump has dealt with via executive orders but that has not come up in any version of these bills.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a former college football coach at Auburn, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that “there’s going to have to be some changes” to the bill in order for him to support it.

House Republican leadership had been working toward a vote on its own college sports bill, known as the SCORE Act, before the Congressional Black Caucus announced its unanimous opposition.

The CBC said the legislation should not move forward in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling that effectively disabled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. They say athletic leaders are failing to address concerns about the decision’s impact on Black political representation.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to Cruz and Cantwell urging the committee to pause consideration of their bill as well.

“Meaningful engagement and action by college athletics leadership should be viewed as a necessary first step,” the letter stated.

On Wednesday morning, the Rockets posted a promotional video across their social media channels teasing the upcoming jersey reveal.

The video, set in the fictional “Rudy T’s Diner,” featured numerous references to Rockets history and hints about the team’s unrevealed new look.

Ketchup and mustard are back on the menu! 🔴🟡

Reservations open June 4. pic.twitter.com/DhCkLQLeIV

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) June 3, 2026

The promo also included cameos from Rockets legends Hakeem Olajuwon, Rudy Tomjanovich, and Calvin Murphy, along with Houston celebrities Slim Thug and Mo Amer.

The biggest clue fans have received so far is confirmation that gold will be incorporated into the new uniforms and possibly the team’s logo.

If so, it would mark the first time gold has appeared on a primary Rockets uniform since the 1994-95 season.

Rockets Uniform History

San Diego Green-and-Gold Era (1967-71)

Before the franchise arrived in Houston, the San Diego Rockets wore green as their primary color and gold as a secondary accent. Their uniforms featured green and white jerseys with gold numbering and striping.

While the team made minor adjustments to the numbers and piping during its six seasons in San Diego, the overall look remained largely unchanged.

Houston Arrival: Red Replaces Green (1971-75)

When the Rockets relocated to Houston, the overall uniform design stayed mostly intact, but the color scheme underwent a dramatic change.

The team replaced green with red, creating a look that featured red and white jerseys accented with gold numbering and striping.

The Championship Era (1975-95)

This is where the Rockets established one of the most recognizable looks in franchise history.

In 1975, the team reduced the use of gold, opting instead for white lettering and numbering with subtle gold piping along the seams. They also introduced their iconic red-and-gold logo on the shorts.

These uniforms became synonymous with Rockets greatness.

When fans think of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and the franchise’s back-to-back NBA championships, these are often the jerseys that come to mind.

A Bold Departure (1995-2002)

Following their second consecutive championship, the Rockets completely reinvented their visual identity.

Gold was eliminated entirely, and the team shifted from its traditional red-heavy look to navy blue uniforms with vertical pinstripes.

The Rockets also unveiled a dramatic new logo featuring a red basketball wrapped by a light-blue rocket and a large “ROCKETS” wordmark.

Rather than the traditional centered team name and number, the logo was placed prominently on the chest, with a beveled jersey number positioned near the right shoulder.

At the time, the redesign was polarizing among fans. However, the team’s pinstripe throwback uniforms introduced in recent years were met with widespread praise, suggesting opinions on the era may have softened over time.

The Modern Era (2003-19)

If there was any indication the pinstripe era failed to resonate long-term, it was how quickly the Rockets moved on.

The franchise abandoned the navy-blue color scheme, pinstripes, and unconventional numbering system in favor of a cleaner, more traditional look.

A new logo was introduced, featuring the now-familiar “R” designed to resemble both a rocket and a basketball hoop.

Red and white once again became the primary colors, while gray was introduced as a secondary accent.

Although the team made minor tweaks to striping and trim over the years, the core design remained consistent for more than a decade and a half. This era featured stars such as Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and James Harden.

Like many NBA franchises, the Rockets also experimented with alternate uniforms during this period.

Gold accents returned for the first time since the Olajuwon era on several alternate designs between 2009 and 2014.

The team also introduced black and gray alternates and several uniforms featuring Chinese characters, paying tribute to Houston’s popularity in China following Yao Ming’s arrival.

The Current Look (2019-Present)

Compared to previous overhauls, the Rockets’ most recent rebrand was relatively modest.

The team retained its traditional red and white primary uniforms but replaced gray accents with black. The lettering was also redesigned, moving away from the thinner font style used during the previous era in favor of a larger, bolder look.

The Rockets also embraced more creative alternate uniforms.

Several featured “H-Town” across the chest, marking one of the first times the team prominently incorporated Houston’s popular nickname into its on-court identity.

In recent years, the franchise has continued to experiment with throwbacks and alternate concepts, including an Oilers-inspired blue uniform in 2020, a return of the beloved pinstripe design in 2022, and the introduction of the “Dunkstronaut” logo in 2023 — an astronaut soaring through the air for a slam dunk.

What’s Next?

With gold officially returning to the Rockets’ color palette and a full redesign expected, tomorrow’s reveal could mark the beginning of a new visual era for the franchise.

Whether the new look draws inspiration from the championship years, the franchise’s San Diego roots, or something entirely new, Rockets fans won’t have to wait much longer to find out.

Congo's soccer federation said it was in discussions with the Spanish soccer federation and relevant international bodies to find solutions.

Government authorities in the southern city of La Linea de la Concepcion announced the decision to not authorize next Tuesday's friendly citing possible health risks linked to the Ebola crisis.

Congo was playing a warmup against Denmark in Liege, Belgium, on Wednesday.

An outbreak of a rare type of Ebola virus has plagued Congo and Uganda. The World Health Organization has declared it a public health emergency of international concern.

Congo had already canceled a three-day World Cup preparation training camp and a planned farewell to fans in the capital Kinshasa because of the outbreak the eastern part of the country.

All of the Congo players and the team’s French coach, Sébastien Desabre, are based outside of the central African country with most of them playing in France.

Soccer's governing body FIFA previously issued a statement saying it was aware of and monitoring the situation regarding an Ebola outbreak and was in close communication with Congo soccer officials to ensure the team was made aware of all medical and security guidance.

Congo will play in Group K at the World Cup. It faces Portugal for its opening game in Houston on June 17.

The Leopards then face Colombia in Guadalajara on June 23 before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta for their final group game on June 27.

Congo's first World Cup qualification since 1974, when it was called Zaire, sparked scenes of jubilation across the nation, which has been battered by decades of conflict.

___

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

The New York company raised its outlook Wednesday and shares dipped less than 1% in midday trading.

“We're off to a strong start to the year,” said CEO Tony Spring, who is in the third year of an attempted turnaround of the storied retailer. “We're operating with discipline and focusing on what matters most — our customers.”

Comparable sales — sales at established online channels and stores— rose 3% during the first quarter. That was higher than the 1.8% gain during the final quarter of 2025 and it was the strongest first quarter for such sales in four years, the retailer said. Macy's stores posted a comparable sales increase of 1.6%, while the company's Bloomingdale's stores delivered a 10.2% increase, its highest first-quarter sales volume on record. Bluemercury, the cosmetics chain also owned by Macy's had a 6.4% comparable sales gain.

It’s the latest encouraging sign for Macy’s, which had been mired in a yearslong sales slump. Under Spring, who took over the top job in early 2024, Macy’s has closed unprofitable stores and spent millions modernize others. The company has beefed up customer service. It’s also been trying to differentiate its luxury business from its rivals with exclusive merchandise.

Some of the outsized performance at Bloomingdales has been attributed by retail analysts to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

Still, Macy’s is contending with the same challenges faced by its the retailer sector as a whole.

U.S. retailers have spent months navigating an uncertain economic environment, from President Donald Trump’s tariffs to the impact of soaring gasoline prices due to the Iran war. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline has been above $4 per gallon since March, according to according to AAA. A gallon costs 40% more than than it did before the war. The latest batch of earnings reports from major retailers underscore how shoppers are under increasing financial strain as they try to factor in higher prices for gasoline, groceries, utilities and almost everything else.

Spring told The Associated Press in a phone call Wednesday that the company is closely monitoring events given the uncertainty about the U.S. economy, but there's been no noticeable pullback in customer spending at its stores since gas prices started rising.

He reasons that Macy's improved assortment and perceived value are landing with customers. There have been strong sales in prom dresses, men's shoes, dresses and fragrances. Spring, however, noted disappointing furniture sales with shoppers continuing to put off purchases of big ticket items.

“Despite the choiceful consumer, despite all the things that are going on that we read about every day in terms of the geopolitical, macroeconomic environment, fashion and newness and the consumer’s desire to indulge is still happening,” Spring told The AP. “And we’re very pleased that we are taking share.”

The Macy’s customer generally makes over $75,000 a year, while a majority of Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury customers earn more than $100,000, Spring said.

Spring said that higher-income shoppers continue to spend freely, boosted by gains in the stock market, while the middle income shopper has remained more selective. He said lower-income customers continue to struggle but are focusing on Macy's designated areas for heavily discounted merchandise.

Macy's sales have also been helped by its online business. The retailer recently launched Ask Macy’s, an artificial-intelligence-powered shopping assistant. The tool helps shoppers discover brands and get personalized product recommendations.

Macy’s reported net income of $63 million, or 23 cents per share, in the quarter ended May 2. Adjusted earnings per share was 13 cents, a dime better than Wall Street had expected, according to FactSet.

That compares with a $38 million profit, or 13 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Net sales rose to $4.68 billion from $4.6 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue this quarter also edged out projections on Wall Street.

The company now expects annual net sales of between $21.5 billion and $21.75 billion, up from previous guidance of $21.4 billion to $21.65 billion in March. Macy’s upped its projections for comparable sales, saying on Wednesday that they will likely increase between 0.5% and 1.2%. The company in March predicted a decline of 0.5% to a gain of 0.5%.

It also now anticipates adjusted earnings per share for the year to be in the range of $2 to $2.20, up from its previous guidance of $1.90 to $2.10 per share.

For the full fiscal year, analysts were expecting $2.09 in adjusted earnings per share on revenue of $21.6 billion, according to FactSet analysts.

Track it all on our live radar:

• Check the latest weather alerts
• Check real-time traffic conditions
• Check the forecast
• Share your weather pictures and video
• Download the free Storm Tracker 2 app

Smith showed that he’s made a full recovery from a torn meniscus in his knee that required surgery as he was placed on injured reserve after four games during his rookie season.

The Texans plan to have Smith as their third corner behind Pro Bowl selections Derek Stingley Jr. and Kamari Lassiter. Smith, playing under a four-year, $6.16 million contract, had six tackles and one fumble recovery last year before his season was cut short.

Smith started 21 games at USC at nickel, 10 games at outside corner and once at safety. Smith was a third-team All-Big Ten Conference selection, recording 49 tackles, four for losses and two interceptions.

“I feel like Jaylin has taken a really nice jump in his second year,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. He’s put in the work. Although he was down with injury, he’s come back stronger, looks faster. He’s making a lot of plays out here on the practice field. So, I’m excited and encouraged by his development of what he’s been able to do."

Texans safety Jaylen Reed, another second-year player, is also poised for a solid role.

Reed, a hard-hitting former sixth-round pick from Penn State where he was a second-team All-Big Ten selection, played in seven games with one start last season. Reed was named a starter after recording 11 tackles and a fumble recovery against the Buffalo Bills. He got hurt in a road game against the Indianapolis Colts, aggravating a forearm injury as a metal place got displaced while tackling Jonathan Taylor.

Now, Reed is competing for playing time behind starting safeties Calen Bullock and Reed Blankenship and is slated for a solid special-teams role. He’s the new personal protector on punts.

Like Smith, Ryans is confident in Reed and his ongoing development.

“Jaylen Reed, you can put him in the same category,” Ryans said. “Young player, second year, he was able to play more snaps for us towards the end of the year until he had an injury.

“But man, he’s been lights out when it comes to his communication, starting with the punt team communication for us, put a lot on their plate. He’s handled it really well, done a great job in the meetings and also making it translate to the field. So, I just love to see the growth. That’s what is expected. I’m excited about that as a coach to see what they’re going to do this season.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com

Speed partially tore his quadriceps muscle, and fully tore his quadriceps tendon while performing a one-legged, split squat during the Texans’ offseason workout program. The initial prognosis was a partial tear of the quadriceps tendon, which would have allowed Speed to return at some point during the season, perhaps in the October to November range. Now, that is not the case.

The surgery was performed by Dallas Cowboys team doctor and renowned orthopedic surgeon Dan Cooper.

There is a slim, outside chance Speed could get healthy enough to be ready to return for the playoffs, but that is not currently the expectation, per a source.

With Speed out on a long-term basis, the Texans will lean heavily on Pro Bowl middle linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To’oTo’o. They have veterans Jake Hansen, Jamal Hill, Marte Mapu and Jake Hummel on the roster along with rookie draft picks Wade Woodaz and Aiden Fisher.

“The competition is high at every position,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said last week. “Unfortunately, we won’t have E.J. for some time, but we’ll see how that recovery process goes. I’m hopeful that we’ll get E.J. back at some point this year.”

Speed, a key linebacker and special-teams contributor, signed a two-year $13 million maximum value contract rather than head to free agency after his original one-year, $5 million contract expired.

Speed received a $4 million signing bonus and $7.5 million of the deal is guaranteed, with base salaries of $1.75 million (fully guaranteed), another $250,000 total available through per game active roster bonuses and an additional $1.5 million in incentives.

His total first-year payout has a base value of $5.75 million and a max value of $7.5 million. In the second year, he has a $3.75 million base salary with $1.75 million of that guaranteed and identical playtime per game and incentives as this season.

Speed emerged as an important part of the defense, recording 62 tackles, three for losses, two quarterback hits and one pass defensed in 16 games with nine starts for a playoff squad. He played 44 percent of the defensive snaps and 52 percent of the special teams snaps last season.

The Texans traded for former New England Patriots linebacker and safety Marte Mapu this offseason.

The Patriots receive a sixth-round pick and the Texans receive a seventh-round selection as well as Mapu.

Mapu (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) is a former Patriots third-round draft picks from Sacramento State who had been informed he would be released. Instead, he has a fresh start with the Texans.

“Marte, what I like about him, he’s a very smart linebacker,” Ryans said. “Smart, he’s long, fast guy. But Marte does a really good job of being where he’s supposed to be in position. He’s communicating. We’re moving him around. He’s taking some reps at the Mike linebacker spot.

“He does a really good job of communicating. He’s also taking some spots at the, some reps at the Will linebacker. He’s a smart guy who you’re able to move around at multiple spots. He’s done a really good job on special teams as well. He’s a very versatile athletic linebacker.

A former Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year, Mapu is in the final year of a $5.563 million rookie contract. He’s due a $1.508 million base salary.

He played in every game last season and recorded 25 tackles, one forced fumble, one interception and five pass deflections. He has also started at safety.

Mapu played 12 percent of the overall defensive snaps, primarily in sub packages. Twelve of his tackles were on special teams.

He recorded 89 tackles, three interceptions and a half-sack for New England in 44 games with 10 starts.

“Still a young player,” Ryans said. “Young player who’s played in three or four different schemes already to be so young in his career. Hoping he just settles in to what we’re being able to teach him. Coach Bill Davis has done an outstanding job of working with him this offseason.

“Marte is the type of guy, he’s always in the building. We have to kick him out. He’s always doing the extras, the film, the recovery, body maintenance. He’s a true worker. I’m proud to see how he transitions and how he looks during training camp.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com

The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building's walls.

The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural's grand scale and message of ocean conservation.

The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland's mural, new artwork is planned "that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.” It said a portion of Wyland's mural would be preserved.

Wyland filed suit Monday in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building's owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.

Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer's governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.

“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist's lawsuit says.

A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament's local organizing committee.

A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn't named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”

“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company's spokesperson said in an email.

Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wyland's Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.

An online petition protesting the mural's destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.

Wyland's lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.

A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

___

Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

“Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”

Sabalenka's wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while serving for the match at 5-4. What followed was a complete collapse as she lost 12 of the last 13 games against a player appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, looking increasingly frustrated and forlorn in the windy conditions.

Just like her loss to Coco Gauff in last year's final, when she also won the first set before becoming undone with a slew of unforced errors, this one will take some time to get over.

“You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything,” Sabalenka said. “Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help, maybe not.”

Shnaider next faces Maja Chwalinska, who extended her remarkable Roland Garros run by beating No. 22-seeded Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Italian men's finalist

In the men’s quarterfinals, 10th-seeded Flavio Cobolli beat No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to ensure there will be an Italian finalist. Cobolli will face one of two fellow Italians, Matteo Berrettini or Matteo Arnaldi — who were playing later — in the semifinals.

The strong Italian showing comes despite top-ranked Jannik Sinner getting stunned in the second round.

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik will meet in the other semifinal.

Sabalenka's missed opportunities

Sabalenka stood still and screamed loudly after losing a point to fall 0-30 down in the sixth game of the decider and, although she saved two match points at 0-40 down, she lost when she sent a shot into the net.

“I just think it’s combination of everything,” Sabalenka lamented. “You overthink, then you make easy mistakes, then you miss opportunities.”

Her struggles were reminiscent of the match against Gauff, when she remonstrated loudly, shouting to herself and glaring at her team box.

“I just have to sit back and openly think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments,” Sabalenka said, recalling that match. “Because I’m quite an experienced player. I have been through so many things, and I overcome so many things.”

Sabalenka had already looked agitated when serving for the first set but still looked in control as she served for the match in the second, holding a 30-15 lead.

“Of course I saw some moments of her frustration,” Shnaider said. “I know Aryna, that she’s a very emotional person."

Shnaider, who was already on her best run at a major, broke Sabelenka before taking complete control.

“Well, honestly I am speechless. Super happy,” Shnaider said. “I feel like I was trying to focus point by point. Not thinking about the score. She is the world No. 1, so I just trying to do my best. I just had to fight for every point.”

Sabalenka looked increasingly frustrated as the third set wore on, and when she missed a volley at the net in the fourth game of the decider she crouched and rested her head on her racket.

Another upset

It was another big upset in a tournament where defending champion Gauff (third round) and four-time winner Iga Swiatek (fourth round) already tumbled out.

Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner served for the match in a second round defeat, and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic wasted a two-set lead in a third round loss.

That opened things up for lesser-known players. According to Opta, this is the first major without a former champion in either the men’s and women’s semifinals since the French Open in 1977.

From qualifier to contender

The unseeded Chwalinska came through three qualifying rounds to become only the second Polish woman to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros, along with Swiatek.

Chwalinska said British player Emma Raducanu’s run to the 2021 U.S. Open title as an 18-year-old qualifier had inspired her.

“It was such an impressive run, you know,” Chwalinska recalled. “Also, she was so young.”

When Kalinskaya’s big forehand from the back of the court went out, the 24-year-old Chwalinska had her biggest win, having never been beyond the second round at any major before this tournament.

Chwalinska’s total prize money heading into Roland Garros was $864,030 and reaching the last four here earns her 750,000 euros (about $872,000).

Windy conditions

The roof was open on Court Philippe-Chatrier and there was a lot of wind.

“I don’t know why would they keep the roof open when it was crazy windy,” Sabalenka said. “It was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play.”

Kalinskaya also struggled.

“I feel like I was fighting against the wind,” she said. “It was cold today, so the ball was going slower. I couldn’t use my speed, my power.” ___

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

A ground stop has been issued to departing flights from ZHU ZFW until 1 p.m. due to thunderstorms.

Click here for weather updates.

Amanda was located about 1,475 miles (2,375 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico, according to the Miami-based weather center. With the center of the storm at sea, the cyclone posed no immediate threat to land.

Amanda had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph), meteorologists said. The storm was forecast to strengthen over the next couple of days and then weaken over the weekend.

The Pacific hurricane season started May 15. The Atlantic hurricane season began Monday, and no cyclones have formed in that basin yet this year.

Sanmu Chen tried to tie a symbolic red thread to a street signpost in Causeway Bay, a busy shopping district close to a park that had for decades hosted an annual candlelight vigil on June 4 to commemorate those who died in the crackdown that ended student-led protests in Beijing in 1989.

Hong Kong was for decades the only place in China where a large-scale public commemoration of the crackdown was held. The massive annual vigils were banned in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and public acts to mark the Tiananmen Square killings have become increasingly sensitive in the city in recent years.

Chen said his thread was 6.4 meters (about 21 feet) long — an apparent reference to the June 4 crackdown date.

Police officers stopped Chen and searched his bag before letting him go. When asked by a reporter about his gesture with the red thread after his release, Chen said it was meant to express his condolences for those who died.

“It's abnormal when people monitor you when you are saying or doing something,” he told reporters.

Chen has been detained at least twice in recent years

In 2024, Chen was briefly detained on June 3 after appearing to write the Chinese characters of “eight nine six four” — a set of numbers referencing the date of the crackdown — with his hand in the air.

The year before, he was also detained on the same date in the same neighborhood, where he chanted “Hong Kongers, do not be afraid. Don’t forget, tomorrow is June 4.”

As night fell on Wednesday, another artist, Chan Mei-tung, stood outside a nearby department store holding up a question-mark-shaped balloon. Police officers also stopped her quickly and escorted her back to a subway station.

The police did not immediately comment Wednesday's actions.

Authorities banned vigils and arrested organizers

In 1989, under then-leader Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese military was sent to Tiananmen Square to end weeks of student-led protests on the night of June 3-4. Soldiers fired live rounds. Hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed, including dozens of soldiers.

Annual vigils in Hong Kong's Victoria Park used to attract tens of thousands each year until the event was banned in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.

That same year, Beijing imposed a national security law in the city following massive anti-government protests in 2019. Since then, authorities have increasingly silenced dissent. Many leading activists have been arrested and some vocal media outlets shut down. Dozens of civil society groups have been disbanded, including the one that organized the vigils.

Three former vigil organizers were charged in 2021 with inciting subversion under the national security law. Two of them have gone on trial and are waiting a verdict, possibly in July. If convicted, they face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The third organizer entered a guilty plea, which can typically result in a sentence reduction.

The Hong Kong and Beijing governments say the security law is crucial for the city’s stability. Hong Kong authorities say the law stipulates that human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security.

A carnival is now held at the former vigil site

After COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, the former vigil site became the location of a yearly carnival organized by pro-China groups.

Over the past three years, some people who tried to commemorate the Tiananmen Square killings on the crackdown’s anniversary, have been detained there.

This year's carnival began on Wednesday. Later in the day near the site, Tang Ngok-kwan, who was also a vigil organizer in the past, bowed in commemoration. He told reporters he read the list of the victims in a low voice and criticized that the event name contains the word “carnival,” which carries a festive vibe.

The action by Tang and similar muted expressions in Hong Kong underlined the decline in civil liberties promised by Beijing when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

But even as public commemoration faded in Hong Kong, overseas communities keep the memories alive by hosting vigils and rallies in places like London and Canada.

Wu’er Kaixi, who was a leader of the 1989 Tiananmen protests, told reporters in Tokyo that the democracy movement in China “is still there.”

“We are managing to survive, (it’s) not easy, but we are surviving, because just like 37 years ago, we were driven to the square, to the streets of Beijing by one thing — hope,” he said.

___

Associated Press video journalist Alice Fung in Hong Kong contributed to the report.

Kinski, now 65, has urged Wenders to reedit the film. Last month, she told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung: “That was my first film, he was my first director and he didn't protect me.”

Wenders, the acclaimed director behind “Paris, Texas” and “Wings of Desire,” issued a statement apologizing to Kinski.

“I recognize that Nastassja Kinski should have been better protected back then,” Wenders said. “For that, I apologize to you, Nastassja, unreservedly, no ifs and buts.”

“The Wrong Move” marked the film debut of Kinski, the daughter of actor Klaus Kinski. It stars Rüdiger Vogler as an aspiring writer wandering through Germany. His encounters include an apparently mute teen acrobat played by Kinski, who appears topless in a scene.

Wenders said he was “withdrawing it from all current forms of distribution and exhibition,” including streaming services and broadcast television. His nonprofit Wim Wenders Foundation owns “The Wrong Move.”

The film will remain unavailable, Wenders said, until a mutually agreed upon solution can be found. He said he will seek “a broad dialogue” that includes Kinksi, the German Film Academy and other film groups.

“It is necessary for our society to find appropriate ways of dealing with controversial film works from the 20th Century and to face new learning processes and inclusive perspectives regarding cinema,” said Wenders.

Representatives for Kinski did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment Wednesday.

At the German Film Awards last week, Wenders spoke about his quandary over the film. Speaking to the audience at Germany's equivalent of the Oscars, Wenders said retroactively editing it “sets a precedent that affects you all, and then it becomes possible with all your films later on.”

Kinski would go on to co-star in Wenders' 1984 film “Paris, Texas,” but long maintained misgivings about her introduction to the film business. At the ages of 14 and 17, she also appeared nude in the films “To the Devil a Daughter” and “Stay As You Are.”

“If I had had somebody to protect me or if I had felt more secure about myself, I would not have accepted certain things. Nudity things,” Kinski told W Magazine in 1997. "And inside it was just tearing me apart.”

On the standard cover, Williams is depicted in a body position similar to his pivotal, scrambling, fourth-and-8 jump pass to Rome Odunze in a stirring comeback victory over Green Bay in a wild card playoff game on Jan. 10.

With his arm cocked to throw and his feet spread, Williams appears to soar above a silhouette of the Chicago skyline that is set against a blue backdrop.

The deluxe edition features a tight shot of Williams with arms crossed over his white game jersey, a dark, night-like background and snow falling around him.

Being featured on the game's cover is “like my childhood dream was coming true,” Williams said. “I grew up playing Madden and imagining what it would be like to be part of the game."

Williams and the 2025 Bears became synonymous with late-game theatrics last season, staging more than a handful of comeback victories to go with some dramatic comeback bids that came up just short — including their season-ending playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

In 17 regular-season games, Williams passed for a franchise-record 3,942 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions in his second season since being drafted first overall out of Southern California.

___

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

Around it, everything else is brand new.

The racetrack that straddles the border of Queens and Long Island is smack in the middle of a massive $550 million reconstruction project that included knocking down the gargantuan brick grandstand and rebuilding a smaller, modern facility suited for horse racing in the 21st century. A year from now, the Belmont Stakes will return to its traditional home at Belmont Park after a three-year hiatus upstate at Saratoga Race Course to allow for the work to get done.

“It’s hugely important to get it back to Belmont,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “The opening of a new facility is something that can really give the industry a shot in the arm.”

Belmont Park 2.0

Aqueduct Racetrack will close to consolidate racing in New York to two locations after shiny new Belmont Park reopens on a limited basis Sept. 18. It is scheduled to be fully complete by next spring, ahead of the 159th Belmont Stakes and then the Breeders' Cup World Championships in the fall of 2027.

“Once you’re in the paddock and you get towards the building, you start to really see how it’s going to feel on a big day here,” said New York Racing Association president and CEO David O’Rourke, who has been with the organization since 2008.

“This consolidation was always discussed from Day 1. It was always on paper. To finally get to that point, we’re really excited."

The Associated Press took a hard hat tour of the construction site last month, where tarps and ladders are everywhere and tools strewn about the building, which is significantly smaller than the structure that reopened in 1968 after the last demolition and rebuild and held 100,000 people.

Roughly 300 construction workers plus 100 more support staff have put in more than 2 million hours, installing 1,728 tons of structural steel and pouring 40,000 cubic yards of concrete.

Building for horses and people

All the perks are there, including 31 suites — the old Belmont Park had none — along with a sports bar, a giant infield video screen and all the amenities of a stadium or arena. Lone Star Park in Texas was the last new racetrack to open in the U.S., back in 1997.

“This is a modern facility,” O'Rourke said. “It’s state of the art.”

That includes the racing surfaces because unlike stadiums and arenas for all-human sports, a ton of effort goes into making sure conditions are as good as possible for the horses. While the building is still a work in progress, the surfaces are done and ready: the dirt track known as “Big Sandy," two turf courses with grass that look straight out of European racing, and a synthetic track designed to race through the winter.

Updated technology allowed NYRA executive VP of operations and capital projects Glen Kozak and his team to install new drainage systems, along with track mats and bases designed to make the surfaces as safe as possible. Each marker pole has a robotic camera, and a 15-million gallon pond in the infield should hold enough water to irrigate without needing outside hydration.

“We’ve been given the opportunity here to start from the ground up and put all best practices in place,” Kozak said. “The quality of the irrigation, the health of the grass — all those components that go into better racing and better for the horse and rider, we were able to implement here.”

Back to Belmont

While the Belmont has been up at Saratoga, the third leg of the Triple Crown was shortened to 1 1/4 miles from the “test of the champion” 1 1/2-mile distance that was its hallmark. O'Rourke confirmed the plan is to go back to normal next year.

“The Belmont being a mile and a half with their big racetrack, I really kind of think that’s a unique opportunity as a lot of these horses won’t ever have to do that again in their career,” Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Cherie DeVaux said.

When American Pharoah ended the sport's 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015 and Justify swept the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 2018, each won the final race at 1 1/2 miles in front of a huge crowd. Pletcher wondered if it would have been the same the past three years at Saratoga and is glad the future includes the traditional distance.

“It’s such a unique race, and you don’t get the opportunity to run that far very often,” Pletcher said. “And to do it at a facility like Belmont, where it’s a once around mile and a half oval that's, to me, the ultimate race, especially when there’s a Triple Crown on the line.”

___

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

Republicans could net about 10 additional U.S. House seats in the November elections if redrawn voting districts perform as they were intended. The question is whether that's enough for the GOP to hold on to a majority in the chamber, where Democrats need to gain only a few seats to take control.

Political trends and historic patterns favor Democrats. President Donald Trump's approval ratings are negative. And the incumbent's party has lost House seats in every midterm election over the past two decades.

This election season already has been unusual. Voting districts typically are redrawn only after a census at the start of each decade. But Trump urged Republicans last summer to redraw congressional districts to their advantage to try to prevent losses in the 2026 midterms.

Since then, Republicans think they could win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states — Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

Nearly 145 million people — about two of every five U.S. residents — live in states with new congressional districts for this election.

Yet the mid-decade redistricting battle didn't go as far as it could have.

Republicans in Kansas and Democrats in Illinois both rebuffed party pushes to take up redistricting. In Republican-led Indiana and South Carolina and Democratic-led Maryland, new congressional districts passed the state House but ultimately died in the state Senate. The Virginia Supreme Court invalidated new voter-approved districts that could have helped Democrats win up to four additional seats. And the U.S. Supreme Court set aside a lower court order that could have helped Democrats gain a congressional seat in New York.

Here's a look at the states with new U.S. House maps:

Texas

Current map: 13 Democrats, 25 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a revised House map into law last August that could help Republicans win five additional seats. Democrats think they could still win some of those seats.

Missouri

Current map: two Democrats, six Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a revised House map into law last September that could help Republicans win an additional seat by reshaping a Democratic-held district based in Kansas City. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has until Aug. 4 — the date of Missouri's primaries — to decide whether to reject an initiative petition seeking a statewide vote on the map.

North Carolina

Current map: four Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: The Republican-led General Assembly gave final approval in October to revised districts that could help Republicans win an additional seat.

Ohio

Current map: five Democrats, 10 Republicans

New map: A bipartisan panel composed primarily of Republicans voted in October to approve revised House districts that improve Republicans’ chances of winning two additional seats. Democrats think they could still win those seats.

California

Current map: 43 Democrats, nine Republicans

New map: Voters in November approved revised House districts drawn by the Democratic-led Legislature that could help Democrats win five additional seats.

Utah

Current map: no Democrats, four Republicans

New map: A judge in November imposed revised House districts that could help Democrats win a seat in the Salt Lake City area.

Florida

Current map: eight Democrats, 20 Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed revised House districts in May that improve the GOP’s chances of winning four additional seats. Legal challenges are pending.

Tennessee

Current map: one Democrat, eight Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed new House districts in May that improve the GOP’s chances of winning an additional seat by carving up the lone Democratic-held seat, a majority-Black district based in Memphis. Legal challenges are pending.

Louisiana

Current map: two Democrats, four Republicans

New map: Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed off on new House districts in May that improve Republican chances of winning an additional seat by eliminating a majority-Black district held by a Democrat that the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as an illegal racial gerrymander.

Alabama

Current map: two Democrats, five Republicans

New map: The U.S. Supreme Court in June allowed the state to use a congressional map approved by Republican state lawmakers that improves the GOP's chances of winning an additional seat by reshaping a Democratic-held district that has a large number of Black voters.

The collision happened in the 2300 block of Summer Street. Houston Police Department received the report just before 9:40 a.m.

HPD’s Vehicular Crimes Division is leading the investigation, and it’s unclear if criminal charges will be filed.

Drivers and pedestrians are urged to use caution in the area as the investigation continues.

The Swiss soccer federation at the team's training camp in San Diego confirmed why Embolo’s travel approval to the U.S. had been put under review Tuesday. He has a conviction that became binding this year.

Embolo was charged after an altercation in Basel city center in 2018 and his guilty verdict was upheld at appeal last September. The verdict was finalized in April, just weeks before Embolo was due to travel to the U.S. for the third World Cup of his career.

“The embassy’s inquiries focused specifically on whether any physical violence had been involved. This was not the case,” the Swiss soccer body said. “Breel and the team are now awaiting approval so that he can travel to San Diego and join the squad as soon as possible.”

Switzerland starts its World Cup campaign on June 13 against Qatar at the San Francisco 49ers’ stadium in Santa Clara.

The Swiss then play Bosnia-Herzegovina in Inglewood, California and finish Group B against tournament co-host Canada in Vancouver on June 24.

The 29-year-old Embolo is set to be Switzerland’s first-choice striker and has scored 24 goals in 86 internationals.

___

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

The case was an early test of how the courts would respond to President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown.

Dugan had been scheduled to be sentenced on Wednesday, but U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman postponed the proceedings indefinitely to instead hear arguments about whether to overturn her conviction.

Adelman did not rule from the bench and did not indicate when he might issue a decision. Dugan and attorneys for both sides left the courtroom without commenting to reporters.

Former judge's attorney points to a Virginia case

Dugan’s attorney Steven Biskupic argued that her conviction was invalid and should be overturned. He said that was necessary because a federal appeals court in April overturned a key Virginia immigration case that the judge and prosecutors had cited in the Dugan case.

Biskupic argued that based on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturning that ruling, Dugan was improperly convicted, procedurally, under a certain federal law.

“Our primary argument is this was an invalid theory of conviction," Biskupic said.

In the Virginia case, an immigrant who was in the country illegally was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and later escaped. He was recaptured and indicted on a charge of obstructing a pending immigration proceeding.

The federal appeals court found that the ICE action did not constitute a “pending proceeding,” as is required under the federal obstruction law.

Dugan’s attorneys argue that she should not have been charged because there was no “pending proceeding” against the immigrant in her courtroom being sought by ICE agents, only a warrant filed for his arrest. The filing of a warrant does not constitute a “proceeding” under the law, Biskupic argued.

Prosecutors countered that the facts in the Virginia case are different and don’t apply to Dugan's. They also argued that other cases support Dugan's conviction.

“The court should stick with its ruling,” said Richard Frohling, acting U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Wisconsin.

In response to a question from the judge, he contended that the appeals court was wrong to overturn the Virginia case. The judge also quizzed Frohling on what constitutes a proceeding under the law and how long it lasts.

“It could be a couple minutes, it could be a couple years," Frohling said. "It all depends on the context.”

Dugan's sentencing was postponed so the court can hear new arguments

Dugan, 67, faces up to five years in prison after a jury convicted her on Dec. 19. But it is unlikely that Dugan would be sentenced to prison. Federal sentencing guidelines generally call for probation for defendants like her who have no criminal history and are convicted of a nonviolent crime.

She resigned from her position as a Milwaukee County circuit judge two weeks after her conviction amid threats of impeachment from Republican state lawmakers. She had been a judge for nine years.

Dugan was present for Wednesday's arguments but did not speak.

The Trump administration brought the case against Dugan as the president pressed ahead with his sweeping immigration crackdown. Trump’s administration and his allies branded Dugan as an activist judge, while Dugan’s attorneys said she was being unfairly targeted and argued, unsuccessfully, that she was immune from being charged because she was a judge.

Dugan’s case marked the first time that a state judge in Wisconsin went to trial on charges of obstructing immigration agents. She was acquitted of concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor.

Dugan helped an immigrant wanted by ICE agents

On April 18, 2025, immigration officers went to the Milwaukee County courthouse after learning Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan confronted agents outside her courtroom and directed them to the chief judge’s office because she told them their administrative warrant wasn’t sufficient grounds to arrest Flores-Ruiz.

After the agents left, she led Flores-Ruiz and his attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. A week later, FBI agents arrested Dugan in the courthouse, leading her outside in handcuffs.

Flores-Ruiz was deported in November.

A victory by Lee's Democratic Party had been widely expected because its main rival, the conservative People Power Party, remains in disarray after President Yoon Suk Yeol was removed from office and sentenced to life in prison over his martial law debacle in late 2024.

The joint exit polls by South Korea’s three major TV stations — KBS, MBC and SBS — showed the Democratic Party was forecast to win at least 11 of the 16 mayoral and provincial gubernatorial posts up for grabs in Wednesday's elections. The polls suggested the PPP had a clear lead in only one race, while the other four races were too close to call.

Vote counting was underway, with early results suggesting that Democratic Party candidates led in 12 contests.

“The conservatives’ support base has been fractured and weakened in the wake of Yoon’s impeachment, while the liberals’ support base has grown stronger," said Jeong Han-Wool, director of the Korean People Research Institute. “A win by the ruling party would help provide the Lee government with a considerably stable political foundation."

Election win would give Lee a further boost

Thursday will mark one year in office for Lee, who won a snap election triggered after Yoon's ouster. Lee's approval ratings still hover over 60%. He's been credited with what he calls “pragmatic diplomacy” that eased concerns that his rule would hurt ties with the U.S. and Japan. His popularity has also been attributed to a booming stock market and efforts to be more transparent about government decision-making procedures.

Whatever the outcome of Wednesday’s election, Lee’s foreign policy agenda will likely remain unchanged. The Democratic Party would also maintain its majority status at parliament, though 14 new members of the 300-member National Assembly will be chosen in separate by-elections on Wednesday.

With more allies at mayoral and gubernatorial posts, Lee could pursue his regional policies more easily and effectively, given 14 of the 16 regional leadership posts are currently held by the PPP, said Choi Jin, director of the Seoul-based Institute of Presidential Leadership.

That will help his party's preparations for the 2028 parliamentary elections, Choi said.

Much attention is focused on Seoul’s mayoral race

The Seoul mayoral election is considered the most important one. The exit polls and early vote counts showed Democratic Party candidate Chong Won-o ahead of his PPP rival and current mayor Oh Se-hoon.

Bipartisan disputes flared late Wednesday after the election commission announced a shortage of ballot papers in 14 polling stations in Seoul caused a temporary suspension of voting there. Commission officials said they allowed voters to cast ballots past the poll closing time.

PPP leader Jang Dong-hyeok said the incident seriously hurt voters' rights to cast their ballots. He called for vote counting to be halted, and said authorities must hold a new election depending on investigation results.

The Democratic Party flatly rejected the PPP’s demands, saying they were “not even worth considering.” But it expressed deep regret over the election commission's flawed management.

Election results are crucial for the conservative opposition

The PPP is still struggling with internal feuding between reformists who joined the Democratic Party-led push to impeach Yoon and his loyalists who attempted to protect the embattled leader.

Among the candidates running for the parliamentary by-elections is Han Dong-hoon, leader of the reformist faction who was eventually expelled from the PPP. Pre-election surveys show Han, now an independent, holding a slim lead over the Democratic Party’s Ha Jung-woo, a former Lee adviser on artificial intelligence, in a race in Busan, the country’s second biggest city.

Jeong, the institute director, said that a Han victory could help anti-Yoon reformists regroup and emerge as a new force among the struggling conservatives in South Korea. But Choi said Han’s win could worsen a divide in the conservatives because Yoon loyalists would feel a sense of crisis and close ranks further.

One memory from that storm has stayed with me ever since. Two lives were lost, not during the storm itself, but afterward. One person was killed by a falling tree branch, another by a downed power line. It was a sobering reminder that the danger doesn’t end when the winds die down.

If you’ve been here a while, you remember Hurricane Beryl in 2024. It was also a Category 1 storm, but it hit an area where many trees hadn’t been pruned since Hurricane Ike in 2007. The result was devastating. Falling trees knocked out power to millions and caused more than $3 billion in damage across Texas. Tragically, 43 people in the Houston area lost their lives, most due to heat-related illness. Once again, the aftermath proved deadlier than the storm itself. That’s why, this year, the National Hurricane Center is emphasizing power outages and extreme heat in its warning messages.

Even in years without a direct hurricane landfall, like 2025, we’re not immune to tragedy. The July 4th floods in Kerr County are a painful reminder. Tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry combined with a slow-moving, intense area of storms, dumping more than 10 inches of rain in just an hour over one of the most flood-prone regions in the country, Flash Flood Alley. In the end, 139 lives were lost, including 28 at Camp Mystic.

The investigation into Camp Mystic revealed there was no written evacuation plan and according to testimony provided to state legislators, staff had not been adequately trained or equipped for an emergency. Counselors acted bravely, but without preparation and organization, they didn’t have what they needed to safely get those girls evacuated after the first flood warning was issued.

The stories are heart wrenching. But they also carry an important lesson. If you’re a business owner, a manager, or an employee, ask yourself: are you prepared for a worst-case scenario?

Every year, we put together this Hurricane, Flood, and Survival Guide for you, for this community we all care about so deeply. It’s not meant to alarm you, but to prepare you. Because going into hurricane season hoping for the best isn’t enough. We must be ready for the worst.

That starts with a few simple steps:

• Have a family plan
• Practice that plan
• Build an emergency kit
• Stay informed

History can be a powerful teacher but only if we’re willing to learn from it. A recent study from Rice University’s Kinder Institute found that just 8% of Harris County residents are adequately prepared for hurricane season. Given everything we’ve been through, that number should be much higher.

We’ll continue doing our part to keep you informed. Please do yours by staying weather-aware, watching KPRC 2, visiting Click2Houston.com, and streaming on KPRC 2+.

We’re here for you, and we’re committed to helping keep you and your family safe.

The hurricane & flood survival guide is below. Open it up and print it. There is vital information and a checklist to make sure you are prepared for whatever this season brings.

Be sure to check out these pages to help prepare your children for disaster: Ready.gov games and the National Hurricane Center’s education resources.

We have more resources on the KPRC 2 Hurricane Headquarters page here.

Trump announced he'd now be the headlining act of the Great American State Fair.

That put to rest any possible scenario where a president who has built his personal and political persona on seizing the spotlight might cede the stage to avoid overshadowing a national celebration bigger than himself. It also offered a peek into how the president is likely to approach hosting the upcoming World Cup.

From his reality shows before becoming a politician, to hours spent entertaining at events in ways planned and impromptu, to proudly showing off his various properties and efforts to overhaul the White House, the president relishes hosting. Last year he even jokingly mused about leaving the presidency to do it again full time on TV.

Trump can be a gracious, personable and highly watchable master of ceremonies — but he's also one who tends to make every event about himself.

“The president has an outsized personality,” said Timothy Naftali, former director of Richard Nixon’s presidential library and professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. “There’s a predictability to the way in which the president frames his actions — or any actions around any event associated with him — and that’s just part of who he is, and his makeup and his professional background.”

Exhibit A is the fair, which begins June 25 and was supposed to feature concerts but now will be kicked off by a Trump rally. That will follow a UFC bout at the White House on June 14. Trump is a longtime cage match fan and the event marks his 80th birthday, but the president has sought to bill it as part of the anniversary festivities.

Many presidents relished hosting — but not like this

Andrew Jackson threw open the White House for an 1829 Inauguration Day bash so unruly that staff eventually dispersed the crowd by moving tubs of whiskey and ice cream to the lawn. Franklin D. Roosevelt mixed pre-dinner cocktails for friends and aides at White House gatherings he playfully dubbed “The Children’s Hour.” Audrey Hepburn was among the luminaries Ronald Reagan hosted at the White House.

Trump frequently had first-term dinners with business leaders but has more fully embraced the role since returning to the White House. He built a patio area similar to one at his Mar-a-Lago estate and frequently travels to Florida and his properties in Bedminster, New Jersey, and Sterling, Virginia, to headline fundraisers and other swanky gatherings.

Asked if Trump might overshadow events meant to bring the country and the world together, White House spokesman Davis Ingle pointed to the president's efforts to lead extensive renovations at the White House and around Washington. He said in a statement that the “historic beautification" gives the city "the glory it deserves during our nation’s historic semiquincentennial celebration — something everyone should celebrate."

Still, Trump has found unprecedented ways to inject himself into the anniversary.

The State Department is issuing passports with the president's picture and officials have designed a new $250 bill with his likeness. The Trump Organization, being run by Trump's children while he's president, applied to trademark “Trump 250" logos and other merchandise.

The U.S. Mint is also producing a 24-karat gold commemorative coin with Trump’s face, though that recalls a half-dollar silver coin bearing the likeness of President Calvin Coolidge to help mark America's 150th anniversary in 1926.

Past presidents had starring anniversary roles

Ulysses S. Grant opened a Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia to mark the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1876. Richard Nixon, in 1971, inaugurated a five-year “Bicentennial Era” ahead of the 200-year mark, though he resigned before the big day arrived.

Nixon's successor, Gerald Ford, then in the midst of an ultimately unsuccessful reelection campaign, began the week of July 4, 1976, by inaugurating the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum and attending a Kennedy Center event featuring Bob Hope, O.J. Simpson and others reading patriotic texts.

On Independence Day, Ford spoke at historic Valley Forge, then traveled to Philadelphia's Independence Hall, declaring, “Liberty is a living flame to be fed, not dead ashes to be revered.“ He also went to New York Harbor for a tall ship parade, presided over naturalization ceremonies at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello estate and hosted a state dinner for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

Still, “while Ford certainly hoped to use the bicentennial to promote his reelection campaign, he didn’t do it in such a self-aggrandizing, self-centered, narcissistic way,” said Marc Stein, a history professor at San Francisco State University and author of “Bicentennial: A Revolutionary History of the 1970s.”

Ford, added Naftali, “knew when to step out of the limelight and make sure the focus was on what mattered, which was the United States of America and the Declaration of Independence."

Trump, by contrast, “generally has contempt for norms” and rarely mentions “the great sweep of history,” Naftali said.

Dueling anniversary planners as Trump pushes to revise history

Congress charged a national organization, America250, with planning commemorative events. Ahead of the 2024 election, the group drafted a memo asking whomever the incoming president was to mobilize federal agencies and welcoming presidential involvement in events and initiatives.

Asked about Trump, America250 Chair Rosie Rios said the group “has had a very supportive and collaborative relationship with the organizations planning initiatives on behalf of the president.”

But Rios' organization is separate from Freedom 250, a mix of public and private partnerships which the Trump administration established to fund and prepare anniversary events — which has caused confusion.

America250 aims to "inspire our fellow Americans to reflect on our past, strengthen our love of country, and renew our commitment to the ideals of democracy through programs that educate, engage, and unite us as a nation."

That might seem a departure from the “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order Trump signed last year. It sought to beat back a “revisionist movement” responsible for “replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.”

Stein, now serving a one-year term as president of the Organization of American Historians, is helping organize “We Want More History,” a push to coordinate local events celebrating the public's love for the subject in fact-based ways.

He said Trump's version of history is "closer to propaganda, and it’s closer to cheerleading.”

World Cup gives Trump another platform to play host

The president has similarly taken his exceeding-normal-limits approach to the soccer tournament the U.S. is co-hosting with Mexico and Canada.

He created a federal World Cup task force, and leads it. He collected a peace prize from soccer's governing body, FIFA, and said he'd be on stage to present the tournament's golden trophy to the winning team.

Trump even oversaw the tournament's draw at the Kennedy Center, which he's sought to rename for himself, sparking legal challenges.

He returned to the same building to headline December's Kennedy Center Honors, noting, “We never had a president hosting the awards before." He later posted on social media, "Would you like me to leave the Presidency in order to make ‘hosting’ a full time job?”

Naftali noted, “Whatever filters there were in the first term — and there weren’t many — are gone."

“It’s undiluted Donald Trump."

It's the Knicks' ninth time in the title series, and the eighth time they've played Game 1 on the road. It's the Spurs' seventh time in the title series, and the sixth time they've played Game 1 at home.

Granted, a good amount of time has passed for both teams since they've been on this stage: The Knicks haven't played in the finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999, and the Spurs haven't been there since beating the Miami Heat in 2014.

“I think we’re just locked in and focused on the task at hand,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “Then we can look back when everything is all said and done and really embrace this process and this run. It’s an honor, but can’t focus too much on the outside world and the run so far.”

The run the Knicks are on coming into this series is without compare: 11 straight wins by a total of 262 points, the most lopsided 11-game run — regular season or playoffs — in NBA history.

The Spurs have a different kind of streak going into Wednesday night. They've never lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals, going 6-0 in openers when they make the title round.

Most players on both teams are making their finals debuts in this series. Spurs guard De'Aaron Fox said it's still going to be important for his team to remember how they got to the finals in the first place.

“This is a hard thing to do. It’s hard to get back to these places,” Fox said. “Don’t change anything that we’re doing. There’s a reason that we’re in the finals. There’s a reason that we won (62) games. There’s a reason we didn’t lose three games in a row the whole year. So, we don’t want to get to this place and then start changing the way we play.”

___

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

Worker bees perform a myriad of jobs to keep up the hive, including collecting food, nurturing young bees and caring for the queen, who lays all the eggs. New research reveals that the honeybees responsible for crafting the queen's home effectively run a fever to help melt and blend special chemicals into the wax.

“No one had ever thought that there might be a specialized group of workers that were building these queen cells,” said bee researcher Julia Bowsher with North Dakota State University, who had no role in the study.

These newly identified bees were younger and also had patterns of expression in their genes that made them uniquely suited to the task. The resulting peanut-shaped home was also distinct in its makeup, as it was made of softer wax with a higher melting point than the kind used to build worker bees' homes.

Queens are raised eating royal jelly secreted from the glands of worker bees and scientists have long believed diet was the main key to making a monarch. The new findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggest that the queen's environment might also play a role.

To test that theory, researchers raised baby queens in cups capped with either queen or worker wax. Despite eating royal jelly, the queens raised in worker wax were smaller and didn’t survive as well.

“For centuries, we believed ‘you are what you eat’ was the only rule for making a queen bee. Our study rewrites that rule to say ‘you are where you live, too,'" Kai Wang, a study co-author with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said in an email.

The findings offer a rare look inside the hive, but questions remain.

Honeybees pollinate and ensure the survival of crops such as blueberries, squash, watermelon and almonds. Further research is needed to learn more about the secret lives of queen cell-building bees and the exact combination of factors that produce the hive's head honcho.

“I would really like to know more about the specific chemical composition of this wax and which active ingredients are directly affecting the growth of the queens,” Bowsher said.

___

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

The league debuted a new spot — “History is Calling” — promoting the finals early Wednesday, hours before the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks begin this year's title series.

Britell — the composer known for “Succession,” “Moonlight” and “Andor” — envisioned a piece that the league said, “draws inspiration from the emotional progression of basketball, from anticipation and momentum shifts to the defining moments that shape outcomes.”

Nas provides the voice, with nods to the 80-year history of the league and what it takes to get to the NBA Finals. Nas worked closely with Britell on the music itself, collaborating to shape the final sound of the project.

“Thirty teams start this journey, but only two are left standing,” Nas begins. “The math is simple. The quest, anything but. This isn't just a series. This is legacy. Everything's on the line, because history is calling. This is the NBA Finals.”

The NBA said Britell's score “marks the first expression of the league’s new signature audio identity,” and that Britell and Nas will have an expanded partnership with the league going forward.

___

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

The program delivered on a campaign promise of President Prabowo Subianto and aimed to fight malnutrition by feeding nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. But it has come under steep criticism due to high costs and cases of food poisoning among schoolchildren who consumed the meals.

Prabowo fired Dadan Hindayana on Tuesday and replaced him with the agency's deputy chief. Investigators searched the agency’s offices early Wednesday.

Before Indonesia’s Attorney General’s Office made Wednesday’s arrest announcement, Hindaya could be seen being led out in handcuffs, wearing a detainee red vest and a black shirt, and escorted into a green prison van.

Prosecutors also arrested two other suspects, Sony Sonjaya, the Deputy Head of the Nutrition Provision Division and Lodewyk Pusung, the Deputy Head of the Organizational Development and Institutional Relations Division. Both were fired on Tuesday. Prosecutors only published their initials, but the Minister of the State Secretariat, Prasetyo Hadi, shared their names with reporters.

Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi, AGO’s Director of Investigation, told reporters that based on the “examination ... and two pieces of sufficient evidence,” the three were named as suspects “in the criminal investigation of corruption related to the management of the Free Nutritious Meal program at the National Nutrition Agency for the 2025–2026 period.”

The Free Nutritious Meal program is implemented through foundations operating in schools. Investigators allege these foundations were used to facilitate criminal activities and were linked to agency officials and employees. Despite failing to meet the eligibility requirements to become program partners, they were allegedly approved by manipulating the agency’s partner verification system, with the suspects' help, Nahdi said.

“These foundations receive incentives worth billions of rupiah every day,” he said, adding that investigators are still calculating the damage to state coffers.

Hadi said Tuesday the three suspects were dismissed for failing to adhere to "standard operating procedure ... implementing governance, including maintaining food quality."

Hadi stressed the government's continuing commitment to the free meals program. “Services to the public must not be disrupted in any way,” he told reporters.

The meals program is expected to cost $28 billion through 2029.

One of Prabowo's goals was to fight malnutrition and help farmers by purchasing their harvests, but critics had questioned whether the program was affordable and logistically possible in a vast archipelago of more than 282 million people.

“Aaron is a guy that I stay really close in touch with, and I know the respect that he has for Myles,” McVay said. “Talked to him about the opportunity to be able to bring (Garrett) on board. If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.”

While the Rams would never close the door on Donald's possible return to the NFL, McVay confirms it's entirely up to the superstar defensive tackle to open that door if he wants to play alongside Garrett.

The possibility of Donald's return from two seasons in retirement became a hot topic almost immediately after the Rams swung their blockbuster trade Monday to acquire Garrett from the Cleveland Browns. Now 35 years old, Donald walked away in March 2024 after a prolific 10-year career spent entirely with the Rams.

ESPN personality Pat McAfee stoked the idea on Tuesday when he said he had texted about a comeback with Donald. McAfee said Donald told him that Garrett’s arrival in LA “for sure got me thinking,” and that he’s “gotta see if that fire can light back up.”

Donald racked up eight All-Pro selections, 10 Pro Bowl nods, three AP Defensive Player of the Year awards and a Super Bowl ring during 10 seasons in St. Louis and Los Angeles. He went out near the top of his game with a franchise-record 111 sacks as the NFL's best interior pass rusher, saying he was ready to step back from the daily grind required to maintain that level of play.

But because Donald retired at a relatively young age for defensive linemen, his possible return has been a topic of conversation for two full years in Los Angeles, where the Pittsburgh native still spends most of his time with his family. Rams fans openly pined for his return last season while the team appeared capable of making a second Super Bowl run, but Donald resisted the lure.

Donald even worked out with Jared Verse, the first-round pick and rising star edge rusher who was traded to Cleveland along with three high draft picks. The Rams gave up a fortune to get Garrett, the two-time AP Defensive Player of the Year and one of Donald's very few peers in the 21st century.

Garrett has previously spoken of his respect for Donald's game, and the Rams' new superstar nodded along Tuesday while McVay praised Donald.

The Rams' defensive line is already strong, with Garrett joining 12-sack edge rusher Byron Young and strong interior linemen Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford. Garrett has already secured his No. 95 jersey from Ford, who wore it with the Rams last season.

“There was a conversation,” Garrett said with a laugh.

“A conversation and a couple of bucks?” McVay interjected.

“Maybe more than a couple of bucks,” Garrett said with a laugh. “He was open to it.”

___

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

Hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege in federal lawsuits that immigration detention facilities are failing to provide adequate medical care, an investigation by KFF Health News and The Associated Press found. Detainees say they didn’t get medications on time — or at all — for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson’s and HIV. Requests for help went unanswered for weeks. Blood sugars rose. Infections festered. Cancers remained untreated. Detainees collapsed and had seizures.

U.S. jails and immigration detention centers have long struggled to meet the medical needs of the people in their charge. But the system is sagging under an influx of detentions since President Donald Trump returned to office: More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as of mid-January, up from around 40,000 a year earlier.

KFF Health News and AP analyzed thousands of court cases filed since Trump’s second inauguration that use a legal route known as habeas corpus to argue people are being held illegally by ICE. The records offer a rare window into how those detained say — often under penalty of perjury — ICE is handling their medical needs. Reporters also interviewed more than 50 detainees, family members and lawyers.

The investigation revealed that medical neglect is alleged across the sprawling detention system, including in offices not designed to house people, county jails and quickly staged sites with nicknames such as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

ICE custody is deadlier than it has been in two decades, researchers wrote in JAMA in April. The Department of Homeland Security reported 51 people had died in detention since the start of Trump’s second administration, with suicides spiking to an unprecedented number.

KFF Health News and AP asked DHS to respond to the findings six days before publication but it did not provide comment. The department’s acting chief medical officer, Sean Conley, previously said “it is both policy and longstanding practice for aliens to receive timely and appropriate medical care from the moment they enter ICE custody” and that DHS recruits healthcare professionals to maintain high standards. “This is better, more responsive healthcare than many aliens have ever received in their entire lives,” he said.

Individual facilities and private prison companies contracting with DHS that responded to requests for comment said they follow ICE standards and that detainees receive medical care when it is required. Some said they were unfamiliar with the allegations outlined in court documents; others blamed the detainees themselves for lapses in their medical care.

“I have never seen such disregard or medical neglect like this anywhere,” Vardan Gukasian, a political dissident and former paramedic who spent years behind bars in Armenia, wrote in a court declaration in March to contest his detention in Henderson, Nevada, as it stretched to 13 months despite his health problems.

Madeleine Skains, a spokesperson for the city of Henderson, said medical care is always available at the facility and that the court had not ordered changes to his care.

Last June, as Gukasian experienced the symptoms of uncontrolled high blood pressure — dizziness, a nosebleed and a headache — his cellmate banged on their door for help.

“When it did not arrive, the rest of the block banged on their doors,” he wrote. Gukasian was hospitalized that day.

‘Brazen indifference to really obvious problems’

The administration’s mass deportation effort has swept up hundreds of thousands of people during routine immigration check-ins, at traffic stops, at their homes and in hospitals.

About 70% of detainees have no criminal conviction. Their immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal.

“I couldn’t understand why they treated me so harshly,” said a father of six in Georgia. He said he was injured while shackled in custody when the vehicle transporting him to an Atlanta facility jolted, throwing him out of his seat and into a metal armrest. His wound became infected with E. coli, he said, because he had to sleep on a dirty concrete floor amid leaking toilets.

Like other detainees interviewed, he spoke on the condition of anonymity; they said they fear for their safety, for the safety of their families or that speaking out would jeopardize their immigration cases. The AP and KFF Health News are not naming anyone identified in court documents without their consent.

Staffers at Stewart Detention Center in rural Lumpkin, Georgia, didn’t adequately respond to that man’s request for medical help, court records say, until he passed out and was taken to a hospital about an hour away. There, he said, a doctor told him he’d narrowly escaped amputation of his left leg. Medical staff found no records of a case matching this description, according to Brian Todd, a spokesperson for CoreCivic, a private prison company, which runs the facility.

The 48-year-old, who moved to the U.S. from Guatemala more than two decades ago, was released in October and is now a legal permanent resident. But he is unsure if he’ll be able to return to his job in construction because he said he can no longer lift heavy things due to his injury.

Some detainees or their lawyers said even basic care was denied: gauze to protect an open foot wound, prenatal care for a high-risk pregnancy, a pillow to ease the pain of sleeping with advanced stomach cancer, sanitary pads for postpartum bleeding.

“I would like to believe the government has the best interest of those it holds in detention for whatever period of time,” Judge Benita Pearson, a federal judge in Ohio, said during a hearing in October concerning a 70-year-old who alleged the government lost her glasses during her arrest. “If one is unable to see due to the loss of glasses when detained, that should be fixed.”

Dora Schriro, who worked for ICE and now serves as a special adviser to the American Bar Association, said case law requires the government to treat people in immigration detention with the same care it affords those in traditional jails awaiting trial. But administrators are granted discretion and medical care standards vary.

Detainees are frequently moved across the country, often without warning, interrupting treatment. A woman from El Salvador said she missed a week of HIV medication when she was transferred from Colorado to a county jail in Wyoming.

A Russian man wrote that he saw a gastroenterologist about his painful gallstones while detained in Texas and scheduled an appointment with a surgeon. “Unfortunately, I never got to see him, due to my being moved around various detention centers.”

Advocates say even obvious disabilities, like legal blindness, are ignored.

A detainee who lost one eye and had severe glaucoma in the other required twice-daily drops to maintain what vision remained. But, he said, some days the drops never came.

“Now, I can only see a little bit straight in front. It now often looks like I’m seeing through gauze,” the man wrote in a court declaration. “This makes me very afraid that one of these times I am going to open my eyes and not be able to see anything at all.”

He wrote that he was scared he wouldn’t be able to see his infant son grow up.

“It’s just sort of brazen indifference to really obvious problems, things you would have thought absurd a decade ago — like the fact that you can’t see,” the man’s attorney, Brian Hoffman, said. “Before, you could attempt to work with folks on the government side and maybe shame them into doing the right thing. Now, it’s sort of like anything you want done you have to go to court and sue over.”

Even court orders aren’t always enough. One California judge ordered the government to take a man showing signs of prostate cancer to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. Records show they did not take him.

Lawyers representing ICE told the judge that officials missed the appointment because of an “internal scheduling error.” CoreCivic, which runs that facility, said it was unable to comment on active litigation.

A surge in cases

When immigrants file habeas corpus petitions, they exercise a right to challenge unlawful imprisonment that dates back to medieval times.

More than 40,000 such petitions have been filed during Trump’s second term, fueled by decisions last year to deny bond to many people held on immigration charges. Judges are split on whether that’s legal; the question appears headed to the Supreme Court.

Many habeas claims have been successful, but judges typically cite reasons unrelated to the medical neglect described in the petitions, such as being held too long before being deported.

The more than 300 medical neglect claims found in this investigation represent a fraction of the problem. The details of habeas corpus cases are often hidden due to a federal rule barring the public from viewing such documents online. KFF Health News and AP obtained some documents directly and received records on 4,400 cases from Habeas Dockets, a project of the nonprofit Immigration Justice Transparency Initiative. But tens of thousands more remain largely inaccessible.

Some judges have written that the habeas process is not how to raise allegations of medical neglect and have declined to release detainees over those claims. Not every detainee who believes they experienced medical neglect files a habeas petition or cites their medical issues if they do.

Jose-Antonio Segismundo’s petition made no mention of being unable to see an oncologist for the cancer in his abdomen while detained for more than seven months at the Florida detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz and Folkston D Ray ICE Processing Center in Georgia. Medical records in his court filings show he was arrested about five weeks before his scheduled appointment with a cancer specialist.

His wife, Maria Jose Gonzalez, said he didn’t receive any treatment even though she sent his medical records and explained his condition to officials at Folkston. When his stomach pain erupted, often suddenly and intensely, she said, they gave him Tylenol.

Geo Group, which runs Folkston, follows ICE standards and provides healthcare and access to off-site medical specialists when needed, spokesperson Christopher Ferreira said.

This spring, Segismundo, 48, was deported to Mexico, a country he left nearly 30 years ago, Gonzalez said. Now, she said, he will have to restart his search for care in the Oaxacan village where he grew up.

Watching loved ones deteriorate

Detainees receiving inadequate healthcare have little recourse. DHS last year gutted the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. In early May, it shut the office entirely, citing a lack of funding from Congress.

Previously, ombudsman staffers could facilitate medical care or investigate complaints of neglect, according to Matt Boles, an immigration attorney in Georgia. Now, he said, there’s no one to call.

Meanwhile, detainees’ families said they feel helpless, making desperate calls to facilities, the government and their legislators while watching their loved ones deteriorate.

Riya Khan saw her mother get sicker at the California City Detention Facility, which is owned by CoreCivic. When she visited a week after her mother arrived at the facility in the Mojave Desert, Riya said, the 64-year-old woman stumbled into her seat. She was shaking and her breathing was labored.

Masuma Khan came to the U.S. from Bangladesh in 1997. She has no criminal history, her records say, and was detained in October when she showed up for her regular ICE check-in.

For the month she was detained, according to her daughter, she only intermittently received her medications for conditions including high blood pressure, hypothyroidism and prediabetes.

CoreCivic treats chronic conditions in line with applicable medical standards, Todd said.

“Nothing matters more to CoreCivic than the health, safety and well-being of the people in our care,” Todd said.

Khan said she got her asthma medication for the first time two days before she was released and her eye drops for glaucoma never arrived. Staffers told Khan she needed to buy some of her medications from the commissary but it didn’t stock them, her daughter said.

Before ICE detained Masuma Khan, she made friends with everyone, her daughter said. She had worked for years at Lucky Boy, an iconic Pasadena fast-food restaurant, and in her free time fed birds and left out fruit for bees that visited her apartment’s balcony.

Now she’s too scared to go outside. She still must regularly check in with ICE, and she’s terrified each time.

A stroke on a video call

Previously, detainees with serious medical needs would likely have been released on humanitarian parole, in part to avoid the cost of their care, Vermont attorney Andrew Pelcher said.

In fiscal year 2023 — before the detained population soared — ICE spent more than $390 million on healthcare for detained noncitizens, according to its most recent annual report to Congress. At a conference in May, then acting director Todd Lyons said ICE has spent “almost half a billion dollars” on detainee healthcare this year.

Now, under “mandatory detention,” attorneys say people are staying locked up with serious — and expensive — conditions.

A Romanian citizen underwent several heart surgeries, including an emergency triple bypass in April 2025, before he was arrested in July. As part of his recovery, the 52-year-old was required to take 16 daily medications. While at an ICE field office in Baltimore, his court filings allege, he went two days without any medication before officials moved him to a facility in New Jersey.

He was hospitalized three times while detained, complaining of chest pains — in part, medical records and court documents say because, despite “countless requests,” the detention center did not provide all his medications. Hospital discharge papers cited by his lawyer show he received only eight of the 16 medications after his second release from the hospital.

“Can you please talk to the ICE facility to make sure they give him his medications?” his treatment providers wrote in medical records included in his court filings. “He was admitted last week for chest pain and today he was readmitted again for chest pain secondary to non compliance for medications.”

Several weeks later in August, he had a stroke while on a video call with his daughter, according to court filings. “He was struggling to breathe, and was pointing at his chest where he was again experiencing pain, and suddenly stopped speaking.” His daughter screamed for help through the video monitor, according to his petition. “Eventually an officer came in to assist him and cut the feed.”

The man lost his ability to speak for four days, the document says. He was returned to detention, where he remained until a federal judge ordered his release in November.

Families of ICE detainees are left with impossible choices

Cassandra Amador waits for the phone to ring every morning, desperate to ask her husband the question that’s woken her up every night for months: “Did you get your medicine?”

Her husband, Pedro Javier Amador Gutierrez, 36, has high blood pressure and depends on the state-run facility in Florida nicknamed “Deportation Depot” to administer the prescriptions that have kept him alive for years. Many mornings, he tells his wife he did not get them.

When she talks to him, she said, he sounds weaker and more scared every day, not like the upbeat man who would take her kids out for ice cream.

“You can hear in his voice how he feels,” she said.

Now, she said, he’s considering returning to Cuba, which he fled because of political persecution, out of fear that he will die in detention without his medicines. Amador and her children would go with him, she said, even though she was born in New Jersey, has never been to Cuba and doesn’t speak much Spanish.

He has already collapsed twice at the Baker Correctional Institution in Sanderson, Florida, his wife said. She’s terrified that the next time, he won’t get up.

___

This report is a collaboration between The Associated Press and KFF Health News. Associated Press journalists Garance Burke, Valerie Gonzalez and Tim Sullivan as well as KFF Health News correspondent Kate Wells contributed.

Deputies responded to a residence in the 10700 block of Spring Brook Pass, where investigators learned an 18-year-old man may have unintentionally shot a 19-year-old man.

Life Flight transported the injured teen to a hospital, where he remains in critical condition, authorities said.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Authorities have not released the identities of those involved, and it remains unclear what led to the gun being discharged.

Deputies said the 18-year-old has since been charged with aggravated assault, but the charges could be updated if the 19-year-old dies.

The investigation is ongoing.

Four people were found fatally shot when police were called Monday to a home in Muscatine, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Cedar Rapids, Muscatine Police Chief Anthony Kies said during a news conference.

Officers later found the suspect, 52-year-old Ryan Willis McFarland, of Muscatine, on a trail in the city, Kies said.

___

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

___

“While talking to Ryan Willis McFarland, he took his own life,” the police chief said.

Two other men who also are believed to be relatives of McFarland were later found fatally shot elsewhere in the city, according to Kies. One man was found in his home and the other was discovered dead inside a business, he said.

Authorities have yet to release the names of the victims and any details about them.

“Today I simply do not have the words, this act of evil and what it has done to our community,” Kies said.

The city’s police department is continuing to investigate the shootings, working to process the crime scenes and conduct interviews. Police have asked anyone with information to contact its major crimes unit.

Kies confirmed that McFarland had a criminal record, but wouldn’t share any details.

Jake Mangum tied a career-high with four hits to help the Pirates to their fourth straight victory.

Yordan Alvarez had three RBIs and hit his 21st home run, which ranks second in the majors behind Kyle Schwarber’s 22. But his big game wasn’t enough to keep the Astros from their third loss in four games.

The Pirates trailed by 2 with no outs and two on in the sixth before Cruz launched his 14th homer of the season into the bullpen in right-center field to give them a 5-4 lead.

Lowe’s home run, which clanged off the foul pole in right field, came in the eighth to make it 9-4.

Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler (2-6) allowed five hits and four runs — three earned — in five innings.

Houston added two runs in the ninth to cut the lead to 4 before loading the bases with one out off Dennis Santana. Gregory Soto took over and struck out the next two batters for his eighth save.

Mike Burrows (3-7) permitted eight hits and six runs — five earned — in five-plus innings after being traded from Pittsburgh to Houston in December.

Jeremy Peña hit a leadoff single before Alvarez gave Houston an early lead with his opposite field shot to left field.

There was one out in the second when Rodríguez hit his first home run this season to tie it 2-2.

Peña reached on an error by Nick Gonzales with no outs in the third before Alvarez walked. The Astros took a 3-2 lead when Peña scored on a single by Christian Walker.

Brice Matthews hit a one-out single in the fourth and moved to third on a single by Christian Vázquez. Matthews scored when Peña lined into a force out that made it 4-2.

Up Next

Pittsburgh RHP Paul Skenes (6-5, 2.89 ERA) opposes RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-1, 1.34) on Wednesday night.

___

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

Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares on Tuesday by some of the hundreds of people who attended a protest in the English southern coastal city of Southampton, where Henry Nowak was killed in December. Two people were arrested and 11 officers and a police dog were injured, police said.

Nowak's death has triggered debates about policing and knife crime and has spurred claims by far-right activists and politicians that there is bias against white people in the justice system.

Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist assault by 18-year-old Nowak, who was white. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded man as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that the case had left “serious questions to answer, including how accusations of racism informed police thinking." But he called the street violence “disgraceful and completely unacceptable.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Nowak's family had "made a powerful call to us all yesterday to not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension.

“There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law,” she said.

Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder and sentenced Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. The judge said he didn’t believe Nowak had said anything racist to his attacker.

After the sentencing, police released video showing officers dismissing Nowak when he told them he had been stabbed and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is probing the actions of the officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it will review its anti-racism guidance in the wake of the killing.

After the sentencing hearing, the victim’s father, Mark Nowak, said the case was not about racism or religion, and that he wanted his son’s death to lead to safer streets and not to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”

But Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said on Tuesday that it was an example of so-called two-tier policing — a popular far-right talking point that claims ethnic minorities are better treated than white people.

Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage,” and said, “white lives matter just as much as Black lives.” X owner Elon Musk and British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, have also expressed outrage at the crime.

Starmer said Farage's “appeal for rage” was “unforgivable.”

“I don’t believe there’s two-tier policing in this country," he said Wednesday in the House of Commons. “I’m really shocked that he pretends to have respect for Henry’s family and then acts in this way.”

In the wake of the killing, some politicians have called for Sikhs to be banned from carrying ceremonial knives, known as kirpans. The judge said Digwa had a small kirpan but also had an 8-inch (21-centimeter) sheathed Sikh dagger that was used as the weapon to kill Nowak.

Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon said he understood the “desire for answers and accountability.”

“But that must be done in the right way and not used as an excuse to threaten and intimidate my officers and bring violence to our streets, causing fear and harm to those living and working in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,” he said.

Kalshi, the online prediction marketplace, referred Santos to the Department of Justice after detecting suspicious trades made by him ahead of Trump’s Feb. 24 speech, the person said. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Kalshi also reported the trades to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal regulatory body that has vowed to crack down on insider trading in prediction marketplaces.

The Justice Department and the CFTC didn't immediately respond Tuesday to inquiries from the AP.

Santos also did not respond to text messages or phone calls.

The referral was first reported by NPR. Santos told NPR that he wasn't aware of the investigation. He declined to say whether he had a Kalshi account.

“I’m not saying yes, I’m not saying no,” Santos told NPR.

The convicted ex-congressman had repeatedly discussed his intention to attend the State of the Union, which came just four months after he was granted clemency by Trump in a fraud case that led to his expulsion from the U.S. House.

On the eve of Trump's speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.

Then, minutes into the speech, Santos posted on X that he had been waylaid at the airport. Immediately, several social media users accused him of running another scheme.

“Santos talking to his accountant and telling him to open his Kalshi account and bet all his money on No,” one user wrote, alongside a meme of Al Pacino counting money in the movie Scarface.

In March, Santos addressed the complaints on his podcast.

“I guess people lost money,” he said. “Some people made unexpected money. That’s to show you how fragile these markets are.”

Santos, who won office as a Republican after inventing a bogus persona as a Wall Street dealmaker, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft in 2024.

After serving just 84 days, he was ordered released by Trump, who called Santos a “rogue” but said he didn’t deserve a harsh sentence and should get credit for voting Republican.

Prediction markets, including Kalshi and its chief rival Polymarket, have drawn scrutiny as their businesses have expanded — with some lawmakers urging the platforms to do more to guard against insider trading.

Both companies have said they are reporting suspicious trades to federal regulators. Some investigations have led to criminal charges. In April a soldier involved in the military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was charged with using classified information to win more than $400,000 predicting the date of his capture on Polymarket.

In April, the Senate approved a bipartisan resolution to prevent its own members from using prediction markets.

___

The story has been updated to correct in the first sentence that Santos is a former congressman, not a current one.

From the Hill Country to downtown and from lakes to beaches, Texas is home to a variety of “staycation” destinations.

With record gas prices and skyrocketing airline ticket costs, many folks are likely taking a closer look at staying close to relax and recharge without the heaps of costly travel that come with multi-state or international trips.

These luxury resorts in Houston and within a few hours of driving from Houston’s center offer everything from helicopter tours over Houston to floating water meditation at Lake Austin. Take a closer look at these options that just might be your perfect “staycation” destination this summer:

Houston

C. Baldwin Hotel

400 Dallas St., Houston, Texas

“A luxe hotel experience with inspiration rooted in Houstonian style. Our interior design and culinary partners have completely redefined the idea of modern indulgence, making it a truly alluring experience,” according to the hotel’s website. “Through a fusion of sensuous materials, sophisticated touches, impressive guest rooms, and incomparable culinary offerings – the C. Baldwin holds secrets of the past and promises of the future.”

View this post on Instagram

The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston

1600 W Loop S, Houston, Texas

“The Post Oak Hotel is the only Texas Forbes Five-Star Hotel and Spa and Houston’s only AAA Five-Diamond destination boasting elegant accommodations masterfully blended with extensive conference space, prominent office space, designer fashion, signature dining and sophisticated amenities all in one tower.<’ the hotel’s website reads “The 700,000-square-foot tower embraces every desire of savvy business and leisure travelers alike. Add commanding views of downtown Houston, the unmatched culinary excellence of Mastro’s, Texas’ only Forbes Five-Star Spa and direct helicopter pad access, The Post Oak Hotel is sure to satisfy even the most discerning taste.”

The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston – a lavish experience so uniquely refined there can only be one.

View this post on Instagram

Level-up your stay with a private helicopter excursion, departing directly from the hotel’s helipad. To reserve or for more information, please email experiences@thepostoak.com.

A post shared by The Post Oak Hotel (@postoakuptown) on Jun 14, 2020 at 9:00am PDT

Hotel Granduca Houston

1080 Uptown Park Blvd, Houston, Texas

“This hotel offers a luxurious, sophisticated, and secluded environment reminiscent of an Italian Villa,” the hotel’s website reads. “Discover the magic of our ‘little corner of Italy’ in the heart of Houston, Texas. Our guest rooms and suites are recently renovated, featuring new carpeting, furniture, and updated lighting.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hotel Granduca (@hotelgranducahouston) on Jun 16, 2020 at 7:00pm PDT

Spring

City Place

1250 Lake Plaza Dr., Spring, Texas

The 2,000-acre City Place community boasts three Marriot hotels, an array of restaurants, retail and entertainment offerings, a waterfront plaza, plus miles of trails and hundreds of acres of greenspace to enjoy. Located just north of Houston and south of The Woodlands, City Place also provides convenient access to a multitude of nearby family-friendly activities, including TopGolf, Hurricane Harbor Splashtown, iFly Indoor Skydiving and City Place’s own Star Cinema Grill. There’s also plenty of shopping and the opportunity to visit Old Town Spring and expansive Woodlands Mall, both located within minutes of City Place.

Galveston

Grand Galvez

2024 Seawall Blvd, Galveston, Texas

“Grand Galvez has pleased guests worldwide for more than 100 years. Our AAA four-Diamond property is the only historic beachfront hotel on the Texas Gulf Coast and renowned as one of the finest Galveston hotels on the beach,” the resort’s website reads.

View this post on Instagram

Looks pretty enticing don't you think? You have to love some sand between your toes while you unwind with the sound of the waves or while you enjoy the laughter of your children. #hotelgalvez #galvestonbeach #makingmemories 🕶😎⛱

A post shared by HotelGalvez (@hotelgalvez) on Sep 7, 2019 at 1:15pm PDT

The Woodlands

The Woodlands Resort

2301 North Millbend Drive, The Woodlands, Texas, 77380

Celebrate the season with access to multiple pools, a double helix waterslide, a 1,000-foot lazy river and a weekend packed with programming like poolside games, karaoke, turtle feeding, arts & crafts and more. Choose from unique experiences like the Kid’s Glamping Package with in-room tent and sleeping bag setup, plus camping-themed gifts and games, as well as Independence Day S’mores kit for the outdoor fire pit – or more adult-oriented offerings such as the Tame Your Game Package, which incorporates deluxe accommodations, breakfast for two daily in The Woodlands Dining Room and 18 holes of play on either the Panther Trail or The Oaks courses with a cart and unlimited access to practice facilities and range balls. And don’t forget to reserve your table at Back Table Kitchen & Bar.

San Antonio

La Cantera Resort & Spa

16641 La Cantera Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas

“Total relaxation is a way of life at La Cantera Resort & Spa,” the resort’s website reads. “Each of the resort’s rooms and suites overlook the rolling hills of Texas Hill Country yet offer serene, sophisticated décor within. More than just a place to rest, their allure also lies in the amenities and activities available at La Cantera. Treat yourself to a Hill Country escape like no other.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by La Cantera Resort & Spa (@lacanteraresort) on Jun 25, 2020 at 5:55pm PDT

JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa

23808 Resort Pkwy, San Antonio, Texas

“Nestled amid 600 acres of oak-covered hills in Texas Hill Country, JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is a luxury haven within a stunning landscape,” the resort’s website reads. “Explore San Antonio’s most popular attractions near our hotel, including wineries, SeaWorld, Shops at La Cantera, Natural Bridge Caverns and Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Retreat to our hotel for a River Bluff Water Experience, a nine-acre water park featuring a 1,100-foot lazy river. Celebrate or collaborate in 268,000 square feet of sophisticated event space, featuring outdoor pavilions and elegant ballrooms. After a full day of business or sightseeing in San Antonio, savor delectable fare at one of our six resort restaurants or rejuvenate in our luxury spa. Find your respite in upscale hotel accommodations with expansive floor plans, plush furnishings, premium amenities and breathtaking views of Texas Hill Country. An inspiring destination with something for everyone, our resort offers quiet luxury in the beautiful Texas Hill Country near San Antonio.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JW Marriott San Antonio (@jwsanantonio) on Jun 15, 2020 at 9:57am PDT

Austin

Four Seasons Hotel Austin

98 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, Texas

The hotel’s website reads, “Austin’s particular brand of cool is evident in every detail of our downtown Hotel, from local art to Texas-inspired spa treatments. Come for our incredible margaritas and saltwater pool, then stay for lawn games, miles of lakeside trails and spacious rooms overlooking idyllic Lady Bird Lake.”

View this post on Instagram

A dose of vitamin D is just what you need. Could you use a breath of fresh air at our lakeside retreat?

A post shared by Four Seasons Hotel Austin (@fsaustin) on Jun 26, 2020 at 12:12pm PDT

Lake Austin Spa Resort

1705 S Quinlan Park Rd, Austin, Texas

“At our secluded hideaway only 30 minutes from downtown Austin, our guests enjoy the luxuries of comfort in accommodations that complement our beautiful natural setting,” the resort’s website reads. “With just 40 rooms, every guest experiences the added luxury of truly personal service. Our fabulous food and plentiful activities are all included in our special packages.”

View this post on Instagram

Mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness comes in many different forms; there is no one-size-fits-all approach. At Lake Austin Spa Resort we offer a full spectrum of experiences just as unique as you are. ✨ #WellnessWednesday Visit our website to learn how to experience wellness from every level, link in our bio.

A post shared by Lake Austin Spa Resort (@lakeaustinspa) on Jul 8, 2020 at 8:20am PDT

Dallas

Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas

4150 N MacArthur Blvd, Irving, Texas

“Discover an unexpected mix of cosmopolitan amenities and nature-filled surroundings at Texas’ original urban resort,” the resort’s website reads. “Meet us for a round of golf, cool off in our pools, get your adrenaline pumping at our expansive sports and recreation club, or take a break from it all at the Four Seasons Spa and Salon. Come nightfall, gather with friends and family near our larger-than-life, rustic fireplace on OUTLAW Taproom’s patio, drinks in hand and hearts full.”

View this post on Instagram

Sway to the tunes of local musicians on the patio with a side of poolside views. Live music returns to the #FSSoundstage every Friday and Saturday from 5:00 – 8:00 pm.

A post shared by Four Seasons Resort Dallas (@fsdallas) on Jun 17, 2020 at 9:05am PDT

The Ritz-Carlton

2121 McKinney Avenue, Dallas, Texas

“At The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas in Uptown, the Lone Star spirit is alive and thriving,” the hotel’s website reads. “Recognized as the only Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Hotel in Texas, guests will enjoy our legendary service, locally inspired amenities, and exclusive experiences on The Ritz-Carlton Club Level. Dining is led by Dean Fearing, the Father of Southwestern Cuisine, whose margaritas are the inspiration behind one of the spa’s signature treatments.”

View this post on Instagram

Join our Guacamologist every night in the Lobby Living Room at 6:00 pm for a taste of our signature Guacamole and Dean’s famous Margaritas. #ritzcarltondallas #rcmemories #guacamologist #luxurytravel

A post shared by The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas (@ritzcarltondallas) on Feb 25, 2020 at 10:31am PST

Grapevine

Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center

1501 Gaylord Trail, Grapevine, Texas

“Standing on the shores of the majestic Lake Grapevine, Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center welcomes guests to a stunning, one-of-a-kind experience,” the resort’s website reads. “From the 10-acre Paradise Springs Water Park, to an exciting lineup of family-friendly activities and entertainment, there’s something for the entire family to enjoy. Guests can explore the four-and-a-half acres of airy, indoor garden atriums, four award-winning restaurants, bars, the world-class Relâche Spa, and a state-of-the-art fitness center. For those planning or attending their next meeting or event, the resort features 490,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, 1,814 beautiful guest rooms, and 127 spectacular suites as well as our lakeside events venue, Glass Cactus, perfect for live entertainment and events. Located near DFW Airport, LEGOLAND Discovery Center, Cowboys Golf Club, Historic Downtown Grapevine, and water sports on Lake Grapevine itself, are all convenient so everyone can do more of what they love.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Gaylord Texan (@gaylordtexan) on Jan 21, 2020 at 3:10pm PST

Are you planning a staycation this summer? Let us know in the comments where you’re planning to go.

Hardest hit would be Asian economies that depend on crude oil, fuel and natural gas from the Persian Gulf, supplies that have been largely choked off by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the risk of Iranian attack. And poorer countries where people spend more of their incomes on fuel and food would also be severely affected, the OECD said.

But the consequences of sharply higher energy prices and inflation would be felt around the world. Global growth would slump to levels not seen except for major setbacks like the COVID-19 pandemic and the global financial crisis and recession of the late 2000s. Under the OECD's prolonged disruption scenario, global growth slows from 3.4% last year to 2.1% this year and 1.8% in 2027, potentially pushing some economies into or close to recession.

Under a different OECD scenario for a time-limited disruption, in which energy production and shipments from the Gulf start to return to pre-war levels in the middle of this year, growth would slow to 2.8% this year and rebound to 3.1% next year.

“The global economy entered 2026 with robust momentum, but the outlook has weakened significantly since the start of the conflict in the Middle East, with effects likely to be felt for some time," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “The longer the disruptions last, the larger the economic and social costs become.”

Cormann warned that government spending aimed at relieving energy costs needed to be aimed at those most in need and temporary, to avoid running up excess government debt and preserving incentives to save energy.

Despite repeated outbreaks of violence, a declared ceasefire in the war between the US and Iran remains officially in place. The ongoing risk to shipping however means that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has dwindled to a trickle, down more than 90% compared to before the war. That has disrupted about a fifth of the world's supplies of crude oil and fuel products as well as of natural gas.

The OECD report follows a UN study warning that higher energy prices will impact almost billion people in poorer countries and small island states that depend on imported fuel, forcing tradeoffs between covering energy bills and investing in essential public services. More than 30% of people in those countries already live below the extreme poverty line, defined as living on $3 or less a day.

The OECD is an international intergovernmental organization and policy forum of 38 democracies with market-based economies, headquartered in Paris.

His name and face became synonymous with the 1959 revolution led by his brother, Fidel Castro. Decades after the triumphant revolution, Fidel Castro stepped down, and Raúl Castro served as Cuba's president for 12 years.

He formally retired from politics in April 2021 but still serves as general of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, has a seat in the National Assembly and is considered to play a central role in rising tensions with the U.S., which recently indicted him.

Here’s a look at the life of a man known as the “hero of the Republic of Cuba.”

Raúl Castro became involved in politics early

Castro was born on June 3, 1931, in the village of Birán in eastern Cuba. He was the fourth of seven children; his mother was Cuban and his father Spanish.

As a child, he attended school in Santiago de Cuba but later moved to Havana, where he began studying law at the university and became deeply involved in student politics, opposing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

By 1953, he was part of a group that attacked military barracks in Santiago de Cuba as part of a failed effort to overthrow Batista. He was charged, jailed and later released, fleeing to Mexico, where he joined the guerrilla group that would soon unseat Batista.

After a victorious revolution in 1959, Castro was appointed minister of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces and oversaw battles in Africa and Latin America that rankled some U.S. Republicans.

Many Cubans, including María Cristina Barrio Ramos, a 62-year-old teacher who lives in Havana, praised him for his actions.

“He gave us everything so that we could be free,” she said. “We owe our freedom and dignity to him.”

In October 1965, Raúl Castro became the second secretary of the Central Committee of Cuba's Communist Party. At the time, Fidel Castro lauded him in a speech.

“It is a privilege for me that, in addition to being an extraordinary revolutionary figure, he is a brother,” Castro said as his sibling stood up and smiled as the crowd around him applauded.

Fidel Castro was known for praising his brother: “Everyone who gets to know him and become close to him realizes his humanism, his great character, and his feelings; they are surprised by the image of Raúl as belligerent, aggressive and harsh, when they see the feelings of friendship, affection, and love he is capable of having for people. And he has been a great mentor and a great educator.”

Castro rises to power after brother’s health worsens

In 2006, Fidel Castro’s health began to decline, and Raúl Castro was temporarily handed power in late July of that year until Cuba’s National Assembly elected him as president in February 2008.

In the years that followed, Castro proved himself to be more liberal than his brother, allowing private enterprises to operate in Cuba while former U.S. President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on remittances and family travel, and allowed U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba under certain conditions.

By 2015, the U.S. and Cuba restored diplomatic relations and reopened embassies. A year later, Obama traveled to Cuba to meet with Castro. That same year, commercial flights between the two countries restarted.

During a historic 2016 press conference in Havana, Castro famously tried to raise Obama's left arm, whose hand went limp in an image that went viral.

Under Castro, Cuba also entered negotiations with Russia’s government in June 2014 that led to the cancellation of 90% of a multibillion-dollar debt dating from the time of the Soviet Union.

In 2018, Raúl Castro left the presidency in the hands of Miguel Díaz-Canel, marking the first time in decades that a person without “Castro” as their last name took control of the government.

In April 2021, Castro announced he would not seek another political position. Since then, he has made only sporadic public appearances.

Castro retires but remains a high-profile figure

Ever since officially retiring from politics, Raúl Castro has appeared in public only sporadically, but he is believed to still wield power behind the scenes even as he leads a discreet life.

His grandson and bodyguard, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean summit earlier this year. Since then, Cuban and U.S. officials have confirmed talks, but tensions between the two countries remain high.

Raúl Castro was last seen at a May 1 rally that drew tens of thousands of Cubans. He was dressed, as usual, in olive green military garb and stood at the side of Díaz-Canel. Behind him was Castro's grandson.

Almost three weeks later, the U.S. government indicted Raúl Castro in the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles over Cuban waters. He faces charges including murder and destruction of an airplane.

While the government and its supporters have condemned the indictment, Raúl Castro has remained mum.

As his birthday approached, social media was flooded with the hashtag #RaúlesRaúl, a political figure who has long been adverse to birthdays, monuments and statues, just like his brother.

The Cuban Embassy in the U.S. noted on X: “Not many people have the privilege, the health, the stoicism — and if you like, you can also add: that quintessentially Cuban stubbornness — to reach the age of 95.”

Meanwhile, Cuba's Communist Party posted several videos Tuesday on X of Cubans praising Castro.

“To talk about Cuba, you have to talk about Raúl,” said Digna Guerra, director of the island’s national choir. “He represents Cuban identity, he represents the Cuban people, he represents the revolution, which for us has immense significance. … Thank you for existing.”

___

Associated Press videographer Ariel Fernández contributed.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The deal, announced by the Trump administration, involves Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, and Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy.

Under the agreement, Medicare will cover $245 per month for the medications, while eligible beneficiaries will pay $50 out of pocket.

Federal health officials say the move is designed to make the highly sought-after GLP-1 medications more affordable for patients who could benefit from their use.

“We’ve been working hard to push down on these prices to make sure that these medications, which can be life-changing and even lifesaving because of their impact on weight loss and downstream complications like diabetes and hypertension,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

However, not all Medicare recipients will qualify for the lower-cost medications.

Eligibility is limited to overweight individuals who also have certain qualifying health conditions, including prediabetes, a history of stroke or cardiovascular disease, or uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Federal officials estimate that about 10% of Medicare beneficiaries meet those requirements.

GLP-1 medications have surged in popularity in recent years because of their effectiveness in helping people lose weight and manage chronic health conditions. Studies have also shown the drugs may help reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events in some patients.

The new agreement could significantly lower costs for eligible Medicare recipients, many of whom have been unable to afford the medications because of their high price tags.

Officials have not yet announced when the discounted pricing will become available to eligible beneficiaries.

Although the Texans didn’t extend the Pro Bowl wide receiver with additional years on his contract, they did grant his request for a market value raise. And that $17 additional million over the next two seasons, paid through a $27 million signing bonus in addition to fully guaranteeing and boosting his 2027 salary to $28.5 million, the stage for a potential market value contract extension down the road.

Collins is happy with the outcome. He acknowledged the importance of securing an upgraded deal. While this round of contract talks on the heels of his three-year, $75 million maximum value extension ran smoothly, things could have gotten bumpy if Texans general manager Nick Caserio and agents Drew Rosenhaus and Jason Rosenhaus hadn’t been proactive about the financial situation.

“Of course, you want to set your family up for long-term,” Collins said. “We know in this business, it’s a business at the end of the day. It’s definitely something that you work hard for. You come into this league to get extended, get contracts. It’s definitely a blessing. It’s definitely motivation for me and this team to continue to chop wood, continue to keep going.

“But at the end of the day, I’m definitely blessed for that. A lot of people don’t get that first, second contract, third contract. It’s definitely rare, definitely a blessing. It’s definitely a great situation for me and my family long-term. I’ve just got to continue to be myself, not making the decision bigger than what it is. It’s a blessing for sure, and I’ve got to use that as motivation.”

Collins’ base salary was lowered to $1.5 million this year, bringing his salary cap figures down to $14.939 million from an originally scheduled $27.517 million. He also has annual $1.5 million in per game active roster bonuses, at a rate of $88,235 per game.

The contract now has $50 million void years in 2028, 2029 and 2030 for salary-cap purposes to prorate the deal.

It’s regarded as likely that the Texans may do a contract extension within the next year for Collins, a Pro Bowl selection.

Collins has a $9 million cash increase this year and an $8 million cash increase next year.

The revised contract reflects Collins’ value and a dramatic increase in average wide receiver salaries across the league.

That includes the Seattle Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba ($42.15 million), the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase ($40.25 million), the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson ($35 million), the Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb ($34 million), the Pittsburgh Steelers’ D.K. Metcalf ($33 million), the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson ($32.5 million), the Washington Commanders’ Terry McLaurin ($32.333 million), the New England Patriots’ A.J. Brown ($32 million), the Detroit Lions Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30.002 million), the San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk and then Collins at $30 million annually.

Originally ranked 18th in average compensation per year for 2026, Collins is now due $30 million total this year. He ranks 11th in terms of annual average per year and will be 10th once the 49ers officially move on from Aiyuk.

“It means a lot,” Collins said. “It’s a blessing, especially being in this league. To be able to get the third contract with one team, that means a lot. It doesn’t happen often coming across this league. But it’s definitely a blessing. It’s underrated. I can’t speak more highly about it.

“But I’m definitely thankful to the organization, the Texans, for giving me this opportunity to come out here another year, another two years to go out here and show myself and show my abilities. I’m blessed for that.”

In the first season under offensive coordinator Nick Caley, the Texans averaged 23.8 points per game, ranking 13th in the NFL in scoring offense. They finished 18th in total offense, 14th in passing offense and 22nd in rushing offense.

The running game struggled to complement the passing attack after Joe Mixon missed the entire season due to a foot injury involving an infection that ultimately required surgery. With new running back David Montgomery in the backfield, there should be more balance overall and more options for Caley as a play-caller.

“Absolutely, you got to take one play at a time,” Collins said. “We know what our mission is. We know where we want to go. At the end of the day, we got to take one play at a time.

“We’ve got to move the sticks. We’ve got to continue to put points on the board for the defense because we know the type of defense we’ve got. So, I’m excited about this year, second year with Caley, and let’s rock.”

Collins’ value was underscored by his absence during the playoff game due to a concussion.

He caught 71 passes for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns during the regular season on 120 targets.

Not having a prototypical 6-foot-4, 222-pound wide receiver with 4.44 speed in the 40-yard dash dramatically changed the equation for the Texans’ suddenly ineffective passing game.

A concussion meant he couldn’t play in an AFC divisional round playoff game against the New England Patriots his team ultimately lost. As tough as it was on him and as much as he didn’t think his season would end because of an awkward landing on his head against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Collins took the moment to reflect with deep thoughts about the future.

However, Collins has decided at this time to not wear a protective Guardian cap on his helmet to prevent potential future concussions. He plans to work on his upper body to be stronger to absorb hits better. He’s of the opinion the Guardian cap would hamper his game.

“For sure, I’ve thought about it,” Collins said. “A lot that goes into your brain. You only get one. You’ve got to take care of it. It’s definitely a thought, but I feel like for me I’ve got to work on my spinal cord, my neck, and just work on my strengthening of my shoulders and everything around it. I can’t wear a Guardian Cap.

“I’m a receiver. I’ve got to find the ball, track it and everything. I’ve got to do a better job of doing shoulders, upper body exercises, whatever I need to make sure contacts, I’m good. I’m not worried about that.”

Watching from the bench area at snowy Gillette Stadium, Collins watched as quarterback C.J. Stroud uncorked an uncharacteristic four interceptions in one half of a 28-16 defeat. Normally accurate, Stroud had several misfires as he went 20 for 47 for 212 yards, one touchdown pass and a 28.0 passer rating.

As off as Stroud was, Collins could have potentially steadied the damage. Playing without Collins — and losing Dalton Schultz, the team’s leading receiver during the regular season with 82 receptions — proved too much to overcome.

Collins previously called Stroud a “man on a mission.” He sees a difference in the former NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

“C.J., he’s one of a kind,” Collins said. “He’s a leader. He’s poised and he’s ready to lead every single day. You see it in the meeting room and on the practice field. He’s coming in with a mission and a chip on his shoulder. That’s who you want as a quarterback. You’ve got his back 100 percent of the way and he knows that. He’s going to ride for you.

That’s how it is with everybody. He’s QB1. You’ve got to take care of him. You’ve got to love him. That’s how it is. I can’t wait for this year. Can’t wait for this season for everybody. I feel like there’s so much at stake. The sky’s the limit for both sides of the ball and I can’t wait for this season to get rolling.”

No Guardian cap planned for #Texans receiver Nico Collins after concussions last season. He explains why @kprc2 pic.twitter.com/wygxhCY0Nr

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) June 2, 2026

Now, Collins is determined to elevate his game even further.

“Not get complacent, not get comfortable, continue to find the things I need to improve on,” Collins said. “Even though you have success, it’s still not good enough. Continue to aim for the stars and continue to be the best version of yourself every day.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com .

More than a dozen supporters of the coalition spoke during public comment at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, urging elected officials to reject what they describe as fee-based solutions and instead adopt alternative revenue proposals.

• Houston mayor unveils $7.5 billion budget proposal; trash fee, revenue changes spark debate

The group, which identifies itself as a coalition of taxpayers, climate organizers and immigrant-rights advocates, plans to hold a news conference Wednesday morning outside City Hall ahead of the council vote.

Mayor Whitmire’s proposed budget includes a new $5 monthly trash administrative fee and a right-of-way charge on water and wastewater utilities. City officials say the measures are needed to help close a budget deficit and create more stable funding for city services. The administration estimates the trash fee would generate roughly $24 million to $25 million annually.

• Houston’s proposed trash fee wouldn’t be a new line. Here’s where you’d see it

The proposal has sparked debate across the city.

Houston Controller Chris Hollins has criticized the plan, arguing it shifts costs onto residents and relies on financial projections that have not been fully explained to the public.

The Houston People’s Budget Campaign says it has submitted four alternative proposals for consideration. According to organizers, their plans would rely on a property tax-based funding model rather than service fees to pay for priorities, including trash collection, illegal dumping cleanup, drinking water infrastructure, flood mitigation projects, parks, libraries and other public services.

Advocates argue their approach would distribute costs differently than the mayor’s proposed fees and provide a more sustainable funding source for city investments.

“The people’s budget offers an alternative to the current plans being discussed at City Hall,” organizers said in a statement.

The budget debate comes after weeks of public discussion over how Houston should address long-term financial challenges while maintaining city services. Mayor Whitmire has defended the proposal as a necessary step toward stabilizing the city’s finances and modernizing the way certain services are funded.

• Why Houston’s mayor says a new trash fee is key to fixing waste issues

If approved by the City Council, the new budget would take effect July 1.

About 65% of U.S. adults believe same-sex marriage should be legal, down slightly from 71% in 2022 and 2023.

Most of the change is due to dropping acceptance among Republicans. In the new survey, which was conducted in May, only 37% of Republicans say same-sex marriage should be legally valid, while 35% say gay and lesbian relations are “morally acceptable.”

The views of Democrats and independents are largely stable in the findings released Wednesday, with most in both groups saying same-sex marriage should be legal and that gay or lesbian relations are moral.

The widening partisan divide is also reflected in policy around LGBTQ+ issues across the U.S., particularly regarding transgender people, and a rising push in some states to ban same-sex marriage.

Recent shifts have been subtle and partisan

The downtick in support for same-sex marriage, while slight, is still striking because of how dramatically American views on the issue have shifted over the past few decades.

According to Gallup’s trend data, only 27% of U.S. adults supported legal same-sex marriage in 1996. Since then, support for same-sex marriage rose steadily until a few years ago, when it peaked with around 7 in 10 U.S. adults saying same-sex marriage should be legal.

Opinion about the morality of same-sex relationships followed the same pattern. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults said same-sex relations were morally acceptable in 2001. That increased nearly 30 percentage points over the next two decades.

Over the past few years, Gallup's data has shown signs of a shift in the other direction. In addition to the slight decline on same-sex marriage, the new poll also found that 62% of U.S. adults view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, down from 71% in 2022.

Same-sex marriage remains recognized nationwide

Same-sex marriage has been recognized nationally since a 2015 Supreme Court ruling. That case capped a 12-year run in which court rulings and state laws recognized it in most states.

By last year, there were more than 800,000 married same-sex couples, according to data compiled by the Williams Institute at the University of California Los Angeles School of Law.

The pushback has never stopped, though. A call to overturn the 2015 reached the Supreme Court last year, invoking the words of Justice Clarence Thomas, who has called for undoing it. The court turned away the appeal without comment.

Last year, the Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly called for reversing the ruling that led to nationwide marriage recognition and imposing a ban.

Lawmakers in at least 11 states introduced legislation for their current or most recent sessions calling on a ban on same-sex marriage, according to an Associated Press analysis of bills compiled by the legislation tracking service Plural. Most didn't pick up momentum. But the Tennessee House passed a measure to allow private citizens and organizations not to recognize the unions; Idaho's House passed a resolution calling on the Supreme Court to undo the 2015 decision.

A similar number of states have had measures aimed at protecting same-sex marriage introduced recently.

Acceptance of transgender people is also down

In a sign that views of LGBTQ+ issues may be shifting more broadly, the new Gallup poll found that about 4 in 10 Americans view changing one’s gender as morally acceptable, down from nearly half in 2021.

The rights of transgender people have been a hot-button political issue this decade.

Most Republican-controlled states have adopted laws in the last five years to bar gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors, restrict which school bathrooms transgender people may use and bar transgender girls and women from some sports competitions.

Trump has signed executive orders seeking some of the same policies on a federal level.

This week, one of those policies suffered a blow when a court ruled that the military illegally banned transgender troops.

___

The Gallup poll, conducted May 1-17, was based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,001 U.S. adults. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

All three have been included in their national team squads for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but others have not been so fortunate.

France striker Hugo Ekitike sustained an Achilles injury in April that could take more than six months to heal, ruling him out of the World Cup and probably the start of next season with Liverpool.

Brazil stars Rodrygo and Éder Militão are out. So is Bayern Munich and Germany forward Serge Gnabry after injuring his adductor in training.

Messi caused the biggest scare after the Argentina great left the field injured while playing for Inter Miami last month. He has been included in coach Lionel Scaloni's squad as defending champion Argentina aims to retain its trophy, but it is still not known whether he has fully recovered from what was described as muscle fatigue.

Yamal, Spain's new superstar, missed the final weeks of the season for Barcelona because of a hamstring injury that made him fear he would miss out on his first World Cup.

“I remember the play in which I got injured,” he said. “I was praying inside for it not to be serious, for it to be a cramp or something like that, because I knew the World Cup was very close.”

Players and coaches have increasingly warned about the impact of an ever-packed schedule, and the expanded World Cup comes a year after the relaunched, supersized Club World Cup. The Champions League has also been expanded in recent years.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta describes the demand on players as “an accident waiting to happen."

Players definitely ruled out of the World Cup

Argentina: Joaquín Panichelli (ACL)

Brazil: Éder Militão (hamstring), Rodrygo (ACL)

England: Ben White (medial ligament)

France: Hugo Ekitike (Achilles)

Germany: Serge Gnabry (adductor)

Netherlands: Xavi Simons (ACL)

United States: Cameron Carter-Vickers (Achilles), Patrick Agyemang (Achilles), Johnny Cardoso (ankle)

Scotland: Billy Gilmour (knee)

Spain: Fermin Lopez (foot)

Ones to watch

Argentina: How soon Messi will be involved is not known. Cristian Romero sustained a knee injury at the end of the season, but has been included in Argentina's squad.

Canada: Star left back Alphonso Davies injured his hamstring and it is not certain he will recover in time for his team's opening game against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Croatia: Veteran midfielder Luka Modrić broke his cheekbone in April. He was back playing for AC Milan well in time for the World Cup, but was wearing a protective face mask. Defender Joško Gvardiol returned to training for Manchester City in early May after four months out with a broken leg, but is going to the World Cup.

United States: Gio Reyna made just four league starts this season for Borussia Mönchengladbach, and none since Dec. 19. “He can help because he’s a different player, different talent, and I think in all the roster you need to have a player like him,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said.

___

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

___

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

Security cameras have recorded at least three nighttime instances where groups of people entered or exited sewer tunnels via maintenance holes on streets in Brooklyn and Queens.

In one video, taken early Friday morning in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, a group of roughly seven people were recorded popping out of a maintenance hole in the middle of an intersection, in full view of passing cars.

Some wore headlamps and carried what appeared to be shovels and other tools. One narrowly missed getting run over by a vehicle as they pulled themselves out of the ground.

In another video, a group of about seven people could be seen emerging from a maintenance hole around 2 a.m. on a quiet street in Brooklyn's Gravesend neighborhood. They made their way to a couple of parked cars and pulled out fresh clothes to change into. Police say the group entered the sewers about 11 p.m., meaning they could have been underground for three hours.

On May 5, three people dressed in waterproof hip waders and other protective gear pried open a maintenance hole cover and descended into the sewer on a street in Queens. The last person pulled the cover shut as approaching cars slowed to a stop.

Aki Jakupovic, the owner of an auto detailing shop, said his shop’s surveillance cameras recorded that group of sewer spelunkers. He said he couldn’t venture a guess as to what the people did below ground but worried they were “up to no good.”

The city Department of Environmental Protection said it inspected the sewers at both Brooklyn locations and verified the sewer infrastructure wasn’t damaged. The incident in Queens is still under investigation, the agency said.

Rob Wolejsza, the department’s spokesperson, stressed that entering the sewers is not only illegal but “extremely dangerous.”

“Sewers can contain numerous hazards, including noxious and potentially deadly gases, unstable surfaces, flooding risks, and confined spaces,” Wolejsza said in a statement. “For these reasons, members of the public should never enter a pipe, drain, catch basin, manhole, or outfall.”

Last month, a woman fell into an open maintenance hole on a busy street in midtown Manhattan and died. Utility officials said the hole cover had been dislodged by a truck.

Police, meanwhile, said they don’t believe there’s any threat to public safety after conducting a thorough sweep of the areas. There have been no reports of injuries and no arrests, and the investigation is ongoing, the department said.

On Tuesday, at the busy intersection in Williamsburg where the second group was spotted, resident Anthony Purdie said he isn’t convinced it was simple curiosity that drew the group to explore the sewers in the cover of night.

“They look like they were looking for something important, like money, or for doing some type of hurting,” he said. “Ain’t no fun and games. I mean, seven grown adults going down there? Got to be something, man.”

___

Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo

But federal investigators say that’s not always the case.

A little-known crime called payroll tax fraud occurs when employers withhold payroll taxes from employees’ paychecks but fail to turn that money over to the government. Instead, they keep it.

The scheme can generate huge sums of money for dishonest business owners, sometimes reaching millions or even tens of millions of dollars.

At first glance, many workers may think payroll tax fraud only hurts the government. However, experts say employees can also pay a steep price.

Payroll taxes help fund Social Security benefits, and a worker’s retirement payments are based largely on earnings reported throughout their career. If wages are not properly reported or payroll taxes are not paid as required, workers could find themselves receiving smaller Social Security benefits when they retire.

That’s why IRS investigators urge workers to pay close attention to their earnings records and payroll documents.

According to IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent Rodrick Benton, employees should regularly review their pay records and maintain copies of paychecks, pay stubs and tax documents. Those records can help workers identify discrepancies and protect themselves if questions arise later about an employer’s payroll practices.

Experts also recommend creating an account with the Social Security Administration and periodically reviewing your earnings history to ensure your wages are being accurately reported.

Payroll tax fraud is not a rare crime.

Just two months ago, a business owner was sentenced to federal prison for withholding payroll taxes from employees and failing to pay them to the government.

According to federal prosecutors, Harry Lamar Curtis III, the owner of a cybersecurity company, was sentenced after failing to pay approximately $1.6 million in payroll taxes.

Federal authorities say cases like that serve as a reminder that workers should never assume payroll taxes are being handled properly behind the scenes.

The best protection is vigilance. Keeping pay stubs, W-2 forms and other payroll records could help workers spot problems early and avoid discovering years later that their retirement benefits have been affected.

For employees, payroll tax fraud isn’t just a crime committed against the government. It can also be a crime that quietly steals from their financial future.

The rare albino buffalo became a sensation when a farmer noticed that his blond tuft of hair resembled the distinctive locks of the U.S. president. After a video of the pale horned mammal went viral on social media, large numbers of people started showing up at the farm outside Dhaka to see him for themselves.

The animal was originally meant to be slaughtered for the Muslim festival of sacrifice. But citing security concerns, the government ordered him transferred to the zoo in the capital, where large crowds are now braving sweltering heat to see him.

On Tuesday, visitors pressed against the fence of the buffalo's enclosure, filming with their phones as some fathers hoisted small children on their shoulders for a better view.

A zoo worker pampered the animal, brushing his hair to one side and hosing him down with water to keep him cool as fans blew on him.

“There is a resemblance to Donald Trump in its eyes, hairstyle, and skin color,” said Mohammed Nasim, a student in Dhaka. “And just as Donald Trump has a distinctive personality and lifestyle, this buffalo, after going viral, is now living a similar kind of life, enjoying a lot of attention and special treatment.”

Local media reported that the exhibit initially included a sign that said “Donald Trump,” which has since been removed. The zoo curator was fired on Saturday, though no official cause was given for the dismissal.

Some clearly found the naming in poor taste.

“Giving a farm animal the name of one of the world’s most influential leaders was certainly the wrong thing to do," said Dhaka resident Mohammad Joynal Adedin, who visited the zoo to see the buffalo anyway. “It seems disrespectful. I think the farmer who did this made a poor decision.”

The buffalo was sold ahead of Eid al-Adha, the “Feast of Sacrifice.” When Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed ordered police to take it into custody, the authorities refunded the buyer.

"Since before Eid, I had been seeing posts on Facebook saying that ‘Donald Trump’ would be sacrificed. Later, I heard that instead of being sacrificed, it had been placed in a zoo,” said Mohammad Habibur Rahman, a visitor to the zoo from the southwestern Bangladeshi city of Jashore.

“So, I thought I would come to the zoo and see ‘Donald Trump’ for myself," he said.

Happy one day closer to Friday HA!

Anyways, let’s jump into what’s happening this week. Houston is always full of news, and this week is no different.

If you read our newsletter yesterday morning, then you saw I led with a tragic story... the shooting death of an 18-year-old college student by a Brazoria County deputy. There are still so many questions surrounding what led the deputy to open fire and kill the teen, but now, the family may have a few more answers due to surveillance video exclusively obtained by KPRC 2 News.

The video shows what happened moments before the deputy shot and killed 18-year-old John Mendoza Jr. According to investigators, the teen led the deputy on a chase before pulling into his father’s driveway, and that’s when the shooting happened.

To read more, click here.

➡️ Love our morning newsletter? Share it with your family and friends!

YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY: 85° TONIGHT: 75°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“More afternoon thunderstorms are expected on Wednesday afternoon. With the heat and instability, any storm that forms can turn severe. There is a large, disorganized area of tropical moisture in the Gulf. It shouldn’t form into a tropical storm or depression, but it will bring more organized heavy rain to the Gulf Coast. There is a 60% chance of moisture here on Friday and Saturday. Both of these days we have a street flooding threat. ”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Teen critically injured, two adults found dead at northwest Harris County home, deputies say

A teenager is fighting for his life after a shooting at a northwest Harris County home where deputies also discovered two adults dead Wednesday, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies responded to a residence in the 10700 block of Spring Brook Pass and learned that an 18-year-old man may have unintentionally shot a 16-year-old boy, authorities said.

Investigators seeking information after 81-year-old man found shot dead inside Montgomery County home

Investigators in Montgomery County are asking the public for assistance after a 81-year-old man was found dead with a gunshot wound inside a home on Monday. The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said it happened at a home in the 19200 block of Trails End Road around 8 a.m. They responded to a report that someone was dead at the home.

Houston-area public housing waitlists reopening for first time in nearly 3 years: Here’s what applicants need to know

For the first time since 2023, thousands of Houstonians seeking affordable housing will have an opportunity to apply for public housing as Housing Alliance HTX prepares to reopen waitlists for eight public housing communities later this month.

The agency announced that its public housing waitlist lottery will open June 22 and remain available through July 6, giving eligible applicants a chance to be placed on waitlists for housing properties across the Houston area.

ARE YOU A KPRC 2 INSIDER? HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVES

SUMMER SWEEPSTAKES: Enter to win 3 weeks of free airport parking from The Parking Spot

CLICK2PINS: SHOW US WHAT YA GOT 📷

See a news story in your neighborhood? Capture a great weather moment? Just want to share a photo of your pet? Send your photos and videos to Click2Pins, and you may see them on air and online!

Happy one day closer to Friday HA!

Anyways, let’s jump into what’s happening this week. Houston is always full of news, and this week is no different.

Our huge story of the day is one that is not only sad but tragic. An 18-year-old college student was shot and killed by a deputy Monday morning, and now, his family is demanding answers. The boy’s family said he had only been home for summer break from college for two weeks when the incident happened.

Now, although we don’t have all of the details, what we do know is that a Brazoria County Deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on the teen’s vehicle, but the teen refused to stop, leading the deputy on a chase to his father’s house. When the teen arrived at his father’s house, the video shows the deputy approaching the vehicle and the gunshots; it’s not clear what happened between that time. An investigation is underway, and the boy’s parents are demanding to see the bodycam video.

To read more, click here.

➡️ Love our morning newsletter? Share it with your family and friends!

YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY: 90° TONIGHT: 75°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“We’re tracking the chance for rain and thunderstorms not only today but every single day this week, thanks to the tropical moisture and the sea breeze moving inland from the Gulf. As for temperatures this week, the heat isn’t going anywhere. Thanks to the humidity, our “feels-like” temps will hit triple-digits. So make sure to hydrate, hydrate. hydrate this week.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Nearly 2,000 sign petitions opposing Spring Valley Village’s Bingle Road Project

A controversial traffic project in Spring Valley Village is drawing criticism from some residents and business owners who say changes to Bingle Road have created congestion and safety concerns rather than solving them. Two online petitions opposing the city’s so-called “Bingle Road Diet” have gathered nearly 2,000 signatures.

Pride Month 2026 has begun. Here’s what to expect for the LGBTQ+ celebrations

Pride month has begun across the U.S., bringing parades and parties to big cities and small towns to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.

The rainbow-filled festivities this year come as President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing policies to roll back the rights of transgender people and curtail recognition of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Man dead from self-inflicted gunshot after barricade situation at Katy-area apartment; woman also found dead inside

Authorities say a man who barricaded himself inside an apartment in the Katy-area is dead after shooting himself during a standoff with SWAT. A woman was also found dead inside the apartment.

ARE YOU A KPRC 2 INSIDER? HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVES

Crunch Time: Three Houston spots serving fried food done right

CLICK2PINS: SHOW US WHAT YA GOT 📷

See a news story in your neighborhood? Capture a great weather moment? Just want to share a photo of your pet? Send your photos and videos to Click2Pins, and you may see them on air and online!

The teen, identified as John Mendoza Jr., had just pulled into his father’s driveway when the shooting happened. Within eight seconds of arriving home, after the deputy’s sirens stopped, a shot can be heard on the video.

What the video shows

The footage, shared exclusively with KPRC 2’s Bryce Newberry by family attorney Charles Adams, captures sirens and gunfire — but no audible commands from the deputy appear to be heard before the shot was fired.

• RELATED: ‘Life will never be the same’: Father grieves as questions remain in teen’s shooting death by deputy in Lake Jackson

More than 30 seconds after the shooting, audio from the video appears to capture the deputy calling it an accidental discharge over the scanner. About 10 minutes after the deputy opened fire, time stamps on the video show the first ambulance arriving on scene.

Mendoza Jr. was taken to a hospital, where he later died. He had just finished his freshman year at Texas State University.

Family says son was unarmed, coming home from a park

According to the family, Mendoza Jr. had been spending time at a park with childhood friends before the shooting. A deputy began watching the group, the family said, and the friends grew uncomfortable and drove home — but the deputy followed, leading to the attempted traffic stop.

Family attorney Charles Adams says all of the people in the car were unarmed.

• RELATED:‘He was my heart’: Family demands answers in fatal shooting of teen by Brazoria County deputy

Mendoza Jr.’s father, John Mendoza Sr., is demanding accountability.

“This is a senseless situation that could have been avoided,” Mendoza Sr. said. “My son was murdered in his garage and this just isn’t right.”

Investigation underway; key questions unanswered

The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office has not released the name of the deputy involved, how long the deputy has been with the department, or the reason for the attempted traffic stop. The deputy is currently on administrative leave.

• RELATED: Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills 18-year-old Texas State student after chase ends at Lake Jackson home

The Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.

The two organizations announced a partnership this week to develop what they describe as a frontier AI model built exclusively for healthcare. Unlike general-purpose AI systems that are trained on large portions of the internet, the new model will be trained using Mayo Clinic’s medical expertise, de-identified clinical data, research and the knowledge of its physicians and healthcare professionals.

According to the organizations, the goal is to create an AI system capable of supporting clinical reasoning, helping healthcare providers analyze complex medical information, make treatment decisions and potentially improve patient outcomes. The model is designed to synthesize a wide range of clinical data to support earlier diagnoses and more personalized care.

Mayo Clinic will own the model, a move officials say is intended to maintain patient trust, clinical oversight and responsible stewardship of healthcare data. Microsoft plans to make the technology available through its cloud-based AI platforms so other healthcare organizations could eventually use it as well.

Mayo Clinic CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia said the partnership combines the hospital system’s clinical expertise and data foundation with Microsoft’s engineering and artificial intelligence capabilities in hopes of expanding access to trusted medical knowledge.

Initially, the AI model will be deployed and tested within Mayo Clinic’s clinical environment, where it can be refined using real-world healthcare applications before broader use. Officials say they hope the technology will eventually power AI tools used by clinicians throughout Mayo Clinic’s hospitals and health system.

The announcement comes as AI use continues to grow in healthcare, with millions of people increasingly relying on chatbots for medical information and guidance. Supporters of the project say a healthcare-specific model could provide more reliable and clinically grounded responses than general-purpose AI systems trained on a broad mix of online content.

New York's Jordan Clarkson and San Antonio's Dylan Harper — who'll face off in the Finals that start Wednesday — were both born in the U.S., but both have links to the Philippines through their mothers. And Clarkson raved about Harper, whose rookie year has been nothing but impressive.

“He’s been really good throughout the whole year,” Clarkson said. “I’ve been watching him, keeping up with him, as well. Him being so young and having so much poise throughout this whole playoffs, it’s a great sight to see a young star coming in this league and doing what he’s doing.”

The significance of this isn't lost on Harper either.

“I think me and him get to do something really special, representing our country, where we’re from, represent everything on the biggest stage in basketball,” Harper said. “I feel like over there in the Philippines, basketball is probably the biggest thing. I think we’re very excited for that and we’re just very blessed and grateful to be in this position.”

Not a lot of Finals history

Only six players on the Knicks and the Spurs have appeared in previous NBA Finals games.

San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes played in 13 for Golden State, Luke Kornet played in six for Boston and Kelly Olynyk played in five for Miami.

For New York, Mikal Bridges played in six for Phoenix, Dillon Jones played in three for Oklahoma City and Jordan Clarkson played in two for Cleveland. Another member of the Knicks — OG Anunoby — was with Toronto for its run to the 2019 NBA title, but did not play in any of those six games.

Combined, those six players with past Finals experience have scored 265 points in the title round.

Don't expect overtime. Or a lot of close games.

The last 44 NBA Finals games have all ended in regulation, the longest run without overtime in the title series in league history. There was a 34-game stretch without an overtime game from 1984 through 1990.

Of course, it's tough to have a shot at going to overtime when games aren't close down the stretch. Out of the last 81 Finals games, 50 have been decided by double figures.

The division champion stat

An annual reminder: Division championships mean nothing anymore ... until the NBA Finals.

If San Antonio wins the NBA title, it will mark the 14th time in the last 15 seasons that a division champion has wound up winning.

The only exception in that span was Golden State in 2022. Before that, the last team to not win their division but win the NBA title was Dallas in 2011.

The Knicks were second in the Atlantic Division behind Boston this year, so they're trying to buck this trend.

Welcome back, Mike Brown

It's been 19 years, but Mike Brown is back in the NBA Finals as a head coach. The New York coach took Cleveland to the title round in 2007 — getting swept by San Antonio that year.

Just by getting here this year, Brown joins an exclusive club of coaches to take multiple franchises to the NBA Finals.

Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Miami) and Alex Hannum (St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco) took three franchises to the Finals. Brown joins Rick Carlisle, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, KC Jones, Bill Fitch, Gene Shue, Bill Sharman and Red Auerbach on the list of those to take two different franchises to the title round.

Wemby's amazing year

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama has had a postseason like no one in league history, and his totals are only going to get more impressive.

So far in these playoffs, Wembanyama has 394 points, 183 rebounds, 100 made free throws, 60 blocked shots and 30 3-pointers.

That's just the playoffs. Only 19 players — him included, of course — had those totals over the entirety of this regular season. (No Spurs player has ever had a regular season with all those numbers, except Wembanyama.)

And since 3-pointers came into play, nobody in NBA history has ever done all that in the same postseason, until now.

If this goes 7 games ...

If this NBA Finals goes the seven-game distance, Spurs players Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie might tie an NBA record.

Or break it, depending on how you count.

Johnson and Champagnie both enter these NBA Finals with 100 games played so far this season. That's seven shy of the NBA record for games played in a season — shared by Charles Oakley and Tayshaun Prince.

They both played 107. But Johnson and Champagnie also played in the NBA Cup title game, which means they would have technically played in 108 games this season — though the league doesn't recognize the Cup final in any statistics.

Money matters

The Spurs and Knicks are playing for $5,157,417 in bonus money. That's the difference between winning and losing the NBA Finals out of the league's playoff pool, which topped $35 million this season.

The Spurs have already secured $6,594,508 out of that pool this season. The Knicks have clinched $6,438,024.

___

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

Twelve of the Texas districts targeted by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, an arm of the national party that focuses on state legislatures, are currently held by Republicans. If Democrats were to flip all 12 — the same number they netted in 2018 — and hold onto all their current districts, they would be one seat shy of an even split in the lower chamber, which has been under GOP control since 2003.

Republicans currently hold 88 seats to Democrats’ 62 in the Texas House; 76 seats make a majority.

“As the Texas GOP rallies around Ken Paxton and an extreme slate of MAGA candidates up and down the ballot, we are ready to make big gains for Democrats in the Texas Legislature,” DLCC President Heather Williams said in a statement. “The DLCC is proud to partner with these target race candidates who are laser-focused on bringing down costs for Texans and gradually changing the face of power in Texas.”

The target list, first reported by The Texas Tribune, includes South Texas districts that were recently held by Democrats and perennial targets in the suburbs. It also includes a handful of dark horse seats that broke decisively for President Donald Trump and the Republican House candidate in 2024.

Beyond the dozen GOP districts they are targeting, Democrats also put three of their own seats on the battleground map: those held by Reps. Mihaela Plesa in Dallas and Eddie Morales Jr. in Eagle Pass, and retiring Rep. Bobby Guerra’s district in Mission.

Of the 15 districts, all but one voted for Trump in 2024 over Vice President Kamala Harris, with the narrowest margin for Trump coming in at 1.4 percentage points and the widest at 14.7 points. The top-of-the-ticket margins were more favorable for Democrats in 2018 across nearly every district, however, had the current lines been in place for Beto O’Rourke’s near-upset of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.

The effort marks the first time national Democrats are investing resources in Texas legislative races since 2020, when Democrats vastly underperformed despite a well-financed effort to flip the Texas House. The party has lost ground since then, hampered by Republicans fortifying their majority during decennial redistricting in 2021, along with defeats in South Texas amid Latino voters’ shift to the right.

But after three straight cycles in the wilderness, Democrats are optimistic that 2026 might resemble the last Trump midterm election in 2018, due to factors like Trump’s falling approval ratings over rising everyday costs, backlash to the war in Iran and the baggage carried by Attorney General Ken Paxton atop the GOP ticket as the U.S. Senate nominee. Democratic state Sen. Taylor Rehmet’s special election upset in a dark red seat this year has also bolstered the party’s hopes.

“The DLCC has the strategy and Target Map to capitalize on the once-in-a-generation opportunity to build greater Democratic state legislative power in Texas and across the country,” the DLCC said in its announcement.

Candidates whose districts land on the DLCC’s target list can expect to receive fundraising help from the group, along with data, research, polling, paid communication and help contacting voters, according to the group’s announcement. The DLCC also plans to support its state counterpart, Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee, though it has not yet committed to direct financial investments.

“In 2018, during the first Trump midterm, we were able to pick up 12 seats without even trying, and this time, we’re actively supporting all the candidates,” Rep. Christina Morales of Houston, chair of the HDCC, said in an interview. “People are really frustrated, and we’re reminding them that Republicans have been in charge for 30-plus years.”

Rep. Tom Oliverson of Cypress, chair of the Texas House Republican Caucus, said in an interview that the caucus “is as united as it’s ever been” and that “we’re all rowing in the same direction, and we’re going to rise to meet the challenge, whatever challenges come along.”

Oliverson argued that Paxton would drive turnout among Republicans excited to support someone new, while state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee, would be hampered by his progressive record on cultural issues.

Among the races on the DLCC’s target list are several that Democrats have sought to flip for years, including House Districts 108 and 112, suburban North Texas seats occupied by Reps. Morgan Meyer of University Park and Angie Chen Button of Garland, respectively, who have held off Democrats dating back to the 2018 wave.

Democrats also set their sights on a pair of San Antonio-based seats: District 121, where hard-right Rep. Marc LaHood defeated a more moderate Republican incumbent in the 2024 primary, and District 118, where Rep. John Lujan ceded reelection to run for Congress this cycle and the Democratic nominee from 2024, Kristian Carranza, is running again.

Trump carried each of those districts in 2024 by less than 6 percentage points, but each of the Republican lawmakers, aside from Lujan, outperformed the top of the ticket that year. In 2018, Cruz would have defeated O’Rourke by 5 points or less in the Meyer, Button and LaHood districts had they existed under the current lines; O’Rourke, meanwhile, would have carried Lujan’s district by 5 points that year.

In South Texas, discontent among Hispanic voters over the economy and the Trump administration’s deportation crackdown could help Democrats bring that bloc back to the party. There, Democrats are looking to topple Rep. Denise Villalobos, whose heavily Latino Corpus Christi-based district broke for Trump by just 1.4 percentage points in 2024 and would have elected O’Rourke by a whopping 16.5 points in 2018. Still, Villalobos won House District 34 by almost 11 points in 2024, running well ahead of Trump and flipping what had previously been a Democratic seat.

San Benito Rep. Janie Lopez, who flipped her district at the southern tip of Texas in 2022, is also in the DLCC’s sights, having run slightly behind Trump in 2024 while still winning by 10 points. Her majority-Latino seat, House District 37, would have gone for O’Rourke by 8 points in 2018.

And then there are the districts where a Democratic victory would mark a significant upset. Five of the seats targeted by the DLCC are ones where, in 2024, Trump won by 8 points or more and the Republican incumbent won reelection by over 11 points. Those include North Texas-based House Districts 61, 67 and 94 — respectively represented now by Reps. Keresa Richardson, Jeff Leach and retiring Tony Tinderholt — in addition to Round Rock’s District 52 and Houston’s District 138, represented by Reps. Caroline Harris Davila and Lacey Hull, respectively.

Democrats are hopeful that Paxton will cause a down-ballot drag for Republicans in a cycle where Trump will not be on the ballot to help juice turnout.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost the Republican Senate nomination to Paxton, argued as much throughout the primary. A pro-Cornyn super PAC published an analysis last month finding that Paxton’s nomination would depress GOP margins by five to eight points compared to Cornyn and cost the GOP 11 Texas House seats, while putting another 13 in play.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who leads the state Senate, warned in April that Republicans could lose the Texas House if the party did not unify after a bitter GOP primary season. Still, many Texas Republicans quickly consolidated behind the GOP ticket after last week’s runoff election, and Republicans argued that Democrats were overestimating their chances this cycle. House Speaker Dustin Burrows was also quick to offer his assurance that, Patrick’s comment notwithstanding, Republicans would hold onto their majority.

“The Democrats are past their best days in which Republicans were fighting each other in primaries and gas prices were rising,” veteran GOP strategist Craig Murphy, who is working on several Texas House races, said, adding that polling still favored Republicans in swing districts and that there were not enough seats in play for Democrats to take the chamber. “Things are already trending downhill for them. Yes, Democrats say this time is different. But they have said those exact words in literally every election since 2010.”

Oliverson, the House GOP caucus chair, acknowledged Republicans would face several competitive races, including in North and South Texas. But, he added, the GOP incumbents in those seats had withstood challenges before, knew their districts well and had strong legislative records to run on.

“In a year where you could have Democrat enthusiasm, those are the ones you predict are going to be challenging,” he said. But “at the end of the day, those are the races where we have some of our best candidates.”

During his victory speech, he cemented a key pillar of his campaign: cracking down on bad actors in Big Tech.

“As attorney general, I’ve sued some of the largest companies in the world … for taking advantage of our kids by exposing them to dangerous, addictive material,” Paxton said Tuesday night. “In Washington, I will not stop fighting to protect Texas children from Big Tech.”

The stump speech has merit.

Thanks to robust state laws surrounding consumer protection and data privacy and a sympathetic federal appeals court, Paxton is one of the most prolific litigators of Big Tech among state attorneys general, according to legal experts. Paxton’s office has filed at least two dozen lawsuits against large tech companies in the past five years and secured some of the largest settlements in the history of state litigation.

The legal action serves as a useful campaign tool as Paxton embarks on what promises to be a contentious U.S. Senate race against Austin Democratic state Rep. James Talarico as public opinion on artificial intelligence and Big Tech sours.

“You’re going to hear more from Ken Paxton on this, you’re going to hear more from Republicans, I think, up and down the ballot on this,” said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist who has worked in national and Texas politics. “There is a growing groundswell of opposition to the idea of Big Tech oligarchs … you hear it from (U.S. Sen.) Bernie Sanders and you hear it from Ken Paxton.”

Separate from the campaign trail, Paxton’s efforts are having real world impacts.

Two of the largest settlements a state has ever obtained from a tech company have come from Texas. In 2024, Paxton announced a $1.4 billion settlement with Meta to stop the company from obtaining Texas users’ biometric data without their permission, described by Paxton’s office as the largest ever settlement obtained from a lawsuit brought by a single state. In October 2025, Paxton announced a $1.4 billion settlement with Google for tracking Texas users’ data without their permission. That money, paid over several years in the case of Meta, is sent to the Texas State Treasury and becomes state revenue.

“He is known as one of the more litigious in this space, and he’s also been winning,” said Joanna Forster, a partner at Crowell and Moring LLP who represents and advises large tech companies. “If I were him, keep doing what’s been winning.”

Paxton in the summer of 2024 created a division within the Office of the Attorney General dedicated to enforcement of Texas’ privacy laws against Big Tech firms. Paxton cited the growing ability of tech companies to collect and sell data on their users and promised to use existing state law to pursue legal actions. Texas has some of the most comprehensive AI and consumer protection laws of any state.

Paxton has successfully leveraged that robust cache of legislation, as well as a sympathetic bench on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing him to create new law in a variety of categories applying to Big Tech, Forster said.

Paxton makes frequent use of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act, suing Netflix, Meta and WhatsApp, and messaging app Discord under the statute in recent months. Those lawsuits broadly hinge on a legal argument that Texas consumers were lied to by the companies, which misrepresented how they use consumers’ data, Paxton argued.

Paxton used the Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, a law on the books since 2009 that prohibits the collection of biometric data without consent, to sue Meta in the case that led to the $1.4 billion settlement.

The Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, both passed by the Legislature in 2023, were cited in a 2024 lawsuit against TikTok, as well as the December 2024 announcement that Paxton’s office would investigate 15 AI and social media companies over their safety and privacy practices for minors.

Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act, sweeping legislation passed last year that includes measures to rein in AI technology that manipulate human behavior and create deep fakes, gives Paxton an additional tool to go after companies, Forster said.

State attorneys general across the country, regardless of political party, are taking legal action against Big Tech companies at a high rate, and Texas is among the most prolific, said Matthew F. Ferraro, also a partner at Crowell and Moring LLP and former senior counsel for cybersecurity and emerging technology to the Secretary of Homeland Security under President Joe Biden’s administration.

“That is an across-the-spectrum series of regulators who are interested in these issues, and that’s why I think the political developments are probably not going to change the central fact, which is that technology companies are going to be under increasing scrutiny from a variety of regulators across the country,” Ferraro said.

The increasing litigation is partially due to the bipartisan agreement among voters that tech companies need to be regulated more strictly, Steinhauser said. Stories like the case of a 13-year-old girl who was groomed over Roblox and Discord before being sexually assaulted in her Galveston home by an adult man only serve to reinforce public opinion, he added.

Recent public opinion polling has found Americans critical of Big Tech companies in a variety of areas, including bipartisan opposition to the construction of data centers, a belief social media companies wield too much power and a broad distrust of tech CEOs.

“Part of the reason Ken [Paxton] is taking it up, I think, is it’s a real problem and he’s heard about it, his team has heard about it, or they’ve experienced it with their own children,” Steinhauser said. “If the politics of this was bad, maybe they wouldn’t do it, but I think the politics of it is good, and it just so happens it’s a real issue on voters’ minds.”

The Paxton and Talarico campaigns, as well as the Texas Attorney General’s Office, did not respond to requests for comment.

While it may be good politics for Democrats and Republicans, the legal action by states is creating a growing patchwork of laws and court rulings that tech companies are subject to across the country, and the federal government has done little to address the fractious regulatory environment, Forster said. Companies are increasingly faced with either having different rules for users in different states, pulling out of states altogether or building their product to meet the most restrictive state’s laws.

“I think none of those options is a good one for the industry,” Forster said.

Democrats dodged the possibility of a primary shutout in one redrawn district near San Diego, but still ran a risk of having no candidates make it to the November ballot in a second district they banked on outside of Sacramento. California’s unusual primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party, means that if one party runs too many candidates, they can split the vote and all miss making it to the general election.

Democrats had feared that scenario in the San Diego-area district held by the retiring Rep. Darrell Issa that was redrawn last year to become a swing seat. Republican San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond advanced to the November ballot for that seat Tuesday. An avalanche of nine Democrats also entered the running — and San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert nabbed the other slot.

The situation was more dubious in suburban Sacramento, where Rep. Kevin Kiley, who left the GOP to become an independent after his conservative district was divvied up into more Democratic ones, was fighting to make the ballot along with a lone registered Republican and a host of Democrats. Only one Democrat was in the top three of the race late Tuesday.

California was Democrats' prize in midterms redistricting

California has been the bright spot for Democrats in a redistricting war kicked off by President Donald Trump to help his party retain control of the House. After Texas redrew its map to make as many as five more seats winnable for the GOP, California voters allowed Democrats to suspend their state’s own independent redistricting commission and create a new map in retaliation.

But when Virginia Democrats tried to replicate that, they were blocked by their state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, letting Republicans eliminate some majority-Black congressional districts in the South.

Younger progressives challenge veteran Democrats

The schism between establishment Democrats and a younger, insurgent progressive wing is a defining characteristic of many of this year's primaries across the country, and it's no different in California.

In Sacramento, city council member Mai Vang is challenging 81-year-old Rep. Doris Matsui, who succeeded her late husband after he died in 2005.

The split in the party was encapsulated at a polling place in the suburb of Elk Grove on Tuesday. Tamara Alton, a 65-year-old marriage and family therapist, said she was voting for Matsui, who seemed likely to end up in one of the top two slots as of late Tuesday.

“I’m going with who I know,” Alton said.

Democrat Khydeeja Alam, 42, a small farmer who also works for the state, said she planned to vote for Vang.

Alam, who is Muslim, said Matsui didn’t do enough to engage with Muslim Americans after the war in Gaza began.

“She’s not been accessible, which has been a really big disappointment,” Alam said.

Rep. Brad Sherman, whose Southern California district stretches from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu, made it to the November ballot while fending off a challenge by Democrat Jake Levine, a 42-year-old lawyer who argues that it is time to move on from the 15-term congressman. Republican Larry Thompson, a lawyer, also advanced to the general election for that seat.

In a redrawn district that stretches from Napa Valley into conservative Northern California farming communities, 14-term Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson drew a younger challenger, former venture capitalist Eric Jones, but advanced nonetheless.

And in a safe Democratic district in San Francisco, Scott Wiener, a state lawmaker and former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, advanced to the November race to replace retiring former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Supervisor Connie Chan, who was endorsed by Pelosi, took the second slot.

Republicans grapple with redrawn districts

California's congressional primaries also will determine the fate of Republicans targeted in the Democratic redraw.

In the Central Valley, they redrew the seat held by Republican Rep. David Valadao to make it even more Democratic. Valadao is a survivor of several targeted Democratic campaigns and one of two remaining Republican House members who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He made it to the general election on Tuesday, so the primary will determine which Democrat faces him — state Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, a moderate backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or Randy Villegas, a political science professor at College of the Sequoias and a school board member who represents the party’s liberal wing.

The district was rattled Tuesday evening by an hourslong standoff in downtown Bakersfield between police and a man holding local residents inside a bank. Local officials said the main county building and its ballot drop box remained open, but Bains canceled her election night party, citing the standoff.

In Southern California, sitting Republican Reps. Ken Calvert and Young Kim were drawn into the same conservative district and had been battling over their pro-Trump credentials. That was on the mind of Brett Christensen, a 55-year-old school safety monitor who voted for Calvert — who ultimately advanced to the general election — because Christensen thought the congressman had been a more reliable conservative vote.

“Young Kim’s voting record has not been consistent,” Christensen said outside a polling place in the city of Orange.

Meanwhile, in the San Francisco suburbs, six Democrats and two Republicans are running for the seat formerly held by Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, who resigned and ended his gubernatorial bid amid sexual harassment allegations. The top two vote-getters advance to the November ballot to fill the seat starting in 2027, while a special election will be held June 18 for the remainder of Swalwell's current term.

___

This story corrects the spelling of the name of a candidate who is running in San Francisco. It is Saikat Chakrabarti, not Saikat Charkrabati.

___

Sophie Austin in Elk Grove, California, and Amy Taxin in Orange contributed to this report.

The building in the Malviya Nagar neighborhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and a hotel above. The predominantly residential area is densely populated and is popular with students and young professionals.

The blaze was extinguished with the help of eight fire engines, and more than 40 people were rescued and taken to nearby hospitals, Delhi police said in a statement.

The cause of the blaze was not immediately known.

Images from the scene showed firefighters trying to douse the blaze as thick smoke billowed from the building. Some people trapped inside were seen hanging from windows and shouting for help as flames and smoke swept through parts of the building.

Local residents also joined rescue efforts, helping evacuate people trapped inside and carrying some of the injured to safety.

Some of the victims were foreign nationals who had traveled to India for medical treatment, local media reported. Many foreign patients travel to New Delhi for medical treatment and often stay in nearby hotels or residential accommodation during their visits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the deaths, his office said in a post on X. It also said that the families of those killed would receive 200,000 rupees ($2,088) each in financial assistance.

Fires are common in India, where building laws and safety norms are often flouted by builders and residents.

The pact struck in 2022 with the Solomons’ then-Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare created fears in the United States and among allies including Australia that it would allow the Chinese navy to build a base in the South Pacific.

Before Wale became prime minister in a parliamentary vote May 15, he had called for the detail of the treaty to be made public.

Wale said Wednesday he had only been provided with a copy a few days ago and after he had “removed certain people from key positions.” He didn’t identify those people.

“I haven’t had a good look at it. I’ve had a look at it,” Wale told reporters in the Australian capital Canberra.

“I’ve been praying and fasting about it. … There is a nondisclosure clause in it, so I couldn’t show it to you right away. But we are going to be reviewing (the treaty), as we are reviewing other security agreements that we have with many other countries,” he added.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China was “ready to work with the new government of Solomon Islands to expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields so as to better benefit the two peoples.”

Wale was visiting Australia in his first overseas trip since he became leader of his nation of 700,000 people, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia.

Wale and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese announced their governments would negotiate a comprehensive strategic treaty that would elevate the bilateral relationship and cover security and economic issues.

Wale’s predecessor, Jeremiah Manele, had resisted Australia’s efforts to forge closer ties, but Wale said the two governments had decided to “reset” the bilateral relationship.

“We acknowledge that there’s been some problems in the past few years,” Wale said.

Albanese said Australia should be the Solomons’ primary security partner, rather than China.

“We have said very clearly we want Australia to be the security partner of choice in our region and we want the Pacific family to look after our security in this region,” Albanese said.

Wale said the regional looking after its own security was "the direction we want to take.”

China has provided police instructors to the Solomons as part of their bilateral deal. The Solomons doesn’t have a military, so police there have a larger security role than in countries with defense forces.

The Solomons provided China with a diplomatic coup in 2019 when Sogavare’s government switched official recognition to Beijing from Taiwan, the self-governed island democracy China claims as part of its territory.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Moritsugu in Beijing contributed to this report.

Though votes were still being counted, Democrats Xavier Becerra and Tom Steyer and Republican Steve Hilton started looking to November, laying out their visions for leading the nation's most populous state and one of the world's largest economies.

Only two will advance to the general election, however, and The Associated Press has not yet called the primary for any candidate. The state has a history of substantial vote updates after Election Day that can sometimes shift the outcome of elections as late-arriving mail and drop-off votes are counted. Hilton and Becerra were leading so far, with Steyer running slightly further back.

“Change is coming to California, and it’s long overdue,” Hilton told supporters after polls closed, reflecting his campaign message that the state needs a dramatic reset after more than 15 years of Democratic rule.

Steyer also campaigned on change, though through a vastly different lens. A former hedge fund manager turned climate activist, he pledged to raise taxes on corporations and the ultrawealthy like himself. He declared Tuesday that he would prevail over monied interests that strived to defeat him.

Becerra, meanwhile, pitched himself as the steady hand who can lead the state against intrusions from the Trump administration, touting his decades in public service in Congress, as state attorney general and as federal health secretary. Speaking to supporters, he said voters came around to his message after he initially was counted out.

“The underdog stayed in the fight,” Becerra said to applause.

California puts all candidates on a single primary ballot regardless of party, and the top two finishers advance to the November general election. About 60 candidates were on the ballot, most of them largely unknown to the state’s roughly 23 million voters.

Affordability at the center of campaign

The through line of the race was how to tackle the state's notoriously high cost of living.

Drivers were paying $6.08 per gallon at the pump as of the end of May, $1.65 higher than the national average, according to AAA. Meanwhile the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has estimated that the typical home is about $775,000, more than double the national average. And Californians pay the second-highest residential electricity rates behind Hawaii, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Steyer blamed the state's challenges in part on corporations that he said are ripping off Californians. He supports eliminating private health insurance in favor of a government-run system and pledged to break up major utilities and take on fossil fuel companies. Utility Pacific Gas & Electric was among the businesses spending money to defeat him.

“We should have a system based on fairness, not asking for fairness,” Steyer said Tuesday, adding that his campaign “scared the hell out of the corporate interests who are used to getting their own way.”

Hilton said he would make Californians' first $100,000 free of income tax, increase oil production and freeze in-state tuition at public colleges and to try to make the state more affordable. He also pledged to slash regulations and to “revive” the state's economic prowess by reversing Democratic policies that make things more expensive.

That message resonated with voters like Republican Rosamaria Cerezo, a 57-year-old substitute teacher voted for Hilton.

“Both my husband and I have two jobs each just to make ends meet,” she said.

Candidates expressed optimism about state's future

Despite the state's challenges, the candidates delivered upbeat messages about its potential. They pledged to ensure government works to serve all of its roughly 39 million residents.

“I ran for the job because I know how important California is as a shining light to the world,” Becerra told supporters.

He argued that his years of political experience prepared him to lead, and he highlighted his tenure as attorney general, when he filed more than 120 legal actions during Trump's first term, as evidence that he can protect Californians' interests.

Democrat Tamara Alton, a 65-year-old marriage and family therapist, was voting for Becerra because of his experience.

“I'm going to go with him because I want somebody that knows what they're doing,” Alton said.

Becerra also referenced his background as the son of two Mexican immigrants. In a state where nearly a third of voters identify as Hispanic or Latino, he would be the first Latino governor in more than a century.

California, he said, “regularly makes the improbable seem inevitable.”

Steyer vastly outspent rivals

Steyer ran the most expensive primary campaign in the country, dumping more than $215 million of his own money into it including a massive amount on advertising. That's likely just a preview of what he would spend should he advance to the general election.

His spending prompted some of his rivals to accuse him of trying to buy the election.

But some Democratic voters said they chose Steyer despite uneasiness with his wealth because of his focus on tackling climate change.

Jude Mayer, 24, said she was not thrilled about voting for a billionaire but Steyer “is talking about the environment in the way that I want to hear about it.”

___

Associated Press writer Amy Taxin in Orange, California, contributed.

The 7-2 vote came at 2:20 a.m., almost 15 hours into a meeting that drew extensive interest from residents who argued for and against building a desalination plant that council members voted down last year over environmental and cost concerns.

The proposed plant is not expected to begin delivering water until late 2029, but supporters fear that without long-term supplies, the city’s economy will freeze, driving away residents and businesses and crippling the important tourism industry.

Opponents expressed deep concern about the proposed plant’s impact on Corpus Christi Bay, and some doubted the fairness of an environmental study that concluded the plant’s salty discharge would not affect sea life.

The coastal city, Texas’ eighth largest city, is staring down a persistent drought that has placed it on course to being the first U.S. city to run short of water sometime next year. Desalination — the process of turning seawater drinkable — has been seen by some as the cure to get the city through future dry spells.

Wednesday morning’s vote delayed action until Sept. 1, about a year after the council abandoned the initial effort to build the Inner Harbor plant.

“You’re asking us to go out on a limb and I’m not comfortable with it,” said Council Member Gil Hernandez, who first suggested delaying the vote. Hernandez was among the five council members who voted last year to pull the plug on the project.

Several council members were also troubled by the water department’s inability to secure contracts with industrial companies to purchase water from the proposed plant.

With frustration clear in his voice, Council Member Eric Cantu told Corpus Christi Water Chief Operating Officer Nick Winkelmann that he was disappointed contracts have not been secured.

“You want us to pay all this money and not have a guarantee from the refineries that they’re not going to bail on us and go find their own water or buy their own water source,” Cantu said.

Council Member Roland Barrera, who voted in September to continue the desalination project, said he understood why companies have been slow to commit to a contract with the city.

“It’s very hard to enter into a contract without any certainty that you’re going to have a product, and right now this council has been very indecisive,” he said. “It’s very difficult to engage into a contract … when you don’t have that certainty.”

Council Member Carolyn Vaughn responded: “I don’t think this council has been indecisive. That is what I call due diligence.”

The vote to delay came after the city water department’s bond rating was downgraded Monday by Fitch credit rating service. The rating was lowered from AA- to A- for, among other things, city leaders’ tendency to defer decisions related to key water supply projects.

“Fitch believes these delays limit planning certainty and reflect weaker governance during a period of elevated operating risk,” the company said.

“We were downgraded because [desalination] was killed last year,” said Mayor Paulette Guajardo, who supports the project. “Be accountable for your votes.”

The city’s water department, the mayor and some City Council members view the Inner Harbor Desalination Project as the key to a long-term, steady water supply capable of producing up to 30 million gallons of drinking water a day, even in a drought.

Last year, the same council members voted 5-4 to pull the plug on the Inner Harbor project after nearly decade of planning amid fierce criticism over potential harm to the Corpus Christi Bay’s ecosystem and the ballooning price tag — from $160 million when it was first approved in 2019 to $1.2 billion when the plant was abandoned in September.

Time and the heightening crisis have not changed the minds of project opponents, including many who voiced concerns about the impact on Corpus Christi Bay’s ecosystem.

“The question is: Do we want to be known as the city sucked up by Exxon, or the city that stood up to the people killing the planet?” Corpus Christi resident Guillermo Gallegos told the City Council.

More than 100 residents signed up to speak to the council, most of them to address the desalination plant during a public comment period that stretched beyond six hours.

Opponents also accused the City Council of prioritizing industry — the largest consumers of the city’s water — over the city’s affordability and the environment.

“Water is not a commodity to be sold to outsiders while citizens and our habitats come last,” a young speaker told the council, adding: “We cannot drink money.”

But Brittany Clendening said the city’s economy is on the line.

She said she moved to the city in 2020, when “we had new investments, we had new restaurants, bars, and coffee shops opening all the time, but ever since curtailment, we haven’t seen that.”

“Continued delays in securing water will cause job loss and could push us into a regional recession,” Clendening said.

For the initial project, the city in 2017 received a $2.75 million loan from the state for the project’s preliminary stages. The state provided another $222 million in loans three years later, then agreed to loan the city more than half a billion dollars in addition, of which $10 million has been disbursed.

After the City Council pulled the plug on the desalination plant in September, the decision drew criticism from across the state, including Gov. Greg Abbott.

“Corpus Christi is a victim not because of lack of water. They’re a victim because of a lack of ability to make a decision,” Abbott said at a news conference in March.

Abbott threatened a state takeover of the city: “We can only give them a little time more before the state of Texas has to take over and micromanage that city and run that city.”

This time around, the water department brought the estimated cost down to $978.8 million, about 25% cheaper than previous estimates, by reducing construction and engineering services costs. Winkelmann on Tuesday called it a “preliminary guaranteed maximum price.”

The water department has already corralled a number of contractors to jump on the plant. It’s fully permitted, about 60% designed, and would be built along the bay in Hillcrest, a historically Black neighborhood. But Council Member Hernandez said, “I don’t think this is the right location for this plant, it’s too small” and there’s not room to expand it in the future.

The facility is expected to increase the average residential water customer’ monthly water bill — charged for 6,000 gallons a month — by $14.16 a month. Average commercial customers who use around 20,000 gallons a month should expect a monthly increase of $47.60. Large-volume users, including industrial facilities such as Valero and LyondellBasell, which each consume an average of around 90 million gallons a month, are expected to pay $214,200 a month more for water.

The City Council also voted Tuesday on water restriction mandates during a Level 1 emergency, which is projected to hit in late 2026 or early 2027, and surcharges customers would have to pay if they exceed their monthly allocation.

All water customers — residents, businesses and industry — would be required to cut water use by 25% under Level 1 rules finalized Tuesday.

Residents’ baseline usage has been set at 8,000 gallons a month. Under an emergency, their allotment would fall to 6,000 gallons a month.

Industrial and wholesale customers such as the cities of Alice, Beeville and Mathis would be required to make 25% reductions based on a three-year average of water use. That amount would also take into account seasonal changes in usage.

Residents would also only be allowed to wash vehicles and boats using 5-gallon buckets or hand-held hoses with a shutoff nozzle. Commercial car washes would be forced to stop operations.

Additional fees would be charged to all types of customers that use more water than allowed, starting with $4 per 1,000 gallons over their allocation and subsequently rising to $8 per 1,000 gallons over their baseline. Federal and state government users, however, would be exempt from these surcharges.

More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.

— California: Voters weighed in on who should lead the nation’s most populous state, where there is no clear leader among candidates vying to advance in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Plus, U.S. House races are on the ballot, along with the Los Angeles mayor’s race.

— New Mexico: Contests in the state include primaries for congressional seats, a U.S. Senate seat and a long list of statewide offices, but the governor’s race is the main attraction. Former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night, putting her on a historic path for Native American leaders.

— New Jersey: One of this year’s most closely watched House midterms will take place in the battleground district represented by Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who has drawn public scrutiny and concern after missing more than 100 House votes due to an undisclosed medical issue. Democratic voters selected Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, to take him on this fall.

— Read more about races in Iowa, Montana and South Dakota.

AP has not called any candidate to advance in California governor’s race or second candidate for LA mayor

Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra were the leading candidates in the race for governor, with Democrat Tom Steyer running slightly further back.

In the mayor’s race, incumbent Karen Bass has advanced to a runoff election, but AP has not yet called a second candidate to advance.

California has a history of substantial vote updates after election day that can sometimes shift the outcome of elections as late-arriving mail and drop-off votes are counted.

Both parties have led California

California has been considered a Democratic stronghold in recent years, but this wasn’t always the case. The state has had more Republican governors than Democratic ones in the last 60 years, the most recent being actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who held the office from 2003 to 2011.

California GOP Rep. David Valadao advances in reelection bid

He is considered among the most vulnerable U.S. House Republicans. A perennial Democratic target, Valadao narrowly lost to a Democrat in 2018 but won back his Central Valley seat two years later.

Valadao is one of only two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The 22nd District is one of the seats Democrats redrew to be more favorable to their party in response to gerrymandering in Texas and other Republican states.

Democrat Katie Porter concedes defeat in California’s gubernatorial race

Porter thanked her supporters and said she relied on small donors, not big corporations, for her campaign focused on affordability, housing and taking on Trump.

The former member of Congress said although the results aren’t final she knows she won’t have enough votes to make it to November.

“Running a race like this isn’t easy, and coming up short is hard, but democracy is worth doing hard things for,” she said in a video message.

Republican Steve Hilton expresses optimism about California governor’s primary

Though the final results aren’t in, Hilton said his chances of advancing to November are “looking good.”

He thanked his supporters and the president for his endorsement during a speech in Orange County.

He said he plans to make California an attractive place to run a business and raise a family in a safe neighborhood with good schools. He said the state has tremendous potential.

“We’ve got everything we need for this state to be amazing again,” he said.

‘I hope she’s ready,’ Spencer Pratt says of LA Mayor Karen Bass

“We can do debates every Friday if she would like,” Pratt told a group of reporters under the flash of cameras in his first remarks after results started rolling in.

“I got in this because I felt like my city failed myself, my neighbors,” he continued, painting a dark image of the current state of Los Angeles and sharing what he wants to fix, including to “help those homeless people.”

Pratt argued that he has Democratic as well as Republican supporters, boiling his campaign down to a single line: “I’m an Angeleno who said enough is enough, and I had to step up.”

“I’m going to show everybody that I’m their mayor,” he said, clearly enthused, before wrapping his remarks.

Democrat Xavier Becerra says he overcame underdog status in race for California governor

Speaking to supporters Tuesday, Becerra noted he was once counted out. Now he’s among three contenders leading in early returns for two spots in the November general election.

Becerra, a former state attorney general and federal health secretary, shared his personal story as the son of two immigrants. He’d be the state’s first Latino governor since the late 1800s

He said he wants to lead a state that “regularly makes the improbable seem inevitable.”

LA Mayor Karen Bass advances to a runoff in her bid for reelection

After a shaky first term marked by the most destructive wildfire in city history, the Democrat qualified for the November runoff.

Bass has acknowledged that her time in office has been bumpy but pointed to reductions in homelessness and a historically low homicide rate in the nation’s second-most populous city.

She is a former member of Congress and the first Black woman to serve as mayor.

Nithya Raman says her vision for LA ‘threatens some very powerful forces’

Addressing supporters, Raman thanked backers for sustaining her positive outlook on how the city should be run. She decried “the City Hall insiders, the corporations who have spent years making sure City Hall worked for them and not for the people.”

A former ally of Mayor Karen Bass, the progressive Raman was elected to City Council with support from the Democratic Socialists of America. A Democrat, she’s campaigned on promises to reduce inequality, revive the slumping entertainment industry and build more housing.

Rep. Randy Feenstra’s defeat is a rare loss by a Trump-backed candidate this primary season

Feenstra lost the Republican nomination for Iowa governor to Zach Lahn. Lahn previously worked for conservative political organization Americans for Prosperity.

Lahn said Tuesday he’s not a politician and that as his own biggest donor “I have not been bought and I will not be bought.”

“Tonight is just the beginning,” he said. “The fight starts now.”

Lahn championed policies that appealed to Iowa’s conservative grassroots supporters, including a total ban on abortion and keeping liberal ideology out of public school classrooms.

He also embraced the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

Zach Lahn wins

Republican nomination for Iowa governor

Lahn defeated four Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who was endorsed by Trump.

Lahn owns an investment company and lives on a farm in eastern Iowa that has been in his family for a century. He previously worked for conservative political organization Americans for Prosperity.

Lahn will face State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat currently holding statewide office, in November. They are running to replace outgoing GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Unopposed in his primary and absent a clear Republican opponent, Sand has had a long runway to hone his moderate message and amass an $18 million campaign chest.

LA Mayor Karen Bass thanks supporters, predicts winning a second term

Bass thanked supporters for having faith in her after a tough first term and predicted she will win in November.

“I love you. I appreciate you. I appreciate you for believing in me,” she said.

Bass, a Democrat, is facing challengers from both ends of the political spectrum.

Bass told supporters she’d devoted her life to serving the city and “I’m going to continue to do that all the way to victory in November.”

California Rep. Brad Sherman survives challenge from younger Democrat for House seat

The 15-term congressman has advanced to the November general election after defeating a challenger seeking generational change.

Sherman, 71, was being pushed by Jake Levine, a 42-year-old lawyer who argued that it was time to move on from the veteran lawmaker.

The 32nd District stretches from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu and is considered a safe seat for Democrats.

GOP nominee Gregg Hull says he’ll have momentum in New Mexico governor’s race

“This fall, we will face Deb Haaland in the general election and we’re going to win,” Hull said. “And I respect that she has served in various positions over her career, but New Mexico families are hurting, and the policies of the last eight years under one-party control of this state have failed.”

A grandfather, Hull said he wants to bring high-paying jobs to the state so young people won’t have to leave.

The U.S. Senate general election fundraising battle has already begun in Montana

The winners of tonight’s U.S. Senate primaries in Montana face an uphill fundraising battle to catch up with independent candidate Seth Bodnar. Bodnar, who advances directly to the November general election, has raised more money than all Democratic candidates on tonight’s ballot combined.

Bodnar has also outraised Kurt Alme, who won the Republican nomination tonight. Alme, who is backed by Trump, will test whether the weight of Trump’s endorsement can overcome a substantial fundraising disadvantage.

Rep. Randy Feenstra concedes in Iowa GOP governor primary to Zach Lahn

Feenstra, who was endorsed by Trump, said late Tuesday that he called Lahn to concede. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race.

Feenstra told supporters in Hull that the outcome “wasn’t what we probably wanted” but that it would start a new chapter. He said he called Lahn to tell him to “carry the torch” and offered a prayer as he continues the campaign.

“I am all in to help him out,” Feenstra said. “Let us never hang our heads.”

Democratic lawmaker Scott Wiener advances in bid to replace Nancy Pelosi

The California state senator joined the scramble among Democrats to replace the retiring former House speaker.

Pelosi is a San Francisco political institution. The competition has been fierce among Democrats to replace her in the safely Democratic 11th District seat.

Republican Jim Desmond advances in redrawn Southern California House district

The San Diego County supervisor advances to the November ballot in a San Diego-area congressional seat that Democrats redrew to give their party a shot at a pickup.

Desmond was endorsed by Trump and Rep. Darrell Issa, a conservative who retired rather than run in the new 48th District.

Gregg Hull is Republican nominee for New Mexico governor

Hull has pointed to his time as mayor of fast-growing Rio Rancho as a blueprint for how he would govern, promising to attract large employers to a state where poverty rates are among the highest in the nation and wages among the lowest.

He beat out small business owners Duke Rodriguez and Doug Turner for the GOP nomination and will face an uphill battle in the general election. Republicans have not won a statewide office in New Mexico in 10 years.

Spending in California’s governor race shatters records

This year is already shaping up to be costly for elections across the country, with candidates in Texas, Illinois, Kentucky and Georgia setting spending records within their state or office. But nothing comes close to the amount spent by billionaire and California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer. He has spent over $200 million of his own money to fund his campaign, setting the record for both the costliest campaign this year and in California gubernatorial history.

California’s voters: by the numbers

California stands as the most populous state in the country with a citizen voting-age population of 26.1 million in 2024. Its electorate is also one of the most diverse. Nearly one-third of California voters identify as Hispanic or Latino, which is the second-highest share among all U.S. states. Asians make up 15% of the state’s voters.

The state stands out economically as well with a median household income of $102,870, over $20k more than the U.S. median. Despite its reputation as a Democratic stronghold, California’s political landscape is far from monolithic. Rising housing costs, immense income inequality and regional identities contribute to complex cross-sections of political identities that complicate sweeping state narratives.

Mid-decade redistricting in California

California’s primaries are taking place in newly drawn congressional districts approved by voters last November. The map, pushed forward by Gov. Newsom, was designed to create more favorable conditions for Democrats. It came in response to Trump’s call for redistricting that would bolster Republicans’ position in midterms this fall.

Crowd roars as Haaland takes stage as Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor

A mariachi band played and supporters chanted “Deb! Deb! Deb!” as Haaland arrived on stage to address the crowd.

She outlined her own time as a single mother in saying she’s experienced struggles that are familiar to many New Mexicans. But, she said, a better New Mexico is possible with grit, creativity and persistence.

She said she’d work to lower costs, make healthcare more accessible, improve education and make communities safer.

Iowa’s Democratic US Senate candidate Josh Turek says he feels hope

Turek said he wants to help families like his own be able to achieve the American Dream once again and be “a voice for the voiceless.”

“I am feeling hope here in Iowa for the first time in a very long time,” Turek said to big cheers.

Turek thanked his Democratic primary opponent, Zach Wahls, for making him a stronger candidate. He soon pivoted to Ashley Hinson, the Republican he will face in the general election, arguing the congresswoman doesn’t serve everyday Iowans.

“I will fight for you — all of you — no matter what,” he said.

Joe Mitchell is GOP nominee for Ashley Hinson’s Iowa US House district

Mitchell was endorsed by Trump.

He defeated state Sen. Charlie McClintock in the Republican-leaning 2nd District.

The seat is open because Hinson is running for U.S. Senate.

Emergency at bank leads California Democrat to cancel election night party

State Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains, who is competing for a chance to face vulnerable Republican U.S. Rep. David Valadao in November, announced she was canceling the party because of the incident.

Police remained encircled around a bank Tuesday evening in downtown Bakersfield, where a man was holding several people inside.

In her statement, Bains said she was canceling the event “to avoid creating a large gathering of people in close proximity to this incident.”

Iowa’s vote history keeps the Senate seat in play for Democrats

Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek won tonight’s U.S. Senate primaries in Iowa, setting the stage for a competitive race in the fall.

Democrats are eyeing the open seat vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. Before Ernst’s election in 2014, Iowa was represented by Democrat Tom Harkin for three decades, marking a period where Democrats were still competitive statewide.

Iowa also backed former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, indicating how a strong Democratic candidate can resonate with Iowa voters despite the state’s recent Republican lean.

Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks wins GOP nomination in Iowa’s 1st District

Miller-Meeks defeated David Pautch, who also ran against her in 2024.

Miller-Meeks went on to eke out a win in the general election that year, earning a third term after a recount confirmed her roughly 800-vote lead over Democrat Christina Bohannan.

Ashley Hinson speaks of bipartisanship after winning Iowa’s Republican US Senate primary

Hinson dubbed it “a resounding victory” in a statement, before listing what she wanted to continue doing in Congress: make life more affordable, take on “Big Pharma and Big Health Insurance” and “root out corruption in Washington.”

“My record is one of delivering bipartisan results for Iowans, and that’s exactly what I’ll do in the United States Senate. I’ll work with anyone, from any party, to get things done for Iowa,” she said.

Josh Turek wins Iowa Democratic US Senate primary

Turek is a former Paralympian and relative newcomer to public office, winning his state House seat in 2022.

His primary race against Zach Wahls was upended by a flood of outside support that boosted him in the final stretch. Democratic political operation VoteVets spent millions of dollars to blanket the airwaves, social media and mailboxes.

He will next try to flip the seat currently held by GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, who is retiring.

Deb Haaland wins Democratic nomination for New Mexico governor

One of the first Native American women elected to Congress and the nation’s first Native American Cabinet secretary could break another political barrier. As the Democratic nominee for governor, she is on her way to become the first Native American to hold that position in any U.S. state.

Haaland’s primary win makes her the frontrunner in November. Democrats have consolidated control over every statewide elected office in New Mexico over the past decade.

As interior secretary under President Joe Biden, Haaland championed public lands conservation and oversaw a first-of-its-kind federal investigation into the abuse of Native American children at government-run boarding schools. On the campaign trail in New Mexico, Haaland focused on reducing costs for families while emphasizing her ancestral roots in the state and experience in the nation’s capital. She’s a member of Laguna Pueblo.

US Supreme

Court allows Alabama to use congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Alabama to use a congressional map favoring Republicans in this year’s elections, blocking a lower court ruling that the redistricting plan intentionally discriminates against Black people.

The justices granted the state’s emergency appeal to use a map it adopted three years ago that has a majority-Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts.

The high-court order is the latest development in a redistricting frenzy that is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections. It comes a day before an important deadline that Republican Gov. Kay Ivey had already extended in the state’s desire to use the map in special primary elections in August.

Rebecca Bennett tells Rep. Tom Kean Jr., ‘We are coming for you’

Addressing supporters at an election night party after winning the Democratic nomination in New Jersey’s battleground 7th District, Bennett called the Republican incumbent a “coward.”

“You are failing us, and you do not deserve to represent us in Washington,” the former Navy helicopter pilot said to Kean, who has been away from Congress with an unspecified illness for months.

Bennett’s victory over three other Democrats in the district sets up the state’s premier contest in November. The district has flipped in the last two midterm elections.

Introducing his wife, Bennett’s husband told the crowd that Tuesday marks their 14th wedding anniversary.

Ashley Hinson wins GOP nomination to replace Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst

Hinson, who is endorsed by Trump and Ernst, defeated former state Sen. Jim Carlin.

The former TV anchor is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd District, in the northeastern part of the state.

She got into the race for Senate almost immediately after Ernst said she was retiring. Hinson won her most recent election with the support of 57% of voters.

A closer look at New Mexico’s voting population

New Mexico has the highest share of Hispanic or Latino voters among U.S. states and the second-highest share of American Indian or Alaska Native voters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Despite Indigenous people accounting for nearly a tenth of New Mexico’s voting-eligible population, New Mexico did not elect its first Native American member of Congress until Deb Haaland’s historic victory in 2018.

Rebecca Bennett wins Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 7th District

Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot, will take on Rep. Tom Kean Jr. this fall. Her win over three other Democrats in the closely watched district sets up the state’s premier contest for November, when the party hopes they can flip the seat.

Winning in districts like the 7th, which includes bedroom communities and farm towns as well as Trump’s Bedminster golf club, will be key to Democratic hopes of gaining control of the narrowly divided House.

The win comes as Kean has missed more than 100 votes in the House because of a medical issue that his office has declined to specify.

New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District: By the numbers

New Jersey’s 7th District remains one of the most competitive U.S. House districts in the country. In 2018, former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski unseated longtime Republican incumbent Leonard Lance, flipping the seat after decades of GOP control.

Malinowski managed to hold off now-Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in 2020, but following redistricting, the district seesawed back to Republicans in 2022 when Kean won by 2.8 points.

In 2024, Kean expanded his margin to 5.4 points, but Trump won the district by only 1.1 points that same year, making the race for this seat anyone’s game.

Democrats look to Iowa to rebuild in the heartland

Before Trump reshaped American politics, Iowa was the state that lifted the political career of Barack Obama and sent Tom Harkin to the Senate for five terms.

The party is particularly excited about Rob Sand, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. A native of Decorah, he has the rural roots that have become rare among Democrats. Perhaps most importantly, he’s a proven winner in a Republican-leaning state, having been elected twice as auditor.

Republicans head into the primary with five candidates. Trump jumped in last week to endorse Rep. Randy Feenstra.

This is the first open contest for the governor’s seat since 2006. Democrats are hoping that a combination of the economic fallout from Trump’s tariff policies, rising gas prices stemming from the Iran war and the lack of a Republican incumbent could give them their best opportunity in years. Sand also has a fundraising advantage over the Republicans, including Feenstra.

▶ Read more

Haaland easily clinched the Democratic nomination Tuesday, putting the citizen of Laguna Pueblo on a path to yet another potential first. She was one of the first two Native women elected to Congress and was the first Native American to hold a Cabinet secretary position in the U.S. government.

She celebrated her win at a historic plaza in Albuquerque's Old Town neighborhood, where supporters gathered among a mariachi band and traditional Native hoop dancers. The event began with a prayer in Tiwa, one of many Native languages spoken among tribes in the state.

Both Haaland and Hull, the former three-term mayor of one of New Mexico’s largest cities, recognize the challenge in leading a state that is grappling with high rates of violent crime, chronically underperforming in schools and facing cuts to federal safety net programs.

“Our challenges today are not new, but we must come to the table with new solutions,” Haaland said. “Everything is getting more expensive. The state will step up to put more money back in your pockets.”

Hull said he knows families are struggling, but one-party control in New Mexico is not the answer. He vowed to give voters a “real choice.”

“This fall, we will face Deb Haaland in the general election, and we’re going to win,” Hull said. “And I respect that she has served in various positions over her career, but New Mexico families are hurting, and the policies of the last eight years under one-party control of this state have failed.”

The next governor will succeed Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham, who reached her term limit. Democrats have won every statewide elected office since 2017.

Haaland’s campaign resonated with voters

On the campaign trail, Haaland focused on reducing costs for families while emphasizing her ancestral roots in the state, being a single mother, relying on government assistance and overcoming addiction. She also touted experience in the nation's capital.

She made her first stop Tuesday at San Felipe Pueblo, a Native American community north of Albuquerque.

Meredith Ansera, a project coordinator with the pueblo, said she worked with Haaland during her tenure as a tribal administrator who helped oversee education and childcare programs.

“She knows what our needs are and she’s been there,” Ansera said.

Ann Chavez Barudin traveled 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Santo Domingo Pueblo to attend Haaland’s event Tuesday. She said she has followed Haaland’s ascent in national politics and supports her run for governor because of her promises to fill gaps left by Trump administration cuts to social safety net programs.

“I have confidence that she will stand up for Medicare,” said Chavez Barudin, who is a Medicare recipient herself and cares for her older mother who relies on the program.

Under President Joe Biden, Haaland championed public lands conservation and oversaw a first-of-its-kind federal investigation into the abuse of Native American children at government-run boarding schools. In 2018, she and Sharice Davids of the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin made history as the first two Native women elected to Congress.

Haaland defeated Sam Bregman, an Albuquerque-based district attorney and the father of Chicago Cubs All-Star Alex Bregman, who campaigned on a promise to curb violent crime.

“This campaign may be over, but my commitment to the people of New Mexico is not,” he wrote in a statement to The Associated Press.

He criticized Haaland after her name appeared in the Jeffrey Epstein files. She flew on a private jet chartered by one of Epstein’s companies during her 2014 unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor. That flight to a fundraising meeting in Washington, D.C., was paid for by Gary King, her running mate at the time. King’s family had sold Epstein a ranch in New Mexico two decades earlier.

Haaland said she was unaware of Epstein’s role in arranging the flight and never met him.

Republican candidate faces an uphill battle

Hull was mayor of fast-growing Rio Rancho and has pointed to his leadership there as a blueprint for how he would govern. He has promised to promote economic growth and attract large employers to New Mexico, where poverty rates are among the highest in the nation and wages among the lowest.

“We ran a campaign that focused on the issues, a campaign that focused on who we were and not a campaign that attacked or tore people down,” Hull told a crowd that gathered to watch the results roll in. “We did it right.”

He defeated public relations professional Doug Turner and former state Cabinet secretary Duke Rodriguez.

A.J. Rodriguez cast his ballot for Hull, the candidate he sees as most likely to defeat Haaland, and rein in violent crime and government spending.

“The state keeps voting blue and we’re getting hammered by policies that aren’t working. We need someone who can actually put up a good fight,” said Rodriguez, a retired sheriff's office lieutenant.

Surging oil prices have translated into an influx of tax revenue

The next governor will inherit the oil windfall in the state budget that has led to competing ideas on how best to use it — from cutting one-time checks for taxpayers to funding tax credits that would mostly aid low-income residents to eliminating the state’s income tax.

The state’s heavy reliance on fossil fuel revenues to fund its programs has also created political difficulties for Democrats, as some of that income was tied to oil prices that spiked during the Iran war. New Mexico is the nation’s second-largest oil-producing state behind Texas, and the industry’s revenue funds an array of progressive social programs that include universal childcare.

For the first time, the primary was open to the nearly 23% of voters who are registered as independent. Lujan Grisham signed the semi-open primary system into law last year.

The move deepened the turmoil at the nation's most influential TV news program, days after a leadership overhaul.

Pelley, 68, criticized management Monday during a fiery staff meeting with Nick Bilton, the program's new executive producer installed by Weiss last week, according to a detailed report on the Status website.

In a termination notice obtained Tuesday night by The Associated Press, Bilton, a technology journalist and filmmaker with no traditional broadcast news experience, accused Pelley of carrying out an “ambush” against him.

“Yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications, and my intentions with remarkable incivility and contempt,” the letter states.

Pelley said in a statement that “60 Minutes” has lost its DNA under new management. He accused them of asking him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into his work, without sharing specific details.

Pelley is accused of a ‘performative display of hostility’

Status, which said it had a recording of the Monday meeting, reported that Pelley had said Weiss was brought in to kill the news outlet, “and she’s doing exactly that.” Weiss was not present for the meeting.

Pelley reportedly grilled Bilton about the firings last week of Bilton’s predecessor, Tanya Simon, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.

Alfonsi had criticized Weiss last year for postponing a segment about deportees sent to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador as part of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Pelley said in his statement that those colleagues “stood for fairness against the forces of political bias.” He also accused CEO David Ellison of casting aside the show's reputation “apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.” Ellison, an ally of the Republican president, has owned CBS since 2025, when its parent company, Paramount, merged with Skydance Media.

In the dismissal letter Tuesday, Bilton said Pelley’s “performative display of hostility” demonstrated that he has “no interest in contributing to the future success of the show.”

An uneasy stretch for CBS News

Since Weiss took over the network's news operation last October, it has traveled a bumpy road.

Pelley's termination came just five days after Weiss, who has become a polarizing figure in the media world since taking the reins, told staff in a memo that it was time for a “new approach” at the top-rated newsmagazine.

In the memo, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski said their goal for “60 Minutes” was “building a show that thrives in the 21st century.” That could include extending the show beyond a 60-minute broadcast, they said.

“60 Minutes” first aired in 1968 and is the longest-running prime-time show in TV history. Its investigative journalism and probing interviews, sometimes with unwilling subjects, have given it the reputation of uncompromising journalism — precisely the trait that Pelley said he feared was under assault.

Pelley started working for CBS in 1989. He was its chief White House Correspondent from 1997 to 1999, during Bill Clinton's presidency, and anchored “CBS Evening News” from 2011 to 2017. He has won 51 Emmy Awards, according to his CBS bio.

This time, he was on the wrong end of a play to forget.

Adell misplayed a flyball into a bizarre home run off his head Tuesday, a fielding blunder reminiscent of José Canseco's embarrassing gaffe 33 years ago with the Texas Rangers.

Adell reached up to catch TJ Rumfield's deep fly for the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning, but the ball grazed the outside of his glove before bouncing off his head and over the wall for a solo homer.

“I was toward the line and I felt like I had a little bit longer way to go than I normally do on a route like that and just missed it,” Adell told MLB.com. “It hit off my hat. I don’t know if I overran it and took a step over. But it was kind of the icing on the cake because I was (bad) all the way around the whole day today.”

There was brief confusion on the field when the ball caromed off a digital scoreboard above the fence and back into the outfield. Rumfield stopped at second base, initially unsure of the ruling, before proceeding around the bases to give Colorado an 8-0 lead on the way to an 8-2 victory.

“It’s one of those things where how it happened looks crazy,” said Adell, who also went 0 for 4 at the plate with two strikeouts. “It looks like I’ve never played in the field before, which is disappointing, because it’s beyond the truth. But it is what it is. I’m the only one that really knows what happened. I was out there, and it happened to me, so it is what it is. I’ve got to just keep going, and as a team, we’ve got to keep going.”

It was similar to an infamous play on May 26, 1993, when Canseco lost track of a long drive hit by Cleveland's Carlos Martínez. The ball bounced off Canseco's head and over the right-field wall for a home run.

Rumfield's gift homer ended the night for Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez, who gave up three homers and eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.

The play also stood in stark contrast to some of Adell's fielding exploits this season, including that April game in which he stole three would-be homers from the Mariners — including one in the ninth inning — to preserve a 1-0 victory for the Angels.

After that one, former Gold Glove outfielder Torii Hunter, now a special assistant to the general manager for the Angels, said Adell had “probably the greatest defensive game I’ve ever seen.”

“He robbed three homers in one night this year, so it’s baseball, and it’s a crazy game,” Rodriguez said. “Things happen. Obviously, he didn’t do that on purpose. All you can do is really just move on.”

Adell struggled at times with fielding early in his major league career, including a play during the 2020 season when a deep drive by Rangers outfielder Nick Solak bounced out of Adell's glove for what was ruled a rare four-base error. But Adell has had far more fielding highlights than lowlights since, and he was a Gold Glove finalist in 2024.

“Jo’s made great strides defensively from when I played with him,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “And obviously, he had the night he robbed three home runs. So I look back at the strides that he’s made defensively. It was a tough play tonight, but at the same time, the strides that he’s made defensively have been great.”

___

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

The winners will compete in November’s critical midterm elections, in which Iowa’s U.S. Senate and House seats could determine control of the narrowly divided chambers. The next governor could also play a pivotal role in the 2028 election, given the state’s long history of making or breaking presidential hopefuls.

Two Republicans and two Democrats are competing in primaries to replace Ernst, who announced in 2025 that she would not seek a third term. U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson faces former state Sen. Jim Carlin in the Republican primary, while state Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls compete for the Democratic nomination. Carlin ran for Iowa’s other U.S. Senate seat in 2022, receiving about 27% of the primary vote against U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Reynolds also announced in 2025 that she would not seek a third term. Vying for the GOP nomination are state Rep. Eddie Andrews, U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, entrepreneur and private school co-founder Zach Lahn, former state Rep. Brad Sherman and former state administrative services director Adam Steen. President Donald Trump has endorsed Feenstra.

The winner will face Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand, who is unopposed in his primary. Sand is Iowa’s only Democrat in elected statewide office.

Hinson’s and Feenstra’s statewide campaigns have created open seat contests in the state’s 2nd and 4th Congressional Districts, respectively. Feenstra’s district is heavily Republican and is unlikely to play a major role in determining control of the chamber. Hinson’s district is more competitive, although she won reelection in 2024 with 57% of the vote.

In Iowa’s most competitive congressional seats, Republican U.S. Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of the 1st District and Zach Nunn of the 3rd District are both seeking reelection. Miller-Meeks faces a rematch with her 2024 primary opponent, advertising executive David Pautsch, who received about 44% of the vote. The Democratic field includes former state Rep. Christina Bohannan, who came within 1 percentage point of defeating Miller-Meeks in one of the closest U.S. House races of 2024.

In the 3rd Congressional District, both Nunn and his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott, are unopposed in their primaries.

Trump received roughly 54% of the 2024 presidential vote in both the 1st and 2nd Congressional Districts and about 52% of the 3rd District vote.

Polk, Linn and Scott counties are Iowa’s most populous, and all three play major roles in both Republican and Democratic statewide primaries. Johnson County is the fourth largest, but as home to Iowa City and the University of Iowa it is an overwhelming Democratic stronghold and tends to exert much less influence in Republican primaries.

Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

When do polls close?

Polls close at 8 p.m. CT, which is 9 p.m. ET.

What’s on the ballot?

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor, auditor, state Senate and state House.

Who gets to vote?

Only voters registered with a political party may participate in that party’s primary. However, voters may change their party affiliations at the polls on the day of the primary.

How many voters are there?

As of May 4, there were about 2.1 million registered voters in Iowa, including about 692,000 registered Republicans, about 496,000 registered Democrats and about 589,000 voters not registered with any party.

How many people actually vote?

About 196,000 Republican primary votes and about 157,000 Democratic primary votes were cast in the 2022 U.S. Senate primaries.

How much of the vote is cast early or by absentee ballot?

About 16% of the Republican primary vote and about 25% of the Democratic primary vote in the 2022 U.S. Senate primaries was cast before primary day.

As of Friday, about 48,000 ballots had already been cast in Tuesday’s election, roughly 30,000 in the Democratic primary and more than 18,000 in the Republican primary.

When are early and absentee votes released?

Nearly all counties release the results of absentee-by-mail voting at the start of the night. However, counties vary in terms of when they release in-person absentee voting results.

How long does vote-counting usually take?

In the last contested state primary in 2022, the AP first reported results at 9:12 p.m. ET, or 12 minutes after polls closed. The last vote update of the night was at 2:29 a.m. ET, with more than 99% of total votes counted.

When will the AP declare a winner?

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

How do recounts work?

Iowa does not have an automatic recount law, but candidates for statewide and federal offices may request a recount if the winning margin is less than 0.15% of the total vote. For all other offices, the required margin is less than 1% of the vote or 50 votes, whichever is smaller. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Are we there yet?

As of Tuesday, there will be 154 days until the 2026 midterm elections.

___

This story has been updated to correct the winning margin threshold under which candidates for statewide and federal offices may request a recount.

___

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

Officers responding to a call of a bomb threat arrived at the scene around 1 p.m. at the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield, and discovered a man had barricaded himself inside “with several community members,” the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement.

Through negotiations, two of the hostages were released and the rest are in “good health,” city police Sgt. Eric Celedon said.

“We have every single resource at our disposal out here to bring this to the safest resolution possible,” he said.

Nearby buildings were evacuated, including city hall and the police headquarters, and some roads were temporarily closed, according to officials. Officers established a perimeter around the building and nearby businesses, authorities said.

Celedon warned the public to stay out of the area, explaining that this is still a very active situation.

A spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase said its branch is on the ground floor of the building and is currently empty. The company is working with authorities.

The department's crisis negotiation team was in contact with the suspect by telephone.

About a dozen police cars were on scene along with one tactical vehicle and multiple emergency responders, and FBI agents were on the scene.

Jacob Davidson, a livestreamer known as Dad’s Gone Live, was a block from the bank at his family’s tattoo shop when he started getting calls from his subscribers alerting him to the bomb threat.

“I went into the bank’s parking garage and watched the cops enter the back of the bank. This is the biggest police presence I’ve ever seen in this town,” Davidson said. “Now I’m watching them set up the trauma tents with the green, red and yellow tags, and black tags too, along with a command center about a block away.”

By Tuesday night, his livestream captured through a window in the building a woman rocking back and forth before crouching further down below the window. Later, two hands could be seen waving.

Law enforcement agencies often protectively set up trauma tents — which are color-coded to help sort people based on the severity of injuries — just in case they become needed during an emergency situation.

Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh said she is closely monitoring the situation.

“The best way the public can help at this time is by avoiding the area and allowing law enforcement officers, negotiators, and other trained professionals the space and opportunity to safely carry out their duties,” she said in a statement.

___

Associated Press reporter Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.

“I am Lady Sarsaparilla Ovabyte, of the Coventry Ovabytes,” she said. “We are purveyors of fine cordials.”

Her companion peered through glasses made from fused-together forks.

“Captain Bob McSpoon, inventrepreneur,” he said.

On a Victorian-era street in rural Ōamaru, New Zealand, Ovabyte and McSpoon, who usually go by Juliet and Greg Thorn, weren’t the only ones wearing goggles or forks, or emitting steam. They were in the small town to attend the annual steampunk festival, a four-day love letter to being as odd as possible, which draws thousands of visitors from around the country and abroad.

Steampunk fuses Victorian aesthetics and mechanics with a science fiction twist to create a parallel universe imagining what the age of steam might have produced if it had continued to the present day. The genre is limited only by imagination, and the weirder the better.

Steampunks pride themselves on a knack for recycling and DIY, honing skills in sewing, metalworking, hat-trimming and steam mechanics as they dream up fantastical personas with outfits to match. During the year, attendees are bricklayers, engineers, artists and farmers, with many describing themselves as normally shy or reserved. But they had come to the festival to be seen.

“The first time you dress up and go out in public is really scary and then people get such a buzz out of it,” Juliet Thorn said. “It’s so cool that you take on a different personality.”

Teapot racing and parasol dueling are steampunk sports

In its 17th year, whole traditions and sporting codes have sprung up around the steampunk festival, which is among the world’s best-known.

Hundreds crowded into upstairs rooms and old community halls for steampunk-themed contests. They raced to dunk cookies in cups of tea and cram the soggy results into their mouths before their competitors. A parasol-dueling contest looked like competitive vogueing judged on speed and style.

Michele Cotten won a fashion show displaying wild and upcycled outfits that participants spent months finessing. Cotten fused steampunk with the Star Trek universe to create a hooped dress made in the style of a navy Starfleet uniform. It was rigged with Christmas lights to evoke a galaxy and Cotten, a crowd favorite, strutted and posed to whoops from onlookers.

Then there was the teapot racing, in which competitors sent remote-controlled vehicles mounted with teapots around a fiendish obstacle course to the gasps and groans of a watching crowd.

“If you go out of bounds, that’s a disqualification,” said Ross McKay, one of the sport’s creators, who dreamed it up with his late wife and a friend. He has since introduced teapot racing to other steampunk events worldwide.

“It’s lots of fun and the judges will take bribes,” he added.

When McKay’s wife showed him pictures of steampunks, he recalled thinking, “What a bunch of weirdos," but the self-confessed “history geek and science fiction nerd” found plenty to love about the genre. The retired banker was soon enrolled in night classes for sewing.

Now he is Captain Roscoe Dangerfield, Inspector of Nuisances to Her Majesty Queen Victoria III, which combines the historical element of a real Victorian job with the fiction of a monarch who never lived.

The steampunk community had become his tribe, he said.

Small town is an unlikely steampunk capital

Ōamaru is the placid home to 14,000 people and 3,000 endangered native penguins, the latter of which live at the far end of town in a colony so pungent it can be smelled from the hill above. The town on New Zealand’s South Island doesn’t feature the sweeping vistas popularized by the Lord of the Rings films, which bring tourists to nearby regions, and for years was mostly seen as a stopping point between the cities of Christchurch and Dunedin.

An architectural quirk has put Ōamaru on the map as what locals call the steampunk capital of the world. The town features a completely preserved Victorian street by the harbor, a legacy from the 19th century days when Ōamaru was a commercial and mercantile powerhouse as a departure point for meat, wool and grain exports from New Zealand to Britain.

The cream-colored stone buildings now form the backdrop for the festival's steampunk adventures. Later in the year the town also hosts a Victorian festival celebrating a historically accurate version of the era, with the events coexisting peacefully after the steampunks and Victorians decided the town was big enough for everyone.

Anything goes in a no-rules genre

Steampunk, a term coined in the 1980s, gives participants an opportunity to rewrite Victorian-era social conventions on the basis that if you are flying on a magic carpet or traveling through time, it doesn’t matter if you make the rest up.

“We’re an equal opportunity society,” said Iain Clark, who co-founded the festival and is widely known in the community as Agent Darling. “Women, unlike in Victorian times, can be anything. We have female engineers, captains of industry, captains of airships, adventurers, explorers, scientists.”

Sometimes all in the same week. Bringing a different outfit for each day of the event is common and fitting rooms at the festival’s headquarters allow for quick changes, with nothing strange enough to raise eyebrows.

In the street, a Star Wars trooper trudged past, followed by a pack of wolves. A French tourist nervously adjusting his crocheted and leather gloves was introduced to steampunk only three days earlier and immediately fell in love with the genre.

“You can be creative and you can be somebody else and no one cares,” said John Syben, who was attending his fourth festival.

His partner, Chris Sinclair, said the pair previously had been “far too tame, so we’ve gotten more and more outrageous every year.”

“There’s always someone who’s more nuts than you," she said.

Iran fired missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, but failed to hit their targets, the U.S. said. The two fired at Kuwait fell apart en route, while U.S. and Bahraini forces intercepted the missiles aimed at Bahrain.

U.S. Central Command said it responded with strikes on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain and another country in its attack, without naming Kuwait. It said it launched its attack in response to the U.S. firing a missile into the engine room of another oil tanker trying to reach Iran despite the U.S. blockade.

“We had previously warned that in case of aggression, the response would be different and more severe, and we acted accordingly," the Guard said in its statement.

Central Command also said it “downed multiple drones” launched by Iran targeting American forces in Kuwait.

The attacks happened after Iran stopped communicating with mediators about extending a ceasefire in the war with the U.S. and Israel, according to reports Tuesday from two semiofficial Iranian news agencies. President Donald Trump disputed the claim and said talks were continuing.

The reports by the Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both believed to be close to the Guard, came as tensions flared in Israel’s separate-but-related fight against the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A regional official involved in the mediation, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks, told The Associated Press that Iran had not communicated at all on Tuesday after saying that a ceasefire needed to be enforced in Lebanon for negotiations to continue.

Trump says talks ‘going on continuously’

Trump called reports of a cessation in talks “false and erroneous.”

“The conversations between us have been going on continuously, including four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, one day ago and today,” Trump said in a social media post. "Where they lead, one never knows, but as I told Iran, ‘It’s time, one way or another, for you to make a Deal."

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio did not address the reported cutoff in communications as he testified at a congressional hearing in Washington. Instead, he sounded an optimistic note about the nuclear dimension of the negotiations, while cautioning that there’s no guarantee of reaching “a deal that’s acceptable.”

Iran has been trying to increase pressure on Trump over negotiations on the Iran war ceasefire and loosening the Islamic Republic's chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and the oil, gas and other commodities that normally pass through it. Trump then could potentially push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt or slow the advance of his forces, which have moved deeper into Lebanon than at any time in over a quarter of a century.

The conflicts have increasingly become conjoined, as Iran insists that any potential truce in the war there must also quell the fighting in Lebanon.

Israel and the U.S. maintain the fighting in Lebanon is separate from the Iran war talks.

Inflation takes an economic toll on Iran

Meanwhile, year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians are facing. While the U.S. is eager to ease the Islamic Republic's grip on the strait — through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed in peacetime — Iran faces economic challenges as its oil-backed economy remains under a U.S. naval blockade.

Economic pressure touched off nationwide protests in Iran in 2017 into 2018, when rising food prices sparked demonstrations that killed over 20 people and saw hundreds arrested. The next year, an increase in government-subsidized gasoline prices caused protests that saw over 300 people reportedly killed.

Then came the protests over the collapsing value of Iran's currency, the rial, at the start of this year. They were the most intense demonstrations to shake the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution and the chaotic years that followed. Iran's theocracy met January's protests with a crackdown on demonstrators in January that killed over 7,000 people, according to activists' estimates.

Now, even as hard-liners hold gun-handling workshops and organize marriages under the shadow of a ballistic missile to bolster spirits, experts note there could be new demonstrations if people find themselves priced out of feeding their families.

“I have no doubt that if Trump leaves (Iran without a formal peace deal) ... most probably, we will see something like January by the end of summer because of the economic and social situations," analyst Mohsen Jalilvand said in a video published by Iran's Fararu news website.

Iran faces skyrocketing inflation

Iran's Central Bank said the consumer price index, which measures a basket of goods and services, reached 77.2% in May compared with the year before. The rate is 8.5% higher than in April, the bank added. Inflation in daily and general needs — like medicine, taxi fares, tobacco and communication fees — rose 113.8% from the year before.

A private economic think tank in Iran, the Bamdad Institute of Economic Studies, described the current figures as “an unprecedented rate since World War II.” Iran’s Central Bank did not acknowledge the significance of the figures.

The previous record came in 1942. During the war, the British and Soviets invaded Iran and took over its railway, disrupting food supplies. The lack of food, worsened by a poor harvest, sparked hyperinflation and a famine. Hunger and a typhus outbreak killed many.

Airstrikes this year have greatly damaged Iran's businesses and its oil industry, Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade has been targeting Iranian crude oil shipments trying to reach the international market, a key source of hard revenue. Tax revenues have been depressed by businesses struggling even after the fighting paused.

The rial, which traded at 32,000 to $1 in 2015, now trades at over 1.7 million to $1.

“We will definitely have higher prices," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in May. "We are fighting, and we must accept this hardship.”

Tehran-based economist Saeed Leilaz, speaking to the AP, warned that annual inflation in Iran could reach 80%.

"Iran’s society cannot tolerate above 25%” annual inflation, he said.

___

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran. Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Aamer Madhani and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

Turek, who defeated state Sen. Zach Wahls for his party's nomination, now faces a full-throttled Republican defense of the retiring two-term Sen. Joni Ernst’s seat, which the GOP considers pivotal to keeping its Senate majority.

Hinson, endorsed by Trump and Republican leaders, prevailed over former state Sen. Jim Carlin to secure the GOP’s nomination for Senate.

The Senate primaries were among many competitive races in Iowa attracting national interest, including from the White House. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both touched down in the state this year to shore up Republican enthusiasm.

Trump suffered a rare loss of a candidate he backed in this year's Republican primaries. Zach Lahn won the Republican primary for Iowa governor over U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, who was endorsed by the president. Trump said in his Friday endorsement of Feenstra that “Randy is MAGA all the way!”

Lahn previously worked for conservative political organization Americans for Prosperity.

Democrats feel hopeful that high prices, lost manufacturing jobs, shuttered healthcare facilities and a struggling agricultural economy will help the party dismantle the all-GOP federal delegation and Republican statehouse trifecta.

State Auditor Rob Sand, the lone Democrat currently holding statewide office, is the party’s nominee for governor. Unopposed in the primary, Sand has been able to hone his moderate message, remind voters of his rural upbringing and amass an $18 million campaign fund.

Tense Senate primary grappled with Democratic establishment and electability

While many voters felt Turek and Wahls were largely aligned on key Democratic positions, Turek prevailed in convincing voters that he’s better to go up against Hinson.

Turek told an election night crowd that he has been a fighter his whole life and will fight for Iowans in Washington.

“This is what we need in D.C., fighters for the people. And that is what I will be in the United States Senate,” he said to cheers. He also criticized Hinson, saying “she does not represent Iowa and does not represent our values.”

Turek, a relative newcomer to elected office, leaned on his experience campaigning and winning in a red, Trump-won state House district as evidence that he could appeal to independent and moderate Republican voters in November. He played professional wheelchair basketball in Europe, and he competed for the U.S. in four Paralympics, including as recently as 2021. He won his state House seat in 2022.

Turek referred to himself as an underdog when he launched last August and said last week that he still thinks of his campaign that way, especially against Hinson. Still, a flood of outside support and Washington endorsements boosted him in the final stretch. A Democratic political operation spent millions of dollars to blanket the airwaves, social media and mailboxes. An adviser for VoteVets said in a statement Tuesday that they were “ready to continue the fight.”

Political organizations affiliated with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, and Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs the Democratic Senate campaign arm, have both contributed to Turek’s campaign committee.

Wahls had criticized the massive cash spend for Turek as insiders’ influence on the race and made his opposition to Schumer as party leader a defining tenet of his campaign. He criticized a coastal playbook that doesn’t work in Iowa.

But Wahls on Tuesday vowed to support Turek in the general election, saying he was committed to beating Hinson.

As Democrats look to reclaim Senate control, Iowa was one of the last states on the map where candidates were still fighting to be the party’s nominee. The GOP Senate campaign arm has committed $29 million to help Hinson, who currently represents northeast Iowa in Congress.

Hinson’s campaign immediately went on the attack against Turek, criticizing what she called his “radical record” and his support from Schumer.

“Chuck Schumer is on the ballot in Iowa – he goes by the name Josh Turek,” the campaign said.

GOP jostling over the governor’s seat

Lahn will face Sand in the race to replace Gov. Kim Reynolds, who opted out of a third bid.

Feenstra said late Tuesday that he called Lahn to concede.

Feenstra told supporters in Hull, Iowa, that the outcome “wasn’t what we probably wanted” but that it would start a new chapter. He said he called Lahn to tell him to “carry the torch.”

Declaring victory, Lahn said he’s not a politician and that as his own biggest donor “I have not been bought and I will not be bought.”

“Tonight is just the beginning,” he said. “The fight starts now.”

Lahn championed policies that appealed to Iowa’s conservative grassroots supporters, including a total ban on abortion and keeping liberal ideology out of public school classrooms.

He also embraced the “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

He was endorsed by former U.S. Rep. Steve King, who Feenstra unseated in the 2020 Republican congressional primary. After Trump endorsed Feenstra Friday, Turning Point Action, the conservative group founded by Charlie Kirk, gave their support to Lahn.

While Republicans celebrate years of progress under Reynolds, the primary has unearthed sticking points over economic development, tax policy and property rights, as well as the relationship between the state’s water quality, farm conservation practices and rising cancer rates.

Primaries in targeted congressional seats

Republican Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, endorsed by Trump, again fended off a 1st District challenge from businessman David Pautsch, who had earned 44% of votes against the incumbent congresswoman in the 2024 primary. Three-time Democratic candidate Christina Bohannan, who came about 800 votes shy of unseating Miller-Meeks in the last election, won the nomination from her party in the district, fending off first-time candidate Travis Terrell.

In northeastern Iowa, former state Rep. Joe Mitchell, endorsed by Trump, secured the Republican nomination for Hinson’s open 2nd District seat over state Sen. Charlie McClintock. State Rep. Lindsay James won the Democratic nomination, defeating former nonprofit leader Clint Twedt-Ball and Kathy Dolter, a former dean of nursing at an Iowa community college.

Republican incumbent Rep. Zach Nunn and Democratic state Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott are both unopposed on the primary ballot in the competitive 3rd Congressional District.

___

Associated Press reporter Thomas Beaumont contributed from Iowa City.

And by midway through the opening period, they were down two goals against a fast-skating Carolina Hurricanes team riding the energy from a buzzing home crowd.

No matter. And no panic. Not with these tested Golden Knights.

Tomas Hertl took a backhand pass from Colton Sissons and beat Frederik Andersen from the slot with 3:24 left in the third period, lifting the Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Tuesday night’s opener of the Stanley Cup Final.

“I've said it all through the playoffs: it's a find-a-way league,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “We found a way tonight.”

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday in Raleigh, with Vegas already having taken home ice away from the Hurricanes as it chases a second Cup title in four seasons.

“Momentum swings happen quickly,” Tortorella said. “We want to keep the momentum on our side, so there’s no question we’re looking to get two.”

Hertl’s finish off Sissons' feed from the right faceoff circle broke a 4-4 tie and pushed the Golden Knights ahead in an entertaining, back-and-forth start on the sport’s biggest stage. It marked Vegas’ seventh straight win of the playoffs, starting with the last two games of the six-game second-round series against Anaheim and then the shocking four-game sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.

That series included Vegas erasing a 3-0 deficit to take Game 3, and now the Golden Knights have followed by rallying from another multigoal deficit — this time 2-0 in the opening period — against the team that finished second only to the Avs in the regular season.

“It was a terrible start,” said center William Karlsson, who capped a run of three straight goals that pushed Vegas to a 3-2 second-period lead. “Just like it was against Colorado, a lot of time left. We always believe.”

Things changed after Tortorella gathered his team around the bench during a TV timeout after the Hurricanes had sprinted out to their lead, coming as Vegas had a slow start out of its six-day break while waiting for Carolina to close out Montreal in a five-game Eastern Conference Final.

“Just stick with the program, on our game plan, and not get impatient," said defenseman Brayden McNabb, who had three assists. “They pressure a lot and we want to keep the puck going north, and limit east-west plays.”

Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas, with Howden’s postseason-leading 11th score giving the Golden Knights a 4-3 lead just 1:21 into the third period. Carter Hart finished with 23 saves, including a key stop on Seth Jarvis only seconds before Hertl's winner.

Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for the Hurricanes, the first coming 25 seconds into the game when he got loose on a rush and blasted one past Hart from the left side on the game’s first shot. He followed with a breakaway that gave Carolina a 2-0 lead and sent a charged home crowd into an eruption in the team’s first Stanley Cup Final game in two decades.

Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere each scored tying goals after Vegas had pushed to a lead, with Gostisbehere skating in clean on the left side to blast one past Hart at 11:19 of the third period and tie it once more at 4-all. Andersen finished with 18 saves.

“I thought they played just a little bit better than us,” Staal said. “They executed their game plan and aggressive on their forecheck and played in our end, and they buried their chances when they had them.”

The Hurricanes went 12-1 through three rounds to get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since now-coach Rod Brind'Amour captained them to the title in 2006. It also comes amid an eight-year playoff streak that has included at least one series win every time as a regular postseason contender.

Carolina swept through Ottawa and Philadelphia before taking the last four games of a five-game win against Montreal to punch through an Eastern Conference Final roadblock. That made the Hurricanes the first team since 1983 to reach the Stanley Cup Final with one loss, and the first since the NHL went to best-of-seven series in all four rounds in 1987.

Meanwhile, Vegas had been getting stronger with every playoff round, winning for 19 of 24 games going back to the unexpected late-season firing of Bruce Cassidy and replace him with Tortorella. That included the shocking result against the Avalanche, who managed just seven goals in four games.

Defense had been the standout feature for both teams, in fact, with Carolina having allowed two or fewer goals in 12 of 13 playoff games. But that wasn't the case in Tuesday's fast-paced series opener, with both teams capitalizing on their chances in an entertaining back-and-forth game before Hertl got Vegas the lead for good.

“This is a totally different team, and that may be part of it too,” Brind'Amour said when asked about comparisons to the 6-2 loss to the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. “We’ve got to get up to speed on how this game and this series is going to go. I think we certainly got a taste of that now.”

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The justices granted the state’s emergency appeal to use a map it adopted three years ago that has a majority-Black population in just one of its seven congressional districts. The three liberal justices dissented.

The high-court order is the latest development in a redistricting frenzy that is part of a broader push by President Donald Trump to try to hold on to Republicans’ slim House majority in the November elections. It comes a day before an important deadline that Republican Gov. Kay Ivey had already extended in the state’s desire to use the map in special primary elections in August.

The state’s Republican leadership went to the Supreme Court last week, the day after a three-judge court refused to let the state use its preferred map.

The lower court had ordered Alabama to use the same court-drawn map it used in the 2024 elections that sent two Black Democrats to Congress. Black residents comprise a majority or close to it in two of the state’s seven congressional districts.

"The Supreme Court’s decision gives cover to Alabama and others to deliberately and openly discriminate against Black voters without fear of any consequence. The Court’s shameless decision to reinstate an intentionally racially discriminatory map defies any thoughtful or consistent application of the law,” Deuel Ross, director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said Tuesday night.

He said the fund will “continue to throw all of our resources into the fight to ensure that Alabama voters have the fair representation that they deserve.”

Shortly after the court acted, Ivey confirmed that the state will use the map in special congressional primaries in four districts on Aug. 11.

“The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best. Today’s decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections. Alabama is doing our part to keep America strong, and I am proud our state continues to fight the fight to ensure activists do not get the final say,” Ivey said.

“I will see y’all at the polls August 11!” she said.

The order is the latest development in the fallout from last month’s Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Black-majority district in Louisiana and weakened the federal Voting Rights Act. That ruling has led Republicans in several Southern states, including Alabama, to take steps to reshape voting districts with large minority populations that have elected Democrats.

The Alabama cases stretches back several years. The three-judge panel in 2023 ruled that a map drawn by Republican state lawmakers intentionally diluted the voting power of Black citizens. The court said the state, which is about 27% Black, should have two districts where Black voters are the majority or close to it.

After the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the Louisiana case, Alabama officials moved to implement the 2023 state-drawn map. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority agreed to lift the injunction that had blocked the map’s use and sent the case back to the three-judge panel for reconsideration in light of the Louisiana ruling.

In the meantime, voters cast ballots in Alabama’s May 19 primaries, and Ivey set the new special August primaries in the districts affected by the map switch.

Upon further review, the judicial panel said it was standing behind its initial finding that there was “undisputed evidence” of intentional racial discrimination.

It said the special congressional primaries should instead proceed under the previous court-approved districts.

The panel was wrong, the high court’s conservative majority wrote in an unsigned opinion that said the lower court “did not heed the presumption of legislative good faith.”

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor chastised her colleagues for enabling what promises to be “a chaotic election, held under a never-before-used congressional map that intentionally discriminates against Black Alabamians.”

The use of the court-ordered map led to the 2024 election of U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, a Black Democrat. The map put into place by Tuesday’s order gives the GOP an opportunity to reclaim the south Alabama seat.

___

Associated Press writer Kim Chandler contributed to this report from Montgomery, Ala.

___

Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court.

“We are not moving forward with the fund, period,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in response to questions at a House hearing on the Justice Department budget.

"Not moving forward ever?” asked Rep. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat.

“Correct,” Blanche answered.

The blunt declaration marked an extraordinary, and rare, Trump administration turnabout in the face of mounting political opposition to a fund that officials said was meant to compensate people who believe they have been improperly targeted by the criminal justice system. Since the establishment of the fund two weeks ago, it’s been paused by a judge and lambasted by Democrats and Republicans alike who said they were troubled by a lack of oversight and the potential for payouts to participants in the violent Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The fund drew concerns even from Republicans

The furor especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town nearly two weeks ago without passing legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the compensation fund.

Furious, Senate Republicans jettisoned White House security money from the bill and made clear they would not pass the legislation at all unless the administration made major changes to the plan. They had sought reassurances from Blanche before moving forward.

The $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” was established last month to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns. The Justice Department had said it was an appropriate measure to correct what officials have insisted was the weaponization of federal law enforcement during the Biden administration, when Trump faced criminal charges and several of his allies were investigated and prosecuted.

The administration had said that anyone who felt unfairly persecuted could apply for compensation regardless of political affiliation, but Blanche's refusal to publicly foreclose the possibility that people convicted of crimes of violence in the Jan. 6 riot could get payouts alarmed lawmakers. A five-member commission was to have been responsible for deciding on the payouts, though no commissioners had yet been named and the criteria for eligibility remained unclear.

Blanche made clear Tuesday that he stood behind the rationale for the fund even as he was abandoning its implementation, saying: “This Department of Justice, unfortunately, was weaponized against many, many Americans, and we’re trying every day to to fix it. And we’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a lot more to do.”

Merrick Garland, the attorney general under President Joe Biden, has denied allegations of politicization and said his decisions followed the facts, the evidence and the law. The Justice Department under his leadership investigated prominent Democrats too, most notably by appointing a special counsel to investigate Biden's handling of classified information and another special counsel who brought tax and gun charges against Biden's son Hunter.

As part of the same deal to resolve the tax lawsuit, the IRS agreed to drop any pending probes of Trump over whether he’s paid his fair share of taxes. Pressed over whether it was also abandoning that part of the deal, Blanche said “nothing has changed with that,” and said the administration was only backing away from plans to create the $1.8 billion fund.

The administration had earlier hinted at a retreat

Signs of the retreat surfaced Monday when a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the Republican president was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. The Justice Department said separately it would comply with a Virginia court temporarily blocking the fund, effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least several weeks.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund, telling reporters, “I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves."

The hearing Tuesday before a House Appropriations subcommittee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department's budget, but lawmakers quickly focused their questioning on the fund.

“This administration has engaged in what are perhaps the most brazen acts of flagrant corruption I’ve ever seen,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, said before Blanche announced the abandonment of the fund. “And you are at the center of many of them, Mr. Blanche.”

She called the fund “a corrupt payout scheme for the president and his political allies. It is shameful.”

Courts reacted coolly to the fund

The Justice Department’s efforts to move forward with the fund were also facing headwinds in the courts after several lawsuits filed by Trump critics, including a fired Jan. 6 prosecutor and two police officers who helped defend the Capitol.

On Friday, a federal judge in Virginia halted the fund’s formation and any potential payouts for at least two weeks and scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order. Separately, the judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered the president’s attorneys to respond to “grievous allegations” by settlement critics that Trump abandoned his claims to avoid the court’s scrutiny of an illegal deal.

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward — which brought one of the lawsuits — said of Blanche’s comments Tuesday, “If you can say it on TV, you should say it in court.”

___

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has escalated Moscow’s aerial campaign in recent weeks in an apparent bid to take advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made air defense systems and persuade an increasingly pessimistic audience at home that Moscow is prevailing in the 4-year-old war.

Emergency rescue crews digging through the wreckage of apartment buildings pulled out the bodies of a 3-year-old child as well as those of a woman and her 8-year-old son in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials said.

The attack stretched past dawn, with explosions reverberating across cities. Officials said 16 people were killed in Dnipro and six in Kyiv.

Residents of the capital have been on edge for days after Russia warned last week that a massive aerial attack was coming and told foreign diplomats to leave. None appeared to heed the call and no embassies immediately reported damage Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for more U.S. and European support, describing the massive overnight attack as “an explicit statement by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and other missile strikes, those strikes will continue.”

Putin has stepped up his aerial campaign against Ukraine, with Russian forces recently launching another of their powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles. Ukraine's shortage of air defense systems, in part because of depleted U.S. stocks from the Iran war, has left civilians especially vulnerable to ballistic missiles, even as Kyiv's defenses stop most of Moscow's drones.

A mother and daughter shelter in a bathtub

At least 81 people were wounded in the capital, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration. Iryna Salikova, 37, spent the night lying in a bathtub for protection with her 3-year-old daughter, as blasts reverberated across the city.

“Our window was broken. A cobblestone flew into the children’s room,” Salikova said, although they weren't hurt. “Thank God we’re alive. Today we’re alive, today we’re lucky.”

Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones across Ukraine, according to the country’s air force, with the main targets including Kyiv, Dnipro and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian air defenses destroyed or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones.

Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov proclaimed Wednesday would be a day of mourning for the dead in his city. That announcement came 20 minutes before Filatov said another drone had struck a residential building there about 2:40 p.m.

Putin seeks to change the narrative of the war

Putin is keen to generate some positive news from the conflict that began with Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor and hasn’t gone according to plan.

Western officials and analysts say Ukrainian drones are pinning down Russian troops on the front line, choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine and disrupting oil facilities deep inside Russia that provide vital revenue for Moscow. That has made the war, which Moscow refers to as a “special military operation,” more visible to Russians and increased pressure on Putin.

U.S.-led peace efforts have fizzled out as the sides made no progress on key differences and after the war in Iran grabbed Washington’s attention. Zelenskyy accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin refused.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that Tuesday's bombardment struck military-industrial facilities in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions.

Ukraine said residential, energy and civilian infrastructure was hit but did not confirm or comment on damage to any military-related sites.

Putin signaled that Russia won’t let up its attacks. He said Tuesday that Ukraine’s May 22 drone attack on a college dormitory in Starobilsk in the Russia-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine that killed 21 had given the war “a whole new dimension.”

Ukraine said the attack in Starobilsk hit a Russian drone pilot training center.

Man hurled from Kyiv apartment by blast

Hits of 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and 33 drones were recorded in at least 38 locations across Ukraine, according to regional authorities. Debris from destroyed drones fell on 15 locations, the air force said.

Damage was recorded to residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure in eight districts of Kyiv.

Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband Yevhen, 64, were wounded in their apartment in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district.

“I went out into the corridor with the phone, and before I understood what happened, everything fell on my head, the glass, and the door blew off,” said Dniprovska, dried blood streaked across her face and a bandage on her chin. “I ran out into the front door and started calling my husband from the room, but he was also blown out by the blast wave.”

“Now I have nowhere to live, the apartment is completely destroyed, no doors, no windows, no balcony. You can step straight from the room out onto the street,” she said.

In Kharkiv, at least 19 people were wounded in residential areas in the past two days — including 11 on Tuesday.

___

Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed.

___

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

Among them is Fatima Yousufi, who fled her country and arrived in Australia with a backpack and a burning ambition to play international soccer.

Yousufi and others like Mona Amini had been able to study and to play soccer until the Taliban took over and shut down all women’s sports. The national team players left Afghanistan, fearing persecution.

After a frantic evacuation, 13 of the players settled in Australia where for five years they lived, played and trained in the hope of once again being allowed to represent their country.

This week, 23 members of the Afghan Women United program are in a training camp in Auckland, New Zealand and will play games against a team from the Cook Islands.

The national soccer federation doesn’t recognize the women’s team. But in April, soccer’s world governing body granted the Afghan women’s team eligibility for international competition.

“It was a special day that we heard that Afghanistan can represent again our flag in international tournaments," Amini, a midfielder, told The Associated Press in a Zoom call Tuesday. “This is the result of hard work that we did in the past four or five years.”

Seven months ago, the Afghan women played in the so-called “Unite” tournament, and had a win over Libya.

“It was a very special moment because we played in an international friendly tournament, and after three years we heard our anthem,” Amini said. “That was amazing for me.”

A better future

FIFA’s subsequent recognition was another important milestone on a long and perilous journey.

Yousufi, a Melbourne-based goalkeeper, remembers her reaction vividly.

“We’re going to have the national team! That’s the greatest thing ever that could have happened to the team," she said. “It was super important to us, especially thinking of the time when we arrived in Australia and we had lost everything: family, our childhood memories and that national team.”

Yousufi said she left home with one backpack, “to be safe and to continue to be alive.”

“When we came here the most important part of our life was to be a soccer player and to be a soccer team,” she said. "When we we saw we could not be (officially) a national team and we could not represent our country ... it was like I lost the game.”

While many ended up in Australia, there are Afghan players spread across Europe and some in the United States. Coach Pauline Hamill holds talent identification camps and helps pull the squad together for games.

Memories of their darkest days remain a strong part of the team’s motivation to succeed, and to represent women and girls still in their homeland. The Afghan women’s team played its last official competitive match in 2018.

“We couldn’t play freely in Afghanistan," Amini said. “Going out from home was tough because there was the risk of the Taliban seeing us and finding that we were playing soccer. "It was a very tough time and I’m pretty sure every one of the girls, every single one of us, fought hard to create this team and we are very happy right now to stay with each other.”

A student and an athlete

Yousufi was a student and a soccer player, and she said it was difficult even before the Taliban returned to power “for a girl to play football in Afghanistan with such difficulties as family barriers and difficulties of the society to accept a woman in sport.”

“We were thinking of any other outcomes like the danger we were facing, everyday dangers in Afghanistan like bomb explosions. Considering all those things — and it was the same for the other girls — we took all those risks to be part of the national team and to be a football player.”

Then life became even more difficult.

“The only thing humans want is freedom, and the Taliban took our freedom,” Amini said. “It is really difficult that you cannot educate, you cannot play sport, you cannot go outside or you cannot do what you love ... (or) follow your dreams.”

Role models

Amini said the refugee players now were determined to represent all women and girls in Afghanistan.

“We are here and we are going to be trying our best to do something for them, to be the voice of them so that we could have a new generation for the future for the Afghanistan women’s national team,” she said.

Yousufi said she was among a group of players “adopted by the Australian government,” and “we’re now living our life and continuing our journey with football, with our education and also being a voice for all those girls who are in Afghanistan.”

“Our team might be the one to change the way the people think and also the way that things are happening towards the girls and women in Afghanistan," she said. “We're all trying our best show that women and girls can be part of the society and can be someone who is in education or in sport, that women also have the right to do that.”

___

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