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At 300 AM GMT (0300 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Fay was located near latitude 29.8 North, longitude 40.0 West. Fay is moving toward the west-southwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). A generally westward motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected over the next few days.

Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 40 mph (65 km/h) with higher gusts. Little change in strength is forecast during the next day or two, with gradual weakening expected thereafter.

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The estimated minimum central pressure is 1010 mb (29.83 inches).

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“If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” said Dario Amodei, chief executive officer of Anthropic. And from his competitor Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, came this assessment: “We could lose control of the future to AI.”

Both said the countries of the world, through the U.N. Security Council, where they testified Wednesday, have to set safeguards of some kind to prevent the technology from getting too powerful to rein in.

They also called for the world to make sure that the power of AI isn’t concentrated in one company or country. They also touted the benefits of the technology for bettering humanity and what Altman called “giving people more power over their own lives.”

Those tech leaders “are telling us in stark terms that it cannot be left to them to prevent disaster from befalling the world,” British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said at the Security Council. “We cannot ignore them because they are right.’’

AI will be at the heart of G20 discussions

Miliband said when the U.K. leads the G20 next year, it will put controlling AI at the heart of discussions, looking for a single set of global standards “to insure that AI development is safe.”

But, the United States said: Don’t do it.

Worries about control of AI are “not a reason to pause its further development or to constrain it with new global governance structure,” said White House Science Adviser Michael Kratsios. “We want you, our allies and partners, to share in the benefits of this technology.”

The U.S. and China are jostling for AI dominance — and Chinese U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong emphasized that all countries should be able to choose AI technology as they see fit.

He warned against “banding together into a petty us-vs.-them clique in the tech sector and forcing other countries to take sides” and enabling unnamed major powers that he described as seeking “digital hegemony.” He called on countries instead to promote open-source models -- China’s approach to the technology.

For most of the world leaders, one key question about AI is this: Who should control life-and-death decisions — human or machine?

Amodei, Altman and Hugging Face CEO Clément Delangue, who spoke via a glitchy remote connection, spoke with the U.N.’s most powerful council because they and world leaders are trying to figure out not just whether to control AI, but by whom, how it could possibly be done and when it might be just too late.

The day before, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of “killer robots.” Experts and European leaders said that’s not hyperbole but something that’s either already a grim reality or perilously close.

Amodei called on world leaders to agree on not letting AI build biological weapons, figure out how to verify what models have the capability to do and “establish common standards” for testing and for loss of control and misuse.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, whose country convened Wednesday’s meeting, compared the current state of AI to both the runaway computer HAL9000 in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the dawn of the atomic age.

“Just as with the atom back then, the international community must now regulate AI in order to make the most of its potential and avoid the worst,” Barrot said.

Other leaders and nations are paying close attention to AI

His wasn't the only concern expressed during this high-profile U.N. meeting week.

“We must not allow the cost of today’s hesitation to become tomorrow’s catastrophe,” said Liberian UN Ambassador Lewis G. Brown II.

Ukrainian President President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking at the General Assembly, said some kind of human control over machines must achieved soon. Otherwise, he said, for his country — at war for 4½ years — it may be just too late.

“There is already a real possibility that AI, not only people, will begin to decide what happens on the battlefield. And we need peace before we reach that point,” Zelenskyy said.

Last month, a Russian drone seemingly using AI “autonomously made a targeting decision that killed three Ukrainians. Killer robots are technically easy to build, and they are real. We should not be under any illusions otherwise,” Kentaro Toyama, an information technology professor at the University of Michigan, said in an email.

Data scientist Rumman Chowdhury, co-founder of the accountability nonprofit Humane Intelligence, said the idea of killer robots “evokes a science-fiction villain, when the question I want the public to ask is much more concrete: Who authorized a machine to select and attack a target, under what constraints, and who answers for the result?”

The U.N. meeting unfolded as Chinese President Xi Jinping headed to Washington for a much-anticipated state visit. AI interests are looking to what comes out of Xi’s discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two countries had discussed a potential new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents that could impact national security.

But on Tuesday, Trump, lauding AI as “superintelligence,” said the United States would reject efforts to control the technology as it tries to win the development race with China. Kratsios was the one of the few who used that term in the Security Council.

Meanwhile, regional groups in Europe, Asia and elsewhere also are trying to coordinate AI policies, and various nations — and even subcomponents, such as U.S. states — are crafting their own.

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Farnoush Amiri, Edith M. Lederer and Jennifer McDermott contributed to this report from the United Nations.

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An OpenAI agent infiltrated the public-facing Medicare Statistics Reporting Service portal on July 18, he said. The portal hosted aggregate data about health spending and drug subsidies and is popular with researchers and academics. No personal information had been accessed, the government said.

Albanese made the breach public following a telephone conversation with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman. Both are in New York to address the U.N. General Assembly.

Altman was among heads of major AI firms who in speeches Wednesday pleaded with the United Nations to save the world or at least its people by somehow regulating the fast-expanding technology that they have been designing.

“Today I spoke with … Altman to express Australia’s extreme concern about this incident,” Albanese told reporters. “I also expressed my disappointment that it took the company way too long to inform the government what had occurred and the nature of the way that notification occurred as well was unacceptable.”

OpenAI said in a statement it had reviewed activity involving several Australian government departments and discovered “our models took actions we did not intend.”

OpenAI notified Australia of the breach in an email to a government department’s generic address on Sept. 10, Albanese said.

An inquiry looking into the security breach would examine whether OpenAI could be criminally charged, Albanese said. The inquiry would also investigate how Australian security agencies failed to detect the breach before OpenAI revealed it.

Albanese said he assumed there were commercial reasons for the AI investigation of how much was being spent on particular medicines and where expenditures were changing.

Government Services Minister Katy Gallagher said OpenAI had advised on Sept. 10 that an “AI agent had accessed infrastructure behind the public-facing” portal. OpenAI shared with the government the vulnerability the agent had found.

The Australian government had not been confident that it knew what the agent had been doing until officials held a technical briefing with OpenAI on Tuesday, Gallagher said.

She said the portal had been closed and the data moved to more secure systems.

OpenAI said last week it was introducing a new framework for tracking, investigating and disclosing instances of what it called “misalignment,” including cases where AI models acted without authorization, coordinated with other models or evaded oversight.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the incident was the first time that an AI agent was known to have gained unauthorized access to the Australian government’s information technology systems.

“This is a warning about the technology being developed without safeguards and without guardrails in place,” Marles said.

OpenAI was engaging with the government but the situation was “fundamentally unacceptable,” Marles said.

When the agent was denied information, it engaged is “misaligned behavior” to gain unauthorized access, he said.

Marles said the information accessed was “not particularly sensitive” and had since been made public.

Marles used an analogy of the information sitting behind a fence.

“It was not sitting behind a particularly high fence. This AI agent scaled the fence ... and the point is it was unintended. It wasn’t asked to. That’s our concern here,” Marles said.

“Our target is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive,” Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly’s annual gathering. “Russia’s finances and Russia’s production are what must be stopped if Putin is to be stopped.”

When Russia gets money from trade, “it always says no to diplomacy,” Zelenskyy argued, “so Russia’s revenues must remain a target.”

Earlier Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov clashed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and her country's European supporters at a U.N. Security Council meeting, and Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on the assembly sidelines and discussed the war.

Top US diplomat talks about potential for a ceasefire

Rubio later told reporters that Russia and Ukraine have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire that would halt attacks on grain shipments — both countries are major exporters — and on each country’s energy sectors, which have been targeted in escalating drone and missile attacks.

Rubio said reaching even a partial deal would be difficult but worthwhile, noting that Zelenskyy has publicly endorsed such a plan. The United States would be willing to help make it happen, Rubio said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry made no mention of a partial deal on grain shipments in a statement after the Lavrov-Rubio meeting. The statement reiterated that the root causes of what it calls its “special military operation” must be addressed.

At the Security Council, Lavrov said Russia will not “pause” its military action, claiming Europe would use it to “pump" Ukraine with weapons. He also made no mention of any kind of grain and energy deal, called Ukraine’s government “terrorists,” and said Moscow’s military operation aims to ensure Russia’s security and the rights of Russian speakers.

Lavrov is due to address the General Assembly on Saturday.

Zelenskyy cast doubt on Russia’s interest in ending the fighting. “Something always seems to stop Putin from saying, ‘That’s it. Enough. Peace,’” Zelenskyy said. “Can you even imagine him without war? He is ‘patient zero’, the one from whom this idea of war keeps spreading further.”

“The more freedom Putin has to act, the more dangerous the world becomes for everyone else,” the Ukrainian president warned.

The war has reverberated across the planet -- with global repercussions for fuel, fertilizer and grain shipments — and for geopolitics, widening divisions between Russia and the West.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, expecting to take the capital, Kyiv, in a week. But Ukraine rallied to defend its sovereignty, and the conflict has dragged on, with front-line positions in eastern and southern Ukraine largely unchanged since last year.

Western analysts estimate that over 500,000 Russian troops have been killed and that Ukraine has recorded more than 500,000 military casualties, including up to 140,000 deaths. Neither country discloses its own casualty totals.

Russia and Ukraine have intensified their long-range attacks with drones and missiles, and Russian drones pounded Kyiv Wednesday, killing two people and wounding 23; two others were injured by a strike that started a big fire at a shopping mall in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it struck Ukrainian military-industrial and energy facilities, logistics centers, and sea vessels overnight. The ministry said its air defenses intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions and Crimea, as well as the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Crimea is the peninsula that Russia seized by force and illegally annexed in 2014.

Zelenskyy says ‘you can stand and survive’

Zelenskyy told the assembly that Russia has used 63,000 attack drones of different types against Ukraine so far this year alone. While celebrating that his own country “has proven that even against a much bigger enemy, you can stand and survive,” he implored world leaders to deny Putin money or foreign fighters.

“Limit his money. Limit his war,” the Ukrainian leader said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine must boost its military and has already successfully tested four new jet-powered interceptor drones against Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia in Ukraine. He also heralded drone and anti-ballistic missile agreements and programs with various countries.

Zelenskyy worried, however, that artificial intelligence “will begin to decide what happens on the battlefield” with the development of autonomous killer weapons.

“We need peace before we reach that point," he said.

“Sometimes, it may seem that Ukraine is focused, focused, only on war because we speak about weapons, we speak about defense and sanctions against the aggressor. But Ukrainians did not choose this war,” Zelenskyy said. “We choose not to die. …. We are defending ourselves.”

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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed from New York.

China has resisted the Trump administration's urgings — and economic threats — to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the nearly seven-month war. Xi wants to see Trump permanently halt arms sales to Taiwan and loosen export restrictions on cutting-edge advanced chips. And the two sides on Wednesday agreed to extend a one-year trade truce set to expire Nov. 10 for two months, kicking the can on finding a more durable agreement.

All the while, both leaders seem to believe that time is on their side as they look to outmaneuver the other in what is expected to be the world's most significant economic and national security competition for years to come.

“The president very much believes that over time the U.S. economy is going to grow, the U.S. will get stronger, the U.S. will keep making advances in AI and on technology, and that ... the U.S. will develop alternative sources of critical minerals and rare earths,” said Edgard Kagan, a former senior State Department official handling East Asia policy issues under Trump and President Joe Biden. “I think when Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump, he very much believes the U.S. is in hurtling decline and that time is on China’s side.”

Trump, for his part, is going all in on the pomp for the state visit for Xi.

In a grand gesture, the Republican leader kicked off the visit by showing up to greet Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, upon their arrival on Wednesday evening just outside Washington.

Trump has made clear he wants to impress Xi with the visit, making sure construction of a new helicopter landing pad on the White House's South Lawn was completed ahead of the visit. He's also openly lamented that his planned White House ballroom isn't ready for a fancy state dinner in Xi's honor on Thursday evening.

The guest list includes Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, among other tech titans staking out positions on whether more safeguards are needed in the race to develop artificial intelligence — an issue of critical importance to both leaders.

US and China still have work to do on trade truce

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two leaders may be open to a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents that could affect national security. But on AI and a host of other thorny issues, it remains unclear whether the leaders can make progress.

Shortly after Xi's arrival in Washington on Wednesday, Bessent announced on Fox News that the two sides had come to terms on extending the trade truce, forged last year in Busan, South Korea. He said it's possible that Trump and Xi could come to a larger agreement by January or just decide to once again extend it further.

Trump and Xi certainly have incentive to keep the truce alive.

Trump's Republican Party is facing headwinds as they try to maintain control of Congress in November's midterm elections and can hardly afford further economic disruption. Meanwhile, Xi is navigating an uneven Chinese economy — one in which its domestic economy is struggling while its high tech exports remain strong.

Peak baseline U.S. tariffs reached 145% during last year's trade battle — matched by China’s reciprocal levies of 125%. After Trump and Xi met in South Korea last year, the average U.S. tariff rate fell to roughly 47%, while China charged an average in the mid-30s. But in February, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned many of Trump’s tariffs, causing the taxes on Chinese goods to have more variation.

The stopgap announced by Bessent was shorter than what both sides had suggested in recent weeks.

The Chinese side had indicated that they wanted to see the trade truce extended until the end of Trump's term in January 2029.

Meanwhile, Trump administration officials had suggested a three- to six-month extension as a more appropriate time frame because China has been slow to fulfill past commitments on rare earth exports as well as imports of U.S. soybeans and aircraft.

There might not be a breakthrough during this week’s visit but both leaders seem to be determined to avoid a breakdown, said Ryan Hass, a senior China policy adviser in former President Barack Obama's administration.

“Both sides are going to be managing for small gains and conflict avoidance, and that is going to be sort of the spirit through which both leaders approach this conversation,” said Hass, who is now at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

A breakthrough on Iran seems unlikely

Trump has argued to little effect that China, which is far more dependent on Gulf oil than the U.S., has plenty of incentive to use its sway with Tehran to help force an end to the conflict.

But Trump's war of choice has unnerved Beijing, with the government condemning the U.S. and Israeli military action and Xi expressing concerns the conflict signaled a return to what he called the “law of the jungle."

The Chinese were also unsettled by the military operation Trump ordered to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power and sweep him off to New York City to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Trump has since pressured Latin American nations to reduce economic and political ties with China — and justified a push for U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s oil industry by pointing to concerns about Chinese and Russian influence on the South American country.

“China is very nervous about the kind of 19th-century imperialist cast of geopolitics that Trump has been pursuing,” said Jake Werner, director of the East Asia Program at the Quincy Institute. “But at the same time, Beijing really sees the U.S.-China relationship as the decisive factor. They don’t want to move in a way that’s going to blow up the U.S. relationship.”

Xi expected to press Trump to end Taiwan arms sales

China has made clear it views Taiwan as the most sensitive issue in the U.S.-China relationship.

Beijing considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory and vows to annex the island by force if necessary. The U.S. is obligated by law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to deter any armed attack from the mainland.

China has pressed Washington to permanently halt the arms sales, most prominently when Trump and Xi met in Beijing in May.

After that meeting, Trump said he was holding off on final approval for a record-breaking $14 billion arms package that was in the pipeline. He also described arms sales to Taiwan as a “very good negotiating chip” with China.

The U.S. president may be motivated to keep the pause on until at least the end of the year, analysts say.

Trump, who sees face-to-face meetings with Xi as a key part in maintaining stability in the relationship, wants the Chinese president to attend the Group of 20 summit in December at his resort in Doral, Fla.

Xi, meanwhile, wants Trump to show up to November's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.

“I think that keeping things where they are now, with the arms sales pushed off, would count as a win for Beijing,” Hass said.

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AP writer Josh Boak contributed reporting.

Hurricane Polo, an “extremely dangerous” storm, is expected to skirt Mexico’s Guerrero state, submerging coastal areas with 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of rain through Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Guerrero has been repeatedly pummeled by hurricanes in recent years.

Farther out in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Nolo was churning about 295 miles (475 kilometers) south of South Point, Hawaii. The storm is forecast to become a hurricane by Thursday night and is expected to approach the Big Island as early as Friday.

Gov. Josh Green's office said public schools and state and county offices on the Big Island will close Thursday and Friday, while Maui County will shutter them on Friday ahead of the threat of heavy rain, winds and flooding. Forecasters said the storm could drop up to 20 inches (51 centimeters) of rain.

Polo could bring flooding and mudslides to Mexico’s Pacific coast

Concepción López Villegas was busily bolstering her seaside restaurant in Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, against the expected onslaught of rain. Strong waves were already hitting some beaches and López Villegas said she feared the storm could destroy the small business she worked decades to build.

“We’re worried and trying to protect our businesses,” López Villegas said. “And of course, we’re sad because it’s our heritage, our legacy that from one moment to another could be destroyed.”

Guerrero state was particularly at risk of life-threatening flooding and mudslides, the hurricane center said.

Polo, which was swirling about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south-southwest of Zihuatanejo Wednesday, was not expected to make landfall, meteorologists and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said. Rain and strong winds had already started to pummel the coast, with waves crashing onto the normally pristine beaches.

The storm was packing winds of 160 mph (257 kph), the hurricane center said Wednesday night. It warned that Polo’s deluge could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides, in particular in Guerrero.

The region most under threat from the hurricane is rural and mountainous, scattered with a few small tourist towns and ports. Much of the area is marked by poverty and residents routinely complain authorities abandon them to fend for themselves during natural disasters.

Mexico’s government has called for evacuations in some areas and set up shelters for those affected. Thousands of military and Red Cross personnel have been deployed to the region as a preventive measure.

Another hurricane could hit Hawaii as soon as Friday

The National Weather Service said Tropical Storm Nolo would likely strengthen before closing in on the Big Island on Friday or Saturday.

The storm has the potential to be a major hurricane, John Bravender, a weather service warning coordination meteorologist, said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

While high winds are expected, Bravender said the main concern is the possibility of flash flooding. He said 20 to 30 inches (50 to 76 centimeters) of rain could fall through Saturday on southeastern parts of the Big Island, the same region hit hard in August by Hurricane Lala.

“That by itself could cause catastrophic flooding, but when you put that on top of grounds that we’ve been raining off and on for the last couple of months … that rain could cause even more damage," Bravender said.

He urged preparation across all Hawaii islands in case the storm’s trajectory shifts.

“You need to take action now,” said Bravender. “Today is really the last dry day you have to get ready.”

Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda told residents in a video message on social media that they should start preparing now for the storm. He urged people to put together an emergency kit with food, water and medications, trim vegetation and clear drains.

“This is a very serious situation," he said. "We do believe that the rain is going to come. It's coming already.”

The governor issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday and more than 230 Hawaii National Guard members have been activated, said Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan, adjutant general of the state’s department of defense.

Kauai’s electric cooperative urged residents to prepare for “the possibility of prolonged power outages,” and to store nonperishable food and potable water.

Over 100 Kauai households remain without power from Hurricane Lowell, which passed west of the island on Sept. 7.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews would return to at-risk areas in preparation for the coming storm.

Odalys strengthens into a hurricane

Hurricane Odalys, also in the Pacific, strengthened on Wednesday, carrying maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (137 kph). It was located about 1,205 miles (1,939 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and was not at risk of making landfall, according to the hurricane center.

An advisory said Odalys could increase in strength over the next couple of days but would likely weaken by the end of the week.

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Aoun reported from San Diego. Associated Press reporters Desiree Brooks in Atlanta and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

“The Malvinas for us is a national cause,” Milei, a strong ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, said Wednesday while addressing the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Milei accused the United Nations of failing to enforce international resolutions that urge the parties to “refrain from introducing unilateral changes while the dispute remains unresolved." He also called on Britain to resume negotiations to “find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute.”

“The Malvinas issue is not merely a matter between Argentina and the United Kingdom; it is also a question regarding this organization’s ability to enforce its own resolutions,” he said.

The dispute has escalated in recent weeks

Milei has recently stepped up his efforts to draw attention back to the islands after facing some criticism of his strengthening ties with Britain and his professed admiration for Margaret Thatcher, who in 1982 led the British campaign to retake the archipelago during the Falklands War.

Following Argentina’s invasion of the Falklands under the country’s then-military dictatorship, Thatcher sent a task force all the way down the Atlantic and retook the islands after just 73 days of Argentine control. The war killed 649 Argentine and 255 British troops.

Earlier this month, Milei escalated the dispute with Britain, vowing new measures to halt an oil project near the British-controlled archipelago and praising Trump for saying Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty.

His government last week introduced a sweeping security bill that would toughen sanctions on companies exploiting resources around the islands without Argentine authorization, create a national security council chaired by Milei and expand the military’s role in protecting critical Argentine infrastructure.

Speaking to global leaders at the U.N. on Wednesday, Milei intensified his criticism.

“Today I come to say that Argentina will not sit and wait for the U.N. and the international community to live up to their own mandate,” he said.

He also sharply criticized the United Nations and its role, accusing it of becoming “a useless organization that serves only to feed a caste of fatally arrogant parasites masquerading as well-intentioned bureaucrats.”

Britain says it will ‘stand firm’

Against the backdrop of Milei’s recent remarks, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham also addressed the dispute during this high-profile diplomatic week, stating Tuesday that the U.K.’s position is “clear” and that it will “stand firm” in the face of any threats.

“We will defend the ​right of ​the ⁠Falkland Islanders to self-determination and to remain British,” ​Burnham told reporters following a meeting with Trump late Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N.

In August, Trump said he was reviewing the United States’ neutral position over the remote South Atlantic archipelago as he criticized Britain for not doing enough to support the U.S. war against Iran.

The Falklands, which Argentines call the Malvinas, are a small archipelago of about 3,500 people located around 300 miles (480 kilometers) east of the southeast coast of Argentina. They have been a British overseas territory since 1833. In a 2013 referendum, the islanders voted overwhelmingly to remain a British overseas territory, with 99.8% voting in favor and just three votes against.

For the first time since Burrus opened in 1928, its doors remained closed this school year. In February, the state-appointed school board that replaced Houston’s elected trustees voted to close the school and 11 other campuses. Burrus had an A-rating from the state at the time.

WATCH THE FULL EPISODE HERE WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 23 AT 8P ON YOUTUBE, 10P ON KPRC.

Five months later, the same unelected board voted to include Burrus on a short list of properties the district plans to potentially sell or repurpose.

School board president and Houston real estate developer Ric Campos, said during an August board meeting the decision does not mean all the neighborhood schools will be sold to the highest bidder. “It means that you are going to take the next steps and then figure out maybe a community involvement that could happen,” Campos said from the dais on Aug. 13.

But so far, much of the district’s planning has happened behind closed doors, outside public view. KPRC 2’s ENOUGH team found that Houston Independent School District is also seeking to keep confidential the names of the people who helped recommend which schools should be sold or repurposed.

Houston ISD’s Chief of Organizational Effectiveness, Kari Feinberg, said in April the district brought together 20 internal and external “stakeholders” – made up of school district staff and others from the City of Houston, non-profit organizations, philanthropists and the private sector to create the Facilities Usage Committee.

Feinberg said the committee met four times since April to come up with a recommendation for which of the closed schools should be sold or repurposed. The committee’s final recommendation went to Superintendent Mike Miles in July, according to Feinberg, and the board of managers reviewed the committee’s recommendation during a closed session at its Aug. 13 meeting where the public could not see or hear the discussion.

Video shows, after returning from closed session, the nine-member board reconvened publicly and voted unanimously to declare Burrus and 8 other newly closed schools as surplus property. The vote also authorized the superintendent to begin the sale process.

“What is the reason?” Is it because someone wants to tear it down and build some apartments or build some two-story homes?” Johnson asked. “It’s prime property. Burrus is prime property and everybody knows that.”

KPRC 2’s ENOUGH team submitted public information requests seeking the names of the Facilities Usage Committee members who made recommendations on the future of these properties and the report presented to the superintendent outlining those recommendations. Weeks later, Houston ISD’s attorney asked the Texas Attorney General for permission to withhold both from public release.

In response to our emailed questions, Houston ISD officials told the ENOUGH team, it was keeping the members of the Facilities Usage Committee confidential because “… some community members requested to keep their participation private.”

The district said in an email, the committee provided broad input on the administration’s proposals for next steps for the properties and served as “partners in ideation,” but said committee members did not make any final decisions.

“I don’t know why you’d want to hide who is on the committee. You would only make everything suspect when you start off that way,” Texas State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, said “Anytime you are dealing with the public’s money, public facilities like schools, that should be a very transparent process.”

What’s happening in Houston reflects a broader trend. Across Texas, school districts are selling off taxpayer-funded campuses with little required public input and no statewide standard for how those decisions get made.

School board records show, just this school year, more than 80 campuses across the state have closed – many of which held A, B and C-ratings from the state when the decision to shut down the campus was made.

“There are no standards”

In Austin, the school board voted to close 11 schools this year because of a budget shortfall and declining enrollment. Parents learned about one of the closures just 19 days before the first day of school. The district is also in the middle of a legal fight over the sale of school property that hasn’t been utilized in more than four years.

Rosedale School, located in North Austin, closed in 2022 after 83 years of serving students. The people who own homes surrounding the old Rosedale school, like Carl Reynolds, said the district initially proposed turning the land into affordable housing for educators.

“Flash forward 435 units, six stories – that is what is being proposed. Much, much denser than anything Austin ISD talked to the neighborhood about,” Reynolds said.

District officials said the discussion with neighbors about the Rosedale property becoming affordable housing for district employees happened when the district’s financial position was different, and before the district sold the property to real estate development company OHT Partners.

Austin ISD has been under contract with OHT for the purchase of Rosedale since August 2025, but district officials say the sale cannot close until the city council reviews zoning and development requirements and a judge provides “legal clarification” on the neighborhood’s deed restrictions.

According to the Rosedale neighbors, the six-story multifamily residential development proposed would violate the neighborhood’s deed restrictions that allow only for one single-family home and a garage apartment on each of the 27 lots that make up the Rosedale property.

Court records show months after entering the agreement with OHT Partners, the district sued 125 neighbors to seek “legal clarification” on the Rosedale deed restrictions.

“It’s amazing that a school district would sue its own constituents in order to ram something down their throat and this is a community that has supported the school district for decades. Whenever they have a bond issue we vote for it,” Rosedale homeowner Darrell Azar said.

Austin ISD said, in a statement to KRPC’s ENOUGH team, “the financial benefit of the sale became an important consideration as part of the district’s broader strategy to improve its financial position.”

Austin City Councilmember Mike Siegel postponed the discussion on zoning and development requirements for the property earlier this month “to allow for legal settlement discussions to take place” between the district and impacted neighbors, according to Siegel’s office.

“CM Siegel very much desires for a resolution to the litigation and an agreement to build more dense housing on the property,” officials with Siegel’s office said in a statement to KPRC’s ENOUGH team.

Renea Hicks, who represents 60 of the homeowners who are being sued by the district – and lives in the neighborhood, said the homeowners he represents are willing to consider a larger project if it is designed with the neighborhood in mind.

“The neighbors believe in public schools and they believe in affordability. They believe in the community,” Hicks said. “You can do more. We are OK with that. Just make it reasonable. Treat the neighborhood well. Treat it decently.”

Hicks told our team on Monday settlement negotiations over the future of the property had broken down. OHT Partners has not answered any questions related to the Rosedale property.

The dispute in Rosedale raises broader questions about what happens when school districts sell neighborhood campuses. Hicks said Texas law does not establish clear standards for community involvement in those sales.

“The first problem is there are no standards — no standards for what you do when you sell the property. There is no requirement for public involvement,” Hicks said. “They will let the public come to an open meeting where they say they are doing the deal, but that is it - that is all the legislature has required.”

“Give us the opportunity”

Houston ISD officials said the district has already received interest in the newly closed schools the board authorized the superintendent to sell or repurpose. At the September board meeting, the executive director of the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council, Tonia Wells, urged the district to sell Burrus Elementary School to their organization.

“Give us the opportunity to keep the Burrus legacy alive,” Wells said during public comment on Sept. 10.

Records show, outside of the nine recently closed schools that have been declared surplus property, the district already entered into sales agreements for six other properties – including three school buildings that closed years ago.

Sales records obtained by KPRC’s ENOUGH team show Habitat for Humanity purchased the old Chatham Elementary building, that closed in 2005. Records also show the former Fonwood Elementary School was sold to Enclave Properties, and in June, the century old Historic Harper building that educated Black students during segregation, was sold to a company called BKR Real Estate Management.

Officials with Habitat for Humanity told us they partnered with the Northeast Houston Redevelopment Council to turn the former Chatham Elementary property into a community-focused center.

“This is a great example of what can happen when organizations come together with a shared vision for neighborhood revitalization so that community spaces, like these HISD school properties, can continue to serve used neighborhoods as they did in the past,” Habitat for Humanity CEO Allison Hay said in a statement to KPRC’s ENOUGH team.

Enclave Properties has not responded to our questions about its plans for the former Fonwood school.

BKR Management has also not responded to KPRC’s questions about its intentions for the property. The company’s website shows its developed properties across Houston, including the Buffalo Heights mixed-use district where it developed a five-story luxury multifamily apartment complex.

After a fire at Harper school this summer, Mayor John Whitmire posted a video to social media where he said he would attempt to “salvage” the Harper School building as an important part of Houston’s history. The mayor’s office has not yet responded to questions about how or if it is working with the new owners to preserve the building.

The district answered several written questions from our team but did not respond to multiple requests to interview Superintendent Mike Miles, Board President Campo or Feinberg about the process and intention for the properties being sold.

In response to an email to HISD’s Press Office, sharing what we planned to report, district officials said the board’s decision to declare the closed schools as surplus and authorize the superintendent to initiate sales procedures, does not mean all of the properties will be sold.

“Once property is determined surplus to the district’s operational needs, HISD can evaluate potential future uses, and administration must go through a set of legally mandated steps before public [or] private entities can secure any of these properties,” the district said in an emailed statement.

Johnson said she hopes the Independence Heights Redevelopment Council can purchase the Burrus property and keep it open as a community resource. The Texas Historical Commission said the historic marker that sits in front of Burrus won’t protect it from sale or alteration if a new owner wants to build something new in its place.

“We’re hoping that the school’s not tore down,” Johnson said. “It’ll be really interesting to see what they really decide and is it in the best interest of the community or the best interests of HISD.”

The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement that it and the Defense Department are aware of “a shipment issue" with F-35 components.

“We are actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” the office said.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles acknowledged that the jet components ended up in Hong Kong when responding to questions from reporters Tuesday. But he denied that the missing parts were “sensitive equipment.”

Australia is one of several nations whose militaries operate the stealth fighter jet.

“Yeah, so we are obviously working with the United States and obviously with its prime contractor Lockheed Martin, in respect of this,” Marles said.

He added: “My understanding is that there is a sense of comfort, and we’re not talking about sensitive equipment here or sensitive parts. Ultimately, though, this is an issue which is going to be managed by the United States and by Lockheed in terms of what has occurred.”

Lockheed did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday, when Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Washington for a state visit with President Donald Trump. China's Foreign Ministry said it was not aware of the incident, and the Hong Kong government said it would not comment on specific cases.

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that China has the F-35 parts — a cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door — after the shipment was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong while on the way from Australia to the United States for either repair or disposal months ago. It was not clear how the shipment was diverted.

Politico earlier reported that it prompted a congressional inquiry over concerns that China could have access to key components of the highly classified technology.

Beijing has kept tight control over Hong Kong since the territory was returned from British rule in 1997. Hong Kong cannot maintain its own military or conduct its own diplomacy.

The first F-35 Lightning strike fighter rolled off an assembly line in Texas about 20 years ago and was hailed as a technological leap. Since then, more than 1,200 of the stealth jets have been made and 19 countries have placed orders for the planes, according to the Congressional Research Service.

China already may have had at least some intelligence, albeit several years old, on the planes already. The Defense Science Board, which advises the Pentagon, released a report in 2013 alleging that Chinese cyberattacks accessed data from dozens of Pentagon programs, including the joint strike fighter.

The F-35 is “widely recognized as America’s best and most advanced fighter jet,” according to Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington-based think tank.

Bowman told the AP in November that American military systems are constantly being updated and improved, counteracting any possible secrets stolen years ago.

Described as a fifth-generation fighter, the F-35's technologies include stealth coatings as well as advanced radar and sensors, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Bowman said the plane has advanced sensors to better detect enemies as well as networking capabilities to communicate with allied planes and ground forces during combat.

___

Associated Press writers Didi Tang in Washington and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed to this report.

DeMeco Ryans, Will Anderson Jr., and C.J. Stroud all shared their excitement for Sunday’s matchup against the Indianapolis Colts while knowing it’s the next opportunity to turn things around.

He batted second as the designated hitter against the San Diego Padres and left-handed starter Robbie Ray. Ohtani hits left-handed and throws and pitches right-handed.

“I’m not expecting too much,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “It’s been a while since he’s played, but it’s just good to get him in there.”

A roar went up from Dodger fans as Ohtani walked to the plate to Michael Bublé's “Feeling Good.” He promptly lined a 2-1 pitch from Ray into right field and the fans got loud again. Ohtani was out at second base when Will Smith grounded into a fielder's choice to third.

Mookie Betts was in Ohtani's usual leadoff spot, where he's been since the two-way superstar went on the injured list on Sept. 8.

Betts is hitting .366 with six home runs, 21 RBIs, 13 walks and 18 runs scored in 18 games in September. He's tied for third in the major leagues with 26 hits this month, and also ranks among National League leaders this month in extra-base hits, RBIs, total bases, doubles and runs.

Ohtani last played on Sept. 7 against Cincinnati and came in hitting .277 with 30 homers, 80 RBIs, 89 runs scored and 80 walks in 134 games. He appeared physically compromised at the plate, shaking out his arm and wincing at times.

“A few weeks ago you could see that he couldn’t hit a fastball, he was underneath everything and it was a slower swing,” Roberts said. “Just controlling the swing, the barrel, I think that’s something I’ll look at and obviously stuff like the wincing, but I don’t expect to see any of that.”

Roberts said he likely would have Ohtani leading off and Betts hitting second against right-handed pitching.

The Dodgers conclude their three-game set against the Padres on Thursday, then head to San Francisco for three games against the Giants to end the regular season.

Roberts expects to see a focused Ohtani at the plate.

“It’s go-time for all of us and I think he’s in a good spot,” Roberts said. “He's getting ready for the postseason. His mind should be there and my bet is that that’s where it’s at.”

In other moves, pitcher Tarik Skubal was reinstated from the bereavement list. He is scheduled to start Friday at San Francisco. Reliever Kyle Hurt was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Rookie Josue De Paula sent back to minors, could return for postseason

With Ohtani's return, Josue De Paula was sent down to Triple-A to join the Comets in the Pacific Coast League playoffs against the Las Vegas Aviators. De Paula had been in the lineup as the DH.

De Paula quickly became a fan favorite during Ohtani's absence. The 21-year-old New York native reached base safely in 10 of his first 11 games in the majors. He went 2 for 3 with a run scored and a walk while notching his first career triple in the Dodgers' 7-0 win over the Padres on Tuesday.

“He performed more than admirably,” Roberts said. “This also just gives us an opportunity to potentially have him back for the postseason. He’s a part of the conversation and he’s earned that, and that’s what I told him.”

If De Paula makes the postseason roster, he would serve as a pinch-hitter.

“Josue has been awesome,” said Andrew Friedman, president of baseball operations. “Injected some real life and energy into our team.”

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Officers got to the scene around 7:45 p.m. Wednesday night and found a man who had been shot. That man died at the scene.

Northwest officers are at a shooting scene 3400 Blalock. Adult male deceased at the scene. Adult male suspect detained. 202 pic.twitter.com/owH9e6cRqI

— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) September 24, 2026

Lt. Larry Crowson says this happened at around 8 p.m. Officers were nearby and arrived almost immediately after the call came in.

Witnesses told police that a masked man had approached the victim, who was sitting on a front porch. There was some sort of interaction between the suspect and victim, at which time the suspect pulled out a pistol and shot the victim before fleeing.

Police found a man matching the suspect’s description hiding in brush by a nearby bayou. They say he had a broken foot. He was taken into custody.

At this time, the motive for the shooting is unclear. Police do not believe there is any danger to the public at this time.

The details were presented during a special Texas City Commission meeting Wednesday night focused in part on the police department’s use of automated license plate readers.

Assistant Police Chief James Patterson said an audit launched in August uncovered two separate cases of misuse.

In the first case, police said a dispatcher used the Flock system 42 times to check on her child, who was driving a vehicle the dispatcher owned. The employee received a multi-day suspension.

In the second case, police said a sergeant used the system for non-law-enforcement purposes on multiple occasions. Patterson said several policy violations were sustained, and the sergeant was demoted to the rank of police officer and given a multi-day suspension.

Patterson did not disclose exactly what the sergeant was searching for or why, citing the personnel matter.

Both cases were presented to the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office Public Integrity Unit, which declined to pursue criminal charges, according to the department.

ENOUGH Investigation: Flock cameras across Houston: Who has access and what happens when they’re misused?

Police say previous auditing may have been limited or nonexistent

The August audit also raised questions about how Texas City police monitored use of the system before the two cases were discovered.

When KPRC 2 asked Patterson what the auditing process looked like before August, he said he was not aware of the process under the department’s previous administration.

“It’s something that we wanted to institute in August with Flock becoming national news and a hot topic,” Patterson said. “So we were really interested in auditing ourselves and ensuring that our officers were using the technology for the reason that it was meant to be used.”

When asked whether it was possible there had been no previous audits, Patterson responded, “That is a possibility, yes ma’am.”

Texas City police said the August review examined Flock activity across the department and identified the two employees accused of misuse.

RELATED: Flock cameras vs. red light cameras -- here’s the difference under Texas law

Flock cameras under scrutiny across Houston area

The Texas City discussion comes as communities across the Houston area continue to debate the use of automated license plate reader cameras and how the information they collect should be accessed and monitored.

Flock cameras capture images of vehicles and license plates that can be searched by law enforcement as part of criminal investigations.

Neighboring League City recently approved the creation of a citizen committee to audit the city’s use of Flock cameras.

Other communities in the Houston area have also reconsidered their use of the technology amid questions about privacy, data access and oversight.

What Texas City police changed

Patterson said the department has since tightened access and added additional oversight.

Before conducting a Flock search, authorized users are now required to enter three pieces of information: a case number, the type of offense and a specific reason for the search.

The department has also significantly reduced the number of employees allowed to search the system.

“It’s now 25 to 30 sworn members,” Patterson said, adding that access is limited to sergeants and above and detectives.

Supervisors will also conduct audits every month to review how employees under their command are using the system.

Texas City currently has 28 Flock cameras — 26 fixed cameras and two mobile cameras. Police said there are currently no plans to add more.

Police defend Flock as a crime-fighting tool

Despite the misuse cases, department leaders defended the technology Wednesday and pointed to investigations in which they said Flock helped officers identify or locate suspects more quickly.

Patterson cited a multi-jurisdictional copper theft investigation involving roughly $500,000 in theft and damage to the city. He said Flock was instrumental in helping police apprehend suspects.

He also pointed to a homicide at the Zabon Villas apartment complex, saying investigators were able to make an arrest within about an hour with the help of the technology.

“It’s been a great tool for us,” Patterson said.

Patterson acknowledged the department has faced criticism following the misuse findings but said leaders are working to make changes aimed at maintaining public trust.

Department reviewing data-sharing practices

Texas City police also said they are reviewing how Flock information is shared with other law enforcement agencies.

The department told commissioners its Flock data is currently shared through reciprocal agreements with 768 active agencies, including federal and out-of-state agencies.

When asked whether misuse reported in other jurisdictions could prompt changes, Patterson said the department plans to review its sharing policies.

“It’s definitely something that the current police administration is going to look into, review, discuss with command staff and see if we want to change our policies as far as the reciprocal relationships through Flock and sharing with other agencies,” Patterson said.

According to information presented Wednesday, license plate data captured by Texas City’s cameras is retained on Flock’s cloud servers for 30 days.

And here’s where you’ll find more on the investigations by our ENOUGH team.

A dry cool front moves through late Thursday afternoon. Before it gets here, we’ll again make a run for a record high. Thursday record is 98° set in 2023. I’ve got a high of 96°. On Wednesday we broke the record of 97° with a high of 99°.

Thursday is hot and humid with dewpoints reaching the mid-70s. Dewpoint is an excellent measure of how much moisture is in the air. The higher the number the more humid it feels. Once dewpoints fall to the 50s that is a much more comfortable feel for us in Houston.

You are going to love the way it feels Friday:

As dry air settles in late Thursday, we’ll wake up to a refreshing feel Friday morning. North of I-10 we’ll start the day in the 60s! Along I-10 and south we’ll be in the 70s. But even those of us with mild temperatures will feel good with a low humidity in the morning and throughout the day.

Humidity back this weekend:

The day air does not stay with us. The humidity starts climbing Saturday and it will feel sticky Sunday.

Tracking a Fall front:

Two things I’m watching next week are tropical moisture from the Pacific and a cold front. The Pacific Ocean has two hurricanes, Cat 1 Odalys and Cat 5 Polo. Both of those will send tropical moisture to Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Some of that moisture could arrive in Houston Wednesday with a cool front moving through at the same time. This may result in widespread heavy rain and lower temperatures. We’ll keep watching this set up to see if it actually occurs.

Tracking the tropics:

All is quiet in the Gulf. There is one area near Cabo Verde being monitored by the National Hurricane Center. It’s off the coast Africa and drifting north. It has a 60% chance of becoming our next named storm. There is no threat to the United States.

So far this hurricane season we’ve had six tropical storms. We have not had a hurricane in the Atlantic basin. The latest first hurricane to form was Gustav and Humberto, which formed on September 11th. This means our 2026 hurricane season set a record for the latest hurricane to form.

Extended forecast:

Our next chance of rain arrives next week. And there is the possibility we get a cold front Thursday. We could get some heavy rain as well with high in the 80s and a few mornings in the 60s!

Meanwhile, another ship attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz was struck by a projectile, highlighting the dangers that continue to restrict traffic through the critical waterway as the seven-month war grinds on.

Here is the latest news from the Middle East. More coverage of the U.N. General Assembly is available here.

Iran's president calls US attacks ‘cowardly’

Iran's president said his country's people had been the “victims of terrorism” by the United States.

Delivering a rare wartime speech at the U.N. General Assembly, Pezeshkian displayed images of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and more than 150 schoolchildren killed in the opening days of the conflict.

“We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” he said. “Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country.”

Turning to the United States, Pezeshkian added: “Yes, they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.”

Rubio says Trump still open to a deal to make Iran ‘prosperous’

Pezeshkian addressed world leaders a day after U.S. President Donald Trump used the same stage to suggest that he might “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if an agreement was not reached soon to end the nearly seven-month war.

Hours later, Trump touted “a very good meeting” between his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and Iranian officials. Tehran, however, downplayed the talks. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said they were “not anything new.”

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Trump remained open to an agreement “that allows Iran to be what it should be, which is a great and prosperous country.”

Rubio said the prospects for such a deal were hindered by Iran’s nuclear ambitions and “their support of terrorism.” If those policies continued, he said, Trump could exercise “a number of options,” including further military action.

Hard-liners in Iran criticize talks with US

Hard-line figures in Iran attacked Iran’s top diplomat for engaging with the U.S. at the U.N., triggering pushback from rival factions in Tehran.

In an X post, lawmaker Ebrahim Rezaei demanded that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi explain the decision to meet with “the aggressor enemy.”

Ali Ahmadnia, a media official for Iran’s president, responded by posting an AI-generated image depicting Araghchi as a wounded warrior.

“How can a soldier be on the battlefield while the home front is being weakened from within?!" Ahmadnia wrote on X. “The Iranian delegation in New York operates in full coordination with the relevant institutions.”

US-backed Board of Peace proposes plan to begin Gaza reconstruction

The U.S.-backed Board of Peace is proposing a six-month, $2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction and governance in Gaza as President Donald Trump’s ceasefire plan struggles to stay afloat.

At a meeting of the group’s board in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, the governors unveiled a 66-project blueprint to get things started while acknowledging enormous hurdles that must still be overcome. The projects include ambitious infrastructure, education and health initiatives that are designed to support Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.

The proposal comes as the the U.S.-backed plan has largely stalled.

While the ceasefire halted the heaviest fighting and humanitarian conditions have improved, the Israeli military has expanded its control of Gaza and now occupies some 60% of the territory. Hamas has not given up its weapons. The international military force and new government still have not entered Gaza, and reconstruction has not begun. The vast majority of Palestinians continue to live in tent camps or ruins of their former homes.

“The need is immense,” the board said, noting that full reconstruction from the physical damage across Gaza will cost roughly $35.2 billion over the medium term and an additional $71.4 billion over the next 10 years.

Another ship hit in the Strait of Hormuz

A cargo ship was struck in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said, citing an unidentified company security officer.

The vessel was hit by an “unknown projectile,” resulting in two casualties, UKMTO said without providing further details. The crew abandoned the ship, which caught fire and was left adrift.

The attack was the first reported in two days. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

The incident highlighted the continuing danger to ships attempting to navigate the waterway. Some vessels appear to be making “dark passages” without transmitting identifying signals, but Iran and the United States have maintained their competing blockades. Commercial traffic remains well below prewar levels, according to ship-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler.

Restrictions on shipping through the strait have become one of the war’s most persistent consequences. Before the conflict, one-fifth of the world’s traded oil passed through the narrow waterway, along with large volumes of natural gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products.

Vehicle ramming in the West Bank injures ambassador's son

The son of Israel’s ambassador to the United States was gravely injured in a ramming attack in the occupied West Bank.

Neria Leiter, a reservist in Israel’s military, “needs a miracle,” Ambassador Yechiel Leiter posted on social media. The ambassador’s older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in Israel’s military, was killed in Gaza about a month after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

According to the military and law enforcement, a Palestinian man rammed his car into a security checkpoint Wednesday afternoon near the settlement of Beit Horon, seriously wounding the soldier. Israeli forces then opened fire at the man as he attempted to flee and killed him.

More military forces were deployed in the aftermath in the area, which is crossed by a major highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both sent wishes for Leiter’s recovery. A social media post by Herzog described Leiter as “fighting for his life.”

Major Arab parties disqualified from running in Israeli elections

Israel’s election commission voted Wednesday to disqualify major Arab political parties and candidates from running in next month’s polls.

The disqualification came at the request of two right-wing parties, including the Likud party led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The parties had said the candidates were ineligible under a law barring those who reject Israel’s existence, incite racism or support armed struggle against Israel.

Wednesday’s vote targeted the United Arab List, a religious Arab Muslim party also known by its Hebrew name Ra’am; as well as the Joint List, an alliance of left-wing and Arab-majority parties. Ra’am leader Mansour Abbas said the decision was a “political, illegitimate, and anti-democratic move” and that the party would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Elections will be held next month, the first since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that plunged Israel into war.

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This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.

There was no immediate response from Kabul to the latest strikes, but Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban government, denied Wednesday that Afghan Taliban forces had carried out any attacks. The conflicting statements came two days after Pakistani fighter jets struck sites in eastern Afghanistan that Islamabad said were militant hideouts.

The announcement by Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar in a post on X came after officials said Afghanistan’s Taliban forces had fired eight drones and shelled Pakistani border posts after Pakistani troops foiled what they described as a cross-border infiltration attempt by militants.

The accounts could not be independently verified. The latest escalations threaten mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to broker a lasting peace between Kabul and Islamabad.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing militants to operate from its territory and carry out attacks across the border, an accusation Kabul denies.

“Instead of dismantling these networks and taking credible and verifiable action against those using Afghan territory to perpetrate terrorism against Pakistan, the Afghan Taliban regime has chosen to escalate the situation through hostile drone operations against Pakistan,” Tarar said.

“The strikes were deliberate, precise, calibrated, and proportionate and strictly limited to identified military objectives directly linked to the attempted attacks against Pakistan,” he added.

Pakistani officials also claimed Wednesday that security forces had neutralized eight rudimentary drones launched by the Afghan Taliban before they could enter the northwestern city of Kohat and the border town of Torkham, and that Afghan Taliban forces fired mortars and other heavy weapons at Pakistani border posts. Pakistani forces responded with artillery fire targeting Taliban border posts, mortar sites and defensive positions, they said.

The four officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media about the latest flare-up.

In Monday's airstrikes, Pakistan’s Information Ministry said 28 militants were killed, while Afghan authorities said at least three civilians died and four others were wounded. The U.N. mission in Afghanistan confirmed the civilian casualties and Kabul formally protested the attack.

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar expressed concern about what he said was the presence of more than two dozen anti-Pakistani militant groups in Afghanistan.

Monday’s Pakistani airstrikes followed a shootout with militants in Hangu, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, that killed six Pakistani security personnel. Days earlier, a suicide bomber struck a mosque inside a police compound in the nearby city of Kohat.

Eight gunmen then stormed the compound, triggering a 20-hour gunbattle that killed at least 21 people, most of them police officers. No group had claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Pakistani authorities blamed the violence on the Pakistani Taliban and allied militant groups. The Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have stepped up their attacks on Pakistani security forces, boosted by the Afghan Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

___

Ahmed reported from Islamabad.

“The FBI is aware of a cyber-criminal enterprise group claiming a compromise of the FBIJobs.gov portal and alleged impact to FBI employee personally identifiable information," the FBI said in a statement. It said that while the “point of breach” was undetermined, "we are actively and aggressively investigating this matter and working closely with those third-party providers that support FBIJobs.gov to mitigate any and all risk.”

The jobs website, the main portal for prospective employees to learn about the FBI and initiate the application process, remained offline as of Wednesday afternoon.

A message that circulated online from a hacking group known as ShinyHunters claimed responsibility for the hack.

“We have compromised the FBI. We hold very sensitive data on almost ALL FBI Agents and individuals who filed an application with the FBI for a job,” said the ShinyHunters message, which was directed to FBI Director Kash Patel and Brett Leatherman, the assistant director in charge of the bureau's cyber division.

The claims could not immediately be verified. An email to an address associated with ShinyHunters was not immediately returned.

The hackers are seeking retribution over an FBI advisory

Miriam Wugmeister, a lawyer specializing in data, privacy and cybercrime who tracks hacking outfits like ShinyHunters, said that based on the group's past practices, there was reason to believe the hackers' claims, “so I think it’s likely that they were able to compromise this website and they got some data.”

She said that though the data that appeared to be compromised was the type of personal information that is routinely accessed during a breach, the hack nonetheless had alarming national security implications given that it could expose agents and their families to extortion, swatting and other harassment and because the identities of spouses were also said to have been obtained.

“Even if the agents and the analysts and the employees are sophisticated, you worry about their families too,” she said.

In its message, ShinyHunters said it would give the bureau one week to correct or remove what it said were false allegations contained in an FBI public advisory from May that described the organization as a “cyber criminal group specializing in large-scale data breaches and extortion.”

That advisory characterized ShinyHunters as “threat actors” who often "use their real or exaggerated claims of access to sensitive or personal information to prompt payment from victims," commonly harass or threaten victims and “may falsely claim to have sensitive or compromising information, including embarrassing photographs or videos of victims, which frequently do not exist.”

ShinyHunters said in its message to the FBI that it was “offended” by those characterizations and demanded that the FBI remove those claims. It did not say what would happen if the FBI did not do so within a week.

“This is not a ransom, coercion, or extortion. Your federal policies do not apply here. This PSA is NOT financially motivated,” the hacking group's message said.

ShinyHunters has a reputation for “causing trouble and being disruptive,” Wugmeister said, as evidenced by the group’s involvement in a hack last spring of Canvas, an online system used by thousands of schools and universities. The breach created chaos as students tried to study for finals and prompted the FBI’s advisory that ShinyHunters is now objecting to.

There have been other cyber incidents concerning the FBI

The hack was first reported by 404 Media, an online technology publication that said a representative of ShinyHunters shared what appeared to be a sample of personal data of 5,000 FBI employees, including addresses, phone numbers and some information on spouses.

The publication said the ShinyHunters representative said the group carried out the hack through an apparent vulnerability in Oracle PeopleSoft software, commonly used by companies and government agencies for large-scale data processing and human resources purposes. The FBI said in its statement that it had not determined whether the “point of breach” involved a “third-party or the FBI’s enterprise.”

The FBI, the nation's premier federal law enforcement agency, has been a common target for hackers.

In March, the FBI disclosed that it was investigating “suspicious activities” on an internal system that contains sensitive information related to surveillance operations and investigations. Also that month, a pro-Iranian hacking group claimed to have hacked an account of Patel's and posted online what appeared to be years-old photographs of him, along with a work resume and other personal documents dating back more than a decade.

The FBI described the compromised information as “historical in nature” and said it involved "no government information.”

At the company's annual Connect conference on Wednesday, Zuckerberg opened his keynote address by saying “it’s no secret that people in the industry have a wide range of views about how the future is going to go.” But at Meta, he said, “we are optimists because we believe in people.”

Zuckerberg has distanced himself and Meta from recent calls by rival companies for a coordinated slowdown in the development of advanced artificial intelligence, arguing that individual labs can and should ensure their technology is safe.

“We believe that the best way to create a positive future for everyone is to put power in people’s hands," he said at the conference. "We believe that empowering people is the source of prosperity in the world, that the highest purpose of superintelligence is creation and invention — not automation — and that the path to a safe future is to distribute this technology widely and create the right checks and balances, rather than concentrating it in the hands of just a few.”

Zuckerberg has long said he believes wearable AI will eventually replace smartphones as the primary way people interact with technology. At the conference, the company unveiled a slew of updates to its smart glasses and virtual reality goggles, which let people control their interface using their voice, eyes and hand and finger movements.

AI agent Muse is the ‘centerpiece’ of Meta's vision

Zuckerberg said that Meta's recently launched agent Muse is the “centerpiece" of Meta's hopeful outlook for the future of AI.

Having an AI agent, which goes beyond chatbots in that it can act and perform tasks on a person’s behalf, has been a “sign of someone who is completely AI-pilled,” Meta's chief AI officer Alexandr Wang said at the conference. With Muse, Wang said, Meta is making agents more accessible and bringing “personal superintelligence” to everyone.

With the help of a mascot for the agent that looks like a plush toy, Wang and senior leadership at Meta demonstrated different uses for the Muse in everyday life. Users will be able to have real-time voice conversations and video chats with their version of the agent, which can also be customized to look and sound unique. The agent can help users plan travel, book reservations, order groceries and complete other helpful tasks. Meta has partnered with companies like OpenTable, Spotify, Ticketmaster and more to help its agents complete these tasks.

The company is working to bring Muse to its AI glasses lineup for hands-free access.

Zuckerberg also said Meta is planning to release a keychain-like device that has the “whole Muse experience” packed into it, called Muse Charm, in time for the holidays in December. The palm-sized device will allow users to engage with a personal AI agent without using a phone, computer or smart glasses.

New AI audio glasses and new updates to popular models

Meta is launching an audio version of its more widely known smart glasses. The new product will let users listen to music, make calls and talk with an AI assistant — there’s just no screen, and no video recording, which has raised privacy concerns with some users recording people without permission. Called Ray-Ban Meta Audio, it will be available in October and the cost starts at $349.

Meta is also building upon a previous feature that allowed glasses wearers to better hear a conversation in a noisy environment. Now, Zuckerberg said, a feature called hearing enhancement turns your glasses into an “FDA-cleared, over-the-counter hearing aid” that can “compensate for perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.” The feature will launch in the U.S. later this year and will be available to add to supported AI glasses for $150, or with a Meta One subscription.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses have been upgraded with new features, including improved cycling and transit navigation and a personalized hologram for video calls.

The company is also offering more styles to appeal to a broader range of people and says it will have more than 100 different options across its Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Meta Glasses by the end of the year. The glasses will also be available in more countries, including Turkey, Hong Kong and the Philippines.

The newest generation of the classic Ray-Ban Meta glasses is also now available, with what the company touts as a slimmer, sleeker design and increased battery life, among other upgrades. The Generation 3 models are available now with prices starting at $449.

Virtual reality gets a makeover with Meta VR

Glasses

The most drastic update announced at the conference is to the company's VR device, now called Meta VR Glasses. That is because the previous bulky headset has been replaced by a set of glasses, which weigh about 100 grams (3.5 ounces), or roughly as much as a deck of cards. In comparison, the Meta Quest 3, which launched in 2023, weighs about five times that much. The difference feels similar to that between scuba diving and swimming goggles.

While they are significantly lighter and more sleek than VR predecessors, the glasses require a wired connection to an external puck for battery, storage and compute.

Instead of controllers or a neural wristband that past headsets or glasses required, the VR glasses use an eye-tracking camera and sensor that essentially lets your eyes be the computer cursor and your fingers the mouse clicker. If you want to open an app, for instance, you look at it and use hand and finger gestures, or use voice commands to talk to the Meta AI agent.

In a demo at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters on Tuesday, Meta showed off entertainment and work offerings on the glasses, including sports events and concerts that replicate the experience of having courtside or front-row seats. A new feature called “VR Enhanced Cinema,” meanwhile, seeks to immerse viewers in the movie by transforming their surroundings beyond the screen into a virtual world inspired by the movie, with dynamic effects, 3D visuals and spatial audio.

Once the glasses launch, users will have access to more than 100 immersive live sports events from that courtside-like view, because of partnerships with ESPN, MLB, NBC Sports, TNT Sports and UFC. The glasses can also function as a gaming console, Meta said, and there will be more than 75 games at launch that users can play solely with hand gestures.

The glasses can also be used for work. Users can conjure a virtual keyboard on any flat surface and use the display as their computer screen (or several screens) only they can see. For even more of a robust setup, users will be able to connect their Mac or Windows PC to seamlessly transition onto these screens, and bring their own keyboard and mouse. The VR glasses, unlike headsets of the past, will let wearers see their desk setup and surroundings while they work.

One of Zuckerberg's live demos of the night also showed off the glasses' ability to use hologram technology to project a photorealistic digital version of a person, including their real-time expressions and reactions, for hands-free video calling.

The VR glasses will launch in the spring of 2027 and cost $1,300.

The warning came despite signs of improvement in other provinces, including Ituri, the outbreak’s epicenter. The outbreak has spread to seven provinces, with 7,773 confirmed cases and 3,759 deaths, according to the latest government figures.

Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 20, cases fell 26% in Ituri province and 15% in Haut-Uele, said Marie Roseline Belizaire, the WHO’s regional emergency director for Africa. But transmission patterns vary widely and the outbreak remains uncontrolled, she said.

“While cases and deaths are declining in some provinces, they continue to rise in others,” Belizaire said. “The outbreak is still not under control and remains spread across a wide geographic area.”

The outbreak is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fueled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The World Health Organization has said it is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Catherine Smallwood, the WHO’s Ebola incident manager, said cases and deaths had begun declining in North Kivu after several weeks of increases. But although treatment beds are being added daily, facilities still lack enough staff and partners to operate them.

“The human resources gap is one of the biggest gaps,” Smallwood said.

WHO representative in Congo Anne Ancia said one Ebola treatment center requires about 300 health professionals, including anesthetists, hygienists, nurses and general practitioners.

“We are building Ebola treatment centers but do not always have the human resources needed to operate them,” Ancia said. “Those health workers must be paid.”

Frontline workers in Ituri previously went on strike over unpaid wages, worsening access to care. Health Minister Roger Kamba said in July that the government was verifying payroll lists after the names of people not involved in the response were added. Frontline workers said officials promised to pay the arrears, but some workers received nothing and others only part of what they were owed.

Another major challenge in the response is the fatality rate among children, according to the WHO. Children under five have the highest case fatality rate, more than 60% compared with approximately 40% among adults, Belizaire said.

WHO Ebola Incident Manager Smallwood said detecting cases among children under five is also very difficult because the children can’t necessarily explain their symptoms, and the presentation of symptoms can be confusing.

• RELATED: Man fatally shot by officer during traffic stop in Galveston; Texas Rangers investigating officer-involved shooting

The shooting happened in May in the 1700 block of 55th Street. Police previously said an officer opened fire during the traffic stop, injuring a person inside the vehicle. Officers provided first aid before Martin was taken to UTMB, where he died.

The officer involved, Joshua Ninos, was placed on modified duty while the shooting was investigated. The Texas Rangers and Galveston County District Attorney’s Office were called in to investigate.

The department released the video approximately four months after the shooting. In the video, you see Ninos walk up to the vehicle which Martin was driving after pulling it over. The two can be seen talking with the car’s window down. This goes on for several minutes before Martin opens the door and steps out.

The two continue talking outside the vehicle. It is unclear what is being said because the dash cam video cannot pick up the two’s voices outside the patrol car. The conversation appears to be argumentative with both Ninos and Martin seen making hand gestures.

Shortly afterwards, Ninos can be seen putting Martin against the vehicle like he is about to arrest him. Martin appears to give some resistance, turning around and squirming as Ninos works to take him into custody.

At one point, the video shows Martin starting to turn his body and head toward the officer. Ninos appears to strike him in the face before the two get into a struggle. In the struggle, the video shows Ninos push Martin back into the vehicle. After a few more seconds, Ninos is able to get free, at which time the video shows him draw his weapon and fire. At least eight gunshots can be heard in the video.

Around the same time Ninos draws his weapon, a passenger can be seen exiting Martin’s vehicle. Following the shooting, Ninos can be heard ordering her to put her hands up, to which she responds by sitting down on the ground and putting her hands up.

Martin can be seen with one hand up in front of his face as he is shot. It is unclear where his other hand was at the time from the angle of the dash cam.

Other officers arrive within a minute after the shooting. The video shows them performing life-saving measures on Martin, including chest compressions.

Galveston Police Chief Doug Balli said he could not comment on the video or the shooting, citing the ongoing internal investigation and potential litigation.

First in line is “bimpert,” a Bermudian word of unknown origin that is used to describe a stupid or foolish person. People on the tiny island in the north Atlantic often use it in this traditional phrase: “A bimpert is justah wuffless bye,” which roughly translates to: an idiot is just a worthless boy.

Another colorful addition is “hornerman,” a word used in the eastern Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago since 1975 to describe an unfaithful man or a man having a relationship with someone else's partner.

Leonard Alexander, a grocery store owner in Trinidad, chuckled at the inclusion of the word “hornerman.” He explained that to “horn” means being unfaithful, and now the world would know the term for a man who commits such an act.

“That’s our heritage, that’s what we grew up with,” Alexander said.

If someone in the Caribbean were to find out about such infidelities, they might be known “to get on,” which means to have an emotional outburst or make a scene, or “to cut someone’s tail,” meaning to beat someone.

Depending on the fallout from such infidelities, a woman might need “vex money,” which refers to “money carried or kept in a safe place by a woman, for use in an emergency or in any unexpected eventuality.”

Among other dark words that made the list is “jablesse,” defined as "a malevolent shape-shifting female spirit with one cloven hoof, which at night is said to assume the form of a beautiful woman to lure men to their deaths.” It is derived from “diablesse,” the French word for female demon.

Another supernatural entry is “douen." It is “typically depicted as short in stature, with backward-pointing feet, and wearing a large hat, said to be the spirit of a child who died before it could be baptized, and believed to lure children into the forest by calling their names,” according to the dictionary. It is a variation of the Spanish word “duende,” which means elf.

Avionne George, a 45-year-old maintenance technician in Trinidad, said formal recognition of such words helps preserve tradition for the younger generations: “Most of them are ignorant of certain terms from long ago like ‘douen.' They don’t know about ‘la jablesse.'”

Several food-related words were included this year: “shadeesh,” the Bermudian word for chorizo; “sugar cake,” made of grated coconut boiled with sugar, water and spices; and “peanut punch,” a wildly popular rich and frothy beverage made with peanuts or peanut butter, milk, sugar and several spices.

In the Caribbean, one might sit down to have a peanut punch with one’s “nana” or “nani,” Hindi words that are used to address one’s maternal grandparents. In Bermuda, one would sit down to partake with a “hamma,” or friend.

The final Caribbean English words added this year are “Trinbagonian,” which refers to people from both the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, and “canboulay,” which refers to Carnival festivities in Trinidad in the 1800s that celebrated the emancipation of slaves. They stem from a 1700s harvest festival that the British tried to quash, leading to riots reenacted to this day to mark the start of Carnival. Canboulay is derived from “burning cane,” which the dictionary noted was associated with “acts of defiance and rebellion.”

Sherwin Williams, a construction worker in Trinidad, said the inclusion of such words in the Oxford English Dictionary would help people around the world understand their Trinidadian origins. “People recognize us by our slang,” he said.

There are some 500,000 words and phrases in the Oxford English Dictionary, which details the history of words, some of which go back to the 11th century.

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Associated Press reporter Anselm Gibbs in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad contributed to this report.

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

Fast-food traffic in many markets, including the U.S., is flat, so for McDonald’s to continue to grow it has to grab share from competitors and improve restaurant productivity, McDonald’s Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski said at a meeting with investors at the company’s Chicago headquarters. McDonald's wants to automate more tasks, like inventory and scheduling, and improve kitchen operations.

“The winners will be the companies that create more demand and deliver it more efficiently,” Kempczinski said.

McDonald's shares fell nearly 5% Wednesday, their largest percentage drop since April 2025, as investors shuddered at the eye-popping price of improving McDonald's 46,000 global stores.

On the product side, McDonald's said hand-breaded chicken, which has rolled out at 10,000 restaurants in Asia and a handful of restaurants near Chicago, has boosted sales and quality ratings. Many of McDonald's competitors, like Chick-fil-A and KFC, offer hand-breaded chicken. The company plans to expand its testing to more markets in the U.S. and Ireland next year.

McDonald's also plans to introduce grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps in the U.S. and other markets and experiment with products like egg bites and bowls to meet the needs of customers who are seeking more protein and varied portion sizes.

Skye Anderson, the president of McDonald’s USA, said approximately 30 million Americans are now using GLP-1 weight loss drugs, and they’re seeking smaller, more protein-packed meals as a result. But the company’s research indicates that 60 million Americans are actively seeking more protein in their diet.

“This is an opportunity. We need to keep giving them more reasons to make McDonald’s their first choice,” Anderson said at McDonald’s investor day.

McDonald’s said the restaurant modernizations include lockers to handle delivery orders, more visible coffee preparation areas to enhance quality perceptions, bigger play areas and improved kitchen layouts. Scales to help ensure order accuracy – which are already in use at 10,000 restaurants globally – will be in 20,000 restaurants by 2028, McDonald’s said.

The company is deploying its ArchIQ system, developed with Google, that improves order accuracy with artificial intelligence and automates tasks like inventory management and scheduling. Archy, the company's AI-enabled drive-thru ordering system, is now capable of taking orders in Spanish and English with a 90% accuracy rate.

Archy could eventually reduce at least 50 labor hours per week in a typical McDonald's, Chief Financial Officer Ian Borden said. But he said the intention is not to reduce staffing. Instead, employees can focus more on hospitality or on tasks like hand-breading chicken.

Kempczinski said customers have responded positively to Archy in testing because it helps make their orders more accurate.

“It's not AI is bad or AI is good. We try to be really thoughtful about how we use it,” he said.

McDonald's is also rolling out new employee training that will focus on hospitality and food quality, said Tiffanie Boyd, McDonald's chief people officer. The training will be more experience-based, showing employees what a perfectly cooked Big Mac tastes like, for example, and will encourage more pleasant interactions with customers.

At the same time, McDonald's is still focused on value. Kempczinski said low-income consumers, defined as U.S. households making $45,000 or less, continue to go out for fast food but not as often as they used to. McDonald's has done a good job with meal bundles, like its $5 meal deal, he said. But the company is exploring ways to offer entry-level prices on a basic menu of items in the U.S., as it does in Europe and other markets.

“This is the environment that we’re in right now. You have to be on your game and deliver that value,” Kempczinski said. “The pressure around cost of living isn't going away.”

McDonald’s U.S. franchisees typically spend up to $450,000 per decade on required store remodels. Under the company’s new plan, they will have to spend an additional $800,000 over time, but McDonald’s will pay a portion of that cost in the form of rent relief and capital support.

Borden said the investments will be phased in over time when markets and individual franchisees are ready for them. Once the investments are made, the efficiency improvements will deliver roughly $100,000 in annual cash flow benefits to the average U.S. restaurant, some of which can be reinvested in the restaurant, Borden said.

“We'd love to see it going into hospitality to elevate the experience with our customers,” Borden said.

The filings are the latest against the world-famous amusement park operator and S&S Worldwide, the manufacturer of the X2 roller coaster cars. Six Flags recently settled a wrongful-death lawsuit from the family of a 22-year-old man who died after riding the coaster in 2022.

According to documents filed Monday, Pamela Guillen and her family visited the park in July for her daughter's 16th birthday and decided to ride the X2 roller coaster. When the ride stopped, her daughter saw her “sitting with a vacant stare and her mouth open,” confused and unable to exit the ride.

Shortly after she got out, the previously healthy 39-year-old collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where she underwent emergency brain surgery, according to the lawsuit.

Just five days later, 25-year-old Naomi Greer-Wilkinson boarded the ride with her siblings. She also collapsed shortly after the ride ended and was taken to a hospital, where she was found to have massive brain bleeding inside the skull that required emergency brain surgery. She remains in a vegetative state in the hospital, unable to speak or move and dependent on a ventilator. Her family filed the lawsuit on her behalf.

Their attorney, Gary Dordick, said the firm has been retained by more than 100 clients who suffered brain injuries after riding the X2 roller coaster within the past two years.

“It’s inexcusable that more isn’t done,” Dordick said. “It was known by Magic Mountain that those injuries and deaths occurred, and they kept the ride open.”

A spokesperson for Six Flags said it's the company's policy not to comment on pending litigation. The ride has been closed since the evening of July 12.

Extreme roller coaster has riders bracing for impact

According to the Six Flags Magic Mountain website, the X2 roller coaster reaches a top speed of 76 mph (122 kph) and has a total length of 3,610 feet (1,100 meters). The seats rotate 360 degrees “so your body will be flipping around the entire time,” and the ride features two “raven turns” — half loops that turn into sheer drops midway. It debuted at the park in 2002 as the world's first “fourth dimension” rollercoaster and reopened in 2008 with new trains and special effects. The uniqueness of the ride drew thrill-seekers from around the world and garnered a fervent fanbase.

Frequent riders of X2 have discussed on Reddit forums the “unspoken rules” of how to ride the roller coaster without getting injured. Many cite the final raven turn as the most extreme part of the ride and say they have gotten major headaches and what felt like concussions if they didn't brace their heads properly. One even said they wore a soft head helmet the last time they were on the ride.

“The snapping bangs the head against the headrest and it’s causing brain damage, it’s causing hemorrhaging within the skull,” Dordick said.

Another one of his clients, Michael Wilk, visited the park with his daughter and grandchildren in February. Immediately after going on the ride, he felt stabbing pain in his head, dizziness and had difficulty walking, the lawsuit states.

While he didn't seek medical attention immediately, his cognitive function quickly declined in the following weeks as he tried to return to his job as an insurance defense attorney. An MRI scan a few months later showed massive bleeding and swelling inside his skull, requiring multiple surgeries to relieve the pressure on his brain. He said he continues to suffer debilitating headaches, confusion, dizziness, memory loss, and personality changes, and can no longer practice law.

The lawsuit accused Six Flags of intentionally restricting “public disclosure of evidence concerning X2 injuries and safety issues.”

College graduate died after riding X2 in 2022

The new lawsuits follow a settlement for wrongful death in the case of Christopher Hawley, a 22-year-old who died the day after he rode X2 and was rushed to the hospital after the ride with severe brain bleeding. The medical examiner's office said his death was from “blunt head trauma.”

An engineer involved in testing the ride when it reopened in 2008 said in court filings for Hawley's case that the acceleration forces exerted on a rider by the X2 roller coaster abided by standard practices for amusement park rides that were adopted by California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health. The division also inspected the ride's seat restraints and head padding, a state employee said in a deposition.

The employee also testified that more testing was done in 2022 following Hawley's death, but Six Flags provided them with data showing the acceleration forces exerted by the roller coaster were still within standards. The division allowed Six Flags to reopen the rollercoaster after their findings.

Hawley's attorneys alleged in court filings that the ride's headrest failed to secure or protect the rider's head and neck from the extreme forces exerted by the roller coaster. They also alleged that there was inadequate maintenance when the wheels on the ride exhibited excessive wear or degradation, affecting the forces exerted on a rider.

Dordick said the amusement park operator has argued that people are accepting risk by voluntarily going on a thrill ride, and that people who suffer injuries often have preexisting conditions.

“The risk people reasonably assume is they get dizzy, maybe someone might throw up,” Dordick said. “No one goes to a family fun amusement park and assumes the risk of brain damage.”

Justin Parker filed the federal civil rights lawsuit last week. The suit names Tippit, three other deputies, a supervising sergeant and Brazoria County as defendants.

What happened that night

According to the lawsuit, Parker — a 118-pound, shirtless man — was stopped on a rural county road in Damon, Texas, in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, 2025, after bar patrons reported he had engaged in “deadly conduct” involving a firearm. Parker was not armed with an accessible weapon and had, he claims, been the victim of an assault at the Half Time 36 Bar moments before the stop.

The lawsuit alleges Parker complied with every command deputies gave him, including exiting his truck, raising his hands and standing in the roadway as instructed. Then, according to the suit, Tippit approached him from behind without warning.

• RELATED: Former Brazoria County deputy charged in fatal Lake Jackson shooting of Texas State student

“When they approached my client’s vehicle, they instructed them to get out of the vehicle. He complied, put his hands up, he did everything they told him to do, but then while he was standing out on that road, Deputy Tippit came up behind him without any warning, without any instruction, and then kicked his feet from under him and then caused him to fracture his ankle,” said Brandon Grable, Parker’s civil rights attorney.

After the kick, Tippit handcuffed Parker — who was on the ground — then allegedly drove his knee into Parker’s back and pressed his face into the asphalt pavement for approximately two to three minutes, according to the lawsuit. Parker immediately cried out that his ankle was broken.

No medical care, no use-of-force report

Despite Parker’s repeated complaints of a fractured ankle and visible swelling, the suit alleges no deputy called for EMS or offered medical attention. Instead, according to the lawsuit, deputies made Parker stand and perform field sobriety tests on the broken ankle. He was held for roughly two hours before being released without a ticket, citation or arrest.

The incident report for that night consists of just two sentences and makes no mention of any use of force. The call was closed as “UNFOUNDED.”

“According to the sheriff’s policy, what was supposed to happen was a use of force report, a supervisor’s review, photographs of the injury. None of that happened at all,” Grable said.

• RELATED: Identity of deputy revealed in fatal Lake Jackson shooting of 18-year-old Texas State student

The lawsuit alleges that Tippit repeatedly stated — on both his body-worn camera and in-car recording — that his actions were “protocol.”

“Yes, he said it was protocol. There were multiple deputies out there to include a sergeant. We’ve named them all. And essentially what their responsibility is, what Texas law requires, what the sheriff’s office policy requires, is that when you see violations or you see use of force that’s not warranted, you’re supposed to ... stop that from happening. They didn’t do that,” Grable said.

A leadership problem, not just a deputy problem

The lawsuit names Sgt. James F. Kennedy Jr. as the on-scene supervisor, along with Deputies Blayne Griffin, Robert Pruett III and Tyler Vincent — all of whom, the suit alleges, had an unobstructed view of Tippit kneeling on Parker’s back and chose not to intervene. The suit also names Brazoria County itself, arguing the incident reflects a broader failure of policy and leadership.

Grable said the case goes beyond one bad actor.

“Anytime you look at a government agency or really anything, if you want to see how the people act, you have to start with the leadership, you have [to] start with what policies are in place, what training exists,” Grable said.

“If it was just a deputy Tippit problem, then the sergeant, and these other deputies would have stepped in and done something about it. And if they didn’t step in and do something about [it], then the sheriff’s office would have investigated it and looked into it and determined that something was wrong. But there were failures on multiple levels. And when you allow this to happen with a deputy, I see it as a leadership problem, I see [it] as a policy problem,” he added.

Connection to John Mendoza Jr. shooting

About six months after the traffic stop involving Parker, Tippit was involved in the fatal shooting of John Mendoza Jr., a Texas State University student home for summer break and fatally shot while sitting in his car inside his father’s garage after a brief pursuit.

Sheriff Bo Stallman fired Tippit the following week for alleged policy violations and a grand jury indicted Tippit in August for aggravated assault by a public servant.

Grable raised the question of whether earlier accountability for Tippit might have changed the outcome in that case and pointed to what he called a troubling pattern following Tippit’s indictment in the Mendoza case.

“After Tippit was indicted and then arrested, the sheriff came out and talked about what a great guy Tippit was. I have a concern with that,” Grable said.

After Tippit’s arrest, Stallman called him a “good man, who worked very hard to do a good job for our team and our community” in a media statement.

Transparency, body camera footage

Among the key demands in the lawsuit is the release of body-worn and in-car camera footage from the night of the Parker incident. Parker’s family submitted Texas Public Information Act requests in January and May 2026 seeking that footage, along with use-of-force reports, CAD logs and supplemental narratives — but the video has not been released, according to the suit.

Grable said the lack of transparency is telling.

“I would say first and foremost, I would like to see the sheriff’s office to release the video in this case. I want them to release the body worn camera,” Grable said. “In my experience, any time a law enforcement officer does the right thing, goes above and beyond, we see that body-worn camera all the time. But when they want to hide behind or hide or bury conduct that the community would call into question, they make it so difficult to give us that information. I don’t understand why.”

What comes next

The lawsuit was filed Sept. 15, 2026, and records show no responses have been filed yet. Grable said Tuesday his team is still working to get the defendants formally served.

Neither the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office, a spokesperson for the county, nor an attorney for the county, have responded to KPRC 2’s request for comment.

The criminal defense attorney representing Tippit in his felony case related to Mendoza’s death, Guy Womack, told KPRC 2 he was not aware of the suit and isn’t involved in it, but it was his understanding Tippit “has an unblemished record and was highly regarded as an outstanding young deputy. This has nothing to do with his pending case in Brazoria County.”

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and a jury trial.

Grable said he hopes the case ultimately brings accountability — and expressed relief that the criminal process against Tippit is moving forward separately.

“I’m glad to see that Deputy Tippit has been terminated. I’m glad to see that a grand jury indicted him and that the prosecutors are actually presenting his case. I’m not involved in that side of it. I am glad to see that hopefully at the end of the road for at least one family that there will be accountability,” Grable said.

On Monday, The Texas Tribune published an investigation revealing the sweeping set of reforms state-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles has implemented, known as the New Education System, is straining district finances. HISD has dipped into reserves and had previous cuts to afford the costly reforms as it is losing tens of millions of dollars in state funding because of enrollment losses.

District officials characterized the recent reductions on Tuesday as part of its annual “campus leveling” process, in which schools receive more or less money depending on how closely their enrollment matches projections made in the spring. Employees affected by the reductions may be reassigned to other available positions, HISD officials said in a press release.

But the district’s release also noted that the cuts reflect a “broader financial environment” marked by declining enrollment and limited resources. It did not disclose how many campuses are affected, how much spending will be eliminated or how many positions are at risk.

Houston administrators planned the district’s budgets this year based on forecasts that it would lose 4,000 students, according to May budget documents. That projection is about half the roughly 8,000 students HISD lost the previous year.

Enrollment drops have accelerated every year since the takeover began, according to the Tribune’s analysis. The state funnels money to public schools largely based on attendance, which means every student who leaves translates to less revenue.

“We have worked hard over the last three years to put HISD on stronger financial footing while putting more resources into classrooms and increasing teacher pay,” Miles said in a press release. “But we also have to adjust when enrollment and revenues change. We have to make responsible decisions now so the District remains financially strong and can continue investing in the things that have the greatest impact on student achievement.”

The Tribune obtained communications to parents from several campuses that will be affected. At Lamar High School, principal Rita Gaves explained that the school was facing a $500,000 shortfall, which would impact the choir and debate programs. At T.H. Rogers Middle School, an assistant principal and a librarian will be reassigned to trim spending, principal Suparna Vashisht told parents in a statement.

Brooke Markeloff is a parent of a seventh grader at T.H. Rogers. While enrollment numbers this year are not yet publicly available, she said the magnet school doesn’t typically struggle with that because it has a steady list of families on the waitlist.

Enrollment across the district consistently fell below projections by an average of 1,700 students in each of the first three years of the takeover, according to an analysis by the Texas Tribune. Official enrollment counts are not due to the state until October, but the Houston Chronicle reported the district lost 10,000 students from the year prior, making the gap between projected and actual enrollment about 6,000 students.

In the first three years of the takeover, HISD lost 21,000 students at a rate faster than other urban district peers. Those losses had already cost the district $190 million before the latest round of cuts.

“All of this is unsustainable. …We’re going to eventually hit a wall,” Markeloff said. “It boggles my mind that he’s allowed to spend and make all these changes without anybody checking him. That’s what the board is supposed to do, but we have a board of managers who just rubber stamp everything that he’s doing.”

Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath appointed Miles and a board of managers to lead the district in a state takeover, giving them control of the district.

As Texas’ top officials treat Miles’ reforms as the blueprint for improving student academic achievement, tapping former HISD administrators to lead other takeover districts, the cost of the New Education System raises questions about whether districts can afford to follow. An analysis by the Tribune found the reforms cost a campus about $700,000 the first year it was adopted and an extra $2,000 per student in the years after.

One HISD employee who manages finances at a non-NES campus, said the directive was unusual and alarming. In previous years, school leaders are typically given soft guidance about adjusting staffing levels based on latest enrollment around this time, but this year the orders to cut were mandatory. The employee spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation for her job.

Tracy Lisewsky, who has tracked the district’s spending and is a parent of an HISD graduate who got her diploma during the takeover, worried about what the early cuts foreshadow for the district.

“Something must be really, really wrong with our cash flow … and the budget, for cuts to be coming this early into the school year,” Lisewsky said.

Overall, HISD’s annual operating budget is about $2 billion. The district has a workforce of about 22,600 employees last year, including about 10,000 teachers.

Other districts across the state have also shuffled staff because enrollment fell below projections. Fort Worth ISD, for example, leveled at campuses last month after enrollment was about 2,500 students short of what was projected, according to the Fort Worth Report. That district is in the first year of its state takeover.

Rob Reid contributed to this report.

Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the extension of the truce — under which the countries agreed to scale back tariffs and refrain from imposing new trade restrictions — during a Fox News Channel interview as Trump welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington.

“I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done. I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal,” Bessent said in the interview, noting the extension to Jan. 10 could give the leaders more time to talk about the issues at upcoming international summits in China in November and Florida in December.

Trade has been one of the biggest flashpoints between the two superpowers, along with artificial intelligence, Trump’s war with Iran and China’s designs on Taiwan. But much of Xi's three-day visit is expected to be far more about pomp than substance, starting with Trump’s decision to greet Xi as he landed, rather than waiting for him to drive up to the White House.

A 100-foot (30 meter) long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi's plane. A 21-person honor guard was arrayed on the sides of the carpet and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood near a staircase on the side of the plane, where they greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, with handshakes.

The welcome ceremony also included a flyover by two B-1 bombers, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries. Trump and his wife spoke to their counterparts, but their words could not be heard. Trump, who wore gloves and an overcoat though it was a relatively warm 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) outside, removed one of his gloves to shake hands with Xi. At one point, he slapped Xi on the back and said something to him that was inaudible.

“I think they appreciate it, tremendous people,” Trump told reporters after he returned to the White House Wednesday evening.

In a statement marking his arrival in the U.S., China’s leader wrote that his country and the U.S. “should be partners, not rivals. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand and the two countries can contribute to each other’s success, thereby benefiting the wider world.”

Some Republicans have questioned the optics of the visit

Beyond using the visit to try to keep “strategic stability” between the two countries, Trump has lavished praise on Xi as a “great leader” and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues.

Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the “lavish welcome.” Wicker, R-Miss., said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. and China must interact at the highest levels because the countries are “the two largest economies in the world” and “probably the two most powerful militaries in the world.”

Danny Russel, a former U.S. diplomat under former President Barack Obama's administration, said the airport pomp delivered a propaganda win for Beijing.

“Such extreme deference is valuable evidence that China’s leader is now held in extraordinarily high esteem by the President of the United States. Beijing uses this at home and internationally to show China’s — and Xi’s — growing stature,” said Russel, now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

China had hoped for a longer extension of the trade truce

China had wanted a longer extension of the trade truce, which had been set to expire on Nov. 10. “It underscores that the United States is still concerned about China’s full implementation of its commitments under the truce, particularly with respect to critical mineral exports and agricultural purchases,” said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

The tight timeframe gives the U.S. a chance to test whether China will deliver on unmet promises to buy U.S. farm goods, said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “This is less about buying two months of calm than making China earn the next extension,” he said.

Trump has not yet commented on the extension. The two leaders are expected to talk about issues of substance more on Thursday, after an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Later, they will exchange toasts at a black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and SpaceX’s Elon Musk.

Trump to welcome Xi with ‘the most respect’

Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new “work of art” helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not.

“I wish we had it for tomorrow night," Trump said again Wednesday.

Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump — Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was there instead. But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. A military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” also were present.

The first lady said earlier Wednesday that her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because “they have a great relationship.”

“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”

The long red carpet recalled a similar extra-long one the U.S. laid out for Russian President Vladimir Putin when he touched down at a U.S. Air Force base in Alaska last summer for a summit aimed at trying to find an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.

___

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Will Weissert and Collin Binkley contributed to this report.

“I wish to state this very clearly before this General Assembly: Elections will be held in Venezuela,” Delcy Rodriguez said, adding that her government has started a “political dialogue with opposition sectors” to secure a “process based on equal conditions for all.”

Rodríguez said the Venezuelan people will determine the best time to get elections moving and assured the United Nations that, when the time comes, the country’s institutions “will be prepared to guarantee an inclusive and transparent process.”

Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

This is the first trip to the United States by a Venezuelan head of state since 2018, when Maduro traveled to New York to participate in the U.N. General Assembly himself. He is currently being held only a few miles from the organization’s headquarters as he awaits trial.

She says Venezuela is coming back

Rodríguez’s participation in the international forum also marks a milestone in Venezuela’s reintegration into global diplomacy. Addressing global leaders, she said that “the last time that two presidents of Venezuela and the United States met was in 2009.”

She added that her country is coming back strong after “setbacks” suffered this year and thanked President Donald Trump for being willing to resume relations after the U.S. military spirited her predecessor out of the country.

The other setback to which she referred: On June 24, two powerful earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, struck north-central Venezuela and killed more than 6,500 people, leaving an untold number of missing and causing widespread devastation.

“I come to talk about a Venezuela whose national life has been affected by a crisis of political coexistence that disrupted the life of the nation and our interaction with the world," Rodriguez she said. “Interests alien to the common good of Venezuelans were imposed.”

Rodriguez faced a delicate balance in her speech, which needed to be addressed to both her people and the U.S. government that holds her predecessor. She thanked Trump for his willingness to resume the course of diplomatic relations and cooperation with Venezuela.

“We are working earnestly to resolve existing differences through dialogue, but above all to pave the way for cooperation in the energy sector, the promotion of security, the joint fight against transnational crime, and economic cooperation for the benefit of both peoples and our continent," she said. “Today, Venezuela is being reborn.”

Since rising to power, Rodríguez has forged a close working relationship with Trump. U.S. influence in Venezuela has grown following the lifting of sanctions against Rodríguez in April, one of several recent moves by Washington to recognize her as a legitimate authority ever since the U.S. military captured her predecessor.

Addressing some words to her people, Rodríguez said that she could not promise an “easy path,” noting that “the country’s recovery will take time.”

“Rebuilding the national soul will be our priority," she said. “We will walk united as a single nation that, after the pain, chose hope.”

Trump and Rodríguez met on the sideline of the UN

Before her speech at the U.N. Wednesday night, Trump and Rodríguez, who had been Maduro’s vice president, met at a pull-aside meeting late Tuesday during a reception the U.S. president hosted at a New York hotel.

It was the first time the two had met in person since the operation that captured the nation’s former leader and effectively put Rodríguez in charge.

“We discussed strengthening the bilateral relationship between our countries and advancing a cooperation agenda in strategic areas such as energy, mining, security, and other matters of mutual interest,” Rodríguez said on X after the encounter.

The meeting came after the two countries announced an agreement last month to give the United States a stake in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. She described the deal as a step toward economic recovery that will modernize the country’s oil industry.

Rodríguez vowed to shoulder the “historic responsibility” of leading Venezuela “from a period of uncertainty and conflict toward a stage of full democracy, recognized by its own people and by the world.”

“Venezuela wants to breathe freely and exercise its rights as a sovereign nation without any kind of interference,” she said.

Neria Leiter, a reservist in Israel's military, “needs a miracle," Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said in a social media post. The ambassador's older son, Moshe Yedidya Leiter, who also served in Israel's military, was killed in Gaza about a month after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the war in Gaza.

According to the military and law enforcement, a Palestinian man rammed his car into a security checkpoint Wednesday afternoon near the settlement of Beit Horon, seriously wounding the soldier. Israeli forces at the scene then opened fire at the man as he attempted to flee and killed him.

More military forces were deployed in the aftermath in the area, which is crossed by a major highway connecting Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.

The suspect was identified as Mahmoud Suleiman, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog both sent wishes for Leiter's recovery. A social media post by Herzog described Leiter as “fighting for his life."

Netanyahu visited Leiter's family at the hospital Wednesday night before departing for the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The Iran war, which Israel launched together with the United States on Feb. 28, is a major focus of the gathering of world leaders.

Earlier this week, an Israeli man was killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank, which has experienced a surge in deadly violence since the war in Gaza began. Recent months have seen marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns, Israeli military operations, as well as several Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

The latest violence happened in the middle of the Jewish High Holy Days, just after Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which is widely considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

In mid-April, Ambassador Leiter was a central figure in the first direct diplomatic talks in decades between Israel and Lebanon in Washington. In late June, Leiter, Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.S., and Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon that was described as a first step toward peace following months of renewed conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based, Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Ker’Sean Olajuwa Ramey, 41, was executed by lethal injection and pronounced deceased at 6:34 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In his final statement, Ramey expressed his devotion to God and his family, and also thanked the other men on Texas’ death row for their support.

Ramey, who was 21 when he was convicted in 2007, said he grew up while in prison with the help of his fellow inmates.

“I didn’t come from a culture in a healthy sense. To you brothers, I can’t name everybody, you know who you are, I greatly appreciate you,” Ramey said.

Ramey broke into a neighbor’s home in Edna with LeJames Norman in 2005 intending to steal cocaine before encountering the residents, according to court records. Celso Lopez was inside the home at the time of the break-in and was fatally shot. Tiffani Peacock and Sam Roberts arrived later and were killed by Ramey and Norman, who then fled the scene.

Ramey was convicted after several witnesses, including his girlfriend, testified that he had admitted to the killings. Ramey’s girlfriend helped police recover the two guns used in the murders. Norman, who was executed Sept. 16, also testified against Ramey during his trial.

Ramey had two unsuccessful appeals at the U.S. Supreme Court, and a new appeal filed Sept. 10 with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was rejected on Monday. The Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Ramey on Wednesday afternoon.

Ramey’s appeals primarily focused on allegations that the almost all-white jury that sentenced him to death was “infected with racial bias,” and that he received ineffective counsel from his lawyer, who was a full-time dentist and was not experienced in capital punishment trials.

Ramey is the sixth man put to death in Texas this year. Three more men are scheduled to be executed through the end of the year.

If the remaining executions are carried out, it will be the most executions in Texas in a single year this decade, after a decline in executions and new death sentences.

Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the sixth person executed this year in Texas, with three more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next two months.

In the execution chamber, a prison chaplain rested his left hand on Ramey’s right shoulder and offered a brief prayer before the warden asked the prisoner if he had any last words. Ramey praised God and thanked friends, family and fellow death row inmates he called his brothers.

"To the brothers on Texas death row that grew up with me, that poured into me and showed what it means to be a man, because I came in young, and didn’t understand what manhood was ... to you brothers ... I greatly appreciate you,” he said just before the injection got underway.

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing, Ramey took a deep breath, sputtered and began snoring. After 10 loud snores and two that were nearly inaudible, all movement ceased.

A physician pronounced Ramey dead 14 minutes after the injection began. Ramey's body was then covered with a white sheet.

A jury had convicted Ramey of capital murder and sentenced him to death for the August 2005 shootings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, at the home they shared in Edna, a small rural city some 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston.

Ramey and LeJames Norman believed there was cocaine in the house and hoped to steal it, according to court records. The men entered the home with guns, found no drugs and fatally shot the three residents, who lived just across the street from Norman, the records show.

Norman was executed on Sept. 16 at the Huntsville prison, where all Texas executions are carried out.

Including Ramey's execution, a total of 28 inmates have been put to death around several U.S. states this year. Florida leads those states with 15 executions so far in 2026, by far the nation's busiest death chamber.

Hours before Wednesday's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ramey's final appeal.

His attorneys argued that jurors had never heard that Ramey suffered physical abuse as a child and grew up in poverty. State prosecutors told the court the appeal was “meritless” and said the evidence showed Ramey exhibited “an escalating pattern of criminal behavior.”

Norman was arrested about five months after the killings while seeking to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico, where he had fled. He testified at Ramey’s trial in January 2007 that both men shot the victims. Ramey’s attorneys blamed the shootings on Norman.

Ramey’s former girlfriend testified that she was with Ramey when he threw two handguns into a lake after the killings, and that he later described his involvement to her in detail.

Lopez was shot four times, including in the back of the head; Peacock was shot twice in the head; and Roberts was shot five times in the chest, neck and head.

Norman was sentenced to death in December 2008 after pleading guilty to capital murder.

Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT following a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was the sixth person executed this year in Texas, with three more lethal injections scheduled in the state over the next two months.

In the execution chamber, a prison chaplain rested his left hand on Ramey’s right shoulder and offered a brief prayer before the warden asked the prisoner if he had any last words. Ramey praised God and thanked friends, family and fellow death row inmates he called his brothers.

"To the brothers on Texas death row that grew up with me, that poured into me and showed what it means to be a man, because I came in young, and didn’t understand what manhood was ... to you brothers ... I greatly appreciate you,” he said just before the injection got underway.

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing, Ramey took a deep breath, sputtered and began snoring. After 10 loud snores and two that were nearly inaudible, all movement ceased.

A physician pronounced Ramey dead 14 minutes after the injection began. Ramey's body was then covered with a white sheet.

A jury had convicted Ramey of capital murder and sentenced him to death for the August 2005 shootings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, at the home they shared in Edna, a small rural city some 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston.

Ramey and LeJames Norman believed there was cocaine in the house and hoped to steal it, according to court records. The men entered the home with guns, found no drugs and fatally shot the three residents, who lived just across the street from Norman, the records show.

Norman was executed on Sept. 16 at the Huntsville prison, where all Texas executions are carried out.

Including Ramey's execution, a total of 28 inmates have been put to death around several U.S. states this year. Florida leads those states with 15 executions so far in 2026, by far the nation's busiest death chamber.

Hours before Wednesday's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Ramey's final appeal.

His attorneys argued that jurors had never heard that Ramey suffered physical abuse as a child and grew up in poverty. State prosecutors told the court the appeal was “meritless” and said the evidence showed Ramey exhibited “an escalating pattern of criminal behavior.”

Norman was arrested about five months after the killings while seeking to re-enter the U.S. from Mexico, where he had fled. He testified at Ramey’s trial in January 2007 that both men shot the victims. Ramey’s attorneys blamed the shootings on Norman.

Ramey’s former girlfriend testified that she was with Ramey when he threw two handguns into a lake after the killings, and that he later described his involvement to her in detail.

Lopez was shot four times, including in the back of the head; Peacock was shot twice in the head; and Roberts was shot five times in the chest, neck and head.

Norman was sentenced to death in December 2008 after pleading guilty to capital murder.

His first reaction? “Confusion.”

“Why would Governor Abbott be endorsing mail-in voting when he’s a supporter of the president who’s against mail- in voting?” McCarron said.

He wondered whether the paperwork was even real.

“No, I actually thought that this was most likely an illegitimate document, someone phishing for information,” he said.

So KPRC 2 checked. Abbott’s campaign confirmed that Texans for Greg Abbott sent the mailing. Campaign spokesperson Eduardo Leal provided this statement:

“Governor Abbott’s campaign routinely sends official ballot-by-mail applications to our voters who are 65 and older. These are applications—not ballots—and the mailing clearly identifies Texans for Greg Abbott as the sender. Our goal is simple: make sure every eligible voter knows how to exercise their right to vote and has the information they need to participate in our elections.”

KPRC 2 also asked the campaign about the contrast between promoting mail voting and President Donald Trump’s criticism of it. The campaign did not answer that question.

The Texas Secretary of State’s Office says campaigns are allowed to send applications to vote by mail. What McCarron received is an application, not a ballot.

Does getting an application mean you can vote by mail?

No. Receiving an application does not mean you are registered to vote or eligible to vote by mail.

In Texas, voters may qualify if they are 65 or older on Election Day, have a qualifying sickness or disability, expect to give birth within three weeks before or after Election Day, or will be out of their county during both early voting and Election Day. Other circumstances may also qualify.

What are the deadlines?

For the Nov. 3 election, the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5. If you qualify to vote by mail, your county elections office must receive your application by Oct. 23. Putting it in the mail on Oct. 23 is not enough. The Texas Secretary of State’s election calendar says the Oct. 23 deadline is “received, not postmarked.”

McCarron said he is registered and qualifies to vote by mail because he is over 65. He said he would rather get an application through an election office than use the one sent by the campaign.

Voters can check the full eligibility rules and get an application at VoteTexas.gov. Harris County voters can also visit HarrisVotes.com.

DNA testing performed by the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification confirmed the match after a local resident found the remains on Sept. 8, 2026. The remains were located east of Salt Flat Road, between Soda Springs and Biggs Road.

Investigators reported that the skeletal remains did not provide additional details regarding the cause or manner of death, and authorities found no indication of foul play.

What Happened the Night Jason Landry Vanished

Landry was a 21-year-old junior at Texas State University when he packed his 2003 Nissan Altima on the night of Dec. 13, 2020, to drive home to Missouri City for Christmas vacation.

Shortly after midnight, a volunteer firefighter discovered his car wrecked and abandoned along a remote dirt stretch of Salt Flat Road outside Luling.

The vehicle’s lights were on, the keys were missing from the ignition, and Landry’s cellphone, wallet, and clothing were found scattered nearby.

Despite an extensive search covering more than 50 square miles on foot, by horseback, and with aircraft, search teams found no trace of Landry in the days immediately following the crash.

Over the nearly six years since his disappearance, the Attorney General’s Cold Case Unit conducted ground and aerial searches, reexamined evidence, and followed up on leads. The investigation involved the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Search and Rescue, and citizen volunteers.

It was on Sept. 8 when Caldwell County deputies confirmed the discovery of skeletal remains along Biggs Road, setting into motion the forensic testing that finally delivered answers to investigators and the Landry family.

“This development marks a critical moment in a case that has weighed heavily on our hearts for nearly six years. The Landry family has suffered an unimaginable tragedy, and they will remain in our prayers, especially during this incredibly difficult time,” Paxton said in a statement.

Landry’s family has been notified of the identification. Participating agencies requested privacy for the family, noting that additional details will be released as appropriate.

Trump’s decision to greet Xi shows how far the U.S. president is going to honor China’s leader as he made his first state visit to the U.S. capital in more than a decade.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News Channel Wednesday that the two countries would extend their trade truce to Jan. 10. It had been set to expire in November.

Meanwhile, a judge heard arguments Wednesday but did not rule from the bench in a case on Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds. It’s the latest development in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes. The administration has doubled down on its contention that it has the right to decide who can set foot in the White House, while the outlets call the ban a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.

Also, Iran’s president said Wednesday that his people have been “victims of terrorism” by the United States, delivering a rare wartime speech on the second day of the U.N. General Assembly. Trump, on the U.N. General Assembly stage a day earlier, said he could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic. Toward the end of his speech, Masoud Pezeshkian called out Trump by name.

Here's the latest:

Nevada secretary of state asks Congress members to send election observers to USPS locations

Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar says the observers would ensure that postal workers can scan the envelopes holding mail ballots without disruption.

It was unclear what prompted his ask to Nevada’s U.S. senators and House members. But it comes after the Supreme Court’s decision to reject Trump’s mail ballot restrictions.

“The Trump Administration has attempted to weaponize federal agencies to interfere in our elections, and the leadership at USPS is going along with it,” Aguilar said in a statement announcing the request. “While their efforts to take control over state-run elections failed at the Supreme Court ahead of the midterms, we must stay prepared for anything that could disrupt the election this fall.”

In the 2024 general election, about 45% of the state’s votes were submitted by mail.

Aguilar also asked that observers be sent to two out-of-state distribution centers that process mail for Nevada — in Salt Lake City and Sacramento, California.

Venezuela’s acting leader promises to hold elections

“I wish to state this very clearly before this General Assembly: Elections will be held in Venezuela,” Delcy Rodríguez said, adding that her government has started a “political dialogue with opposition sectors” to secure a “process based on equal conditions for all.”

Rodríguez said that Venezuelan people will determine the best time to get elections moving and assured the United Nations that, when the time comes, the country’s institutions “will be prepared to guarantee an inclusive and transparent process.”

The short extension gives the US leverage

Keeping the extension of the trade truce gives the U.S. a chance to test whether China delivers on its promises to buy U.S. farm goods, said Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

“This is less about buying two months of calm than making China earn the next extension,” he said.

China wanted a longer trade truce extension, expert says

The extension is “way shorter than China had hoped for,” said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“It underscores that the United States is still concerned about China’s full implementation of its commitments under the truce, particularly with respect to critical mineral exports and agricultural purchases,” Cutler said.

The US and China agree to extend their trade truce

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox News Channel that the two countries would extend their truce to Jan. 10. It had been set to expire in November.

Under the truce, the countries have agreed to scale back on tariffs on each other and not to impose restrictive trade measures.

Venezuela’s acting leader praises Trump for ‘readiness’ to resume ties

Addressing the U.N. General Assembly for the first time since coming to power, Venezuela’s acting president said her country is coming back strong after “setbacks” suffered this year and thanked President Donald Trump for being willing to resume relations after the U.S. military spirited her predecessor out of the country.

“Today, Venezuela is being reborn,” Delcy Rodríguez said in her remarks to the international forum.

Rodríguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise U.S. military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.

This is the first trip to the United States by a Venezuelan head of state since 2018, when Maduro traveled to New York to participate in the U.N. General Assembly himself. He is currently being held only a few miles from the organization’s headquarters as he awaits trial.

Xi says China and the US should be ‘partners, not rivals’

In a statement marking his arrival in the U.S., China’s leader wrote that his country and the U.S. “should be partners, not rivals. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand and the two countries can contribute to each other’s success, thereby benefiting the wider world.”

Xi’s statement also suggested that the two sides “should move toward each other and work together to build a stable relationship – one where cooperation is the mainstay, competition is kept within proper limits, differences are managed and peace can be expected.”

In brief comments to reporters upon returning to the White House, Trump said of going to greet Xi’s plane, “I think they appreciate it, tremendous people.”

The airport pomp delivers a propaganda win for Beijing, former diplomat says

Danny Russel, a State Department official during the Obama administration, said President Trump has given the Chinese leader Xi Jinping what Beijing wanted.

“Such extreme deference is valuable evidence that China’s leader is now held in extraordinarily high esteem by the president of the United States,” said Russel, now a distinguished fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute.

“Beijing uses this at home and internationally to show China’s — and Xi’s — growing stature,” Russel said.

And it may not serve U.S. interests, because Beijing is likely to “see this level of deferential accommodation as an indicator of weakness,” he said.

Xi bids goodbye to the Trumps at the airport

After a brief exchange with President Trump on the tarmac, Xi walked over a few steps to shake hands with Melania Trump and bid farewell to the couple. Xi had a smile on his face and looked relaxed.

Both Xi and his wife Peng were seen entering their vehicle, and the Trumps waited a while before walking off.

The two leaders are set to meet Thursday for formal talks.

Trump sports black gloves and a long coat for Xi welcome

The president appeared to be the only one dressed in cold-weather attire. He took gloves on and off multiple times for rounds of handshakes with Xi and Peng.

It was about 65 degrees F (18 degrees C) with a brisk breeze, according to the National Weather Service.

Greeting for Xi in Washington echoes Trump rolling out red carpet for Putin last year

The 100-foot (30-meter) red carpet unfurled as Xi stepped off his plane outside Washington recalled a similar, extra-long one the U.S. laid out for Russian President Valdimir Putin when he touched down at a U.S. air force base in Alaska last summer.

This time, Trump and first lady Melania Trump, shook hands with Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, before appearing to chat and exchange pleasantries that couldn’t be heard.

There was a 21-person honor guard, a flyover from two B1 bombers, flower presenters, platoons from each military service and the flags and anthems of both countries.

When Putin arrived in August 2025, he shook hands with the President Trump while both grinned. The first lady wasn’t present.

Trump and Putin then took the unusual step of climbing into the U.S. president’s limo to share a ride that whisked them to ultimately unsuccessful talks about ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Kids present flowers to Xi and wife Peng

Two American children presented bouquets of yellow-colored flowers to the Chinese leader and his wife as the U.S. president and first lady welcomed them at Joint Base Andrews.

Welcoming red carpet rolled out — with a bit of a struggle

A giant red carpet was rolled out at the bottom of the red stairs leading down from Xi’s jet. It took several U.S. service members and an animated director of sorts to unroll the carpet, steer it into place and get it straightened out.

Chinese officials briefly waited at the entrance of the jet while the carpet was adjusted.

The US rolls out 100-foot red carpet for Xi

The Chinese president’s plane was greeted with a long red carpet, a salute with battery guns, a 21-person honor cordon and a flyover from two B1 bombers.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump took the unusual step of appearing in person to greet Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan.

As part of the ceremony, the national anthems of both China and the U.S. were played.

China offered Trump an elaborate welcome ceremony when Air Force One touched down for his visit to Beijing in May, involving top officials and school children acting as greeters, but Xi did not attend personally.

Xi arrives for Washington visit

The Chinese president’s jet touched down at Joint Base Andrews at about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday.

The Air China jet landed while U.S. troops were gathered nearby for a welcome event.

President Donald Trump and Melania Trump were waiting at the base for a rare airport welcome for Xi and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan.

Trump is awaiting Xi touching down outside Washington

The president and first lady Melania Trump arrived at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland via chopper, then stepped into the presidential limo to wait for Xi’s arrival.

The president saluted waiting Marines upon climbing off his helicopter, then fixed his coat on the windy tarmac.

The motorcade eventually drove past a riser with assembled media waiting to cover Xi’s arrival.

Trump could be seen looking at the reporters in attendance before the motorcade headed to a white tent next to the airport terminal.

Judge dismisses Trump’s lawsuit against Iowa newspaper

Iowa District Judge Scott J. Beattie dismissed Trump’s lawsuit that accused The Des Moines Register and its former pollster J. Ann Selzer of misrepresenting the state of the 2024 presidential race, rejecting the president’s claim that the newspaper’s poll coverage violated Iowa’s consumer fraud law.

Selzer and the Register described the lawsuit as a conspiracy theory and an affront to free speech protections.

Trump and his team have filed several lawsuits against media organizations accusing them of bias, calling into question the boundaries of First Amendment protections for speech and press. Some of those lawsuits have ended in settlements.

Trump filed the lawsuit against Selzer, The Des Moines Register and the newspaper’s parent company in December 2024, accusing them of fraudulently publishing inaccurate poll results to damage him and help Democrats, saying coverage of polls is not protected speech.

Trump’s push to acquire Greenland almost broke NATO. The winner of it all may be ... Greenland

In the end, it was all kisses and laughter as President Donald Trump hailed his “fantastic” relationship with Denmark and Greenland after signing a new security deal that America’s European allies hope will close one of the most dangerous chapters in transatlantic relations.

Trump’s territorial ambitions over Greenland almost broke the NATO military alliance and shattered trust with one of America’s oldest and closest partners.

Interestingly, one place may emerge from this standoff as the real winner: Greenland itself.

“I cannot stress it enough: This is the first time that we are venturing into a binding agreement as a country,” Naaja Nathanielsen, one of Greenland’s two lawmakers in the Danish parliament and a former government minister in Nuuk, told The Associated Press. “That is a huge step forward in our quest for more self-autonomy.”

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Major networks set to continue coverage ban at Xi arrival

The five major networks on Wednesday were poised to continue their ban on filming Trump coverage. At Joint Base Andrews, where the president is set to formally welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping later Wednesday, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but not shooting, and some appeared to be breaking down their cameras.

Other television outlets whose crews were present, according to signs on their tripods and cameras, were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News and LindellTV.

Democratic leader says House Republicans are ‘running scared’ ahead of elections

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if Democrats win control in fall, chided Republicans for trying to distance themselves from Trump on the Iran war and other issues.

“On one hand, they want Donald Trump’s MAGA money. I mean, they’re feeding at the trough of Donald Trump’s MAGA money,” he said. “And on the other hand, they want to pretend that they creating distance between Donald Trump and themselves.”

Jeffries held a news conference at the empty House chamber, criticizing Republicans for cutting short the legislative calendar to go home and campaign.

Judge hears arguments without immediately ruling on Trump’s news outlet ban

A judge has heard arguments but did not rule from the bench in a case on Trump’s ban of three news outlets from White House grounds.

Wednesday’s hearing marked the latest development in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes.

Trump banned the outlets beginning Friday, assailing what he called “fake news.” More recently the president has said negative coverage was dangerous for the country.

The outlets argued they were singled out because of the content of their coverage — in other words, viewpoint discrimination and called the ban a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.

Hearing on Trump’s ban of 3 news outlets from White House is underway

In court arguments over Trump’s ban of three media outlets from White House grounds, the administration continues to defend the move as constitutional.

Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik told the court Wednesday that “access to the White House is a privilege, not a right.”

The case is being heard by U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump appointed in 2017 and who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar case in 2018.

Arguments began with attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. calling the ban against CNN, MS NOW and Politico an “unprecedented, unreasonable punishment” and saying there was “not a semblance of due process.”

Trump to attend Texas-Tennessee football game

The White House confirms that the president, who has put athletics front and center in his second term, will attend the matchup Saturday.

No. 1 Texas is traveling to No. 14 Tennessee for the Southeastern Conference opener in Knoxville. It’s the first meeting between the two marquee football programs since the 1969 Cotton Bowl.

State Department orders diplomats to use ‘super intelligence’ rather ‘artificial intelligence’

The move follows Trump’s attempt to rebrand the technology in his address to the UN General Assembly.

“Following the president‘s remarks at the GA today, please change all references of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ to ‘Super Intelligence’ in our documents and positions. We will be using ‘SI’ in all remarks, positions and press elements moving forward,” said an email sent Tuesday to employees by Michael Drager, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

That bureau is in charge of U.S. diplomatic missions to all U.N. and multilateral agencies around the world. The email was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if other State Department bureaus would follow suit.

AI company leaders warn that without intervention, ‘AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole’

The heads of major AI companies are pleading with the United Nations to set controls over the burgeoning technology they are designing to save the world or at least its people.

“If managed poorly, I even believe AI could be a risk to humanity as a whole,” Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer, Anthropic said.

“We could lose control of the future to AI,” his competitor, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

Both testified Wednesday to the U.N. Security Council. They said the countries of the world, through the council, have to set safeguards that would be actual controls to prevent the technology from getting too powerful to reign in. They also called for the world to make sure that the power of AI isn’t concentrated in one company or country.

Rubio says Trump has invited Putin to US-hosted G20 meeting in Florida

Speaking to reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Rubio said the Trump administration was hopeful that Putin would accept the invitation despite differences over Russia’s war with Ukraine and other matter.

“In order to solve problems, you have to meet with the people that you disagree with or the people that you might have some issues with, so we’ve invited President Putin to the G20,” Rubio said. “We think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president, but with other world leaders. We hope that’s, an invitation he’ll accept.”

Trump will host G20 leaders at his Miami country club in December.

County election offices in Texas are scrambling to process backlogged voter registrations

The problem started with the Texas Department of Public Safety, which allows people to register to vote or update their registrations when they renew their driver’s license.

State officials blamed an unspecified error dating to October 2025. It meant that applications were not being forwarded to the person’s home county, where they are processed and verified.

Now those counties are dealing with nearly a year’s worth of backlogged applications. Several county officials say they will need to hire temporary workers to handle the crush. Early in-person voting in Texas for the midterm elections starts Oct. 19.

The size of the backlog statewide hasn’t been determined, but the Texas Association of County Election Officials says it’s in the tens of thousands for some of the most populous counties. In Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, it’s about 45,000 voter registration applications.

State Department asks Americans to report suspected visa fraudsters

The State Department is asking Americans to report foreigners suspected of U.S. visa fraud for potential deportation and criminal prosecution.

The department said in a statement Wednesday that it had launched an online portal to make it easier to report such cases.

The department said tips from “upstanding and concerned” members of the public have been responsible for the revocation of visas from many of the tens of thousands of people who either lied on their applications or were violating the conditions of their stay in the U.S.

“This new online tool provides a convenient and reliable way for the public to submit crucial information for prompt review and action,” the statement said.

The suspect, who isn’t being named because of his age, is also believed to be a student in Spring ISD, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

Update to yesterday’s fatal shooting on Ella Blvd:

The teen who was killed has been identified as 15-year-old Royce Witchet. Our heartfelt condolences go out to Royce’s family, friends, classmates, and all who are grieving his loss.

Today, a 14-year-old male was taken into… pic.twitter.com/uyExOuv8sa

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) September 23, 2026

The shooting happened shortly after school dismissal Tuesday along a sidewalk near Westfield High School and the Spring ISD administration building on Ella Boulevard.

• RELATED: ‘I called him my heart’: Family identifies 15-year-old killed near Westfield High School

The victim was identified by his family as 15-year-old Royce Witchet. His mother, Rhonda Churchwell, remembered him as a loving and funny teenager who cared deeply for his siblings and was passionate about sports and music.

• RELATED: Investigators seek student video, messages after fatal shooting near Westfield High School

Witchet was taken to a hospital in critical condition, where he later died.

Investigators have not released details about what led to the shooting, including whether Witchet and the suspect knew each other.

• RELATED: Westfield High School student dies after being shot near campus

Authorities have asked students and others who witnessed the shooting -- or who have video, messages or other information -- to contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477).

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said the county is focused on providing immediate assistance while creating longer-term pathways to financial stability.

“Affordability is what everyone is wrestling with,” Briones said. “Folks are struggling to buy groceries, to pay the rent, and it’s getting more and more difficult.”

One of the county’s workforce initiatives is its Apprenticeship Advantage program, which allows participants to learn a trade while earning a wage and gaining a direct connection to employment.

The program works with the Texas Gulf Coast AFL-CIO on trade apprenticeships, including construction, elevator mechanics, pipefitting and electrical work. The county also partners with Empower, which offers pathways into technology-related careers, Briones said.

3 solid ways to stretch your grocery budget as food prices rise

The program is open to people entering the workforce, veterans, people returning to work and those looking to improve their skills, she said.

For Vanessa Guerra, the program provided an alternative to a traditional four-year college degree. Guerra graduated from high school in 2022 and was working at a convenience store when she learned about apprenticeship through Facebook.

She is now a third-year union insulator apprentice earning $26 an hour, compared with the $10-an-hour wage she earned previously, she said.

“Every year I got a raise,” Guerra said. “I’m earning and learning. That’s what I really like.”

Guerra’s apprenticeship is a four-year program. She works while attending school and plans to earn her journeyman license after completing the program.

She encouraged people who are unsure about entering a trade to take a chance, even if they have no prior experience.

“If you think that you’ll like it, take a risk and join,” Guerra said. “It will help you out a lot in your future.”

Briones said Harris County also is trying to lead by example. The county’s minimum wage for its employees is $20 an hour, while the minimum wage for county contract workers is $21.65 an hour, she said.

“One job should be enough,” Briones said, recalling that her parents often worked multiple jobs when she was growing up.

The county’s affordability efforts also include health care. Harris Health operates Ben Taub Hospital, Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital and community clinics that provide care to vulnerable residents.

Briones said Harris County Public Health offers free vaccinations throughout the year. At Bayland Community Center, the county has partnered with Baylor College of Medicine to provide free wellness visits, sick visits, immunizations and mental health services for people ages 13 to 26.

The county also works with Memorial Hermann to bring a mobile unit into communities for women’s health exams. A mobile dental unit provides free services in neighborhoods across the county, Briones said.

Briones said the programs are intended to help residents who may be forced to choose between medical bills and basic necessities.

“If you’re choosing between feeding your children dinner and paying a doctor bill, that’s survival mode,” she said.

The county also is investing in affordable housing, eviction diversion and legal aid, as well as food access. At La Tiendita, a small grocery store at Bayland Community Center, residents can receive free food, nutrition counseling and educational resources through a partnership with the Tejano Center, Briones said.

Briones urged residents to contact Harris County Precinct 4 to learn more about available resources, including apprenticeships, health care, food assistance and exercise classes.

“Those resources exist,” she said. “We are here to serve, and we want to help.”

Aminata Seck, 26, is from Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and her attorney said on social media that she entered the United States on a student visa.

Her attorney, Sadiqa Reynolds, wrote that Seck was detained on Aug. 7 at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, as she was planning to travel with her team to an HBCU tournament.

The Louisville Courier Journal, which first reported Seck’s arrest, wrote that Reynolds said Seck may have missed a student visa deadline because she was having back surgery, and that she also has an ACL injury.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Seck legally entered the U.S. in September 2019, then “chose to overstay her welcome in violation of our nation's laws.” The agency wrote that an immigration judge had ordered Seck removed a year ago after she failed to appear at an immigration hearing.

DHS said that Seck was wearing a leg brace for a knee injury when she was arrested, and is receiving treatment at a hospital.

Reynolds wrote that she spoke to Seck last week, and the player said she remained in a lot of pain. Reynolds said she was transferred to multiple detention facilities before being sent to the hospital.

Seck remains listed on the Grayson County, Kentucky, Detention Center’s online inmate roster. The offense description says: “US DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY / ICE.”

Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey, who represents a district including Louisville, said he is monitoring Seck’s situation, and that of others who have been arrested and detained in Kentucky.

“Aminata is a student-athlete who was arrested by ICE at the airport while traveling with her teammates,” he wrote in a statement. “The Trump administration’s cruelty knows no bounds, but we will never let this become normal and we won’t stop fighting for her.”

Seck was named to the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Conference Third Team last season after she led the team with 11.7 points and 7.3 rebounds. Seck, a 6-foot-4 center, had five double-doubles last season and scored a season-high 30 points vs. Lane College on Jan. 14.

Seck also was named the SIAC Women’s Basketball Elite 16 award winner. The Elite 16 award is the SIAC’s highest academic achievement honor and is presented to student-athletes who demonstrate exemplary performance in athletics and the classroom.

The school declined to comment: “Out of respect for the privacy of those involved, Kentucky State University does not have information to share.”

Kevin Yackly is an Uber drive with a disability that requires him to walk with a cane. Yackly contacted 2 Helps You over an issue he’s having while trying to make a living, “Well, the main problem is trying to get to the restroom.”

Yackly said the airport recently divided the parking areas, separating taxi drivers from ride-share drivers. The airport says the separations are common nationwide.

For Yackly, this creates an additional challenge because of his disability.

He said the situation and distance he must traverse leaves him feeling like he is being treated differently, “It makes you feel substandard,” said Yackly.

Yackly has a Texas disabled parking license plate, but he said that does not solve the problem because Uber drivers are not permitted into the same are as taxis, which is where the restrooms are located.

Yackly demonstrated the distance he has to travel from the ride-share parking area to reach the restroom on the other side of the lot, “It’s hard to walk and I have a cane.”

The distant walk also creates a physical strain, “As I get to here is when I’m mostly out of breath.”

Yackly questioned why his disabled parking status does not allow him to park closer to the restroom. The area also has designated disabled parking spots that when 2 Helps You visited were empty.

Yackly also pointed out that he maintains a five-star rating as an Uber driver, “So, you’re a five-star rated driver with a one-start bathroom problem? asked 2 Helps You.

Yackly did not hesitate with his response? “Correct.”

After explaining the situation to Houston Airport Systems Communications Director Augusto Bernal, the airport system sent a lengthy statement hours later that did not provide a resolution and required clarity. In their original statement the airport stated:

“Houston Airports takes accessibility seriously and appreciates travelers, drivers, and all stakeholders who raise concerns about their experience at our airports.

Rideshare and taxi operations are kept separate at the airport due to differences in how each service dispatches drivers, a structure common at airports nationwide: rideshare drivers are matched through a geofenced app system, while taxis operate through an attendant-managed queue. Because of this separation, rideshare drivers cannot drive into the taxi side of the staging lot.

Hobby Airport’s rideshare staging site includes ADA parking spaces, as well as ADA-accessible restroom facilities, including separate accommodations for men and women.

We remain committed to accessibility for everyone who works at and travels through our airports, and we welcome continued feedback as we evaluate the driver and traveler experience."

However when 2 Helps You pointed out the inaccuracy in their statement and the fact that the ridesharing staging site does not include ADA-accessible restrooms, the airport clarified their statement as follows:

“Hobby Airport’s staging site includes ADA parking spaces, as well as ADA-accessible restroom facilities, including separate accommodations for men and women.”

2 Helps You has requested for Houston Airport System Director Jim Szczesniak to meet us for an interview at the site in the coming days to further explain the airport’s position when it comes to accessibility for disabled drivers in the ridesharing staging area.

We have not heard back.

As always 2 Helps you will stay on top of this situation.

The incidents are happening as the FBI Houston Field Office investigates a record number of school-threat reports from the previous school year. According to an August report from KPRC 2, the FBI investigated 42 reported school threats during the 2025-26 school year.

The recent incidents involve different circumstances, and not every report resulted in a confirmed threat or weapon.

A timeline of recent Houston-area incidents

Sept. 22 — Willis High School

Two students were taken into custody after allegedly making comments about having a bomb, according to reporting. The incident happened one day after a loaded gun was found on the campus.

There was no reported bomb found in connection with the Sept. 22 incident.

Sept. 21 — Willis High School

A loaded gun was found inside a student’s backpack after a report was made to the school.

The campus was placed on hold while authorities investigated, and the student was taken into custody.

The district subsequently announced additional security measures, including metal detectors and backpack searches, with plans for clear backpacks.

Sept. 17 — Jersey Village High School

A student was injured during an altercation after another student allegedly produced a kitchen knife and cut the student’s arm.

Cy-Fair ISD police disarmed and detained the student with the knife. The injured student was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

Sept. 14 — Hastings High School

A staff member was injured during an incident at Hastings High School, according to Alief ISD.

The campus briefly entered secure mode while emergency responders were present. The district had not publicly released additional details about the circumstances in the latest reporting.

Aug. 20 — Attucks Middle School

A district employee discovered a man’s body on school property while doing grounds maintenance.

Houston police investigated. HISD said the death was unrelated to the school and did not pose a threat to students or staff. The campus was placed in secure mode for about 10 minutes as a precaution.

Willis sees several incidents

Willis High School has experienced several safety-related incidents since the start of the school year.

The district previously reported a loaded gun found in a student’s backpack on Aug. 26, followed the next day by an alleged threat to shoot classmates.

On Aug. 31, the district investigated gun-related images circulating online.

A second loaded gun was found on campus Sept. 21, followed by the alleged bomb-related comments Sept. 22.

The district has said that only two of those earlier incidents involved actual firearms being brought onto campus; other incidents involved a verbal threat or social-media images.

What should parents know?

Law enforcement officials interviewed by KPRC 2 say parents can take several steps before an emergency happens.

First, know how your child’s school communicates during an emergency. Find out whether alerts are sent by text, email, phone call or another system, and make sure your contact information is current.

Parents should also know who to contact at the school, including administrators and the campus school resource officer.

Sergeant Betsy Brantner Smith of the National Police Association recommends parents establish relationships with the people working at their child’s school.

“Make sure you are talking to actual human beings—the principal, the teachers, the counselors, the school resource officer,” she said.

Houston Police Officers’ Union spokesman Ken Nealy also emphasized communication between parents, students, school administrators and law enforcement.

He said parents should ask their children about concerns they may be experiencing at school and make sure those concerns are communicated to adults who can address them.

What about emergency alerts?

Parents should not assume they will automatically know what is happening simply because they receive school notifications.

Check your district’s website and communication systems at the beginning of the school year. Confirm that your phone number and email address are correct and that you are enrolled in emergency notifications.

If a school sends an emergency alert, Nealy said parents should follow the instructions provided by the district.

That may mean waiting for additional information rather than immediately going to campus.

Should parents check backpacks?

Both law-enforcement sources interviewed by KPRC 2 said parents can consider checking their children’s belongings, particularly when they have concerns about what a child may be experiencing.

Nealy said parents should also talk with their children about conflicts, threats or other concerns they encounter at school.

Brantner Smith emphasized that parents should establish expectations about devices and social media and maintain awareness of what their children are experiencing online.

Five questions every parent should ask tonight

1. How will I be notified during an emergency?

Make sure your contact information is current and you know which system your district uses.

2. How can my child report a threat or safety concern?

Ask whether the school has an anonymous reporting system and make sure your child knows how to use it.

3. Who is the school resource officer?

Know the officer assigned to your campus and how students and parents can contact them.

4. What happens during a lockdown or secure mode?

Ask what those terms mean at your child’s school and what parents should do if they receive an alert.

5. Where can my child get support after an incident?

Find out what counselors and other resources are available to students following a traumatic event.

If you get a lockdown alert

Your first instinct may be to go to the school. But law enforcement officials say parents should avoid entering an active emergency scene.

Follow the school’s instructions and wait for information about when and where parents should reunite with their children.

If there is an immediate threat or emergency, call 911.

For non-emergency safety concerns, contact your child’s campus or school district and use the reporting system provided by the school.

The goal isn’t to tell parents that schools are unsafe. It is to make sure families understand the plans already in place—and know what to do before an emergency happens.

“Following the president's remarks at the GA today, please change all references of ‘Artificial Intelligence’ to ‘Super Intelligence’ in our documents and positions. We will be using ‘SI’ in all remarks, positions and press elements moving forward,” said an email sent Tuesday to employees by Michael Drager, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of International Organization Affairs.

That bureau is in charge of U.S. diplomatic missions to all U.N. and multilateral agencies around the world. The email, titled “Change in Nomenclature AI to SI,” was obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday. It was not immediately clear if other State Department bureaus had or would follow suit.

On Tuesday, Trump told the U.N. General Assembly that he would “officially” change the name of AI, saying the existing name makes the technology seem “fake” and that U.S. government documents would from that point forward use “super intelligence.”

“The use of the word artificial makes intelligence fake, it makes it sound fake and it is not fake. It’s actually amazing,” Trump said.

The president said at the U.N. that “from the point forward” U.S. government documents “will be changed to use the much more accurate term super as opposed to artificial. So it’s super intelligence.”

Drager's email was sent shortly after Trump's speech, but it wasn't clear on Wednesday whether similar orders had been sent at other agencies. Such an order would likely mean adjusting the name of the “AI Force” that Trump announced this weekend to the “SI Force.”

On Wednesday, U.S. representatives used the SI term at a U.N. Security Council meeting about AI, where tech executives urged the United Nations' most powerful body to rein in the developing technology.

AI's rapid ascent has spurred dire warnings from AI company CEOs, lawmakers and others about the technology outpacing humans' ability to control it and calls for global guardrails.

Trump has rejected efforts to slow the AI development race through greater government oversight, saying he does not want to hinder industry and that the U.S. needs to ensure an edge over China.

Trump claimed on social media Monday that the U.S. is leading over China on AI and that he was “not going to stifle Growth, of something that will be bigger than the Industrial Revolution, or the Internet, itself.”

AI is expected to be a key topic when Trump welcomes Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Washington for a visit starting Wednesday.

___

Associated Press writers Josh Boak in Washington and Farnoush Amiri and Seth Borenstein at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The problem, which officials in the Republican-controlled state have not publicly defined, also could have disenfranchised people who wanted to vote in the state’s March primary but whose registration applications were never processed, local election officials said during a news conference Wednesday.

“This is really out of left field. Knowing that this one element of (state) applications didn’t come through, and we had no insight on it,” said Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials.

The size of the backlog statewide hasn’t been determined, but the association said it is in the tens of thousands for some of the state’s most populous counties. In Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, the election office received about 45,000 backlogged voter registration applications.

Some election offices will need to hire temporary workers to handle the crush, officials with the association said.

The issue started last October in the Texas Department of Public Safety, which among other things allows people to register to vote or update their voter registrations when they renew their driver’s license.

An unspecified error failed to send a large number of records to applicants’ home counties, where the applications are processed and verified. Those records could be a new voter registration application or an update to an existing registration, such as a change of address.

The association of local election officials said its members did not receive any communication from the Department of Public Safety about why the backlog occurred or why they were not informed of the issue for nearly a year.

In a statement, the Department of Public Safety said certain records submitted online “were incomplete and not fully transmitted” to the secretary of state’s office. It said the “system issue” had been resolved, without elaborating on the nature of the issue. The department did not immediately respond to a request for further explanation. County officials said the problem appeared to be with the department’s online portal.

Counties have until early in-person voting starts on Oct. 19 to finish processing the late-arriving applications.

During their news conference, county election officials said it is possible that some people might have been prevented from voting in the state’s primary earlier this year or initially turned away because there was no record of them registering to vote or updating their registration.

The unexpected backlog comes as counties are already inundated with tasks leading up to the November election in a state with a nationally watched U.S. Senate race between Democratic state Rep. James Talarico and Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The Texas Secretary of State’s office and county election leaders say voters don’t need to worry about their registration as long as it is submitted by Oct. 5. If a person shows up to vote and they do not appear on the voter rolls, election officials said they can cast a provisional ballot.

They also can check whether they are registered on the state’s online registration site or call their county election office.

___

Wilder is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

One resident sent me City street-assessment data showing portions of Arlington received a D and F rating for street condition back in 2011.

More than 15 years later, residents say they’re still dealing with many of the same issues.

I’ve asked the City whether there’s updated assessment data, whether those assessments are used when deciding which streets get improvements, and whether Arlington is currently being considered for any work.

I’m also asking about the impact of the school: When a neighborhood street becomes a school route, how does the City account for the extra traffic, wear and tear and parking impacts?

The bigger question is whether Arlington’s long-running issues are reflected in the City’s current plans, and what it would take for the street to actually get improvements?

If you live on Arlington -- get in touch with me. Comment below and send me a message. I would love to talk about this with you!

Hester, who grew up just one street away from the project site, transformed two abandoned Third Ward homes into what is now a connected community space housing SweetMinds Books and Baked Goods and FrenchTown Fine Art Gallery.

From eyesore to centerpiece

The journey began when Hester acquired two vacant Third Ward homes, physically relocated them to a Fifth Ward lot and spent years connecting the two structures into a single building. What was once considered an eyesore on the block is now a community gathering place built entirely without outside funding.

“Took a lot of hard work. You’re a young black man coming from Fifth Ward. Don’t get a lot of opportunities,” Hester said, visibly emotional.

His vision, however, was always bigger than the building itself.

“Showing everybody around in the neighborhood how we can bring things together, how we connect this, how we can build bridges in the neighborhood to bring connectivity,” Hester said.

A neighborhood rooted in history

For Hester, the space carries deep historical weight. Fifth Ward, he says, is a community with direct ties to American history that too often goes unrecognized.

“It was a community directly created from slavery,” he said. “It’s a lot of significance to American history within this neighborhood.”

That sense of history fuels his belief that this block can be a launching pad for something much larger.

“I had a vision that right here in Fifth Ward is going to be the place that’s going to change the world,” he said.

Education as a community tool

Beyond the paintings on the walls and the free books on the shelves, Hester says the space is designed to address a growing crisis — declining literacy rates and limited access to educational resources.

“This is something that’s just bringing positivity. So it’s something that was necessary. And in a time of the literacy rates failing and people not knowing how to read and articulate themselves,” Hester said.

Community members are already responding. Danny Russo says access to knowledge shouldn’t come with barriers.

“Accessibility to knowledge is very important. The easier it is, the better because we don’t want to make learning difficult for people. Learning knowledge has such a benefit for uplifting people and also joining people with different cultures together,” Russo said.

For others, the space is sparking something more personal. Tyreese Williams says the gallery and bookshop opened his eyes to new possibilities.

“When I see a place like this, it’s just like wow! Like I can really, you know, I can really do something different with my life,” Williams said.

Free celebration this weekend

Hester is hosting a free art and book swap event open to the entire community. Click here to register for this weekend’s event.

“So people can know the value of creativity and have it right here local in the community,” he said.

A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, marking the start of planned improvements at the Heights-area park.

The project is intended to improve accessibility, connectivity and recreational opportunities while creating a more welcoming space for park users of all ages and abilities.

Planned improvements include:

• Two new playgrounds with shade
• Improved walking paths and park surfaces
• New connections to the MKT Trail
• A fitness area
• Improvements to baseball field bleachers

The project also includes several accessibility and inclusivity features.

Construction is expected to take about a year, but there could be some good news for residents waiting to see the improvements completed: Project officials say the work may be complete as soon as next summer!

More details about the project and its timeline are expected as construction gets underway.

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It happened Monday, September 21 at the Old Navy on Fairmont Parkway.

The Pasadena Police Department says the woman confronted the suspect and that she was injured during the altercation. The man then took off through the store’s front entrance.

Anyone who recognizes the suspect or has information that could help investigators is asked to contact Detective MacGregor at 713-475-7891 or cmacgregor@pasadenatx.gov

.

Voter turnout in the election for the 395-seat House of Representatives was 38% – the lowest since 2007 – and down by nearly 25% compared to the last elections in 2021.

The vote was the first since deadly youth-led protests nearly a year ago and a mass attempt by migrants to cross Morocco’s northern border into the Spanish territory of Ceuta that left dozens dead. It will determine the next prime minister and the makeup of the government, which will serve alongside a powerful monarchy that retains broad authority over strategic affairs.

Results are expected Thursday.

The next government will oversee billions of dollars in investment as Morocco prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, prompting some to describe it as the “World Cup government.” The new political leadership will also face pressure to address everyday concerns, including jobs, wages and the cost of living.

For many young Moroccans, the election comes as doubts grow that political participation can improve their daily lives. Some have turned to street protests, while others have considered leaving the country or staying away from the ballot box.

Othmane Mouden, a Casablanca businessman in his late 30s, believes elections are the only way Moroccans can make their voices heard.

“Protesting like the Gen Z youth will not bring any change,” he said on his way to the polling station. “You can only claim your rights through the polls.”

Voters chose among 7,288 candidates from 27 political parties. Since no single party is expected to obtain an absolute majority, the winner will need to negotiate with others to form a governing coalition.

The Moroccan Constitution requires the king to appoint the head of government from the party that wins the most seats in legislative elections.

One possibility for prime minister is Faouzi Lakjaa, president of Morocco’s soccer federation, who recently joined the PAM party and has been buoyed by Morocco’s recent soccer achievements.

Another is Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, 50, mayor of Marrakech and minister of urban planning, who would be Morocco’s first female prime minister.

Some groups, including the far-left party The Democratic Path, called for a boycott of the election, saying that it “lacks the minimum conditions of democracy.” Banned but tolerated Islamist association Al-Adl Wal Ihsane issued similar claims.

Turnout at midday was just over 11%, slightly below the 12% at the same time during the last legislative elections in 2021.

The number of registered voters has declined by 9.7% since the 2021 election, even as Morocco’s population has grown, reflecting disenchantment with politics notably among young people.

As ballot stations opened in Casablanca and Rabat, voters of various ages formed small but continuous lines to cast their ballots.

Jamal Aamar, a 63-year-old retired banker, came to vote for the Federation of the Democratic Left, a left-wing coalition. Aamar said participating in the election allows his voice to be heard.

“If you boycott, you will leave others an empty seat,” he said.

The constitution recognizes the right to vote for Moroccans living abroad, but there is no voting by mail or ballot boxes at Moroccan consulates. Instead, they must travel to Morocco to vote or authorize a registered family member or acquaintance to vote on their behalf.

Moroccans in Madrid had mixed views on the elections, with some shrugging them off as having little impact.

Caterer Bader Eabram, 24, said Morocco's strong performance in recent World Cups and other soccer championships is driving some voters' choices, and providing hope.

“We’re all really eager to host the World Cup. It’s a great country,'' he said. ‘’We can do anything.''

——

Iain Sullivan in Madrid contributed to this report.

Grail Inc.’s Galleri test doesn't diagnose cancer but instead, with a single blood draw, looks for a signal that someone may have one of a long list of tumors. Those who receive a positive result need additional care to tell if they're really sick.

The Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel voted 7-2, with one abstention, that the DNA-based test offers more potential benefits than risks, such as causing false assurances or raising false alarms. The positive vote came even as the panel raised many questions about the technology that need more study.

“Perhaps my yes is a hopeful rather than an accurate one,” said Dr. Victor van Berkel of UofL Physicians in Louisville, Kentucky, describing how more research is needed even if the test is rolled out. “If we can find more early-stage cancers in the population that we can’t screen for currently, that will end up having benefit.”

The vote followed two earlier votes in which the experts affirmed that the test appears safe and effective for use by people age 50 and older.

Lots of companies are studying such blood tests and Wednesday's vote marks the first time a federal advisory group has backed the experimental approach. The FDA isn't bound by the advice but if it agrees, it could pave the way for widespread U.S. adoption of a long-sought way to find more cancers earlier. A final decision is expected in a few months.

Today there are a handful of recommended cancer screenings, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, that look for one kind of tumor at a time.

Those tests are designed to spot tumors in their early stages, when they’re easier to treat, and the panel balked at using that term for Grail’s test — saying it failed to show effectiveness for “early detection.”

The experts also came up with a list of precautions that doctors and potential patients to be told, including: The test would need to be used in addition to today’s routine cancer screenings, not as a replacement. A negative test doesn’t guarantee you don’t have cancer. And it will take more study to prove if the test is as beneficial as mainstay cancer screenings like mammograms.

People in the U.S. can already buy the Galleri test — typically by paying $700 or more in cash. But FDA approval would likely widen availability by opening the door to coverage from Medicare and private insurers.

FDA staffers and other outside experts spent hours debating the potential downsides to the technology.

Risks include that the test will miss a significant number of real cancers while also flagging a potential cancer in patients who are healthy. The test also was less accurate at detecting early-stage cancers, when treatment is easier and more likely to benefit patients. Grail also didn’t provide data showing that screening with its test led to fewer cancer deaths, a metric that would have required years of follow-up.

Representatives for Grail argued that its test is a leap forward because it can pick up signs of more than 50 cancers, including dozens for which there are no screening options, such as liver and ovarian cancer.

“Patients want opportunity, they want options,” said Dr. Mylynda Massart of the University of Pittsburgh, who presented on behalf of Grail. “They want the chance to fight their disease while the chance to survive is possible.”

Grail’s primary study in 140,000 older adults showed that its test detected about one third of cancers diagnosed over a one-year period. About two-thirds of patients who received a “cancer signal detected” were later confirmed to have cancer.

But FDA reviewers at the meeting flipped the company’s data to emphasize the potential downsides of that performance. The agency’s chief reviewer pointed out that the test missed 2 of 3 cancers that were diagnosed over the coming year, giving false reassurance to many patients.

Consumer advocates warned that patients might ignore early signs of cancer after receiving an all-clear from DNA testing test.

“When they start having symptoms there will be tendency to delay going to the doctor — just a little bit — and that could be deadly,” said Diana Zuckerman of the nonprofit National Center for Health Research, who spoke during a public comment period. “They will be told to continue other screening, but will they?”

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The Associated Press’ health and science coverage receives financial support from the AP Fund for Journalism and 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.

Calling the case extraordinary, Iowa District Judge Scott J. Beattie said that allowing the lawsuit and its “faulty” claims to proceed could have a chilling effect that “can discourage others from reporting on and debating public affairs.” He sided with pollster J. Ann Selzer and the newspaper in affirming that the poll and coverage of it were constitutionally protected political speech, not a commercial product.

The ruling Wednesday came hours after a judge heard arguments but did not rule from the bench in a case on Trump’s ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds. Trump banned the three outlets last Friday, assailing what he called “fake news.”

After the ruling in Iowa Wednesday, a spokesman for Trump's legal team said the president will take his case to the Iowa Supreme Court.

Trump filed the lawsuit against Selzer, The Des Moines Register and the newspaper’s parent company in December 2024, accusing them of fraudulently publishing inaccurate poll results to damage him and help Democrats, saying coverage of polls is not protected speech.

Trump and his team have filed several lawsuits against media organizations accusing them of bias, calling into question the boundaries of free speech protections, particularly for the press. Some of those lawsuits have ended in settlements.

Selzer’s case was taken up by the free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. She said Wednesday she was grateful for the ruling, which “reaffirms the fundamental freedom to pursue and publish the truth without political interference.”

“Polling is a social science, not clairvoyance, and no responsible pollster can guarantee an election outcome," Selzer said in a statement.

Selzer's attorneys at FIRE and her co-defendants also celebrated the ruling.

“Today is a victory for the First Amendment — and for the essential role of a free press in American democracy," Polly Grunfeld Sack, USA Today Co. chief legal counsel, said in a statement. USA Today Co., formerly known as Gannett, owns The Register.

In dismissing the case, Beattie wrote that Trump’s lawsuit sought to “stretch both Iowa statutory and common law beyond their current bounds, turning speech that enjoys the highest category of First Amendment protection into a liability.” After hearing the arguments, the judge concluded the constitutional protection “is too great and the reach is too far. The case must therefore be dismissed.”

Beattie said the case would have to be dismissed even if, solely for the purpose of deciding the motions, he accepted the Trump team’s allegations that the poll was intentionally skewed and its results fabricated. “Even with this assumption, each of the three counts still fails,” the judge wrote, because the lawsuit did not meet the legal requirements for fraud or consumer deception.

The poll, conducted by Selzer’s company in the final days of October and released just days before Election Day 2024, showed then-Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ presidential nominee, capturing 47% of Iowa likely voters, to Trump’s 44%. Trump ultimately won the support of 56% of the nearly 2 million Iowans who voted.

U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Iowa state Sen. Brad Zaun, both Republicans, had joined Trump’s lawsuit.

Trump, Miller-Meeks and Zaun alleged the misleading coverage diminished their reputations, valuable time in the final days of the campaign, and campaign funds and resources.

Casar said in a news conference that Garces Perez saw a specialist Wednesday who recommended surgery. He also received his first injection of pain medication one hour before the visit, said Casar, D-Austin. 

Casar said Garces Perez, who was in high spirits, was in a wheelchair with his left arm in a sling and had heavy bruising on his torso and debilitating pain on his left side. Medical staff at the ICE detention facility had been cleaning Garces Perez’s wound two to three times per day, Casar said.

“This person needs a doctor, not a deportation or a detention center,” he said.

Also Wednesday, news reports said the federal immigration officer who shot Garces Perez was not using a body camera during the Sunday incident. 

The recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruit — who has not been publicly identified — was issued a body camera but was not wearing it when he fired at Garces Perez, according to The Atlantic, The Washington Post and NBC News, which quoted unnamed current and former officials with the Department of Homeland Security.  

It’s not clear why the ICE officer was not using the device during the shooting, which left the 28-year-old man with a bullet lodged to his back. Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another ICE officer involved in Garces Perez’s arrest did use his body camera, but its footage didn’t capture the shooting, according to NBC News.

“You need to answer why your agents are not turning their body cams on,” Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the injured man’s attorney, told DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a Tuesday post on X. “Release the footage immediately!”

The reports came amid heightened focus on the availability of such devices for ICE officers, following the lack of body-cam footage in the recent fatal shootings of immigrants like that of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo on July 7.

In that Houston case, acting ICE Director David Venturella said the officers involved in the shooting didn’t have body-worn cameras or dashboard cameras. DHS said in a July 12 statement that body cameras had been sent to more than half of the field offices and the rest would receive them in the next 60 days.

Earlier this month, Mullin said the agency was “on track by the end of September” to equip all officers who are in the field with a body camera.

“It’s for our safety and the public safety, too,” he added at a news conference.

ICE policy also gives the agency critical control over what to release in cases of severe or fatal use of force, saying that such footage would only be made public if “it is in the best interests of the agency.”

On Sunday, Garces Perez was working as a DoorDash delivery driver when he was shot by an ICE officer during a traffic stop in North Austin, which included a brief vehicle pursuit.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said he entered the U.S. legally in 2024 via the CBP One app and applied for asylum. But the man missed his immigration court hearing after the notice was sent to the wrong address, leading to a final order of removal. The attorney added that his work permit expired in December.

A day after the shooting, Garces Perez said an unmarked SUV sideswiped him twice before he realized that ICE officers were trying to pull him over. He said he did a U-turn under a freeway underpass when the SUV struck his blue Toyota Camry. That’s when the SUVs turned on their lights and sirens, he added.

Garces Perez said he then asked the officers if he could stop somewhere safer. He said an officer told him no, then he felt one shot to his back.

On Tuesday, DHS said the shooting followed a “dangerous attempt to evade arrest.”

“Resisting officers and evading arrest is dangerous for our officers, illegal aliens, and the public,” the department’s statement said. “We remind the public that resisting officers and evading arrest is a felony and a federal crime.”

Meanwhile, Garces Perez’s attorneys have filed a petition to block his deportation and get him out of ICE detention. A federal judge set a hearing in San Antonio on Sept. 30 for the case and ordered Garces Perez to make an appearance.

Disclosure: DoorDash has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

“It’s a big loss, for sure," Harbaugh said following practice on Wednesday. "It’s your starting quarterback. It’s a tough loss.”

Dart was injured on the first drive Monday night against the Los Angeles Rams when his left leg bent awkwardly as he was hit by two defenders. The initial hope was a sprained medial collateral ligament and a shorter absence, but an MRI revealed a more extensive injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time.

"The season’s not over, but it is for him," Harbaugh said. "You feel like it’s the end of the world, then you wake up and the world’s not done. The world keeps spinning. The games keep getting played.”

For that next game Sunday against Tennessee, Jameis Winston takes over as the starter. Winston completed 11 of 27 passes for 111 yards and threw an interception in the 28-6 loss at LA that dropped New York to 1-1.

“I have to execute better, and I am going to execute better,” Winston said. "No matter how big it may seem, being present and focus on doing all that you can do with what you have, with where you are. For right now, that’s keeping Jaxson’s spirits uplifted and going out there on that football field and being the New York Football Giants’ starting quarterback.”

The Giants’ next five opponents have a combined 2-8 record. Winston is 3-9 in 12 NFL starts since 2024.

“Jameis is capable of doing anything,” Titans coach Robert Saleh said. “He’s got tremendous arm talent. He’s capable of putting 500 yards and four touchdowns on you in a heartbeat.”

Harbaugh did not say when Dart would have surgery or go into details about the extent of the injury after the NFL Network reported there is damage to his meniscus and medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments.

“With Jaxson, just unfortunate," Tennessee starter Cam Ward said. “That’s something that you don’t want to see. And he’s a great quarterback, so all of us were looking forward to going against him, that team.”

Jake Haener, who is on the practice squad, is set to back up Winston. Haener, who played in eight games and started one for New Orleans two seasons ago, joined the Giants midway through training camp and stuck around over journeyman Brandon Allen.

Harbaugh said the Giants will add another QB but move forward with Winston at the most important position in football and build a game plan for the 32-year-old set to make his 90th professional start.

“He can throw it: He’s a big, strong passing quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “Jameis has been practicing every day. He’s taken reps. He knows the offense. He’s been in every single meeting. He’s been engaged every step of the way with everything we’re doing. From that perspective, it’s seamless. It’s not ideal at all, but it’s definitely seamless.”

Dart is not the only significant Giants player who is injured

Edge rusher Brian Burns, who sprained his left ankle late in the Rams game, did not practice Wednesday. Harbaugh called Burns — who ranked second in the league in sacks last season — day to day.

Kayvon Thibodeaux would figure to move into the starting lineup if Burns is unable to play.

“We are definitely blessed with depth at that position,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll see how it goes for the game. But if he can’t go, then we are very confident in the guys that we have.”

No. 1 receiver Malik Nabers, who popped his right shoulder back into place and returned Monday night, and starting left tackle Andrew Thomas, who limped off with a groin injury, were limited participants.

Harbaugh said of Nabers: “It looks good. I think he’s going to be OK.”

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AP Pro Football Writers Rob Maaddi in Tampa, Florida, and Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.

___

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

State and local governments are leading, he said, as “Trump is trying to recreate the 19th century” by reopening coal plants, announcing new plans for oil drilling including off California, and centering his energy policy on fossil fuels that cause climate change.

“He’s doubling down on stupid, and he’s putting the American economy at risk,” Newsom said in an interview. He called Trump the most destructive environmental president in American history and “an invasive species.”

White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers used Trump’s derogatory nickname for the governor, “Newscum,” in responding to the comments. She said his “doubling down on Biden’s unpopular, unreliable and costly Green New Scam is stupid.”

“No one is surprised to see him whining about the climate change hoax at another conference instead of fixing the problems plaguing his state: out-of-control crime, the highest homeless population in the United States, and wildfire victims still waiting on state permits to rebuild their homes and businesses,” Taylor wrote in an email.

Newsom has long been trying to counter Trump's climate approach

Newsom, a Democrat eyeing a 2028 presidential run, has sought to counter Trump’s stance on climate issues before. He went to the U.N. climate talks hosted in Belem, Brazil in 2025 when Trump skipped it.

Trump prioritizes fossil fuels to produce electricity. The Biden administration sought to ramp up clean energy as a climate change solution. Trump began reversing U.S. energy policies his first day back in office.

Last year at the UN, Trump called climate change the “greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.” He has hindered renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, while China and other countries invest heavily. China leads the world in adding wind and solar power, though it also added a lot of coal power last year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping begins his state visit to Washington Wednesday. As the economic and technological competition between the countries escalates, Newsom said the Chinese leader is "cleaning our clock from an economic perspective.”

Trump and Xi are expected to discuss artificial intelligence as they meet this week. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. has proposed a new “ notification mechanism ” for AI incidents that could affect national security.

Newsom also not happy with Trump AI stance

Newsom was critical of Trump for not doing more to add guardrails and instead listening to advice to let artificial intelligence “rip.” Newsom announced Wednesday a group of experts who will advise on oversight recommendations in California, including advancing the creation of a potential “kill switch” for rogue frontier models.

Trump was in New York on Tuesday. Unlike last year's climate-focused speech, Trump defended his actions against Iran as he spoke at the U.N. General Assembly and made the diplomatic rounds.

Newsom spoke at the United Nations on Wednesday alongside mayors grappling with the impacts of climate change and calling for collective action. He shared how the state is using renewables to change the way it produces and consumes energy, while reducing carbon pollution. While in New York, he also signed a new agreement with Spain's prime minister to strengthen collaboration on clean energy and climate issues and announced progress to link carbon markets with Washington state.

“California is not going to sit back and watch this guy roll back the last half century. We’re going to lead the next great revolution,” Newsom said.

“We’re going to dominate and we’re going to out compete and we are going to prepare the economy," he said, "not just in California, but the rest of the nation, for the fierce competitive fight against China as we move forward in this space.”

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

She’s Alive, the entity founded to manage and protect Parton’s estate, had filed the complaint against Seaver and Squadron Augmented Protection Services a day prior. The estate accused Seaver of threatening to commit violence and destroy his aunt’s legacy and business empire in court filings.

The order says the court took into account the repeated threats cited in the complaint, as well as the alleged demands for payment and Seaver’s “claimed access to weapons, experience with violence, and intention to retaliate.” It describes the communications as “concerning,” specifically noting the threat to use force.

As part of the order, Seaver and his company SAPS, which provided Parton’s security detail, must refrain from entering any She’s Alive property or talking with or being within 1,000 feet (305 meters) of She’s Alive employees and business partners. The order is also meant to keep Seaver from interfering with its business relationships.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7.

Seaver, who was handpicked by the star to announce her death from cancer last month, did not respond to an email Wednesday from The Associated Press requesting comment on the order being granted.

Representatives for SAPS also did not respond, and no one was present at their office in downtown Nashville on Wednesday afternoon. No one came to the door at an address listed in court documents for Seaver in the semi-rural Nashville suburb of Fairview. A woman speaking to a reporter through a doorbell camera declined to comment.

In the temporary restraining order request filed by She’s Alive and other court documents, Seaver is accused of sending increasingly threatening messages over the last several weeks. She’s Alive is run by Danny Nozell, Parton’s longtime manager.

Last week, She’s Alive terminated Seaver and SAPS, saying his “terrorizing conduct made their continued retention untenable,” according to court documents.

The court documents showcase a series of messages She's Alive says were sent by Seaver, starting just before Parton's death. They start with threats to destroy Parton's brand, and then after her death, depict Seaver reveling in his newfound fame and calling himself an “international arms dealer.”

In one message written Sept. 1 and included in the court documents, he said: “I’m going to set up a podcast dedicated to ruining Dolly’s brand partnerships and telling the violations these people have done on us. It’s going to be great. Or f——— pay me.”

Seaver also claimed that he worked for private military contractors overseas during the Iraq War and used that experience as part of these threats, according to the complaint.

The messages have resulted in Parton’s trusts and estates attorney leaving and employees of She’s Alive resigning, according to the court documents. The entity has also had to hire private security for its employees, including at their homes, the documents state.

Kristin Mumford, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, said in an email that there are no reports against Seaver in their system.

Parton was a beloved country music icon who wrote hundreds of songs, including classics like “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You,” that earned a total of more than 100 million worldwide sales and more than 1 billion online streams.

___

Golden reported from Seattle.

Republicans in key states like Iowa and Michigan called for ending exports of diesel refined in the United States to help boost domestic supply. President Donald Trump indicated he backs that step, though his energy secretary on Wednesday said a “blanket ban” won't happen. The U.S. has used 4.1 million barrels of diesel per day this year, and it has exported 1.5 million per day so far, according to S&P Global Energy.

The pain is obvious to anyone who drives a diesel-fueled vehicle or relies on a diesel generator to produce power. A gallon of diesel cost $6.52 Wednesday, up 73% from $3.77 right before the beginning of the war with Iran, according to AAA.

But the problem will likely spread to every consumer, fueling Democratic efforts to retake control of Congress by harnessing anger over runaway costs and an unpopular overseas conflict.

“The price of diesel touches everything in our economy that needs to move,” said Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist for RSM. “That includes the thing we buy the most of, groceries.”

Diesel prices become the latest campaign issue

Although regular gas prices usually get more attention, diesel has swiftly become a hot issue on the campaign trail. Adam Hamilton, a Democratic Senate candidate who has mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Republican Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas, told supporters in a Topeka coffee shop this week that farmers are afraid that it's getting harder to make ends meet.

“A war has sent up the price of diesel,” Hamilton said. “These guys said, ‘We don’t know if we’re going to keep the farm.’”

Elaine Luria, a Democrat running for a southeastern Virginia House seat, cited the high price of diesel at a Virginia Beach roundtable Wednesday.

“Iran is no further from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And Iran’s proxy groups, such as the Houthis in Yemen, are now expanding the footprint,” she said in an interview, adding that the conflict is becoming “an expanding economic crisis.” Luria is a former congresswoman trying to reclaim her seat from Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans.

Republicans like Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is running for Senate in Iowa, have called for an immediate end to the war and a ban on selling diesel overseas, hoping the extra fuel would then lower prices for Americans.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran,” Hinton said. “We need to use every option at our disposal to provide some relief from high prices.”

The idea has split Republicans. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota said he's open to it. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who is also from Iowa, has become the proposal's strongest champion, rejecting criticism from his colleagues from fuel-producing states.

“IF U CAN EMBARGO CHIPS U CAN EMBARGO DIESEL,” Grassley posted on social media, referring to export controls on computer technology.

Trump on Tuesday told reporters that “I've called for that too,” although Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was still exploring how it might lower diesel prices. Energy Secretary Chris Wright echoed that point Wednesday, telling a climate conference in New York that “nobody wants a full blanket ban of zero exports of diesel, that's not what's being discussed,”

Why diesel prices are so high compared to gasoline

Diesel prices have skyrocketed due to a collision of events.

The Middle East produces a disproportionate share of the oil used to refine diesel, leading its price to rise faster than gasoline since the conflict began in February. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the war took about 20% of the world’s oil off the market, which raised the prices of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.

Some of that supply has come back, but it’s nowhere near prewar levels, said Debnil Chowdhury, who leads the Americas and Europe fuels and refining team at S&P Global Energy. Then there were significant attacks by Ukraine on refineries in Russia, taking 800,000 to 1 million barrels per day of diesel off the market, according to S&P.

“These attacks have been pretty prominent," Chowdhury said. "If there is a way to a peace deal or a peace agreement announcing that there will be no more attacks on Russian refineries, on Middle Eastern refineries ... that would obviously make the largest impact on the underlying price.”

“The last few months eroded everyone’s cushion, but the last few weeks? Diesel went from under $6/gallon to over $6.53. Again, that was just in the last two weeks. You tell me what business, small or even large, budgeted for that,” William Stern, chief executive officer of Cardiff, a San Diego-based small business lender that's seen requests for loans spike due to the price increase, wrote in an email.

An export ban could make an impact — in the wrong direction. The American Petroleum Institute warned that diesel prices would actually rise for most Americans if an export ban is enacted, a caution shared by several economists.

“That will result in Americans taking a one-two punch for food and fuel prices that just don't stop,” Brusuelas said.

Export ban could ultimately end American oil industry, cause global recession, analysts warn

If U.S. refineries, which take crude oil and turn it into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, stopped exporting diesel, they would wind up with a surplus of the material. They would need places to store it. Once those storage tanks filled up, analysts warn, refiners would have to stop making diesel. But they can’t just switch off diesel production without effectively cutting the supply of those other fuels and raising their prices.

“There really is no easy way to repair the kind of damage it would be to the global diesel supply chain,” Chowdhury said. “It really will have this effect across the entire global economy."

He added that "the chances of a global recession would increase massively as well.”

Phil Verleger, a longtime energy economist who advised the federal government during the 1970s oil shock, said he thought a diesel export ban could bring prices down but still have an extreme cost. ”In a couple decades," he warned, “the U.S. fossil fuel industry is dead.”

That's because the U.S. has been a reliable supplier of diesel to other countries that would likely look elsewhere if it cuts off supply. Verleger and other economists cited former President Richard Nixon's ban on the export of soybeans in 1973, which led to the rest of the world shifting to Brazil as a more reliable supplier. Now, the South American country is growing faster than the U.S.

But Verleger, who comes from an Iowa farming family, says he understands the visceral pain that a diesel spike causes, even though he also knows the dangers of trying to regulate it away.

“It’s terrible economics, the long-term consequences will be horrible,” Verleger said. “If I were an elected politician, I'd do it."

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Riccardi reported from Denver and Bussewitz reported from New York. John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Sarah Rankin in Virginia Beach, Virginia, contributed to this report.

The Panthers placed Brooks on injured reserve on Wednesday. He will have surgery on Thursday.

The expectation is that Brooks will return later in the season.

The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of Carolina's 34-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

“It was a pretty significant groin injury,” Canales said following practice on Wednesday.

Canales said the Panthers received multiple medical opinions after Brooks had an MRI on Monday.

“The timeline for return with surgical versus nonsurgical was going to be similar. We agreed this would be the best course of action to get him back,” Canales said.

Brooks has struggled with knee injuries in the past, limiting his playing time to only five of 36 games since joining the league as a second-round pick in 2024.

He tore his ACL during his final season at Texas and then reinjured the same knee during his rookie season with the Panthers. That caused him to miss the remainder of the 2024 season, and all of 2025.

Brooks was used sparingly in Carolina's first two games of the season as the Panthers were looking to slowly ramp him back up.

Brooks had been slowed by a groin injury in training camp.

“He was bummed,” Canales said of Brooks. “This hit him hard. Particularly after the game. The guys (in the locker room) could feel it too. We were just trying to encourage him. It's part of this process where your body figures out how you're going to go forward in this new mode. This is a part of it.”

Chuba Hubbard is Carolina’s starting running back and A.J. Dillon is third on the depth chart. Canales said Anthony Tyus will be promoted from the practice squad and is expected to suit up on Sunday at Cleveland.

Quarterback Bryce Young said he feels for Brooks because he's been through so much adversity.

“I am going to be praying for him,” Young said. "He works so hard. It’s tough. He’s a soldier and I know he will bounce back and do the work.”

The Panthers signed safety Isaiah Simmons from the practice squad to take Brooks’ spot on the 53-man roster.

Ekeler works out for team, does not sign

The Panthers worked out free agent running back Austin Ekeler on Wednesday, but did not sign him.

Ekeler spent last season with the Washington Commanders.

Dillon said he's friends with Ekeler and has had him on his podcast. He said they often get confused for each other on social media because they look so much alike.

"It's kind of like twins,” Dillon said with a laugh.

Dillon said he's not worried about if the Panthers sign another running back and how that might impact him.

“I don't really focus too much on who is coming in,” Dillon said. “I believe in myself and trust in myself and my ability to go play football. I'm always prepared to step on the field (like) I'm number one.”

Injuries on defense

The defense forced five turnovers against the Falcons in a dominant performance in Week 2, but came away a little banged up.

Inside linebacker Devin Lloyd sat out practice with a calf injury following a big game against the Falcons that included nine tackles, three pass breakups, a sack and two interceptions with one touchdown that earned him NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Edge rusher Jaelan Phillips (back), safety Nick Scott (ribs) and reserve linebacker Claudin Cherelus (shoulder) also did not practice.

Canales said all four players will be evaluated later in the week.

On the positive side for the Panthers, defensive tackle Bobby Brown III (back) and outside linebacker Patrick Jones II (back) were listed as full participants. Jones had missed the team's first two games and Brown sat out last week.

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See AP’s full NFL coverage here

So I asked the City how these requests are evaluated and prioritized, whether there’s a backlog, and what determines whether a street gets things like speed cushions, stop signs or other traffic-calming measures.

We already know these projects can be VERY expensive, but I’ve gotten enough questions about them that I want to understand how the process actually works, and why some streets get improvements while others don’t. Or why some get approved, and others get ignored?

Basically, if residents are concerned about speeding or safety on their street, what does it actually take to get the City to do something about it?

Is this a story you’re interested in learning more about? Let me know.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who was nominated by Trump in 2017, didn't rule from the bench after hearing arguments in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes.

But the judge questioned whether the administration met its legal responsibilities and provided CNN, MS NOW and Politico with adequate due process before banning them, assailing what he called “fake news.” More recently, the president has said negative coverage was dangerous for the country.

The news outlets argued they were singled out because of their coverage content — in other words, viewpoint discrimination — and called the ban a “blatant violation” of the First Amendment.

Kelly said his decision must be guided by prior rulings in comparable First Amendment cases, even if the government disagrees with them.

“I think it is fair to say that the processes that the court laid out wasn’t followed here,” Kelly said.

It wasn't clear when Kelly, who ordered a CNN journalist’s access restored in a similar 2018 case, would issue a decision on the outlets’ request for a restraining order. But he said he’d rule as soon as possible.

“These are urgent matters," Theodore Boutrous Jr., attorney for the outlets, said. "We’re at war. We have world leaders coming to Washington.”

CNN, Politico and MS NOW each told The Associated Press they’d have no comment on the emergency hearing.

Prior rulings indicate journalists should be heard before press passes are revoked

Kelly opened by reminding both sides that he’s required to apply case precedent.

The rulings in two prior cases over press access — including one that went to the U.S. Supreme Court — made clear that journalists were entitled to an opportunity to be heard before they have their press passes revoked.

Justice Department attorney Michael Velchik argued that the rulings in the earlier cases were wrong.

“Access to the White House is a privilege, not a right,” Velchik said.

In arguing that Trump was not engaging in viewpoint discrimination, Velchik said the president had criticized other news organizations even more harshly — such as calling ABC “the worst” — but hadn’t banned them.

“The president should be able to take immediate action to protect national security,” Velchik told the court.

In response, Boutrous said, “Suddenly it’s a national security case,” arguing that the president brought up that point only after the lawsuit was filed.

Trump “keeps proving our point,” Boutrous said, describing how the president has consistently used negative coverage of him as justification for the ban.

Boutrous called the ban an “unprecedented, unreasonable punishment” and said there was “not a semblance of due process.”

The Trump administration outlined ‘reporting incidents’ of each news outlet

In a filing late Tuesday, administration lawyers argued that the ban does not violate the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to a free press. It contended that the outlets, in their reporting, violated “standards of professionalism and decorum.”

The administration went on to detail letters sent to each outlet that identified “a non-exhaustive list of reporting incidents, including those that have threatened national security and spread falsehoods.”

The “reporting incidents” cited in the filing included: CNN reporting on “‘top-secret' construction details related to the East Wing bunker”; MS NOW reporting “on an alleged leak investigation”; and Politico publishing “a document detailing funding for the White House ballroom containing intricate descriptions of how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.”

Further examples were given in individual letters. Politico’s letter detailed six reporting instances, including in June citing a “senior administration official … granted anonymity” predicting whether a preliminary deal would end the conflict with Iran.

That item appeared to reference a background briefing set up by the White House, where an official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House itself. Several other outlets also reported the official's remarks.

Major networks continue to refrain from covering Trump for the media pool

The ban prompted other media outlets to take action in solidarity. The five-network U.S. network press pool — a rotating cast of news outlets that covers the president, and to which CNN belongs — decided to suspend coverage of Trump events until further notice.

After the hearing Wednesday, the networks were poised to continue their ban on filming Trump coverage. At Joint Base Andrews, where the president was to formally welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping later, journalists from Fox News, CBS and NBC were present but not shooting video, and some appeared to be breaking down their cameras.

Other television outlets whose crews were present, according to signs on their tripods and cameras, were NewsNation, Newsmax, Right Side Broadcasting Network, One America News and LindellTV.

Ahead of Wednesday's hearing, an amicus brief was filed by other news groups, urging the court to immediately restore the three outlets' White House access.

The brief — filed by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the White House Correspondents' Association and 49 media outlets and industry groups, including The Associated Press, The New York Times and Reuters — says “the targeted expulsion of news media from White House grounds injures the public interest."

The proceedings are historic, said Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“No president has taken this explicit of a step” to ban entire outlets because he doesn’t like their reporting, she said. “There have been various presidents throughout history who have grumbled about the press or threatened to take more major steps, but really there was nothing at this level before Trump.”

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Noveck reported from New York. Associated Press journalists Laurie Kellman in London and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.

That raises a bigger question: Is there actually an increase in homelessness in the Heights, or are people simply noticing it more?

I’d like to dig into the data to see what we can actually measure at the neighborhood level, while also looking at what happens when encampments are cleared and where people go afterward.

My other thought/question...has any access to homeless services recently changed? What resources are available to people experiencing homelessness in and around the Greater Heights?

I’ve also heard from people who believe the situation may have shifted as the city has taken a different approach to homelessness downtown, including claims that some people were pushed toward areas outside downtown during the World Cup. That would need more verification.

This could be a broader look at what homelessness actually looks like in the Heights right now, whether it has changed, and what happens after encampments are removed.

Any thoughts? More to come.

This year, the nation of 41 million has a new posture on the planet's biggest diplomatic stage.

Since a watershed speech to the World Economic Forum in January, Prime Minister Mark Carney has become a leading voice of what he and some others call “middle powers.” He has urged them to band together to update and preserve the international order, and protect their own interests, in an era of flexes by the United States and other global giants.

And he has shown himself willing to walk the walk when faced with U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff's.insults and cavalier talk of annexation. Carney rejected what he said were unacceptable U.S. trade demands and walked away from talks last month. Bluntly hedging his country's decades-long bet on U.S. trade and partnership, he has been courting other prospects — Canada might even become the European Union's first associate member.

“Partners are working with Canada because Canada’s predictable, reliable and principled in a world that’s anything but,” Carney told Canadian media at a news conference at the U.N. Tuesday as the General Assembly's big meeting got into full swing.

It's the international community's premier gathering of the year. And to Carney, it's an opportunity to demonstrate Canada's vision of “values-based realism” that's “both principled and pragmatic” — part commitment to such values as freedom, human rights and sustainability, part clear-eyed, “calibrated alliances” with partners that won't sign onto the whole list.

That's frankly practical talk for a forum that's prone to either diplomatic caution or soaring rhetoric, be it doomsaying, idealistic or, often, both. And Carney is finding an ear.

He's moving fast and building coalitions

Canada and a half-dozen other countries launched a new group Monday meant to stand up for economic cooperation and U.N.-style international collaboration. An air traffic control mess at New York airports kept Carney from making it to the “partners for multilateralism” kickoff event at the U.N. Monday night, but his schedule Tuesday included personal meetings with Jordan's king, the presidents of Chile and Angola, and an Emirati cabinet minister.

He also co-hosted a meeting on the long-elusive two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and pledged 100 million Canadian dollars ($71 million) in humanitarian and security funding for Palestinians. Canada last year joined more than 150 countries that have recognized a Palestinian state, over the objections of Israel and its key ally, the U.S.

Asked whether he interacted Tuesday with Trump or members of his administration, Carney replied that he saw the huge meeting of world leaders as a chance to “meet those whom you don’t normally see.” He did attend Trump's speech at the assembly, where the president made no mention of Canada — the country on the other side of the world’s longest international border, and now on the other end of a deepening trade war.

Trump went on to criticize Canada on social media Wednesday, saying that immigration was “destroying” the country. Carney has said immigration levels have dropped during his tenure.

Meanwhile, Carney co-led a meeting Wednesday on the assembly sidelines about ocean monitoring and pledged $82 million Canadian dollars ($58 million) before heading back to Canada for other commitments. Foreign Minister Anita Anand is set to deliver the country's U.N. speech Saturday.

She said in an interview Tuesday that the address “will be very much about implementing the middle power strategy” that Carney has articulated — memorably when he told the World Economic Forum that as great power rivalries increasingly shake the international system, “middle powers must act together, because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” (There’s no official list of “middle powers,” but the term is often understood to mean countries that aren’t superpowers or their proxies but have some sway in global politics due to diplomatic or other strengths.)

Carney's “message resonates with many audiences, particularly those in the global North,” says University of Ottawa international affairs professor Srdjan Vucetic.

He noted that the prime minister's leadership is resonating at home, too. Carney, who took office in March 2025, enjoys high approval ratings from Canadians. Many are galled by Trump's remarks about making their country the U.S.'s “51st state,” his insistence on referring to Lake Ontario as “Lake America” and his trade policies. In Toronto, Canada’s most populous city, some neighborhoods are dotted with lawn signs encouraging eligible U.S. expatriates to vote absentee, and at least one coffee shop has crossed the Americano drink off its menu, substituting “Canadiano” instead.

Carney seeks to increase non-US trade

Carney, 61, a former central bank chief with a doctorate in economics, aims to double Canada's non-U.S. trade within a decade. He convened hundreds of international investment firm executives for a Canadian investment summit last week and is hoping for a trade deal with India, among others, by year’s end.

His government has touted security, defense and economic agreements with a roster of countries over the past year, and he has envisioned Canada as potentially forging an economic bridge of sorts between the EU and Pacific Rim countries.

His international efforts have drawn some questions, as when he became the first Canadian prime minister in over a quarter-century to visit Saudi Arabia. Predecessor Justin Trudeau's government had assailed Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, spurring a five-year diplomatic split. The two countries restored full diplomatic relations in 2023.

Carney said at the time of the July visit that he cares deeply about human rights, that there's no point in “lecturing countries from afar,” and that engaging with them doesn't convey approval of their every move.

At his U.N. news conference Tuesday, he said his approach “means actively, actively taking on the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be.”

“We have a strategy that, I believe, has already made our country stronger,” he added, “but we’ve only just begun.”

The landmark New York prosecution began nearly a decade ago with multiple accusers, but after retrials, mistrials, acquittals and appeals, it was whittled to a single victim: Miriam Haley, who said the Oscar-winning producer forcibly performed oral sex on her at his Manhattan apartment. She had worked briefly on the Weinstein-produced reality series “Project Runway.”

Weinstein, 74, pleaded for mercy, citing his age and health issues, including cancer and congestive heart failure. He apologized “to anyone I have affected with my actions” and said he felt remorse for Haley. However, he added, “I have to reiterate my innocence.” His lawyers said he will appeal.

Once a towering figure in Hollywood, with such hits as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction” and “Chocolat,” Weinstein’s downfall came quickly after sexual assault allegations in 2017 set off the #MeToo movement. Several of his dozens of accusers were in court on Wednesday.

Judge Curtis Farber said Weinstein wielded his power as a Hollywood kingmaker to prey on women looking to break into the industry, treating them as “mere objects to be played with and discarded with impunity.”

Farber said Weinstein’s refusal to accept responsibility, portraying himself as a victim during jailhouse interviews, weighed heavily on his sentencing decision. Weinstein had faced up to 25 years in prison.

Some of Weinstein's accusers attended the sentencing

Haley credited the swell of other accusers, some of whom she hugged afterward, for giving her the courage to come forward.

For years, she said, “it was like a dark and painful secret that ate away at my spirit, my enthusiasm and sense of self worth, that it took a long time to regain.”

Jailed since his original conviction, Weinstein has already served more than six years behind bars, leaving him with about nine years on his sentence. But a pending resentencing in Los Angeles, where he was originally ordered to serve 16 years in prison for a 2013 rape, could put him away for the rest of his life.

Farber said it'll be his counterpart in California who decides whether Weinstein can serve his sentences at the same time. If it were up to him, Farber said, he'd run them consecutively, stacking Weinstein’s New York punishment on top of his Los Angeles sentence.

Weinstein, seated in a wheelchair, was quickly moved out of the courtroom after the sentencing. In the gallery, Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress whose rape allegations ended in an overturned conviction and two hung juries, wept profusely as prosecutors, Haley and other accusers consoled her.

Weinstein and Haley both spoke in court

Haley, 49, fought through tears herself as she spoke in court. After testifying at two of Weinstein’s trials — the original and last year's retrial — it was her second time confronting the ex-studio boss at a sentencing proceeding.

“Having been sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein has had a devastating effect on my life and sense of security that may never go away,” Haley said. “Making the decision to speak up will have me looking over my shoulder for years to come.”

Weinstein hired private investigators to keep tabs on her, she said, and his defense lawyers and supporters ridiculed her in the media.

“It’s a life sentence for me,” she said.

Minutes later, Weinstein apologized while underscoring his claims of innocence. He maintains that he never raped or sexually assaulted anyone.

It was also Weinstein’s second time speaking at his sentencing — the latest in a series of courtroom soliloquies filled with complaints about his lodging at New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail complex, boasts about his philanthropy and reminiscence about his moviemaking prowess.

“Reflecting on all that has happened since 2017 has helped me recognize how my past conduct has negatively affected others,” Weinstein said, some of his accusers shaking their heads as he spoke. “I live with many regrets and sincerely apologize to anyone I have affected with my actions.”

“I really do have remorse for Miriam Haley,” he added. “I am not a violent man. I ask for mercy. I promise I will pass it on.”

Haley says Weinstein 'still feels entitled'

Haley said afterward that she was happy with the sentence. But, she said, it's clear from Weinstein’s remarks that he does not acknowledge what he did.

“I think he still feels entitled, and that’s part of the problem,” said Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi.

Other accusers, including psychotherapist and former model Kaja Sokola, stood with her as she spoke outside the courthouse.

Haley’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, rejected any suggestion that Weinstein’s sentencing means the #MeToo era is over, telling reporters: “Women are empowered in a way they have never been before.”

“Today was about the survivors,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who sat in the courtroom alongside Weinstein’s accusers.

“I’m moved, as we should all be moved, by their courage and their steadfastness,” he added.

A retrial, a split verdict and another sentencing

Weinstein was originally sentenced in 2020 to 23 years in prison — 20 years for assaulting Haley and three years for raping Mann.

New York’s highest court erased those guilty verdicts in 2024, ruling that Weinstein was prejudiced by testimony from other women whose allegations weren’t part of the case.

Tried for a second time last year, Weinstein was again convicted of a first-degree criminal sex act for assaulting Haley. In a messy split verdict, the jury acquitted him of forcibly performing oral sex on Sokola and could not reach a verdict on a rape charge involving Mann.

After another retrial ended in a hung jury in May, Manhattan prosecutors dropped the rape charge rather than pursue a fourth trial after Mann said she could not bear to testify again.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Haley, Sokola and Mann have done.

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Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio.

“The technology is more persuasive, more intimate, and more powerful,” the Duke of Sussex said. “AI is learning how to enter our relationships. It doesn’t just want your attention, it wants your attachment.”

Harry's presentation was part of CGI's focus on finding ways to support women and children at a time when funding for their well-being is being cut by several nations.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview that they are issues that need to be addressed even more urgently this year because of the cuts.

“What’s happening now under the guise of both stamping out diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also in the name of ‘efficiency,’ like we saw with DOGE when they destroyed government agencies, has our country back in so many ways,” she said.

Secretary Clinton said that it has only been in the last year or two that menopause has seen increased attention. “We have begun to make progress because I remember when I was first lady meeting with a group of women senators who told me that the early trials on breast cancer were done on men,” she said. “If you’re gonna do research on women’s health, guess what? You need to research women.”

She said CGI commitments like Tuesday's announcement of a $100 million venture fund by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation to speed potential therapies to patients show how nonprofits are stepping up to the current challenging environment.

“We don’t have time to waste because as you probably know cancer is striking earlier and earlier,” she said. “We feel really strongly about doing the accurate research to actually solve men and women’s problems and to get politics out of science, to get politics out of research.”

Harry's nonprofit faces ‘uphill battle’ working against social media

In 2024, Harry sounded the alarm at CGI about how social media has contributed to an “epidemic” of anxiety, depression and social isolation among today’s youth. Harry and his wife, Meghan, announced the founding of The Parents Network, through their Archewell Foundation.

Harry said that The Parents Network had made progress, but that technological developments had made an already “uphill battle” more difficult.

“There are major signals that families, young people, experts and advocates have finally shaken institutions awake to the reality that this technology can cause harm,” Harry said. “But bans, settlements and payouts are incomplete remedies.”

Last month Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion and add stronger child-safety measures to its Facebook and Instagram platforms as part of a landmark legal settlement that ended a trial over teen social media addiction and settled claims filed by nearly every state.

The settlement resolved a pivotal case years in the making that sought to hold the tech giant accountable for the role its platforms played in undermining children’s mental health. The effort targeted features designed to hook young people’s attention.

Wednesday marked Prince Harry's first public appearance in the United States since he and his family returned to England in August for an extended stay.

Secretary Clinton also discussed the potential dangers of AI at the conference, adding that addressing risk through international agreements is something that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping should discuss this week.

Economic and tech competition is only escalating between the U.S. and China, especially through an artificial intelligence race. Neither expects any grand bargain, but the leaders are expected to play nice in their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House. Still, developing AI technology has emerged as a key battleground, with both sides showing little interest in slowing down despite warnings from tech CEOs about threats that rogue AI could pose to humanity.

Speaking at CGI, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman said he believes a proposed kill switch, which would require developers to have the capacity to shut down their systems if needed, is a good idea.

“It’s not a natural thing for a company to put in, so it’s a good intervention,” he said.

War Child Alliance announces $100 million plan to improve children's mental health

At CGI on Wednesday, War Child Alliance announced its new $100 million initiative, “Childhood Beyond Conflict,” a commitment to improve the mental health of 10 million children in conflict zones over the next decade.

Laura Miller, War Child's CEO, said that more than 520 million children are currently affected by conflict. The new initiative, she said, is the nonprofit's attempt to build a coalition around children's mental health, expanding the global footprint of its programs to help educate and support young people.

Academy Award-nominated actress Carey Mulligan, who serves as global ambassador for the War Child Alliance, told The Associated Press in an interview that the organization is trying to reverse a shift around the world that the physical survival of a child in a conflict zone was an adequate outcome.

“A child who is traumatized, illiterate, and wounded from an experience in conflict really has their hands tied behind their back for the rest of their lives in terms of rebuilding any kind of real, dignified future for themselves," Mulligan said. “Children deserve more than physical survival. A child who goes through a conflict has the right to proper psychosocial support.”

Mulligan said that the $100 million announcement was special because it can actually solve a problem, despite the issue of a global lack of empathy.

“We are coming to say, ‘Guess what, guys, you don’t need to feel overwhelmed because we’ve got these amazing evidence-based methodologies that have been rigorously, scientifically tested,’ ” she said. “We know that they work and they improve outcomes for children who’ve been affected by conflict.”

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Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

Brown is scheduled to appear in court on Sept. 30 to make the deal final. Defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh said Brown will plead no contest to aggravated assault. He will be sentenced to probation, and adjudication will be withheld, meaning Brown will not be considered a convicted felon, the attorney said. Brown could have faced up to 30 years in prison if convicted of the original attempted murder charge.

Brown is accused of grabbing a handgun from a security staffer after a celebrity boxing match in Miami on May 16, 2025, and firing two shots at a man he had gotten into a fistfight with earlier, according to an arrest warrant. Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu told investigators that one of the bullets grazed his neck.

Attorney insists that Brown would have prevailed at trial

“This was not an easy decision,” Eiglarsh said in a statement Wednesday. “Antonio believes in his innocence. He believes strongly in his Stand Your Ground defense, and he believes he would ultimately prevail at trial. But when prosecutors put an offer on the table that transforms a potential decades-long prison sentence into a significantly reduced charge and probation, there was simply no way he could reasonably turn it down.”

Florida’s so-called Stand Your Ground law allows people who believe they face death or serious injury to use deadly force to defend themselves without a duty to retreat.

Richard Cooper, an attorney for Nantambu, called the plea deal fair.

“We are satisfied that justice is served. My client maintains what he said previously: that he forgives Brown and will not cooperate with law enforcement,” Cooper said in an email Wednesday. “We wish Mr. Brown good health and that he grows from this event.”

Nantambu's attorneys have said he'd decided to forgive Brown

In a previous statement, his attorneys said Nantambu, a devout Muslim, had made the decision to forgive Brown after “considerable reflection, prayer, and consultation with his family and counsel.”

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Wednesday, with spokesperson Ed Griffith saying the details would be “fully clarified” at next week's hearing.

Brown has said on social media that he was defending himself from an attack and that others were trying to steal jewelry from him.

Brown, 38, spent 12 years in the NFL and was an All-Pro wide receiver who last played in 2021 for Tampa Bay, including winning a Super Bowl championship with quarterback Tom Brady. He spent much of his career with Pittsburgh. For his career, Brown had 928 receptions for more than 12,000 yards and accounted for 88 total touchdowns, counting punt returns and one pass.

Brown has faced legal problems over the years

Brown was extradited in November 2025 from Dubai, where he has business interests, after an arrest warrant on the attempted murder charge was issued in June 2025.

Brown has dealt with several legal problems over the years. He previously had been accused of battery of a moving truck driver, several domestic violence charges, failure to pay child support and other incidents. During a 2021 game with Tampa Bay against the New York Jets, Brown took off his jersey, shoulder pads and gloves and ran off the field, leading to his release by the Buccaneers and effectively ending his football career.

In a separate case, Nantambu was found guilty earlier this year of a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer after police said he disrupted Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance in 2025. Nantambu was among dozens of dancers on the field at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans when he ran across the field with a Sudanese flag that read “Sudan and Free Gaza.” He surrendered to authorities after an arrest warrant was obtained.

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Associated Press writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

The signals are designed to alert drivers when pedestrians are trying to cross, but I am told they’ve been installed for some time, and that they did work for a few weeks before being covered up and becoming nonoperational.

So what’s going on?

The Shepherd and Durham corridor is currently undergoing a major reconstruction project, with work including new sidewalks, drainage, utilities and roadway improvements. The city says the project remains on schedule for completion in fall 2028.

I’d like to find out whether the pedestrian warning signals are part of that project, why they aren’t currently operating, and when residents can expect them to be activated.

If you’ve noticed and wondered the same thing, I’d also like to hear from you.

The grim warning by the University of Chicago-based Climate Impact Lab says that as many as 451,000 more heat-related deaths between June and the end of February could be attributed to El Nino, compared with heat deaths expected in a typical year.

The heaviest toll, the group says, is expected in poorer countries, already struggling with food insecurity and high energy costs, partly due to climate change and the fallout of the war in Iran.

Michael Greenstone, a co-founder of the group and the study's co-author, said the heat danger will likely persist beyond February — even though this El Nino is expected to end by then. The fallout of the weather phenomenon could be felt well into next summer, he added.

The research, he said, shows that heat is most dangerous in places that are already hot and relatively poor.

“If you’re already in a hot place, the extra couple of degrees are going to be much more dangerous,” he said. Wealthier places, he added, generally have greater access to air conditioning, reliable water supplies and functioning health systems.

The study combined seasonal temperature forecasts with localized estimates of how high temperatures affect mortality across more than 24,000 regions worldwide.

Researchers estimated the additional heat-related deaths by comparing deaths expected under El Nino-driven high temperatures with deaths expected if temperatures remained similar to what they have been in the last three decades. The projected fatalities are for the entire El Nino period, from June 2026 until the end of February 2027.

The report says the Global South will see more heat-related deaths

The study by Greenstone and his colleagues also warns that the Global South — a term that isn't geographical but a reference to developing countries in general — will bear the heaviest burden of the excessive heat.

The researchers behind the report found that the Sahel region in Africa — countries along the semiarid southern fringe of the Sahara Desert — is expected to be the hardest-hit, with about 66,800 additional deaths caused by El Nino-driven heat.

Other major hot spots include South and Southeast Asia and parts of Latin America, according to the report. The researchers project about 19,400 additional heat-related deaths across the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as 19,300 in Indonesia, 15,800 in India and 13,300 in Brazil.

Heat warnings and cooling centers could prevent thousands of deaths

With such staggering numbers, there are recommended measures that governments can take, the report says. They include heat-warning systems, cooling centers, hydration stations, protections for outdoor workers, expanded hospital capacity and targeted outreach to elderly people and other vulnerable groups.

The authors also call for what they describe as anticipatory financing, so governments can move resources before dangerous heat peaks.

Abhiyant Tiwari, a heat expert at NRDC India who was not involved in the study, said the report’s projections should serve as a call to action rather than be another reason for alarm.

But while it's one thing to have well thought-out plans — as India does — implementing these plans and raising needed funds remains a challenge, he said.

"The real measure of our preparedness is not how many heat warnings we issue, but how effectively we protect people and reduce preventable deaths,” Tiwari added.

Climate change is amplifying El Nino’s record heat

El Nino is a natural climate pattern, but this year’s unusually strong event is occurring on a planet already warmed by human-caused climate change, increasing the risks from extreme heat.

The Climate Impact Lab said global land temperatures during this El Nino could be higher by about 1.2 Celsius (2.1 Fahrenheit), producing 44% more extremely hot days than in a typical year. The report said those temperature increases may mirror conditions that climate change could make common some 20 years from now.

That's why this El Nino could offer a preview of what's ahead as the planet continues to warm, the report said. It's also an opportunity for decision-makers "to see exactly where emergency actions can be taken now to save tens of thousands of lives,” the authors say.

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

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% after finishing the prior day just 0.4% below its record set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 352 points, or 0.7%, while the Nasdaq composite sank 1.1% from its own all-time high.

Stocks wilted after the yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 5.10% from 4.96% late Tuesday, which is a considerable move for the bond market. High yields undercut prices for stocks and other investments, while also slowing the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.

Wednesday’s jump briefly sent the 10-year yield near 5.14%, back to where it was in 2007 before the global financial crisis caused yields to crater. Yields have been climbing since bottoming out in the COVID pandemic, and they’ve accelerated recently because of worries about high inflation, the U.S. government’s heavy debt and other concerns.

Worries about inflation got a jolt Wednesday morning after a preliminary report suggested growth in U.S. business activity surged to its strongest level in more than five years. That’s an encouraging signal, to be sure, but it indicates the economy may have plenty of fuel for more inflation.

The report also suggested costs for businesses are leaping at the fastest rate in four years, in part because of more expensive oil, according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence. That could mean businesses will pass those higher costs onto their customers in coming months.

Oil prices are high because of worries that the war with Iran will keep oil bottled up in the Middle East for a long time.

The price for a barrel of Brent oil to be delivered in November rose 3.9% to $103.08 on Wednesday. That reversed a decline for Brent, which had been falling since it neared $110 last week. Talks are continuing with mediators between U.S. and Iranian officials, but nothing concrete has come from it yet.

Brent oil to be delivered in December, where most of the trading in the market has moved, rose 2.8% to $98.12 per barrel.

Even with its recent decline, the price for a barrel of Brent remains much higher than the roughly $72 it cost before the war with Iran began.

Inflation has remained so stubbornly high that the Federal Reserve raised its short-term interest rate last week for the first time in three years in hopes of slowing down increases in the cost of living.

Fed Gov. Michael Barr said in a speech on Wednesday that further hikes “are likely to be needed” to get inflation to the Fed’s 2% target. Traders now see better than a 50% probability that the Fed will hike its federal funds rate at each of its next two meetings, in October and December, according to data from CME Group.

So far, strong growth in profits for U.S. companies has helped support the U.S. stock market despite higher interest rates and more expensive oil.

KB Home became the latest to deliver a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But its stock nevertheless swung between losses and gains after the homebuilder’s executive chairman said conditions got even tougher for the industry over the last three months. It finished with a loss of 3%.

Potential customers are becoming more cautious because of higher mortgage rates caused by the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield. They also are feeling pressure from “geopolitical uncertainty and broader economic headwinds,” Jeffrey Mezger said.

General Mills likewise reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But the company behind the Cheerios and Progresso brands said it also expects growth this fiscal year to fall below its historical track record “driven by a continued challenging consumer backdrop,” and it did not raise its forecast for profit over the full fiscal year.

Its stock flipped between gains and losses before rising 1%.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 58.61 points to 7,706.03. The Dow dropped 352.10 to 51,511.59, and the Nasdaq composite sank 308.24 to 26,936.04.

In stock markets abroad, indexes slipped across much of Europe and Asia.

Stock indexes fell 1% in Hong Kong and 0.4% in Shanghai ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, which is kicking off Wednesday.

The leaders are expected to attempt to steady fragile ties in their third meeting since Trump returned to the White House. That is despite the world’s two largest economies seeking the upper hand on artificial-intelligence developments and trade, while pushing for leverage in persistent hot spots like Iran and Taiwan.

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AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Michelle Chapman contributed to this report.

Trump’s territorial ambitions over Greenland almost broke the NATO military alliance and shattered trust with one of America’s oldest and closest partners. The new defense agreement puts an end to the standoff. But was it worth the cost?

While the new defense agreement is a bit broader, the United States already had extensive military access under an existing 1951 deal and all the gains laid out in the agreement signed on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday could, ostensibly, have been achieved by asking nicely a year ago. The trans-Atlantic distrust created since the end of 2024 seems a very high price to pay for what may ultimately be a fairly incremental gain.

Interestingly, one place may emerge from this standoff as the real winner: Greenland itself.

The promised investments and contracts may never fully materialize, but the episode marks a major step forward in its push for greater autonomy and a more influential seat at the table. Greenland is no longer merely the subject of foreign policy decided by its former colonial rulers. Increasingly, it is helping to shape it.

There's been progress toward self-determination

“A notable change is Greenland itself at the table today, signing this agreement," said Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen speaking to a room cram packed with journalists and officials at the UN to witness the signing of the deal.

That's an understatement. The world’s largest island, home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people, was still considered a colony until the early 1950s. Progress towards greater self-determination has been slow and it wasn't until 2009 that Greenland became a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Even then, while the Self-Government Act recognized Greenland’s right to independence when requested by local voters in the future, Denmark retained control of defense and foreign affairs.

“I cannot stress it enough: This is the first time that we are venturing into a binding agreement as a country," Naaja Nathanielsen, one of Greenland’s two lawmakers in the Danish parliament and a former government minister in Nuuk, told The Associated Press. “That is a huge step forward in our quest for more self-autonomy.”

Denmark and Greenland confront their own troubled past

Like most former colonial powers that discover history keeps receipts, Denmark's ties with Greenland are complicated. Greenland's economy is heavily dependent on Denmark, families and students often live between the two territories and the cultural linguistic ties are strong. Yet underwriting modern relations are centuries of Danish policies that dehumanized Greenlanders and their families.

They included forced contraception, the removal of Inuit children for reeducation by Danish foster families, and controversial parental-competency tests that led to children being separated from their parents.

“For many, many years you believed that you were a good colonizer,” Múte Bourup Egede, then Greenland's prime minister and now its foreign minister, reminded Danish journalists early last year, shortly after a newly elected Trump made his first military threat against the island. “But time has also caught up with us, and ... cruel things have come to light.”

The abuses are not distant history; many victims remain alive. Hundreds of Inuit women have claimed compensation from Denmark, alleging that health authorities violated their rights by fitting them with intrauterine devices — often when they were teenagers and without their informed consent. Danish authorities estimate that as many as 4,500 women and girls received IUDs between the 1960s and mid-1970s.

While the first official apology for the historic mistreatment had long been coming it was finally delivered in the summer of 2025.

The standoff with the United States “has been applying pressure and focused some of the Danish attention” on reconciliation with Greenland said Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, but “perhaps, some Greenlanders feel that it’s not as credible as it could have been without Trump.”

Trump's involvement changed the equation

While Denmark moved to address past grievances, anger with Trump's tactics also helped shore up support for its sovereignty and take the edge off calls by some in Greenland for quick moves to independence.

At the height of the crisis over Trump's ambitions in January, Nielsen said that “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO."

For Denmark, the main victory is no doubt getting the US president off its back and succeeding in framing the crisis as a European security problem.

Danish and Greenlandic diplomats “have been working very hard to have European allies be part of this," Pram Gad said. "The result is an attempt to patch together the NATO alliance.”

And while Denmark has accepted some limitations to its sovereignty, investments by adversary countries such as Russia had long been off the table.

“The benefit of keeping the transatlantic alliance, or patching it together, or at least not allowing Greenland to be the occasion for Trump to blow it up, I think that counts heavily on both the Danish and the Greenlandic cost-benefit analysis here,” he said.

After Tuesday’s signing ceremony, relief was palpable. But while the Danish and Greenland delegations celebrated with a cold beer on a rooftop bar in Manhattan, the Greenland crisis has scarred a once undefiable bond. It leaves leaders in Copenhagen, Nuuk and other European capitals now assessing the reliability of the United States — and whether a signed agreement can repair trust once it has been broken.

Jane Doe is represented by civil rights attorneys Bakari Sellers and Jonathan Jackson. The lawsuit alleges she was 17 when she was lured from her home and forced into a life of violence, repeated sexual assault and commercial sex trafficking.

• RELATED: Case dismissed against former Klein ISD teacher accused of trafficking students with son

According to the complaint, Jane Doe was beaten and forced to engage in sex acts more than 10 times a day. The lawsuit describes the Houston area as a major sex-trafficking hub, focusing on the FM 1960 corridor and a one-mile stretch of Bissonnet Street known as the “Blade” or “Track,” areas long associated with prostitution and trafficking.

The hotels named in the lawsuit include Budget Inn, Palace Inn, Days Inn, Camelot Inn and Hotel Royale. The complaint alleges hotel employees knew Jane Doe and other victims were being abused on the properties but failed to intervene. It further claims the hotels benefited financially from the activity.

Houston was the first major U.S. city to adopt an anti-human-trafficking ordinance. In 2020, the city approved requirements for hotel and motel owners, managers and employees to receive training on how to recognize and report potential trafficking.

The lawsuit alleges the hotels failed to act despite warning signs and instead prioritized revenue.

“Jane Doe was a child,” Sellers said. “No amount of makeup could have covered up that fact or hidden the nightmare she was living with. These hotels let that nightmare continue because, for them, their profits were more important.”

“They not only allowed this to happen on their watch. They profited from it.”

The case against the former teacher was dismissed in January 2026 due to insufficient evidence. Her son, Roger Magee, pleaded guilty to child trafficking and is currently serving a 20-year sentence.

Jackson police said late Tuesday that they arrested 25-year-old Earnest Lloyd Jr. in the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune, whose body was found hanging behind an abandoned home in the city on Aug. 3.

Like Fortune and the first man arrested, 51-year-old Jarques Ratliff, Lloyd is Black. He appeared at a brief hearing Wednesday, where he was denied bond.

According to local TV station WLBT, investigators said witnesses directed them to Lloyd, who had allegedly had a physical altercation with Fortune days or minutes before she was killed. Police contend that Lloyd hanged Fortune with a black cable cord, and three co-defendants are also suspected of being involved in her death, the station reported.

Police and the court clerk said Wednesday that they didn't know if Lloyd has a lawyer.

Fortune's mother Christy Spivey, who attended the hearing, said afterward that she was ecstatic to see arrests made in her daughter’s death. She said neither she nor several of her daughter's friends knew Lloyd, and she cautioned that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

“My family is not the only family that this is affecting,” Spivey said of the defendants' families. “I feel for them as well. The only difference is that mine can never come back.”

"I’ll never truly have peace,” she said.

Ratliff was arrested in September on murder charges. He pleaded not guilty and remains jailed without bond. His lawyer, Toney Baldwin, hasn't responded to multiple requests for comment.

Police said in a statement that they issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect, but gave no details about that person’s identity or alleged link to Fortune's death. They also said they expect to issue additional warrants.

After Ratliff's arrest, Jackson's police chief, RaShall Brackney, said Ratliff had an “association” with Fortune, but she didn't elaborate.

Although police haven't suggested a possible motive for the killing, the case has attracted widespread attention because the manner of death recalled lynchings in the Southern state.

A Kentucky native, Fortune had four children and had been living in Jackson for about a decade, relatives said.

Spivey previously said her daughter struggled with homelessness in recent years, and that she wasn’t sure where her daughter was living at the time of her death. She said that before her death, her daughter had talked about starting a cleaning business and was trying to get her life in order.

Two people were killed and 41 wounded in Ukraine’s capital as the attacks stretched into Wednesday afternoon. Palls of black smoke floated above the city following the latest in what have been daily Russian attacks that torment Ukrainian civilians. The drones set off fires and damaged buildings in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, authorities said.

Zelenskyy was in New York for the annual U.N. gathering as part of his diplomatic effort to shore up and recruit further international support for his country’s grueling 4½-year fight against Russia’s invasion. He addressed the General Assembly, met with European leaders and was also due to hold talks with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. In his address to the Assembly, Zelenskyy urged the international community to keep limiting Russian oil revenues to prevent Russia’s ability to keep financing its war in Ukraine.

“When someone gives Russia more money through trade, they give this war more time. And that is exactly why we insist on limiting trade with the aggressor, and why we are burning Russia’s revenues ourselves,” he said.

Zelenskyy met on Tuesday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has shown impatience with the lack of progress in talks aimed at ending the war and the escalating aerial attacks by both sides this year.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin hasn’t traveled to the gathering in years, sending Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov instead. Lavrov, who met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to discuss Ukraine and other issues, reaffirmed Wednesday that Moscow is open for talks on ending the conflict in Ukraine, but wouldn’t accept a break in hostilities before a peace deal is agreed.

Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting that Trump has invited Putin to the G20 meeting that he will host at his Miami country club in December, adding that “we think it’s an opportunity for him to engage not just with the president, but with other world leaders.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was grateful for the invitation, adding that the issue will be discussed further via diplomatic channels.

Ukraine has hit back at Russia by damaging oil refineries that are a vital pillar of the country’s economy.

Speaking in New York, Zelenskyy said that “our target is Russia’s ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive. Russia’s finances and Russia’s production are what must be stopped.”

The Ukrainian leader said at the start of his U.S. visit that he had proposals for a possible de-escalation in the war. Urgent issues for Kyiv are halting devastating Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power grid and ensuring Ukrainian grain can be shipped to world markets through the Black Sea despite the war.

Ukraine also needs more U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems as a shield against Russian ballistic missiles, but Patriots are in short supply after the war in Iran began.

In Zaporizhzhia, in southeastern Ukraine, two men aged 37 and 39 were wounded by a strike that started a large fire at a shopping mall. Emergency services said the fire spread across about 6,000 square meters (1.5 acres) before coming under control.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that its forces struck Ukraine’s military-industrial and energy sector facilities, logistics centers and sea vessels in overnight attacks.

The ministry said its air defenses intercepted more than 500 Ukrainian drones over multiple Russian regions, as well as illegally annexed Crimea and waters of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

In another development, the Polish military said a Russian military helicopter briefly violated Poland’s airspace Wednesday on the country’s border with Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave. It said that “the nature of the incident suggests that Russia is once again testing the readiness of our air defense.”

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

The discussion explored the realities of entering the journalism industry, including a reporter’s day-to-day responsibilities, entry-level salaries and the changing role of journalists as newsrooms place greater emphasis on digital reporting, social media, video and multiplatform storytelling.

Muñoz also reviewed the fundamentals of responsible reporting, including how to approach stories without allowing personal opinions to influence the work, ask fair and effective questions, build relationships with sources and understand the responsibility journalists have when presenting information to the public.

Students were introduced to newsroom terminology and skills, including what makes a strong reel, how a VO/SOT is structured, what reporters mean by a “softball” question and how a television story develops from the initial reporting process to the final product viewers see on air.

The workshop also provided practical advice for students preparing to apply for newsroom positions. Muñoz discussed internships, resumes, reels and what news managers look for in applicants. He encouraged students to practice reporting, shooting, writing, editing and communicating across platforms while learning how to present their classroom experience as preparation for a professional newsroom.

As a Houston native and University of Houston graduate, Muñoz understands the transition from the classroom to the newsroom firsthand. He reports for KPRC 2 in English and Spanish across television, digital and social platforms.

His goal was to give students a realistic look at the expectations, challenges and opportunities ahead.

“Entering the industry requires more than knowing how to write a story,” Muñoz said. “Young journalists need to understand how to report, shoot, write, edit, communicate across platforms and, above all, earn the trust of the people they serve.”

We’ll also visit the bug house to meet some of the zoo’s tiniest residents and learn how they get ready for the day. Plus, we’re eating our way around the zoo with seasonal treats, specialty coffees, cookies and new breakfast options.

Stream this special edition of Houston Life LIVE at the Houston Zoo HERE at 1 p.m. on KPRC 2.

Police say the call came in at approximately 1:45 p.m.

Authorities say a 911 call came from an individual who reported finding a body near American Statesmanship Park.

Very limited details exist at this time regarding how the individual died or if it is a man or a woman.

Police are investigating.

Acuña was listed as day-to-day with a contusion after X-rays and a CT scan showed no serious damage. He was able to walk slowly off the field under his own power after hobbling away from the battling circle and dropping to his knees in clear pain.

“Good news with Ronald,” manager Walt Weiss said after the Braves lost to the Reds 4-0.

The injury comes with the playoffs just a week away for Atlanta, which clinched its seventh NL East title in the past nine years. The Braves are likely to open the playoffs hosting a best-of-three series against the lowest-seeded wild-card team.

Asked if he had any worries about Acuña being ready for the postseason, Weiss replied, “Not as I sit here today, unless things change. But no, as I sit here today, no concerns.”

Acuña was tended to for several minutes by the Braves trainer, with Weiss looking on intently, before heading straight to the home clubhouse.

“Very concerned at the time,” Weiss said. “He hits the ball so hard. His foul balls off the feet and legs are not the same as the average Joe. The ball comes off his bat so hot, so I was concerned at first.”

Acuña went down on a 3-1 pitch from Brandon Williamson with the Reds up 1-0. The slugging outfielder took a big swing, sending the ball off his left shin, below the knee and just above a protective guard. He dropped to the dirt with a big grimace, pulled himself up and limped a few feet away from the box before going to the ground again.

The 2023 NL MVP has been one of Atlanta's hottest hitters down the stretch, hitting seven homers in his last 18 games — including a grand slam in a sweep of the Astros last weekend. He is batting .259 with 20 homers, 55 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.

“We'll see how he feels tomorrow,” Weiss said. “He's going to be sore. Obviously, we'll err on the side of caution at this time of years. But all things considered, it's good news.”

The Braves have five games left in the regular season. Brewer Hicklen took over the leadoff spot and right field after Acuña left the game.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

On a 3-1 pitch,

Acuna foul ball off left leg, just above a protective pad. Acuna went down in a heap, hobbled out of the batting circle and dropped to his knees again while attended to by manager Walt Weiss and the trainer. Acuna eventually left the game,

The Pearland Police Department says it happened on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at approximately 6 p.m. when officers were dispatched to a bank in the 9900 block of Broadway Street after getting reports of suspicious activity in the ATM drive-thru.

Officers were told that a masked man was making multiple transactions using several different cards and withdrawing large amounts of cash.

As officers were responding, the suspect was seen getting into the passenger seat of white GMC Sierra, which then left the area.

With the help of a drone, an officer found the truck in the parking lot of a business in the 2500 block of Smith Ranch Road.

The passenger got out of the truck and began to walk away, but was detained by the officer. The driver, who was still inside the truck, took off.

Other officers attempted to pull over the truck, but the suspect refused to stop. The suspect began throwing large amounts of cash out the window of the truck, which was caught on dash cam video.

The vehicle eventually stopped in the 1600 block of Max Road. Officers took the suspect into custody without further incident.

Officers recovered more than $6,000 in cash that had been thrown from the vehicle during the pursuit.

The passenger was identified as Tarvares Givens, of Florida, and was arrested and charged with Failure to Identify. The driver was identified as Levon Steven Jr., of Florida, and was arrested and charged with Evading Arrest and Tampering with Evidence.

The investigation remains ongoing. Detectives are continuing to investigate the incident for additional fraud-related charges.

At the time of this post both Givens and Steven are currently in custody at the Brazoria County Jail.

The Dodgers are once again among the best teams in the big leagues, and they'll have several challengers in October, including the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays. All three teams could finish the regular season with 100 wins or more. Los Angeles is rolling into the postseason and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the lineup on Wednesday after a stint on the injured list.

The New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves have also clinched spots in the postseason. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, a three-time AL MVP, is dealing with a right calf strain that will likely keep him out through at least the Wild Card Series.

While the 12-team playoff field appears mostly set, there are a few long-shot contenders for the postseason, and specific matchups are in flux.

Here's some of what to watch as the season comes to a close.

Here's who can clinch a playoff spot Wednesday

In the American League, the Cleveland Guardians can qualify for the postseason with a win at Boston and a loss by either the Texas Rangers or Houston Astros.

The Chicago White Sox can cap a turnaround season and earn a spot in October with a win over the Kansas City Royals and a loss by the Rangers.

Over in the National League, the Chicago Cubs can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Miami Marlins or a loss by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Philadelphia Phillies can clinch a wild card if they beat the Milwaukee Brewers and either the San Diego Padres or D-backs lose.

The Padres can clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Dodgers and a loss by the D-backs.

AL Central and West are tight, other division winners are set

There's quite a bit of mediocrity in the AL Central and West divisions this season, which has led to some fascinating pennant races and could lead to a sub-.500 team making the postseason.

The Guardians (82-75) have a narrow advantage over the White Sox (81-76) in the AL Central while the Texas Rangers (78-79) and Astros (78-79) are fighting for the AL West.

Over in the National League, the playoff bracket is close to set.

The Cubs (87-70), Padres (87-70) and Phillies (87-70) are jockeying for position in the wild-card race but will almost certainly make the postseason. The only team within shouting distance is Arizona (83-74), which is four games back. Chicago holds the head-to-head tiebreaker for home field over Philadelphia and San Diego, and the Phillies own the tiebreaker over the Padres after sweeping that season series 6-0.

MVP races, stats to watch

MLB's major awards probably won't have much drama this season.

Both MVP races have strong favorites with Chicago's Pete Crow-Armstrong running away with the NL honor while Houston's Yordan Alvarez is the probable choice in the AL, though Tampa Bay's Junior Caminero has also had a fantastic season. Alvarez still has an outside shot at a Triple Crown. He leads the AL in batting average at .314 and his 41 homers are tied with Caminero, but his 102 RBIs are six back of Baltimore's Pete Alonso.

For the Cy Young Award, Milwaukee flame thrower Jacob Misiorowski and New York ace Cam Schlittler are the favorites in the NL and AL, respectively.

The Rookie of the Year races also look set with Cincinnati's Sal Stewart and his 110-RBI season the leader in the NL and Detroit's Kevin McGonigle the favorite in the AL.

What is the MLB playoff format?

There are 12 teams that qualify for MLB’s postseason, including six teams from both the AL and NL. The three division winners in each league get seeds No. 1 through No. 3, ranked by win-loss record. Then the three wild-card teams get seeds No. 4 through No. 6, also ranked by win-loss record.

The top two teams with the best record in both the AL and NL automatically advance to the Division Series. The other eight teams play in the Wild Card Series, which is a best-of-three format beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 29. In both the AL and NL, the No. 6 seed will travel to face the No. 3 seed while the No. 5 seed goes to No. 4. The higher seed hosts all three games.

The winners then advance to the best-of-five Division Series, followed by the best-of-seven League Championship Series and a best-of-seven World Series between the winners of the AL and NL.

What is the MLB postseason schedule?

Wild Card Series: Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (NBC/Peacock)

Division Series: Oct. 3-10 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

Championship Series: Oct. 11-20 (AL on TBS, NL on FOX/FS1)

World Series: Oct. 23-31 (FOX)

Who are the favorites to win the World Series?

The Dodgers (+220) are the favorites to capture a third straight World Series title while the Brewers (+600), Yankees (+800) and Rays (+800) are viewed as the top contenders.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

At a meeting of the group’s board in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, the governors unveiled a 66-project blueprint to get things started while acknowledging enormous hurdles that must still be overcome. The projects include ambitious infrastructure, education and health initiatives that are designed to support Trump’s 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.

“The need is immense,” the board said, noting that full reconstruction from the physical damage across Gaza will cost roughly $35.2 billion over the medium term and an additional $71.4 billion over the next 10 years.

The proposal is largely aimed at potential donors who are being asked to foot the bill for reconstruction of the war-devastated territory that has seen numerous failed peace initiatives in the past. Those have included previous premature pronouncements of agreements between Hamas and Israel that have left would-be donors skeptical.

Board of Peace is seeking movement as Trump's ceasefire plan has largely stalled

The ceasefire, which took effect on Oct. 10, was meant to clear the way for a broader process to rebuild Gaza under the guidance of the Board of Peace. The plan included additional Israeli military withdrawals from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, the arrival of an international peacekeeping force and a new apolitical Palestinian government to administer the territory’s day-to-day affairs. It also envisioned an ambitious program for rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza.

But the U.S.-backed plan has largely stalled. While the ceasefire halted the heaviest fighting and humanitarian conditions have improved, the Israeli military has expanded its control of Gaza and now occupies some 60% of the territory. Hamas has not given up its weapons. The international military force and new government still have not entered Gaza, and reconstruction has not begun. The vast majority of Palestinians continue to live in tent camps or ruins of their former homes.

The board’s high representative, Nickolay Mladenov, has said progress hinges largely on Hamas disarming — a step the militant group has refused to take. But he also has pressed Israel to scale back its military operation.

“Given the complexities of what we’re dealing with, I think we’re making slowly and steadily progress,” he said. Mladenov added that discussions with Israel have been politically sensitive and emotional because of next month’s elections.

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Mideast envoy, acknowledged that the ceasefire had not been a 100% success but said the board “can point to real progress.”

“There is a ceasefire, imperfect as it may be, but it still exists,” he said.

Witkoff's partner in peacemaking, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner praised the Board of Peace team for the work it has done to advance the prospects for peace.

“We’re building something that is really a platform to enable the Palestinian people in Gaza to finally focus on improving their livelihoods and improving their lives and for those who want to live in peace, to give them a chance to do so,” Kushner said.

The timeline for new projects and larger steps in Gaza still isn't clear

Despite laying out a six-month plan that prioritizes 66 projects — ranging from humanitarian shelters and home repair to education programs and food security — the timeline was still nebulous. Documents that the board released Wednesday says the programs are “ready to begin the moment funding and access allow.”

Speaking about the difficult steps of disarmament and Israeli withdrawal, Mladenov said, “I want to be very clear that we are not bound by a calendar — we're bound by verification. We want to make sure that this works.”

U.S. Gen. Jasper Jeffers, commander of the international stabilization force planned for Gaza, outlined a five-step approach to dealing with the thorny issue of demilitarizing Hamas. It begins with the first wave of the multinational unit being deployed with troops from Kosovo and Morocco, to be followed by additional personnel from Albania and Kazakhstan.

Their task will be to demilitarize the territory and decommission all of Hamas’ military infrastructure.

The goal, he said, is to gradually turn security control over to the interim government, after which Israel will be expected to withdraw its forces.

Speaking to reporters separately, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the challenge is daunting but not impossible to meet.

“Obviously, this is a long-term project,” he said. “This is not something that can happen in six months, but at least gives people the hope (of a) future that awaits you if everyone does their part.”

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Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem and Ben Finley in Washington contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that Nickolay Mladenov's first name was misspelled.

The nearly impossible part for the female cyclist from Afghanistan was trying to train in her country. To do that, she dressed as a man in a place where women have few rights.

“All the time when I was going to training,” she said, “I was dressing as a guy.”

She said she also hid her face when she could in order to not be recognized.

“Because sometimes when they recognized me, they were trying to throw ... stone(s) or hitting me," she said.

Hashimi, who is 23, won silver Tuesday in a time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 5 seconds, which marked another leg in a journey that began in 2021 when she left Afghanistan.

“In 2021, when the Taliban moved into my country, I escaped my country because I wanted to follow my dream,” she said. “I want to show the Afghanistan women in the world that ... we can have an opportunity.”

Hashimi talked about having many dreams for women in Afghanistan, dreams for herself and dreams that may take time to be realized.

“I’m really, really happy and I’m full of emotion. I don’t know how I can explain it for you,” she said.

“I hope one day I come back in my country and ride the streets of Kabul — and riding with the women side by side to share the same passion," she explained.

“And I hope in the future changing some things,” she added. “I think we are really tired of the situation of our country and I hope the Taliban is watching. I know how much one woman can be powerful and that's why Taliban is scared (of) women.”

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SNTV video journalist Raj Mohan contributed to this report.

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See full AP coverage of Asian sports here

Caesars has a dominant presence on the Las Vegas Strip, operating hotels like Caesars Palace, the Flamingo and Harrah’s. It also operates casino resorts across the United States.

Fertitta owns Las Vegas’ Golden Nugget and restaurant chains like Rainforest Cafe and Morton’s. Billionaire owner Tilman Fertitta is the largest shareholder in Wynn Resorts and the sports betting company DraftKings. Fertitta stepped back from his role as president and director of his company following his April 2025 confirmation as U.S. ambassador to Italy and San Marino.

Tuesday’s vote took place in Reno, Nevada, with over 133 million votes in favor of the merger and 4 million votes against, according to a Wednesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The merger was first announced in May, with Fertitta agreeing to pay $5.7 billion and take on close to $12 billion in debt from Caesars, putting the total value of the deal at about $17.6 billion.

Caesars and Fertitta still must complete the federal antitrust review process. If it goes through, Caesars will become a privately-held company. Its shareholders will get $31 in cash for each share they own.

But a proposed expansion of the Katy Freeway could have implications beyond your commute.

The Texas Department of Transportation is studying how to extend the managed lanes along I-10 from Voss Road to I-45, adding four new managed lanes, two in each direction, along the roughly 6.3-mile corridor. The project also calls for reconstructing the existing general-purpose lanes and expanding the drainage system.

The big question right now isn’t simply whether TxDOT wants to add lanes. It’s where those new lanes would go.

Three options are being considered

TxDOT initially presented two build alternatives. A third option, called the Variable Height option, was formally introduced in 2026.

Option 1: Elevated lanes

Under the elevated option, the new managed lanes would be built on a structure above the existing highway.

TxDOT estimates this option would require about a third of an acre worth of property acquisition, but would not require residential or business displacements.

The existing general-purpose lanes would remain at their current elevation.

Option 2: Non-elevated lanes

The second option would build the managed lanes at the same elevation as the existing general-purpose lanes.

That would require about 12.5 acres of additional right of way, according to TxDOT.

The agency estimates this option could potentially displace about 52 residences and 30 businesses or commercial structures.

That is the option that could have the biggest property impacts for neighborhoods along the corridor, including areas around Cottage Grove.

Option 3: Variable Height

The third option is a hybrid design.

Under this proposal, some of managed lanes would stay at ground level and others would be elevated.

TxDOT says this option was developed at the request of local agency partners to improve community connectivity near Memorial Park.

What about a highway cap?

That’s where the third option gets particularly interesting for local communities.

A highway cap is essentially a deck built over a freeway that can create public space above the highway. One example is Klyde Warren Park in Dallas.

The idea has been discussed locally as a potential way to reconnect neighborhoods separated by I-10 while creating space for things such as parks, trails or other public uses.

But it’s important to make one distinction: a highway cap is not one of TxDOT’s three official alternatives.

Instead, Harris County Precinct 4 is studying whether a cap could be incorporated alongside the I-10 project if the final design makes that possible.

Local officials, including Houston City Council members Joe Panzarella and Mario Castillo, have also publicly supported the idea.

So, where does the project stand?

For now, the project is still in the planning and environmental review process.

TxDOT had scheduled public meetings for May 2026 to present the three alternatives, but those meetings were postponed.

The agency said it needed additional time to coordinate with agency partners and ensure the information presented addressed the needs of communities and stakeholders along the corridor. TxDOT has said updated information will be provided once the meeting is rescheduled.

That meeting will be an important opportunity for residents to see more detailed plans and provide feedback before TxDOT moves farther into the project development process.

As of now, a new date for that public meeting has not been announced. I will continue to follow this story for updates.

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The ProPublica report, published Tuesday, states that the FBI in 2024 planned to launch an investigation into Collins' dealings with Navatek, a Hawaii defense contractor and donor to her campaign. The investigation, which focused on an alleged pay-to-play scheme, failed to commence after President Donald Trump took office after winning the election, according to ProPublica.

The report arrived six weeks before an election where Collins is seeking her sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson. Democrats have targeted the seat, in a state that Trump lost in 2024, as the party tries to win control of the Senate, making it one of the most competitive races on the November ballot.

Collins on Tuesday called the entire story “absolutely outrageous” and said it is frustrating and unfair to have such claims made against her so close to the election. Her campaign manager, Steve Abbott, also said Wednesday the allegation that “we charge people to have meetings” is categorically false and Collins accepting campaign cash for contracts “did not happen.”

Jackson called the allegation “corruption of the highest order.” He was not present Wednesday when a group of Maine Democrats held a news conference near Collins' Portland office, but said the allegations are a betrayal of trust.

“I cannot stress enough here today the seriousness of these allegations. Maine people deserve clear and real answers from Susan Collins right now,” Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said.

FBI says allegations were already investigated

The ProPublica report stated that the head of a Collins super PAC met with executives from defense contractor Navatek in 2019 and asked them for a $500,000 campaign donation. The company's CEO, Martin Kao, sent an initial $150,000 donation using a shell company, the report stated. ProPublica reported that it reviewed an internal company email from Kao in which the CEO later told Navatek executives that Collins committed to getting the company $32 million in Navy contracts.

Kao and two other Navatek executives were later indicted on charges of funneling illegal donations to Collins. Kao sought to reduce his jail sentence by revealing to the FBI the full scope of illegal contributions to Collins, ProPublica reported.

Collins said Kao is "a liar" whose story is untrustworthy.

“He has been twice convicted in separate federal court cases. He’s been convicted of money laundering. He’s been convicted of bank fraud. He has been convicted of false submissions to the FEC. He’s being convicted of a lot of crimes,” she said.

An FBI spokesperson said in a statement that the allegations "had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins’ campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is totally false.”

The ProPublica article also states that Trump's return to the White House left the Justice Department unable to perform the investigation.

Corruption investigations have decreased in Trump's second term

The number of FBI agents and Justice Department prosecutors specializing in corruption investigations plummeted in the first months of the Trump administration. The Justice Department, for instance, decimated its elite Public Integrity Section in early 2025 while the FBI disbanded a white-collar fraud and public corruption squad based out of its Washington field office.

The administration has also fired numerous law enforcement officials who participated in investigations into Trump, including over his efforts to undo the 2020 presidential election he lost and his retention of classified records at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

An email seeking comment was sent to the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Collins said she first learned of the company through the University of Maine because of the research the Navy found to be valuable, which had to do with 3D printing for production.

She said the Justice Department has already reviewed the matter.

“I’m telling you this is completely false,” Collins said.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune dismissed the idea that Collins would be implicated in a pay-to-play scheme, calling the allegations “a political hit job.”

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Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and Kimberlee Kruesi in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.

Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was Wexner's former financial adviser. That relationship and Wexner's history of political donations has figured prominently in Ohio's U.S. Senate race, which could end up as the most expensive in the country this year.

Wexner, who has disavowed his prior association with Epstein, contributed about $116,000 to support Republican Sen. Jon Husted from 2001 to 2025, mostly during the two decades he spent in state politics before being appointed to fill Vice President JD Vance’s seat last year.

While that’s just a sliver of Husted’s prolific fundraising, his opponent in this year’s race, former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, is turning it into a campaign cudgel. He’s run at least three different television commercials pounding Husted for receiving more money from Wexner than any other current member of Congress.

Epstein's Ohio connections are expected to surface anew early next month, when a traveling display showcasing the Justice Department files comes to the state.

“We want to show these elected officials and the candidates that the public is interested in this topic, and the public is demanding justice for survivors and the public is demanding accountability, no matter how rich and powerful the perpetrators and enablers of these crimes are,” said David Garrett, executive director of the Institute for Primary Facts, the nonprofit that created the exhibit.

Both Senate candidates point to opponent's Epstein connections

Epstein’s decades of associating with some of the world’s most influential people and Congress’ varying attempts to force the Justice Department to release its files on him have flared up in U.S. House and Senate races across the country. In Ohio, it's been central to a race that will help determine the balance of power in Washington.

Brown's campaign has promoted a $3,500 donation Wexner gave Husted in July 2025, less than 10 weeks before Husted joined most Senate Republicans in defeating a Democratic effort to force release of the Epstein files.

One of his ads featured video of Wexner’s congressional deposition in February, during which he confirmed being a longtime political donor to Husted, a former Ohio lawmaker, secretary of state and lieutenant governor.

Another characterized Wexner as “an Epstein co-conspirator.” Documents released by the Justice Department show the FBI labeled Wexner as a potential co-conspirator after Epstein's arrest on sex trafficking charges in 2019. A spokesperson for the billionaire said Wexner provided background information, was told he was not a target of the investigation and was never contacted again.

After the barrage of Epstein-related ads against him, the Husted campaign punched back with ads attacking Brown for accepting donations from a number of individuals whose names arose in the Epstein documents. They included Wexner’s wife Abigail, former U.S. Treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Brown accepted no donations from Wexner himself, Federal Election Commission records show.

Husted's campaign also takes issue with the claim in Brown's ads that he “voted to cover up the Epstein files.” Campaign spokesperson Amy Natoce said “there has only been one vote” that counts on the matter — the one in November on the Epstein Files Transparency Act — and Husted voted yes. She called the earlier vote “procedural.”

Wexner, who is 89, is the magnate behind The Limited, Victoria's Secret and other retail giants. He stated under oath during his February congressional deposition that he never lobbied or asked Husted or anyone else to block the release of the Epstein files. He told members of Congress that he was “duped by a world-class con man.”

Natoce said Husted donated all available Wexner contributions — $34,300 — to an anti-human trafficking charity. The remaining balance had been spent in past campaign cycles.

Brown did not return any of his donations from about a dozen individuals named in the files, who Husted's ad described as “Epstein associates” even though none was accused of any crimes.

A traveling exhibit that includes Epstein victims is coming to Ohio

The Epstein Reading Room tour is an exhibit that displays more than 3 million pages released by the Justice Department. It has plans to make at least 20 more stops, including Ohio on Oct. 8.

Annie Farmer, an Epstein accuser who has been part of the tour, said the idea that some candidates have received donations from wealthy people with ties to Epstein means they will have an incentive to keep burying the truth.

She was 16 when she said Epstein abused her and her sister, Maria Farmer, in the 1990s. Maria alleges her sexual assault took place in 1996 in New Albany, Ohio, where Epstein had a house while working for Wexner, whose estate is located there.

During his deposition, Wexner testified that he never heard of Maria Farmer until her name appeared in media reports and that he didn’t know whether she had ever stayed on his property.

The accusers are demanding that the Department of Justice do more to investigate the wealthy who for decades helped enable Epstein’s abuse. The Associated Press does not name victims of sexual abuse unless they have come forward publicly.

“We should be asking hard questions to everyone who is related to Epstein and is financially supporting politicians. Are they hoping to benefit from silence?” Annie Farmer said. “To people with that much wealth, they feel they don’t have to play by the same set of rules. That’s what many people are saying is not right.”

Epstein case resonates in congressional campaigns

At the reading room tour’s first stop in Dallas, Farmer and other accusers met with Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and Democrat Gina Hinojosa, who is running to unseat Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Talarico criticized his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, for not meeting with the accusers and called on him to use his position to sue the federal government for its handling of the Epstein files' release.

In Omaha, Nebraska, independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn pledged to prioritize fighting for justice for victims after visiting a smaller version of the exhibit and meeting some of Epstein's accusers. He has criticized his Republican opponent, Sen. Pete Ricketts, for being slow to back the release of the Epstein files.

In Ohio, the Epstein issue continues to anger — and divide — voters across the political spectrum.

A day after Husted announced he would donate his remaining Wexner contributions to charity, he stepped into a Norwalk coffee shop on a campaign stop and, according to the local news account, was heckled as a “pedophile protector.” And Brown has been forced to defend his decision not to offload the donations he received from individuals named in the files, as Husted did.

“They’re not tied in any way, the way the co-conspirator is tied in,” Brown told CNN earlier this year.

With Ohio's early voting starting in less than two weeks, Brown is continuing to focus on Husted’s Wexner contributions. On his X account earlier this month, Brown marked the one-year anniversary of Husted's vote on the failed Democratic amendment to release all the Epstein files by posting a video. It asked why Husted “would side with the billionaires instead of these victims.”

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Olson reported from New York.

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The Associated Press’ women in the workforce coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content.

Alpha School has confirmed it plans to open a campus at the former Goddard School at 777 W. 23rd St.

The school is currently targeting the 2027-28 school year for its opening, although that timeline could move up if enough families are ready to enroll.

And the price tag is significant. Tuition is about $50,000 per year!💰

So what exactly are families paying for?

How does Alpha School work?

Alpha’s model looks different from a traditional school.

Students spend about two hours each morning on core academics, using AI-powered learning tools.

The rest of the school day focuses on areas such as teamwork, leadership, entrepreneurship and real-world projects.

Those projects can take students outside the traditional classroom, including incredible field trips.

Alpha says students can learn physics through sailing, study sustainable agriculture in wine country and travel to places such as Italy and France.

How do students get in?

Alpha says grades and test scores aren’t a major factor considered during its admissions process.

Students take diagnostic tests designed to identify areas where they may need additional support.

They also participate in a shadow day, spending a full day at the school.

During that time, staff evaluate how students interact with their peers, work as part of a team and approach the school’s learning environment.

Alpha says it is looking for students who are interested in being there and committed to growing.

Each new Alpha campus typically starts with about 25 to 30 founding families before growing from there.

Why the Heights?

That’s one of the biggest questions surrounding the new campus.

According to Alpha, the Heights location came about after local families expressed interest in bringing the school to the neighborhood.

The school has not released renderings for the Heights campus yet.

We finally do now!

This Thursday, September 24 at 9 AM, Let’s Play Houston alongside the Houston Parks Board, Mayor John Whitmire, and Houston Parks and Recreation Department will meet at Lawrence Park (725 Lawrence St, Houston, TX 77007) to celebrate the start of construction!

I’ll have a reel breaking down what’s changing, what the plans look like and what you can expect to see there.

More on that soon!

Three others were wounded in the late-night mass shooting Tuesday in KwaMakhutha township, which is located about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the city of Durban on the east coast.

The motive for the shooting wasn't known, but some of the shooting victims were known to authorities as part of investigations into criminal activity, police said.

Police didn’t give out any more information on those investigations, saying it could compromise them.

“Although the motive of the shooting cannot be confirmed yet, (a) feud between rival groupings cannot be ruled out,” the South African Police Service said in a statement.

Ten people, including the pregnant woman, died at the scene and an 11th was declared dead at a hospital. Authorities didn't immediately give out details on the condition of the three people who were wounded.

They opened the door and ‘gunshots went off’

Nomusa Zulu, a community member, said two men killed in the shooting were her sons. She said witnesses told her that the victims had first gathered in the yard of the house, then went inside to continue the party as night fell and it became cold.

“They heard a knock at the door,” Zulu said. “When they opened the door, gunshots went off.”

Police are searching for the gunmen

Police said they were searching for three men and no arrests had been made, but the acting national police commissioner ordered local police to deploy officers in a special 72-hour operation to track down the suspects.

Thami Ntuli, the premier of KwaZulu-Natal province, told reporters at the scene that the killings were “really disturbing” and called on community members to provide any information they might have that would help find the gunmen. He said that there were known problems with drug dealing and illegal firearms in the largely poor community, where some of the houses are just a few meters apart with no fences or walls in between.

Ntuli confirmed in a statement that the woman who was killed was pregnant.

There have been several mass shootings in South Africa recently

It's the latest in a series of mass shootings in South Africa recently, including one in June when multiple shooters killed 12 people in a poor neighborhood in Johannesburg that police linked to criminal gangs. Two mass shootings two weeks apart in December killed 21 people. They were also carried out by multiple gunmen.

South Africa has extremely high rates of violent crime, with official police statistics recording 5,427 homicides in the latest three-month period between April and June at an average of nearly 60 homicides a day.

Shootings are the most common form of homicide in South Africa, and police and crime experts have long said that one of the biggest problems is that there is a high number of illegal firearms in circulation.

The army is being used to combat violent crime in some areas

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa authorized the deployment of soldiers on the streets in some areas earlier this year to combat violent crime in what critics said was an admission that police were failing.

Soldiers were deployed to areas around Johannesburg, the city of Cape Town and in Eastern Cape province on the south coast in the ongoing operation, but not to KwaZulu-Natal province where the latest shooting happened.

The bodies of some of the victims of Tuesday night's shooting were laid out on the ground and covered with white sheets outside the house where the shooting took place. They were later carried away on stretchers to pathology vans.

Police cordoned off the neighborhood with yellow tape while forensic investigators worked through the scene.

Police were also investigating if the torching of a car near the house was connected to the shooting.

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AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

Ethiopian Airlines said it suspended flights to Tigray’s capital Mekelle and the cities of Axum and Shire “due to the current situation,” without providing further details.

The regional government said in a statement it had instructed its fighters to enter into “defensive war” after federal forces attacked Tigray on Tuesday using drones and heavy artillery.

The African Union Commission chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, called for restraint and immediate de-escalation.

In a statement, he expressed concern over the renewed tensions and occupation of the airport, saying these actions risk destabilizing the region and reversing gains made in a 2022 peace agreement.

He also condemned the “detention of federal personnel by the Tigray People's Liberation Front," but did not give details.

US Ambassador threatens sanctions

The U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Ervin J. Massinga expressed disappointment over the fighting, calling it a “poor decision” and threatening sanctions.

Rejecting dialogue sponsored by the African Union and "engaging in an unwinnable fight does nothing for the people. Other armed groups would be wise to avoid this. While the U.S. has tools to sanction additional leaders who try to push Ethiopia down the wrong path, I still believe a reasonable political dialogue is the right way to go,” he wrote in a statement.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front Deputy Amanuel Assefa termed the African Union and U.S. positions “unfair,” accusing them of “turning a blind eye to airstrikes by the federal government”.

On Tuesday, the U.S Bureau of African Affairs condemned a drone strike on a Catholic Relief humanitarian assistance convoy in Tigray and called for investigations without stating which side was responsible.

A taxi driver told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the airport, which is usually controlled by federal forces, was occupied by fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front carrying light arms.

The driver, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, said a commander ordered him to leave the airport, saying no flights would be landing.

The takeover appeared to be peaceful, with no gunfire heard in or around the airport.

No other airlines fly to the region, although it is reachable by chartered flight.

The news came three days after seven opposition groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, formed an alliance aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his government.

Abiy’s Prosperity Party retained power in a June general election that was boycotted by the main opposition groups.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front fought federal forces during a deadly conflict in northern Ethiopia that ended with the signing of a peace agreement in November 2022. But since July there have been reports of drone attacks in Tigray, with the regional government accusing the federal forces of attacks.

Former Tigray lead peace negotiator Getachew Reda, now an adviser to the prime minister, accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of attacks in neighboring Afar and Amhara despite efforts to avoid another war.

“It has taken over federal controlled airports in Tigray leading to the suspension of flights to and from Tigray. The TPLF politico-military leadership has obviously taken irresponsibility to new heights,” he wrote on X.

The opposition groups announced the formation of a coalition they called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival on Sunday.

Co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons kept the focus of their Spring-Summer 2027 collection firmly “waist down,” revisiting the subject of a traveling Prada exhibition staged two decades ago. That new show examined the place in contemporary wardrobes of one of humanity’s oldest garments: the skirt.

The collection arrived amid an uproar in Italy over remarks by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani suggesting that women who wear longer skirts are more faithful. Tajani later apologized, saying he had not intended to offend women. The coincidental timing of the controversy only gave resonance to a collection that treats the skirt as a way for women to express themselves — at any length.

Recasting an ancient form for modern times

For practicality and creativity, nothing surpasses the skirt, according to Prada, who favors skirts in her own wardrobe, including a pink silk one she wore for a backstage preview before the runway show that opened Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday.

“If you want to have a normal life, go wherever you want. It’s easy to camouflage even a beautiful skirt,’’ she said. “You need to camouflage the beauty so that you can live with people.”

The creative directors’ decision to keep trousers and dresses out of this collection was inspired by an old video interview of Prada likening the skirt to a T-shirt for men, as “the place where she can put all her ideas,” Simons said.

From the swath of material that ancient man wrapped around the waist, Prada used a rectangular piece of material as the collection’s starting point, which Prada said became the framework for creativity.

Using the skirt as a creative canvas

Reversing the runway convention of emphasizing the female bodice, black tops in varying styles provided a blank canvas for the first group of skirts.

Woolen numbers fastened with industrial Velcro to allow adjustable slits Sheer nylon formed feminine pleats, while short cotton skirts in naïve prints peeked from beneath coats and sheer crinoline overlaid crumpled silken skirts with flattened ruffles.

Bralettes, bandeaus and bustiers, tiny though they were, offered another outlet for expression. They included scoop-neck bralettes, bandeaus linked to arm bands and bustiers worn unhooked over homely knitwear.

Footwear ranged from silk slingbacks to industrial perforated-leather pumps, while handbags included canvas purses in bright colors.

Rather than proposing complete looks, the collection offered building blocks for self-expression.

“I think you can express complexity,” Prada said. “Everything is so complex — how can you be just one thing? When you express yourself, it is not that you are feminine, sexy, masculine; you are so many things together."

University administrators were targeting conduct, not a message, said William “Billy” F. Cole, the principal deputy solicitor general in the Texas Attorney General’s office who is defending the system. But when a judge asked about the regents’ concern that drag could promote “gender ideology,” Cole acknowledged to the court that rationale, standing alone, could create a viewpoint-discrimination problem.

He argued the judges should consider the regents’ other stated reasons for the ban, including concerns about discrimination against women. When a judge asked whether any women complained that the shows objectified or harassed them, Cole said no. However, he argued that universities do not have to wait for actual complaints before enforcing anti-discrimination policies.

Judges pressed the lawyer representing the students groups suing the over the ban just as hard on how far First Amendment protections would extend under his argument.

One judge asked whether Texas A&M would have to allow a staged political protest depicting the rape of the Statue of Liberty in Rudder Theatre on its College Station campus. Another asked whether a public university could ban a blackface performance because officials found its message offensive.

J.T. Morris, deputy director of litigation for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the university can regulate the conduct but not bar a performance because it objected to its message or viewpoint.

The judges also focused on a broader question that could shape First Amendment cases beyond these disputes: how courts should decide when conduct counts as protected expression.

Chief Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod noted that federal appeals courts have taken different approaches and asked both sides which one the Fifth Circuit should adopt.

Morris argued it should be enough that viewers understand a performer is communicating something, even if they do not take away one specific message. Cole urged the court to take a narrower approach and focus primarily on the conduct itself, arguing that an intent to communicate is not enough unless the conduct conveys a message to viewers.

How did the two cases get here?

The legal fight began at West Texas A&M University in 2023, when President Walter Wendler canceled a drag show organized by the student group Spectrum WT. Spectrum and two of its student leaders sued, arguing university administrators violated their First Amendment rights.

Two years later, Texas A&M University System regents adopted a broader policy barring drag performances at special-event venues across the system’s schools. The Queer Empowerment Council, which organizes Texas A&M’s annual Draggieland pageant, challenged that policy in a separate lawsuit.

In January, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, an Amarillo-based judge in the Northern District of Texas, upheld West Texas A&M’s ban after a trial. However, in the systemwide case, U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal, of the Southern District of Texas in Houston, temporarily blocked the policy, finding the students were likely to succeed on their First Amendment claim.

What happened at West Texas A&M?

Wendler argued that drag performances discriminate against women by turning womanhood into a caricature. In a letter to the campus, he called drag shows “derisive, divisive, and demoralizing misogyny” and compared allowing a drag show to allowing blackface on campus. Spectrum planned to donate proceeds to the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide-prevention organization. Spectrum sued, arguing Wendler could not suppress student expression because he found the message offensive.

The case moved between the trial and appeals courts for more than two years. Kacsmaryk initially refused to block the ban while the lawsuit proceeded. In August 2025, a divided three-judge Fifth Circuit panel reversed him and temporarily blocked it. The full Fifth Circuit agreed to reconsider that decision, but before it could, Kacsmaryk issued a final ruling in January upholding the ban after a trial. That ended the earlier appeal over whether the ban should remain in effect while the case was pending.

Kacsmaryk found that Spectrum had not shown its planned performance was inherently expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment.

He also ruled that Legacy Hall, where Spectrum planned to hold the show, was a limited public forum because university officials screen and approve events held there. That gave administrators more authority to restrict what could take place in the venue, as long as its rules were reasonable and did not discriminate based on viewpoint.

What happened with the Texas A&M System ban?

Texas A&M University System regents voted unanimously in February 2025 to ban drag performances at special-event venues across the system. Regents said the shows were inconsistent with Texas A&M’s mission and values and could create a hostile environment for women by mocking or objectifying them. The resolution also noted that hosting drag shows could be viewed as promoting “gender ideology.” It cited President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order barring federal funds from promoting what he called “gender ideology” and a Jan. 30 letter from Gov. Greg Abbott directing state agencies to follow state and federal law, including Trump’s order.

During Wednesday’s arguments, Cole said the system was not arguing that Draggieland was obscene and did not dispute the council’s assertion that the show would involve no nudity or partial nudity. Morris likewise said obscenity and nudity were not at issue.

In its lawsuit, the Queer Empowerment Council argued the system violated the First Amendment by suppressing student expression because officials considered it objectionable.

Rosenthal temporarily blocked the ban in March 2025. Her ruling allowed Draggieland to go forward at Rudder Theatre in College Station. The system appealed to the Fifth Circuit.

Why did is the full Fifth Circuit hearing both cases?

On May 15, the parties jointly asked the 5th Circuit to have the full court consider the appeals together rather than send each through a separate three-judge panel, arguing they raise the same First Amendment questions and the district judges in the circuit have reached conflicting answers.

The court agreed June 22 and consolidated the cases for oral argument purposes only.

What is the Fifth Circuit deciding?

The 5th Circuit is considering several First Amendment questions that run through both cases.

The first question is whether drag performances themselves are protected expression. The university defendants argue that they are not automatically protected simply because their organizers intend to communicate a message. In the Texas A&M case, they argue the Queer Empowerment Council has not shown that Draggieland conveys a message viewers would readily understand.

The council argues the system’s own justification for its ban undercuts that position. Regents said allowing drag shows on campus could be viewed as promoting “gender ideology.” The council argues that if officials believed drag communicated an ideology, they cannot also maintain that it is not expressive.

The system responds that the possibility that some drag shows could be perceived that way does not prove Draggieland itself communicates a particular message.

The court must also decide how much authority universities have to restrict events in campus venues. While public universities, the defendants argue that the venues at issue are limited public forums where administrators have more latitude to impose reasonable restrictions that do not discriminate based on viewpoint. In the A&M case, the system argues Rudder Theatre qualifies because groups must get university approval to use it.

The council argues Rudder Theatre instead functions as a designated public forum because Texas A&M has opened it to a broad range of events, including Broadway musicals, beauty pageants, concerts, comedy shows and political programs. The group notes the district court found no evidence that administrators previously denied another request to use the theater.

During Wednesday’s arguments, a judge asked Morris whether the students could still prevail if the court agrees with the universities that Rudder Theatre and Legacy Hall are limited public forums.

Morris said yes because even in limited public forums, universities cannot discriminate based on viewpoint. He argued rules based on whether expression is “demeaning,” “mocking” or offensive give administrators too much discretion to judge student speech.

The 5th Circuit is also considering whether the universities’ restrictions are neutral rules about conduct or discriminate against a particular viewpoint. The defendants argue they objected to how the student groups sought to convey their messages through drag performances, not to their support for LGBTQ people. The student groups argue that distinction does not hold because university officials restricted drag precisely because of what they believed the performances expressed.

The court did not say Wednesday when it would rule.

What’s at stake?

After Texas A&M regents adopted their policy, the University of Texas System said its universities could no longer sponsor drag shows or host them in campus facilities, and the University of North Texas later revoked prior approval for a student group’s annual drag show.

The parties in the A&M cases cited both examples in asking the full Fifth Circuit to hear the cases, arguing that universities and students across Texas need clear guidance about when drag performances are protected speech.

In a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Queer Empowerment Council, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and Equality Texas urged the judges to consider the restrictions in the context of broader government scrutiny of drag.

They pointed to Senate Bill 12, which Texas lawmakers passed in 2023 to prohibit certain “sexually oriented performances” on public property where they could reasonably be viewed by children or in the presence of anyone younger than 18. The final law did not explicitly mention drag, although an earlier version of the bill did. A federal judge blocked the law as unconstitutional in 2023. After the 5th Circuit sent the case back for reconsideration and the law briefly took effect this year, the judge again ruled it unconstitutional in August. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state would appeal.

The ACLU and Equality Texas argue the stakes extend beyond drag. They said requiring a performance to convey one clear message before it receives First Amendment protection could threaten other forms of art whose meaning is open to interpretation.

“Requiring a written script for constitutional shelter would expose all improvised comedy, theater, and dance contests — and nearly the entirety of jazz and other music genres — to unbridled government censorship,” they wrote.

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

Disclosure: The Texas A&M University System has been major financial supporters of The Texas Tribune. Open Campus has been a financial supporter within the past five years. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in our journalism. Find a complete list of them and more information about our financial and disclosure policies here.

After Tuesday night's games, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were tied for first place at 78-79. No full-season division champion has ever had a losing record.

In fact, no team has made the postseason with a sub-.500 record, unless you count a trio of participants from years the playoffs were temporarily expanded: In the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Milwaukee and Houston were both 29-31 and made the postseason. In 1981, the Kansas City Royals went 50-53 overall — but they were the AL West's top team in the post-strike second half, meaning they got in.

MLB expanded its postseason to 12 teams in 2022, raising the likelihood that a sub-.500 team would sneak into October at some point. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the American League could have several clubs with losing marks in this year's playoffs. The AL Central's Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox have since reached 81 wins, so that won't happen. But the AL West title race could still yield a losing team.

In honor of that, here are 10 of the weakest teams to make the postseason, listed in chronological order with their records and run differentials in mind. Note that some of them went on lengthy postseason runs — so don't count out the Rangers or Astros just yet.

1973 New York Mets

Record: 82-79 (first in NL East)

Run differential: 20

Postseason: Beat Cincinnati 3-2 in NL Championship Series, lost to Oakland 4-3 in World Series

The rallying cry was “Ya gotta believe!” from reliever Tug McGraw. It wasn't easy when New York was in last place after an Aug. 30 loss, but the Mets went 21-8 the rest of the way to win the division by 1 1/2 games. Tom Seaver (19-10, 2.08 ERA, 18 complete games) was still at the peak of his powers, and New York held the Reds to eight runs in five games in the NLCS — a series best remembered for a brawl involving Bud Harrelson and Pete Rose. The Mets led the World Series 3-2 and had Seaver starting Game 6, but they couldn't close out the Athletics.

1984 Kansas City Royals

Record: 84-78 (first in AL West)

Run differential: minus-13

Postseason: Lost to Detroit 3-0 in ALCS

The Royals were 11 games under .500 in the middle of July, but they did enough to win the AL West. George Brett hit .284 — his worst average in a 14-year span from 1975-88 — and he was one of just two All-Stars on the team. The other was Dan Quisenberry, who had 44 saves while throwing 129 1/3 innings. He finished second in the Cy Young race behind fellow reliever Willie Hernández of the Tigers. Although Kansas City took the division almost by default in '84, the Royals improved to 91 wins the following year and won the World Series.

1987 Minnesota Twins

Record: 85-77 (first in AL West)

Run differential: minus-20

Postseason: Beat Detroit 4-1 in ALCS, beat St. Louis 4-3 in World Series

Frank Viola was the star of a pitching staff that otherwise offered little — aside from a trio of big names on the downside of their careers. Bert Blyleven allowed 46 home runs, Joe Niekro posted a 6.26 ERA and Steve Carlton made seven largely woeful starts for this Minnesota team. The Twins could hit, though. Kirby Puckett was third in the MVP race, while Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunansky each surpassed 30 homers. Home-field advantage wasn't determined by record back then, so Minnesota had it in the ALCS despite finishing 13 games behind the Tigers, and again in the World Series after being 10 games worse than the Cardinals. The Twins went 6-0 at the Metrodome in the postseason.

1995 Colorado Rockies

Record: 77-67 (second in NL West, wild card)

Run differential: 2

Postseason: Lost 3-1 to Atlanta in NL Division Series

The first wild card in National League history was this Colorado team in a season shortened by the end of the 1994-95 work stoppage. The Rockies' ERA of 4.97 is the worst of the live ball era by a postseason team in a non-DH league. Colorado made up for that, not surprisingly, by leading the NL in runs. Dante Bichette led the league in home runs and RBIs and finished third in batting average.

2005 San Diego Padres

Record: 82-80 (first in NL West)

Run differential: minus-42

Postseason: Lost 3-0 to St. Louis in NLDS

Jake Peavy and a Trevor Hoffman-led bullpen helped San Diego reach the playoffs, but this team never looked the part. The Padres scored the fourth-fewest runs in all of baseball, and their starters went 52-60 with a 4.49 ERA. In the postseason, San Diego never had the lead at any point against the 100-win Cardinals. Game 1 was 8-0 after six innings, Game 2 was 6-1 after seven, and Game 3 was 7-0 after 4 1/2.

2006 St. Louis Cardinals

Record: 83-78 (first in NL Central)

Run differential: 19

Postseason: Beat San Diego 3-1 in NLDS, beat New York Mets 4-3 in NLCS, beat Detroit 4-1 in World Series

The Cardinals won at least 95 games four times under Tony La Russa, but their best postseason success came as a wild card in 2011 and with this team five years earlier. St. Louis nearly blew a seven-game lead in the division in the final two weeks of the regular season, but a roster with Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Chris Carpenter and a young reliever named Adam Wainwright always had a chance to get hot. Yadier Molina's homer — and Wainwright's strikeout of Carlos Beltrán — gave the Cardinals the pennant in an epic series with the Mets.

2017 Minnesota Twins

Record: 85-77 (second in AL Central, second wild card)

Run differential: 27

Postseason: Lost to New York Yankees in wild card game

After 103 losses in 2016, the Twins were in first place for a little while before eventually capturing the AL's final postseason spot and losing 8-4 to the Yankees. Byron Buxton played 140 games, the most of his career to date, and Brian Dozier hit 34 home runs. Joe Mauer had moved to first base by this point but was still quite good at the plate, batting .305. Ervin Santana led the rotation in his last good major league season. This team certainly wasn't great, but it was good enough in an AL that produced only five teams above .500.

2023 Miami Marlins

Record: 84-78 (third in NL East, second wild card)

Run differential: minus-57

Postseason: Lost to Philadelphia 2-0 in NL Wild Card Series

The Marlins posted the worst run differential to date by a postseason team — this year's Astros are currently at minus-59 — but Miami went 33-14 in one-run games. The pitching staff with Sandy Alcantara, Eury Pérez, Jesús Luzardo and Braxton Garrett helped Miami into the playoffs. Of the Marlins' top 12 players in plate appearances, seven of them finished with negative wins above replacement, according to Baseball Reference. The offense was basically batting champ Luis Arraez, designated hitter Jorge Soler and not much else. Miami lost 93 games the year before this playoff appearance and 100 the year after.

2023 Arizona Diamondbacks

Record: 84-78 (second in NL West, third wild card)

Run differential: minus-15

Postseason: Beat Milwaukee 2-0 in NLWCS, beat Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 in NLDS, beat Philadelphia 4-3 in NLCS, lost to Texas 4-1 in World Series

Just get in and anything can happen. These Diamondbacks were one of the best examples of that. Arizona started August with nine straight losses to fall below .500, but after doing enough to make the playoffs, they swept two division champions and then won the last two games of the NLCS on the road to capture the second pennant in franchise history. Arizona had a negative run differential in the regular season and was also outscored 30-21 in that series against the Phillies. It didn't matter.

2025 Cincinnati Reds

Record: 83-79 (third in NL Central, third wild card)

Run differential: 35

Postseason: Lost to Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0 in NLWCS

The Reds had a respectable run differential but little star power aside from Elly De La Cruz and the often-injured Hunter Greene. Cincinnati beat out the Mets on a tiebreaker for the NL's final postseason spot — seven games behind the No. 2 wild card — and then made a quick exit. The Reds' best month was 15-11 and their worst was 12-15. Simply avoiding any extended slumps was enough to make the playoffs.

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See AP’s full MLB coverage here

The measure cleared the upper house 81-51 with seven abstentions. It marks a major step in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s drive to bolster energy security and meet climate goals, even though the construction of possible new reactors is still years away.

The bill, which earlier passed the lower Chamber of Deputies, establishes a legal framework for next-generation nuclear technologies. It authorizes the government to draft implementing decrees over the next 12 months covering reactor licensing, safety standards, waste management and criteria for future sites.

The vote puts Italy on a path toward reintroducing nuclear power after voters twice rejected it in national referendums, first in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and again following Japan’s Fukushima accident in 2011.

Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, minister for the environment and energy security, said the vote marked a historic step forward for Italy.

“Nuclear isn't a return to the past," he said. “When integrated with renewables, it's a winning technology, which can give extraordinary results for our energy security.”

Italy seeks energy security in resuming nuclear

Meloni’s government argues that rising electricity demand, climate targets and energy security concerns exposed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine justify bringing nuclear energy back into the country’s power mix.

Rather than reviving the large reactors of the past, the government is focusing on small modular reactors, or SMRs, and other advanced technologies that supporters say could be safer, more flexible and quicker to build.

The legislation does not authorize the construction of any reactors. Instead, it creates the regulatory foundation needed before future projects can be proposed, assessed and approved.

Italy was once among Europe’s nuclear pioneers, operating four reactors before a 1987 referendum effectively ended the program. Since then, the country has relied heavily on imported energy and has become one of Europe’s largest consumers of electricity generated by nuclear plants in neighboring countries.

The government says electricity demand could rise substantially in coming years as homes, businesses and transportation become increasingly electrified and as data centers and other energy-intensive technologies expand.

Broader acceptance of nuclear energy is growing

Italy’s move comes amid a broader European debate over nuclear power’s role in cutting carbon emissions and reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels. Countries including France and Poland are investing in new nuclear projects or planning major expansions.

Public attitudes in Italy appear to have shifted. A June 2026 survey by research firm Only Numbers found that about 55% of Italians support next-generation nuclear plants, with backing strongest among younger generations who have no direct memory of Chernobyl.

Even so, significant obstacles remain before any reactors could be built.

Italy still lacks a permanent national repository for radioactive waste from its previous nuclear program, with waste continuing to be stored at temporary facilities around the country. Future reactor projects and waste storage sites are also expected to face opposition from local communities.

Energy analysts have questioned the economics of nuclear power, pointing to high construction costs and the lack of commercially proven SMR projects operating at scale in Europe. Industry estimates place the cost of a single 300-megawatt SMR at between 3 billion and 6 billion euros ($3.5 billion and $7 billion), excluding additional infrastructure and grid expenses.

Environment groups Greenpeace Italy, WWF Italia, the Kyodo Club and Legambiente called the legislation an “empty box filled with false promises” that went against the will of Italian voters in past referendums.

“Nuclear power does not solve any of the many problems Italy currently faces, in the midst of its second energy crisis in the last four years,” the groups said in a joint statement.

New reactors still a long way off

Michele Governatori, a senior energy adviser at climate and energy think tank ECCO, welcomed the creation of a regulatory framework but said it would likely expose limited private-sector appetite for new nuclear projects.

“Having a regulatory framework in place is positive, but it will also make clear the limited interest of private investors in technologies that are either not competitive today or not yet ready, such as SMRs,” he said.

Governatori also said that Italy should focus on measures already available to cut energy costs and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, including electrification, energy efficiency, renewable energy, storage capacity and power-grid upgrades.

Environmental groups and opposition parties have already signaled resistance to the government’s plans and could challenge future projects once specific reactor and waste-storage sites are proposed.

The 22-year-old man, Andrea Moretti, specialized in working at altitude on ropes. He had been installing cabling for the project that was expected to be completed next month and died inside the Colosseum, the archaeological site's press office said.

Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the government was deeply shocked and saddened by the death and called for the cause to be determined as quickly as possible.

“Dying at the age of 22 is unacceptable — even more so when it happens in the workplace,” she said in a statement.

Authorities are working to determine the circumstances of Moretti's death, the park's statement said. A separate statement late Wednesday said the park would remain closed on Thursday to mourn Moretti and in solidarity with his family.

Representatives of Italy's main union, CGIL, were on site after the death to request information about Moretti's employer and contract and said that closing the monument was the least Rome authorities could do to honor his memory.

The Colosseum attracted 14.7 million visitors in 2024, according to Culture Ministry statistics. It topped the list of Italy's most-visited monuments, followed by Florence's Uffizi Galleries and the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

The Colosseum's closure on Wednesday caught thousands of tourists who had bought tickets and tours in advance by surprise. But many said they appreciated the gesture.

Colosseum authorities had allowed the first morning tours to go ahead as planned, with just the Colosseum's second tier closed. But they then closed the entire monument to visitors after the first group had exited.

Rachel Townsand, a tourist from New Zealand, said that she was disappointed.

“But then after looking up what’s happened, then it’s understandable,” she said.

The defiant speech by President Masoud Pezeshkian marked a striking instance of a foreign leader addressing the world body while their country is at war with the host nation. While defending his country, Pezeshkian held up large photos of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the more than 150 Iranian schoolchildren killed on the first days of the war.

“We have only defended ourselves. We are not terrorists,” Pezeshkian said at the General Assembly. “Our innocent people have been the targets of cowardly attacks and aggressions imposed upon our country. And we defended ourselves with utmost strength. America and Israel attacked us.”

He added of the United States: “Yes they did hit us, but we did not bend the knee.” Toward the end of his speech, Pezeshkian called out Trump by name.

“It must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force,” he said.

Shortly after, both U.S. and Israeli officials blasted the speech, saying that it was hypocritical for the Islamic Republic to present itself as the victims of the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters: “I don’t know what standing Iran has to lecture anyone on human rights or the international system when they habitually violate it.”

A busy 24 hours for US-Iran relations

Arriving in New York under heavy security and scrutiny, Pezeshkian — who, within Iran’s political landscape, is considered a moderate politician — addressed world leaders a day after Trump used the same stage to mull whether to massively escalate a war that has already spiraled out of control.

“I have a big decision to make,” Trump said in his wide-ranging address Tuesday. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world. Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?”

Hours after those stunning threats, Trump told reporters that his chief envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, met for about three hours with the Iranian officials on the sidelines of the annual gathering. But he offered few details about how the discussions transpired or the substance of the exchange.

“It was a very good meeting,” Trump said. The president later added that the Iranian officials were “not the highest level, but it’s something.” Also on Tuesday, Rubio said Trump is open to meeting with Pezeshkian while he’s in New York.

But Tehran downplayed Tuesday's unscheduled exchange, which were the first indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials since a June ceasefire unraveled. Esmail Baghaei, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, maintained the country's negotiating position in talks with U.S. officials, demanding that Washington end its blockade of Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets,

Baghaei said the talks — conducted indirectly through Qatari mediators — were “not anything new.”

Rubio echoed that sentiment Wednesday, saying that “it was a continuation of conversations that have occurred in the past.”

“If there’s an opportunity to exchange ideas and messages, we will. And that’s what largely yesterday was — it was positive in that regard," he said. "But ultimately, I don’t want to mischaracterize this as a major breakthrough."

More than a year of negotiations have taken place

Pezeshkian's address elaborated on where Tehran stands as more than a year of start-stop negotiations between the two longtime adversaries have failed to produce a sustainable solution. His speech came as intermittent attacks continued in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran’s coast, where commercial shipping remained below prewar levels.

His address last year came months after the 12-day Israel-Iran war that saw the assassination of many of the Islamic Republic’s highest military and political leaders and once again broke down weeks of negotiations with the United States.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you all bore witness that this past June, my country was subjected to a savage aggression and flagrant contravention of the most elementary principles of international law,” Pezeshkian said at the time.

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Associated Press Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in New York contributed to this story.

The ruling was hailed as a major victory by advocates who have fought for years for air conditioning in prisons across Texas, where summer heat routinely soars above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius).

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman said in the 150-page order that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice must immediately begin developing a plan for the installations. He ruled that a lack of air conditioning violates the constitutional right to not be given “cruel and unusual punishments.”

“Witnesses in this case who had been incarcerated in un-air-conditioned Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisons described themselves and their fellow inmates getting sick, passing out, and reaching a level of desperation to cool off that made it ‘common’ to splash toilet water on themselves,” Pitman wrote in the ruling. “These are not humane conditions.”

The ruling said that the state prison agency has estimated that systemwide air conditioning would cost about $1.5 billion.

The state prison agency said Tuesday that it will appeal the court’s decision, adding that it has “robust heat mitigation efforts in place” and is already committed to installing air conditioning in units. The agency said its number of air-conditioned beds has increased from 35,000 in 2018 to an expected 60,000 by the end of this year, and that the number will reach 90,000 in 2028.

Texas has about 143,000 people in prisons across the state.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2023 by Bernie Tiede, the former mortician serving a life sentence whose murder case inspired the movie “Bernie.” Several prisoners’ rights groups then asked to join his legal fight and expand it.

In 2025, Pitman found that the extreme heat in Texas’ prisons was “plainly unconstitutional,” but declined at that time to order the state to immediately start installing air conditioning. The case then went to trial earlier this year.

The ruling said the agency has acknowledged that 23 people died in its facilities from heat-related causes between 1998 and 2012, and that the agency acknowledged three additional heat-related deaths in 2023. The judge wrote in the order that plaintiffs also presented “credible evidence” of additional deaths from 2023 to 2025 that were at least in part caused by heat.

Amite Dominick, founder and president of Texas Prisons Community Advocates, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the ruling “made clear that the state cannot keep treating human lives as a budget line.”

“We will be watching every deadline in this order,” Dominick said.

From Texas to Ohio and Alaska to Iowa, campaigns are grappling with a fed-up electorate that is sour on the president and angry over soaring fuel prices driven by an unpopular war. While Republicans are flush with unprecedented cash that could move the needle in some races, overall the mood is glum heading into the election's final stretch as campaigns try to counter palpable Democratic enthusiasm to maintain their narrow lead in the House and Senate this November.

“Everybody is tired. You see the poll numbers. Everybody is cranky about gas prices,” said Jeanette Hoffman, a Republican strategist from New Jersey. “The party in power is playing defense. This is a referendum on the incumbents.”

Trump is trying to protect Republicans with cash

After mounting pressure from endangered candidates in battleground states, groups affiliated with President Donald Trump finally began unleashing their stockpile of campaign cash earlier this month, joining with Republican committees that have amassed a record fortune that dramatically eclipses their Democratic counterparts.

“Republicans have air superiority. House Democrats are scrambling to catch up with the very limited resources they have,” said Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

But the spending underscores the extent to which Republicans are playing defense.

Three Trump-aligned groups — MAGA Inc., No Going Back PAC and Safety and Affordability PAC — have spent more than $163 million on advertising and air time since Sept. 1. Nearly 40% of that money — more than $63 million — has been spent in states and districts where Trump won by 10 percentage points or more in the 2024 election, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from AdImpact, which tracks media spending and ad buys.

That includes 12 House districts and three states with major Senate races.

In Texas, Republicans have spent nearly $107 million on ads and reservations since the beginning of the month trying to bolster scandal-plagued attorney general Ken Paxton in his Texas Senate race against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico. The spending, which is for ads through Election Day, is nearly four times as much as Democrats in a state Trump won by nearly 14 points.

Further north in Ohio, Republican spending to defend Sen. Jon Husted has exceeded $152 million, compared with $90 million on behalf of Democratic nominee Sherrod Brown, according to AdImpact.

Terry Casey, an Ohio Republican strategist, said both Republicans and Democrats are "kind of sitting on pins and needles because of the national and economic circumstances.” The outcome, he said, would depend on whether Democrats can turn out voters.

Democrats are competing in Republican strongholds

States that Trump won by wide margins — like Texas, Iowa, Ohio and Alaska — have become some of the most competitive battlegrounds in the midterms.

The White House is even investing time in states that haven't been considered competitive for years. Vice President JD Vance recently traveled to Kansas to campaign for Sen. Roger Marshall, who is facing a challenge from Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.

The founder of the nation’s largest United Methodist church, Hamilton received a rousing welcome from scores of people who crammed into a Topeka coffee shop to see him Tuesday.

“In all my 50, 60 years in politics, I’ve never seen a candidate that quite has the momentum going,” said Jim Ploger, an 82-year-old longtime Democratic activist from Topeka who believes Hamilton gives the party “the best chance we’ve ever had” to win a Senate seat.

Vance has also been to Iowa, Ohio, Maine and North Carolina to bolster Republican candidates, while Trump is also hitting the road. The week after the party's unusual midterm convention in Dallas, he traveled to North Carolina to hold a rally with Michael Whatley, his former national party chairman. Republicans are increasingly concerned that he could fall short in his Senate race against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper.

There are more concerns about Georgia, where Rep. Mike Collins is trying to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. Although Ossoff began the cycle as Republicans' top target, Collins has endured weeks of negative headlines about a House ethics investigation and his son-in-law's white nationalist views.

“I don’t think anyone’s expecting Collins to win,” said Tim Waters, chairman of the Peach County Republican Party. “Do I like that? No, I don’t like that. But it’s just the facts.”

In Texas, officials are hoping a huge influx of last-minute cash will help save Paxton. Sen. John Cornyn, who lost his primary to Paxton after Trump turned on him earlier this year, isn't so confident.

“I think it’s going to be very rough, lots of headwinds,” he said. “Even in places like Texas, which are pretty red, we’ve got flawed candidates who I think are going to have a hard time.”

Republican National Committee spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said the party is focused on turnout and is well aware of the historic trend in which the party in control typically loses seats in the midterm.

“We have money to spend and we’re not taking anything for granted this cycle," she said. “This is very high stakes, and it's unfortunate that other people feel glum and down. But we’re doing everything we can to protect and expand our majorities so we’re full steam ahead.”

Party officials are more bullish on races in Maine and New Hampshire, where Democrat Kamala Harris won in 2024, and remain optimistic about Michigan, where Trump won by less than two points and where former Rep. Mike Rogers faces progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed.

Some Republicans call for an end to the war

Some Republicans are taking steps to distance themselves from Trump even as he urges his supporters to vote like he is on the ballot.

Rep. Tom Tiffany and Rep. John James, the party's nominees for governor in Wisconsin and Michigan, both joined calls for an end to the war in Iran.

"War is terrible, and no one likes war,” James told reporters.

Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate nominee in Michigan, released an ad in which he also called for ending the war. Standing in a grocery store, he bemoaned high prices and said the government should suspend gas taxes and stop diesel exports.

“The war with Iran needs to end and end quickly,” Rogers said. ”Michigan families can’t afford to wait.”

In Iowa, where Republicans are trying to hold onto the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Joni Ernst, Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is locked in a tight race against Democrat Josh Turek, voiced the same frustrations.

“Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran” she wrote on social media. “These actions to lower costs are needed ASAP, and the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”

Hinson, however, did not join two fellow Iowa Republicans in battleground districts — U.S. Reps. Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — in voting with Democrats on a resolution intended to halt Trump’s ability to continue military action without lawmakers’ approval.

Perhaps the most dramatic break with Trump came from Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican defending her seat in a competitive, majority Hispanic South Florida district. Last week, she released an ad filmed in front of the White House as she criticized the president for going “too far” on immigration policy.

Others have continued to scrub references to Trump from their websites. The latest was Republican Byron Donalds, who is running for governor in Florida, who recently revamped his site so that it no longer includes a number of prominent references to Trump and his endorsement, the Miami Herald first reported.

‘It’s a very competitive environment out there'

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump “is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party” and that "the choice has never been more clear: doubling down on President Trump’s winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats’ extreme liberal policies and obstruction.”

Some Republicans are acknowledging that voters aren't satisfied.

“We shouldn’t say, ‘Hey everything’s perfect,’ because it’s not," said Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio. "But look what we’ve done in 18 months, and we need two more years to finish the job.”

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana, who has traveled across the country campaigning for his colleagues, said Democrats appeared to have enthusiasm on their side in the midterms, and he said his party needed to level with the country.

“You can’t look the American people in the eye and say, ‘Don’t believe your lying checkbooks,’” he said. “The cost of living increase is real.”

He also said that voters are “confused about the war” and “they don't understand how we're going to get out.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was measured in his assessment on Tuesday.

“Well, I’m hopeful, obviously, but also realistic," he said. “It’s a very competitive environment out there.”

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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pa., Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, John Hanna in Topeka, Kan., and Lisa Mascaro, Mary Clare Jalonick, Steven Sloan and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed to this report.

• Harris County approves largest property tax hike in county history. Here’s what homeowners could pay

DeAnna Green, CEO and real estate broker with the Nydan Group, said many first-time buyers are being priced out of the market after the housing boom that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Homes were receiving multiple offers, while property taxes and other costs continued to rise. Green said some builders have also shifted toward master-planned communities that are being converted into rental properties, limiting the number of affordable homes available to buyers.

Start with a lender

For people thinking about buying a home, Green recommends starting with a lender, not a realtor.

A lender can review a buyer’s credit, debt-to-income ratio and available resources to determine how much the buyer can realistically afford.

“The first step is you really need to go and meet with the lender,” Green said. “That’s going to dictate what you’re actually going to be able to afford and what areas you can afford.”

Green said buyers should focus less on how much house they want and more on what monthly payment fits their budget.

Real estate investing options

When it comes to investing Green says people interested in real estate investing should first determine how much capital they have and what level of risk and involvement, they are prepared to take on.

For those without significant capital, wholesaling may be one potential entry point. That involves finding a property and connecting the seller with a buyer, typically for a fee.

Investors with more capital may consider fix-and-flip projects, while others may explore rental properties or “house hacking” living in one unit of a duplex, triplex or fourplex while renting out the remaining space.

Green said anyone entering real estate investing should work with an experienced mentor.

Families pool resources

As housing costs rise, some families are combining their resources to purchase property together.

Green recently worked with a family that pooled its income to buy a home large enough for multiple generations. The property also had enough land to potentially add a small home in the future.

Green said buying property with relatives can help families manage housing costs while creating a path toward generational wealth.

• CenterPoint rates, profits and power outages: What Houston-area customers are paying for

Assistance programs available

Houston-area buyers may qualify for programs such as NACA, down payment assistance and housing initiatives through the City of Houston.

Green said buyers should work with a qualified lender and Realtor to understand the eligibility requirements and determine which program best fits their situation.

“Some of those programs may look and sound good right now, but once that buyer gets into the mix, they may realize that’s not the right one,” Green said. “A lender and a qualified Realtor will help guide them.”

• RELATED: 5-year-old girl killed in apparent road rage shooting in northwest Harris County, HCSO says

Authorities say they responded to the shooting at approximately 11:30 p.m. on the 11800 block of Grant Road, near Jones Road. The girl was struck by gunfire and flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

• Man charged with capital murder in killing of 5-year-old in Cypress

Mother was driving home from her mom’s house

Monica Hicks says she was driving home from her mother’s house when someone opened fire on her car near the corner of Grant Road and Jones Road.

“My daughter’s name was Zah’Layah. She was the light of my life. That was my baby,” Hicks said.

• “Our hearts are shattered”: Family asks for help to lay Zah’Layah to rest

Hicks says her car was shot at least five times before she realized what had happened.

“I didn’t hear a loud gunshot, but I heard like a (whizzing sound). And by that time, my back window shattered. All my kids in the back seat were screaming, and they continued to shoot in my car. And I did not know my daughter was hit until I pulled into my apartment,” she said.

• Harris County sheriff says flock cameras helped find suspect in 5-year-old girl’s killing

Children traumatized after witnessing sister’s death

Two other children in the vehicle suffered injuries from shattered glass. Hicks says the experience has left her children deeply traumatized.

“All of my children were there, and they witnessed their sister like this on the floor, and they are traumatized,” she said.

Hicks says she has not been able to rest since the shooting.

“It is so sad that on my way home to safety, me and my kids were basically gunned down,” she said. “I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy.”

Car described as older white four-door Ford

Deputies responded to the Estates at Cypress apartment complex in the 11800 block of Grant Road. Hicks says the car that approached them was an older white four-door Ford.

“From the looks of it, they were shooting in my car before they got to my car because there’s a bullet hole literally by my gas tank. There’s bullet holes all in the side of my car, and there’s like a bullet hole inside of the headrest of the passengers of my car,” Hicks said.

She says she never saw who was driving.

“There’s tinted windows, but like I said, I couldn’t see who was driving because all I seen was the passenger window down,” she said.

Investigation ongoing, no suspects in custody

Harris County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Adriel Hinojosa said this could have been a possible road rage incident, and that they are currently investigating. There are no suspects in custody at this time.

Hicks says she has no idea what would motivate someone to do this.

If you have information, contact the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at 713-221-6000 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

Authorities say they responded to the shooting at approximately 11:30 p.m. on the 11800 block of Grant Road, near Jones Road. The girl was struck by gunfire and flown to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Mother was driving home from her mom’s house

Monica Hicks says she was driving home from her mother’s house when someone opened fire on her car near the corner of Grant Road and Jones Road.

“My daughter’s name was Zah’Layah. She was the light of my life. That was my baby,” Hicks said.

Hicks says her car was shot at multiple times before she realized what had happened.

“I didn’t hear a loud gunshot, but I heard like a (sound). And by that time, my back window shattered. All my kids in the back seat were screaming, and they continued to shoot in my car. And I did not know my daughter was hit until I pulled into my apartment,” she said.

Arrest made in fatal shooting

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted on X Sunday night that an arrest was made in the case. The suspect is 47-year-old Jeremy Porter. He is charged with Capital Murder.

The Sheriff stated, “Our hearts remain with Zah’Layah’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

He also added that Automated License Plate Reader cameras “played an important role in the investigation.”

Arrest Update:

Jeremy Porter (DOB 3/18/79) has been arrested and charged with Capital Murder in connection with the shooting death of 5-year-old Zah’Layah Walter.

The roadway shooting occurred last night (9/19/26) on Grant Road near Jones Road.

Porter was taken into custody… pic.twitter.com/SuTTCS8PTw

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) September 21, 2026

Children traumatized after witnessing sister’s death

Two other children in the vehicle suffered injuries from shattered glass. Hicks says the experience has left her children deeply traumatized.

“All of my children were there, and they witnessed their sister like this on the floor, and they are traumatized,” she said.

Hicks says she has not been able to rest since the shooting.

“It is so sad that on my way home to safety, me and my kids were basically gunned down,” she said.

“I wouldn’t wish this pain on my worst enemy.”

Deputies responded to the Estates at Cypress apartment complex on the 11800 block of Grant Road. Hicks says the car that approached them was an older white four-door pick-up truck.

“There’s bullet holes all in the side of my car, and there’s like a bullet hole inside of the headrest of the passengers of my car,” Hicks said.

She says she never saw who was driving.

“There’s tinted windows, but like I said, I couldn’t see who was driving because all I seen was the passenger window down,” she said.

• 17-year-old charged with capital murder in fatal shooting of man who chased robbery suspects, court records show

ENOUGH tracks power outage frequency month by month, so you can see what is happening in your ZIP code and how the numbers have changed over time.

CHECK YOUR ZIP CODE: ENOUGH Houston Power Outage Tracker

August brought another jump in outage activity

Here’s just a portion of what the latest data shows:

• In the Tomball area, ZIP code 77375, outage activity jumped from 4.846 in July to 5.714 in August.
• In the Cypress area, ZIP code 77433, it increased from 2.600 to 3.800.
• In north Houston, ZIP code 77086, outage activity jumped from 1.000 to 4.143.
• In the Fort Bend County area, ZIP code 77476, the reading decreased from a July peak of 7.111 to 5.056 in August — but remained elevated.

The August reading for 77375 was the highest in that ZIP code during the 13 months ENOUGH is tracking. The same is true for 77433.

RELATED: CenterPoint rates, profits and power outages: What Houston-area customers are paying for

See the trend in your ZIP code

The ENOUGH tracker uses outage-frequency data from Ting, a third-party company that monitors power interruptions through a network of sensors.

The numbers are not a percentage of customers who lost power. Instead, they are outage-frequency readings that allow communities to be compared over time.

Higher numbers indicate more frequent outage activity in the data.

Tomball area — ZIP code 77375

The 77375 ZIP code in the Tomball area saw outage activity remain relatively low through much of the spring before a sharp summer increase.

The reading was just 0.071 in March and 0.143 in April.

It then climbed to 1.077 in May, 1.000 in June, 4.846 in July and 5.714 in August.

August was the highest reading recorded for 77375 in the data ENOUGH is tracking.

Cypress area — ZIP code 77433

The 77433 ZIP code in the Cypress area also saw a sharp summer increase.

The reading was 0 in April, then climbed to 0.889 in May, 1.200 in June, 2.600 in July and 3.800 in August.

August was the highest reading for 77433 during the 13-month period.

North Houston — ZIP code 77086

In north Houston’s 77086 ZIP code, outage activity jumped dramatically in August.

The reading went from 1.000 in July to 4.143 in August.

The area also saw elevated readings earlier in the year, including 3.000 in April and 2.833 in May.

Fort Bend County area — ZIP code 77476

The 77476 ZIP code in the Fort Bend County area is showing a different pattern.

Outage activity reached 7.111 in July, the highest monthly reading among these four ZIP codes.

It fell to 5.056 in August, but that was still higher than most of the readings recorded during the previous year.

The ZIP code also recorded elevated readings in May at 5.421 and June at 2.778.

This isn’t the first time Houston has seen outage hot spots

ENOUGH’s tracking began after residents repeatedly raised concerns about frequent power interruptions.

In August 2025, Ting data identified several Houston-area outage hot spots.

Among them were parts of Pecan Grove and Harvest Green in Fort Bend County’s 77406 ZIP code, the Walters and Spears Road area in north Harris County’s 77014 ZIP code, the JFK and Aldine Bender area in 77032, Eagle Heights in Chambers County’s 77523 and the Klein-area Cutten Green neighborhood in 77066.

At the time, Ting reported some neighborhoods experiencing outage frequencies many times higher than the national average.

CenterPoint disputed how those numbers represented system performance, saying its data measures interruptions on the utility’s side of the meter, while Ting can detect events behind the meter as well.

That distinction is important when looking at the ENOUGH tracker.

Outages improved — then the numbers climbed again.

The latest numbers come after a period when Houston-area outage activity improved.

CenterPoint reported that its own outage numbers fell in 2025, and KPRC previously reported on that improvement as the utility entered 2026.

But by spring and summer 2026, the Ting data showed significant increases in some communities.

May was a particularly notable month. Ting data showed Houston had the highest outage frequency among U.S. cities that month, according to KPRC’s previous reporting.

Then came the summer increases now visible in the ENOUGH tracker.

CenterPoint says it is investing heavily in the grid

CenterPoint says it has been making major investments to improve reliability through its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative.

As of July 2026, CenterPoint said it had installed more than 75,500 stronger poles, cleared more than 13,000 miles of higher-risk vegetation, undergrounded more than 850 miles of power lines and installed more than 750 automation and intelligent grid-switching devices.

The company says those improvements are intended to reduce the frequency and duration of outages and help the system withstand severe weather.

CenterPoint’s own community progress tracker was updated with data through Aug. 31, 2026.

CenterPoint has also said it evaluates reliability over longer periods rather than judging its system based on one month of outage data.

Why can the numbers look different?

Two key data sources explain the difference.

Ting uses a network of sensors to detect power interruptions, including events that can happen inside a customer’s home or business.

CenterPoint measures interruptions on the utility’s system — what the company describes as the equipment on its side of the meter.

CenterPoint has previously said this difference can result in Ting reporting more interruptions than CenterPoint’s own system data in some ZIP codes.

That doesn’t make either number a substitute for the other. They measure different things.

The ENOUGH tracker is designed to show the pattern in outage activity over time, while also giving residents a way to see how their community compares with others.

What should you do if your neighborhood keeps losing power?

Start by checking the pattern.

Check your ZIP code in the ENOUGH tracker and look back month by month.

If you see repeated spikes, keep track of your own outages, including:

• The date and time your power went out
• How long the outage lasted
• Whether the outage was momentary or extended
• Whether your neighbors experienced the same problem
• Any flickering, surges or other electrical issues

CenterPoint’s official outage tracker can provide current outage information, estimated restoration information and a way to report an outage.

ENOUGH is keeping watch

Power reliability isn’t just about whether the lights are on right now.

It’s about whether residents can count on the grid day after day — especially after CenterPoint has made major investments aimed at improving reliability.

That’s why ENOUGH will continue tracking the data.

Check your ZIP code. See what’s happening in your neighborhood. And tell us what you’re experiencing.

Check the ENOUGH power outage tracker

CHECK YOUR ZIP CODE AND CHECK THE LATEST OUTAGE DATA

If your neighborhood is experiencing repeated outages, flickering power or other reliability problems, send your questions to ENOUGH.

Outage data is sourced from Ting Labs. The data measures power interruption activity detected through its network and is different from CenterPoint Energy’s utility-reported outage data.

Kylian Mbappé, Lamine Yamal and Harry Kane in action again before the Ballon d'Or is announced.

Cristiano Ronaldo's relentless pursuit of 1,000 career goals and Erling Haaland, no doubt, doing Erling Haaland things.

International soccer is back after the World Cup and soccer's biggest stars are ready to do it all again.

Messi, who announced his retirement from the national team this month, is slated to make his farewell with one last appearance in the Oct. 6 friendly game against Benin in Buenos Aires.

The man many regard as the greatest player ever was in tears after Argentina relinquished its World Cup title with a 1-0 loss to Spain in the final at MetLife Stadium. His dream of winning back-to-back tournaments and emulating Brazil great Pele ended in bitter defeat. At the age of 39, it was widely expected it would be his final tilt on soccer's biggest stage.

Messi's retirement came as little surprise — even after his outstanding performances at the World Cup — and a farewell in front of his home fans will give him the opportunity to bow out in style.

The president of the Argentine Football Association, Claudio Tapia, said it would be “the farewell he deserves.”

Ballon d'Or contenders

While Messi is saying his goodbyes, the next generation of stars are fiercely competing to take his place as the world's best.

Mbappé, Yamal and Kane are among the favorites to win the Ballon d'Or, which is based on performances up to and including the World Cup.

But this international window is another opportunity for those frontrunners to show their talents. Messi is also among the nominees.

The rivalry between Mbappé and Yamal echoes Messi's great battles with Ronaldo.

With Mbappé at Real Madrid and Yamal at Barcelona, it pits Spain's two most famous and successful clubs against each other once again in the race for the Ballon d'Or.

For more than a decade it was Messi of Barcelona and Ronaldo of Madrid who turned soccer's biggest individual award into what seemed like a personal duel.

Yamal, who won the World Cup with Spain as well as the Spanish title with Barcelona, is still just 19 years old and already considered among the best.

“When you’re talking about so many great players, ultimately, people look at things like: ‘Well, this one is better than that one, but maybe the other guy won this or that trophy.’ The advantage I have is that I managed to win the World Cup this year, and naturally, that gives me an edge. I think that’s logical," he told L’Equipe.

Mbappe did not win a second World Cup, but he did set a new record as the highest scorer in tournament history with 22 goals.

As for Kane, he was awarded the golden shoe as Europe's top scorer last season and has continued that form with six goals in seven appearances this term.

England plays world champion Spain at Wembley in the Nations League on Saturday.

France plays for the first time under new head coach Zinedine Zidane with the pick of its games coming against Italy in the Nations League Oct. 2.

Ronaldo's pursuit

He may have missed out on his last chance to win the World Cup, but Ronaldo's pursuit of another landmark achievement goes on.

The Saudi Pro League announced his 979th career goal earlier this month and the Portugal great is edging ever closer to the 1,000-mark. He would be the first player to officially hit that total.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo was included in Portugal’s squad by new coach Jorge Jesus for its upcoming Nations League games.

Another player relentlessly chasing down goals is Haaland, who made new fans around the world with his performances and social media antics at the World Cup. He has started this season in devastating form with seven goals in his last five games to help Manchester City to a 100% winning run.

Superstar coaches

The star appeal will not be limited to the pitch. A raft of coaching changes have seen some of the biggest names in soccer take over national teams.

Three-time Champions League-winning coach Zidane has succeeded Didier Deschamps with France. Liverpool icon Jurgen Klopp is in charge of Germany after another early exit from the World Cup.

They join serial winning coaches like Carlo Ancelotti (Brazil) and Thomas Tuchel (England) by leaving the club game for international soccer.

Zidane is the only coach to win three straight Champions League titles and France will hope he can be just as successful with the national team.

Klopp answered Germany's SOS after it failed to reach the last 16 of a men’s World Cup for the third time in a row. But he delivered a spiky news conference when unveiled in July — immediately threatening to resign.

He said he would be prepared to leave without any severance pay if it doesn’t work out, or if criticism becomes overwhelming, and said he would resign if the media doesn’t “leave my family in peace.”

One coaching great who resisted the temptation to join the international influx was Pep Guardiola despite being a reported target for Italy.

Instead Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the Italian national team, which he led to triumph at Euro 2020.

Not that he is relying on that to ease any pressure on him.

“I’m not in credit because that’s in the past, it doesn’t count for anything,” Mancini said.

Where to watch

U.S. viewers can only find most games via streaming platforms – Fubo has every match, while Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and DirecTV Stream have select games, too. Several matches will air on Fox stations FS1 or FS2. That includes Norway vs. Denmark on Thursday on FS1, England vs. Spain on Saturday on FS2 and France vs. Italy on Oct. 2 on FS1.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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See AP’s full soccer coverage here

We first visited the property in May after complaints to the Help Desk. During our visit it didn’t take long to spot furniture, mattresses, clothing --- even a fish tank.

Residents and workers in the area said calls to officials had resulted in no actions taken to clean the massive site.

Since then, 2 Helps You has been consistently reaching out to the offices of County Commissioner Rodney Ellis as the location sits in his precinct. His office confirmed they were attempting to address the illegal dumping after we brought it to their attention. However, the community did not see any action.

Fast forward to now, the lot has been completely cleaned.

A spokesperson for the Commissioner Ellis confirming the county’s health department oversaw the clean up the site last week by the property owners.

Kenneth Ray, a local worker, says he was “excited” when he saw the big dumpsters rolling onto the site, “Ok, they are getting it done.”

Ray happy with the end result. His hopes is that it now stays that way.

The Associated Press, in partnership with KFF, polled more than 2,000 rural registered voters and found broadly negative views of the national and local economies, including among many Republicans. The costs of groceries, gas and healthcare rank as top pain points for the rural voters, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. A larger share than among voters overall say they are worried about being able to afford groceries or gas.

At the same time, about half of rural voters approve of Trump’s job performance, more than among U.S. adults overall in separate AP-NORC polling.

The findings suggest that many rural voters have not turned on Trump but that they also largely do not think he has delivered the economic renaissance he promised in his campaign.

Ed Westrick, a registered Republican and veteran, rates Trump’s job performance as “mediocre, middle-of-the-road.” Westrick, who lives in rural Texas, is not sure he will cast a midterm ballot, a troubling sign for Republicans in a key state in their fight to keep control of Congress.

Rural Americans skew Republican and historically have been an instrumental group of voters for Trump. The survey reveals that while rural voters seem unlikely to support Democrats on a large scale, Trump and the Republican Party could face challenges with them in November.

Rural voters are deeply unhappy about the economy

As the election approaches, only about 4 in 10 rural voters approve of Trump’s performance on the economy. They rate him similarly on his handling of the Iran war, an entanglement that has proved expensive for the U.S. and increased oil and gas prices. Rural voters rank pocketbook concerns and fraud in government programs higher among the things they want to hear about from politicians than other perennial issues, such as gun policy and abortion.

Westrick, 59, is a technical trainer in the electronics industry and has seen an increase in business in part because he works with defense contractors, but he said he is concerned about the cost of living.

“I hear the politicians talk about making groceries more affordable and making healthcare more affordable, but yet none of them are addressing the issues,” Westrick said.

In the poll, about three-quarters of rural voters rated the cost of living in their communities as “only fair” or “poor” — a 25 percentage point rise from a similar question asked in a KFF-Washington Post survey in 2017. Rural Americans, who have consistently lower wages than those who live in suburban and metro areas, have been hurting economically for decades, according to Tim Slack, a professor of sociology at Louisiana State University and co-author of the book “Rural and Small-Town America.”

“Many folks are connecting the cost-of-living crisis to many of the Trump administration’s policy choices: the war in Iran, tariffs, trade wars,” he said. “None of those things are going to bring down prices at the pump or the local Walmart.”

“Trump promised to lower prices on Day 1, and instead the cost of living’s continued to climb. And that’s especially painful in rural America,” Slack said, adding that he expects many working-class Republicans to skip voting in November.

Rural Republicans do have a brighter economic perspective than rural Democrats or independents, particularly about the United States as a whole, according to the survey. About 6 in 10 rural Republican voters say Trump has improved the national economy, compared with only about 2 in 10 independents and fewer than 1 in 10 Democrats.

But only 45% of rural Republican voters say Trump has made their local economies better off. About 1 in 4 said there are fewer good-paying jobs where they live than five years ago.

In Michigan, 37-year-old independent voter Brittainy Sosebee said she isn’t sure if she will vote in the state’s fall election, which includes a tight Senate race seen as crucial to the Democratic Party’s push to win back a majority. Sosebee voted for Trump in 2016 and Democratic nominee Joe Biden in 2020; she didn’t vote in 2024.

Sosebee, who lives in St. Johns, a small town just north of Lansing, said she used to have extra money to take a vacation or buy a new pair of jeans without worrying. Now, she scrutinizes every expense, cringing at the rising cost of fresh produce when she shops for her three children.

“We hunt, so we have a lot of venison and things like that, so we don’t have to buy meat from the grocery store, but it’s still crippling,” she said.

Healthcare policies go unnoticed

The AP-KFF poll found that rural voters overall don’t perceive much positive impact from the administration’s healthcare policies even as they have been a top priority for Republican leaders, who have promoted efforts to lower drug costs in addition to a $50 billion rural health program.

Only 17% of the voters said the administration’s healthcare policies have had a “positive impact” on their healthcare costs, while 41% said they’ve had “no impact” and another 41% said they’ve had a “negative impact.”

Sitting on her front porch in Woolwich, Maine, 71-year-old Democrat Kathleen Hanning sipped a chai tea latte in the sun and recalled how she stopped voting for Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2020.

Collins and Trump are “intertwined,” Hanning said. “She is not independently voting on what’s best for Maine.”

Hanning, a retired federal worker, said she had not paid much attention to the health policies in Trump’s signature tax breaks and spending cuts bill passed last year. The law reduces federal Medicaid spending by roughly $900 billion over a decade but also includes billions of dollars for the Rural Health Transformation Program, which it created.

A year after the law’s passage, more than 8 in 10 rural voters said they had heard either “a little” or “nothing at all” about the health fund. About 60% said they had heard nothing, according to the survey.

Rather than transforming, Hanning said, “hospitals up here in Maine are consolidating.” She travels an hour to see a specialist and noted that mothers will now have to drive farther for care because the hospital in nearby Damariscotta announced it would soon close its labor and delivery center.

Nine in 10 rural voters said it was “extremely” or “very” important for candidates to talk about healthcare costs, with more than half saying it’s “extremely important.” Mirroring the general population, rural voters ranked healthcare costs and gas prices as top economic worries.

Rural Republican voters still trust the GOP more

When asked for the political party they trusted to do a better job handling issues such as the cost of healthcare or the cost of living, rural voters tended to side with their own party. The finding signals that Democratic candidates are more likely to benefit from rural Republicans staying home in November than from them voting across party lines in large numbers.

Republicans are more ambivalent about their party’s ability to handle key healthcare issues, compared with Democrats. About 8 in 10 Democratic voters say they trust the Democrats to address healthcare costs, while closer to 6 in 10 Republican voters say the same of the Republicans.

In Manassas, Georgia, a tiny town about an hour's drive inland from Savannah, Republican voter Wanda Rogers feels the Trump administration is doing the best it can to clean up what she sees as an economic mess that Democrats left behind when they lost power.

“I kind of think people think like I do, that he knows what needs to be done,” she said. “It’s just taking them a while to get it there.”

Still, the 66-year-old said, “gas prices, they’re eating me alive right now.” She said she has stopped traveling to the beach because it has become too expensive.

Pamela Shaw, an independent voter who lives in a rural area near Asheville, North Carolina, said she sees the impact of rising costs in her community.

“When hamburger is over $7 a pound and steak is $15 or more a pound, a lot of people are not able to buy some of the things that they are used to buying,” the 59-year-old said in an interview.

Trump’s rural standing has slipped

Trump remains relatively popular among rural voters in the AP-KFF poll, with 48% approval. That is substantially higher than in a July AP-NORC poll of U.S. adults overall, in which only one-third approved of his performance. But he also is down slightly, from 56% approval, among rural voters, based on a similar question asked in the earlier KFF-Washington Post survey.

Asunta Washington, 38, is a truck driver who lives in South Texas. He said he is not against voting for Republican candidates if he wholeheartedly agrees with what they stand for, but he has not seen that. Instead, he has seen a lot of flip-flopping.

“Like a lot of people that are giving us promises and the moment they get elected, all that’s out the window,” Washington said.

This year’s competitive elections feature Senate races in Ohio, Michigan and Maine, all of which have large rural populations. In close races, Democrats may have a chance to “show up and give a message that rural people might find appealing,” said Nicholas Jacobs, a political scientist at Colby College and co-author of the book “The Rural Voter.”

“But it’s nothing more and it’s nothing less than that — an opportunity,” Jacobs said. “And time and time again, Democrats have shown a certain proclivity for not seizing that opportunity.”

Many rural voters do not think the major parties or the president respect people like them. About half, 48%, of rural voters say the GOP respects people like them “a lot” or “some,” while 45% of rural voters say this about Trump and 37% say this about the Democratic Party.

On a recent Thursday, registered Republican Nate Lawrence answered his phone after paying $57 to fill up his Chevy Equinox in New Concord, Ohio, a village of fewer than 3,000 people about an hour's drive east of Columbus.

Lawrence, a middle-school English teacher, said the candidates should be talking about spending power: “I need to be able to go to the store and feed my family on what I make as a teacher,” Lawrence said. “I should be able to pay for a house on a teacher’s salary.”

Lawrence has voted for Trump in the past but did not in 2024. For Ohio’s Senate race, Lawrence said he is torn and not sure whether to pick Democrat Sherrod Brown or Republican Jon Husted.

Still, even if the politicians say they will lower prices, Lawrence said, he won’t believe them.

“Trump said that, and it didn’t happen,” he said.

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The poll of 2,241 U.S. adults registered to vote in rural areas of the country was conducted Aug. 12-24, 2026, using a sample drawn from the probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In collaboration with AP, KFF researchers worked to design the survey sample and questionnaire, analyze and report findings.

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This report is a collaboration between The Associated Press and KFF Health News. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

The second year of the deal, the 2028-29 season, is at Leonard's option, according to the person who spoke Tuesday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The Raptors on Wednesday confirmed that the contract had been signed, without releasing the terms, which were first reported by ESPN.

Leonard, 35, led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA title and is now locked into a new deal with a team with eyes on competing for another title. He is coming off the highest-scoring season of his career, averaging 27.9 points for the Los Angeles Clippers in 65 games a year ago.

Leonard will make just over $50 million this season, the last year of his current contract. It was generally assumed that the Raptors would strike a deal to keep Leonard — a seven-time All-Star, two-time NBA champion and two-time NBA Finals MVP — soon after landing him in a trade with the Clippers.

The sides agreed to that trade in late June but didn't complete it until earlier this month, delaying the process because of the NBA's investigation into whether the Clippers circumvented salary cap rules on Leonard's behalf. The NBA found four deals that ran afoul of league rules, leading to a one-year suspension of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, the forfeiture of five first-round draft picks, suspensions of other team personnel and a $30 million fine.

Leonard was fined $700,000 by the league but is not facing any suspension.

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See AP’s full NBA coverage here