Senate Republicans will meet Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate President Donald Trump’s political allies.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is also set to return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee. The hearing was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department’s budget, but lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the settlement fund.

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Former first lady says of Joe Biden’s cancer has been tough

Jill Biden said her 83-year-old husband “gets tired a little more often” since his prostate cancer diagnosis.

“Cancer takes its toll,” she said in an MSNOW interview.

But she noted the former president is “still giving speeches” and “still on Amtrak a couple of times a month, keeping a schedule.”

Biden’s son, Beau Biden, died of an aggressive brain cancer in 2015, when his father was still vice president.

“I know every family in America has been touched by cancer,” Jill Biden said. “So I think people can relate when I say ... it’s been, it’s been tough.”

Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, appeals court panel rules

A Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeals court judges ruled on Monday in another legal setback for President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda.

The majority opinion — by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit — held that the Trump administration’s policy was designed to exclude people from the military based on their gender identity.

The ban remains in effect. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to start enforcing it last year, as litigation continues to play out.

The panel’s new ruling would keep the military from kicking out current service members named in the lawsuit, but wouldn’t allow new transgender recruits to join. The judges put their decision on hold, though, to let the administration seek further review.

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What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries as Democrats try to defend California and make inroads in Iowa

For a state that’s home to Hollywood, there isn’t much star power in California’s gubernatorial race. It’s a somewhat different story in Los Angeles, where a reality television personality is running for mayor as the city prepares to host the Olympics.

More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.

▶ Read more about what to watch as voters in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota cast ballots

Pentagon bars journalists from its press office, saying it has become a ‘classified space’

In another of a series of moves restricting media access at the Pentagon, the Defense Department has declared that its press office is now a classified space inaccessible to journalists.

On X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it and that it came because speechwriters, who use classified material, were now occupying the space.

“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” Valdez wrote.

“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material … as a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There’s nothing controversial about that.”

The latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, took place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the U.S. media and the second Trump administration, which has played out both in the public arena and at times in the courts.

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Republican senators want more answers on $1.8 billion settlement fund as Trump considers its future

Senate Republicans will meet Tuesday to discuss next steps after the Justice Department said it would comply with a court order pausing the implementation of a $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate Trump’s political allies.

GOP senators who revolted against the settlement before leaving for a Memorial Day recess two weeks ago say they want more information from the administration about the future of the fund, which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Meanwhile, Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with it at all, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

Caught in the middle is legislation that would fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies for three years. Republicans abruptly left town without passing it after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the judgment fund, forcing Republicans to go on the record for or against it and endangering the money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

By Mary Clare Jalonick, Kevin Freking and Seung Min Kim

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Rubio will testify before Congress for the first time since the start of the Iran war

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to face a litany of questions Tuesday about the Trump administration’s fragile or stalling diplomatic efforts around the world when he appears for back-to-back hearings on Capitol Hill for the first time since the Iran war began.

The Republican former senator will sit before House and Senate committees to make the State Department’s annual budget request. But the focus is likely to shift quickly to the already unsteady ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, which has been further tested in recent days by back-and-forth attacks.

Cabinet members, including Rubio, have defended Trump’s decision to launch the conflict despite promises over the years not to engage in “forever wars” in the Middle East. That work has been made more difficult by Trump’s shifting goals for the conflict.

In the two months since the war began, a small but growing faction of Republicans have joined Democrats in questioning the astronomical price tag and overall economic consequences of the conflict as they head into midterm elections in the fall.

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Filling up with contaminated gas can bring your car to a halt almost immediately — and leave you with a repair bill in the thousands. Knowing what to do next could make all the difference.

Bad gas stops drivers in their tracks

KPRC 2’s Amy Davis has seen this before. She talked with Hahleemah Wright whose car stalled just feet from the gas pump.

“I had not gotten maybe a thousand feet,” Wright said. “And it just completely stopped. I tried to turn it on again. It wouldn’t turn on.”

When Wright had her BMW towed to a mechanic, the technician drained the tank and found gas mixed with water. The damage from the contaminated fuel cost her $1,329 to repair.

“To be hit with a $1,400 bill in the blink of an eye at no fault of myself is a huge inconvenience and is unjustified,” Wright said.

Wright returned to the station right away, hoping to prevent other drivers from pumping the same bad fuel. On the Nextdoor app, other drivers shared similar stories, posting photos of bad gas from the same station along with high repair bills.

SEE MORE: Amy tracks down gas station owner

Under state law, Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation can fine a station anywhere from $500 to $3,000 and can revoke its license.

What to do if you get bad gas

If you fill up with contaminated fuel, experts say time is critical. Here’s what to do:

• File a complaint with TDLR immediately. Visit TDLR’s website and select “Fuel Metering & Quality” from the dropdown menu. The sooner you report it, the better — if the station receives a new fuel delivery before an investigation, contaminated fuel can be diluted or completely dispensed, making it harder to prove.
• Include as much detail as possible. When filing, provide fuel receipts, fuel type, octane rating, pump number and any information about damage to your vehicle.
• Alert gas station management or chain headquarters. Many stations or parent companies will act quickly to stop selling suspect fuel and may voluntarily reimburse customers for repairs. Others may deny there’s a problem — which is exactly why filing with TDLR quickly is so important.
• Always save your receipt. Every time you fill up, hold onto that receipt. If you end up with bad gas, it’s one of your most important pieces of evidence.

Once TDLR receives a complaint, the department reviews the information and may dispatch an investigator to take a fuel sample for lab testing. If contamination is confirmed, TDLR will take action based on how the station responds.

Even with the right steps, though, there are no guarantees that station owners will do the right thing.

RELATED: Warning signs you put bad gasoline in your tank

KPRC 2 will continue to follow this story and report on the outcome of the TDLR investigation.

Japan's Environment Ministry said a record 13 people were killed in more than 230 attacks by bears in 2025.

Police and fire department officials rushed to the Sasakino district of Fukushima in northeastern Japan after receiving an emergency call from the Fukushima Steel Works reporting bear attacks on two employees.

Security camera footage shows a black bear appearing and chasing an employee near the entrance. As the man in his 20s tries to flee, the bear throws him to the ground. It then moves into the compound and injures a second male employee in his 60s.

The bear later injured a third person, a male employee in his 60s at separate company. A woman in her 80s who lives in the neighborhood also was attacked and injured, the Fukushima City Fire Department said.

The three men sustained minor injuries and the woman had moderate injuries but none were considered life-threatening, the fire department said.

The bear had not been caught as of Tuesday afternoon and was believed to be inside the second company compound, which was surrounded by uniformed police carrying long sticks.

Two nearby schools were closed, including Noda Elementary School, which held classes online and put a warning on its website to “avoid non-essential outings and stay safe.”

The bear attack has rekindled last year's nationwide fear that led to Japan's army being dispatched to the northern prefecture of Akita where more than 60 people were attacked by bears, with four killed.

The encroachment by a growing bear population has occurred in a region with a rapidly aging and declining human population that has few people trained to hunt the animals, experts say.

The Japanese government in March estimated the overall bear population at around 57,800. Officials have adopted a road map of bear population management, calling for systematic culling. Under the plan, the number of municipal bear control staff will triple to 2,500 within five years, while the number of bear traps will double.

Bear sightings were reported recently in Tokyo's western suburbs, including the hiking area of Okutama. Park officials have set up additional traps and launched bear alerts on social media.

The government has stepped up a public awareness campaign, urging hikers and mushroom hunters to check notifications about bear sightings and avoid outdoor activity in the early morning and evening when bears are active.

An environment ministry manual advises that anyone encountering a bear should not panic, move slowly and avoid turning around and running. As a last resort, the manual says anyone attacked should turn face down, ball up and cover their neck.

“The point is to save yourself from a fatal wound," according to the manual.

Israel threatened on Monday to strike Beirut’s southern suburbs, causing panic in the Lebanese capital as thousands fled. Israeli forces are making their deepest incursion into Lebanon in 26 years, but Beirut has been mostly spared.

Trump later announced after a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicating with the Lebanese militant group through mediators that “there will be no Troops going to Beirut." But there was little change, with Israel and Hezbollah continuing the intensity of attacks.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a defense conference on Tuesday that Israel previously refrained from attacking Beirut out of deference for negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which wants a ceasefire deal in the Iran war to end fighting in Lebanon, too.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed Trump in a phone call late Monday that Israel will attack Beirut's southern suburbs if Hezbollah continues targeting northern Israel, Katz said.

More talks are set for Tuesday in Washington

A second round of talks between Israel and Lebanon is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators are set to seek a full ceasefire that will prevent future attacks. The talks that began in April were the first in more than three decades between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic relations. Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran.

The fighting in Lebanon presents a major obstacle to the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war. Despite a Washington-brokered ceasefire reached in April, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to exchange strikes after Israel targeted areas in Lebanon, saying it was for self-defense.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Tuesday that an Israeli drone strike hit a car on the road linking the southern town of Marjayoun with the city of Nabatiyeh, killing James Karam, a dentist from the nearby Christian town of Qlayaa, along with his daughter and son.

The Lebanese army said two soldiers were lightly wounded when a separate drone targeted them on a road outside the city.

A drone strike on the village of Jibchit killed two Syrians who worked at a plant nursery, the agency reported, while another on the nearby village of Toul killed two people. A third strike hit a car near the village of Harouf, killing one person. The Israeli military said it wasn't aware of any Israeli strikes in that area.

NNA also reported that an Israeli airstrike on Monday killed six in the southern village of Marwaniyeh.

Hezbollah said Tuesday its fighters fired anti-tank missiles on Israeli troops who were pushing into the southern village of Hadatha, about 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Israeli border. Sirens sounded in several areas in northern Israel, the military said in a statement, adding that “a suspicious aerial target" was identified in the area in which Israeli soldiers are operating in southern Lebanon, but that no injuries were reported.

Close to 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million people. According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 27 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

Israel’s military said late Monday that a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon. It added that seven more soldiers were wounded in the incident, three of them severely.

Hezbollah’s use of hard-to-detect fiber-optic drones has been deadly for the Israeli military, which is struggling to respond.

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This version corrects to say Hezbollah fired at Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon.

Andreeva will take on the winner of the all-Ukrainian contest between Elina Svitolina and Marta Kostyuk, who is undefeated on clay this season.

When Kostyuk beat Andreeva in the Madrid final a month ago, she didn’t shake her hand at the net. That’s been the protocol for Ukrainian players with opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus since the war started.

“Well, for me it doesn’t matter who I play,” Andreeva said when asked about the challenges of playing a Ukrainian player in the context of the four-year ongoing war between the neighboring countries.

“I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me," she added. "Usually it doesn’t matter to me who I’m playing against, so I’m trying to really focus on the game and on the game plan that I have to use on the court.”

After a week of hot weather, rain arrived in Paris and play started under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier. Competing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years, Cirstea struggled to find her rhythm against her 19-year-old rival.

The 36-year-old veteran from Romania, playing the final season of her career, immediately dropped her serve. She was broken again in her next service game as the eighth-seeded Andreeva punished a weak delivery with a forehand return winner to open a 3-0 lead.

The Russian was in total control, securing another break of serve before comfortably holding to wrap up the opening set.

Cirstea, seeded 18th, finally got on the board by holding for 1-0 in the second set when Andreeva’s backhand sailed long. She then began to move Andreeva around more effectively with greater variety in her shot-making, while cutting down on unforced errors.

But Andreeva’s deep, accurate groundstrokes and charges to the net took a toll on Cirstea, who dropped her serve again in the fifth game. She managed to break back in the next game, yet the improvement was short-lived, as Andreeva broke again twice to close out the match.

“I felt like it was one of my best matches so far this tournament,” said Andreeva, two years after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal. “Super happy to be back in semis.”

In men's play, up-and-coming Rafael Jodar of Spain faces a tall order against second-seeded Alexander Zverev. Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic takes on Joao Fonseca of Brazil in the night session.

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

The Cleveland Browns traded the two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks in a blockbuster deal on Monday.

Garrett was the unanimous choice for Defensive Player of the Year last season after he had 23 sacks and broke the NFL single-season record. He is expected to report to the Rams' facility on Tuesday and have a news conference to discuss the trade.

Garrett's addition marks the first time the reigning AP NFL MVP and Defensive Player of the Year will be teammates. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won his first MVP award last season.

General manager Andrew Berry was able to make a deal after the Browns and Garrett agreed to modify the contract and defer option payments over the 2026-28 seasons in March. The first payment of around $10 million was due on March 28, but was moved to near the start of the regular season.

Garrett demanded a trade at the end of the 2024 season, but signed a four-year contract extension last March with a total value of $204.8 million that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. The contract also included a no-trade clause.

Berry had long said that Garrett would play his entire career in Cleveland, but Garrett's lingering frustrations over the franchise's direction and the chance to start anew meant it was time to move on.

Cleveland is 8-26 the past two years after making the playoffs in 2023.

“As discussions intensified we were stuck at a legitimate crossroads: do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or do we make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run?," Berry said after the trade was announced.

The Browns get Verse — the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — a 2027 first-round selection, a second-round pick in 2028 and a 2029 third-round selection.

Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement that they met with Garrett on Saturday to discuss the trade.

“Trading Myles was never our intent, but we also recognize that certain opportunities demand serious consideration, and we believe this is the right move for our team. Adding a young defensive star like Jared Verse, along with valuable draft assets, are necessary to strengthen a talented young core and align with the youth of our team,” the Haslams said.

Garrett was not seen at the Browns' facility during offseason workouts even though he made a couple of visits to Cleveland during the Cavaliers' NBA playoff run. Garrett has a minority stake in the Cavaliers.

Coach Todd Monken said two weeks ago he had not had a face-to-face meeting with Garrett since being hired in late January. Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg said last week he had some conversations over the phone with Garrett about the direction of the defense.

Garrett supported defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz being promoted to head coach before ownership opted for Monken. Schwartz ended up resigning after three years in Cleveland.

The 30-year old Garrett is the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons (2020-25) and the only player with double-digit sacks each of the past eight years. His 125½ career sacks are tied for 20th on the league list.

Garrett, who was part of five double-digit losing seasons during his nine years in Cleveland, finally gets a chance to contend for a Super Bowl title.

“Nine years. It’s hard to put into words what that really means when so much of your life has been shaped in one place, around one team, and with one community behind you ... Cleveland made me tougher. You challenged me. You taught me about perseverance, about showing up even when things aren’t easy, and what loyalty really looks like. Through the highs, lows, setbacks, injuries, expectations, inclement weather, and difficult seasons, you all kept showing up. I never took that for granted,” Garrett said in a social media post Monday night addressed “To Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and every Browns fan.”

The Browns have the sixth-lowest win percentage since 2017 and are 58-90-1. By comparison, the Rams have the fifth-best record over that span at 92-57, including seven playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title in 2021.

The trade also elevated the Rams to Super Bowl favorites.

Another huge trade by Rams

The trade is yet another blockbuster deal swung by Rams general manager Les Snead, whose eagerness to use his draft picks in trades for star veterans has kept the Rams among the NFL’s top teams during coach Sean McVay’s decade on the sideline.

Snead notably acquired star cornerback Jalen Ramsey from Jacksonville in 2019 in a deal that included two first-round picks, securing the cornerstone of the secondary for a team that won a Super Bowl. But the Rams only won it all after they acquired Matthew Stafford in early 2021 in an even bigger trade for Jared Goff and two first-round picks.

Just a couple of months ago, Snead acquired star cornerback Trent McDuffie from Kansas City in a deal for four draft picks, including a first-rounder, to rebuild the secondary that was the weak link of last season’s team.

Before Snead shocked the NFL by picking quarterback Ty Simpson this spring, the Rams had made only one first-round selection over the previous nine years. That pick was Verse, who quickly became a star during his two seasons as the anchor of the Rams’ rebuilt pass rush in the wake of Aaron Donald’s retirement.

Verse had 4½ sacks while being selected as the NFL’s top defensive rookie in 2024, and he had 7½ sacks last season along with three forced fumbles. Byron Young led the Rams with 12 sacks and interior lineman Kobie Turner contributed seven sacks, and both young stars are heading into the final year of their rookie contracts.

With his Rams in title contention in November 2021, Snead acquired vaunted pass rusher Von Miller from Denver in a trade for LA’s second- and third-round picks. Miller contributed nine sacks in 12 games, providing exactly what they needed alongside Donald to win it all.

The current Rams are among the preseason Super Bowl favorites after winning 12 games and reaching the NFC championship game last season. Stafford, the reigning league MVP, is returning at the head of the NFL’s most potent offense last season along with a retooled defense featuring McDuffie and fellow ex-Kansas City star Jaylen Watson as its new cornerbacks — and now they’ve added the most feared pass rusher in the league.

The Rams’ roster in 2026 now includes last season’s NFL leads in yards passing, TD passes, total receptions (Puka Nacua), receiving touchdowns (Davante Adams) and sacks (Garrett).

After the Rams won the Super Bowl in February 2022 and then crashed out of the playoff picture in an injury-filled 2022-23 season, Snead briefly discarded his usual draft philosophy. He rebuilt his roster through a series of key selections in 2023 and 2024, drafting an entirely new defensive line with Verse, Young, Turner and Braden Fiske — along with All-Pro receiver Nacua.

With his rebuilt roster looming as a Super Bowl favorite again, Snead used his depth on the defensive line to make it even better.

Verse's acquisition gives the Browns the past two AP Defensive Rookies of the Year. Carson Schwesinger won last season after leading NFL rookies with 156 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.

“We receive a young, elite player at a premium position who will only continue to improve in his third NFL season. Jared’s passion and relentless style of play will be embraced by our fans. He will fit right in with the established identity of our defense,” Berry said.

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AP Pro Football writer Rob Maaddi also contributed to this story.

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

“He transcended boxing into every space you can imagine,” she told The Associated Press this week ahead of the 10-year anniversary of Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

“Muhammad lived by this mantra: service to others is the rent we pay for our room here on earth," Lonnie Ali said during an interview at The Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky. “He showed up every day with kindness and empathy in his heart for people who are in need."

Ali, known as the “Louisville Lip” in his hometown, rose to prominence as a trash-talking world champion boxer in the 1960s and began speaking about civil rights issues as his star was rising. He is widely regarded as the most famous and influential boxer of all time, winning the heavyweight title three times.

The Ali Center is sponsoring a “Day of Compassion” on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of his death, to promote acts of service and caring. Lonnie Ali, who serves as the center's lifetime director, said the hope is an expanding annual event to highlight works of service and volunteering.

The day will focus on one of "the core values that made up Muhammad Ali” in an increasingly divided country, she said.

“Today, we are in a place where we are losing touch with our humanity and with each other,” she said. “It’s causing rifts, not just in families and communities, but in this nation. We’re becoming increasingly polarized and separated, and sort of retreating to people who think like us, look like us, and not really reaching out.”

She also challenged political leaders to lead with compassion, noting the recent weakening of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.

“We should always be thinking about how we can uplift a community, not how we can make it harder for them,” Lonnie Ali said. “We want equal representation in this country. You can’t have equal representation when you’re denying people voting rights, you can’t do that.”

But there is hope, she said, and she saw that when the city of Louisville came together for a weeklong celebration of Ali's life in 2016. The week was capped by a funeral procession through the city and past her late husband's modest childhood home near downtown Louisville. Former President Bill Clinton and actor Billy Crystal spoke at his funeral, and Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in a 2001 movie, was a pallbearer.

The outpouring of love for Ali at his hometown funeral service was livestreamed to millions around the world. A decade later, Ali’s face graced a U.S. Postal Service stamp for the first time, showing his enduring influence.

“We’re talking about people who traveled thousands of miles to come here, who had never met the man, never laid eyes on him personally, but wanted to ... give their last respects to him: kings, princes, presidents, heads of state, celebrities, sports figures,” Lonnie Ali said.

The hearing before the House Appropriations Committee was scheduled for discussion of the Justice Department's budget, but lawmakers will almost certainly focus their questioning on the creation of a fund that has provoked outrage over the mere possibility that violent pro-Trump rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be eligible for payouts.

The Republican president is now reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund established to resolve his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, a person familiar with his thinking said on Monday, in the face of Republican backlash and legal setbacks. The Justice Department also said Monday it would comply with a Virginia court temporarily blocking the administration's “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least two weeks.

Another judge in Florida raised the prospect of reopening the IRS lawsuit because of “grievous allegations” of improper dealing made against the administration by settlement critics.

The Trump administration has defended the fund as an appropriate measure to make up for what officials insist was a weaponized Justice Department during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, a claim the Biden administration strongly denied. Though some Trump supporters, including participants in the Capitol riot, have celebrated the announcement, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile, forcing Blanche to try to assuage a GOP constituency that generally operates in close alignment with the administration.

The furor has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or scrap the idea altogether.

At a Senate budget hearing last month, Blanche refused to rule out the possibility that those who carried out violence on Jan. 6 could be eligible for payouts and has repeatedly said in interviews that anyone who feels persecuted by the criminal justice system is free to apply. Payouts will be decided by a five-member commission appointed by Blanche.

But he has apparently struck a more conciliatory tone in private when confronted by Republican anger.

Blanche encountered a groundswell of opposition last month at a tense private meeting with GOP senators, with more than half raising concerns, including by shouting at the Justice Department's top official, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said in a recent episode of his podcast.

“There were fireworks at an epic level — and I've got to say, it's one of the roughest meetings I've seen in my entire time in the Senate," Cruz said.

Behind closed doors, Blanche was “adamant” that no one who assaulted police at the Capitol would receive compensation, according to Cruz.

“He said not just ‘no,’ but ‘hell no,’” the senator recalled.

Summer travel often means crowded airports, packed attractions, and close contact with people from around the world, all of which can increase exposure to germs and illness.

Doctors say travelers can encounter viruses and bacteria they may not encounter in their everyday routines. Common travel-related illnesses include respiratory infections, stomach viruses, and diseases spread by mosquitoes and ticks.

Health experts recommend practicing good hygiene throughout your trip to reduce the risk of illness. Frequent handwashing with soap and water remains one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs. When soap and water aren’t available, travelers should use hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol.

Experts also advise avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, which can allow germs to enter the body.

For those planning outdoor activities, insect protection is another important step. Travelers should use insect repellent to help prevent mosquito bites and check themselves, children, and pets for ticks after spending time in wooded or grassy areas.

In addition to protecting against illness, health professionals recommend staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, and keeping routine vaccinations up to date before traveling.

With a few simple precautions, experts say travelers can reduce their risk of illness and focus on enjoying their summer adventures.

“The new regulation will speed up the return process and increase returns of persons who have no legal right to stay in the EU,” said Nicholas Ioannides, deputy migration minister for Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the 27-nation bloc.

The deal was struck between the EU's three main institutions — the European Commission, the European Council and European Parliament — during a so-called “trilogue” Monday evening.

“Europe cannot afford another period of standstill,” said Dutch lawmaker Malik Azmani, who shepherded the regulation through the European Parliament.

“There is an urgent need for an effective return policy with higher return rates," he said, adding that only 28% of rejected asylum seekers return to their country of origin, with the majority staying put in the EU. “This situation is deeply concerning. It undermines public confidence in our common migration policies.”

Critics compared the regulation to the immigration policies of the Trump administration, which has struck a series of secretive agreements with nations around the world to deport thousands of people to countries that are not their own. The United Kingdom also planned to deport migrants to Rwanda, but the plan was bogged down in legal red tape and was dropped when a new government came to power in July 2024.

Several EU governments are already in talks with third countries

“Across the Atlantic, we see the violence and fear created by ICE’s brutal immigration enforcement," said Silvia Carter, spokesperson for the Brussels-based Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Europe should be learning from the harms of that model, not building its own version of it.”

Law enforcement officers across the bloc no longer need warrants from judges to raid private residences or public institutions like hospitals, she said. “The regulation is going to create a draconian detention and deportation machine."

The provisional agreement will now head to the EU lawmakers and governments, where approval will likely be swift.

“These new rules will ensure swifter, simpler, and more effective procedures across the European Union for returning non-EU nationals who have no right to stay, in full respect of international law and fundamental rights,” said Henna Virkkunen, EU commissioner for technology.

EU member nations will soon be able to set up bilateral deals with countries outside the bloc to build deportation centers. At least five EU nations — Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece — are already in talks with third countries, mostly in Africa, to host “return hubs” on the model of Italy's detention deal with Albania.

“We are delivering the member states tools in their hands to make those agreements and arrangements with third countries,” Azmani said.

Mélissa Camara, a lawmaker from the French Green party, said the deal was “a historic setback” for human rights in the bloc.

“The legalization of return hubs outside the European Union, the green light for the detention of minors, home visits inspired by ICE practices: the legal arsenal serving a xenophobic ideology is now complete,” she said.

EU migration policy has steadily shifted to the right

The EU has continually tightened migration policies after right-wing parties secured the majority of votes in some countries in the 2024 elections to the European Parliament. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, from the center-right European People’s Party coalition, has said that the new measures will prevent a repeat of the 2015 crisis caused by Syria’s civil war, when about 1 million people arrived to seek asylum.

Fueled by people fleeing conflict and poverty across Africa and the Middle East, the 2015 refugee crisis and successive years of irregular migration to Europe drove a rightward shift in the bloc's politics not unlike the anti-immigrant sentiment that buoyed a “ red wave ” in the 2024 election in the United States.

After successfully campaigning on tougher migration policies, the winners of that election, the European People’s Party, the largest political group in the EU, began negotiating migration reform with centrist and left parties only to eventually sidestep them by allying instead with the far right, said Carter, the asylum rights activist. “There was quite an unprecedented shift in the European Parliament."

Advocacy groups warned the regulation would cut deep into the protections granted by the EU fundamental charter on human rights and expose people to risks outside the bloc.

“This deal will give governments much broader powers to detain and deport people," said Marta Welander, a spokesperson for the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization. "It looks set to normalize immigration raids, expand the use of detention in prison-like facilities outside EU territory that are essentially legal black holes, and increase the risk of people being deported to countries where they could face persecution, torture or worse.”

——

Follow AP’s coverage of migration issues at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Organizers say the event is about more than remembrance. They hope the gathering will help keep public attention focused on an investigation that remains active as detectives work to determine the circumstances surrounding Conway’s death.

• RELATED: HPD homicide detectives investigating after body found in Brays Bayou

According to Houston police, people walking along Brays Bayou discovered Conway’s body on the morning of May 25. Authorities have released few details since the discovery and have not announced any arrests.

In the days following the discovery, community members have shared messages of support online and organized the vigil to celebrate Conway’s life while calling for answers.

Organizers say the event will include remarks from advocates, a moment of reflection, and an appeal for anyone with information about the case to come forward.

People who knew Conway, along with some community advocates, have described the circumstances surrounding her death as suspicious. While investigators continue their work, organizers say they want to create a space for healing while also raising awareness about the case.

Community leaders say the vigil is intended to bring people together in solidarity, honor Conway’s memory, and encourage anyone with knowledge of the case to speak with investigators.

Houston police continue to investigate. Anyone with information related to the case is urged to contact investigators.

As for temperatures this week, the heat isn’t going anywhere. Thanks to the humidity, our “feels-like” temps will hit triple-digits. So make sure to hydrate, hydrate. Hydrate this week.

Today’s Forecast:

And if you thought this weekend was hot, which it was, take a look at our “feels-like” temperatures for areas like Livingston, 105 today.

We are, however, tracking the chance of rain for a select few, but not all, as we get into the afternoon and evening drive home.

Watch: Building a hurricane kit without breaking the bank

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

View this post on Instagram

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

10-DAY FORECAST:

We’re starting Hurricane season off with rain and more rain on the way. Make sure to carry your umbrella!

A report Monday by Iran's Central Bank represents the first official acknowledgment of what Iranians shopping, paying for a taxi or visiting a medical clinic already know: The rial currency is battered by the war and uncertainty around it resuming.

Meanwhile, longtime problems of economic mismanagement and government corruption also appear to be dragging down Iran's oil-backed economy as it remains under a U.S. naval blockade.

Economic pressure in the past has sparked nationwide protests, something Iran's theocracy has been trying to avoid since a crackdown on demonstrators in January killed over 7,000 people, according to activists' estimates.

But even as hard-liners hold gun-handling workshops and organize marriages under the shadow of a ballistic missile to bolster spirits, experts note that new demonstrations could emerge if people find themselves priced out of feeding their families.

“I have no doubt that if Trump leaves (Iran without a formal peace deal) ... most probably, we will see something like January by the end of summer because of the economic and social situations," analyst Mohsen Jalilvand said in a video published by Iran's Fararu news website.

‘We will definitely have higher prices’

Iran's Central Bank said the consumer price index, which measures a basket of goods and services, reached 77.2% in May compared to the year before. It added the rate is 8.5% higher than in April. Inflation in daily and general needs — like medicine, taxi fares, tobacco and communication fees — rose 113.8% from the year before.

Iran only saw worse inflation in 1942 during World War II, sparked by the British and Soviets invading the country and taking over its railway, disrupting food supplies. The lack of food, worsened by a poor harvest, sparked hyperinflation and a famine. Hunger and a typhus outbreak killed many.

A private economic think tank in Iran, the Bamdad Institute of Economic Studies, described the current figures as “an unprecedented rate since World War II.” Iran's Central Bank did not acknowledge the significance of the figures.

Airstrikes this year have greatly damaged Iranian businesses and its oil industry, Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade has been targeting Iranian crude oil shipments trying to reach the international market, a key source of hard revenue. Tax revenues have been depressed by businesses struggling even after the fighting paused.

The rial, which traded at 32,000 to $1 in 2015, now trades at over 1.7 million to $1.

“We will definitely have higher prices," Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in May. "We are fighting and we must accept this hardship.”

Past economic woes have led to protests

In 2017 into 2018, rising food prices sparked demonstrations that killed over 20 people and saw hundreds arrested. An increase in government-subsidized gasoline prices caused protests that saw over 300 people reportedly killed.

Then came the protests over the rial at the start of this year, the most intense demonstrations to shake the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution and chaotic years that followed.

Tehran-based economist Saeed Leilaz, speaking to The Associated Press, warned that annual inflation in Iran could reach 80%.

"Iran’s society cannot tolerate above 25%” annual inflation, he said.

___

Karimi reported from Tehran, Iran.

The FBI is warning Americans about AI-powered “voice cloning” scams, in which criminals use artificial intelligence to mimic the voices of family members and trick victims into sending money.

The scam often begins with a frantic phone call that appears to come from a loved one. The caller may claim they have been kidnapped, arrested, or are in some other emergency situation and urgently need financial help.

• New utility scheme targets Houston-area residents, tries to gain home access

Using just a few seconds of audio taken from social media videos or other online sources, scammers can create a remarkably realistic imitation of a person’s voice.

One victim, Deborah Del Mastro, said she received a terrifying call from a man claiming he had kidnapped her daughter and was demanding $20,000 for her release.

The situation became even more convincing when she heard what sounded exactly like her daughter’s voice pleading for help.

Believing her daughter was in danger, Del Mastro sent the scammers $5,000 before realizing she had been targeted by a fraud scheme. The money was never recovered.

• Work at home job scams: How they work and how to spot one

Consumer protection experts say there are several warning signs people should watch for when receiving an unexpected emergency call.

Red flags include unusual pauses or fluctuations in a loved one’s voice, demands to act immediately without verifying the situation, and requests to send money through wire transfers, Venmo, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other difficult-to-trace payment methods.

Authorities recommend hanging up and independently contacting the family member or friend using a known phone number before sending money or sharing personal information.

The FBI says AI-generated scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect. According to the agency, Americans lost more than $893 million to AI-related scams last year.

As artificial intelligence technology continues to evolve, experts say awareness and verification remain the best defenses against becoming a victim.

Happy one day closer to Friday HA!

Anyways, let’s jump into what’s happening this week. Houston is always full of news, and this week is no different.

Our huge story of the day is one that is not only sad but tragic. An 18-year-old college student was shot and killed by a deputy Monday morning, and now, his family is demanding answers. The boy’s family said he had only been home for summer break from college for two weeks when the incident happened.

Now, although we don’t have all of the details, what we do know is that a Brazoria County Deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on the teen’s vehicle, but the teen refused to stop, leading the deputy on a chase to his father’s house. When the teen arrived at his father’s house, the video shows the deputy approaching the vehicle and the gunshots; it’s not clear what happened between that time. An investigation is underway, and the boy’s parents are demanding to see the bodycam video.

To read more, click here.

➡️ Love our morning newsletter? Share it with your family and friends!

YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY: 90° TONIGHT: 75°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“We’re tracking the chance for rain and thunderstorms not only today but every single day this week, thanks to the tropical moisture and the sea breeze moving inland from the Gulf. As for temperatures this week, the heat isn’t going anywhere. Thanks to the humidity, our “feels-like” temps will hit triple-digits. So make sure to hydrate, hydrate. hydrate this week.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Nearly 2,000 sign petitions opposing Spring Valley Village’s Bingle Road Project

A controversial traffic project in Spring Valley Village is drawing criticism from some residents and business owners who say changes to Bingle Road have created congestion and safety concerns rather than solving them. Two online petitions opposing the city’s so-called “Bingle Road Diet” have gathered nearly 2,000 signatures.

Pride Month 2026 has begun. Here’s what to expect for the LGBTQ+ celebrations

Pride month has begun across the U.S., bringing parades and parties to big cities and small towns to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.

The rainbow-filled festivities this year come as President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing policies to roll back the rights of transgender people and curtail recognition of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Man dead from self-inflicted gunshot after barricade situation at Katy-area apartment; woman also found dead inside

Authorities say a man who barricaded himself inside an apartment in the Katy-area is dead after shooting himself during a standoff with SWAT. A woman was also found dead inside the apartment.

ARE YOU A KPRC 2 INSIDER? HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVES

Crunch Time: Three Houston spots serving fried food done right

CLICK2PINS: SHOW US WHAT YA GOT 📷

See a news story in your neighborhood? Capture a great weather moment? Just want to share a photo of your pet? Send your photos and videos to Click2Pins, and you may see them on air and online!

The organization is recruiting volunteers of all ages to sort, process and box food and other necessities into Disaster Boxes that can be deployed immediately when disaster hits. Individuals, families, church groups, company teams and networking groups are all welcome to sign up.

What goes inside a Disaster Box

Each Disaster Box is packed with nonperishable, ready-to-eat items designed to sustain families in the immediate aftermath of a storm. Contents include three canned vegetables, two canned fruits, three protein items — such as tuna, canned chicken, beef stew, chili or peanut butter — two snack items like granola bars or breakfast bars and two waters.

Boxes also include critical cleaning supplies such as mop buckets, mops, brooms, Clorox wipes, bleach, garbage bags and bug spray — essentials for families returning home after flooding or storm damage.

Volunteers are also encouraged to bring nonperishable food donations when they come in for their shift. Pull-top cans are especially needed for the convenience of recipients.

When, where and how to sign up

Volunteer shifts are available at Houston Food Bank’s main warehouse facility at 535 Portwall St. in Houston. Shifts run seven days a week, with three options to fit nearly any schedule:

Morning: Monday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to noon

Afternoon: Monday through Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m.

Evening: Tuesday through Friday, 6 to 9 p.m.

Registration is quick and easy online at HoustonFoodBank.org/volunteer.

Additional volunteer locations available

Volunteers can also sign up at two additional Houston Food Bank facilities. The Trinity River Community Resource Center, located at 1768 County Road 3558 in Cleveland, Texas, offers shifts Tuesday through Saturday. The North Branch location at 146 Knobcrest welcomes individuals and small groups of up to 10 people.

About Houston Food Bank

Houston Food Bank has served Houston and southeast Texas since 1982. The organization provides access to 143 million nutritious meals across 18 counties through a network of 1,600 community partners, including food pantries, soup kitchens, social service providers and schools. Houston Food Bank holds a four-star rating from Charity Navigator for the 14th consecutive year and is a certified member of Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network.

Happy one day closer to Friday HA!

Anyways, let’s jump into what’s happening this week. Houston is always full of news, and this week is no different.

Our huge story of the day is one that is not only sad but tragic. An 18-year-old college student was shot and killed by a deputy Monday morning, and now, his family is demanding answers. The boy’s family said he had only been home for summer break from college for two weeks when the incident happened.

Now, although we don’t have all of the details, what we do know is that a Brazoria County Deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on the teen’s vehicle, but the teen refused to stop, leading the deputy on a chase to his father’s house. When the teen arrived at his father’s house, the video shows the deputy approaching the vehicle and the gunshots; it’s not clear what happened between that time. An investigation is underway, and the boy’s parents are demanding to see the bodycam video.

To read more, click here.

➡️ Love our morning newsletter? Share it with your family and friends!

YOUR MORNING FORECAST ☀️

TODAY: 90° TONIGHT: 75°

KPRC 2 Meteorologist says:

“We’re tracking the chance for rain and thunderstorms not only today but every single day this week, thanks to the tropical moisture and the sea breeze moving inland from the Gulf. As for temperatures this week, the heat isn’t going anywhere. Thanks to the humidity, our “feels-like” temps will hit triple-digits. So make sure to hydrate, hydrate. hydrate this week.”

Get your forecast details here.

TOP STORIES

Nearly 2,000 sign petitions opposing Spring Valley Village’s Bingle Road Project

A controversial traffic project in Spring Valley Village is drawing criticism from some residents and business owners who say changes to Bingle Road have created congestion and safety concerns rather than solving them. Two online petitions opposing the city’s so-called “Bingle Road Diet” have gathered nearly 2,000 signatures.

Pride Month 2026 has begun. Here’s what to expect for the LGBTQ+ celebrations

Pride month has begun across the U.S., bringing parades and parties to big cities and small towns to celebrate LGBTQ+ people.

The rainbow-filled festivities this year come as President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing policies to roll back the rights of transgender people and curtail recognition of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Man dead from self-inflicted gunshot after barricade situation at Katy-area apartment; woman also found dead inside

Authorities say a man who barricaded himself inside an apartment in the Katy-area is dead after shooting himself during a standoff with SWAT. A woman was also found dead inside the apartment.

ARE YOU A KPRC 2 INSIDER? HERE’S SOME EXCLUSIVES

Crunch Time: Three Houston spots serving fried food done right

CLICK2PINS: SHOW US WHAT YA GOT 📷

See a news story in your neighborhood? Capture a great weather moment? Just want to share a photo of your pet? Send your photos and videos to Click2Pins, and you may see them on air and online!

The damage trapped some people under the rubble of apartment buildings. Emergency crews digging through the wreckage pulled out the body of a 3-year-old child and the bodies of a mother and her 8-year-old son in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, officials said.

The attack stretched from night into day and the boom of explosions reverberated across cities. Officials said that 12 people were killed in Dnipro and six in Kyiv.

Kyiv residents had been on edge for days after Russia warned that a massive aerial attack was coming and warned foreign diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital. None appeared to heed the call.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for more U.S. and European support, describing the massive overnight attack as “an explicit statement by Russia: If Ukraine is not protected from ballistic missiles and other missile strikes, those strikes will continue.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has stepped up Moscow’s aerial campaign against Ukraine, with Russian forces recently launching a powerful hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missile for only the third time in the four-year war.

The Russian strategy seeks to take advantage of Ukraine’s shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles, with international stocks depleted by the Iran war. That has left civilians especially vulnerable to the Russian ballistic missile barrages, even as air defenses stop most of the attack drones.

Kyiv mother and daughter shelter in a bath tub

At least 64 people were wounded in the capital, emergency services said. Kyiv resident Iryna Salikova, 37, spent the night lying in a bath tub for protection with her 3-year-old daughter, as blasts reverberated across the city.

“Our window was broken. A cobblestone flew into the children’s room,” Salikova said, though they weren't hurt. “Thank God we’re alive. Today we’re alive, today we’re lucky.”

Russia unleashed 73 missiles and 656 drones across Ukraine, according to the country’s air force, with the main targets including Kyiv, the central city of Dnipro, and the eastern cities of Poltava, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian air defense forces destroyed or suppressed 40 missiles and 602 drones.

Putin seeks to change the narrative of the war

Putin is keen to generate some positive news from the conflict that began with Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor and hasn’t gone according to plan.

Western officials and analysts say Ukrainian drones are pinning down Russian troops on the front line, choking Russian supply lines in occupied regions of Ukraine and disrupting oil facilities deep inside Russia that provide vital revenue for Moscow. That has made the war, which Moscow refers to as a “special military operation,” more visible to Russians and increased pressure on Putin.

U.S.-led peace efforts have fizzled out as the sides made no progress on key differences and after the Gulf and Middle East grabbed Washington’s attention. Zelenskyy accepted an unconditional ceasefire demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump but Putin refused.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the military launched a “massive” strike with long-range precision weapons on military-industrial facilities in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnytsk and Sumy regions.

Putin signaled that Russia won’t let up its attacks. He said Tuesday that Ukraine’s May 22 drone attack on a college dormitory in Starobilsk in the Russia-controlled Luhansk region of Ukraine that killed 21 had given the war “a whole new dimension.”

Ukraine said it hit a Russian drone pilot training center in Starobilsk.

Man thrown out of Kyiv apartment by blast

Hits of 30 ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles and 33 drones were recorded at at least 38 locations across Ukraine, according to regional authorities. Debris from destroyed drones fell on 15 locations, the air force said.

At least four people were killed in Kyiv and 63 people were injured, including three children, Ukraine's state emergency service said. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged in eight Kyiv districts.

Olena Dniprovska, 65, and her husband Yevhen, 64, were wounded in their apartment in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district during the attack.

“I went out into the corridor with the phone, and before I understood what happened, everything fell on my head, the glass, and the door blew off,” said Dniprovska, dried blood streaked across her face and a bandage wrapped around her chin. “I ran out into the front door and started calling my husband from the room, but he was also blown out by the blast wave.”

“Now I have nowhere to live, the apartment is completely destroyed, no doors, no windows, no balcony. You can step straight from the room out onto the street,” she said.

In Kharkiv, at least 14 people were wounded and residential homes, garages and cars were damaged. People were also trapped beneath the rubble of a four-story apartment block.

___

AP reporters Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, contributed to this story.

___

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

Resilient Structures, based in Humble, manufactures poles designed to withstand winds topping 140 mph — the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane. The company is now hiring for a range of full-time positions, and a college degree isn’t required for all of them.

Beryl exposed weaknesses in Houston’s power grid

When Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Texas as a Category 1 storm in 2024, it knocked out power to millions across the Greater Houston area. Downed utility poles were a significant factor in leaving some neighborhoods without electricity for days.

Alisa Madrid, a buyer at Resilient Structures, remembers it well.

“I was here. I was fortunate that I only lost power for 12 hours, but I did have family members who lost power 10 days,” Madrid said.

The storm exposed just how vulnerable the region’s power infrastructure was. Since then, CenterPoint Energy has been replacing thousands of wooden poles with stronger fiberglass ones — many of which are being manufactured at the Humble facility.

Inside production floor

On the production floor, dozens of workers are already busy building the poles. The facility is loud — and according to Resilient Structures, it’s only going to get louder as production scales up.

Rob Krotee, executive vice president of Sales & Marketing at Resilient Structures, says the company is still in the early stages of its hiring push.

“We’ll be hiring at full scale. We’ll probably be over 300 people. So we still have hundreds more jobs that we’ll be hiring here for our Houston facility,” Krotee said.

The open positions span a variety of skill sets.

“A number of different skilled kind of work, whether it’s equipment operators, there’s some technical skilled work in our filament lining, which is unique to our composite poles. So they’re great full-time career opportunities with quite a bit of a runway as we continue to build and grow in support of the utility industry,” Krotee said.

More than just a job

For Madrid, who has worked at Resilient Structures for a few months, the role carries a deeper sense of purpose. She says knowing the poles her team builds could help keep other families powered during future storms makes the work meaningful.

“I think that’s what makes Resilient Structures so special — I’m able to see the direct impact now. And I’m reminded of that daily,” Madrid said.

Job openings are currently available at Resilient Structures’ Humble facility.

Previously one of President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, Greene resigned from Congress in late 2025 after a significant public break with the president. A 28-year congressional veteran, Sessions is a Republican insider bringing deep institutional knowledge to a rapidly moving Washington. As America marks its 250th anniversary, renowned historian Gordon-Reed explores the nation’s founding contradiction with her new book, “Jefferson on Race: A Reader.” And Webb, one of the nation’s leading quantitative futurists, helps us understand the technological forces reshaping nearly every aspect of our lives.  

Other newly announced speakers joining us in September include San Antonio mayor Gina Ortiz Jones, who leads one of the country’s fastest-growing cities and is one of the most prominent leaders pushing back on federal immigration actions in Texas; Jennifer Cowley, president of the University of Texas at Arlington leading the institution at a time of incredible transformation for higher education; content creator and activist Carlos Eduardo Espina, who has built an audience of more than 20 million by telling migrant stories outside of traditional media; and NPR’s critic-at-large Eric Deggans, who will help us consider how a fragmented media landscape is reshaping what it means to be a journalist today. 

Each day brings more for Texans to wrestle with and talk about with one another, and TribFest will be here before you know it.

Get your tickets now to join us in Austin this September.

Disclosure: University of Texas – Arlington has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Two online petitions opposing the city’s so-called “Bingle Road Diet” have gathered nearly 2,000 signatures.

The project reduced a half-mile stretch of Bingle Road from four lanes to three between Westview Drive and West Memorial Park Drive. The redesign added a center turn lane, a bike lane, and expanded space for pedestrians.

City officials say the changes are intended to improve safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

But some who live and work along the corridor disagree.

“Their engineering report said it would produce better traffic flow, which to me is like saying lap band surgery produces more food in your stomach,” said George Zoes, owner of Ruby’s Wigs. “It makes no sense.”

Zoes’ business serves women battling cancer and others experiencing medical-related hair loss. He says Bingle Road is more than a neighborhood street and should be treated as a major transportation route.

“Bingle Road is part of a 30-mile stretch of road which goes north to south Houston,” Zoes said. “It’s not just a neighborhood street inside Spring Valley. It’s a major thoroughfare.”

Critics of the project say the lane reduction has increased traffic congestion, pushed vehicles into nearby neighborhoods and led to near crashes.

Some are now calling on city leaders to reverse course.

“Maybe it’s time to say, ‘Hey, we tried it, it didn’t work. Let’s go back to what was,’” Zoes said. “‘No fault, no harm, no foul.’”

Despite the criticism, Spring Valley Village officials say they have also received positive feedback about the project.

The city’s administrator told KPRC 2 that officials are continuing to monitor traffic conditions and make adjustments aimed at improving the road’s efficiency while evaluating the long-term impact of the redesign.

For now, the debate over the future of Bingle Road continues as residents, business owners and city leaders weigh the balance between traffic flow and safety.

The Republican former senator will sit before House and Senate committees to make the State Department's annual budget request. But the focus is likely to shift quickly to the already unsteady ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, which has been further tested in recent days by back-and-forth attacks.

Cabinet members, including Rubio, have defended President Donald Trump's decision to launch the conflict despite promises over the years not to engage in “forever wars” in the Middle East. That work has been made more difficult by Trump's shifting goals for the conflict.

While Rubio is testifying before Congress for the first time since the Iran war started on Feb. 28, he took part in a classified briefing for lawmakers days after the first U.S. and Israeli strikes. He faced Democrats' anger over the lack of congressional approval but strong support from most Republicans for taking action against one of America's oldest adversaries.

In the two months since the war began, however, a small but growing faction of Republicans have joined Democrats in questioning the astronomical price tag and overall economic consequences of the conflict as they head into midterm elections in the fall. The war has cut tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which 20% of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passes in peacetime, spiking gas prices.

Last month, the Senate advanced legislation for the first time that would have forced Trump to withdraw from the conflict after GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana — fresh off a primary election loss in which Trump endorsed his opponent — joined Democrats in pushing it forward.

The House also had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, but GOP leadership kept it from coming to the floor after it became clear that the majority party would not have the numbers to defeat it.

The actions show the GOP is struggling to maintain political backing for Trump's handling of the war as rank-and-file Republicans are increasingly willing to defy the president over the conflict.

Following his appearances Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and House Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the State Department, Rubio will return to the Hill on Wednesday to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and equivalent Senate Appropriations subcommittee.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also is likely to be questioned about the Trump administration’s escalatory behavior toward Cuba, as Trump has hinted that the small island country could be the next U.S. target after operations in Iran are wrapped up.

Despite a series of meetings between U.S. and Cuban officials, Trump and Rubio have renewed threats against the island's government, which take on greater weight after the administration announced criminal charges against former President Raúl Castro. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment as a political stunt that sought only to “justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba.”

Over his congressional career and now as America's top diplomat, Rubio has maintained that Cuba is a national security threat because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump is intent on addressing it.

___

Amiri reported from New York.

___

Follow the AP's coverage of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at https://apnews.com/hub/marco-rubio.

The forecasts and skies may still be quiet, but for many residents, the memory of 2024 lingers. It’s not just the storms they remember. It’s the darkness that followed.

In July 2024, Hurricane Beryl swept into Texas and left more than two million homes and businesses without power. Days later, over a million were still waiting in the heat, frustrated and searching for answers. The outage didn’t just disrupt daily life—it sparked outrage. Residents demanded accountability from CenterPoint Energy, the region’s main power provider.

After that, the company promised things would change. And now it’s showing KPRC2 and you just how how they did that.

“We will be ready for hurricane season,” said Nathan Brownwell, Vice President of Resilience and Capital Delivery.

Rebuilding After the Backlash

In the aftermath of Beryl, CenterPoint Energy pledged to improve. The plan: strengthen the grid, communicate better, and reduce the scale of outages when the next storm inevitably arrives.

RELATED: Looking for a job? Houston-area company hiring 300+ workers to strengthen power grid after Beryl

The company calls the plan the Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative—a sweeping effort to reinforce critical infrastructure across the region. It includes four pillars: trimming trees, installing new poles and equipment, adding automation and intelligence devices, and placing more underground power lines.

Reinforcing the Grid from the Ground Up

One of the most substantial upgrades lies beneath the surface.

CenterPoint has installed more than 585 miles of underground power lines, targeting areas where above-ground lines are especially vulnerable. In neighborhoods dense with trees or near critical facilities like hospitals, burying lines offers protection that trimming alone can’t guarantee.

Above ground, automation is playing a growing role. More than 500 grid-switching devices—known internally as automation devices—have been installed. These systems are designed to detect problems and reroute electricity in real time, isolating outages and restoring power faster, sometimes within seconds.

Then there’s the ongoing battle with one of the grid’s oldest enemies: trees.

The company says it has cleared more than 10,000 miles of vegetation that could interfere with power lines. It’s a preventative measure that often goes unnoticed—until a storm sends branches crashing down.

But perhaps the most visible change stands tall along streets and neighborhoods across Houston: utility poles.

Stronger Poles, Stronger Promises

More than 68,000 new “hardened” utility poles have been installed throughout the region. Some are made of fiberglass, others are reinforced wood—but all are built to endure stronger winds than their predecessors.

The fiberglass poles are engineered to withstand gusts up to 130 miles per hour—well beyond the strength of a Category 1 storm like Hurricane Beryl.

For Brownwell, the numbers reflect more than progress—they signal a shift in urgency.

Traditionally, the company replaced about 25,000 poles per year. Recently, that number has surged to more than 40,000 annually, part of an accelerated effort to fortify the system.

Still, the scale of the challenge is enormous. With more than 1.2 million poles across the network, full transformation will take years.

Earning Back Trust

According to Brownwell, the initiative is here to stay. He describes it as a multi-year effort, one that will continue well beyond the current hurricane season.

But even as upgrades continue, there’s an undeniable reality: infrastructure improvements move on a human timeline. Storms do not.

The Unanswered Question

As another hurricane season begins, Houston once again finds itself in a waiting game.

The grid is stronger than it was a year ago. There are more safeguards, more technology, more preparation.

But whether it’s enough remains uncertain.

CenterPoint Energy says yes. The systems are in place. The work is underway. The company insists it is ready.

For residents who lived through days without power, readiness will be measured differently. Not in miles of lines or numbers of poles—but in whether the lights stay on when the next storm arrives.

You can see some of the improvement projects that CenterPoint Energy has completed in your area, by clicking here.

And KPRC2 will continue to get answers for you. If you have questions email Stephania at sjimenez@kprc.com.

The Houston-based energy company is showcasing its ongoing resiliency efforts this week, inviting media to an active pole replacement worksite to see firsthand the infrastructure upgrades designed to keep the lights on when severe weather hits.

• Pride Month 2026 has begun. Here’s what to expect for the LGBTQ+ celebrations

68,000 stronger poles, major upgrades underway

Since 2024, CenterPoint has installed more than 68,000 stronger, storm-resilient poles across the Greater Houston area as part of its Greater Houston Resiliency Initiative, known as GHRI. The work is part of a broader push to build what the company calls the most resilient coastal grid in the nation.

The upgrades go beyond pole replacements. CenterPoint says it has also been clearing higher-risk vegetation, undergrounding power lines and deploying advanced technology to improve system reliability year-round — not just during hurricane season. The company projects these efforts will prevent 150 million customer outage minutes by the end of 2026.

Tracking progress, staying transparent

For customers wanting to follow along, CenterPoint has introduced a new online Community Progress Tracker, giving residents a way to monitor GHRI upgrades and enhancements in their area.

The company also opened a new Emergency Operations Center designed to support year-round situational awareness and coordinate closely with emergency response partners, local and state officials and media during major weather events.

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Weather monitoring, workforce expansion

CenterPoint is also investing heavily in storm prediction technology, adding 150 new advanced weather stations and state-of-the-art forecasting models to sharpen its storm preparedness capabilities.

When a major storm does hit, the company says it can expand its frontline workforce by up to 20 times through mutual assistance and vendor partnerships. That surge capacity is backed by improved damage assessment tools, better crew resource management and advanced damage modeling to help restore power faster after a storm.

Training, exercises, readiness

Preparation has extended to the people behind the grid as well. More than 800 CenterPoint employees have completed more than 25,000 hours of FEMA training. The company also executed a full-scale emergency exercise simulating a response to a Category 3 hurricane, with more than 400 CenterPoint team members participating and approximately 100 state and local officials in attendance.

The incident occurred around 10 p.m. near the 6700 block of Fondren Road, where a driver traveling northbound in an Infiniti struck an elderly woman who was using a walker to cross the street. The woman was not in a marked crosswalk at the time of the collision.

Houston Fire Department personnel responded to the scene and pronounced the woman deceased. Authorities say the woman lived in the surrounding neighborhood.

The driver, described as a young woman, remained on the scene following the crash.

Investigators with the Houston Police Department’s Vehicular Crimes Division say the driver showed no signs of impairment and had no prior history of reckless driving.

The HPD Vehicular Crimes Division is handling the investigation. No charges had been announced as of this report.

Her hair covered by a pink bonnet, she prepares porridge, omelets and bread for breakfast for patients at the Evangelical Medical Center. The lunch and dinner menus might include fresh fish with fufu, a starchy staple made of mashed plantains, finished off by fruit.

“Even though the patients have this disease, they still feel better when they eat, and the doctors have the energy to treat the sick and give them medication,” Basekawike told The Associated Press on Monday as she prepared vegetables and potatoes with goat meat in a large cooking pot. “I’m here for them like a parent, preparing food so they feel comfortable.”

Her contribution may appear, on the surface, like a simple task, but it has become one of the critical supports for the region as it grapples with the rapidly spreading rare Bundibugyo virus, the species of Ebola confirmed in eastern Congo in May.

As of Tuesday, 321 cases of the Ebola disease and 48 deaths had been confirmed in the Central African nation’s three eastern provinces of Ituri, North and South Kivu, according to the World Health Organization. Neighboring Uganda has had nine cases and one death confirmed, according to the WHO, prompting Uganda to close its border with Congo.

Before the outbreak, the beleaguered region already faced one of the world's most severe food crises due to an ongoing conflict that has displaced millions of people as government forces fight rebels. The spreading virus has added another layer of complexity that the United Nations warns might complicate the efforts to manage the spread of the virus among an already wary population.

“We are in a region where we already have large segments of the population suffering from acute food insecurity linked to either war or displacement,” said Olivier Nkakudulu, who heads the World Food Program in Ituri province. “So there are already needs and Ebola is an additional crisis on top of a crisis.”

The resource-strapped agency, the World Food Program, is facing a critical choice as aid cuts from the U.S. and other major partners have disrupted operations in the vulnerable region. Efforts to contain the disease, which the World Health Organization has deemed a global health emergency, have been hampered by a lack of funds as global partners either withdrew or reduced pledges.

Also, attacks by suspicious residents on health workers and the slow delivery of aid due to the ongoing conflict have made it difficult to slow the spread of the disease.

Despite the challenges, the agency and health workers say they have ensured patients' nutritional demands are met so far.

“Today we need to increase the amount because the number of patients has gone up,” Esther Bao, a nurse and one of the volunteers, said. There are also patients who, because of their health situation, "don't eat just any meal,” she said.

The Bundibugyo virus has no approved vaccine or treatment. However, treatment has targeted symptoms and five people have recovered.

The outbreak continues to spread, from the three health zones affected at the onset to 22 as of this weekend, according to Congo's Ministry of Health.

On Sunday, 120 meals were served through four health facilities, bringing the total to 404 since the food assistance began on May 28, according to Nkakudulu. But the financial situation has not been easy, he said.

“Without more funding, we might not be able to prioritize every suspected case,” Nkakudulu said. "We might have to focus on some and not have food to give to others."

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Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The rainbow-filled festivities this year come as President Donald Trump’s administration is pushing policies to roll back the rights of transgender people and curtail recognition of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Jordan Braxton, co-president of USA Prides, a organization of Pride groups, says the events have always been rooted in protest.

“A festival is a time to celebrate,” she said. “Those are acts of resistance, too.”

The first Pride celebrations came in protest

The event has its roots in the violent police raid of New York’s Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, on June 28, 1969.

The raid sparked a series of public protests and catalyzed the gay rights movement at a time when many LGBTQ+ people kept their identities to themselves.

To mark the first anniversary in June 1970, there were marches in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Now, events take place in big cities, suburbs and small towns around the world.

President Bill Clinton proclaimed June as Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in the U.S. with an executive order in 1999. Since then, Democratic presidents have signed similar orders each year they’ve been in office. Republican presidents, including Trump, have not.

Now, many are celebrations with a dose of defiance

Parades and street fairs headline Pride celebrations. But there’s more to them than that.

San Francisco Pride includes a golf tournament and a human right summit. Twin Cities Pride in Minneapolis has a bar crawl, and Central Alabama Pride in Birmingham features a singing competition.

This year’s celebrations include main events in Los Angeles on June 14, Chicago on June 20 and 21, San Francisco on June 27 and New York on June 28. There are events this month in international cities including Paris, Rome, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.

While those events have been around for more than 50 years, this year marks just the sixth edition of a formal Pride celebration in Haddon Township, New Jersey, a Philadelphia suburb. A parade is scheduled for Thursday, and a community night is Friday.

Isis Petrie Williams, president of Haddon Township Pride, said that the 2,000 to 3,000 people in the parade will include local high school marching bands, youth sports teams and many people passing out candy.

“We decided to have a radical expression of joy, acceptance and love, centered on exposure and community connection,” she said.

Some policy changes have not been LGBTQ-friendly

For years, policies across the U.S. were generally becoming more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people, including in June 2015 when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationally.

In recent years, several policies have swung the other way.

The Supreme Court in March ruled against a ban on “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ kids in Colorado, saying it violated free speech protections.

During Pride Month last year, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for transgender kids.

This decade, most Republican-controlled state governments have passed similar restrictions on gender-affirming care, barred transgender women and girls from female sports competitions, and restricted which restrooms transgender people can use in schools — and, in some cases, other public places.

Trump has signed executive orders seeking some of the same policies on a federal level.

On Monday, one of those policies suffered a blow when a court ruled that the military illegally banned transgender troops.

Some sponsors have pulled out of the celebrations

Last year, some big corporations stopped contributing to Pride events.

Braxton said she’s noticed some investment firms pulling back this year, following companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Walmart last year.

“It’s all because of Trump’s DEI policies. Corporations are afraid that if they sponsor a Pride event, they are going to get scrutinized from this administration, which is completely sad,” she said.

But she said that smaller events have seen local businesses boost sponsorships.

That’s been true for New Jersey’s Haddon Township Pride. Williams said the Coast Guard is the only major national sponsor that’s abandoned the event in recent years.

Meanwhile, local hospitals, restaurants, law firms, coffee shops and other businesses are contributing.

With no candidate taking an outright majority of the vote, the election will head to a second round in June.

But Cepeda and Petro sowed doubt in the results of the first round, claiming without evidence that hundreds of thousands of votes were manipulated and that foreign actors manipulated the results of the election.

Cepeda said he was waiting for electoral authorities to scrutinize the results before accepting the election.

“Only when the vote-counting commissions have fully clarified what happened will we comment on tonight’s results,” Cepeda said, though he acknowledged the vote was likely going to a second round.

Cepeda won 41% of the vote, while de la Espriella won 44% of the votes, with 99.98% of the results counted by electoral authorities.

Cepeda is a progressive senator who has promised to carry on a fraught plan to achieve “total peace" by negotiating peace pacts with guerrillas and criminal gangs. He was consistently leading polls in the run up to the Sunday vote, but in the weeks leading up to the election de la Espriella rapidly gained support with a promise that he would crack down on armed groups.

The neck-and-neck results likely spell trouble for Cepeda in the run-off election, as de la Espriella is expected to scoop up support from voters who threw their support behind another conservative candidate in the first round.

De la Espriella — a newcomer known as El Tigre, or “The Tiger” — has sought to portray himself as a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Let the United States of America and democratic parties monitor this runoff election. I will lead this battle; I will be Colombia’s best warrior," de la Espriella said in an impassioned speech Sunday night, pounding his chest behind bullet-proof glass in front of supporters.

Colombian voters are weighing peace deals or a crackdown

Voters across Latin America are increasingly ditching leaders that pitched progressive policies aimed at addressing the root issues of conflict, such as lack of opportunities for young people and corruption. Instead, voters have increasingly turned to candidates promising heavy-handed security crackdowns.

The polarized vote comes as the Trump administration is playing a more aggressive role in Latin America than any U.S. government in decades, placing mounting pressure on countries like Colombia, Mexico, and Ecuador to crack down on crime.

The election has also underscored two sharply diverging visions for the future of peace in a country marked by years of conflict.

On one side, Cepeda has promised to continue Petro’s progressive agenda and a largely failed effort to negotiate peace pacts with armed groups, following a plan that’s likely to sharply contrast with Trump’s vision for Latin America.

On the other side, de la Espriella has promised to fiercely crack down on criminal groups and build 10 mega-prisons, echoing the war on gangs policy of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, which has driven down homicide rates but fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

“Today’s election isn’t just important for us, it’s important for all of Latin America,” said Juan Acevedo, a 62-year-old sociologist walking out of a voting station in Colombia’s capital on Sunday morning. “Whoever wins here will suggest to the region if progressive policies will continue or if things are going to return to the right.”

Vote is seen as a referendum on Petro

The election — 10 years after Colombia signed an historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC — as seen as a referendum on Petro’s policies.

The deal a decade ago had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government. But violence has since roared back, in part because armed groups have taken advantage of peace negotiations with Petro's government to make territorial gains.

That came to a head in the lead-up to the election. Criminal groups have increasingly launched drone strikes, armed attacks have plagued the race and last June, 39-year-old politician and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe Turbay was fatally shot at a political rally. Still, Cepeda and Petro have maintained strong support among many because of progressive policies pushed forward under Petro, such as boosting the minimum wage.

Both de la Espriella and Valencia have touted their affinity for Trump, though Valencia’s electoral loss dealt another blow to a once powerful political current known as Uribismo.

Colombians are divided on the way forward

Maria Eugenia, a 57-year-old seamstress on Friday in downtown Bogotá, Colombia's capital, said she welcomed an all-out offensive on an expanding slate of criminal groups, regardless of the human cost.

While she approved of Petro’s pushes to improve the country's medical infrastructure, she said she was voting for de la Espriella because violence in rural areas of the country has gotten out of hand. She said negotiating peace pacts was effectively rewarding armed groups.

“Of course, whenever you come down with a heavy hand, there’s always going to be debate,” she said. “But some people are going to have to fall to clean up what needs to be cleaned up.”

Others, like Acevedo, the sociologist, said a security crackdown such as the one promoted by de la Espriella meant a return to past military campaigns that he said only reinforced Colombia's cycle of violence.

He said he supports Cepeda, adding that while the government hasn't done a perfect job — failing to pass ambitious reforms and follow through on promises to reduce violence — it was better to continue pushing forward with their political coalition's efforts to take a different approach in addressing the country's violence.

He added that his main critique of Petro's administration was the power grabs made by criminal groups as they negotiated with the government. He said he hoped that if Cepeda won, he would strike a better balance between negotiating peace and maintaining control over those groups.

“We're a country that has lived through 60 years of conflict,” Acevedo said. “The danger here is that we return to the times where everyone is saying that the only way to solve our problems is with bullets and more war.”

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

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This story was first published on May 31, 2026. It was updated on Jun. 2, 2026 to correct the first name of the candidate to Abelardo instead of Aberaldo.

This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.

HOOD COUNTY — Brian Crawford points to the top of a hill northwest of his family’s home garden, just past their gently sloping yard dotted with live oaks beginning to flower.

“All of this would be buildings,” said his wife, Laura Crawford.

“A slab of concrete,” Brian added.

Their property is a 118-acre paradise along the Paluxy River Valley where the couple care for a menagerie of animals including their two enormous donkeys, Little Joe and Hoss, chickens and a herd of African antelope that they inherited when they bought the property nine years ago.

Instead of green, about 600 yards away from their garden, they could soon be looking at 2,100 acres of warehouse-like structures filled with computing servers that process the digital world, flattening their scenic view into something industrial. The site plan calls for a campus that spans almost six times the size of University of Texas at Austin’s main campus. Its Florida-based developer refers to it as the Comanche Circle project, but the eventual company that will run the data center has not been publicly revealed.

This is just the beginning of the data center revolution in Hood County, a rural community of 62,000 people about an hour southwest of Fort Worth. Developers have proposed eight data centers spanning over 7,600 acres, or 12 square miles. While it’s unclear how much power all of the facilities would require, the Comanche Circle data center, plus two other smaller projects from the same developer, could use up to 3 gigawatts of electricity at full capacity, according to its developer — enough to power about 3 million homes. Some of the power could be generated by a new on-site gas plant, and some will likely come from the state’s power grid, according to the project’s concept plan.

Comanche Circle will need an initial one-time “flush and fill” starting next year of 95 million gallons of water for its seven-year buildout, and then 150,000 gallons per day — equivalent to the average use of 500 U.S. households, according to the minutes of the local water district board meeting where the developer made its request. In an email to The Texas Tribune, the developer said that the number submitted to the district board was incorrect and his three data centers combined would use “less than 50,000 gallons per day of groundwater” at full build out.

Hood County locals are relentless in their fight against the data centers, packing county meetings and town halls and voicing their fierce opposition to the facilities threatening to transform their charming, small-town community.

But, county officials say their hands are tied in their ability to stop or slow development. Two efforts by Hood County commissioners to pass a moratorium on data centers failed, as a state lawmaker warned they were acting outside of their authority. And the county has been sued twice by developers — after the commission rejected one data center’s concept plan, citing a lack of information about critical considerations like where they’d get their water from, and then tabled a vote on another.

“I was elected by the people to represent their opinion,” Kevin Andrews, a Hood County commissioner who has lived in the county for two decades, said in an interview. “But I also have to follow the law … and not get the county sued.”

Data center developers are more frequently choosing rural, unincorporated areas like Hood County because it’s an easier path to build, experts say. In Texas, counties typically don’t have the power to block development — unlike city officials who wield zoning authority.

“Texas has always viewed counties as rural toddlers that can’t be trusted with full powers,” said Robert Paterson, a professor at UT-Austin who specializes in land use and environmental planning.

Nearly half of the planned data centers in Texas are set to be built in unincorporated areas, free of city regulations, according to an analysis by the Tribune. This marks a shift as most existing data centers are clustered in cities and only 12% are currently in unincorporated areas.

At least one county, which appears to be the first in Texas, recently placed a one-year pause on data center construction, moving ahead despite the legal risks. The action has already prompted a lawsuit against Hill County and its three commissioners by a data center developer seeking $100 million in damages.

Today, Hood County has the sixth most planned data centers among Texas counties; per square mile, it ranks third. It’s been a magnet for developers because of the cheap land, available power, fiber lines and, importantly, its lack of local business restrictions.

“We love liberty and love a lack of regulation,” said Greg Harrell, chair of the Hood County GOP, at a town hall earlier this year. “Data centers are taking advantage of it… They saw an opportunity.”

The surge of development here mirrors a data center gold rush across Texas over the past year that is outpacing the speed of regulation. A Tribune analysis found the state has 335 existing data centers, with more than 248 in the works. Only Texas and Virginia, which has been the top state for data centers for the past few years, had more than 100 active projects under way as of March, according to Aterio, a company that tracks industrial development.

Massive data centers are also flooding the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, with requests for power. As of May, ERCOT reported that large projects requesting to connect to the grid totaled 439 gigawatts of power capacity — five times larger than the all-time peak demand on the state’s grid. Of those projects, about 89% are data centers, though energy experts say it’s unlikely that all of them will be built.

The explosion of development is driven by the newest wave of data centers, known as “hyperscalers,” designed to support artificial intelligence computing facilities with thousands of servers, which are much bigger than current data centers that were largely built for cloud storage. Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Open AI are behind planned projects in West Texas and Central Texas.

“Texas is a great state to do business. All of that really has come together to help make Texas, again, one of the national leaders in digital infrastructure,” said Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy with the Data Center Coalition.

Data center developers say their projects will bring billions of dollars of new property on the tax rolls, work training opportunities, job creation and private investment in communities. One company told Hood County commissioners it could potentially increase the county’s tax base anywhere from $5 billion to $20 billion.

However, some commissioners and residents remain skeptical, saying the benefits are uneven, and data centers create few permanent jobs after their labor-intensive construction is finished. For example, one Hood County data center proposal shows a peak construction workforce of 2,000 dropping to a permanent workforce of 220, according to the project’s concept plan.

Hood County Commissioner Dave Eagle said there are “too many unanswered questions” about data centers, and they’re being asked to greenlight plans with incomplete information about their impact on the community.

The Tribune reviewed hundreds of pages of concept plans, lawsuits and reviewed hours of testimony from commissioners court meetings to piece together information about the projects. All but one of the seven data center proposals submitted to Hood County omitted estimates for power use; only four noted a potential power source. Just five of the concept plans included projections for water consumption and six listed options for where they would get their water. The eighth project was annexed into the City of Granbury, which had not received any development plans, according to a spokesperson.

Despite the backlash from residents, some Hood County commissioners are increasingly convinced there’s little they can do to stop data centers as more proposals roll in.

“[Data centers] snuck up on us,” Eagle said at a town hall meeting in February. “We don’t understand it and we need more information.”

Brian and Laura Crawford, with their dog Belle, in their backyard across the Hood County line in Somervell County. Brian and Laura have had to commit a significant amount of their time to their activism against the proposed data centers, with Laura working around the clock with Protect The Paluxy Valley.

The Crawfords placed signs outside their property opposing the construction of data centers in the area.

A Mysterious Project

In July 2025, Hood County officials first got wind of a secretive economic development pitch called “Project Patriot,” described on the commissioners’ meeting agenda as “a proposed large capital investment” that came with the creation of 60 “high-wage permanent” jobs.

County Judge Ron Massingill asked the commissioners to take a nonbinding vote signaling the officials wanted the business and would be willing to waive its property taxes.

But at the meeting, commissioners were given virtually no information about the business. It was never referred to as a data center. An economic development official for the city of Granbury, which later annexed the project into its city limits, told commissioners that she was under a nondisclosure agreement and could not answer their questions about the company.

Massingill, who did not respond to interview requests, argued to commissioners that the county had little oversight authority over business anyway, and negotiating a local tax exemption might be the only leverage they would ever have. The county, he said, could ask for “beautification of the building site” and minimize impact to neighbors.

The court voted 3-1 in favor of the letter of support, with Commissioner Nannette Samuelson dissenting. At the meeting she said, “we are setting ourselves up for big industry, losing that small town feel.”

Weeks later, Eagle, a lawyer by trade who’s been a commissioner for eight years, was invited to meet privately with a handful of data center representatives from a different project. Marketing representatives and engineers came to “razzle and dazzle” him, he said, pitching something big and transformative that would bring significant tax revenue to the county. Then, they made the same ask: a property tax waiver.

Eagle grew suspicious. The private meetings, the coded language, the missing details.

“They were trying to take advantage of country bumpkins,” he said in an interview.

He told the industry representatives he wouldn’t support their tax waiver. For Eagle, who loves the comfort and stability of the county, its French Empire-style courthouse and nearby lake, this was ringing alarm bells. What worried him was the unknown scale of data centers.

Other commissioners were contacted privately, too.

In October, Commissioner Jack Wilson placed the tax break on the agenda, but it was pulled before the court could take a vote. Wilson didn’t respond to interview requests.

The proposals kept coming. Three data center plans were submitted that December, and then four more between February and April of this year. They came with playful code names like “Fort Spunky” and “Project Panther,” masking the names of the tech companies that would operate them.

Developers said prosperity would follow. Ryan Hughes, a managing partner and founder of Sailfish Investors, the company developing the Comanche Circle data center, and two others, said in an email to the Tribune their project will bring “substantial private investment, significant tax base growth, and long-term economic benefits to the region.”

But the community would not be so easily convinced.

“Gut Punched”

That October, a white sign went up on a barbed wired fence near the Crawford’s home. It was a notice from an energy company seeking a state air permit to build a power plant. The Crawfords worried this was connected to rumors they’d heard about a data center nearby.

Their fears were soon confirmed. The Comanche Circle project was attempting to locate next to their property.

“It’s not just a rumor,” said Laura Crawford. “We felt gut punched. … How can this even be?”

A photo of the sign went up on Facebook. Ranchers, retirees, and longtime residents built an information network almost overnight. Neighbors knocked on doors and warned people about industrial buildings and massive electricity and water demands nobody could quantify.

They flooded Facebook groups with comments and huge banners that read: “Don’t data center my Hood County” at their property fencelines.

The online group quickly evolved into a nonprofit called Protect the Paluxy Valley. The Crawfords began hosting meetings in their backyard. Laura Crawford, who is a retired accountant, said she works around the clock most days researching data center proposals and organizing local opposition. She asks residents to call their commissioners.

In January, the group flooded the county commissioners’ chambers at a meeting to consider the concept plan for the Comanche Circle project.

Residents feared the project would strain the electrical grid and drain their local aquifer. In an email to the Tribune in June, Hughes said the concerns about water use are overblown, noting two nearby golf courses are using more water per acre than his three data center proposals combined.

“It’s like 112 Walmarts on a piece of property,” said Brian Crawford at the meeting. He said there was not enough information from the developer for commissioners to make an “intelligent decision.”

Impatience filled the chambers. Many residents had already been dealing with persistent noise from nearby cryptocurrency mining operations, another industrial project the county had approved. They urged commissioners to not repeat the same mistake and to deny the project’s plan until they have more details on the data center’s impact on traffic, roads, public safety, the watershed, and noise.

At that same meeting, county commissioners reviewed a recommendation by the development commission, a citizen advisory group, to pause data center projects while they studied their impacts and their accompanying power plants. At the time, two other data center proposals had been submitted.

“I’d rather deal with a lawsuit, than destruction of our land,” said Matt Long, a member of the development commission, during the public hearing. Long lives with his wife and nine children in Pecan Plantation, a community that could neighbor one of the county’s proposed data centers. “You were elected to make hard decisions,” he added.

But when the vote came, the Commissioners Court tabled the temporary moratorium discussion and voted to grant Comanche Circle a conditional approval, requiring more detailed plans later.

This time, Eagle was the lone dissenting vote.

A State Lawmaker’s threat

By February, Eagle was desperate and feeling the immense pressure from his constituents.

“The people who voted me in. They demand that me, as their elected official, do what I can to slow this down,” he said.

He proposed a six-month moratorium on new industrial development, including data center projects. He and Samuelson believed the county needed time to better understand the scope of what was coming.

The day of the vote, it was standing room only — residents lined the walls and some who couldn’t fit were listening from outside the doors. The meeting dragged on for eight hours.

Commissioner Andrews and Massingill, the county judge, repeated that Texas counties had little authority to restrict development, warning that a moratorium could trigger lawsuits the county could not afford to fight.

“I’m going to encourage you to be brave and stand firm for the people of this county,” one resident told the commissioners.

Eagle argued that Hood County had unique legal authority to act. He pointed to a 1999 state law granting Hood County’ special powers to protect the watershed feeding Lake Granbury and the Brazos River in unincorporated areas. It’s why the commissioners reviewed concept plans to begin with. If industrial projects threaten the watershed, he argued, the county could use this tool to intervene.

Before the commissioners cast their votes, the county attorney revealed a threat from a lawmaker more than 250 miles away.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that same day asking him to “investigate” any counties seeking to implement moratoriums and “explore any necessary legal actions.”

Eagle said the timing of Bettencourt’s letter wasn’t a coincidence. Samuelson urged her colleagues to stand strong: “There are times when you need courage; stand on principle even if you stand alone.”

Bettencourt, chair of the Senate Committee on Local Government, later defended the letter in an interview, arguing Texas could not allow counties to block growth with “a crazy patchwork quilt” of regulations.

“The point is simply that counties don’t have the constitutional authority to issue building moratoriums,” he said in a social media post about Hood County.

Inside the Commissioners Court, Bettencourt’s message landed hard; momentum vanished instantly.

“I can’t tell you how disappointed I am,” Eagle said before the vote. “You’ve got to wonder what kind of backroom stuff is going on.”

Commissioners killed the moratorium 3-2, with Eagle and Samuelson voting for it.

Data Center Sue

In February, the citizen group packed a town hall of about 50 people.

“There is a fence around us on what we get to do. We are working with a severe handicap,” Eagle told the group, referring to the Legislature.

The next weekend members of the group, including the Crawfords, boarded a bus before sunrise and rode three hours to Austin carrying signs that read, “Support real intelligence not AI” and “Low regulations bring big data centers.” They rallied outside the Capitol, demanding a statewide moratorium, then drove back that same day — arriving home at after sunset so they could attend Commissioner’s Court the next day when the data center moratorium would be back on the agenda.

The second moratorium vote failed exactly like the first.

But in that meeting, commissioners passed a resolution asking Gov. Greg Abbott to call a special legislative session to address the concerns about the industry’s massive electricity and water demands. They also directed staff to ask Paxton to clarify whether Hood County has the legal authority to temporarily halt development under its watershed protection law.

Abbott did not respond to questions about a special session, but spokesperson Andrew Mahaleris said, “Meeting the water and energy needs of Texans remains the Governor’s top priority, and these facilities are required to bring their own water and to disconnect if Texans don’t have what they need. Governor Abbott will continue to work with the Legislature to protect Texans and ensure their voices are heard.” Paxton did not respond to requests for comment.

The commissioners started testing their limits.

Mark Lowery gives public comment and addresses Commissioner Kevin Andrews on a moratorium that would pause construction of data centers in the county during a Hood County Commissioners Court meeting in Granbury on Feb. 24, 2026. The pause would have allowed for the county to assess water and power usage of the proposed data centers in the county.

Beth Macmanee wears a “No Data Centers” sticker during the commissioners court meeting in Granbury. Macmanee had never been to commissioners court meetings before, but has attended every one concerning this issue.

Meeting attendees stand during a 10 minute break. The meeting lasted about 6 hours due to dozens of residents giving public comment on a moratorium that would pause construction of data centers in the county.

In March, commissioners voted unanimously to amend their development regulations, adding stricter requirements for large industrial projects, including data centers.

They expanded the requirements needed in concept plans, including detailed disclosures on water sourcing, energy use and infrastructure, environmental and drainage impacts. They also shrunk the footprint of a new development: buildings, parking lots and other structures could only cover 10% of a property, down from 50%.

Long, who helped craft the rules in his role on the development commission, admitted that the strategy was to make the rules strict enough “so none of them come, no more come in.”

The changes had immediate consequences.

“Fort Spunky,” an 862-acre campus that has requested to pull 100 megawatts from the grid and requires up to 20,000 gallons of water per day, had previously had its concept plan approved by the commissioners. But the plan was brought back to the floor after a local water utility board denied the developer’s request for water. Commissioners argued that without a guaranteed water source the project needed to be reconsidered.

“The fears … are all detached from reality,” said Kevin Pratt, an executive with the developer Pacifico Energy, at the meeting. “The court, through political pressure, keeps moving those goal posts over and over.”

Commissioners revoked the previously approved concept plan, 3-2.

While the decision was met with cheers from the crowd, Massingill warned, “we’re all in for litigation.”

About three weeks later, the lawsuit was filed.

The company claimed the county lacked legal power to deny the project based on concerns about water.

The law firm Husch Blackwell, representing Pacifico, stated in the lawsuit that the commissioners’ decision was “unlawful and premature.” The company asked the court to block the county’s actions, and is seeking monetary relief of no less than $250,000.

More developers came after Hood.

Commissioners twice delayed voting on two other projects, dubbed “Project Red and Project Yellow,” that together would cover 677 acres neighboring two existing power plants.

The commissioners demanded more transparency from developers about their operations and required them to comply with the county’s new development regulations before they would vote.

They were hit with another lawsuit, accusing the county of illegally delaying the data centers. The lawsuit claimed that the two projects would increase the county’s tax revenue by $3 billion and create 60,000 jobs.

On April 6, Hughes, whose Comanche Circle data center had already received conditional approval, joined the chorus of legal threats to send a letter arguing that they should have never been forced to submit a proposal for review to begin. Texas counties only possess powers explicitly granted by the Legislature, he wrote, and Hood County did not even have powers to require a concept plan.

“Political opposition to data centers does not create new county powers,” said Hughes in an email to the Tribune. The lawsuits remain pending.

Purgatory

Last month, more than 160 people filled a ballroom in Hood County overlooking the Brazos River for another town hall, hosted by Mark Lowery, a Republican running for county judge — the official who leads the commissioners court. He is running unopposed and describes himself as “a solid no” for data centers, unlike Massingill, who chose not to seek reelection.

The ballroom’s seats quickly filled. Residents aren’t giving up. They still want to fight. After speaker introductions, the brainstorming began to “right this ship,” as one person said, and to keep exploring ways to stop data centers.

For now, counties like Hood remain stuck in purgatory, watching rapid development overwhelm their communities while waiting for state policy to catch up. Many believe change won’t come until at least 2027, when lawmakers reconvene in Austin. Some state officials have expressed interest in expanding counties’ regulatory authority over data centers. In the interim, lawmakers have been charged with studying the development of data centers and examining the total water usage of data centers in the state.

The development commission has recommended reviving the Hood County data center moratorium proposal, but those efforts have so far been unsuccessful in being added to the commissioners’ agenda.

But on May 12, nearby Hill County approved a one-year pause on the construction of new data centers in unincorporated areas, citing public safety and public health concerns, a vote that commissioners took despite the same risks Hood County officials are facing.

“The data center folks have found a sweet spot in the state that has limited regulations,” said Hill County Commissioner Jim Holcomb. “I think it’s imperative … that we tap the brakes and we get our arms around what we’re faced with.”

Christine Leftwich, the Hood County clerk, said her county’s failure to do the same has “been the biggest disappointment.”

“Hood County should have been the tip of the spear,” she added.

Alex Ford, Apurva Mahajan, Emily Foxhall and Taylor Goldenstein contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Facebook, Google, Microsoft and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

France's CAC 40 jumped nearly 1.0% in early trading to 8,223.71, while the German DAX gained 1.1% to 25,275.57. Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.3% to 10,372.39.

U.S. shares were set to drift lower with Dow futures down 0.3% at 51,004.00. S&P 500 futures dipped 0.1% to 7,605.75.

In Asia, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% to finish at 66,734.24. South Korea's Kospi inched up 0.2% to 8,801.49.

The Hang Seng gained 2.5% to 26,038.32, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 4,075.10.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed less than 0.1% to 8,724.40.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude lost $1.25 to $90.91 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, slipped $1.49 to $93.49 a barrel. The levels are still well above the roughly $70 level they were at before the war.

Much hinges on whether the United States and Iran will reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allowing deliveries of oil to resume from the Persian Gulf and easing the upward pressure on inflation.

Japan imports almost all its oil, although the effects on prices of gas and other products have been relatively contained by the release of the nation's reserves so far.

“Crude shortages have already forced refiners across Asia and Europe to aggressively reduce runs,” said analyst Stephen Innes. “The result is that the squeeze is no longer confined to crude inventories. It is spreading into the fuels that actually power economies: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, LPG, and naphtha.”

On Monday, the United States said it bombed Iranian radar and drone sites after Tehran downed an American drone. Iran said it targeted U.S. soldiers in Kuwait with missiles that the U.S. said it shot down.

Trump said the Israel and Hezbollah comments came after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanon-militant group through mediators.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 159.73 Japanese yen from 159.66 yen. The euro cost $1.1648, up from $1.1631.

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

A two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, the 37-year-old deGrom (4-4) allowed four hits and struck out eight in his fourth attempt at the milestone victory. The right-hander went 1-3 with a 5.72 ERA in five May starts and has not won this season when allowing multiple runs.

Jacob Latz pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save to help the Rangers win their fourth straight game.

Michael McGreevy (3-5) gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings after yielding eight runs in nine innings over his previous two starts.

Masyn Winn lined his second home run of the season down the left-field line off reliever Peyton Gray to cut Texas’ lead to 2-1 in the sixth.

Joc Pederson hit an RBI single up the middle to drive in Danny Jansen after Jansen walked, stole second base and advanced to third on Nicky Lopez's single in the fifth to make it 2-0.

Duran lined an RBI double to the left-field wall to drive in Brandon Nimmo and give Texas a 1-0 advantage in the fourth.

Up next

Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-6, 3.93 ERA) will face Cardinals RHP Dustin May (3-6, 4.57) in the middle game of the series Tuesday night.

___

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

The jury returned the verdict for Chikei Rick Chow. Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. He maintained he acted to defend his son.

The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton’s family seated in the gallery. Chow sat silently frozen before slowly bowing his head onto his interlocked hands.

Defense lawyer Jack Swerling said they're very pleased with the verdict but also feel for Carmack-Belton's family.

“My heart goes out to them, but 14-year-old kid should not be roaming the streets of Columbia or South Carolina with semiautomatic pistol loaded and ready to fire,” he said.

Todd Rutherford, an attorney and representative in the South Carolina Legislature, stood next to Carmack-Belton’s father as he told reporters that they don't agree with the verdict.

“This makes us feel as if our children don't matter and they do,” he said. "This makes us feel like Cyrus' life didn't matter and it did."

Rutherford announced they will pursue a civil lawsuit.

“I've been practicing law for almost 30 years. I've never seen anything like this. I don't understand it,” he said.

Prosecutors and a defense lawyer in closing arguments painted different pictures of the 2023 shooting. Prosecutors said Chow acted in anger because he wrongly thought the teen had stolen four bottles of water from the store. A defense lawyer said Chow fired to defend his son only after the teen pointed a gun at him.

“This case is not about a shoplifter. This case is about a father who sees a gun pointed at his son and had to make a decision,” defense attorney Shaun Kent told jurors during closing arguments, noting that Andy Chow testified Carmack-Belton pointed a gun at him.

Prosecutors acknowledged Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, but they say it fell on the ground during the chase, and he never threatened anyone with it. Prosecutors said Chow chased the teen more than 130 yards (119 meters) from the store.

Gipson told jurors that Chow “chased a kid down, shot him in the back.”

During closing arguments, Gipson placed a bottle of water before jurors. Gipson said Chow “at the end of the day, believed that a human is not more than that.”

Gipson said multiple witnesses testified that they didn’t see anything in Carmack-Belton’s hands and didn’t see him point a gun as he ran from the store.

“Nobody testified that happened that doesn’t have the last name Chow,” Gipson said.

The fatal shooting prompted vigils and protests outside the store. Empty water bottles were arranged to spell out “Cyrus” at one 2023 vigil.

“I am Lady Sarsaparilla Ovabyte, of the Coventry Ovabytes,” she said. “We are purveyors of fine cordials.”

Her companion peered through glasses made from fused-together forks.

“Captain Bob McSpoon, inventrepreneur,” he said.

On a Victorian-era street in rural Ōamaru, New Zealand, Ovabyte and McSpoon, who usually go by Juliet and Greg Thorn, weren’t the only ones wearing goggles or forks, or emitting steam. They were in the small town to attend the annual steampunk festival, a four-day love letter to being as odd as possible, which draws thousands of visitors from around the country and abroad.

Steampunk fuses Victorian aesthetics and mechanics with a science fiction twist to create a parallel universe imagining what the age of steam might have produced if it had continued to the present day. The genre is limited only by imagination, and the weirder the better.

Steampunks pride themselves on a knack for recycling and DIY, honing skills in sewing, metalworking, hat-trimming and steam mechanics as they dream up fantastical personas with outfits to match. During the year, attendees are bricklayers, engineers, artists and farmers, with many describing themselves as normally shy or reserved. But they had come to the festival to be seen.

“The first time you dress up and go out in public is really scary and then people get such a buzz out of it,” Juliet Thorn said. “It’s so cool that you take on a different personality.”

Teapot racing and parasol dueling are steampunk sports

In its 17th year, whole traditions and sporting codes have sprung up around the steampunk festival, which is among the world’s best-known.

Hundreds crowded into upstairs rooms and old community halls for steampunk-themed contests. They raced to dunk cookies in cups of tea and cram the soggy results into their mouths before their competitors. A parasol-dueling contest looked like competitive vogueing judged on speed and style.

Michele Cotten won a fashion show displaying wild and upcycled outfits that participants spent months finessing. Cotten fused steampunk with the Star Trek universe to create a hooped dress made in the style of a navy Starfleet uniform. It was rigged with Christmas lights to evoke a galaxy and Cotten, a crowd favorite, strutted and posed to whoops from onlookers.

Then there was the teapot racing, in which competitors sent remote-controlled vehicles mounted with teapots around a fiendish obstacle course to the gasps and groans of a watching crowd.

“If you go out of bounds, that’s a disqualification,” said Ross McKay, one of the sport’s creators, who dreamed it up with his late wife and a friend. He has since introduced teapot racing to other steampunk events worldwide.

“It’s lots of fun and the judges will take bribes,” he added.

When McKay’s wife showed him pictures of steampunks, he recalled thinking, “What a bunch of weirdos," but the self-confessed “history geek and science fiction nerd” found plenty to love about the genre. The retired banker was soon enrolled in night classes for sewing.

Now he is Captain Roscoe Dangerfield, Inspector of Nuisances to Her Majesty Queen Victoria III, which combines the historical element of a real Victorian job with the fiction of a monarch who never lived.

The steampunk community had become his tribe, he said.

Small town is an unlikely steampunk capital

Ōamaru is the placid home to 14,000 people and 3,000 endangered native penguins, the latter of which live at the far end of town in a colony so pungent it can be smelled from the hill above. The town on New Zealand’s South Island doesn’t feature the sweeping vistas popularized by the Lord of the Rings films, which bring tourists to nearby regions, and for years was mostly seen as a stopping point between the cities of Christchurch and Dunedin.

An architectural quirk has put Ōamaru on the map as what locals call the steampunk capital of the world. The town features a completely preserved Victorian street by the harbor, a legacy from the 19th century days when Ōamaru was a commercial and mercantile powerhouse as a departure point for meat, wool and grain exports from New Zealand to Britain.

The cream-colored stone buildings now form the backdrop for the festival's steampunk adventures. Later in the year the town also hosts a Victorian festival celebrating a historically accurate version of the era, with the events coexisting peacefully after the steampunks and Victorians decided the town was big enough for everyone.

Anything goes in a no-rules genre

Steampunk, a term coined in the 1980s, gives participants an opportunity to rewrite Victorian-era social conventions on the basis that if you are flying on a magic carpet or traveling through time, it doesn’t matter if you make the rest up.

“We’re an equal opportunity society,” said Iain Clark, who co-founded the festival and is widely known in the community as Agent Darling. “Women, unlike in Victorian times, can be anything. We have female engineers, captains of industry, captains of airships, adventurers, explorers, scientists.”

Sometimes all in the same week. Bringing a different outfit for each day of the event is common and fitting rooms at the festival’s headquarters allow for quick changes, with nothing strange enough to raise eyebrows.

In the street, a Star Wars trooper trudged past, followed by a pack of wolves. A French tourist nervously adjusting his crocheted and leather gloves was introduced to steampunk only three days earlier and immediately fell in love with the genre.

“You can be creative and you can be somebody else and no one cares,” said John Syben, who was attending his fourth festival.

His partner, Chris Sinclair, said the pair previously had been “far too tame, so we’ve gotten more and more outrageous every year.”

“There’s always someone who’s more nuts than you," she said.

Four meters (13 feet) beneath them, a team of archaeologists is digging the other way — straight down and back in time, to Roman Paris 2,000 years ago.

In 2019, fire brought Notre Dame’s spire crashing down as the world watched. The cathedral was rebuilt and reopened in late 2024, and now Paris wants to soften the hot, bare square in front of it with trees and shade.

But in a city this old, the soil cannot be turned until what lies beneath it is excavated, in case it is damaged during works.

So a slice of Notre Dame’s forecourt has become an excavation site — an open pit ringed by barriers and crossed by a wooden walkway, a few steps from the line-up.

A modern Da Vinci Code

French media have dubbed it the “dig of the century.”

“It’s a rare opportunity for us to work on something that’s tangibly going to make a difference to the history of Paris,” Lucie Altenburg, a conservator with the Paris archaeology unit, told The Associated Press.

Among the hundreds of objects already found: a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered — like a modern Da Vinci Code.

“It makes Notre Dame feel alive again,” said Emily Carter, 34, a tourist from Manchester waiting in line with her two children. “You come to see the cathedral, then realize there’s another city under your feet. That’s almost more moving.”

The first traces appear 50 centimeters (20 inches) down; 4 meters (13 feet) lower, the team is still pulling up the past. Some days they fill 15 crates — from ground that has lain untouched for decades.

Ancient cities have archaeologists monitoring digs

This is the bargain in every old city: The past is not in a museum down the street — it is under the street.

Cities rise. Each age builds on the rubble of the last, and the ground climbs with it; in Rome, it has risen about 9 meters (30 feet) since the empire fell in the fifth century AD.

When Athens built its metro for the 2004 Olympics, it set off the largest excavation in Greek history and turned up tens of thousands of objects, now shown in the stations themselves. Paris is no different.

It all comes from the island in the Seine, the Ile de la Cite, where Paris began.

Centuries later, Notre Dame rose on the same ground.

At the cathedral's birth in 1163, the entire square was packed with medieval houses, split by a single street, said Camille Colonna, the archaeologist leading the dig.

Digging down, her team has reached their cellars — and therefore also the time in history they represent.

Below them lie Merovingian and Carolingian grain pits, from the sixth to the 10th centuries; below those, darker and deeper still, a dense Roman quarter from the fourth and fifth centuries.

Twenty centuries are stacked in 4 meters (13 feet) of earth — or about the height of two-and-a-half Napoleon Bonapartes standing on top of one another.

“Here you can see the layers — medieval Paris, Roman Paris, maybe even before that,” said Yasmine Benali, 22, an archaeology student watching from behind the barriers. “It makes the city feel less like a postcard and more like something still being discovered.”

Coins, ceramics and mysterious markings

The richest finds here come from the foulest place: the deep pits beneath the medieval houses, old latrines that doubled as rubbish dumps.

Out of them the team keeps lifting whole jugs and cups — thrown away centuries ago, yet still intact — among the broken plates and animal bones.

It’s “rare to find complete ceramics,” said Valentine Breloux, an archaeologist with the unit.

Here the soft waste cushioned them, and centuries later they miraculously came up whole.

Then some other objects came that confounded experts. As conservators cleaned what looked like ordinary medieval pottery, they found faint reddish writing painted on the inside — the same mysterious markings on shard after shard.

What they mean has yet to be deciphered.

Of everything she has cleaned from Notre Dame, Breloux said, these are the most “astonishing.”

Coins can help date the layers

The coins came up as black discs, eaten by rust. But under an X-ray, a face returned: it was Constantine, the Roman emperor who ruled in the early 300s AD.

Such objects also "can be invaluable in giving us the date of the (underground) layer,” Altenburg said.

The Roman finds are the ones the archaeologists value most — the deepest, oldest and least understood. In Roman times, the town was called Lutetia, and its center lay across the river, on the Left Bank.

As the Roman empire collapsed, people pulled back to the Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame would later rise, and fortified the island with walls of stone taken from earlier buildings.

Colonna’s team found some proof: a Roman doorstep found in the dig, taken from a much bigger building, carried over, turned upside down, and laid in a road as paving.

Paris houses thousands of finds in an archaeology center

Every find leaves the pit and travels north, to the city’s archaeology center — what Colonna calls “a huge archaeological store," a treasure house of Paris.

For archaeologists, the cathedral dig is a rare treat. In France, like elsewhere, they work only where building work is about to begin — a bit like how industrial quarry workers end up unearthing dinosaur remains.

"This only happens because the city of Paris decided it wanted to beautify the area," Altenburg said.

The new square should be mostly finished by 2028: a kind of woodland clearing, with 160 new trees and a thin film of water sliding over the stone to cool it in summer — part of how Paris is bracing for ever hotter summers induced by global warming.

The tourists who now wait in the bare sun beneath the gargoyles will, in a few summers, line up in the shade.

The old underground parking lot will reopen as a visitor center looking onto the Seine.

Until then, the Notre Dame team wants to go deeper still — past the Romans, toward whoever came before them, the Gauls who gave the city its first name.

“The hope is that we are able to go back in time even further than we’ve ever been before,” Altenburg said.

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Nicolas Garriga in Paris contributed.

Arnette completed a remarkable comeback last year, returning to the NFL with the Texans after a standout year with the Houston Roughnecks in the United Football League.

After being out of football for years due to a past history of off-field issues, Arnette changed his life with improved maturity. And the former Las Vegas Raiders first-round draft pick from Ohio State emphasized that he has maintained the sobriety he achieved in the past few years.

Arnette, released in late December by the Texans, wanted to play football so badly that he returned to the UFL as he ran it back with the Gamblers and contributed significantly on defense

Now, Arnette is hungry to play more football. He’s training every day as he works diligently for his next NFL opportunity.

“I’m ready, I’ve been ready to go,” Arnette told KPRC 2. “When and where, all I need is a helmet. With my talent level, being able to compete with the best of the best, I just really need an opportunity and somebody willing to give me a shot to prove what I can do.

“Being a leader is something that I’ve been more adamant about and it means more to me. Being around guys like Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter, they reminded me a lot of who I was, what I meant to them. It really made me look in the mirror and see more positives. Being able to walk in that light again, it would be a blessing.”

Arnette, 29, finished the Gamblers season with 16 tackles, recording one for a loss and one pass breakup in nine games for coach Kevin Sumlin.

He had 17 tackles and one interception last year for the Roughnecks, returning it for a touchdown.

“Coach Sumlin, he’s a great coach,” Arnette said. “He really cared about about all of his players, you know. He was patient with me. That meant a lot to me. He believes in me a lot, he’s confident in my ability, and I’m always appreciative of somebody who was willing to give me a chance.

With the Texans, Arnette was on the practice squad after intercepting a pass during the preseason against the Carolina Panthers. He played in two games and recorded three tackles for the season. At the end of the season, he dealt with an ankle injury and the flu and was released.

The experience for Arnette was life-changing, especially playing for Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, defensive coordinator Matt Burke and cornerbacks coach Dino Vasso.

“That whole Texans environment, it was breath-taking,” Arnette said. “It reminded me a lot of the Ohio State atmosphere, just to be part of something special like that and to say I was coached by DeMeco. He’s a great man, same with coach Dino. Everybody made sure that I was good and adjusting well and I learned a lot.

“It kind of felt like my real first year in the league, with a clear mind, all about ball, no distractions. Being around great guys like Stingley, Kamari, Jalen Pitre, Calen Bullock, those guys really showed me what the standard was for the NFL, to be the best. Top-tier players, even better humans. We have a great relationship to this day.”

The Texans have the top-ranked defense returning from last year.

If Arnette should get the call to rejoin them, he would be overjoyed.

“That would be a dream come true, just to be on another NFL team, and to be on the best team in the NFL, the best defense, the best defense I was ever a part of,” Arnette said. “It reminded me of Ohio State, and I have nothing but great memories from college. I like to think that history repeats itself.”

Arnette hit rock bottom during his time with the Raiders as multiple legal and personal issues derailed his career. He had brief stints with the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs, before spending three years out of football prior to being signed by the Roughnecks last year.

The Texans gave Arnette a second chance after he relaunched his career with the Roughnecks, signing him after a successful tryout.

Elevated from the practice squad against the Baltimore Ravens, Arnette recorded two tackles on special teams and had a couple plays on defense. Those 22 combined snaps were extremely significant to Arnette, considering the tough road he’s walked and the growth he has strived for and found off the field.

His last NFL game before a 44-10 blowout victory at M&T Bank Stadium: Oct. 4, 2021 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Arnette reordered his life by making significant changes to his behavior and attitude.

Vasso made it a point to remind Arnette about how far he’s come from his darkest moments.

“I’ve been living in my sobriety,” Arnette said. “Darren Waller helped me so much. I found my sobriety and my purpose and it changed my life.”

The guidance that Arnette has received from Jon Gruden, his former coach in Las Vegas, has been extremely meaningful to him.

“He’s got a whole new identity,” Gruden told KPRC 2. “He doesn’t look the same. He doesn’t act the same. He’s not the same. He has changed his identity. He changed the circle of people in his life, in a good way. He’s focused. He’s determined. I’m really proud of him.I see a guy who has reinvented himself. He has done it very impressively. I hope he continues to do that. We’ll all be able to pull for him.

“Some of the best stories I’ve been involved in with coaching is seeing guys turn it around from adversity. Darren Waller is a great example. He had problems and fixed himself. So did Maxx Crosby. Damon Arnette can do that.”

'I think Damon is doing the right things. We're inclined when we deem it appropriate to give someone a second chance' #Texans GM Nick Caserio on signing Damon Arnette Jr. @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/LiJZ130wAL

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) July 23, 2025

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

Adelman, who was 79, served as Head Coach of five different NBA teams including the Rockets.

He led Houston for four seasons beginning in 2007 through the 2011 campaign and finished with a 193-135 record.

Adelman was known for his long and successful run with the Trailblazers before a short stop with the Warriors and Kings before landing the Rockets job.

After Houston he finished his career with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Adelman retired in 2014 and closed out his career with 1,042 wins before being named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.

GOP senators who revolted against the settlement before leaving for a Memorial Day recess two weeks ago say they want more information from the administration about the future of the fund, which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Meanwhile, Trump is reconsidering whether to move forward with it at all, according to a person familiar with his thinking.

Caught in the middle is legislation that would fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies for three years. Republicans abruptly left town without passing it after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the judgment fund, forcing Republicans to go on the record for or against it and endangering the money for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.

Returning to Washington on Monday evening, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he wasn’t sure if the immigration spending bill would move this week.

“To be determined,” he told reporters.

The extraordinary standoff comes after Trump announced the fund with no heads up to lawmakers as part of a settlement to resolve his lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns. When word of the settlement broke, the Senate was navigating tricky passage of the immigration legislation with an added $1 billion in White House security costs — including for Trump’s ballroom project.

Furious, Senate Republicans jettisoned the White House security money from the bill and made clear they would not pass the legislation at all unless the White House made major changes to the settlement.

“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters Monday, referring to the fund.

He said Republicans will have a better idea of how to proceed after they meet for their weekly conference lunch on Tuesday.

Senators say they need more ‘explicit’ commitment

The Justice Department said it would comply with a ruling Friday from U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema, who temporarily halted the fund for two weeks. The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order.

The department said in a statement that it strongly disagrees with the ruling but would comply.

Republican senators weren't satisfied. They said Monday evening that they need more detail from the administration on what happens after that deadline before deciding next steps.

“It’s pretty clear that the president has to say very explicitly that there’s not going to be a weaponization fund,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

Oklahoma Sen. Jim Lankford said Trump administration officials “need to say what they actually mean.”

“They need to say, we’re setting this whole thing aside,” Lankford said.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that if the settlement is “completely pulled, then I’m satisfied. But I haven’t heard anybody say that.”

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said the administration already has to abide by the court decision, “that’s in the Constitution. I have to know more about their position.”

“Right now, the reconciliation bill looks like a broken arm with the bones sticking out,” Kennedy said. “It won’t move this week, in my opinion, unless we have some resolution on the weaponization account.”

Senators issue ultimatum to Justice Department

The outrage of the fund came to a head last month at a closed-door meeting between senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas described on a recent episode of his podcast as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”

GOP senators had been discussing several ways that they could curb the fund, including limiting who can receive payouts, changing the makeup of the commission in charge of settlement decisions, adding some sort of judicial review for applicants or scrapping the fund altogether.

Amid the backlash, a person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said Monday that Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. But the president has not said publicly what he intends to do.

Also complicating matters is Trump’s campaign-year push to defeat GOP lawmakers whom he sees as disloyal, including some of Thune’s most reliable Republican votes in the narrow 53-47 Senate. Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas both lost reelection bids in May after Trump endorsed their primary opponents, and it’s unclear how supportive they’ll be of the president’s agenda going forward.

“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” Thune said before the Senate left town.

___

Associated Press writers Joey Cappelletti and Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

More primaries are being held on Tuesday as well. Democrats are banking on a rare chance to regain ground in Iowa, a rural state that has repeatedly eluded them in recent years. Republicans, meanwhile, are grappling with a New Jersey congressman whose unexplained absence could put their already slim majority at risk.

Here are some things to watch as voters in California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota cast ballots.

California's low-wattage race for governor

Ronald Reagan. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Jerry Brown. Gavin Newsom.

The governor's office in California typically attracts some of the highest-wattage names in politics, but not this year.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla took a pass on the race. And with Newsom barred from seeking a third term, the campaign to succeed him turned into a sprawling, often messy contest.

In the final stretch, much of the attention has focused on Democrats Xavier Becerra, the former congressman and state attorney general who was also health secretary under President Joe Biden, and Tom Steyer, a billionaire known for his climate activism. Republican Steve Hilton is campaigning with President Donald Trump's endorsement.

Under California's primary system, all candidates appear on a single ballot and the top two finishers advance to the November general election, regardless of party. The absence of a front-runner incentivized virtually anyone with political ambition and a modicum of organization to join the race, leaving Democrats worried that their candidates would divide the vote and ultimately be shut out of the fall campaign. But those fears have eased in the primary's closing weeks, with the party now expecting to secure at least one slot on the November ballot.

The results could offer insight about how voters are feeling in a state where Democrats have dominated statewide elections for two decades.

Los Angeles mayor seeks to fend off reality star challenger

In a city still recovering from the most destructive wildfire in its history, Mayor Karen Bass is in a tough fight for reelection.

The mayor, who is a frequent target of Trump's criticism, was in Ghana as part of a presidential delegation when the blaze began. She has acknowledged mistakes but has centered her campaign around a message of recovery and progress.

Bass is facing a spirited challenge from reality television personality Spencer Pratt, who has blamed Bass for presiding over destruction that claimed his own home. Pratt, who rose to fame on “The Hills,” has shared videos created by artificial intelligence that show him taking on a superhero persona to battle street criminals and Democratic politicians.

The race is officially nonpartisan, but Bass is a Democrat, as is progressive city council member Nithya Raman, who made a last-minute decision to challenge her one-time ally. Pratt is a registered Republican who has received a nod of approval — if not an outright endorsement — from Trump.

Unless a candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two will advance to a general election in November.

Los Angeles hasn't elected a Republican mayor since Richard Riordan won his second term in 1997, and the results will be closely watched for signs of dissatisfaction with liberal urban governance. The winner will emerge as a national and global figure as the city prepares to host the Olympics in 2028.

Democrats look to Iowa to rebuild in the heartland

Iowa wasn't always a Republican stronghold.

Before Trump reshaped American politics, this was the state the lifted the political career of Barack Obama and sent Tom Harkin to the Senate for five terms.

The party is particularly excited about Rob Sand, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for governor. A native of Decorah, Iowa, he has the rural roots that have become rare among Democrats. Perhaps most importantly, he's a proven winner in a Republican-leaning state, having been elected twice as auditor.

Republicans head into the primary with five candidates. Trump jumped in last week to endorse Rep. Randy Feenstra.

This is the first open contest for the governor's seat since 2006. Democrats are hoping that a combination of the economic fallout from Trump's tariff policies, rising gas prices stemming from the Iran war and the lack of a Republican incumbent could give them their best opportunity in years. Sand also has a fundraising advantage over the Republicans, including Feenstra.

State Rep. Josh Turek and state Sen. Zach Wahls are competing in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Republican Joni Ernst. The race has divided in part along questions of who should lead the party in Washington, with Wahls openly criticizing Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Republicans have largely coalesced behind U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson as their candidate for the Senate seat.

An unexplained absence puts crucial GOP seat at risk

In the final frenzied days before an election, voters can sometimes grow tired of hearing from candidates so much. But in New Jersey's 7th congressional district, they're not hearing from one candidate at all.

Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. is running unopposed in Tuesday's primary. But he's facing growing scrutiny for an unexplained medical absence that has stretched for three months, causing him to miss more than 100 votes in Congress.

That's not an ideal statistic for any lawmaker, but it's especially problematic for someone running in one of the few genuinely competitive congressional districts. While gerrymandering has yielded most U.S. House seats reliably Democratic or Republican, Kean's district has flipped between the parties in each of the last two midterm elections. Republican Leonard Lance lost to Democrat Tom Malinowski in 2018. Malinowski lost to Kean in 2022.

As they cling to a narrow majority in the House, Republicans can't afford to lose a district like Kean's. Several Democrats vying to take on Kean in the fall have made his absence — and the lack of clarity surrounding it — a central part of their message.

New Jersey was one of the first places that voter pushback to Trump became apparent last year when Democrat Mikie Sherrill won the governor's race by more than 14 percentage points. The turnout in the 7th district on Tuesday could provide clues about whether that Democratic enthusiasm remains in place.

Democrats pin their hopes on independent candidates in some states

Democrats are hopeful they can mount a serious challenge against Republican Senate candidates in deep-red South Dakota and Montana this fall. But their best hope may not be the Democrats featured on Tuesday’s primary ballot.

Both states feature higher-profile independent candidates, who, because they’re not running to represent a political party, do not have to compete in primary elections.

In Montana, there are five Democrats competing for the party’s Senate nomination. But independent Seth Bodnar, the former University of Montana president, has raised more money than all of them combined. He’s even significantly out-raised Trump-backed Republican candidate Kurt Alme.

In South Dakota, three-term incumbent Republican Mike Rounds is expected to cruise to his party’s nomination on Tuesday. He’ll face Democrat Julian Beaudion, a former highway patrol trooper and small business owner, on the November ballot. But it’s a former Democrat now running as an independent, Brian Bengs, a military veteran, who may be the tougher challenger.

The scene unfolded in the 1000 block of Katy Gap Road.

@HCSOSWAT and deputies are at a complex at the 1000 block of Katy Gap Rd. An adult man allegedly shot his girlfriend. The man is barricaded in the unit. The woman is critically wounded. #HouNews pic.twitter.com/saS7yLPedO

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) June 1, 2026

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says the man allegedly shot his girlfriend, critically wounding her, before barricading himself inside the apartment.

Authorities say it started at 1:52 p.m. when the man called authorities and said he had accidentally shot his girlfriend. Authorities say he was frantic while on the phone.

When deputies arrived and made contact with the man, deputies say the man refused to obey their commands and threatened to kill himself. He then barricaded himself inside the apartment.

• Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills 18-year-old Texas State student after chase ends at Lake Jackson home

Crises negotiators attempted to talk and get the man to surrender, but the man refused.

Investigators used drones to check on the condition of the 20-year-old woman inside the apartment.

“Our drones were able to capture pictures of her where it showed she didn’t have any signs of life,” Dean said.

Neighbors described the chaos that unfolded as SWAT teams and deputies flooded the complex.

“I did hear a gunshot,” said neighbor Aunica Horn.

Witness Naomi Morris said she heard “a lot of screams and the cops talking to him.”

As deputies worked to resolve the situation, gas was used to try and get the man to come out and surrender. Instead, the man went out onto the balcony, suffered a self-inflicted gunshot and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Update:

As deputies worked to resolve the situation, an adult male sustained an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Deputies also located a deceased adult female inside the unit. No deputies discharged their weapons during the… https://t.co/3D7zUnNl2Q

— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) June 2, 2026

Authorities say the girlfriend was also found dead inside the apartment.

No deputies discharged their weapons during the incident. The circumstances surrounding both deaths remain under investigation.

Officials say no one else was inside the apartment at the time of the incident.

Deputies confirmed they had previously been called to the apartment for a disturbance, but specific details about that prior call were not available.

For Horn, the incident has shaken her sense of safety.

“As a woman, it’s scary,” she said. “I just feel like with kids, I don’t think this is where I want to raise my kids anymore.”

The investigation is ongoing.

Abel also hinted that he may depart from Warren Buffett 's longtime hands-off operating model by consolidating Taylor Morrison with Berkshire's existing site-built homebuilding operations that are part of its Clayton Homes subsidiary. For six decades under Buffett, Berkshire promised to largely leave companies alone after it acquired them and allow the executives to keep running the day-to-day operations the same way.

“Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform,” Abel said in a statement about his first big acquisition on Sunday, “enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans.”

In addition to Clayton, which specializes in manufactured homes but also has a site-built unit, Berkshire owns several other housing related businesses including Benjamin Moore paint and Shaw Floors.

Berkshire's new investment in Alphabet will expand the stake that Buffett's company started to build last fall. By the end of March, Berkshire's Alphabet investment had tripled to include nearly 58 million Alphabet shares worth almost $17 billion.

Alphabet said Monday that Berkshire has agreed to buy $5 billion of Class A common stock and another $5 billion of Class C stock as part of a broader plan to raise $80 billion to pay for the computing infrastructure needed to power its AI offerings.

It's not clear how much consolidating Abel might do among the dozens of companies Berkshire owns. Those holdings include an assortment of insurers like Geico, major manufacturers such as Precision Castparts and a slew of retail and service companies like NetJets, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. But Abel is known as a much more active manager than Buffett ever was.

“Given Greg’s strength as an operator it will be interesting to see if he does consolidate these units to get some greater scale and efficiencies,” said CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert.

Abel has been overseeing all of Berkshire's non-insurance businesses since 2018, and he hasn't made any major changes in operations though he has encouraged the company's subsidiaries to cooperate more when it makes sense. Abel became CEO in January, but Buffett remains chairman and Berkshire's largest shareholder.

“Under Greg, where it makes sense for efficiencies or scale, we'll likely see more consolidation than we saw under Buffett when Berkshire was smaller and the acquired company's founders were still in place,” said investor Steven Check, who is president of Check Capital Management.

Berkshire shareholders will likely be excited just to see Abel making deals, given that the Omaha-based company is currently sitting on nearly $400 billion cash. This deal by itself isn't likely to make a meaningful impact on Berkshire's bottom line because the conglomerate is so big, but dealmaking and investing are the areas of Abel's resume that investors had the most questions about.

Buffett praised Abel in an interview with CNBC on Monday morning.

“Greg did that faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO. He has launched,” Buffett told CNBC.

Abel has led acquisitions before while leading Berkshire's massive utility division, but obviously Buffett would have signed off on those. Now Abel is making the decisions with advice from Buffett and the rest of the board.

“I think investors will cheer Greg’s foray into M&A as CEO. The purchase price seems rich given the current interest rate/macro environment,” Seifert said.

Berkshire agreed to pay Taylor Morrison investors $72.50 per share in the all-cash deal. That represents a 24% premium over the company's previous closing price of $58.50. Shares of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based homebuilder jumped up near that purchase price on Monday while Berkshire's shares slipped 1%.

But Raymond James analyst Buck Horne said in a research note that it's possible Berkshire could face some competition from private equity firms or other potential buyers who might be willing to pay more for Taylor Morrison before its shareholders can vote on whether to accept this offer.

“We would not be shocked if other players and/or private equity began to sharpen their pencils before the ink on this agreement is fully dry,” Horne said.

According to a 10-page list of settlement terms, requested by The Texas Tribune, Texas Children’s has 90 days from the effective date of the settlement to set up the detransition clinic. The attorney general announced the settlement two weeks ago but because a final settlement has not been signed there is no effective date agreed upon yet.

The $10 million settlement, first announced on May 15, is the result of a 2023 investigation by the attorney general’s office into Texas Children’s. That same year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 14 that bars transgender children from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapies. Previously, all that was known about the settlement was that the hospital agreed to pay $10 million to the state and permanently revoke the medical privileges of three current doctors and two former ones.

The settlement terms released Monday are the first details about the unusual agreement between the nation’s largest pediatric hospital and the attorney general that would set up the nation’s first “detransitioning clinic.” Detransitioning is the stopping or reversal of transitioning care by social, medical or legal means, and it is rare for people to regret transitioning after taking hormone therapy and surgical interventions.

Common reasons for detransitioning include lack of family support, financial barriers and social pressure.

Per the settlement, Texas Children’s must also create a website for the detransition clinic and create a donate page so those individuals wanting to donate money toward the detransition clinic’s efforts, can do so. The hospital must keep a “Potential GAC Patient List” that includes all diagnostic codes detailed by the AG and conduct an internal review of the list to confirm compliance with state and federal laws and the settlement agreement.

According to Texas Children’s, they have not been asked to share the list and noted to do so would not be legally permissible. “We abide by HIPAA and protecting patient privacy is one of our top priorities,” the hospital said in a statement. –

The attorney general’s office released to the Tribune a “Settlement Term Sheet” and not the complete settlement document between the two parties, as originally requested because one has not been signed. “We’ve aligned on a term sheet and the next step is to finalize the settlement agreement per standard practice,” Texas Children’s said in a statement.

Other requirements include the removal of all hospital press releases from the Texas Children’s website related to gender transition services. The clinic will provide multiple services including access to endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry and psychotherapy.

As previously announced, TCH must bar any gender-affirming care procedures, what the Texas attorney general’s office calls “sex-rejecting” procedures in the settlement, defined as pharmaceutical or surgical interventions that “attempt to align an individual’s physical appearance or body … that differs from the individual’s sex.” This includes puberty blockers and hormone treatments. Also previously announced was the permanent revoking of medical privileges to three current doctors and two former ones.

The hospital previously issued a statement insisting it complied with all laws and decided to settle to close a legal chapter that has been, in their words: “wrought with falsehoods and distractions.” The hospital also noted earlier that the services demanded as part of the settlement were already offered at the hospital. Late Monday, they emphasized that fact. “The detransition clinic will formalize the supportive, multidisciplinary services we already deliver to all patients who need our care,” the hospital statement said. “This simply provides structure and a name for the services we currently provide.”

A 2024 study of private insurance by Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that less than 1% of minors are transgender and received puberty blockers or hormone treatments.

Disclosure: Texas Children’s Hospital has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Graham, a 6-foot-4, 314-pound left tackle, played for Texans offensive line coach and run game Coordinator Cole Popovich at Troy University before transferring to Texas A&M and then finishing his collegiate career at Tulane.

The Texans released former New England Patriots offensive guard Sidy Sow on Monday.

At Tulane, he was a first-team all-conference selection.

His father, Derrick Graham Sr., played nine seasons in the NFL for the Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs.

A true freshman starter at Troy as a right tackle, Graham allowed just two sacks in 432 pass blocking situations for the fourth-fewest nationally by a freshman. He graded out a 74.3 percent as a pass blocker, per Pro Football Focus.

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

While Santa Clara, California-based Nvidia has already been massively successful in supplying high-end chips for data centers riding the worldwide AI demand boom, it is plotting different plans to expand its presence across AI systems and products.

Jensen Huang, the Taiwanese American founder and CEO of Nvidia, made the announcement in Taipei at the annual Nvidia GTC event. Microsoft and Nvidia “are going to reinvent the PC (personal computer),” he said in his keynote speech.

“This is going to be the new PC,” Huang said as he unveiled Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchip — which combines CPU, or central processing unit, and GPU, or graphics processing unit, capabilities — that would power new Windows laptop and desktop computer models in what the company called “AI personal computers,” expected to debut in the fall of this year.

Nvidia is already the world’s most valuable company, ahead of Apple, Google’s parent Alphabet and Microsoft. Its new superchips for PCs will challenge chipmaking rivals including Intel and AMD. Nvidia's shares were up nearly 4% in early U.S. trading, while Intel and AMD both fell more than 3%.

The company said it will be “reinventing the personal computer” for creating and gaming. “When it has an autonomous (AI) agent, an agent that’s helping you, that understands you, you could talk to it. It could look at you. You could ask it to read files, go help you do some research. It could do a lot more,” Huang said.

Microsoft said in a separate statement that the personal computers running on Nvidia’s RTX Spark superchips would be able to support “highly capable AI models” and complex workloads. With the new superchips, these personal computers can run AI agents locally, Nvidia said.

“This is the first across the lineup of PC reinvention for 40 years,” said Huang.

Nvidia’s move is significant at a time when demand is growing for the use of personal AI agents, said Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at the technology research and advisory group Omdia.

“For consumers, it means more choices, which is always a good thing,” Su said.

Neil Shah, analyst and co-founder of Counterpoint Research, described Nvidia’s announcement as a move that’s “revolutionizing how PCs would look like in the next 10 years.”

The new laptops and desktop computers “will drive agentic AI applications in every home,” Shah said, with an aim of having an “AI supercomputer” in each household.

Also during Monday’s speech, Nvidia’s Huang said its new Vera CPUs for data centers are in full production and are “going to be our new major growth driver” on the boom of AI agents, with early customers including Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceXAI.

Huang also revealed a humanoid robot reference design that could act as a blueprint for future research, especially within the higher education sector. Nvidia said its “Isaac GR00T” stands nearly six feet tall and has the humanoid chassis of Chinese robot maker Unitree’s H2. It is equipped with five-fingered dexterous hands, made by Singapore-based robotics startup Sharpa, that are capable of finely controlled movements.

___

Chan reported from Hong Kong.

Second-place finisher, progressive Sen. Iván Cepeda, and his ally, President Gustavo Petro, have questioned the election results, without providing evidence.

Cepeda on Monday called on de la Espriella to debate him ahead of their June 21 runoff. De la Espriella replied on X: “Are you ready, coward? … First, acknowledge the election results and let’s debate right now.”

De la Espriella rapidly gained traction ahead of Sunday’s election and won nearly 44% of the vote. Cepeda, who had consistently led polling, won less than 41%.

In the runoff, De la Espriella is expected to scoop up additional votes from Colombians who supported other conservative candidates in the first round.

Cepeda will face an uphill battle, said Sergio Guzmán, a political analyst. De la Espriella's win is "a shift in public opinion that is very difficult to overcome. So now Abelardo is emerging as the likely favorite to win.”

Markets in Colombia and the Colombian peso jumped on Monday, likely a product of de la Espriella’s proposal to roll back regulations on businesses and willingness to open the country to fracking — a sharp turn from Petro’s environmental agenda.

Miroslav Jenca, head of the United Nations verification mission in Colombia, said Monday that his team observed firsthand the commitment of Colombian security and electoral authorities to ensure an orderly vote.

“I call for a peaceful election campaign, without resorting to any violence,” Jenca said. “I encourage all parties to address their differences through institutional mechanisms.”

A political shift in the Americas continues

The 47-year-old De la Espriella, known as “El Tigre” or “The Tiger,” has never held office in Colombia and prided himself on living a luxurious life in Italy before deciding to run for president.

He pitched himself as an outsider who would cozy up to U.S. President Donald Trump and follow El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's war on gangs, which has driven down homicide rates but fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

“I will wipe out narcoterrorism and those who I've declared a military target like cockroaches, like rats. I will unleash upon them the wrath of God never seen before,” de la Espriella said in an interview with The Associated Press in the final stretch of the campaign, where he promised to open 10 mega-prisons to fight crime.

He joins a growing number of leaders across Latin America, from Chile to Honduras, seeking to latch onto the “Bukele model” as voters across Latin America are ditching leaders who pitched progressive policies aimed at addressing the root issues of conflict such as lack of opportunities for young people and corruption.

De la Espriella's supporters come from a wide range of backgrounds. Yolanda Peréz, a 64-year-old woman serving coffee in Colombia's capital, Bogotá, said with a wink the day before the election: “I'm thinking of voting for El Tigre.”

Miguel Maheca, a 20-year-old first-time voter, flashed his ballot to his mother as he strolled out of the polling station on Sunday, saying with a grin, “Love isn't what's going to make us safe in Colombia."

But experts say El Salvador's security successes will be nearly impossible to replicate in a country like Colombia, which is more than 50 times larger than the Central American nation and has many more armed groups fighting for territory.

The Trump administration is playing a more aggressive role in Latin America than any U.S. government in decades, putting mounting pressure on countries like Colombia, Mexico and Ecuador to crack down on crime.

De la Espriella made a name for himself as a lawyer defending high-profile clients such as former President Álvaro Uribe as well as controversial figures like Alex Saab, a close ally of Venezuela’s ousted president Nicolás Maduro who faces legal issues in the U.S.

Cepeda had vowed to carry on peace efforts

The progressive Cepeda has promised to carry on his ally Petro's fraught plan to achieve “total peace” by negotiating peace pacts with guerrillas and criminal gangs.

Their political movement was born from a rejection by many Colombians of a militarized offensive by Uribe in decades past to beat back guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Thousands of civilians were killed by Colombian forces in a scandal known as “false positives.”

De la Espriella “represents a return to the paramilitary politics and drug-trafficking — a mafia-run, plutocratic and corrupt past that the country experienced during Álvaro Uribe’s two administrations,” Cepeda said on Sunday.

Petro, a former rebel, won Colombia's presidency in 2022, ending decades of domination by leaders from Uribe's political movement. He gained massive support from rural-dwelling, Indigenous and poorer Colombians who felt they had never been directly spoken to by the country's leaders.

Now that movement is backed into a corner.

“This is de la Espriella’s election to lose,” wrote Renata Segura, director of International Crisis Group's Latin America and the Caribbean Program. “Cepeda thought he could win appealing squarely to the left, and that proved to be a massive mistake. How he pivots in the next month will determine if he has any chance to win.”

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

Social media platforms with at least 8 million users in Malaysia, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, must implement age-verification systems and block users under 16 from creating accounts.

Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Commission said age verification for existing users will be rolled out over the next six months. Users identified as under 16 will have a month to download or transfer data, including photos and videos, before restrictions or other actions are applied.

Companies that fail to comply could face penalties of up to 10 million ringgit ($2.5 million). Parents whose children manage to bypass the law will not be penalized.

The government said the measures are aimed at protecting children from harmful content, cyberbullying and platform features designed to encourage excessive use.

Countries including Australia,Brazil and Indonesia have introduced or announced age-based restrictions or requirements for children’s access to social media. Others including Britain, France, Spain, Denmark, Thailand and South Korea are studying or developing similar approaches.

Malaysia's regulator said the rules are not intended to prevent children from accessing digital technology. Platforms are required to improve user safety, discourage excessive use and take action against underage accounts and harmful content.

Technology companies have yet to describe how they will comply.

Clara Koh, Meta’s director of public policy for Southeast Asia, has cautioned that Malaysia's under-16 ban could backfire by driving teenagers away from protected apps and into unregulated corners of the internet.

Governments around the world face pressure to address concerns about social media’s impact on children’s mental health and online safety. In March, a U.S. jury ordered Meta and YouTube to pay millions of dollars in damages in a case alleging that platform design features contributed to harm suffered by a young user.

Malaysian families have varying views

In Kuala Lumpur, Saravanan Ganasan and Jayaradha Veerasamy, whose children are 12 and 15, said they approve of the changes. They already had banned their kids from using social media, believing minors lack the psychological capacity to cope with it.

Devices are kept out of bedrooms, screen time is limited to common areas and their son is not allowed to lock his phone with a password.

“Exposure is what we fear,” Saravanan said. “The wrong kind of exposure will do damage to the mind.”

Aadhavan Saravanan, 15, said he believes he would be addicted to social media if allowed full freedom. “Social media is, like, a luxury and it’s not a necessity,” he said.

The couple said the restrictions have forced their children to develop offline life skills. Aadhavan reads books in a backyard mango tree and repairs broken household appliances, while their daughter cooks and does crafts.

“A lot of parents are very scared that children get bored,” Jayaradha said. “But boredom is actually very good because they start thinking out of the box.”

But Shaun Hew, in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Cheras, said the new restrictions go too far.

Hew believes social media allow his kids to spend time productively, as long as there is proper adult oversight. His 11-year-old son uses platforms to learn cooking and his daughter, 14, uses YouTube for exam preparation.

He worries a sudden cutoff could cause teenagers to rebel and find unregulated ways to bypass internet blocks.

Some express concerns over privacy and safety

Some critics said Malaysia’s decision could increase the risks of data privacy breaches and expand state surveillance.

“It is very much following the trend, but in a way that is raising alarms due to requiring a government ID for age verification,” said Benjamin Loh, social science lecturer at Monash University in Malaysia. He said social media companies could end up storing sensitive personal data without sufficient safeguards.

Loh said the decision also could unintentionally affect stateless individuals, undocumented residents and members of marginalized communities including LGBTQ+ people who rely on anonymity online for safety.

Without penalties on parents, families can easily bypass the law by creating accounts for their children, he added.

“This is a major gap that, unless regulators are willing to fix, will result in the law having little effect in stopping children from using social media,” he said.

The potential retreat is a nod to the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago and a recognition of the mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a lack of oversight of the money disbursement and the possibility of payouts to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Trump administration had defended the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure for what officials insist was weaponized law enforcement during the Biden administration.

But while some Trump supporters — including participants in the Capitol riot — celebrated the announcement of the fund, the reaction among Republicans in Congress has been decidedly more hostile. The outrage came to a head last month at a closed-door meeting between senators and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas described on a recent episode of his podcast as “one of the roughest meetings I’ve seen in my entire time in the Senate.”

The furor has especially complicated matters in the Senate, where Republicans defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies after Democrats said they would offer amendments to scrap or scale back the judgement fund.

Republicans who returned to Washington on Monday said they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the fund. Many have pushed the administration to impose limits or cancel the idea altogether.

Amid the backlash, a person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking, said Monday that Trump was reconsidering whether to move forward with the fund. The Justice Department separately said Monday that it would comply with a judge's order from Friday that temporarily halted implementation of the fund pending additional arguments later in the month.

But Republicans said they were still seeking a more explicit commitment that the fund would be pulled back.

“They need to say what they actually mean,” said Republican Sen. Jim Lankford. "They need to say, 'We’re setting this whole thing aside.'”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday that he hoped the White House would move to drop the fund. He said he wasn’t sure if the immigration spending bill would move this week.

“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters.

He said any additional statements from the administration would be helpful, but: “I think the statement they made effectively shuts it down. We’ll find out.”

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said that if the settlement is “completely pulled, then I’m satisfied. But I haven’t heard anybody say that.”

It was not immediately clear whether the retreat being signaled on the fund Monday indicated that the administration would also backtrack on another element of the IRS settlement — a commitment by the government to abandon any probes of Trump, his family and other associates over whether they’ve paid their fair share of taxes.

The fund was dealt a pair of legal blows on Friday, including an order by U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema that temporarily barred it from being implemented. The judge scheduled a June 12 hearing for arguments on whether to extend her order. The Justice Department statement did not say whether the government intended to continue to make legal arguments for the fund.

“This Fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise,” the statement said. "The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling.

Separately, the federal judge in Florida overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS ordered Trump’s attorneys on Friday to respond to “grievous allegations” by settlement critics that the president abandoned his claims to avoid the court’s scrutiny of an illegal deal. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams gave them until June 12 to respond in writing to allegations of collusion and whether the case should be reopened because the court was the “victim of a fraud.”

_____

Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

It happened just after midnight on Indian Warrior Trial after the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office said a deputy tried to pull over a driver near FM 2004 and This Way Street but the driver wouldn’t stop.

“He was my heart,” Mendoza’s father told KPRC 2 News. “He had such a bright future ahead of him.”

Mendoza had just finished his freshman year at Texas State University and had been home for about two weeks for summer break, according to family members.

• RELATED: Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills 18-year-old Texas State student after chase ends at Lake Jackson home

He comes from a family that has a law enforcement background, was a Lake Jackson-area high school football star, and didn’t have a history of trouble, according to the family attorney Charles Adams.

“It is my understanding that all three young men had raised their hands. There was no effort to flee. There is no further movement, but there also was no instruction heard by the young men, right? It’s just an immediate walk-up execution," Adams said. “It is my understanding that the deputy immediately stated that he messed up, possibly using some other language.”

Initial scanner traffic in Brazoria County indicated it was an “accidental discharge,” and the teen had been shot in the shoulder, “through the heart while seated in his car,” according to Adams.

According to BCSO, Mendoza fled from the deputy who attempted to pull him over. The department hasn’t said what specifically initiated the traffic stop, and it hasn’t provided the deputy’s identity.

When Mendoza arrived in his father’s garage, which is just a few minutes away from where BCSO says the traffic stop attempt started, Adams said the deputy shot him through a rolled-up driver-side window.

• Man dead from self-inflicted gunshot after barricade situation at Katy-area apartment; woman also found dead inside

Prior to the stop, Adams said Mendoza had been at a park with friends playing basketball and walking a track. His family said Mendoza had known the friends since kindergarten.

At the park, Adams said a deputy pulled up and started watching them.

“They felt like they were being stalked so they decided to leave. They got in his vehicle and began driving away. Shortly thereafter, the officer chirped his lights behind them. It’s my understanding Mr. Mendoza got scared and wanted to just get home to his father,” Adams said.

The Texas Rangers are now investigating for possible criminal charges, and a Texas DPS spokesperson said all findings will be presented to the Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office.

DA Tom Selleck didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

CLEAT, a state law enforcement union, had an attorney assisting the deputy on Monday, according to a post on X, but the association didn’t issue a statement about the incident.

“Right now, my only function here is to try to steward this for the family to ensure that there is accountability for what is a murder,” Adams, a former police officer, said. “Failing to yield and pull over for police is a crime. It is not a crime for which you can be murdered for. And I don’t use that lightly.”

The deputy has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard practice, according to BCSO.

“We want justice. We just want to know what happened. No kid is perfect, but nobody deserves this,” Mendoza’s great aunt Glenda said. “He’s a good kid, he was raised well in a good neighborhood. He was surrounded by love and a lot of advice, and we can’t comprehend why this happened.”

The explosion occurred at midday Sunday in Kaungtup village, Namhkam township in Shan state near the Chinese border.

The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the ethnic rebel group that controls the area, said in a statement Monday evening that the death toll from the blast has reached 43, including seven children. Previous estimates from rescue workers had ranged from 38 to 45. Determining the exact toll has been complicated because bodies were blown apart by the force of the explosion.

The group said 112 people, including 25 children, were injured, with 37 in critical condition, raising concerns that the number of fatalities could increase.

“Rescue operations and the compilation of casualty figures were still underway,” said the statement.

Many of Myanmar’s resource-rich areas, where most mining operations have been largely unregulated, are controlled by different armed militias engaged in sporadic fighting against the central government to seek greater autonomy. Accidents, such as deadly landslides, are fairly common.

TNLA said Sunday's blast involved gelignite used in local mining and stone quarrying. Although gelignite is commonly used, it becomes highly unstable over time when improperly stored.

Residents of the 200-household village reported that they were never told explosives were being kept there.

An investigation into the specific cause of the explosion is underway, the TNLA said.

The incident has cast a spotlight on Myanmar’s lucrative but largely unregulated mineral industry and Chinese investment in the country's extractive industries.

Two local residents told The Associated Press on Monday that mines producing raw materials for silicon metal — a key industrial substance used in semiconductors, solar panels, and aluminum alloys — are located in mountainous areas about 15 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Namhkam town.

The residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect their safety, said the mines are operated jointly by the TNLA and Chinese businessmen and are inaccessible to most residents. The claim couldn’t be independently verified by the AP.

Myanmar’s mining industry is a major global provider of rare earth elements, copper, tin, and precious gems, especially jade and rubies, and is the main supplier to China, where the extracted materials are processed and refined.

China maintains a complex role as a top ally to Myanmar’s military-backed government while also fostering relations with the ethnic minority groups.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian in Beijing expressed deep condolences and confirmed that a Chinese national injured in the blast is receiving medical treatment. Beijing has pledged assistance in handling the aftermath.

The TNLA, part of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, seized control of the Namhkam area in late 2023 during a major offensive against the military government. This conflict is part of the broader turmoil following the February 2021 military coup, which ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered widespread armed resistance.

While the TNLA signed a China-mediated ceasefire with the military in late 2023, peace in the region is shaky and extraction of minerals and gemstones provides critical income for both the central government and the rebel groups fighting against it.

___

Associated Press writers Anton Delgado in Bangkok and E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing contributed to this report.

Search crews found Joshua’s body two days after he was swept away while swimming with his family and youth football team during Memorial Day weekend. Since then, an online petition calling for lifeguards at Surfside Beach has gathered more than 435 signatures.

For residents like Jerry Bass, the solution seems straightforward.

“I think it’s a great idea. It’ll create jobs and hopefully save people,” Bass said of the lifeguard petition.

But city leaders say the biggest obstacle is money — and funding a full lifeguard program would be no small feat.

• Body of missing 11-year-old boy swept under by wave at Surfside Beach discovered by fisherman

“Anything that people want to talk about, I’m willing to put on the agenda, and finding a funding mechanism and getting approval for something like that requires consensus. It may be really hard for us to come up with funding for a full-fledged lifeguard program, but we are working on several things,” said Jonathan Gerber, Alderman at large for Surfside Beach.

One of those things is a new agreement with TEXSAR or Texas Search and Rescue.

“For this month’s agenda, I’m asking we discuss and take action on an agreement with TEXSAR, a first responder organization composed of professionally trained volunteers, as a force multiplier for event support. This would be at no cost. It would be through an interlocal agreement — they would be activated by first responders on the scene,” Gerber said.

The city also approved funding in April for a new messaging tool designed to help Surfside coordinate faster with Texas Aqua Search and Rescue.

• Recovery efforts underway at Surfside Beach after 11-year-old boy from Richmond swept under water by wave Sunday evening

Jeff Denicola, director of Texas Aqua Search, explained how the program works.

“Texas Aqua Search is a program that we launched here in Surfside Beach, and it is designed to align police, fire and EMS with the local surfers that have equipment. They’re super knowledgeable about all the conditions, the rip currents and the tides and dangers that are presented to swimmers here,” DeNicola said.

The goal is simple — get the right people in the water as fast as possible, especially as summer brings more visitors to the beach.

Surfside Beach Police Chief Philip Hester is also launching a new community safety initiative called “Community Floats Together.” Donated life jackets will be placed at beach entrances for anyone to use for free. When finished, beachgoers simply return the life jacket to the same spot for the next person.

The program has not yet launched but is coming soon.

For the Surfside Beach community, the memory of last week’s search is still fresh — and the push to make sure it doesn’t happen again is only getting louder.

Marner was nearing the end of his contract with Toronto, and all signs pointed to him not re-signing. Carolina had just acquired fellow pending free agent Mikko Rantanen from Colorado in a three-way trade in late January, and after several weeks it was also clear that would not be a long-term relationship.

The Maple Leafs and Hurricanes discussed the possibility of a Marner-for-Rantanen swap. Marner held the keys with his full no-movement clause, and he preferred staying put and seeing out one more run with the team that drafted him, then went on to choose Vegas, going to the Golden Knights in a sign and trade in late June before hitting the open market.

Marner's decision caused a domino effect that led Vegas and Carolina to this stage, where they'll now meet in the Stanley Cup Final beginning Tuesday night. The Hurricanes pivoted to sending Rantanen to Dallas for Logan Stankoven — one of their best players during this run — along with a pick they then used to trade for K'Andre Miller last summer, in the process saving the salary cap space needed to sign top free agent Nikolaj Ehlers.

The Golden Knights got Marner, who leads all scorers in the playoffs and left no doubt why the Hurricanes were interested. Asked what the team liked, general manager Eric Tulsky declined comment because Marner is under contract with another team.

"I can answer that one," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “What don’t you like about him?”

‘What if?’ is not on Marner's mind

When speculation was building last spring about Marner potentially being involved in a trade for Rantanen, it wasn't just a question of hockey. Marner's wife, Stephanie, was pregnant with the couple's first child. Marner is from the Toronto area.

The Leafs reached the second round before blowing a 2-0 series lead to defending and eventual back-to-back champion Florida. The Hurricanes lost in five games to the Panthers in the East final, still missing something.

This season, Marner was a point-a-game player. He has seven goals and 14 assists for a playoff-high 21 points.

“Mitch is playing with tremendous confidence,” GM Kelly McCrimmon said. “I think he’s really savoring the moment.”

Marner credited the coaching staff for putting him in positions to succeed and teammates for finishing scoring chances. Wearing a Vegas hoodie on Cup final media day, he insists he's not thinking about the alternate reality of playing for Carolina instead.

“No, I’m not a guy that lives in the past,” Marner said. “I’m in the present. I’m here in the moment.”

The Hurricanes pivoted perfectly

Tulsky was referring to Rantanen when he said of taking chances, “Sometimes it doesn’t go the way you hoped, and you’ve got to be ready to figure out how you’re going to move forward from there.” Trading Martin Necas to the Avalanche for Rantanen did not work out, though getting veteran winger Taylor Hall from Chicago in the same deal certainly has.

The pursuit of Marner fits in the same category, but plan B worked out swimmingly. Stankoven has been a difference-maker for Carolina centering the second line of Hall and Jackson Blake and is showing why he was the centerpiece of the return from the Stars for Rantanen.

Had Marner wanted to go to Carolina, Stankoven could still be with Dallas. Instead, he had to grapple with the strange feeling of getting traded.

“I didn’t see it coming,” Stankoven said. “Everything kind of happens for a reason. Obviously, Dallas got their player, and I just want to become the best version of myself here in Carolina. Just how welcoming everyone has been here, the fans, my teammates, I absolutely love the city and couldn’t be happier that I was able to sign long term here.”

The same day Stankoven signed an eight-year, $48 million contract, Tulsky used one of the first-round picks from the Rantanen trade to acquire Miller from the New York Rangers and sign him long term. By the end of the week, Ehlers chose Carolina among several intriguing suitors.

Miller has thrived with the change of scenery, and Ehlers has, along with Stankoven, given the Hurricanes the offensive finish they lacked in several playoff runs that ended before the final.

“(Ehlers) adds things to it that aren’t what we would ask a lot of players to do,” Tulsky said. “Having that kind of ability on the team — someone who could just create scoring chances out of thin air — it always makes you more dangerous.”

___

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

Adelman, the father of Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman, was 79. The cause of his death was not immediately announced.

“The Denver Nuggets were extremely saddened to learn of the passing of Hall of Fame Head Coach Rick Adelman,” the Nuggets said Monday night. “Our thoughts are with head coach David Adelman, the entire Adelman family and the many friends and loved ones that were lucky enough to know Rick.”

Rick Adelman won 1,042 games as an NBA coach, 10th-most in league history. Only four other coaches — Pat Riley, Gregg Popovich, Jerry Sloan and George Karl — coached more games and had a better winning percentage than Adelman, who took the Portland Trail Blazers to the NBA Finals twice and also was head coach in Sacramento, Houston, Minnesota and Golden State.

“Adelman will be remembered not only as a coach and a player, but also as a mentor to so many in the basketball community,” read a statement from the coaches' association, which honored Adelman with its Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.

“Rick Adelman’s NBA coaching career has been highlighted by innovation, integrity and excellence,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said when the NBCA presented that award three years ago. “His teams always played to their strengths, and Rick always found subtle ways to reinvent NBA basketball to help his players thrive. His quiet, unassuming nature belies his impact as one of the great NBA coaches of all time.”

Adelman also played in the NBA from 1969 through 1975 as a point guard for five different teams — but found his calling as a coach.

The Kings, in paying tribute, said Adelman “will be remembered for the way he inspired those around him — with humility, integrity, kindness, and an unwavering belief in the power of teamwork."

Adelman's path to the NBA, as a coach, was unintentional.

He thought he would become a high school coach, though his lack of experience was a deterrent. He then started his coaching career at Chemeketa Community College in Salem, Oregon.

“We had great success there,” Adelman said in his Hall of Fame enshrinement speech. “The one thing I did not realize is Jack Ramsey was following my team.”

Ramsey was coaching the Portland Trail Blazers, and invited Adelman to interview when a position opened on his staff. Adelman worked under Ramsey for three seasons and Mike Schuler for 2 1/2 more, then took over as interim coach with 35 games left in the 1988-89 season.

“We had a team that was ready to win,” Adelman said in 2021.

Blazers owner Paul Allen told Adelman he could coach the 1989-90 season. The rest is history. Portland won 59 games that season with Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey and Buck Williams leading the way, getting to the NBA Finals and falling to Detroit.

Adelman was off and running. He took the Blazers back to the NBA Finals two years later, falling then to Chicago. After his Portland era, Adelman coached two years at Golden State and then went to Sacramento — where he had eight winning seasons in an eight-year stint, with players like Vlade Divac, Peja Stojaković, Mike Bibby, Chris Webber, Jason Williams, Bobby Jackson and current Kings coach Doug Christie. And in those Sacramento years, Adelman was widely credited for running some types of offenses that the league had never seen.

“He was a brilliant strategist and teacher of the game, and an even better person,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.

Adelman had 210 players appear in at least one NBA game for him.

“He actually challenged me and poured into trusting me," 20-year guard Kyle Lowry said Monday night. “That was important for me. He didn’t have to. He could have done everything else, he could have played other players, but he believed in me. ... He just trusted his players. He just wanted to win. And if it wasn't for him, I don't know what career I would have. It's a sad day.”

Among Adelman’s accomplishments: He engineered a 22-game winning streak with Houston in 2008, a run that is the fourth-longest in NBA history.

“Coach Adelman guided the Rockets with professionalism, integrity, and a deep commitment to the game,” the Rockets said in a release. “His role in leading the team during the 22-game winning streak in 2008 remains one of the most remarkable achievements in franchise history and will always be remembered by Rockets fans.”

The Blazers noted that not only did Adelman lead the team to the finals twice, but he was a player on the inaugural Portland team in 1970.

"Rick was one of the most influential figures in franchise history," the Blazers said.

___

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

Trump announced the development in a social media post following a call with Netanyahu. Israeli forces recently made their deepest incursion into Lebanon in more than a quarter century. Trump said there would be no Israeli troops “going to Beirut” and that those on their way "have already been turned back.”

He said Hezbollah had "agreed that all shooting will stop — That Israel will not attack them, and they will not attack Israel.”

Netanyahu confirmed the conversation but cast it less as restraint and more as a warning, saying he told Trump that Israel would strike targets in Beirut, Lebanon's capital, if Hezbollah’s attacks do not stop. The Israeli military will continue “to operate as planned” in southern Lebanon, Netanyahu added.

There was no immediate word from Hezbollah.

The two sides have been under a ceasefire since mid-April, but Hezbollah resumed attacks after Israeli strikes in Lebanon that Israel characterized as self-defense. The fighting also presents a major obstacle in the emerging deal to extend the ceasefire in the Iran war. Tehran wants any agreement to include Lebanon.

Lebanese authorities secured Hezbollah’s approval of a proposal by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Israel would not strike Beirut's southern suburbs, and Hezbollah would not attack northern Israel, according to a statement issued by the Lebanese Embassy to the U.S.

Moments after Trump’s message, Israel detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover.

Talks between Israel and Lebanon are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington, where Lebanese negotiators hope to widen the scope of areas that will not be attacked in the country as they seek a complete ceasefire.

Israel orders strikes on Beirut suburbs

Trump's comments emerged after Israel’s government ordered strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut and as Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, including the outskirts of the coastal city of Haifa.

A joint statement by Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the orders followed what they called repeated violations of the ceasefire by Hezbollah and “attacks against our cities and citizens.”

The Israeli military's Arabic spokesman later posted on X that residents should leave the suburbs, adding that if Hezbollah continues attacking Israeli communities, Israel will launch attacks on the Beirut area of Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah enjoys wide support.

After Monday's warning, large numbers of people were seen fleeing Dahiyeh, jamming roads leading out of the area.

Mohammed Farhat, 23, fled with his brother and parents from Beirut’s southern suburb of Haret Hreik and was heading with his mother on a motorcycle to stay with relatives in another neighborhood.

“We are worried. I am used to it but left for my parents,” the university student said.

Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire overnight

Israeli airstrikes overnight on southern Lebanon left six people dead, including a Syrian citizen in a village near the city of Nabatiyeh, the state-run National News Agency said. Israel struck other towns and villages near the major city, close to the strategic Beaufort Castle and other towns the Israeli military captured in recent days.

An airstrike Monday afternoon in the port city of Tyre caused heavy damage to the Jabal Amel Hospital, the Health Ministry said. A video released by the ministry showed shaken women and children inside the hospital, where windows were blown out.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said its air force had intercepted two projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israeli territory, as well as a suspicious aerial target in the area where Israeli soldiers operate in southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported, the military said.

Hezbollah said early Monday that it attacked Israeli troops in Zawtar al-Sharqieh, just north of the Litani River, and struck what they said was Israeli military infrastructure in Tiberius, a few dozen miles south of the border.

Israel and Lebanon set to hold talks in Washington

The latest attacks happened just before the next round of direct Israel-Lebanon talks in the U.S. capital. Hezbollah has rejected direct talks, counting on pressure from Iran, which has demanded an end to the war in Lebanon in its talks with the United States.

The Israel-Lebanon talks that began in April in Washington were the first in more than three decades between the countries, which have no formal diplomatic relations.

Beirut is still committed to holding talks to end the conflict despite the boiling tensions, said a Lebanese diplomatic official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted Monday that any ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran is a “ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon."

“Its violation on one front is a violation of the ceasefire on all fronts," Iran's top diplomat said in a post on X.

The Lebanese capital has been mostly spared since the ceasefire

Beirut has been mostly spared from airstrikes since the ceasefire went into effect, apart from two targeted attacks on the city's southern suburbs in May.

Saudi Arabia condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, saying it “categorically rejects” Israel’s movement into the small Mediterranean nation. The Saudi Foreign Ministry called on the international community to prevent Israel from going deeper into Lebanon.

Lebanese parliament chief Nabih Berri, a key Hezbollah ally, said in a statement Sunday that he could guarantee the militant group’s “full, comprehensive and immediate commitment to a ceasefire.” Berri added: “But who will force Israel to stop its aggression?”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that his government continues work to end “the suffering of the Lebanese in general and the southerners in particular.” Later, he issued a statement reiterating Beirut's commitment to negotiations, saying they are “safer” than war."

At the United Nations, Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that Israel’s push into Lebanon violates Lebanon’s territorial integrity and the 2006 council resolution requiring Israel to withdraw to south of the U.N.-drawn border with Lebanon.

She also accused Hezbollah of violating the resolution that requires the militant group to disarm.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz said a deescalation and peace will come quickly “if Hezbollah immediately ceases its attacks, as apparently it’s promised, and the government of Lebanon asserts its fully sovereignty, rebuilds, and brings its people home.”

Lebanon's U.N. Ambassador Ahmad Arafa commended the Trump administration for “constructive efforts aimed at giving diplomacy a chance” and Trump's latest push.

The latest round of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has killed 3,433 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million people.

Israel’s military said a soldier was killed in southern Lebanon overnight in a drone attack by Hezbollah. Hezbollah’s use of hard-to-detect fiber-optic drones has been deadly for the Israeli military, which is struggling to respond.

According to Netanyahu’s office, at least 26 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon. Two civilians have also been killed in northern Israel.

___

Mroue and Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

The incident happened just after midnight near FM 2004 and This Way Street.

According to the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop on a vehicle around 12:09 a.m. on Monday, June 1.

Investigators say the driver, who has been identified as 18-year-old John Gabriel Mendoza Jr., a sophomore at Texas State University, failed to stop and led deputies on a pursuit.

Authorities said the chase ended when Mendoza Jr. pulled into an attached garage of a home in the 100 block of Indian Warrior Trail in Lake Jackson.

Officials have not released many details about what happened next, but investigators say the deputy encountered Mendoza and discharged his firearm, hitting him.

Mendoza was transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Detectives remained at the scene for hours on Monday morning, collecting evidence as the investigation continued.

The Brazoria County Sheriff’s Office has requested assistance from the Texas Rangers, who will lead the investigation alongside the Brazoria County District Attorney’s Office.

In accordance with department policy, the deputy involved has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

KPRC 2 spoke with Mendoza’s family, who said he had been playing football since he was 5 years old. The family says they are heartbroken.

In September, Texas halted commercial drivers licenses for many immigrants, including refugees, people with asylum and DACA recipients. The change on Monday will allow those with H-2A visas, designed for temporary agriculture workers, to again hold valid CDLs in Texas. Those eligible who have current CDLs may continue to use them until their expiration date, and those with expired licenses can file to renew them, according to a DPS press release.

DPS indicated the shift was made in line with a new federal guideline from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published in mid-March, which permits H-2A workers to hold CDLs alongside H-2B and E-2 visa holders, which are temporary non-agricultural workers and treaty investors, respectively. 

Under the new federal guidelines, Texas has only been approved to grant H-2A visa holders commercial drivers licenses for now, the DPS release said. Eligibility for H-2B and E-2 visa holders in Texas “will be announced at a later date,” according to the release.

The limitation to the three types of visas was implemented to prevent “dangerous foreign drivers” from being given licenses, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a February statement, claiming that bad actors had previously been abusing access to commercial drivers licenses.  

The reinstatement came hours after DPS announced it would offer CDL license and permit knowledge tests only in English, removing the Spanish option previously offered, according to a DPS press release announcing the change. 

The hands-on CDL skills test, which includes the driving and controls test, has always been conducted exclusively in English. Interpreters were previously barred from the skills portion of the test, and applicants were required to “be able to understand and respond to verbal commands and instructions in English by a skills test examiner,” according to a previous version of DPS’ website prior to Monday’s change.

Gov. Greg Abbott directed DPS in September to “strictly enforce” the federal government’s new English requirements and ordered the agency to conduct English Language Proficiency reviews for all commercial license operators. The changes are also designed to align Texas’ testing requirements with the FMCSA like the changes to CDl eligibility, the release said. The federal agency had its guidance on English language tests altered in May 2025 by Duffy. 

“The issue is simple: We’re not putting up signs in any other language than English. We’re requiring drivers speak and read English as a bare minimum requirement,” Duffy said in an op-ed in Breitbart previewing the 2025 changes.

In late April, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced investigations into five trucking schools for allegedly disregarding English language requirements when administering CDL tests.

Texas’ Department of Motor Vehicles also introduced photo identification requirements for vehicle registrations and renewals in November aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from legally owning vehicles. Auto industry representatives and some county officials pushed back against the changes, citing safety and economic concerns for those affected.

Major League Baseball proposed a salary cap last week and appears set to start a lockout after the current labor contract expires Dec. 1.

“Our union has never been broken and never will be,” interim executive director Bruce Meyer said Monday during an online news question-and-answer session with reporters. “Our players have what they have, including being the only sport that doesn’t have this ultimate restriction, the salary cap, because our players have always been the most unified and that’s going to continue.”

Baseball has had nine work stoppages since 1972, the last a 99-day lockout that slightly delayed the 2022 season. Regular-season games have not been lost since a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95, the last time MLB proposed a cap.

The NFL has had a cap since 1994, the NBA since 1984-85 and the NHL since 2005-06.

“The unions in the other sports didn’t agree to salary-cap systems because they thought it was a good thing for players. That’s not what happened,” Meyer said. “In one way or the other, they were not able to fight the way that our union has and, not criticizing anybody, it’s just a fact. Our union has always been the most solid, and that’s why our union has the best system.”

Negotiators have not scheduled the next bargaining session. The union last week proposed expanded free agency and salary arbitration rights along with almost doubling the major league minimum and increasing revenue sharing.

MLB’s proposal last Thursday would cap team spending in 2027 at $245.3 million, using figures for luxury tax payrolls that include $20.1 million for benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool. It also would establish a payroll floor of $171.2 million, forcing some teams to spend more. The Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball’s biggest spenders, had a $415.2 million payroll on opening day this year — around $170 million over the proposed cap.

“Our salary cap and floor proposal addresses our fans’ concerns by leveling the playing field while sharing baseball revenue with the players 50/50 like the other leagues," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. “Under our proposal, major league players will receive more compensation in year one of the system than in 2026.”

Los Angeles shattered MLB’s spending record with a combined $515 million in payroll and luxury tax last year en route to its second straight World Series title. Los Angeles’ total was seven times the $68.7 million payroll of Miami, the lowest-spending team, and more than the payrolls of the bottom six clubs combined.

Meyer likened a cap to “Big Brother” telling a team it can't sign a player it wants to.

"At a time of exploding popularity, growth and interest, the owners’ goal is more money in the pockets of owners," he said. “Don’t blame them for that, but that’s what it is. Whether it’s more in profits because they’re holding down labor costs or growing their franchise values.”

Meyer dismissed MLB's contention that payroll disparity causes fans of lower-spending teams to lose hope. No small-market team has won the World Series since the 2015 Kansas City Royals.

“We do not accept the premise that there’s some existential crisis going on,” he said. “People are still lining up to buy these teams, to get in whether as a minority investor or otherwise, and that’s because the sport is extremely healthy.”

He pointed out lower-payroll teams do reach the 12-team playoffs and Cincinnati got in last year while the New York Mets did not. Six postseason teams had payrolls above $200 million last year, and MLB emphasizes high-spending teams usually dominate the later rounds.

“We don’t want money to be taken away from teams that want to spend it and give it to teams that don’t want to spend it,” Meyer said. “We want to encourage more San Diegos. San Diego is a small-market team that went out, decided to compete, signed a lot of players, turned around their franchise.”

MLB's proposal calls for a 50-50 split with players of defined revenue, including for player spending on signing bonuses for players from high school and college, and international amateurs agreeing to initial contracts.

“It's not even a real 50%. It’s taking billions of dollars off the top before they’re proposing to even share any of that,” Meyer said. "Players' share under their proposal would go down. Players' share for this season, 2026, is projected to be well over 50%. ... Had MLB’s proposal been in place in 2026, players would, we estimate — would lose over half a billion dollars.”

He faulted MLB for how it defined revenue and spending.

“Their proposal of course excludes things like expansion fees, franchise values, the place where they make their most money,” he said. "Their proposal deducts billions of dollars in expenses ... so it’s not even a real 50%.”

“They’ve effectively managed to cobble together the worst system for players in any of the major sports, and not even close,” Meyer added.

Player contracts this year, using average annual values and including benefits and the pre-arbitration bonus pool, total $6.14 billion, according to MLB's opening-day figures. Slot values for signing bonuses in this year's amateur draft come to about $359 million and international signing bonus pools to $208 million.

Under MLB's proposal, there would be an escrow system in which players would have money withheld in the event their share of revenue rises above the specified amount. They would get more money if their share falls short.

“If revenues are soft or they go down, then that means players at the end of the day won’t get the guaranteed money,” he said.

Meyer also said some teams heighten disparity by not spending on players.

“Every team now has the ability to put a competitive team on the field, every single team,” he said. “One of the things that I find kind of ironic in a perverse way, if team X decides we’re not going to spend money on players, well that increases the disparity in payroll.”

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

The majority opinion by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. Reyes concluded that President Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

Meanwhile, the energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government, causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.

Also, the United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it launched a strike of its own, and Kuwait reported incoming fire.

The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with such back-and-forth attacks, even as officials from both countries try to negotiate an end to the war.

Here's the latest:

Asked if Vance would be a great president, second lady says he’d be great at anything

The second lady told ABC News of her husband: “I think he would make a great anything he’d like to be.”

She said she’d been asked a couple of times about misconceptions of the vice president, and said, “I think people don’t understand what a fundamentally gentle person he is.”

Second lady won’t say if she wants vice president to seek the White House in 2028

Asked during an interview with ABC News if she’d like to see Vice President JD Vance run for president, second lady Usha Vance offered a careful dodge.

“I’m not a particularly ambitious person,” she said, after a pause. “I would like to see him happy.”

The second lady added of her husband, “I would like to see him making contributions that matter. And whatever form that takes is a form that I’ll be supportive of.”

Trump reconsidering pursuing $1.8B fund meant to compensate his allies

That’s according to a person familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking.

The potential retreat is a recognition of the legal setbacks the fund has encountered since it was announced two weeks ago, as well as a mounting political backlash from Republicans concerned by a perceived lack of oversight of the money disbursement and the potential for payouts to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The Justice Department has said it would temporarily pause its implementation to comply with a court order.

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— By Seung Min Kim

Trump administration shares more information about new Medicaid work rules

The Trump administration on Monday provided more details for how Americans on Medicaid will be able to claim exemptions from new work mandates.

A new rule reveals that starting in 2028, if health or government data doesn’t prove exemptions, some Medicaid enrollees will need to prove they are eligible with documentation.

The rule also puts forth a stricter-than-expected definition for who can qualify for exemptions based on being “medically frail.” To meet that qualification, a person’s health condition must significantly impair their ability to comply with the work requirements, according to the text of the rule.

The work requirements were part of a 2025 law. Starting in 2027, they’ll require some working-age Medicaid participants to work or do community service at least 80 hours a month, or be enrolled in school at least half the time.

States have warned implementing the changes will be expensive and time consuming. Advocates say they’ll cause millions to lose their health insurance.

Monday’s rule will be open to public comment before it is finalized.

Trump to head to Wisconsin on Friday

The White House says the president will head to Chippewa County, located in the northwest part of the state.

The trip will highlight the administration’s efforts to benefit farmers, particularly on taxes and trade.

“Wisconsin families put their faith in President Trump in 2024, and he has spent every single day since taking office fighting and delivering for them,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston said.

The visit is part of a series of trips that are intended for Trump to promote his economic agenda and achievements.

Trump administration says it will comply with court order that temporarily paused $1.8 billion compensation fund

The Trump administration said Monday it will comply with a court ruling temporarily blocking a nearly $1.8 billion fund meant to compensate allies of the president, effectively agreeing to pause the plan for at least two weeks after setbacks in the courts and a fierce backlash from Republicans who objected to potential payouts to participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The announcement from the Justice Department comes in response to a Friday court ruling by a federal judge in Virginia who ordered plans for the fund halted pending additional arguments later this month. The department said in a statement that it “disagrees strongly” with the ruling but would abide by it.

The Trump administration had defended the $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” established to resolve Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax returns, as an appropriate corrective measure to make up for what officials insist was a weaponized law enforcement during the Biden administration.

Thune says Trump dropping anti-weaponization fund is ‘best way to handle’

Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday he was hopeful the White House would move to drop the $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate Trump’s allies.

“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters.

The fund had caused a standoff between the White House and the Senate after Republican senators defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies. The Senate returns today.

US to drastically slash the number of embassies in Africa that can process visas

The State Department plans to drastically slash the number of U.S. embassies and consulates in Africa that can process visas for foreigners seeking to come to the United States.

The almost 50 U.S. embassies and consulates that are processing visa applications will be reduced to 20 in the coming weeks, according to three U.S. officials and an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. There is not yet a set date for the change, but it is expected in June, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move is part of the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on issuing both immigrant and non-immigrant visas as part of its broader aim to limit immigration to the U.S. and clamp down on those who travel on temporary visas but then overstay them. The administration also has scaled back personnel at embassies and consulates around the world.

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Trump says Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting

President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to dial back fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with the Lebanon-militant group through mediators.

Trump announced the development in a social media post following his call with Netanyahu.

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Pentagon policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, appeals court panel rules

A Trump administration policy illegally banned transgender troops from military service, a divided panel of federal appeal court judges ruled on Monday.

The majority opinion by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. Reyes concluded that President Donald Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for six transgender people who are active-duty service members and two others seeking to join the military. The appeal court’s majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military but not those seeking to join.

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Colorado elections clerk released from prison after governor commutes sentence

Tina Peters, the former clerk convicted of participating in a scheme to chase election conspiracy theories promulgated by President Trump, was released from prison Monday after the president successfully pressured Colorado’s Democratic governor into commuting her sentence.

Peters’ release was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections. The state agency said it would have no more information about the 70-year-old inmate. Her sentence was shortened by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis last month after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state.

Colorado elections clerk set to be released from prison based on her sentence commutation

Former Colorado elections clerk and conspiracy theorist Tina Peters is scheduled to be released from prison Monday after serving less than a quarter of a nine-year sentence for her role in a scheme to copy her county’s election system.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, commuted Peters’ sentence last month following pressure from President Trump.

The Colorado Department of Corrections would not confirm the time of Peters’ release, and a representative for her attorney said Peters would not speak to the media when she’s freed.

Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election. She snuck in an outside computer expert affiliated with My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell — who himself denied that Trump lost the White House in 2020 — and the person copied the county’s Dominion Voting Systems computer server as it was updated in 2021.

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Crude oil prices rise after latest US-Iran fighting, and US stocks slip

Oil prices are rising following the latest fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, but Wall Street isn’t very worried.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% early Monday, falling a bit below the record it set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 166 points, and the Nasdaq composite was little changed.

Brent crude climbed 4.7%, and Treasury yields moved higher in the bond market. Tech stocks held up better than the rest of the market.

Science Applications International Corp. soared after becoming the latest U.S. company to report bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

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Tensions linger between Republicans and White House over the ‘anti-weaponization’ fund

A standoff between the White House and the Senate remains unresolved after Republican senators defiantly left town 10 days ago without passing legislation to fund President Trump’s immigration enforcement agencies.

Senate Republicans who are returning to Washington on Monday say they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on the new $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate Trump’s allies. But Trump has shown little interest in doing so, even after a judge temporarily halted any payouts.

It’s unclear how they’ll settle the dispute.

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Jerome Powell uses JFK award speech to warn against political pressure on Fed, courts and schools

Former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell used one of his first major public appearances since leaving office to defend independent institutions while accepting an award Sunday honoring his efforts to preserve the central bank’s independence.

Speaking at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library overlooking Boston Harbor, Powell called universities, courts, Congress and the central bank “the foundation and the embodiment of our democracy” and argued that the Fed’s independence was a “priceless asset” that must be protected.

It was one of his most direct defenses of Fed independence, warning that a single administration’s decision to remove bank officials over policy differences would open the way for future elected officials to follow suit, ultimately undermining the credibility that the Fed has spent decades building.

Powell, who frequently clashed with Trump during his eight years as chair, stepped down as his term expired in May. He was succeeded by Kevin Warsh, whom Trump selected to lead the central bank.

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Trump vents about judge who blocked the Kennedy Center renovation and fumes over his legal setbacks

Trump on Saturday branded the federal judge who blocked his renovation of the Kennedy Center as “an anti Trump Hater” and predicted that the nation’s premier performing arts center, which he wanted to shutter for a two-year overhaul, will “soon be closed, probably never to open again.”

In a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform, Trump fumed about the Friday decision from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who also ordered Trump’s name removed from the center. Clearly angered by his latest legal setback, he said it was “impossible for me to be treated fairly,” tying Cooper’s ruling to earlier losses, including the Supreme Court’s rejection in February of his sweeping tariffs.

His post aimed to make the case for the project even as he says he’s giving up on it. Hours after Cooper’s decision, Trump said he was backing away from the renovations and making arrangements to relinquish control to Congress of what, until the Republican president’s second term, had been known as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

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Trump set to headline ‘Great American State Fair’ for nation’s 250th anniversary after artists drop out

An upcoming celebration of America’s 250th anniversary, “The Great American State Fair,” recently had several musical guests back out partly over the event’s ties to President Trump. Now, Trump himself is slated to headline the festivities, the organizers said Saturday.

“I understand Artists are getting ‘the yips’ having to do with their performance,” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social Saturday, adding that he was thinking of bringing “the man who some say is the Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!), DONALD J. TRUMP, to take the place of these highly paid, Third Rate ‘Artists.’”

The group organizing the June fair on Washington’s National Mall, Freedom 250, confirmed the billing in a statement, writing, “We are excited to announce that President Trump will personally kick off this historic celebration on Wednesday, June 24.”

Freedom 250 is billed as nonpartisan, but was launched last year by Trump and is led by a former State Department appointee from Trump’s first term. Several artists, including Bret Michaels, the Commodores and Martina McBride dropped out last week.

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US bombs Iranian military sites and Kuwait is hit by drone and missile fire

The United States said Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it launched a strike of its own, and Kuwait reported incoming fire.

The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with such back-and-forth attacks, even as officials from both countries try to negotiate an end to the war. It’s not clear how close they are to a deal — and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks.

In the meantime, Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences.

Fighting has also escalated between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire. Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah — which joined the war in support of its main backer, Iran — continues to launch drones into Israel.

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Trump is facing a new inflation warning from the bond market, adding to his midterm challenges

The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections.

The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government. Interest rates on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note are topping 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the war started at the end of February. Average mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels in nine months, while auto sales are slumping.

The challenge is global in scale, as interest rates have risen for multiple countries as the world has been adjusting to the prospect of higher inflation, mounting questions about the sustainability of government debt and a dramatic surge in investment in artificial intelligence.

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The five people will complete their monitoring at home after remaining symptom-free and meeting criteria for monitoring outside the quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

They are leaving Omaha about three weeks after they and the 13 other Americans arrived in Nebraska following a deadly outbreak of hantavirus on a cruise ship traveling in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Hantaviruses usually spread when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, but the hantavirus that has caused the current outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases.

A total of 13 confirmed or probable hantavirus cases, including three deaths, have been linked to the ship, according to the World Health Organization.

No Andes virus cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and the risk to the public remains low, health officials said.

None of the U.S. passengers has shown any symptoms, a spokesperson for Nebraska Medicine said Monday.

Symptoms of hantavirus have taken as long as 42 days to appear in previous outbreaks, but some medical experts say most people who develop symptoms do so within 21 days.

The doctors in Omaha monitoring the passengers had said previously that they would work with each person individually to determine if it was appropriate for them to go home to finish their recommended 42-day quarantine period.

Federal officials arranged travel for the five people going home, in coordination with state and local authorities. Officials said the travel was not to be on commercial flights, with appropriate biocontainment measures in place. State health departments will continue daily symptom monitoring, maintain 24/7 oversight and provide guidance.

Two of the people returning to their homes live outside New York City, said city Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin.

One of the remaining passengers, Jake Rosmarin, posted on his blog Sunday that he plans to stay at the Omaha unit for his final three weeks of quarantine because he would have immediate access to care if he gets sick and he doesn’t want to risk unnecessarily exposing anyone else.

Rosmarin, who posts daily updates about his experience, said he’s not judging anyone who decided to go home.

“For me personally, this experience has been incredibly traumatic," Rosmarin said. “I don’t think I’ve fully processed everything yet, and right now I don’t want to leave until I know there is no risk of me getting sick or putting my family, friends, or the general public at risk.”

Not everyone quarantined in Nebraska has been happy about it. About a week after the 18 arrived, U.S. health officials issued quarantine orders forcing two passengers who wanted to leave to stay there.

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Stobbe reported from New York.

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

Sources say Jason Gaines was arrested by Austin County deputies at HFD Station 90.

He was taken to the Austin County Jail and is charged with child grooming.

• Louisiana rapper Boosie Badazz charged in Harris County after allegedly hitting security guard with glass hookah

HFD says it is aware of Gaines arrest and says he has been suspended with pay pending the investigation.

Details on the accusations against Gaines are unclear at this time.

KPRC 2 is working to gather more information on what led up to Gaines arrest.

Platner, a Democrat, posted a video over the weekend taken by his wife, Amy Gertner, who reportedly told his campaign of the text messages last year. In the video, Gertner decried coverage of the issue as “gossip” and said “being married is hard.”

Sanders, a critical early backer of Platner, told The Associated Press on Monday that he still supports the oyster farmer and combat veteran, who hopes to unseat veteran Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

“People can't afford healthcare. Can't afford groceries. Can't afford to put gas in their cars. And I think it might be a good idea if we focused on the important issues facing the working families of Maine and this country,” Sanders said.

Pressed later by reporters on whether he still backed Platner, Sanders was unequivocal.

“Of course,” he said. “Why would I not?”

The independent senator added that he was scheduled to meet with Platner while he's in Washington this week and feels the nation should “focus on issues more important than the Platner marriage.”

During the Washington trip, which a campaign official said has been in the works for weeks, Platner is expected to meet with other senators and attend a fundraiser co-hosted by Ron Klain, the former chief of staff to President Joe Biden.

Democratic senators returned from a 10-day recess to a barrage of questions about Platner. Many who have previously backed him stood by their support, while others avoided weighing in. California Sen. Adam Schiff said he would need to “follow up to find out the scoop on that before” he could comment.

Platner is seeking the Democratic nomination for one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country as Democrats hope to defeat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins and regain control of the chamber. The Maine primary is June 9, and Platner's primary rival for the nomination, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, already suspended her campaign in April.

Platner is scheduled to appear in Bar Harbor Friday evening with progressive Rep. Ro Khanna of California and a pair of Democratic Maine candidates. It’s billed as a “get out the vote” rally and it’s taking place at a historic theater in the coastal resort town.

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Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press reporter Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington contributed to this report.

School leaders across Texas have already had to eliminate jobs and close campuses because of financial pressure. The El Paso district, for example, faces a nearly $53 million budget shortfall and may soon declare a financial emergency, while the Crystal City district in South Texas recently told families that it has less than $500 in its bank account. 

At a House Public Education Committee hearing on Monday, school officials said they were still plagued by financial pressure even after the Legislature provided schools with new money for teacher pay, educator training and special education in the largest one-time public education investment in recent memory. 

As part of House Bill 2, school districts like Navarro ISD saw an increase in their base funding, or basic allotment, by just $55 per student. Paul Neuhoff, chief financial officer at Navarro ISD, urged state lawmakers to grow that pot of money, which the district counts on to keep up with the cost of school facilities, staff benefits and transportation. The nearly $300,00 the Navarro ISD received in total base funding fell short, Neuhoff said.   

“This is an essential help that we need,” Neuhoff told lawmakers. “Our utilities have increased close to 60% since 2019, [teacher retirement] payments have gone up 62% since 2021. … The average cost per mile operating our buses was $3.90 a mile, and that’s before the now-spike that we have in diesel prices.”

HB 2 also increased teacher pay based on years of experience and districts’ enrollment, and it expanded Texas’ pay-for-performance system, allowing more teachers to qualify for raises. 

Alejos Salazar Jr., superintendent of Lasara ISD, said he has tried to get extra pay into the pockets of support staff like librarians and school nurses by scheduling them to teach part-time. 

“The librarian, for example, we make sure that she’s got classes scheduled half the day, so we can make sure that we can tap into that money for her,” Salazar said. “Because if we don’t … then other people, other sectors of your employment group are left out … and we value all of them.” 

Even with the financial investments from HB 2, school leaders are struggling to keep their staff employed. Salazar said Monday he can’t find money to fix issues as small as scoreboards on baseball and football fields.

“I can’t sit here and say that with the certain funding that we receive, we’re doing great, because we aren’t,” Salazar said. “We live, figuratively speaking, paycheck to paycheck.”

On her second to last day of school, Rachel Preston was notified by her school principal that Austin ISD could only afford to keep her part timeFrench teacher. The district is eliminating hundreds of jobs as it faces a $181 million budget shortfall.  Preston wanted to stay on but had to find a second job to make it work. 

“This funding deficit is the final straw for me, and it will be for countless other educators across the state who must leave or who lose their jobs as class sizes rise, enrollment in public schools drop, and neighborhood schools close,” said Preston, who broke down explaining her situation to her students.

The financial crises school districts are facing are in large part due to declining enrollment,  triggered by low birth rates, more schooling options and fears regarding immigration enforcement. Public schools receive funding based on attendance, meaning they receive less money if fewer students show up to class. Experts expect those enrollment numbers to continue to decline after lawmakers greenlit education savings accounts, often called vouchers, that allow families to use taxpayer funds for private school or home schooling. Inconsistent funding from the Legislature has also played a role. Prior to the passage of HB 2, Texas students endured six years without their schools receiving comprehensive funding increases.  

Also on Monday, TEA officials testified that the agency recently updated its hold-harmless calculations to prevent duplicate payments for the same revenue loss. The change resulted in an estimated $28 million decrease in funding across seven school districts, including Houston and Dallas ISDs, challenging districts that had already planned their budgets around earlier projections.

The comprehensive school funding package also included a clause requiring that districts phase out uncertified educators and provided financial incentives for teachers who go through high-quality training programs.

Lawmakers also approved significant changes to how Texas pays for special education. Starting next school year, districts will receive money for students with disabilities based on the needs of each child, as opposed to the classroom setting the school assigns them to. 

The state now must reimburse districts $1,000 for each evaluation of a child suspected of having a disability, which can cost between $1,000 and $5,000 or more to complete. Districts completed about 178,000 evaluations last year, which means TEA is estimated to disperse about $178 million a year.

Public schools must also conduct and pay for the special education evaluations of families wanting to participate in the new voucher program if they request one. 

Kami Finger, an assistant superintendent with Lubbock ISD, urged lawmakers Monday to reconsider the requirement to conduct evaluations for families interested in vouchers because of the additional workload it produces, especially to support children already in private school.  Lubbock ISD taps its general fund to make up a $3.5 million shortfall in state special education funding, Finger said. 

Texas’ voucher program launches next school year, which could result in additional funding losses if students leave their campuses for other options, public school officials have noted.

Legislative budget experts estimated that about 24,500 public school students would initially leave for private schools due to limited space. Of almost 96,000 students recently invited to join the voucher program, 57% previously attended a private school or home-school.

Sow started one game against the Jacksonville Jaguars last season, but was quickly replaced in the lineup after struggling mightily in run blocking and pass blocking matchups.

The Texans have several interior offensive linemen, including Wyatt Teller, Jake Andrews, Keylan Rutledge, Ed Ingram, Evan Brown, Febechi Nwaiwu and Jarrett Patterson.

Sow was signed to a reserve-future deal this offseason.

He has played in 28 career games.

The Canada native is a former Patriots fourth-round draft pick from Eastern Michigan where he was an All-Mid-American Conference selection.

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

Sabalenka beat Osaka 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to reach the French Open quarterfinals and move one step closer to finally winning the clay-court Grand Slam, where she lost last year's final to Coco Gauff.

It was the first women’s night match at Roland Garros in three years and Osaka entered the court wearing a golden bomber jacket over her gold sequin playing dress, trailing a tiered train with puffs of tulle.

Sabalenka wore more standard tennis attire: A slightly sheer black flared tennis dress with a red underlayer; plus diamond necklaces.

In the matchup of four-time Grand Slam champions, Sabalenka improved to 3-1 in her career against Osaka, who was playing in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time.

Sabalenka overpowered Osaka from the baseline, and produced a huge forehand return winner on her first match point that Osaka barely got her racket on.

Tournament organizers had been criticized for not scheduling more women's matches at night, with Roland Garros officials responding that women's best-of-three set matches don't occupy enough time for TV broadcasters. The men play best-of-five set matches.

Sabalenka won in 1 hour, 27 minutes.

“The atmosphere and the attention that this match brought (is) going to show them that probably for the future they should consider putting at least sometimes women matches at night,” Sabalenka said.

Sabalenka's quarterfinal opponent will be Diana Shnaider, who beat Madison Keys — the last American woman remaining in contention — 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

French hopes were dashed following Diane Parry’s 6-3, 6-2 loss to 114th-ranked Maja Chwalinska of Poland.

Chwalinska had never been beyond the second round of any major, and her run is even more impressive considering she came through three qualifying rounds.

Chwalinska's quarterfinal opponent will be Anna Kalinskaya, who surprised even herself by reaching the last eight after defeating Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-7).

“Thinking two weeks ago that I will be here, I wouldn’t believe it,” Kalinskaya said. “I would probably laugh with my team.”

Many top women's players were already eliminated, including auff, four-time winner Iga Swiatek and No. 2-ranked Elena Rybakina.

Sinner's out but Italians move on

Despite top-ranked Jannik Sinner losing in the second round, Italian fans will have at least two men in the quarterfinals.

Tenth-seeded Flavio Cobolli advanced to his second Grand Slam quarterfinal — and his first here — after beating American Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).

“It’s for sure my favorite Grand Slam to play,” Cobolli said after winning on Court Philippe-Chatrier. “We have the best feeling with the surface as Italians.”

A little while after his win, Cobolli — a former youth soccer player at Italian club Roma — joined players from the Paris Saint-Germain team as they paraded the Champions League trophy on Court Philippe-Chatrier. PSG beat Arsenal in the final on Saturday.

Cobolli's next faces No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 to complete a career set of reaching the last eight at all four majors. The Canadian has never been beyond a Grand Slam semifinal, though.

“Not having Sinner in the semifinals is another opportunity, but you need to be there,” Auger-Aliassime said.

Big-serving Matteo Berrettini joined Cobolli in the quarterfinals after beating Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6). Berrettini last reached the quarterfinals here in 2021 — but hadn't been back to the tournament since then because of a series of injuries and physical issues.

Matteo Arnaldi made it three Italians in last eight when he beat Frances Tiafoe — the last American man in the draw — 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 in a match that lasted 5 hours, 26 minutes and ended after 1 a.m.

Berrettini and Arnaldi face each other in the quarterfinals, ensuring that at least one Italian man will advance to the semifinals.

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AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin, and AP Fashion Writer Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.

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

First up for the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion is the doubles tournament at Queen’s Club. But Wimbledon and the U.S. Open could be next.

“It seems like she’s trying to work her way up maybe to the U.S. Open, and those fans would be so ready to see her back on a singles court there,” former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport said at the French Open after the WTA Tour announced Monday that Williams has accepted a wild-card invitation to play doubles at next week’s grass-court tournament in London.

Williams won seven Wimbledon titles and six at the U.S. Open before stepping away from the game in 2022. In doubles, she won six titles at Wimbledon and two at the U.S. Open — all with her older sister Venus Williams.

“She’s a legend. It’s inspiring to see,” top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka said. “I’m excited to see her play and probably face her. ... It’s very good news for tennis.”

John McEnroe suggested Williams could compete in singles at Wimbledon, which starts June 28.

“She’s not getting any younger but she’s Serena Williams so I bet you she would tell me about wanting to win the whole damn thing,” McEnroe said in Paris.

The Queen’s Club tournament starts next Monday and the WTA said Williams will play “with a partner to be announced in due course.”

“Queen’s Club feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter,” Williams said in a statement. “Grass has given me some of the most meaningful moments of my career and I’m excited to be back competing on one of the sport’s most iconic stages.”

Williams has not competed since bidding farewell at the 2022 U.S. Open. At the time, Williams said she didn’t want to use the word “retiring” and instead declared that she was “evolving” away from tennis.

Davenport said some current women’s players went down to Florida to practice with Williams recently.

“I don’t think anyone’s admitted to that, but I do know that some of them were,” Davenport said. “So I think she has kind of a handle on where the level is. But I don’t know if she’s been playing a two-hour singles match, right? We’ll have to see how she can handle that physically.”

Williams, who has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles overall in her storied career, became eligible to compete in February after re-registering with tennis’ mandatory anti-doping program six months earlier — which is the first step toward a comeback.

Djokovic is competitive at 39

Davenport noted how Novak Djokovic is still competitive at 39 — having recently pushed 19-year-old Joao Fonseca to five sets before getting beaten in the third round in Paris.

"It’s not going to be easy. If anyone could do it, certainly it could be her," Davenport said of Williams. “We’re seeing kind of an unprecedented time with players and how they train now, being able to play better longer, play at a level that we never expected.

“She always looks in incredible shape; and better shape than arguably when she left.”

While Williams' big serve automatically gives her an advantage on grass, it's a surface that also presents unique challenges because of the speed of play and low bounces.

“Grass is a tough surface to start on," Davenport said. "It goes very quick, very low, very physical, not as much running as clay, but a lot of bending. ... She wouldn’t come back unless she knew she could play at such a high level. But we’ve got to be a little graceful in the time we give her until she hits her feet.”

Williams sisters were role models for Osaka

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Williams in the 2018 U.S. Open final for her first major title, was excited at the prospect.

“It will bring people to watch tennis,” Osaka said Thursday. “I’m going to be tuned into the first match, for sure. I think a lot of people are. Everyone knows Serena and Venus were my role models growing up, so it’s going to be cool to see her on the grounds again.”

Williams recently posted a video on Instagram showing herself training on a hard court with her daughter: “Rumor has it…I got a new trainer,” Williams said in the post.

Williams’ second daughter was born in 2023.

Venus Williams, who also had a stint at No. 1 in the rankings and is a five-time Wimbledon champion, is still playing occasionally at 45.

McEnroe played doubles at 47

McEnroe was 47 when he returned after 12 years of retirement and won a tour-level doubles tournament with partner Jonas Bjorkman.

“Physically I still had it for doubles, so she definitely could still have it for doubles, there’s no question about that. She could win anything (in doubles),” McEnroe said. “The singles is more difficult. ... I’m not really sure what the plan is. She hasn’t called me to tell me the plan.”

Gauff never got to play Williams

“One of my biggest regrets was not being able to play her,” defending French Open champion Coco Gauff said.

Added fellow American player Madison Keys: “Serena Williams playing tennis is only good for tennis. Let’s be real. We all want to watch Serena play tennis.

“I mean, you literally get to watch history every single time she takes the court,” Keys added. “So why not watch more?”

Women returned to Queen's after more than 50 years

A women’s tournament rejoined the men’s competition at Queen’s last year after an absence of more than 50 years, meaning Williams will be making her debut at the historic grass-court tournament.

“And now,” said Queen’s tournament director Laura Robson, "we have an icon of the game stepping back on to court at this prestigious venue."

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AP Sports Writer Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.

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

On X, acting Pentagon press secretary Joel Valdez confirmed the move, saying there was “nothing controversial” about it and that it came because speechwriters, who use classified material, were now occupying the space.

“The Pentagon Press Office has been redesignated as a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility due to speechwriters from the Office of the Secretary of War sharing the facility,” Valdez wrote.

“These speechwriters routinely handle classified material … as a result, journalists will no longer be permitted to enter the office space. There’s nothing controversial about that.”

The latest move, first reported by The Washington Post, took place against a backdrop of escalating tensions between the U.S. media and the second Trump administration, which has played out both in the public arena and at times in the courts.

For many years, Pentagon reporters had credentials granting them wide movement in the building as they sought to interact with press officials there. But last October, most news outlets turned in access badges and walked out of the Pentagon rather than agree to government-imposed restrictions on their work,

The New York Times sued the Defense Department on May 18 for the second time in five months, arguing that a requirement that journalists be escorted while on Pentagon grounds violates the First Amendment and is “an unconstitutional attempt by the Pentagon to prevent independent reporting on military affairs.”

The paper said it had filed the additional lawsuit after first suing the Pentagon in December over new rules imposed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, to challenge an interim policy “that the Pentagon hastily put into place after a federal judge ruled in The Times’s favor in its original lawsuit.” The new policy included the requirement that journalists be accompanied by escorts at all times while in the Pentagon.

The policy was implemented in March following a ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman that had struck down earlier restrictions. The following month, the judge ruled that the interim policy violated his March order. But the escort policy remained in place when an appeals court stayed part of Friedman’s ruling while the government appeals. The appeals process is ongoing.

At around 5:30 p.m., authorities announced that the package has been made safe, and an all-clear signal was announced.

According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, deputies are working alongside the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Conroe Police Department in response to the incident at the Lee G. Allworth Building in the 200 block of Phillips Street.

Law enforcement officials said the affected area has been secured while investigators determine the nature of the package.

As a precaution, nearby buildings are being evacuated and several streets in the downtown area remain closed to traffic.

Officials are urging the public to avoid the area while the investigation remains active.

No additional details about the package or any potential threat level have been released at this time.

Just a month ago, the two announced a settlement that avoided a trial over Lively's claims that Baldoni led a campaign to smear her reputation after she accused him of sexually harassing her on the set of their 2024 film “It Ends With Us.”

But on Monday, lawyers for Lively were back in court, trying to get a judge to make Baldoni pay her legal bills plus other penalties. They said she's entitled to the money under a California law because Baldoni's countersuit, which claimed she had defamed and extorted him, was thrown out last year by a judge.

Neither actor was present for the hearing before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman in New York.

Baldoni and his lawyer, Ellyn Garofalo, accused Lively of trying to do “an end run" around a trial that was canceled when the two agreed to settle. While the financial terms of the settlement weren't announced publicly, Garofalo told the court it was resolved without Baldoni and his production company “paying a cent of the $300 million in damages she was demanding.”

“Reopening this for basically what is an alternative trial would involve reopening discovery, new experts, new expert depositions,” she said.

Lively's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, asserts that the lawsuit Baldoni brought against Lively was the very kind of litigation the California law was designed to stop. The law is intended to protect survivors of sexual harassment from protracted and damaging legal fights.

Liman did not immediately rule after hearing more than an hour of arguments.

The two actors have been fighting in court since late 2024 over the fraught filming of “It Ends With Us."

Lively had claimed that during filming, Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries while filming a love scene, and pushed for nudity — against Lively’s wishes — during a scene in which her character was giving birth.

Lively also accused Baldoni and his production company of then orchestrating an effort to damage her public reputation and her credibility, in case she went public with her complaints.

Baldoni, who directed the dark romantic drama and starred in it with Lively, denied harassing her or orchestrating a smear campaign. He claimed the complaints about his behavior were made up by Lively as part of an effort to seize creative control of the movie. He countersued, accusing Lively and her husband, “Deadpool” actor Ryan Reynolds, of defamation and extortion.

The judge ultimately dismissed Lively’s sexual harassment claims, ruling that she couldn’t pursue them under federal law because she was an independent contractor rather than an employee on the movie set. The retaliation claim had been headed for trial when the two sides settled.

In a joint statement after the deal was reached, the two sides said they agreed Lively’s concerns “deserved to be heard” and that they ”remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.”

“It Ends With Us,” an adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling 2016 novel about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations.

Lively appeared in the 2005 film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and the TV series “Gossip Girl” from 2007 to 2012 before starring in films including “The Town” and “The Shallows.”

Baldoni starred in the TV comedy “Jane the Virgin,” directed the 2019 film “Five Feet Apart” and wrote “Man Enough,” a book challenging traditional notions of masculinity.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a temporary injunction issued by a federal district judge in Austin, who wrote in December that the restrictions in Texas’ law likely violated the First Amendment. The 5th Circuit panel did not explain its reasoning for issuing the decision, which can still be reversed by the appeals court in the future. 

Senate Bill 2420, which was supposed to activate on Jan. 1, establishes age verification requirements and mandates parental consent before a person under the age of 18 is allowed to download or make purchases within apps. The law also requires app developers to say whether their apps are appropriate for people in four categories: children under 13, teens aged 13-15, older teens aged 16-17 or adults 18 or older. 

Its supporters say the law is needed to protect children as they navigate social media and online spaces, while critics say it would violate free speech rights. Louisiana and Utah have passed similar laws that have not yet gone into effect. 

The Computer & Communications Industry Association, a tech trade group, and Students Engaged in Advancing Texas, an advocacy group, filed separate lawsuits in October challenging the law, both arguing it violates the First Amendment. 

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman sided with the plaintiffs in December, finding the law likely violates the First Amendment and issuing the temporary injunction blocking the law while the full case plays out in the district court.

“The Act is akin to a law that would require every bookstore to verify the age of every customer at the door and, for minors, require parental consent before the child or teen could enter and again when they try to purchase a book,” Pitman wrote in a 20-page ruling at the time. 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office appealed the temporary injunction in late December.

Paxton earlier this month urged the appeals court to allow enforcement of the law, arguing the state has the right to regulate transactions between minors and app marketplaces that take place in the state, according to court filings. 

In a Monday statement reacting to the stay, Paxton wrote that the age verification law was necessary to protect children online.

“Texas has not only the right, but the duty, to protect children from the harms of our modern digital space,” Paxton wrote. “Parents deserve to know what their children are downloading and to have the ability to stop them from accessing harmful or inappropriate content.”

The plaintiffs earlier this week urged the court to uphold Pitman’s injunction, arguing SB 2420 “restricts an enormous amount of online speech” in violation of the First Amendment. 

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas in a statement Thursday noted its members use app marketplaces to access apps used to communicate and learn, and the organization itself uses apps to engage with its members and the public.

“Students have just as much a right to access information as adults, and this law denies them that access,” Cameron Samuels, co-founder and executive director of SEAT, wrote in a statement.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association said they were confident the law would ultimately be blocked, despite the setback.

“Texas’s App Store law threatens the First Amendment rights of app stores, app developers, parents and younger internet users,” CCIA Litigation Center Director Burke Kappler wrote in a statement.

Thursday’s ruling is only an administrative stay, temporarily blocking the lower court’s injunction of the law until a further review by the 5th Circuit.  

Disclosure: Apple and Google have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Pelley made his accusations in an introductory meeting Monday between the newsmagazine’s staff and Nick Bilton, the new executive producer named by Weiss last week, according to a detailed report on the Status website, which said it had heard a recording of the meeting. Weiss herself was not present, according to the report. Status specializes in media news and analysis.

Status reported that Pelley, the longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent, began grilling Bilton at the 10 a.m. meeting about the firings last week of Bilton's predecessor, Tanya Simon, and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega. Status also reported that Pelley told Bilton, a former technology journalist and filmmaker with no traditional broadcast news experience, that his qualifications for the position were “slender."

Pelley also charged, according to Status, that Weiss herself had “no qualifications for her job,” and said the changes she had made to “CBS Evening News,” which Pelley once anchored, “have been catastrophic.”

It added that Bilton insisted that “Bari loves this institution” and “she loves ’60 Minutes'" — to which Pelley countered, “She’s murdering ‘60 minutes.’ She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and she’s doing exactly that.”

CBS says leaders tried to reach out to Pelley

Two spokespeople for CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But a person close to CBS News leadership, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that both Weiss and Bilton had tried to reach out to Pelley late last week when the changes rocked the 57-year-old show to tell him that he was an integral part of “60 Minutes” and wanted him to remain so.

The person said Weiss and Bilton felt it was disappointing that Pelley's accusations were being aired publicly despite efforts to engage with him privately.

The New York Times, which also reported that it had listened to a recording of Monday's meeting, noted that Pelley's “newscaster's baritone” was shaking during the exchange. The newspaper also quoted an unnamed executive at the meeting as saying Weiss had been prepared to come, but “we asked her not to.”

Argument comes after memo touting ‘new approach’

Reports about the contentious meeting came four days after Weiss, who has become a polarizing figure in the media world since taking the reins at CBS last October, told staff in a memo that it was time for a “new approach” at the top-rated newsmagazine.

In the memo, Weiss and CBS News president Tom Cibrowski said their goal was “building a show that thrives in the 21st century.”

“That requires a new approach,” they wrote, defining that approach as “expanding ‘60 Minutes’ beyond a one-hour television broadcast, deepening its role across CBS News, and holding everything we produce to the ambition, fairness, and fearlessness that have defined ‘60 Minutes’ at its best.”

Bilton, they said, “embodies the energy and ambition that animated the founders of the show. We cannot imagine a better fit.”

The Status report noted that Pelley was applauded multiple times by other staffers during the meeting. It said Pelley focused on the firings last week, calling them cruel.

Bilton reportedly replied that he was not intimidated. “I have been a journalist for 25 years, Scott," Status quoted him as saying. "I have sat and talked with incredibly powerful people like you have. None of it intimidates me, OK? So you are not going to intimidate me in front of this group of people.”

The majority opinion — by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit — held that the Trump administration's policy was designed to exclude people from the military based on their gender identity.

The ban remains in effect. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Pentagon to start enforcing it last year, as litigation continues to plays out.

The panel's new ruling would keep the military from kicking out current service members named in the lawsuit, but wouldn't allow new transgender recruits to join. The judges put their decision on hold, though, to let the administration seek further review.

The appeals court panel's 2-1 decision partially upholds a March 2025 ruling by U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C. Reyes concluded that Trump’s executive order to exclude transgender troops from military service likely violates their constitutional rights.

The administration appealed after Reyes issued a preliminary injunction requested by attorneys for several transgender people who are active-duty service members and others seeking to join the military. The appeals court's majority decided that the injunction should be narrowed to the plaintiffs currently serving in the military but not those trying to enlist.

Another lawsuit challenging the ban was filed in Washington state and led to a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs challenging the policy in that case, though it's been blocked by the Supreme Court.

In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order that claims the sexual identity of transgender service members “conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life” and is harmful to military readiness.

In response to the order, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a policy that presumptively disqualifies people with gender dysphoria from military service. Gender dysphoria is the distress that a person feels because their assigned gender and gender identity don’t match. The medical condition has been linked to depression and suicidal thoughts.

The policy “appears to be driven by the bare desire to harm a politically unpopular group: persons who identify as transgender,” Judge Robert Wilkins wrote for the majority. Wilkins was nominated to the court by Democratic President Barack Obama.

Jennifer Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLAD Law, applauded the ruling.

“Today’s decision is a powerful vindication of the plaintiffs’ extraordinary courage and unwavering commitment to their country,” Levi said.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated that an appeal was forthcoming in a social media post that used an abbreviation for the Supreme Court: “See you at SCOTUS.”

In a dissenting opinion, Judge Justin Walker said judges lack the power to second-guess the decision to exclude transgender troops.

“We have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether the military can exclude the plaintiffs from its ranks. The Constitution assigns that authority to Congress and the Commander in Chief,” wrote Walker, who was nominated by Trump, a Republican.

Judge Judith Rogers, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, joined Wilkins' majority opinion but also partially dissented. Rogers wrote that she would also have allowed new transgender recruits named in the lawsuit to join.

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Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

The Eagles traded the star receiver to the Patriots on Monday, putting a cap on the long-rumored deal.

The Eagles said they will receive a first-round pick in 2028 and a fifth-round pick in 2027 for the three-time Pro Bowler.

The trade comes after a frustrating 2025 season for Brown in Philadelphia, in which he had grown dispirited with an Eagles offense that played uninspired football at times while the team failed to defend its Super Bowl title.

Still, he posted a message on Instagram shortly after the trade became official Monday of him in an Eagles jersey with his hands making the “heart” symbol. He also posted a few other photos of himself as a kid wearing a Tom Brady Patriots jersey.

Brown played under Vrabel for three seasons after being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2019.

Brown, 28, quickly rose to the top receiving option in Philadelphia after being traded by Tennessee to the Eagles in 2022.

He had back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons his first two seasons with the Eagles, catching 88 passes for 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022 and 106 passes for 1,456 yards and seven TDs in 2023.

He earned a Super Bowl ring during the 2024 season, but began to grow unhappy last season as the Eagles offense stagnated — leading to a change at offensive coordinator following a wild-card playoff loss to San Francisco last season.

It led to an increase in chatter about the potential for a trade heading into this offseason. It didn’t happen during April’s NFL draft likely because the Eagles would have had about $43 million in dead cap money for 2026 compared to about $16 million this year and $27 million next year if traded after June 1.

Ultimately a high draft pick proved to be enough to persuade them to deal a player of Brown’s caliber.

The Patriots have been viewed as a possible landing spot for Brown since they released receiver Stefon Diggs in March. Diggs led New England with 85 receptions and 1,013 yards receiving with four touchdowns in his only season in New England in 2025, helping the Patriots reach the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Seattle Seahawks.

Diggs’ exit made finding a No. 1 receiving option for quarterback Drake Maye a priority. The Patriots did add former Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs in free agency. But he doesn’t instantly change an offense the way Brown’s addition could.

Maye acknowledged last week that he was aware of the Brown-to-New England rumors.

“If he ends up being on our team, great. What a great player. And if he doesn’t, we’ve still got to work these guys here,” Maye said. “It’s a tough balance, but I know he’s a phenomenal player.”

Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams, who was on the Eagles 2024 Super Bowl-winning team with Brown, said the receiver would be a big addition.

“He can definitely help our team,” Williams said. “Great dude. Monster on the field, great in the locker room, holding guys accountable and holding himself accountable. That’s everything you want in a player of his caliber.”

Brown leaves Philadelphia as one of the top receivers in franchise history. He topped 1,000 yards receiving all four seasons with the Eagles. He totaled 339 total receptions and 32 touchdowns and was a crucial member of the two Eagles teams that played in the Super Bowl during his tenure.

Vrabel was entering his second season as coach of the Titans when the team selected Brown in the second round of the 2019 draft.

Brown caught 185 passes for 2,995 yards and 24 touchdowns over the next three years, peaking with a 2020 season in which he earned a Pro Bowl selection after pulling in 70 receptions for 1,075 yards and 11 touchdowns.

But the Titans wound up trading Brown to Philadelphia on the second day of the 2022 draft that April despite having a season left on his rookie deal. The team was adamant that it wasn’t its preference to trade him but felt his asking price for an extension was too high.

Vrabel stated multiple times during that offseason that Brown would be on the roster as long as he was the coach, but the realities of the situation changed things.

“Unfortunately, we understand that if we’re going to be here awhile we’re not going to be able to keep every single player that we draft and develop,” Vrabel said at the time.

Four years later, he’ll get to coach him again.

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

The post, shared on X on Sunday, came amid reports that the could be pursuing a trade involving a star player from the .

“Spurs about to dunk on Knicks like Texas has been dunking on New York. Go Spurs Go 🔥👽,” Abbott wrote.

Spurs about to dunk on Knicks like Texas has been dunking on New York.

Go Spurs Go 🔥👽 pic.twitter.com/xYvHdUPAoF

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 1, 2026

The image depicts Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, elevated above the basket while a player, who many interpreted as Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, in a New York uniform below him. The meme also shows an animated character of President Donald Trump laughing.

As of Monday afternoon, the post had generated more than 13,000 likes, 2,200 shares and roughly 2,800 comments on X.

Many users interpreted the image as a jab at Hochul, while others viewed the post as a playful sports-related meme tied to the ongoing NBA offseason speculation.

Abbott and Hochul have publicly fought in recent years over a variety of issues, including immigration, border security and state policies. Texas and New York leaders have frequently exchanged criticism as Abbott’s administration transported migrants from Texas border communities to several cities, including New York City.

The governor did not specifically mention Hochul in the post, and his office has not publicly commented on whether the image was intended to reference the New York governor.

The Spurs have not commented on Abbott’s post.

In the governor's race, former Fox News TV host and British political adviser Steve Hilton is urging Republicans to unite behind him as he fights for one of two spots in the November election alongside two Democrats, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and former state attorney general Xavier Becerra.

In the Los Angeles race for mayor, reality TV personality Spencer Pratt is hoping to turn his insurgent campaign into a surprise upset of Democratic Mayor Karen Bass. The two are tightly clustered with Nithya Raman, a progressive member of the City Council running to Bass' political left.

“We can't give up on LA,” Pratt told applauding supporters at a block party Sunday. “We've got to fight.”

Democrats once feared that the party’s large field of gubernatorial candidates could open a path for two Republicans to advance to November. But in the campaign’s closing days, Hilton warned the opposite could happen — what he called a “doomsday scenario” in which only Democrats advance.

Hilton is pleading with his chief Republican rival, county Sheriff Chad Bianco, to pull out of the contest, fearing an all-Democratic ticket would dampen GOP turnout across the state and reorder races for Congress and the Legislature.

Becerra and Steyer locking out a Republican from the November ballot would be “a disaster for California, it means no change. It’s a disaster for everyone who’s running as a Republican up and down the ballot,” Hilton said on the social platform X.

Bianco said he wasn't backing down.

“It's clear that Steve Hilton supporters should unite and support me,” he posted late Sunday, adding that supporters of the Democratic candidates should vote for him too.

Mail voting began in early May, but just 15% of voters had returned their ballots as of Sunday. That's left the candidates seeing room for a last-minute shake-up in the race's closing days.

A vulnerable mayor looks for a second term in LA

In heavily Democratic Los Angeles, Bass' shaky first term has left her vulnerable. She points to a drop in homelessness, though encampments and rows of rusting RVs remain a common sight in many neighborhoods. Meanwhile, she's still trying to overcome lingering fallout from the 2025 Palisades Fire, the most destructive in Los Angeles history. Bass was in Ghana as part of a presidential delegation when the flames ignited. Pratt lost his home in the blaze and has made the fire and the city's recovery a foundation of his campaign.

At Pratt's block party, Vivian Escalante, a historian who lives in the heavily Hispanic Boyle Heights neighborhood adjacent to downtown, said the quality of life has been sliding for years — dirtier streets, more homeless encampments and a lack of pride in the neighborhood she's called home all her life.

“It's gotten completely worse,” Escalante said, with a Pratt cap perched on her head. The Democratic Party, she said, has “completely abandoned us.”

The LA race is officially nonpartisan, but Bass is a Democrat, as is Raman, who made a last-minute decision to challenge her one-time ally and is among the top group of contenders.

Pratt, who rose to fame alongside his wife, Heidi Montag, on “The Hills,” is a registered Republican who has received a nod of approval — if not an outright formal endorsement — from President Donald Trump. He has sought to distance himself from national politics, saying his concerns are strictly within city limits.

A University of California, Berkeley, Institute of Governmental Studies poll, co-sponsored by The Los Angeles Times, found Bass tightly clustered with Raman and Pratt, with other candidates trailing. The poll of 1,351 likely voters conducted between May 19 and May 24 gave no candidate a statistically significant edge.

The city is at a difficult juncture.

Hollywood jobs have been decamping for years for cheaper filming locations. A downtown renaissance was crushed by extended pandemic closures and many office buildings remain desperate for tenants. The city has long struggled to provide basic services, whether paving buckled streets and fixing sidewalks or keeping streetlights on.

A crowded governor's race with no clear leader

The governor's race has been the most wide open in a generation. More than 50 names are on the ballot.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is banned by law from seeking a third term. Other candidates seeking to replace him include former Democratic U.S. Rep. Katie Porter,Democrat Matt Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, and Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff.

Rebecca Katz, a strategist with Steyer’s campaign, said Sunday that they are “feeling pretty good” but emphasized how close the race was with a sporting reference, “It’s three candidates for two spots, every possession counts.”

Steyer, a former hedge fund manager turned liberal activist, has set spending records hoping to advance to the November contest. Hilton, a former Fox News host who has been endorsed by Trump, has promised to bring down costs in a state with some of the nation's highest gas prices, utility costs and taxes.

Becerra has been stressing his experience in arguing he's best prepared to lead the nation's most populous state, having served as the Biden administration's health secretary, a former U.S. House member and state attorney general.

He said when people talk about a plan, he responds with: "Show me how you’ve implemented it."

“Because I can show you any number of budgets that I have managed and balanced that are bigger than the budgets of the state of California," he said at a campaign event in Sacramento on Monday.

Stephanie Ocampo, a Fresno native and a legislative staffer for the Democratic caucus in Sacramento, is supporting Becerra in part because he and his wife have ties to the state’s farm-rich Central Valley.

“He has shown up for the Central Valley more than any other candidates running,” she said at the event.

Broadly, Republicans in the race are promising drastic change after years of Democratic governance — Democrats haven't lost a statewide race in two decades and Republicans last elected a Los Angeles mayor in 1997. Democrats, though in charge for years, are promising to bring down costs and continue to fend off the Trump administration in its numerous conflicts with Democratic California.

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Associated Press writer Jesse Bedayn in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.

___

This story has been corrected to show California is the nation’s most populous state, not the second most populous.

Anthropic said Monday it has submitted a confidential filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its common stock.

“This gives us the option to go public after the SEC completes its review,” Anthropic said in a brief statement. “The proposed initial public offering will depend on market conditions and other factors.”

The company said it hasn't decided on the number or price of shares to be offered.

Anthropic said last week it had raised $65 billion in private funding that will push its valuation to $965 billion, a whopping number that makes the five-year-old maker of the Claude chatbot one of the world’s most valuable startups.

Anthropic now has vaulted ahead of its chief rival, ChatGPT maker OpenAI, not only in market value and reported revenue but also on the path to becoming a publicly traded company.

“I think we were all expecting OpenAI to go first, so it was a little bit surprising,” said Patrick Corrigan, a law professor at Notre Dame University who studies IPOs. “Public investors are going to be comparing them roughly around the same time, and so there seems to be a bit of a first movers’ advantage here.”

Anthropic said it’s now making annualized revenue of $47 billion from selling its technology to people and organizations using Claude to write code and do other work and personal tasks on their behalf.

Anthropic was formed in 2021 by ex-OpenAI leaders and now both AI firms, along with Elon Musk’s rocket and AI company SpaceX, are all expected to become publicly traded. All three have been losing more money than they make, fueling concerns of an AI bubble.

Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said Anthropic’s move marks a major step for the company to get ahead of OpenAI and "an opening of the floodgates for the IPO market, which has been relatively dormant for a few years, with these three major conglomerates set to go public later this year.”

Corrigan said the race between Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX resembles in some ways the rush by startups to go public in the early internet era. Some of those companies — like Amazon — did well, and others infamously failed during the dot-com crash but still left new technology that changed society and work life.

“Whenever there is speculation, there’s also usually substance and fundamentals,” Corrigan said. “The question here is whether the price investors are going to end up paying is going to match up to the substance and fundamentals of what AI is really going to do in the real economy and as a business.”

Claude’s growing popularity has left OpenAI playing catch-up despite its early lead in making ChatGPT a household name that sparked a commercial AI boom. Anthropic also last week launched its newest AI model, called Claude Opus 4.8, boasting that it is even better at coding and other professional work than previous models.

OpenAI last reported in March it was heading toward a $852 billion valuation after a $122 billion fundraising round. It has not yet reported filing initial IPO paperwork with the SEC.

SpaceX was valued at $800 billion last year, but its value grew to $1.25 trillion after the space exploration company merged with Musk’s xAI in February. Musk recently announced plans for one of the biggest stock sales ever and will be able to pitch the offering to investors as soon as this week.

IDC analyst Tim Law said it will be a “healthy thing” for the AI industry when these companies are required to provide quarterly earnings reports and disclose some of their technology investments.

“We think of these as very mature organizations, but they’ve had to mature in a very short period,” he said.

As for bubble concerns, Law, who rode the dot-com IPO wave while working for internet company VerticalNet in the early part of the century, said there's evidence from these AI startups' existing products to show they are on a path not just to profitability but to artificial general intelligence, technology that does work as well as or better than humans.

“There are some skeptics around demand. I thoroughly believe the demand is there and will grow,” Law said. “I think this funding round may be the thing that enables us to complete the final sprint toward AGI.”

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said during a news conference that the company suppressed internal safety warnings and deceived users about the true nature and dangers of the product. He said Florida was the first state to sue OpenAI.

“Today, we announced the first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman,” Uthmeier said. “OpenAI and Altman ignored internal and external safety warnings, put children at great risk, and allowed a dangerous product to reach millions of Floridians.”

The lawsuit filed in Florida circuit court references two separate shootings where the alleged gunmen were reported to have asked ChatGPT questions while planning their crimes. OpenAI said in a statement that its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals to seek real-world support, including from mental health professionals. The company also said it has cooperated with law enforcement in both cases.

“ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes,” an OpenAI statement said. "We work continuously to strengthen our safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.”

In April, Uthmeier opened a criminal investigation into OpenAI over whether ChatGPT offered advice to a gunman who killed two people and wounded six others last year at Florida State University. And in another case, prosecutors have said the man charged with killing two University of South Florida doctoral students had asked ChatGPT what would happen if a human body was put in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster, days before they went missing.

Florida's lawsuit alleges that OpenAI and Altman prioritized speed to market and commercial gain over user safety and disregarded repeated warnings from experts both inside and outside the company. The lawsuit claims the company deployed a product that facilitates and encourages harm, including self-harm and violence, while falsely assuring users it was safe.

The complaint also alleges that ChatGPT collects data from minors without meaningful parental oversight, as well as causes behavioral addiction and cognitive harm. The company has also actively downplayed dangerous errors, the lawsuit said.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

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The lawsuit references a study by Nina Vasan, a psychiatrist and assistant professor at Stanford Medicine who posed as a teenage girl and told her AI chatbot that she was hearing voices in her head and was thinking about going out in the middle of the woods. The AI reportedly replied, “Taking a trip in the woods just the two of us does sound like a fun adventure!”

According to Vasan, these chatbots pose a special risk to adolescents because they are “designed to mimic emotional intimacy." Blurring of the distinction between fantasy and reality is especially potent for young people whose brains haven’t fully matured, Vasan said.

The lawsuit also references Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy who killed himself last year following extensive conversations with ChatGPT.

According to the state's complaint, when Raine expressed suicidal thoughts, ChatGPT responded that it “won’t try to talk you out of your feelings." The chatbot allegedly helped Adam plan a “beautiful suicide" and even wrote his suicide note for him.

After describing his plan, ChatGPT responded, “That’s heavy. Darkly poetic, sharp with intention, and yeah—strangely coherent, like you’ve thought this through with the same clarity someone might plan a story ending.”

OpenAI's statement said AI is a new and powerful technology, and they believe minors need significant protection, which is why they have put in place protections and policies.

“In particular we built safety for minors directly into our products, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age we are not confident into our more protective experience, and giving parents tools to monitor their kids’ use of AI,” the statement said. "We know pointing to this work will not bring a child back, but we’re committed to getting this right.”

Florida law prohibits unfair and defective trade practices, officials said. The complaint alleges that OpenAI’s conduct causes ongoing harm to Floridians and demands accountability.

The incident happened on Sunday when the city says Officer Zachery Castenon arrived at the city police department and reported for duty. When he arrived, another Oak Ridge North police officer detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from him.

The city said at that time, Castenon had not yet assumed any patrol-related responsibilities. The observing officer immediately notified the supervisor.

“Consistent with department policy and protocol. the supervising sergeant contacted the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and requested that an independent outside agency conduct the investigation,” the city said.

• Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills 18-year-old Texas State student after chase ends at Lake Jackson home

Castenon was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a charge of driving while intoxicated. He is also no longer employed by the City of Oak Ridge North.

“The actions of one individual do not reflect the professionalism, integrity, and dedication demonstrated daily by the men and women of the Oak Ridge North Police Department. The city appreciates the actions taken by department personnel in promptly reporting the concern and following established procedures to ensure an independent investigation,” the city said.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% to its prior all-time high set on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46 points, or 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.4% to likewise set records.

A slight majority of U.S. stocks actually fell, including companies with big fuel bills hurt by higher oil prices. United Airlines lost 2.6%, and Alaska Air Group fell 3.3% after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil climbed 4.2% to settle at $94.98. That clawed back a chunk of Brent’s loss from last week and means it’s still well above its price of roughly $70 from before the war.

Expensive oil has already sent inflation higher, which increases not only bills for households but also yields in the bond market. High yields worldwide recently have threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments.

But yields regressed during the day after oil prices came off their highest levels. That eased some of the pressure on Wall Street, and the Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks went from a loss of 1.3% back to roughly even before finishing with a dip of 0.5%. Small companies can feel the pinch of higher borrowing costs in particular because of the need for many to borrow to grow.

Hope, meanwhile, seems to remain on Wall Street that the United States and Iran will ultimately reach an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, allow deliveries of oil to resume from the Persian Gulf and ease the upward pressure on inflation.

Strength from several market heavyweights also helped to power Wall Street.

Nvidia was the strongest force lifting the market and rose 6.2% after CEO Jensen Huang announced several product updates at a conference. What Nvidia does matters immensely for the U.S. stock market because it’s the biggest in terms of overall market value. That means the movements for its stock carry more weight on the S&P 500 than any other’s.

And Wall Street’s biggest companies have been growing so much that they’re dominating the market. The top 10 stocks control nearly half the S&P 500’s total market value, a 40-year high, according to Thomas Carroll, equity market strategist at Stifel.

That worked well as Big Tech stocks shot higher thanks to exuberance around artificial intelligence. But it could also weigh on the index if the market’s leadership broadens, Carroll warns. Even if most stocks end up rising in such a rotation, stagnation or declines for Big Tech heavyweights could drag on S&P 500 index funds.

A key indicator Carroll follows about market breadth “is signaling a rotation is coming,” he wrote in a report.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Science Applications International Corp. jumped 10.4% after becoming the latest U.S. company to report bigger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. SAIC also raised forecasts for upcoming financial results.

A cavalcade of such better-than-expected profit reports has helped the U.S. stock market push to records despite the uncertainty created by the war with Iran.

Berkshire Hathaway fell 0.9% after saying it would buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home for $6.8 billion. It’s one of the first big acquisitions announced by the company since Greg Abel took over as its leader from famed investor Warren Buffett. Taylor Morrison Home jumped 22.3%.

MGM Resorts International leaped 16.1% after People Inc., Barry Diller’s business that was formerly known as IAC, offered to buy the rest of the company it doesn’t already own for $48.30 per share in cash.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 19.90 points to 7,599.96. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 46.42 to 51,078.88, and the Nasdaq composite rose 114.19 to 27,086.81.

In the bond market, Treasury yields climbed with oil prices and after a report said growth in U.S. manufacturing accelerated by more last month than economists expected. The yield for the 10-year Treasury briefly approached 4.52% before regressing to 4.46%, up from 4.45% late Friday.

High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level in nine months, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% to an all-time high. SoftBank Group, the investment company that focuses heavily on AI, soared 21.2% and surpassed Toyota to become Japan’s most valuable listed company.

In South Korea, the Kospi index jumped 3.7% to a record after data showed the country’s exports surged 53% in May from a year earlier, buoyed by global demand for semiconductors.

___

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed.

Monday, June 1

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

Friday, May 29

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

Thursday, May 28

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

Wednesday, May 27

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

Tuesday, May 26

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

Friday, May 22

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

Thursday, May 21

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

Wednesday, May 20

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

Tuesday, May 19

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

Monday, May 18

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

Friday, May 15

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

Thursday, May 14

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

Wednesday, May 13

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

Tuesday, May 12

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

Monday, May 11

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

Friday, May 8

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

Thursday, May 7

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

Wednesday, May 6

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

Tuesday, May 5

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

Monday, May 4

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

Friday, May 1

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

Thursday, April 30

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

Wednesday, April 29

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

Tuesday, April 28

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

Monday, April 27

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

Friday, April 24

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

Thursday, April 23

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

Wednesday, April 22

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

Tuesday, April 21

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

Monday, April 20

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

Friday, April 17

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

Thursday, April 16

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

Wednesday, April 15

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

Tuesday, April 14

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

Monday, April 13

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

Friday, April 10

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

Thursday, April 9

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

Wednesday, April 8

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

Tuesday, April 7

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

Monday, April 6

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

Friday, April 3

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

Thursday, April 2

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

Wednesday, April 1

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

Tuesday, March 31

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

Monday, March 30

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

Friday, March 27

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

Wednesday, March 25

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

Tuesday, March 24

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

Monday, March 23

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

Thursday, March 19

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

Wednesday, March 18

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

Tuesday, March 17

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

Monday, March 16

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

Friday, March 13

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

Thursday, March 12

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

Tuesday, March 10

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

Monday, March 9

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

Friday, March 6

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

Thursday, March 5

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

Wednesday, March 4

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

Tuesday, March 3

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

Monday, March 2

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

Friday, February 27

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

Thursday, February 26

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

Wednesday, February 25

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

Tuesday, February 24

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

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

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

February 6 - 20

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

Thursday, February 5

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

Wednesday, February 4

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

Tuesday, February 3

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

Monday, February 2

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

Friday, January 30

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

Thursday, January 29

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

Wednesday, January 28

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

Tuesday, January 27

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

Monday, January 26

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

Friday, January 23

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

Thursday, January 22

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

Wednesday, January 21

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

Friday, January 16

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

Thursday, January 15

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

Wednesday, January 14

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

Tuesday, January 13

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

Monday, January 12

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

Friday, January 9

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

Thursday, January 8

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

Wednesday, January 7

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

Tuesday, January 6

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

Monday, January 5

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

Friday, January 2

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

Thursday, January 1

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

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The suspect, identified as Michael Puckett, was found with a gun on Sunday night, two days after the shooting, as he was ringing the doorbell of a home less than several miles from the Virginia state line in Surry County, North Carolina. He was arrested booked without bond, the state's bureau of investigation said in a news release. Multiple law enforcement agencies took part in the search.

Puckett, 55, appeared for an extradition hearing Monday, where he waived his right to a court-appointed lawyer and awaited transport to Virginia, WXII-TV reported.

In Virginia, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said the fatal shooting occurred after law enforcement received a request from a family member to do a welfare check on Friday.

A man at the home began shooting, and the two sheriff's deputies who had responded returned fire, the sheriff’s office said. Both deputies were hit and the man ran away. Other people were in the home at the time. They were not hurt, according to Carroll County Sheriff Kevin Kemp.

Deputy Logan Utt was killed. The second deputy, who was struck in his ballistic vest, was recovering at home and was in good condition, Kemp said Sunday.

There was a massive search for the the suspect, who was “spotted on wildlife game camera in Surry County North Carolina,” north of the city of Mount Airy, on Sunday morning, police said. A drone was used to track his movements.

Utt, 31, was a military veteran who joined the department in 2023. A long procession of law enforcement vehicles escorted his remains Monday afternoon from Roanoke, Virginia, to Mount Airy, where Utt was a former firefighter.

“He had a servant's heart. He cared for others, he cared for his country, he cared for his family," Kemp said.

The teenager was found around 11:30 p.m. in the 20700 block of Stevens Road after a 911 caller reported discovering an unknown person lying in front of the home upon returning. The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.

• RELATED: 15-year-old found shot outside New Caney home, homicide investigation underway

Officials identified the victim as 15-year-old Khi Broussard. They say Broussard had previously attended Aldine Middle School and Keefer Crossing Middle School and was known to frequent the Greenspoint area.

Detectives worked throughout the weekend canvassing the area to try and find more evidence and clues.

They are asking residents in the vicinity who may have surveillance footage capturing a possible suspect or suspect vehicle to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 936-538-5900. The relevant timeframe is between 10:30 p.m. and midnight on Saturday, May 30, 2026.

Investigators believe that Broussard and the suspect may have had prior contact through social media and planned to meet on the night of the murder.

Investigators are asking anyone with information related to this case to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at 936-538-5900. Individuals wishing to remain anonymous may contact Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-STOP (7867). Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of suspects in felony cases. Please reference case # 26A185965.

Deputies were called around 11:30 p.m. to the 20700 block of Stevens Road after a 911 caller reported discovering an unknown person lying in front of the home upon returning.

When Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies arrived, they confirmed the victim was a 15-year-old Black male who appeared to have suffered a gunshot wound.

Deputies began lifesaving efforts, but the teen was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

• HPD investigates death of man found unresponsive near downtown Houston

Major Crimes detectives and crime scene investigators responded and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the killing. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office at (936) 538-5900. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-STOP (7867). Crime Stoppers offers cash rewards for information leading to an arrest in felony cases. Reference case #26A185965.

Throughout June and July, the downtown park will transform into a hub of soccer-inspired fun, featuring free concerts, fitness classes, outdoor movies, family activities, food trucks, and community events celebrating Houston’s culture and diversity.

Visitors can enjoy a variety of international food trucks, Sunday evening concerts showcasing local artists, soccer skills workshops, line dancing, and wellness programming.

Popular park attractions, including bumper boats and cruiser boats on Kinder Lake, will also be available throughout the summer.

Other highlights include:

• Sunday Concert Series (June 14–July 19) featuring local music and cultural performances
• Soccer Summer: Kicks & Coffee on Saturdays with pickup soccer games and skills training for all ages
• Screen on the Green outdoor movie nights, including a showing of Bend It Like Beckham
• Park After Dark every Thursday in June with music, games, dancing, and extended park hours
• International Day of Yoga and Make Music Day celebration on June 21
• Free fitness classes including Yoga en Español, Hip Hop Yoga, Gentle Yoga, Tai Chi, and Yoga Better

Throughout the celebration, H-E-B will host surprise pop-ups with ice cream samples and soccer-themed giveaways.

Discovery Green’s Soccer Celebration offers something for everyone, whether you’re a soccer fan or simply looking for free summer entertainment.

For a complete schedule and event updates, click HERE.

Watch as Derrick Shore and Lauren Kelly get a preview of all the summer fun.

The almost 50 U.S. embassies and consulates that are processing visa applications will be reduced to 20 in the coming weeks, according to three U.S. officials and an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. There is not yet a set date for the change, but it is expected in June, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The move is part of the Trump administration's effort to crack down on issuing both immigrant and non-immigrant visas as part of its broader aim to limit immigration to the U.S. and clamp down on those who travel on temporary visas but then overstay them. The administration also has scaled back personnel at embassies and consulates around the world.

On a conference call last Friday, U.S. diplomats, including consular chiefs, were told the U.S. would be scaling back its visa services across Africa, according to one of the officials who was on the call.

Under a directive approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, the State Department will reduce consular operations in all but 20 “hubs” in Africa, according to the officials and the memo.

Visa processing in Africa has already been affected by a travel ban on certain countries as well as a requirement for applicants to post up to $15,000 bond in order to apply and more recently by restrictions caused by the Ebola outbreak.

The new rules mean that a citizen of a non-hub country will have to travel to one of the 20 approved sites, which could pose formidable travel challenges and costs.

Consular sections in non-hub countries will stay open but be limited in the services they can offer. They will still be able to assist American citizens with passport renewals and emergency consular requests as well as special national interest cases and diplomatic visa applications.

The State Department did not address the specific issues in the memo but said it “is constantly evaluating its overseas operations in order to deploy taxpayer resources in a way that advances America’s priorities as efficiently and effectively as possible.”

It said this “includes a visa process that maintains rigorous standards of security screening and vetting and aligns resources and operational capacity with America’s national interests.”

According to the memo, the 20 hubs to remain open for all processing are: Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Accra, Ghana; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Cape Town, South Africa; Dakar, Senegal; Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania; Djibouti, Djibouti; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kampala, Uganda; Kigali, Rwanda; Kinshasa, Congo; Lagos, Nigeria; Lome, Togo; Luanda, Angola; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; Monrovia, Liberia; Nairobi, Kenya; Port Louis, Mauritius; Praia, Cape Verde; and Yaounde, Cameroon.

___

Mednick reported from Tel Aviv.

Doyle Hodge II was taken into custody on Friday on a sexual assault of a child warrant. He is currently in the Polk County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

• Brazoria County deputy shoots, kills 18-year-old Texas State student after chase ends at Lake Jackson home

The investigation started on Wednesday, May 27, after deputies received multiple reports of ongoing sexual abuse by Hodge. After beginning the investigation, deputies identified at least five victims with additional victims continuing to come forward.

The sheriff’s office says Hodge was a volunteer at several local churches and anyone with information regarding this case, or who believes they may have been a victim is encouraged to contact CID Sergeant Kayla Hemperly at the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 936-327-6810.

In a joint statement, PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton said the lawsuit was unnecessary because the LGBTQ+ groups had already changed plans and removed mention of gender-neutral changing rooms from all posts about their fourth-annual swim event on June 7.

“This frivolous lawsuit is a waste of taxpayers’ time and money,” the groups said.

Paxton’s office didn’t immediately respond to a comment request.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday in Denton County district court, Paxton’s attorneys argued that the swim event’s plan for gender-neutral multi-occupancy changing rooms would violate Senate Bill 8, titled the Texas Women’s Privacy Act and more commonly known as the bathroom ban. The law, which took effect in December, restricts access to private spaces in public buildings based on an individual’s gender assigned at birth. The law requires government entities or public institutions to ensure compliance or face up to $125,000 in fines.

The lawsuit says Denton officials had failed to take corrective action after being notified about the plan.

“That dereliction of duty will not stand, and I will ensure that Texas cities follow our state’s laws to protect women and children from men invading their spaces,” Paxton said in a Monday statement.

No fines have been levied against the city, said Kayla Herrod, Denton’s interim director of marketing and communications.

In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Herrod said: “The City intends to respond to the Texas Office of the Attorney General to reaffirm that the appropriate steps have been taken to ensure the changing rooms at the Civic Center Pool comply with state law.”

The city first received a complaint about the event on May 20, according to the lawsuit’s exhibits.

Steve Sullivan, a former planning and zoning commissioner for the city who is active in local politics as part of the Robson Ranch Conservative Club, complained in an email to local officials that the party’s promotion of gender-neutral changing rooms appeared to violate state law. He told the Tribune that he had complained about similar events to city leaders in previous years but was told nothing could be done.

“Senate Bill 8 changed that,” he said. “It’s not a gay thing, it’s a legal thing. … If you want to go swim, go swim. Just don’t break any laws, any rules or regulations, that’s all.”

Herrod responded to his email a day later, saying standard facility rules require that all existing city signs, including those for restrooms, be kept “visible and unobstructed.”

“The event itself is a private event and is not sponsored by the City,” Herrod wrote in the email that was included in the lawsuit’s exhibits. “Temporary, covered, or altered signage is not permitted in accordance with the law.”

City staff also informed PRIDENTON that same day about compliance with SB 8, according to their separate statements.

Sullivan followed by filing a complaint with Paxton’s office on May 27, according to the exhibits.

“I doubt that there is going to be somebody there making sure that they adhere to not only state law, but also city rules and regulations,” he told the Tribune Monday. “So who’s going to be in charge of that?”

The attorney general’s office filed the lawsuit a day later, attaching a May 19 screenshot of the event page on PRIDENTON’s website that includes the “gender-neutral changing rooms” language.

That page no longer exists, and the groups told the Tribune that it had been taken down on May 21. Events that remain online with that phrase are from swim parties hosted in previous years.

“Since 2022, Big Gay Swim Day has been a beautiful event where invited community members can swim, dance, and exist without fear of judgement or harassment,” PRIDENTON and OUTreach Denton said in their joint statement. “It is disappointing that bad actors have attempted to turn queer joy into political spectacle.”

Senate Republicans who are returning to Washington on Monday say they won’t have the votes to pass the Homeland Security spending bill until the White House works with them to place parameters on a new $1.776 billion settlement fund designed to compensate Trump’s allies. Trump and the White House have yet to say publicly whether they will do so, even after a judge temporarily halted any payouts.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated Monday he was hopeful the White House would move to drop the fund.

“I do think the best way to handle it is if the administration decides to shut it down themselves,” Thune told reporters.

Thune, of South Dakota, previously said that the settlement money — some of which could potentially go to Trump supporters who beat police and attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — was complicating the GOP's agenda. It “just makes everything way harder than it should be,” he said.

The impasse over the “anti-weaponization” fund could be an inflection point as Republicans try to keep their majority in this year’s elections and advance their agenda. Trump’s campaign year push to defeat GOP lawmakers who he sees as disloyal, including some of Thune’s most reliable Republican votes in the narrow 53-47 Senate, has only added to the tension.

Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and John Cornyn of Texas both lost reelection bids in May after Trump endorsed their primary opponents, and it's unclear how supportive they'll be of the president’s agenda going forward. And a growing number of GOP senators have become frustrated with the president as he ignores what they see as their political needs.

“I think it’s hard to divorce anything that happens here from what’s happening in the political atmosphere around us,” Thune said.

Democrats have said they plan to offer several amendments to the immigration bill to scale back or eliminate the settlement. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a letter to colleagues Monday morning that Democrats will launch “a coordinated effort to kill the slush fund before one cent goes out the door.”

“No matter what Republicans do, we will force them to vote on it,” he wrote.

As anger among Senate Republicans swelled, Trump made clear that he wasn’t highly concerned.

“I don’t care about the midterms,” Trump said last week in a discussion about the Iran war.

Senate Republicans draw lines on settlement fund

At a closed-door meeting with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche before they left town, Republican senators gave an ultimatum of sorts — put some limits on the settlement or we will do it for you.

GOP senators had been discussing several ways that they could curb the fund, including limiting who can receive payouts, changing the makeup of the commission in charge of settlement decisions, adding some sort of judicial review for applicants or scrapping the fund altogether. Republicans have discussed adding parameters on the settlement to the unrelated immigration enforcement measure but would prefer that the White House make changes on its own.

There were few signs of progress over the Memorial Day recess.

Sen. Todd Young of Indiana told The Associated Press last week that he hadn’t seen any indications “that would suggest they sent us a plan that our leadership thought was acceptable.”

“It’s in their court,” Young said of the White House.

Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee said on Fox New Channel's “Fox News Sunday” that discussions are underway “to get to something that’s going to work.”

“I think there were just more details and more questions last week that needed to be resolved,” Hagerty said, adding that “I’m looking forward to seeing the details this coming week.”

Acting attorney general spars with the Senate

Blanche told the AP in an interview Thursday that “a lot of the questions will be answered in the short term.” But he would not elaborate, saying that “talking in hypotheticals is something that I don’t think is fair to the process.”

Blanche's meeting with senators before they left town was “angry,” according to Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who described it on his podcast. Cruz said that of around 45 Senate Republicans who attended, “at least half of them were blasting the attorney general.”

The Senate had planned to stay in session late that night to vote on the immigration spending bill, but leaders canceled votes and sent everyone home. Cruz said Republican senators were “yelling” and told Blanche that the fund, which was part of a settlement that resolves Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, “feels like self-dealing" and "feels like Trump cut a deal with himself.”

Cruz, who said he supports the fund, noted that Democrats had said they would offer amendments to kill it. Republicans "would have lost every vote” if they had stayed in session, he said.

He predicted that “we will see the administration announcing at a minimum a modification of this, because if they don’t, they’ve got a full-on revolt in the Senate.”

Jan. 6 defendants could get settlements

Cruz said that there were a lot of questions from senators about the Jan. 6 defendants and that Blanche reassured them that no one who committed an act of violence or assaulted law enforcement would get a payout. But Blanche has repeatedly declined to say that publicly, telling the AP that “there is no limit to who can apply.”

Asked about people who were violent on Jan. 6, Blanche suggested that might be too hard to define.

“Who is it? I mean, you tell me, right?” Blanche said. “You have to define something and then stick to it. So that’s something I’ve been hesitant to try to do because it’s very fact intensive.”

Trump has pardoned more than 1,500 defendants who were prosecuted in the 2021 attack, including hundreds who were convicted for violently beating and injuring police.

Unity on immigration enforcement derailed by other issues

The divide over the fund comes after Republicans already abandoned $1 billion in security funding for the White House, including for Trump’s new ballroom, as Democrats and some Republicans questioned using taxpayer money for the massive project at a time of economic hardship. Besides the settlement, Democrats had planned to force Republican senators to vote for or against the ballroom money.

Left in the legislation is funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

Republicans are using a complicated budget maneuver called reconciliation to fund the agencies through the end of Trump’s term without Democratic support. Still, success requires GOP unity and Trump’s eventual signature.

Democrats say they hope their Republican colleagues continue to stand up to the White House. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan said last week that he thinks the settlement fund is ”probably one of the most corrupt things that we’ve ever seen an American president do.”

It is “a bridge too far for some of my Republican Senate colleagues,” Peters said. "I hope they realize that what was done is simply unacceptable and that they’ll stand firm.”

___

Associated Press writers Steven Sloan, Joey Cappelletti and Kevin Freking in Washington and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.

The outbreak remains focused in eastern Ituri province, where 264 cases have been confirmed, the health ministry said. Congo has reported more than 1,000 suspected cases of the Bundibugyo virus, the species of Ebola that was confirmed weeks after the outbreak quietly began. There is no approved medicine to treat it, or vaccine.

The disease outbreak has killed 42 people in Congo and one person in neighboring Uganda, according to health authorities in both countries.

The outbreak has spread to 22 health zones across three eastern provinces in Congo, government data shows, even as the World Health Organization has sought to highlight signs of progress, like new deliveries of supplies to deeply under-resourced health centers.

Congo's health ministry says the main challenges in containing the outbreak in the remote region include early detection and rapid isolation of cases, rigorous contact tracing, safe and dignified burials and strengthening infection prevention and control in health facilities.

Meanwhile, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations said Monday that it would commit up to $62 million to accelerate development of three experimental vaccines targeting Bundibugyo. The three in development are from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Moderna and the University of Oxford.

Health workers have been at high risk. WHO honored five of them as survivors over the weekend, during a visit by Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, as he opened a new Ebola treatment center in Bunia, capital of Ituri province.

Baraka Bulambulu, a nurse, said that he was thrilled after the final Ebola tests on him returned negative.

“Coming out of this illness alive is an indescribable joy," Bulambulu said with a wide grin.

Ezo Étienne, another nurse who recovered, said that he had started feeling dizzy as he checked on patients.

“I called the team and told them, ‘Something’s wrong here,'" he recalled. "I decided to rest for a bit, and a few minutes later I started vomiting.”

The virus is spread through close contact with sick or deceased patients’ bodily fluids. Treatment has mostly targeted patients' symptoms, WHO has said.

“Your courage gives hope and your living story that this outbreak can be stopped,” Tedros told the health workers on Sunday.

Despite challenges that include threats by armed groups and anger against health workers by some wary residents, the recoveries are “a victory worth celebrating,” said Dr. Dieudonne Mwamba Kazadi, director-general of Congo’s National Institute of Public Health.

“It’s a strong message that it is possible to recover from Ebola when seeking care early in a dedicated health facility,” he said.

Uganda has reported nine cases of Ebola in this outbreak and closed its border with Congo, seeking to limit its spread. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, the Bundibugyo virus has been rare.

Attacks in the region by the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, a rebel organization allied with the Islamic State group, and a coalition of ethnic militias have also hindered the response.

ADF fighters killed 16 people Saturday in Beni, North Kivu province, an area also affected by the outbreak, the Congolese government said Monday in a statement.

The illness also has been reported in both North Kivu and South Kivu, south of Ituri, where the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group controls many key cities, including Goma and Bukavu.

___

Jean-Yves Kamale contributed to this report from Kinshasa.

Tyler Robinson’s defense team had asked Judge Tony Graf to close portions of the preliminary hearing on July 6-10, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to warrant a trial. It will mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in a case that has so far focused on matters of media access.

“The public and the media enjoy a presumptive right to access court proceedings, including preliminary hearings,” Graf said during his ruling. He said the defense hadn’t shown that presenting the evidence publicly would deny Robinson a fair trial.

Robinson's lawyers have tried to guard against media coverage that they say sometimes misrepresents their client, as his case has drawn tremendous public attention. The 23-year-old from southwestern Utah is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus.

Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. He has not yet entered a plea.

Prosecutors argued that the preliminary hearing should remain open, but they agreed with the defense that media should be limited from viewing or copying some exhibits that could be used in a future trial. They plan to introduce forensic analyses, surveillance video, recordings of witness statements, autopsy findings and alleged messages from Robinson admitting to the crime.

Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle used to kill Kirk, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle. Prosecutors also have said Robinson left a note for his romantic partner that read, “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”

Graf also granted defense attorneys' request for a hearing on June 12 in which they will argue that prosecutors should be punished for comments they made in the media. Robinson's lawyers have said one prosecutor, Christopher Ballard, essentially went on a “media tour” in which he made “expressions of opinion as to Mr. Robinson’s guilt.”

Prosecutors responded to the claims last month, saying Ballard had a right to correct misinformation in the media about an inconclusive, preliminary finding by ballistics experts, which led to speculation about Robinson’s possible exoneration. They said Ballard did not make any statement of opinion about guilt.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar expressed frustration about the timing of last week's settlements, including deals resolving all pending claims over the deaths of six construction workers. The workers were filling potholes when the container ship Dali lost power and crashed into the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024.

Virtually all of the unresolved claims are alleging economic losses by businesses and local governments. None of the remaining parties were asking to start the trial as scheduled this week.

Bredar, who was nominated to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama, was scheduled to hear attorneys' opening statements on Monday for a trial expected to last approximately five weeks. He postponed the proceedings indefinitely to consider legal arguments that could lead to further settlements and possibly end the litigation without a trial.

Bredar said he was “highly frustrated,” but acknowledged that civil cases often settle on the eve of trial.

“It's not directed at just one side or another. It takes two to tango,” Bredar said. “I'm frustrated on behalf of the public (and) the court.”

Details of the settlements with families of the construction workers weren't publicly disclosed.

Less than two weeks ago, Bredar rejected a prior request to delay the trial after the filing of criminal charges against companies that managed the Dali.

On May 12, Justice Department prosecutors announced the indictment against Singapore-based Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. and Chennai, India-based Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd.

The operator of the Dali and its technical superintendent are charged with conspiracy, misconduct causing death, failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a hazardous condition, obstructing the National Transportation Safety Board and making false statements.

The criminal indictment accuses the ship operator of intentionally relying on an improper fuel pump and then lying about it to investigators.

Synergy Marine accused prosecutors of improperly treating an accident as a crime and said it would “vigorously” defend itself against the indictment's “inaccurate” allegations.

“This was a maritime casualty that should be assessed through the full factual, technical and regulatory record, rather than through selective mischaracterizations in a criminal indictment,” the company said in a statement last month.

In April, a $2.25 billion settlement was announced between the state of Maryland, Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Singapore-based ship owner. Grace Ocean hasn’t been charged with any crimes related to the collapse.

The list of claimants with unresolved claims includes the city of Baltimore, which has claims for economic losses it blames on the bridge's destruction. The city joined the companies in asking for the trial to be delayed.

In a statement to KPRC 2 News following the charges, the company said it has “been at the forefront of innovative insulation solutions since 1981” and operates 13 locations nationwide.

• PREVIOUS: Houston insulation company charged with illegal dumping

“Therm-All is aware of the allegations recently brought by the State of Texas concerning the alleged illegal dumping of commercial waste,” the statement reads. “At this time, we are still in the process of gathering all relevant facts and circumstances that form the basis of these allegations.”

The statement comes after Harris County District Attorney’s Office charged Therm-All Insulation LLC and Houston branch manager Cierra Cano with felony violations of Texas environmental laws related to the alleged disposal of commercial waste at an unauthorized site.

According to charging documents, investigators with Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office Environmental Crimes Unit began investigating activity at a known illegal dumping location in north Houston.

Authorities allege surveillance footage showed several people unloading insulation material, pallets, packaging debris and other commercial waste from a truck onto the side of the roadway. Investigators said one person used a forklift to remove debris while another allegedly acted as a lookout using an electric scooter.

Days later, investigators documented the debris pile and estimated its volume at approximately 1,512 cubic feet. Under Texas law, that amount exceeds the threshold for a state jail felony illegal dumping charge.

According to court records, investigators later connected the truck and forklift seen in the footage to Therm-All after observing the same equipment at the company’s property.

Charging documents state that Cano told investigators the company had been dealing with excessive waste accumulation, limited dumpster capacity and complaints from property management regarding trash buildup.

Investigators allege Cano admitted instructing employees to remove the waste because the company lacked sufficient disposal capacity at the time.

Therm-All statement:

“Therm-all has been at the forefront of innovative insulation solutions since 1981. We have 13 locations nationwide. For over 45 years, Therm-All has been committed to environmental responsibility, workplace safety, and compliance with all application laws and regulations including illegal dumping of waste. We have never previously been accused of an environmental crime. We remain dedicated to these principles are well as maintaining the trust of our customers, partners, employees, and the communities we serve.

Therm-all is aware of the allegations recently brought by the State of Texas concerning the alleged illegal dumping of commercial waste. At this time, we are still in the process of gathering all relevant facts and circumstances that form the basis of these allegations.

While the allegations involve activities reportedly connected to a local operations manager, the company’s executive leadership had no prior knowledge of any unlawful dumping activity. Nevertheless, we take these matters extremely seriously.

Therm-All is committed to conducting a thorough review and will cooperate with law enforcement and regulatory authorities as their investigation proceeds. We are also evaluating our operational procedures and oversight practices to ensure that any conduct inconsistent with our company policies and values does not occur in the future.

Because this is an ongoing legal matter, Therm-all will not comment further at this time.”

He hung up the phone when then-U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter called him in November 2022 with the decision to leave Pepi off the World Cup roster.

Flash forward to this May 22. Pepi was a passenger in a car his father, Daniel, was driving in Dallas when current coach Mauricio Pochettino's WhatsApp video popped in with the message sent to this year's American 26.

“I showed it to him and he immediately started just like crying a little bit," Pepi said. “Being left off is obviously not nice, but I feel like (I've been) using that in a good way to be in this World Cup. I felt like it helped me grow. It matured me a little bit.”

Known to his teammates as Rico, Pepi is among three forwards vying for playing time along with Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright ahead of the Americans' World Cup opener against Paraguay on June 12. He has 13 goals in 36 international appearances entering the team's final warmup match, against Germany on Saturday.

“Pepi is a killer,” Pochettino said last week.

Still only 23, Pepi has had a career full of experiences. When Berhalter bypassed him for 2022, Pepi scored in his next game with Dutch club Groningen.

“He probably deserved to be on the last roster,” U.S. star Christian Pulisic said. “He’s continued to work really hard when he’s in camp. At his club level, he continues to keep a high level, scores goals, does all the things well, and that’s why his time is now and he absolutely deserves to be here.”

Defender Antonee Robinson took the lead among teammates in consoling Pepi four years ago.

“Just called me to make sure that I was OK,” Pepi said.

Born in El Paso, Texas, to Mexican parents, Pepi joined the academy of Dallas’ Major League Soccer team in 2016 after playing for its youth affiliate in El Paso. He made his MLS debut in 2019, the same year he appeared for the U.S. at the Under-17 World Cup with future national team members Gio Reyna and Joe Scally.

After just 2 1/2 years with Dallas that included the coronavirus-truncated 2020 season, Pepi moved to Germany at age 18 in January 2022 with Augsburg. He failed to score in 16 games and was loaned early in the 2022-23 season to Groningen. He couldn't help avoid relegation and Pepi transferred to PSV Eindhoven for 2023-24.

His 2024-25 season was cut short when he tore the meniscus in his right knee during a Champions League game against Liverpool that Jan. 29. He rebounded to score 19 goals over 34 matches in all competitions in his third season with PSV, including three in the Champions League, despite a broken right arm that sidelined from between Jan. 10 and Feb. 21.

A possible move to the Premier League with Fulham didn't get finalized in the last winter transfer window.

“Just looking at myself four years ago, obviously the player that I am now is way different, just better in those small spaces, just improved my game,” he said. “Being 18 years old going to Europe is obviously a big change. But I feel that I’ve been able to adapt now, been able compete now with a big team.”

Pepi committed to the U.S. senior national team rather than Mexico in August 2021 after discussions with his family, then scored the go-ahead goal and added two assists in his international debut to spark a come-from-behind 4-1 win at Honduras in the opening qualifier for the 2022 World Cup. He scored both goals in the 2-0 home win over Jamaica the next month.

“He has this instinct, and it’s really hard to teach that to players,” Berhalter said after those games five years ago. "He has an instinct to score.”

Pepi made a perfectly weighted pass to Pulisic for the second goal in Sunday's 3-2 friendly win over Senegal.

“He is a player that has the capacity to read where is the space to the ball, arrive (on) the ball and have the possibility to score and to create chances sometimes from nowhere," Pochettino said.

___

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

More than 1,500 pages of files relating to the appointment of Mandelson, a friend of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as envoy to Washington at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's second term were released by the government to comply with a demand by lawmakers.

They shed new light on the contentious decision and heap more embarrassment on beleaguered Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Among the documents is a note from Mandelson to then Foreign Secretary David Lammy in November 2024, before his appointment, pledging that the government would “never regret” giving him the post.

Starmer fired Mandelson after nine months when new details emerged about his friendship with Epstein, and fallout from the misjudged appointment has left the prime minister fighting for his job.

Alex Burghart, a lawmaker for the opposition Conservative Party, said that the decision to appoint Mandelson "is a failure that will define this prime minister’s premiership.

“It is a failure that will be written as his political epitaph,” he said.

Mandelson's security vetting process

A first trove of files published in March revealed ministers had been warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

It was later disclosed that Mandelson had been approved for the ambassador’s job despite failing security checks, a revelation that sparked bitter blame-trading between Starmer and senior civil servants.

The files released Monday show officials from multiple departments discussing Mandelson’s security vetting, a process that National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell described in previously released files as “weirdly rushed.”

One senior Foreign Office official said the primary issue was “trying to get 101 things done in a very short period of time.”

In one email, Mandelson asked vetting officials if he needed to tell them about “literally every foreign national I have ever met.” A Foreign Office official suggested he "send over the handful of names you mentioned. ... That will reassure the vetting team that you’ve been comprehensive, even if it’s all quite artificial.”

It remains unclear why Mandelson failed security checks. The summary of his vetting wasn’t among the documents released, as it's part of a police investigation into Mandelson for alleged misconduct in public office.

Officials have said ties to Epstein are not the reason he failed the vetting. A background report drawn up by officials before Mandelson was appointed, released by the government in March, flagged business ties to Russia and China as a concern.

Also missing is any record of what measures, if any, were taken to mitigate the risk of giving Mandelson the job.

Mandelson refused to hand over information from his personal phone to officials, and the government “has no further recourse to search the personal devices of Peter Mandelson,” the documents say.

Mandelson, 72, was briefly arrested in February by detectives investigating allegations that he passed sensitive government information to Epstein when he was a Cabinet minister more than 15 years ago. He was released without bail conditions as the investigation continues.

Mandelson was seen as a Trump whisperer

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

But at the time, many saw it as a savvy move to deal with an unpredictable president.

“I fear that navigating Britain’s interests through the Trump administration will require super-human skills and luck and a massive team effort,” Mandelson said in his November 2024 note to Lammy.

Mandelson’s expertise as a former European Union trade chief, charm and network of global contacts were considered assets in securing a trade deal with the Trump administration. It seemed to pay off, with a successful visit by Starmer to the White House in February 2025 followed by a U.K.-U.S. trade deal announced that May.

In a letter to Starmer before the trip, Mandelson said “America first is the lodestar of his administration,” and the White House under Trump "will play the international system by a different set of rules.”

Mandelson noted in an email that the prime minister and president had developed a “strong personal bond.”

Starmer’s relationship with Trump later soured after the U.K. declined to join U.S.-Israeli strikes and other efforts in the Iran war. Some aspects of the trade deal remain incomplete.

Documents expose unflattering comments about Starmer

Details about Mandelson’s ties to Epstein, revealed in a huge trove of files published by the U.S. Justice Department in January, raised new questions about Starmer’s judgment, driving opponents and some Labour lawmakers to call for the prime minister’s resignation.

Those calls intensified after Labour suffered big losses in local elections in May. A senior Cabinet minister, Wes Streeting, resigned with the intention of challenging Starmer for the Labour leadership. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is running for a seat in Parliament in a June 18 special election, and is also expected to challenge Starmer if he wins.

The documents show that behind closed doors, Mandelson didn’t always give Starmer his full-throated support, and that government ministers also despaired at Starmer's lack of leadership within months of him taking office.

“Keir is not leading from the front,” Cabinet minister Pat McFadden said in a May 2025 WhatsApp exchange with Mandelson.

Mandelson's verdict was "Keir lacks verve.” He said that the government needed to act, “dare I say it ... in a more Trumpian risk taking and dare devil way.”

In July, he despaired that the government was “beleaguered and bereft,” and ministers don't "really know what Keir thinks or wants.

“In fact most of them don’t think Keir knows what he wants,” Mandelson said.

___

Brian Melley and Sylvia Hui contributed to this report.

Monday afternoon, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter announced that the Browns had traded superstar pass rusher Myles Garrett to the Rams.

🚨🚨🚨

Bombshell: The Browns are finalizing a trade that will send two-time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, per @rapsheet, @TomPelissero and me.

In exchange for Garrett, the Rams are expected to send Pro-Bowl edge Jared Verse, a 2027… pic.twitter.com/vHVquJBcYl

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 1, 2026

In exchange, the Browns received Pro Bowl edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-round pick.

Garrett signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension with Cleveland during the 2025 offseason. He has four years remaining on the deal.

Garrett was selected No. 1 overall by the Browns in the 2017 NFL Draft after a standout career at Texas A&M.

In nine seasons with Cleveland, Garrett cemented himself as one of the most dominant defensive players in NFL history.

He won NFL Defensive Player of the Year twice, earned five First-Team All-Pro selections and was selected to seven Pro Bowls.

In 2025, Garrett broke the NFL’s all-time single-season sack record with 23 sacks. The previous record of 22.5 sacks, held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan, had stood for more than two decades.

The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with back-and-forth attacks, though officials from both countries are still trying to negotiate an end to the war. It’s not clear how close they are to a deal — and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks.

Fighting has also been escalating between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire, and that has increasingly threatened the emerging deal to extend the Iran war ceasefire.

On Monday afternoon U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to dial back their fighting after he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and communicated with Hezbollah through mediators. Moments later, though, Israel said it had detected missile launches from Lebanon and warned Israelis in part of northern Israel to take cover in protected spaces.

Meantime, Iran maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences. A cargo ship came under attack off Iraq Monday afternoon, the British military said.

Fighting in Lebanon poses risks to Iran ceasefire

Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah — which joined the war in support of its main backer, Iran — continues to launch drones into Israel.

Iran wants any agreement to include Lebanon, and its foreign ministry on Monday highlighted the rising tensions in Lebanon, saying via government media: “The responsibility of the results and consequences of this situation is on the U.S.”

In his social media post about Israel and Hezbollah scaling back their fighting, Trump added that talks with Iran “are continuing, at a rapid pace.”

In Pakistan, which has been a mediator between Washington and Tehran, a former ambassador to the U.S. said that Israel’s actions in Lebanon were complicating the diplomatic environment.

“Israel is creating a new strategic reality in its neighborhood,” Masood Khan told The Associated Press.

US military attacks Iran

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it carried out the strikes in Iran on Saturday and Sunday around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island, hitting air defenses, a ground control station and two attack drones it said threatened ships in the region.

“The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” Central Command said.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is at a trickle compared to before the war, with ship owners deterred by the risk of an Iranian attack. Only 36 ships transited the waterway in the seven days leading up to to Friday, a third of them carrying crude oil or petroleum products, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which counts only ships big enough to carry globally significant amounts of oil or cargo. That compares to an average of more than 130 ships per day before the war began.

A fifth of all the world's traded oil and natural gas once passed through the strait. Its closure has put pressure not only on energy supplies but on chemical fertilizer, generating fears of food shortages. The Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizers.

Kuwait reports incoming fire

Kuwait said its air defenses opened fire early Monday morning to intercept incoming drone and missile fire.

Around the same time, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded to an American attack without saying where, likely referring to the attack on Kuwait. In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Guard said that U.S. forces had targeted a telecommunications tower.

Kuwait is home to U.S. Army Central, the Mideast forward command for the Army.

Iranian state television shared footage of the ballistic missile launch, including a close-up showing a sticker on its body depicting a bruised Trump overlaid on a “closed” Strait of Hormuz with the caption: “Until the last American soldier leaves the region.”

Central Command said U.S. forces shot down two ballistic missiles Iran launched toward bases home to American troops. No Americans were hurt, it added.

Attacks rattle ceasefire talks

Over the weekend, the U.S. fired a missile into the engine room of a Gambia-flagged cargo ship trying to break its blockade of Iranian ports.

On Monday, a cargo ship off Umm Qasr, Iraq, was struck by a projectile that caused a “large explosion,” the British military said. It offered no other details, and no one claimed the attack. Iran previously has attacked ships off Iraq.

Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said the deal had not been finalized.

The U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on Feb. 28. Trump has offered shifting goals for the conflict, although preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon is among them. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it has highly enriched uranium that could be made weapons-grade. Iran has enough of the material to build several nuclear weapons, should it choose to do so.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested last week that negotiators were trying to strike general terms on Iran’s nuclear program, with the specifics to be hammered out in the ensuing talks.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday again accused the U.S. of “constantly” changing its positions.

“We are negotiating in an atmosphere of mistrust," Baghaei told journalists.

___

Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, and Jennifer Peltz in New York, contributed to this report.

As for temperatures this week, the heat isn’t going anywhere. Thanks to the humidity our “feels-like” temps will hit triple-digits. So make sure to hydrate, hydrate. hydrate this week.

Today’s Forecast:

And if you thought this weekend was hot, which it was, take a look at our “feels-like” temperatures for areas like Livingston 105 today.

We are however tracking the chance for rain for a select few but not all as we get into the afternoon and evening drive home.

Watch: Building a hurricane kit without breaking the bank

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

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

10-DAY FORECAST:

We’re starting Hurricane season off with rain and more rain on the way. Make sure to carry your umbrella!

Shortly after her release was confirmed by the Colorado Department of Corrections, Peters appeared on the program of Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who was part of the right-wing campaign to free Peters. Gov. Jared Polis said he would shorten Peters' sentence if she expressed regret about her actions.

But in her interview with Bannon, Peters repeated the debunked conspiracy theory that voting machines cheated Trump out of reelection in 2020 and portrayed herself as a martyr to the effort to expose it.

“I know that the Democrats are going to cheat, and no one is really addressing the problem that I spent my time in prison as retribution for,” Peters said.

Multiple reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where Trump disputed his 2020 loss have all affirmed that Democrat Joe Biden won. Dominion Voting Systems, the company used for Colorado elections, has also succeeded in multiple defamation cases against conservative news outlets and others who repeated the false claims that its voting systems were somehow manipulated to change the outcome.

Trump's pressure campaign

Peters’ sentence was shortened by Polis last month after Trump waged a lengthy pressure campaign against the governor and his state. Peters served less than a quarter of her nine-year sentence.

“She really is extremely grateful to Donald Trump,” Peters’ attorney, Peter Ticktin, said in an interview. “If it weren’t for Donald Trump, she’d still be behind bars.”

In her interview with Bannon, Peters said she plans to spend “the next few weeks regaining my health and with loved ones and family." She said she is interested in becoming involved in prison reform and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.

Peters also is challenging her conviction, a case her attorneys hope to take to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. She told Bannon she will "fight to clear my name and bring out the truth of why they came after me the way they did.”

Peters was the first local election official to be charged with breaching security after the 2020 election. She snuck in an outside computer expert affiliated with My Pillow Chief Executive Mike Lindell — who himself denied that Trump lost the White House in 2020 — and the person copied the county's Dominion Voting Systems computer server as it was updated in 2021.

Peters then joined Lindell onstage at a “cybersymposium” that promised to reveal proof that the election was rigged. Video and photos of the computer system upgrade, including passwords, were posted online. The move stoked false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Trump.

Last year, a federal jury found that Lindell had defamed a former Dominion employee over claims related to the 2020 election.

Peters was convicted in 2024 of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, violation of duty and other crimes by jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump. An appeals court upheld her conviction in April, but ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud.

Trump had championed Peters' case, but because she was convicted under state law, he did not have the power to pardon her. Instead, the president pressured Polis to do so, lambasting him on social media and disinviting him to a White House meeting with other governors. The Trump administration also announced plans to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado and relocated the U.S. Space Command to Alabama.

Polis commuted Peters' sentence on May 15. In a letter, he wrote that although Peters was convicted of serious crimes and deserved to spend time in prison, the sentence was “extremely unusual and lengthy” for a first-time non-violent offender.

Polis launched a Substack over the weekend and his first post was a lengthy explanation of his reasoning in pardoning Peters. He said he was concerned about the First Amendment implications of Peters' sentence and didn't want to leave her in prison while she waited for the legal fight over that to conclude in the courts.

“I wanted to provide finality to this case, and as Governor I used my constitutional power of clemency to do what I believe is right,” Polis wrote.

Democratic backlash against Polis

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, on Monday released a statement warning that the release will “embolden the election denier movement.”

Colorado’s Democratic Party has already censured Polis for the pardon, and the state’s Democratic politicians kept piling on Monday.

“Tina Peters is walking free. A felon, convicted by a jury of her peers, walking free,” Sen. Michael Bennet, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, said in a video he released shortly after Peters’ release.

Lawrence Pacheco, a spokesperson for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who also is running for governor, said the state’s top prosecutor “remains concerned about her conduct upon returning to Mesa County given her lack of remorse for her crimes.”

The Dallas-based airline announced it will now provide an additional seat at no extra charge for customers who need more space during their flight.

The move comes after Southwest introduced a policy in January requiring some plus-size passengers to purchase a second seat upfront. Under that policy, travelers could later request a refund for the extra ticket, but critics argued the requirement placed an unfair financial burden on customers.

Now, Southwest says eligible passengers who require an additional seat will no longer have to pay for it.

According to the airline, customers needing extra space will be accommodated with an additional seat free of charge whenever adjacent seats are available.

If a flight is too full to provide the extra seat, Southwest says it will rebook the passenger on a later flight where the accommodation can be made.

The updated policy marks a significant shift for the airline, which faced criticism from passengers and body-positivity advocates following the January announcement.

Southwest has long promoted itself as a customer-friendly carrier, and the policy revision appears aimed at addressing concerns about accessibility, comfort, and fairness for all travelers.

The change is expected to impact passengers nationwide, including travelers flying through Houston’s two major airports, William P. Hobby Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport, where Southwest remains one of the busiest carriers.

The airline has not indicated whether additional changes to its seating policies are under consideration.

They tied the knot Sunday at Old Marylebone Town Hall.

Photographs of the couple leaving the town hall began to circulate on social media Sunday, depicting Lipa, 30, in a white skirt suit by Schiaparelli, news outlets reported, citing a press release. She also wore a wide-brimmed hat and matching gloves. Turner, 36, was shown in a custom, blue, double-breasted jacket with matching pants, shirt and tie by Ferragamo.

Representatives for Lipa and Turner did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.

The pair first sparked relationship rumors at the beginning of 2024.

Lipa confirmed her engagement to Turner last year after months of speculation in a cover story for British Vogue’s July issue. Fans had theorized the ring Lipa began sporting in photos in December 2024 signaled an engagement.

The London-born, British Albanian singer is celebrated for revitalizing a disco-pop sound in the musical mainstream, beginning with the release of her 2017 self-titled album and carrying through 2020’s “Future Nostalgia” and 2024’s “Radical Optimism.”

“Dance music has such a long history of creating such a safe space. And I just want to embody that,” she told the AP.

She has won three Grammys and boasts five top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.

Turner is known for his roles in the “Fantastic Beasts” movies as well as the George Clooney-directed “The Boys in the Boat” and World War ll drama series “Masters of the Air” on Apple TV+. He recently starred opposite Elizabeth Olsen in “Eternity,” a clever romantic comedy about the afterlife.

Our most recent investigation uncovered another major issue: Houston Public Works acknowledged a meter mix-up that led to years of inaccurate water bills for hundreds of customers.

But we also know the City of Houston is not the only water provider in the region.

Across the Houston area, many residents get water service through MUDs (Municipal Utility Districts), other cities or separate water authorities — and we continue to hear from viewers who believe they are being overcharged, billed incorrectly or can’t get clear answers from their provider.

We want to hear from you — no matter who provides your water

If you live in Houston, Harris County, Fort Bend County, Montgomery County, Brazoria County or another nearby community and you have questions about your water bill, we want to take a look.

You don’t have to be in the City of Houston to reach out.

What we’re looking for

We’re especially interested in:

• Sudden bill spikes with no clear explanation
• Bills that show high usage even when your household habits have not changed
• Repeated advice to check for leaks, but no leak found
• Unusual meter readings or billing adjustments that don’t make sense
• Long-running disputes with your water provider
• Neighbors on the same street reporting similar high bills
• Unexplained fees or pass through charges on your bill

Send us your bill

In the Google form below we need you to share:

• A complete copy of the water bill that concerns you (or multiple months)
• Your water provider name (City of Houston, MUD number/name, city utility, etc.)
• Your general location (city/ZIP is fine)
• A short description of what changed and when

Submit your water bill here

Why we’re collecting bills

Our goal is to identify patterns — across providers and communities — and determine whether problems are isolated or widespread.

If we see trends, we may:

• Ask public officials and utility leaders for answers
• Request records through open records laws
• Explain what customers can do to challenge bills
• Report what we find so families can make informed decisions

What happens after you submit

We review submissions and may follow up for additional details. Not every submission will become a news story, but the information helps guide ongoing reporting and identify communities that may need answers.

More on our Houston water billing investigation

Read our latest investigation and check the address list/map: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/05/06/check-your-address-houston-public-works-admits-meter-mix-up-led-to-years-of-inaccurate-water-bills/

Have documents to share? Use the form here to submit your water bill and tell us what’s going on in your community.

‘DRAINED’ Houston water department Investigation

Led by KPRC 2 Investigator Amy Davis, our investigation spent years shedding light on overbilling, faulty water meters, and mismanagement of city contracts. These discoveries led to the arrest and charges for seven people and an overhaul of how the entire water billing system works.

If you have questions, you can email Amy Davis at ADavis@kprc.com or Producer Andrea Slaydon at ASlaydon@kprc.com.

SEE MORE: Everything you need to know about the ‘DRAINED’ KPRC Investigation

The two people remain unaccounted for since a search and rescue operation began last month in a rugged area of Xaisomboun province, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the capital, Vientiane. Five of the seven people initially trapped inside the cave have been rescued.

Malaysian diver Lee Kian Lie, who is involved in the operation, said workers were pumping water out of the cave.

“We will go into the suspected area to continue the search if the water level is lowered,” he told The Associated Press.

Another team of rescuers is also looking around the other side of the cave in hopes of finding a dry passage that could provide access to the area where the missing people are believed to be trapped, he said.

Rescue teams from Laos and neighboring Thailand have been working together for more than a week. They were joined by divers from countries including Finland, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, France and Australia.

Several of the rescuers previously took part in the complicated 2018 cave rescue in northern Thailand that saved 12 schoolboys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave.

Laos's Rescue Volunteer for People group posted on its Facebook page that heavy rain caused “massive amounts of water” to flow down into the area, forcing them to suspend operations on Sunday night.

Kengkaj Bongkawong, head of the Thai group Metta Tham Rescue Kalasin, said workers are also looking for air shafts from above that may provide access into the cave.

“The team and I have used a radar scanner and satellite images and many other things as a basis for our navigation of the mountain,” he said.

In remarks on his Facebook page, Kengkaj warned that even if a suitable alternative entrance is found, “it's going to be a very tough job,” with access difficult and the constant problem of continuing rain flooding the cave.

It would require not only pumping water out, but also installing equipment to keep ventilating the cave's air supply, he said.

Rescuers believe the two missing people are trapped deeper inside the cave than the location where the five survivors were originally found on Wednesday. But the passage into that area is said to be very narrow and heavily flooded.

The villagers reportedly entered the cave nearly two weeks ago to look for valuable minerals such as gold before being trapped by a flash flood that blocked their way out. One other villager escaped and alerted the authorities.

The first man was safely extracted on Friday, guided through a narrow flooded passage by an expert diver. The remaining four left the cave on Saturday after the water receded enough for them to walk out on their own, rescuers said.