British far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos has been deported back to the United Kingdom after his arrest by American immigration authorities, U.S. officials said Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Yiannopoulos was returned to his home country on Friday after being accused of overstaying after entering the U.S. legally in May 2019. A immigration judge had issued a final order of removal on July 22 after he failed to show up for an immigration hearing, a Homeland Security spokesperson said.

RELATED STORY | ICE arrests far-right British provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos

Yiannopoulos was arrested Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nations laws, a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement.

Yiannopoulos and his representatives did not respond to requests for comment. He has not posted on his X social media account since Thursday.

Yiannopoulos is a well-known champion of conservative causes and has frequently taken provocative public positions criticizing feminism, Islam and immigrants. He has been especially supportive of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

Zero immigration for the next 20 years. No ifs, no buts, Yiannopoulos wrote on X last year.

The British national has most recently worked for the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who performed in New Orleans on Friday evening.

Yiannopoulos rose to fame in the early 2010s as an incendiary writer for the conservative website Breitbart News. He resigned from the company in 2017 after a video of him endorsing pedophilia resurfaced online. He later apologized for the remarks and said he himself was a victim of sexual assault as a minor.

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Yiannopoulos arrest on Thursday comes amid a nationwide uptick in detentions as part of Trumps immigration crackdown.

Far-right conservative activist Laura Loomer swiftly took to social media to applaud Yiannopoulos arrest after years of public feuding between the two personalities.

I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene, Loomer wrote on X.

Controversy around Yiannopoulos ballooned in 2017 when he carried out what he called his Troll Academy Tour across college campuses nationwide. Fights broke out when some students protested Yiannopoulos appearances and accused him of hate speech, while others celebrated him as a champion of free speech. Around that time, Buzzfeed reported on Yiannopoulos cozy relationships with self-proclaimed white nationalists.

In recent years, Yiannopoulos continued to work in the orbit of conservative activism. In 2022, he was an intern for former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, according to the Washington Post. He subsequently ran the short-lived 2024 presidential campaign for Ye.

Most recently, Yiannopoulos has worked as a spokesperson for Ye, who has been beset by controversy of his own following antisemitic comments that the rapper has since apologized for.

Officials struggled for years to curb high-speed crashes along a residential corridor cutting through Albuquerque, New Mexico, but simply punishing the lead-footed drivers didnt seem to work.

What ultimately did was rewarding the law-abiding ones with fewer red lights.

The solution, which the city credits for a dramatic drop in crashes and injuries along one busy stretch of road, is a relatively novel version of a longstanding traffic safety concept commonly known as rest in red," in which traffic signals default to red until a vehicle approaches. But Albuquerque and Portland, Oregon, took it a step further by adding speed sensors that grant a much earlier green light to drivers traveling at or below the posted limit.

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Were finding that the technology itself is kind of its best advertisement, Jennifer Turner, Albuquerques director of municipal development, said of the strategy the city deployed on Lead and Coal avenues, parallel one-way streets. "If you come to Albuquerque right now and youre driving that corridor, you will learn pretty quickly that if you are speeding, you stop.

Isaac Romero, who lives along the corridor, said he has noticed a big difference. Before rest in red, he would sometimes wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of drivers racing to beat the traffic lights or one another. He saw cars that had crashed and flipped, including one that ended up in his neighbor's yard.

We had one accident where its even shaken the whole house because some guy slammed into a tree, Romero said. It's a lot of change because now you don't get as many people flying through there.

Portland credits its virtual speed bumps

Portland recently rolled out the concept during the late-night hours on Southeast Powell Boulevard, a busy state highway with a long history of crashes, including fatal ones.

Peter Koonce, who manages signals and street lighting for the city, calls the new approach a virtual speed bump and said the early results are promising. At the first intersection tested, rest in red was able to lower the average speed from 39 mph (63 kph) to 30 mph (48 kph), which is the speed limit, he said.

Oregon State University researchers helped Portland choose its vehicle detection system for monitoring speeds, and now they're assessing its performance. David Hurwitz, a professor of transportation engineering who leads the study, said it's too early to draw sweeping conclusions.

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This choice that we are making to try to increase speed compliance seems like its working really well seems like it has potential, said Hurwitz, who stressed that further research is needed to ensure those gains aren't offset by more drivers running red lights or other negative consequences.

Cities try to change driver behavior but avoid other problems

Potential negative consequences are also a primary concern of Jay Beeber, chief government affairs and policy officer for the National Motorists Association, a drivers advocacy group. Although he acknowledges that rest in red could be effective in certain places at specific times, he questions whether driver behavior can really change without a broad education campaign and believes there are simpler, less-intrusive solutions.

I think it's wishful thinking that drivers are aware enough and pay attention enough to really learn to change their speeds based on whether the light is gonna be red or not, Beeber said. I think people are going to end up at the light and just be frustrated. I dont think theyre gonna know why.

Many U.S. cities, including Albuquerque and Portland, have long used speed cameras to successfully prevent speeding. In fact, Albuquerque set up three near where it also deploys the rest in red approach, which has made that approach even stronger, according to officials.

LA briefly tried rest in red, but most cities haven't

A few other cities including Boulder, Colorado, and Long Beach, California, implemented smaller targeted efforts to use the threat of more red lights to force speeders to slow down.

Rebecca Sanders, a national safety practice leader at the transportation consulting firm Fehr & Peers, led a 2019 report at Arizona State University and Toole Design looking at various strategies used across the country to manage speed. Of the cities surveyed, only Los Angeles was trying rest in red at the time, and it briefly experimented with using feedback signs to trigger a red light when a driver traveling too fast was detected.

Sanders said the concept seems to work best on roads built for high-capacity traffic during the day but much less congested and therefore more conducive to speeding at night.

A 2023 study on five rural and urban roads in North Carolina found a 43% reduction in total crashes after rest in red was implemented around the clock, said Aaron Moody, spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Transportation. Unlike the systems being used in Albuquerque and Portland, this and other versions of the rest in red approach didnt use speed sensors to turn lights green for law-abiding drivers, but instead kept lights red by default until vehicles approached, slowing them.

Despite their apparent effectiveness at deterring speeding, cities have been slow to embrace rest in red.

Romero said he's visited enough neighborhoods through his home security business to know that the approach could work in many other places in Albuquerque and beyond. But it'll take all drivers buying in, as the presence of just one speeder can trigger a red light.

If everybody cruises to 30 calmly, I can promise you, you can get every single green light all the way down, Romero said. But the moment that one person is there, it changes that whole route for everybody.

A Russian drone struck a warehouse west of Kyiv that may have been illegally storing munitions in a residential area, according to Ukrainian officials, sparking explosions and fires that damaged dozens of nearby homes and buildings and killing 37 people in one of the war's deadliest attacks this year.

The Friday night attack on the warehouse in Myla, a village in the Bucha district, came on the second of three days of nearly round-the-clock Russian strikes that have severely disrupted life in and around the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv officials said an unmanned vehicle hit the building, though they didn't specify whether it was one of the jet-powered drones that Russia has increasingly been using to pierce Ukraine's defenses.

The warehouse strike sparked a fire that swept through homes and damaged at least 50 residential buildings, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the local regional military administration. Local media later cited him as saying 34 of the people killed were residents of a care home for the elderly and disabled. More than 370 people were evacuated.

RELATED STORY | Russian drone pilot had 15 seconds to look his target in the eye. He struck anyway

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it as a terrible situation and said it appeared to be the result of terrible negligence on the part of those who stored explosives right next to people.

Kyiv investigates warehouse targeted in attack

The warehouse strike was followed by a detonation, Zelenskyy said in a statement. He didn't specify what was kept at the site, but he pointed out that Ukrainian law forbids the storage of ammunition close to people's homes and said criminal proceedings have been opened.

Those who allowed this to happen must be held accountable for their decisions, he said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi also didn't offer information on the warehouse, but he referenced a July attack on the Kyiv suburb of Vyshneve that struck an ammunition depot, killing 22 people and triggering large detonations and fires that tore through nearby homes.

Unfortunately, we can already see that the terrible tragedy in Vyshneve did not become a lesson, Koretskyi said. In the fifth year of a full-scale invasion, making the same mistakes is criminal negligence. And all those guilty, without exception, must be severely punished so that such situations do not happen again.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it hit a warehouse in Myla that was storing components and launch boosters for long-range drones. It also said it attacked the ports of Mykolaiv and Izmail, and a logistics center and warehouse facilities storing parts for Ukraine's Flamingo cruise missiles in the Kyiv region.

Russia bombards Kyiv for a third day

Drone attacks on the capital and, to a lesser extent, the rest of Ukraine have been nearly constant since Thursday. Kyiv officials say Russia builds up missile stocks and launches major attacks every few days, hoping to exhaust Ukrainian defenses through the sheer weight of numbers.

Russian strikes damaged homes and apartment blocks in the southern Kherson region on Saturday, killing two people and wounding 27 more, including a child, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the region administration, said in a statement.

RELATED STORY | UK expands military support by helping Ukraine assemble long-range missiles

Prokudin said earlier in the week that Russia had intensified its attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, which is about 70% under Russian control. He also urged tens of thousands of residents to move to safer regions because of the possibility of prolonged power and heating outages this winter.

Russia has significantly increased its use of jet-powered drones, and their numbers will keep growing as Moscow sees their effectiveness, Pavlo Palisa, deputy head of Ukraines presidential office, told reporters Friday.

Means of attack always outpace means of defense. We will certainly need to adapt. It will take time, Palisa said. He said interceptor drones currently available to Ukraine, which could theoretically intercept jet-powered drones, have not yet demonstrated the expected effectiveness, though Ukraine is working on solutions.

Ukraine vows to increase long-range strikes on Russia

Meanwhile, Ukraine has stepped up its long-range attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities in recent months. The attacks, which use domestically made drones, are meant to cut into a source of Moscows war funding and make Russians feel the consequences.

In his evening statement to the nation Friday, Zelenskyy said Kyiv hoped to increase its long-range strikes to reach 1000 drone launches every day.

Right now, we average over 300 of our long-range sanctions, Zelenskyy said, his preferred term for Kyivs long-range attacks that have also lately targeted Russian large-scale online retailers. There must be more. We have a very specific goal, and we will achieve it.

Moscows forces destroyed 313 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russias Defense Ministry said Saturday.

Ukrainian drone attacks wounded 11 people in Russias Rostov region, Gov. Yuri Slyusar said. Writing on social media, he said that nine people were hospitalized, including four children.

The FBI is dropping a categorical hiring ban on applicants who have had sexual encounters with prostitutes and will instead consider in a more holistic manner at least some candidates who have engaged in the practice in the past, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move away from an automatic disqualification falls along a continuum of evolving recruitment standards within federal law enforcement and at the buttoned-up bureau, which several years ago relaxed its approach to candidates past marijuana use and has drawn more recent concern among some current and former agents about a perceived loosening of recruitment requirements as it seeks to replenish its ranks.

The bureau still intends to dismiss applicants who are revealed during the vetting process to have engaged in prostitution within the last 10 years, three or more times overall or while in a position of trust such as public safety, according to guidance issued this past spring and described by a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to discuss internal decision-making and spoke on condition of anonymity. For others, it will allow for consideration of the context of the conduct rather than treat it as grounds for an automatic rejection from the FBIs hiring process.

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The practical impact is not immediately clear since many who have engaged in prostitution may still be either immediately disqualified or weeded out upon further scrutiny from FBI polygraphers and security officials.

The FBI said the change was meant to account for the fact that some otherwise suitable candidates, including service members, may have engaged in the practice in places where it is legal and to accommodate applicants who may done so as a young child or have themselves been victims of sexual abuse.

It is false to suggest criminal behavior like this is no longer disqualifying at the FBI. Any applicant who has engaged in criminal sexual acts like those referenced would of course not be eligible for employment, and it is ridiculous to suggest otherwise, the FBI said in a statement that described the background check process as wide-ranging and extensive.

The FBI has and always will maintain some of the highest suitability standards for its applicants and employees in the US Government, the statement added.

Justice Department is easing recruitment requirements in general

Even so, the shift is being made at a time when current and former officials worry that the FBI, and the Justice Department more generally, have eased recruitment requirements while facing a mass personnel exodus brought on by retirements, voluntary resignations and firings. The bureau, for instance, has taken steps to make it easier for its own professional staff to become agents and has offered a truncated training academy for applicants from other federal law enforcement agencies.

If theyre moving the bar for sexual encounters to include prostitution, what is that saying about the applicant pool? Theyre trying to bring in more people, which to me indicates that the applicant pool is extremely shallow right now, said Daniel Brunner, a retired FBI agent who spent two decades in the bureau.

In 2015, then-Attorney General Eric Holder issued a memo reiterating that all Justice Department employees were prohibited from soliciting or accepting prostitution, including in places where it was legal. But both before and since that directive, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies have confronted periodic episodes in which agents serving abroad have been accused of sexual encounters with prostitutes.

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As recently as last year, for instance, the Justice Department inspector general substantiated allegations that a supervisory special agent solicited and used prostitutes on multiple occasions while overseas and used a bureau-issued cellphone for the transactions.

Chris Piehota, a retired top FBI executive, said he would be more troubled if the bureau were to loosen its standards for current employees who require periodic renewals of their security clearances. But he said he could understand the FBI leaning toward leniency for actions taken as a teenager or college student.

I dont think you get a better or worse candidate from something you did in your college years, Piehota said. Thats why they have the screening process, thats why they have the vetting process. And the people who do the recruiting and hiring, they look at all those things.

Background checks, polygraph tests and more

Applicants to the FBI undergo a multistep application and vetting process that includes, among other things, a background check, a detailed questionnaire, credit checks, interviews with neighbors and colleagues and a polygraph test. The comprehensive regimen is meant to uncover any prior criminal conduct in an applicants past as well as embarrassing personal information that could make an employee vulnerable to blackmail.

Felony convictions, domestic violence convictions, failure of a urinalysis and the bureaus drug policies are among factors treated as automatic disqualifiers.

Though the new guidance will allow for a broader and more contextual evaluation of applicants who disclose past experience with prostitution during their polygraph admission, such an admission has historically been typically regarded as a death knell for potential employees at agencies including the FBI, CIA and NSA, said Daniel Meyer, a Washington lawyer with the Tully Rinckey law firm who specializes in the background check and the security clearance process.

The recent announcement of Pennsylvanias first measles-related deaths in decades has ignited a public feud among politicians and health officials who disagree over the role of the contagious disease in the fatalities.

Independent experts say the conflict is a symptom of a social and political debate over how to frame a national surge in measles cases, the worst seen in more than three decades.

Pennsylvania officials this week reported that two unvaccinated residents died after being infected with measles, with Gov. Josh Shapiro stressing that vaccinations could have averted the deaths.

RELATED STORY | Pennsylvania reports first measles deaths in 35 years

But the announcement quickly came under fire, as a clash erupted between Shapiro, a vaccine-promoting Democrat, and U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Trump administration appointee with a history of raising alarms about established vaccines. Kennedy said in a social post the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated.

Kennedys attack echoed statements he made last year, when three measles-related deaths were recorded. Kennedy questioned whether one of the children who died was killed by measles.

Medical experts say the brouhaha has diverted focus from an exploding public health threat.

Now it's turned political, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease doctor in the Pittsburgh area and a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. It's no longer about getting answers and figuring this out.

The challenges of tallying measles deaths

The U.S. eliminated the domestic spread of measles in 2000 by maintaining high vaccination rates, but they have fallen in recent years to below the 95% coverage needed to prevent outbreaks. In November, international health officials will meet to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles-free status.

Complicating the situation in Pennsylvania are questions about what counts as a measles death, which is rare in the United States. The World Health Organization counts a death when a person has tested positive for measles and when the death occurs within a month from when a rash appears and the death is not obviously due to another cause such as trauma.

State health officials are the ones who report measles cases and measles-associated deaths. The question of defining a measles death hasn't come up much in recent decades because vaccination rates were high and measles illnesses and deaths had become rare.

Recent trends are driving conversations among health officials about how to better track the consequences of a surging problem.

RELATED STORY | US kindergarten vaccine exemptions hit record high as immunization rates slip

As measles infections increase, we also need to prepare for more of the tragic complications we have largely avoided in this country for decades," including not only deaths but also hospitalizations and brain injuries, said Janet Hamilton, executive director of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, in a statement.

What's known and not known about the measles deaths

In Pennsylvania, what's not disputed is that both people who died had been infected with measles and they were unvaccinated. The unresolved question is whether measles was the main cause, or a contributing cause, of their deaths.

In one of the deaths, an official has reached a conclusion. The Lancaster County Coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said he is aware of only one death with evidence of measles infection. It was a newborn baby boy who died August 14 someone too young to get a recommended measles vaccination.

Because one of the boy's family members had measles, investigators tested the boy's lung tissue and found evidence of measles infection, Diamantoni said.

But investigators did not see signs of a swollen spleen or other ravages from a measles infection that would have contributed to the death. The cause is being attributed to a tear in the spleen, but the coroner's office says the virus did not play a role.

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The baby did not die as a result of measles, Diamantoni said.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health initially refused to disclose any details about the two people who died. But on Wednesday night, state health officials posted on social media that one of the deaths is under investigation by the coroner's office. No information has been released about the second death.

The department said it stands by its announcement, adding that it relies on two questions to determine if a death was measles-related: Did the person have measles and did they die?

As of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not updated the latest national tally of measles cases and deaths. The agency said on its website that the scheduled update was delayed, but did not disclose why.

Dr. Paul Offit said hes worried that two measles-related deaths are an unusually high number in a county that reportedly has about 400 cases. The expected death rate for measles is 1 in 1,000 cases.

That suggests there are a large number of other unreported infections in the Lancaster County area, said Offit, a Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia vaccine researcher.

Thats worrisome, given that this is the time of year when kids go back to school, which could increase the spread of an extremely transmissible disease. Vaccination efforts need to be stepped up to prevent what I think is a coming disaster, Offit said.

Adalja faulted Pennsylvania officials for how they announced the deaths earlier this week. It should have only been health and medical officials, stating what is known and not yet known.

They should learn to keep the politicians out of it, he said.

Most arrive with nothing except the clothes they are wearing.

As rescue efforts in communities buried by catastrophic flash floods along the border between Nepal and China entered their fourth day Saturday, authorities continued finding survivors and transporting them to safety. At relief centers, as some arrive, families wait anxiously for news of their loved ones as the death toll and the number of people unaccounted for continued to rise.

After Nepali authorities updated their figures Saturday, the combined toll in Nepal and Tibet rose to 633 dead and nearly 3,000 people missing. Chinese authorities have reported seven deaths and more than 550 missing.

RELATED STORY | Nepal flash flood leaves 1,300 missing, including 65 Americans

In Nuwakot, one of the Nepali districts devastated by the floods, helicopters resumed operations before noon Saturday after poor weather temporarily hampered aerial rescue activities.

Some helicopters were loaded with boxes and bags of aid, including clothes, instant noodles, crackers and rice. Others returned from the flood-hit areas carrying survivors.

An older man was carefully helped off one helicopter, while a soldier carried an older woman on his back to a medical tent. There, medics checked her blood pressure, breathing and heartbeat, as well as her teeth and gums.

About a dozen people emerged from another helicopter. Soldiers carried several babies who had been evacuated.

The evacuees had been brought from the nearby community of Trishuli.

Villagers return to devastated homes

As people were still leaving Trishuli, some village residents were returning to see what could be salvaged from their decimated homes.

One boy walked out of the village carrying muddy sandals from his house. Another woman, Shoba Shretha, returned to find her dog, Sweetie, who she was forced to leave behind when the floods came. Shretha sat on the ground petting her and feeding her water from a bottle.

At some point, relief coordinators cleared villagers, reporters and volunteers from the entrance to Trishuli, as excavation equipment drove into the flooded village to dig.

Families begin to lose hope

In Kathmandu, Nepals capital, relatives and friends gathered outside the main government hospital from early morning, desperately searching for news of missing loved ones.

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Many shuffled between the help desk and the hospital notice board, clutching photographs and scanning injured patients lists in the hope of finding them.

Dil Maya Lama stood weeping outside the help desk at the hospital, searching for information about her missing 26-year-old brother, a driver for a hydropower company in Rasuwa. She had traveled from Ramechhap, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) away.

I came here with the hope that I might find him, she said. There is no information about him.

Nelza Moktan anxiously sought information about her missing cousin, who also worked as a driver in Rasuwa.

I feel hopeless. It has already been four days, she said.

Families covered hospital walls with posters showing missing relatives, photographs and contact numbers in a desperate appeal for any clue that could bring them home.

Nearby were photographs of unidentified bodies which officials put up in hopes they could be recognized by families or friends.

Gajendra Rawat, a security official at the hospital help desk, said families had so far registered around 1,600 missing persons since the disaster struck. People are coming from all parts of Nepal, he said.

Families search paper lists for any clue

Back in Nuwakot, military personnel taped sheets of paper listing dozens of missing people to a wall at a relief center, prompting families to crowd around them.

Some scanned lists of the missing and dead, took photos and wiped away tears as they looked through the names.

Rajesh Kumar Ram, who is searching for his son, desperately searched a list for his son's name.

Im hopeful, by chance that my son is somewhere," he said, crying as he spoke. "Maybe they find him stuck somewhere. Im waiting for that moment only.

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Outside, people walked along mud-covered streets past signs of the disaster. On one street, a truck was stuck in the mud with its bed raised in the air.

As the day passed, more people gathered at the army barracks hoping to be reunited with missing loved ones or to find out information about them.

Priti Kharel stood outside the entrance to the barracks, holding a poster with a picture of her brother, Milan Kharel, who works as an engineering geologist at Doosan Enerbility. His family hasnt heard from him since the floods.

Its already four days, said Kharel, who believes his brother could be one of the people trapped inside the tunnel of a hydropower construction site, where authorities have rescued some people. She said friends who were there told the family that Milan might still be there.

We want the government to rescue him as soon as possible, she added.

Rescuers battle to find survivors at disaster-hit areas

Search and rescue efforts continued at several locations in Nepal and Chinas Tibet, including the Upper Trishuli-1 Hydropower Project in Nepals Rasuwa district and the severely damaged Gyirong border crossing on the Chinese side.

Nepali Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet said rescue efforts would continue at the hydropower construction site, where authorities believe more than 100 people are trapped in a tunnel filled with thick mud.

Basnet said rescuers had used baskets and ropes to reach some people, but the operation remained difficult because of 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) of mud and the limited number of places where helicopters could land.

He said rescue teams had also been forced to relocate temporarily when authorities issued warnings about possible further flooding.

Rescuers have been on high alert for more flooding from a new lake that formed high up in the Himalayan mountains after the initial floods Wednesday. Experts warned that the lake, created after a glacier collapse that triggered the floods, was starting to overflow.

Monitoring data from the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources showed late Friday that the lake had dwindled in size. The water level dropped by 10 meters (32 feet) from the high point on Thursday morning, Chinese broadcaster CCTV said.

Aid trucks could be seen traveling from Kathmandu, Nepals capital, toward the affected areas.

Search continues at devastated China-Nepal border crossing

The Chinese broadcaster showed images Saturday of rescuers arriving at Gyirong Port, the hard-hit border crossing with Nepal. Some reached the area by foot or via rafts, while others dropped down from drones flown to the area. Anyone, anyone? rescuers yelled.

It was not immediately known how many people were at the border checkpoint building when the floods hit.

On Saturday, Nepals disaster agency said the death toll had climbed to 626 with 2,426 people missing in the country. More than 3,700 people have been rescued in Nepal so far.

The death toll in China rose to seven Friday as state media showed evacuations of villages and leaders efforts to direct the relief response. China's state media said 554 people were missing on the Chinese side. Hundreds of the missing are foreigners who were in the area to work, trek or make a pilgrimage to a sacred peak.

An inspection contractor found a chemical tank at a Washington state paper mill not fit for continued service 10 months before it failed in May, killing 11 in one of the deadliest U.S. workplace disasters in recent decades, according to a federal report released Friday.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Boards update about the May 26 failure in Longview, which expelled enough caustic liquid to blow out building walls, is part of an ongoing investigation. The federal agency said it is still determining the cause of the failure.

The board found that the contractor provided Nippon Dynawave Packaging Company with recommendations for internal inspections and shell repairs, but the company did none between a July 2025 inspection and the May 2026 failure.

Because the investigation remains ongoing, we will not comment on individual findings or documents at this time, an emailed statement from Nippon spokesperson Sam Jefferies said Friday. Our focus remains on supporting affected families and employees and taking the necessary steps toward fully reopening the Longview facility.

Jefferies said the company will continue to cooperate fully with the board.

The Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers released a statement on Friday saying the board's findings were deeply troubling.

The update raises urgent questions about how technical findings and recommendations concerning the tank were communicated, evaluated and incorporated into decisions about its continued operation, the statement said. The families and workforce deserve a complete accounting of that process.

RELATED STORY | 11 presumed dead after Washington paper mill tank rupture

Lawyer for family of 2 brothers who died says accountability is needed

A lawyer representing the family of two brothers who were killed, Tyler and Bradley Covington, said the board's findings are nothing short of alarming.

When safety inspections and recommendations dont lead to action, danger becomes a reality that causes devastation to human life, lawyer Kyle Findley said in a statement Friday. We will continue to work tirelessly to ensure those responsible for this horrific accident are held accountable and their families receive justice.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray said in a statement that the community deserves answers and every worker has the right to come home safely at the end of the day.

Multiple inspections found safety problems before tank failure

In July 2025, the contractor found significant thinning below the minimum safe thickness in the lower regions of the tank after an external inspection, according to the board's report. The minimum safe thickness is a threshold that measures a tanks ability to contain the pressure of the liquid and support the tanks weight, the report said.

The same contractor inspected the exterior of the tank in October 2025 and February 2026 and both times identified that large portions of the tank remained thinner than the calculated minimum safe wall thickness.

The company also did not remove the tank from operation or derate the tank for reduced service, the board said.

The tank failure released roughly 900,000 gallons (3.4 million liters) of a liquid known as white liquor that is used to break down wood for making paper products and is capable of causing severe burns. In addition to the workers killed, several others and one firefighter were injured.

Official questions why paper company didn't act

The board's Chairperson Steve Owens said in a statement we are greatly concerned that the tank was not promptly removed from service or properly repaired after the clear findings in the inspection report.

In an excerpt of the July 2025 inspection included in the board's update, the recommendations were noted as Priority 1: Not fit for continued service unless corrected, with a high likelihood/consequence of failure (or) critical code/standard deficiency.

Owner should plan to have an internal inspection performed in order to determine the extent of the required repairs. Its likely that the entire shell course should be replaced, the inspection excerpt says.

The inspection was completed by Applied Technical Services LLC. The federal report did not specify why the company was conducting the inspections.

A message was left seeking comment from Applied Technical Services.

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Tank failure occurred as employees started to arrive to work

The catastrophic failure hit just minutes after employees began arriving around 7 a.m., the boards report said.

Shortly before 2 a.m., a vessel at the facility called a digestor was removed from service for repairs. As a result, the tank stopped sending white liquor into the digestor. But more white liquor continued to flow into the tank, causing it to approach full capacity around 6:20 a.m. It failed less than an hour later, the report said.

After flooding the courtyard, crushing vehicles and destroying part of one of the surrounding buildings, the liquid flowed into the buildings lower floors, where workers were holding morning meetings.

All eight workers in the electrical maintenance shop as well as a worker in the courtyard were killed. In the mechanical maintenance shop, five employees and the foreman escaped, but two were killed from exposure to the chemical, the report said. Two of the people who escaped were seriously injured due to chemical burns.

The company radioed for its medical emergency response team but didnt explain that white liquor had been released, according to the report. A member of the team waded into a pool of white liquor to try to rescue an employee, thinking it was water, and was seriously injured from chemical burns.

Earlier this week, the Washington Department of Ecology issued notice of 35 environmental violations to Nippon Dynawave. The state agency oversees the facilitys air and water quality permits and compliance with environmental waste laws.

The board said its investigation is ongoing and that its complete findings will be included in its final investigation report.

A U.S. military judge on Wednesday set a summer 2028 trail date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three others accused of plotting the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The trial is scheduled to begin June 5, 2028, 18 months later than the January 2027 start that prosecutors had requested. The additional time is needed to resolve pretrial disputes, including disagreements about what evidence can be presented at trial, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Schrama wrote in his ruling.

RELATED STORY | Guantanamo inmate accused of being main plotter of 9/11 attacks to plead guilty

The U.S. military and successive administrations have struggled for more than two decades to bring to justice the man charged with planning one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States.

The 2028 trial depends on the case meeting deadlines and milestones along the way and it could again be delayed. A trial was previously scheduled in 2021 but later canceled.

Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another of the hijacked planes flew into a field in Pennsylvania. He faces trial alongside three alleged accomplices: Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa al-Hawsawi.

They are among the last of the detainees held at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Bob Beckwith, firefighter who stood with Bush after 9/11, dies at 91

A federal appeals court last year threw out an agreement that would have allowed Mohammed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him the risk of execution for al-Qaidas 2001 attacks.

That deal stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and two of his co-defendants. It also would have obligated the men to answer any lingering questions that families of the victims have about the attacks. But after negotiating the deal for two years, former President Joe Biden's administration repudiated it.

Maine's Republican nominee for governor recently told a crowd of supporters that he would ask a top Department of Homeland Security official to send U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places in the state for this fall's midterm elections, according to audio obtained by The Associated Press.

During an Aug. 20 event in Arundel, Bobby Charles told a group of supporters that he would ask Tom Homan, the White House border czar, to send federal agents to polling places in the weeks before Election Day. The audio was first reported by the Bangor Daily News.

Heres my secret, Charles told members of a Maine Young Republicans chapter. I have a friend named Tom Homan. Tom and I used to get on Fox all the time together. Toms an awesome guy.

Im going to ask Tom, Im going to actually three or four weeks before the election, maybe three Im going to make an appeal for ICE and Marshals to be at our voting booths, Charles said, according to the audio.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Illegal voting case puts former Kansas mayors immigration status in limbo

On Wednesday, he explained his comments by saying state and local authorities who manage elections should have an open line of communication with federal authorities if needed to prevent violence at a voting place, in order to prevent intimidation at a voting place and in order to prevent illegality at a voting place.

He said his point was that Maine authorities should do everything legally possible to prevent illegal voting in the state.

Everybody who is legally entitled to vote should be free from any intimidation and should be able to vote, he said in a statement released by his campaign. Anybody who is not legally entitled to vote should not be voting.

Trump, Republican allies are fixated on voting by noncitizens

Charles' comments come as President Donald Trump continues to sow doubt about the security of elections in the U.S. elections and takes unprecedented measures to intervene in election administration. The Constitution gives states, and sometimes Congress, the authority to set election rules but grants no such power to the president.

A central part of his attacks is to claim widespread fraud through voting by noncitizens. But those claims are vastly overstated. Voting by noncitizens is exceptionally rare and is punishable as a felony, with deportation as one potential penalty.

Nevertheless, Trump has been pushing Congress to pass a bill that would require voters to show documentary proof of citizenship to vote in the upcoming midterms and signed an executive order directing the Postal Service to send mail ballots only to those on an approved list of verified voters.

RELATED STORY | Midterm poll shows Democrats with advantage on generic midterm ballot

When reached for comment on Wednesday, DHS did not address whether department officials had held or planned to hold conversations with political campaigns about election security. DHS officials have previously said they do not have plans to send ICE agents to polling places.

Elections exist for the American people, not illegal aliens, to choose their leaders, a Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement to the AP.

Democratic state officials have been concerned about the possibility of immigration agents showing up near polling places on Election Day or during early voting. Several states have taken actions this year to guard against it.

In February, a DHS official told a group of secretaries of state that any suggestion that ICE will be present at any polling location is simply not true, according to several secretaries who were part of the conversation. That followed congressional testimony from the heads of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection, who both answered No, sir when asked if they are involved in any efforts to guard voting precincts.

Maine officials, Democrats push back on Charles' comments

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, a Democrat, said ICE agents are prohibited by law from being at polling places and that Maine residents can expect a free and secure election in November. Bellows ran for governor this year but lost in the Democratic primary.

The political rhetoric coming from Mr. Charles is just politics, but it wont change the laws or the Constitution, Bellows said.

The Maine Democratic Party also criticized Charles comments and described his plan as likely illegal. The party also criticized the timing of the comments as the state is continuing to wrestle with the killing of Biddeford resident Johan Sebastin Durn Guerrero by an ICE officer earlier this summer.

The comments expose Charles as a MAGA extremist who will do Trumps bidding, said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson.

His plan to ask Trumps border czar to send ICE agents to Maine polling places just weeks before Election Day is not only deeply alarming it is likely illegal. This is a blatant attempt to intimidate voters and yet another reason Bobby Charles is too extreme for Maine, Murphy-Anderson said.

Federal law prohibits the military and federal agencies from putting troops or armed officers near polling sites, according to the Brennan Center.

DHS secretary says agents could respond to specific threat at polling places

The White House has dismissed concerns that federal agents would interfere with elections and noted that there was no disruption to the election process in last years elections, when Democrats performed well.

During his March confirmation hearing, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin downplayed concerns about ICE agents being used to intimidate voters or interfere with election administration. But he maintained that agents had a right to conduct immigration enforcement activities at sites related to election administration.

I dont understand what the concern is about enforcement of immigration at polling places anyways, because honestly if youre not a citizen you shouldnt be voting anyways, Mullin testified. So technically, there shouldnt be illegals at the polling spot.

He continued: The only reason why my officers would be there is if there was a specific threat for them to be there, not for intimidation.

Charles is an attorney who served as U.S. assistant secretary of state under President George W. Bush. He won the Republican primary for governor in June and will face Democratic candidate Hannah Pingree, the former speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, in November. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, is term-limited.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer charged with shooting a man and lying about it during the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail Thursday, after a judge refused to order his return to Minnesota.

Christian Castro was released at the break of dawn from a detention center in Brownsville. He motioned his hand toward a few camera operators and a reporter crowding around him and quickly got into an SUV that drove off.

A day earlier, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. wrote in an order that said he couldn't prevent a county sheriff from releasing Castro or order Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to sign his extradition warrant.

RELATED STORY | Judge denies Minnesota bid to extradite ICE officer from Texas, paving way for his release

Castro is charged in Minnesota with assault and falsely reporting a crime in the Jan. 14 shooting of 24-year-old Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Castro is accused of firing a gun through the front door of a Minneapolis home, shooting Sosa-Celis in the leg. Prosecutors say Castro also falsely accused Sosa-Celis and another man of attacking an ICE officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel.

After a Minnesota judge issued a nationwide warrant for Castro's arrest in May, authorities, including Minnesotas Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, arrested Castro in Cameron County on May 29. Minnesota authorities have sought his extradition since his arrest, but he remained in custody in Brownsville, a city bordering Mexico.

Under Texas law and barring extradition, Castro had to be released after 90 days of detention, which was Thursday.

RELATED STORY | Minnesota sues Texas governor to force extradition of ICE agent accused in shooting

Minnesota officials believe Castro could flee to Mexico.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a request for a temporary restraining order last week seeking to block Castros release or to order his return to Minnesota.

Texas attorneys on Tuesday argued the judge could not rule on a decision thats still pending. Abbott has not denied the extradition. Instead, he is waiting for the outcome of an internal state investigation considering whether Castro was legally a fugitive under the Extradition Clause, the lawyers said.

The judge wrote in Wednesdays order that the court couldn't yet step in.

The Court concludes that it lacks subject matter jurisdiction because the case is not ripe for adjudication, the order read. Minnesota cannot premise its causes of action on the allegation that Governor Abbott may violate those authorities in the future; it must prove that a violation has already occurred.

The judge said in his order that the extradition laws do not outline how long the Texas governor can take to make that decision.

Ellison said in a statement that his office would keep litigating the case but didnt specify what it would do next.

Abbotts press secretary, Andrew Mahaleris, welcomed the ruling and said it was the governors duty to carefully consider the merits of extradition requests.

Abbott said last week he would not respond to the extradition request, citing the ongoing investigation into fraud in government social service programs in Minnesota, which President Donald Trump used to justify his immigration crackdown there.

Minnesota officials say Castro could flee the country, citing calls he made from jail to a woman in Mexico, talking about marrying her and buying a house in Mexico when he is released, according to the lawsuit.

The judge conceded that Castro could flee the country but added that the threat of injury by itself does not create an issue ripe for adjudication.

An Idaho judge has set the timeline for Bryan Kohberger's attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students, and he is warning attorneys on both sides that he will hold any new evidence in the case to a strict legal standard.

Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler, who sentenced Kohberger to life in prison without parole after Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders last year, set out the guidelines for how the case will proceed in a written order Wednesday morning.

RELATED STORY | Kohberger tells NYT he wants to withdraw guilty plea and face trial for murder of Idaho college students

The judge did not grant Kohberger a hearing on his claims that his guilty plea should be withdrawn. Instead, Hippler scheduled in a date for next June in case he determines an evidentiary hearing is warranted.

Kohberger, 31, is serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen in a rental home near the Moscow, Idaho, campus in 2022. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Kohberger filed a handwritten petition last month asking the court to let him take back his plea, saying his attorneys manipulated him into making the deal by promising him better prison conditions and scaring him about the quality of life on death row.

Kohberger offered only a few details in elaboration, saying they failed to disclose or review evidence that might have helped his case during plea discussions. Kohberger has since been appointed a new attorney, Greg Rauch, who said he couldn't immediately comment on the case.

RELATED STORY | Kohberger alibi to dispute his location on night of Idaho murders

In Wednesday's order, Hippler told prosecutors and Kohberger's attorney that they must strictly adhere to the Idaho Rules of Court Procedure, particularly the sections detailing what evidence is admissible in court. The judge also detailed how both sides should object to evidence that they feel is not admissible.

Anyone who doesn't comply with the court's order could be subject to sanctions, Hippler wrote.

Hippler said both sides should disclose any potential witnesses, including experts, by the start of February. He also set a status conference for next June.

The deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists. That may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later, they suggested.

Scientists are still piecing together information from satellite and ground-level data to figure out exactly what happened to cause the flood, which killed at least 273 people and left more than 1,300 missing, including foreigners and pilgrims. Among the missing are 65 Americans, the National Tourism Board said.

The U.S. Geological Survey on Wednesday reported a magnitude 5.2 glacier collapse that sent debris flowing downstream with catastrophic impact on communities. It said its determination was based on data from nearby seismic stations, long period seismic waves and satellite imagery.

A lower part of a glacier has really come off, said Jakob Steiner, a geoscientist at the University of Graz in Austria who is currently based in Bangladesh. If you look at the imagery its like someone cut with a huge knife through the whole lower part and it fell off.

Steiner said a mass of glacial ice dropping from a great height could have felt like a bomb exploding, resulting in the chaos that followed.

RELATED STORY | At least 160 killed and hundreds missing after flash floods in Nepal and China

Scientists said it is too early to draw a direct connection between global warming and Wednesdays catastrophe. However, they said that as Earths temperature rises because of human activities such as burning oil, gas and coal, the chances of such disasters increase, especially in the Himalayan mountains, which are warming considerably faster than many other parts of the world.

We have to be cautious and not draw a connection yet. However, rising temperatures are changing the Hindu Kush Himalaya region and melting glaciers, said Saswat Sanyal, a disaster risk reduction specialist at the Kathmandu-based climate research group International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development.

Hundreds have lost their homes across the Himalayan region, and officials reported large-scale damage to critical infrastructure, including hydropower dams, roads, buildings and bridges in the region.

Sudden rise in water levels gave no chance to escape

Water levels in rivers across the flood-affected region rose by as much as 9 meters (29.5 feet) in 30 minutes as a result of the surge from the glacial detachment upstream, researchers at the Kathmandu-based climate research group said.

It was a huge rise, a huge surge of water that happened suddenly, said Sanyal.

Preliminary evidence suggests a large volume of ice and rock may have plunged into the Lhende Khola, a tributary of the Bhote Koshi River. Researchers said the collapse could have displaced water and picked up loose sediment and boulders, producing a powerful surge downstream. Researchers are also examining whether debris temporarily dammed the river before the impounded water burst through, magnifying the flood.

Steiner said the area has a history of destructive mountain hazards. Floods originating from a glacial lake struck the same valley in 2025, while an ice and rock avalanche occurred elsewhere in the area in 2024. The broader Langtang region was also hit by devastating avalanches during Nepals 2015 earthquake.

Climate change increasing risks in the Himalayas

The Hindu Kush Himalaya is warming rapidly, driving major changes in glaciers, snow cover, permafrost and mountain slopes, according to climate scientists.

RELATED STORY | Earths climate is now 'out of balance,' new global report warns

The mountains contain the largest volume of snow and ice outside the polar regions. More than 63,000 glaciers in the area feed at least 10 major Asian river systems and support the food, water, energy and livelihood security of billions of people.

However, around 78% of the glacier area, located between 4,500 and 6,000 meters above sea level, is highly exposed to warming.

What happened yesterday is unfortunately the new normal. Its going to get worse from here onwards, Steiner said.

The last decade was the hottest multi-year period globally since records began, and 2024 was the warmest year ever recorded. United Nations reports have found that between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost 267 gigatons of ice per year, roughly equivalent to the mass of 46,500 Great Pyramids of Giza.

In a warming world, the reports project the loss of up to 50% of all glaciers excluding those in Greenland and Antarctica by 2100, even if global warming can be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Current global policies put Earth on a trajectory to warm by about 2.8 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels by the end of the century.

Research by the Kathmandu-based group has found that glaciers across these mountains are melting at an accelerating rate, with ice-loss rates doubling since 2000.

Melting glaciers can feed and enlarge glacial lakes, increasing the potential for sudden floods.

As glaciers retreat, mountain rock that was previously insulated and supported by ice becomes exposed to warmer temperatures, rain and repeated freezing and thawing. Permafrost ground that has remained frozen for years can also thaw, weakening rock faces and slopes.

RELATED STORY | El Nio is here and scientists fear it'll be big, bad and costly

The chances that material starts to move down from mountains increase, Steiner said.

Sanyal said that may be the kind of cascading hazard behind what happened Wednesday in Nepal: An avalanche or glacier collapse that turns into a debris flow, river blockage and devastating flash flood.

Fast growth and lack of warnings compound disaster

Steiner said about 10% of Nepals power production was located in the valley affected by the latest disaster. He said the repeated losses raise questions about whether enough has been done to install warning systems for residents and visitors alike after previous floods and avalanches.

The country's landscape has long been a draw for tourists, with more than a million people visiting the country annually in recent years.

Scientists say stronger early warning systems, better monitoring and faster cross-border information sharing will be increasingly important as temperatures rise and mountain landscapes become less stable.

But monitoring thousands of glaciers, steep slopes and river valleys across the Himalayan arc is extremely difficult.

And when cascading disasters begin, there may be only minutes to act.

We dont have hours, Sanyal said. We have sometimes a few minutes to actually prepare.

Steiner said a red line has already been reached where some regions of Nepal are just too risky to live in now.

We expected previous similar disasters to be a wake-up call for governments in the Himalayan region, but its a bit frustrating that the damages never seem to be horrible enough, Steiner said.

Im not super optimistic that from tomorrow onwards there will be clear solutions, he added. We know what can be done, but various stakeholders need to coordinate and make things happen.

The Pro Bowl is no more, the NFL announced Wednesday, ending an exhibition of the league's top players that was held in some form almost every year since 1951.

The game wasn't played in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was the only pause in the postseason event.

"It's OK to be the first league to walk away from a competitive all-star game," NFL executive vice president Peter O'Reilly said at the owners' meeting in Atlanta.

The league said 88 players will still be named as Pro Bowlers and honored in Los Angeles after this season. Several flag football events also will take place at that time.

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"The Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL," O'Reilly said in a statement. "A Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the best. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans."

O'Reilly said the decision was "a shift from the game to the honor."

Troy Vincent, the league's executive vice president of football operations, said he heard from players that they "don't want competitive play" after the playoffs.

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"You come off the championship games and the viewers see the physicality of the game and you try to replicate that," Vincent said. "Frankly, it just doesn't sit well. This isn't a good representation."

The Pro Bowl has waned in popularity in recent years. Once a staple in Honolulu, the NFL has moved the event to various cities and even switched from tackle to flag football in 2023.

Blake Lively will get just over $400,000 of the $8 million she sought in legal costs from actor and director Justin Baldoni after they settled their fight over the production of their 2024 film It Ends With Us, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

Judge Lewis J. Liman explained in a written decision in Manhattan why Lively was not entitled to the full amount that her lawyers claim was spent after Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios LLC, filed their own claims in response to her December 2024 lawsuit.

RELATED STORY | Blake Lively accuses 'It Ends With Us' director Justin Baldoni of harassment and smear campaign

Acknowledging Lively and Baldoni had waged fierce battle against each other in court, the judge denied Lively the bulk of legal fees she sought, citing the limits of a California law designed to protect survivors of sexual harassment and discrimination from retaliatory lawsuits.

The law meant to protect sex abuse survivors from legal actions designed to intimidate and silence victims could only be construed to let her be reimbursed for what she paid lawyers to defend against defamation claims rather than all claims Baldoni made against her, Liman wrote.

Thus, the judge ruled, Lively is entitled to $363,245 in attorneys' fees and $44,206 in costs.

Lawyers on both sides claimed victory for their clients.

Attorney Bryan Freedman, representing Baldoni, called the ruling a significant victory for my clients that will leave Lively with less than 5% of what she requested in legal fees.

He said in a statement that it also "sends a clear message that, no matter how powerful you may be, the courtroom is not a place to take advantage of the law for your own personal gain.

Attorneys Esra Hudson and Michael Gottlieb, representing Lively, said in a statement that Liman's decision was historic because it was the first time under the California law that money was awarded. They said it showed there are real consequences of bringing retaliatory lawsuits.

The lawyers added that Lively had lifted the curtain for other victims, and set the precedent for others to come forward and expose similar conduct.

In her lawsuit, Lively asserted that she had been subjected to sexual harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy.

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.

Weeks after Lively sued, Baldoni and Wayfarer asserted claims in a countersuit against Lively and her husband, Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, of civil extortion, defamation, invasion of privacy, breach of good faith and fair dealing and economic interference.

In June 2025, Liman tossed out the countersuit Baldoni and Wayfarer had filed and nearly a year later rejected Lively's sexual harassment claims on the grounds that she was an independent contractor rather than an employee when she worked on the film.

In early May, two weeks before a scheduled trial, Lively and Baldoni reached a settlement, saying in a joint statement that Livelys 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 Hoovers bestselling 2016 novel about a relationship devolving into domestic violence, was released in August 2024 and exceeded box office expectations despite criticism that it glorified abuse. Lively and Baldonis fractious falling out took attention away from the film, overshadowing its message and success.

Lively said in her lawsuit that during filming, Baldoni made inappropriate comments about her appearance, violated physical boundaries while filming a love scene, and pushed for nudity against Livelys wishes during a scene in which her character was giving birth.

Baldoni denied doing anything outside the realm of the normal creative process of making a movie.

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.

Former NBA center Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Sunday night's Indiana-Chicago WNBA game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.

Freedom was sitting along the baseline. He had on a black shirt that read WOMAN noun. adult human female.

The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Kanter's direction.

Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter, 34, as she approached him. A standing Kanter held his arms out and took one step on the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two.

There was just a fan incident and the security handled it, and we're just going to focus on the game, Chicago forward Azura Stevens said after the Sky's 113-90 loss.

Chicago coach Tyler Marsh said Cloud was concerned about being a distraction for the team.

I told her she wasnt, Marsh said. I told her that we all embrace her as someone that protects our team and protects people that need to be protected and so Tash is always going to stand on that, and we stand for Tash.

Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby.

He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing Wintrust Arena.

I didnt see it, we were talking about the next play in our huddle," Indiana star Caitlin Clark said, "so I think thats probably a question for Chicago.

Cloud met with team and league security after the game. She did not speak with the media.

The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA.

Although the leagues collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth.

Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said in an ESPN profile published last month that she was opposed to transgender girls and women competing in girls and womens sports. Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared themselves eligible for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women.

Kanter joined a small rally in support of Cunningham outside the arena before the game.

Asked if he had a message for Kanter, Marsh praised the league and its players.

If you come to a game you should probably come to enjoy the basketball," he said, and that seems pretty simple to me. I think these players deserve that and have earned that. Being a former basketball player, you should probably understand and feel that too.

For once, things were moving fast in the nation's capital.

Washington was hosting an IndyCar race through its streets Sunday, with President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump kicking off the Freedom 250 Grand Prix by leading a slow lap in the presidential limousine through the course. Soon after, the president waved the green flag to start the race and drivers began whipping through downtown, including a stretch along Pennsylvania Avenue not too far from the White House.

Im going to make a little circle in a nice, secure car, slightly slower than the ones were going to witness, but were going to have fun, Trump said in an interview on Fox shortly before the ride.

The open-wheel race, with cars whizzing past Washingtons monuments at speeds approaching 200 mph, is the latest of Trumps celebrations this year to mark Americas 250th birthday.

Trumps other events to mark the semiquincentennial of the Declaration of Independences signing have included a UFC fight on the White House lawn, military aircraft flyovers, a massive July Fourth fireworks show on the National Mall and a Great American State Fair that the president headlined after scores of 90s-era musical acts dropped out. The events have all had a Trumpian flair, featuring appearances from his friends and the aim of showcasing spectacle, Americana and power.

In this latest case, it was be horsepower.

Racing day brings out some of Trump's favorites

Sunday included some of Trump's favorite flourishes. One of his favorite singers, tenor Christopher Macchio, performed, The Star-Spangled Banner. A trained bald eagle was dramatically released near the start line, and it swooped and flew overhead before returning to its handler.

There were flyovers of military aircraft, which have boomed over the city during the July Fourth celebrations, among other events. One flyover Sunday involved a formation featuring a B-2 stealth bomber, which Trump frequently boasts about for its role in dropping massive bunker-buster bombs on Iranian nuclear facilities last year.

Air Force One, escorted by four fighter jets, flew overhead as Trump did his lap. The jet was the Qatar-gifted aircraft that the president has been using as Air Force One, which has attracted scrutiny not only for Trumps acceptance of the luxury gift but because it is not equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems found on older presidential jets.

The IndyCar race took place Trump has struggled to resolve the war he started nearly six months ago with Iran, a conflict that has driven up gasoline prices and exacerbated worries from officials in his Republican Party that voters in this Novembers midterm elections see the president as distracted and not focused enough on cost-of-living concerns.

Trump in his second term has increasingly seemed to focus on relishing the presidencys ceremonial aspects. That's included a healthy dose of visits to sporting events including an appearance last month at the World Cup final, where he presented the trophy to winner Spain and lingered onstage with the team as its members jumped in a hail of confetti.

Bringing Indy to DC was a longtime quest for racing series owner

From his viewing box, Trump had the honor of waving the green flag to kick off the race.

Before the race, Trump and his wife met and chatted with some of the race drivers. They then took a slow drive through the course in a small motorcade and could be seen waving at the crowd as a Marine Corps band played Stars and Stripes Forever."

IndyCar series owner Roger Penske, a longtime friend of Trumps who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from him in 2019, helped lead the effort to bring the race to Washington.

Trump told Fox on Sunday that Penske told him that he had been trying to bring the race to Washington for 20 years.

When he came to see Trump it got done in about 15 minutes and its turned out to be much bigger than we ever even thought possible, the president said, referring to himself in the third person.

Penske met Trump when he arrived at the course and later joined him in his viewing box, as did the presidents friend and UFC CEO Dana White, who helped put on the fight at the White House in June.

An executive order Trump signed earlier this year calling for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix declared that the cars and drivers inspire awe and respect in all who watch this quintessentially American sport, and the event will showcase the majesty of our great city as drivers navigate a track around our iconic national monuments in celebration of Americas 250th birthday.

Trump wanted to hear freedom roar from the powerful racing machines

Their beautiful cars are going to make freedom roar. This will be a freedom thats roaring like never before, Trump said at the White House earlier this month as he promoted the event.

Bud Denker, president of Penske Corporation and the races chair, said that Penske is paying for the vast majority of the race, including building the track and road improvements, while the District of Columbia handled some repaving.

Among the changes needed on the citys streets for the Indycar race was the welding of more than 200 maintenance hole covers to ensure the race cars dont suck them up off the road.

Sundays festivities were also the latest opportunity for Trump to revel in the way hes putting his mark on the nations capital, including large banners showing his face on government buildings, the construction of a massive White House ballroom, a gold-adorned Oval Office and botched repairs at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

An out-of-control wildfire that jumped over fire trucks and made it difficult for crews to reach hot spots destroyed homes in northwest Reno, Nevada, on Sunday. Shifting winds challenged firefighters trying to bring it under control, and authorities urged some 90,000 people to evacuate.

At least six people three first responders and three civilians were injured. Officials said the fire was human-caused but did not provide details on how they reached that conclusion, or whether it was intentionally set or accidental.

The Hawk Fire began Saturday and grew to more than 23 square miles (60 sq. km.) as it spread Sunday across the Peavine Peak area of the HumboldtToiyabe National Forest, where rugged foothills are ringed by homes and businesses near the California state line. There was zero containment.

Some 42,000 residents have been ordered evacuated as the GO NOW zone expanded, reaching the edge of the University of Nevada. An additional 45,000 people were in the adjacent evacuation warning zone. Authorities urged people to be prepared to stay away for several days, because shifting and strengthening winds were expected to make the fire even more unpredictable.

Please get out if you can right now, Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said.

A Sunday evening update said crews observed extreme fire behavior as gusts pushed flames through dry brush.

Over the next 12 hours, the fire is expected to continue to make moderate to high intensity runs in pockets of dense fuels, the statement said.

A family raced to grab possessions but lost their home

It wasn't known how many homes were destroyed. Cari Kieffer said a video posted on social media showed her house entirely burned down, with only a scorched basketball hoop still standing.

I woke up this morning and just started crying all my kids, they lost everything, Kieffer said Sunday. We lost all our stuff. Everything we own is gone.

Kieffer had been watching her sons football game Saturday when she learned that their home on the outskirts of Reno was in the evacuation zone. An app the family used to track the fires progress had been lagging significantly behind its actual location, she said, so they thought firefighters had kept the blaze from their neighborhood.

Instead, Kieffer, her husband and their four children ages 3 to 16 raced to save their dogs and whatever possessions they could retrieve. Ash rained down, and the wind blew like an oven blast from a wall of flames advancing down the hillside toward their neighborhood, she said.

I kept looking outside and the flames just kept getting closer and closer every time I looked, Kieffer said. I was like, we gotta go like now.

Eyes watering and throat burning, Kieffer grabbed a handful of clothes, a Bible, her wedding photos and her mothers ashes. In the frenzy, as firefighters yelled at her family to leave immediately, she said she forgot her familys birth certificates and was unable to salvage her childhood photos.

The family drove to a friends home but had to evacuate again. They learned later Saturday evening that their own home was gone.

Governor declares state of emergency and mobilizes National Guard

Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency in Washoe County and mobilized the Nevada National Guard to support aerial firefighting with two helicopter crews as well as 60 troops to help police safeguard evacuated neighborhoods. Also responding were 800 fire personnel.

Nearly 10,000 customers were without power in Washoe County on Sunday, down from 60,000 on Saturday. Portions of U.S. Route 395, a major north-south highway, were closed due to the fire. Reno, with more than 280,000 residents, is the largest city in Nevada outside of metro Las Vegas.

Washoe County emergency officials opened the Reno-Sparks Convention Center to evacuees, but said they couldnt bring their pets small animals and large animals were to be left at two other locations. Casinos in Reno offered discounts on hotel rooms to evacuees.

The fire turned destructive fast

The fire was so small Saturday morning that it wasnt even a concern, said Tyler Duvall, who went camping over the weekend. By the next day, his house was in the evacuation zone.

The wind really blew it up, Duvall said.

On Saturday alone, 15 new fires popped up across Nevada. Months of dry weather and a record lack of snow this past winter across the American West have created prime fire conditions. Earlier this month, wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area, while three wildfires north of Reno forced more than 13,000 residents from their homes.

A mountaintop home goes up in flames

Jaida Hargroves grandfather, Rick Arrate, lived alone on Peavine Mountain, which overlooks Reno and Sparks. Firefighters used a bulldozer, cut down trees and applied fire retardant in their attempt to contain the flames, Hargrove said.

They all thought it would be OK, she said. And then, in about 30 minutes, the winds just changed and it came way too fast.

Arrate and the firefighters were quickly forced off the mountain. All he was able to take with him was his two golden retrievers, Hargrove said.

Arrate spent Saturday night with Hargroves parents, his next steps unknown.

Separate GoFundMe crowdfunding campaigns were set up to assist Arrate and the Kieffer family.

A Nevada transplant gets a rude welcome to Reno

Retired police officer and firefighter Ted Melden has seen his share of Mother Natures fury since moving to Reno with his wife earlier this month from Chapin, South Carolina. So far, he has experienced a hailstorm with flash flooding, two different power outages and, now, the second wildfire incident in the region in two weeks.

Just another natural disaster, Melden said.

In the two years he lived in South Carolina, Melden said Hurricane Helene knocked over trees in his yard, while a tornado did some damage in his neighborhood.

For now, Melden hasnt been ordered to leave his home, but he has his bags packed just in case.

You just have to roll with the flow and be ready, he said.

David Barb returned from a weekend hunting trip to find the fire had leveled his taxidermy shop, but his house nearby appeared to have been spared thanks to workers with a landscaping company who cut a fire break, he said. His wife was home when the fire started on the other side of the mountain and later evacuated to a friends house.

Im kind of devastated, but thank God everyones safe, he said Sunday.

Residents just outside the evacuation zone are keeping watch

The University of Nevada, where many of the 20,000 undergraduates moved into their housing this weekend, was just outside the evacuation zone Sunday.

Two hospitals evacuated patients and the sheriff said his office was keeping a close watch on whether to evacuate the county jail.

The fire moved exceptionally fast Saturday night, jumping over fire trucks and making it difficult for responders to get to hot spots while residents were trying to get out, the sheriff said.

It was extremely confusing, Balaam said, describing how changing winds sent the flames in different directions.

A Texas judge denied a new trial for Karmelo Anthony on Saturday in the stabbing death of a 17-year-old athlete at a high school track meet, a killing that drew national attention and led to harassment of the families.

Anthony, 19, was convicted of murder in June and sentenced to 35 years in prison for the April 2025 killing of Austin Metcalf.

Judge Michael Chitty denied the retrial motion in a half-page order following a two-day hearing this week near Dallas, citing a review of the evidence and arguments. He did not elaborate.

Russell Wilson, Anthony's attorney, said the defense would appeal.

Our commitment to our client has not changed, Wilson said. We will continue to advocate vigorously on his behalf through every lawful avenue available.

At the center of Anthonys retrial request was an off-the-record agreement between prosecutors and his trial defense team to keep damaging character evidence about both teenagers out of the proceeding. Both sides agreed to hold back evidence that risked further inflaming a case already boiling with racial tensions and death threats.

The case attracted widespread attention in part because of a flood of social media posts that amplified the killing in racial terms. Anthony is Black; Metcalf was white. Lawyers on both sides, however, told jurors that the case had nothing to do with race.

Worries that prosecutors would renege on the agreement as Anthony prepared to testify, his attorneys say, came after a heated argument between lawyers on both sides and changed their defense strategy at the eleventh hour. Anthony ultimately decided not to testify.

Prosecutor Bill Wirskye defended the trial as fair this week.

We respect, and expected, the courts decision denying the motion for a new trial, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said after the denial was announced. The jurys guilty verdict stands, and we remain confident in the process. Every defendant has the right to appeal, and our thoughts and prayers remain with the Metcalf family in the painful wake of last weeks hearing.

Anthonys attorneys also demanded a retrial because they said trial judge John Roachs courtroom rules were so strict that they limited the publics access to the proceedings. And in asking for Roach's recusal, they noted that he gave a posttrial interview with a Dallas TV station in which he expressed agreement with the jury's decision.

Whatever they say, they got it right, Roach said.

Roach said his rules were necessary for a fair trial, and prosecutors insisted he did nothing wrong.

Jurors rejected Anthonys claims that he was defending himself during a confrontation with Metcalf in the bleachers of the track meet.

Anthony and Metcalf were athletes for different high schools in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, where several teams were competing on the rainy spring day when the meet took place.

Anthony sat under the tent that belonged to Metcalf's team, and Metcalf and others repeatedly told him to leave, witnesses testified. That led to an escalating confrontation.

Prosecutors said Anthony provoked Metcalf, and witnesses identified Anthony as the aggressor.

At one point Anthony reached inside a bag and said: Touch me and see what happens, according to a police report.

Witnesses said Metcalf pushed Anthony, who pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a recent memorandum of understanding as the best way for the country to move beyond what he described as a situation of neither war nor peace.

There is not a single provision in this agreement that amounts to capitulation, Pezeshkian said in a speech published by state-run IRNA early on Sunday. The supreme leader sets the policies, and we will follow that path.

The deal known as the Memorandum of Understanding that U.S. President Donald Trump signed in June set a 60-day deadline for ending the war with Iran and reaching an accord on its nuclear program. That period ended last week, but no signs of compromise have emerged, especially on the crucial issue of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, vital to global shipping.

Pezeshkian also linked the agreement to Irans economic prospects, saying the country couldn't attract investment in this stalled phase.

Nearly six months into the war with the United States and Israel, Iran's economy is suffering under sanctions and a naval blockade.

Iran's security chief warns neighbors not to join any sanctions

Meanwhile, the hard-line new leader of Irans Supreme National Security Council warned Tehrans neighbors against joining the new U.S. effort to hurt Irans economy.

If (Trump) wants to do something, we will retaliate in a seismic manner, Mohsen Rezaei said in an interview with the state broadcaster that aired Saturday.

Rezaei was named this month as part of senior appointments widely seen as hardening Tehrans political and military stance. His interview with IRIB is his most extensive public statement since then.

Rezaei said Iran would target oil-shipping routes out of the Persian Gulf alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz if neighbors join what he described as the economic war against Iran.

Pakistan's army chief will visit Tehran

Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir will lead an official delegation traveling to Tehran on Monday, Iranian state television reported, citing Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei.

Two regional officials said that the visit was part of Islamabads ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions between the United States and Iran, and urge both countries to return to the negotiating table. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Iran executes man arrested during January's protests

The judiciarys Mizan news agency reported on Sunday the latest execution connected to the protests, identifying the man as Majid Adineh and saying he was arrested Jan. 9 in Mohammadshahr, near Karaj, west of Tehran. Authorities said that he was carrying a handgun with 30 rounds of ammunition, two stun guns, two cans of tear gas and a battery-powered chainsaw.

The judiciary said that forensic examinations indicated the handgun had been fired on Jan. 8 and 9. Mizan said Adineh had joined the unrest following calls by groups opposed to Irans government and alleged that he had received training from groups outside the country.

A Revolutionary Court in Karaj later convicted Adineh under Irans law imposing harsher penalties for espionage and cooperation with hostile states. Mizan said that the verdict accused him of carrying out operations on behalf of Israel, the United States and other groups Iran considers hostile.

We view every launch as an act of war in every respect, he said.

Before the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants on Israel when 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage burning kites and balloons were sent from Gaza into southern Israel, causing fires and other damage.

While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a fragile ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing more than 1,280 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.

The overall war death toll in Gaza has passed 73,400 Palestinians, Gazas Health Ministry said. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it doesn't give a breakdown of civilians and militants.

Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.