Amid rising electric bills, states are under pressure to insulate regular household and business ratepayers from the costs of feeding Big Tech's energy-hungry data centers.

It's not clear that any state has a solution and the actual effect of data centers on electricity bills is difficult to pin down. Some critics question whether states have the spine to take a hard line against tech behemoths like Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta.

But more than a dozen states have begun taking steps as data centers drive a rapid build-out of power plants and transmission lines.

That has meant pressuring the nation's biggest power grid operator to clamp down on price increases, studying the effect of data centers on electricity bills or pushing data center owners to pay a larger share of local transmission costs.

Rising power bills are something legislators have been hearing a lot about. Its something weve been hearing a lot about. More people are speaking out at the public utility commission in the past year than Ive ever seen before, said Charlotte Shuff of the Oregon Citizens Utility Board, a consumer advocacy group. Theres a massive outcry.

Not the typical electric customer

Some data centers could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans, and make huge factories look tiny by comparison. That's pushing policymakers to rethink a system that, historically, has spread transmission costs among classes of consumers that are proportional to electricity use.

A lot of this infrastructure, billions of dollars of it, is being built just for a few customers and a few facilities and these happen to be the wealthiest companies in the world, said Ari Peskoe, who directs the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard University. I think some of the fundamental assumptions behind all this just kind of breaks down.

A fix, Peskoe said, is a can of worms" that pits ratepayer classes against one another.

Some officials downplay the role of data centers in pushing up electric bills.

Tricia Pridemore, who sits on Georgias Public Service Commission and is president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, pointed to an already tightened electricity supply and increasing costs for power lines, utility poles, transformers and generators as utilities replace aging equipment or harden it against extreme weather.

The data centers needed to accommodate the artificial intelligence boom are still in the regulatory planning stages, Pridemore said, and the Data Center Coalition, which represents Big Tech firms and data center developers, has said its members are committed to paying their fair share.

But growing evidence suggests that the electricity bills of some Americans are rising to subsidize the massive energy needs of Big Tech as the U.S. competes in a race against China for artificial intelligence superiority.

Data and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie published a report in recent weeks that suggested 20 proposed or effective specialized rates for data centers in 16 states it studied arent nearly enough to cover the cost of a new natural gas power plant.

In other words, unless utilities negotiate higher specialized rates, other ratepayer classes residential, commercial and industrial are likely paying for data center power needs.

Meanwhile, Monitoring Analytics, the independent market watchdog for the mid-Atlantic grid, produced research in June showing that 70% or $9.3 billion of last year's increased electricity cost was the result of data center demand.

States are responding

Last year, five governors led by Pennsylvania's Josh Shapiro began pushing back against power prices set by the mid-Atlantic grid operator, PJM Interconnection, after that amount spiked nearly sevenfold. They warned of customers paying billions more than is necessary.

PJM has yet to propose ways to guarantee that data centers pay their freight, but Monitoring Analytics is floating the idea that data centers should be required to procure their own power.

In a filing last month, it said that would avoid a "massive wealth transfer from average people to tech companies.

At least a dozen states are eyeing ways to make data centers pay higher local transmission costs.

In Oregon, a data center hot spot, lawmakers passed legislation in June ordering state utility regulators to develop new presumably higher power rates for data centers.

The Oregon Citizens Utility Board says there is clear evidence that costs to serve data centers are being spread across all customers at a time when some electric bills there are up 50% over the past four years and utilities are disconnecting more people than ever.

New Jerseys governor signed legislation last month commissioning state utility regulators to study whether ratepayers are being hit with unreasonable rate increases to connect data centers and to develop a specialized rate to charge data centers.

In some other states, like Texas and Utah, governors and lawmakers are trying to avoid a supply-and-demand crisis that leaves ratepayers on the hook or in the dark.

Doubts about states protecting ratepayers

In Indiana, state utility regulators approved a settlement between Indiana Michigan Power Co., Amazon, Google, Microsoft and consumer advocates that set parameters for data center payments for service.

Kerwin Olsen, of the Citizens Action Council of Indiana, a consumer advocacy group, signed the settlement and called it a pretty good deal that contained more consumer protections than what state lawmakers passed.

But, he said, state law doesn't force large power users like data centers to publicly reveal their electric usage, so pinning down whether they're paying their fair share of transmission costs "will be a challenge.

In a March report, the Environmental and Energy Law Program at Harvard University questioned the motivation of utilities and regulators to shield ratepayers from footing the cost of electricity for data centers.

Both utilities and states have incentives to attract big customers like data centers, it said.

To do it, utilities which must get their rates approved by regulators can offer special deals to favored customers like a data center and effectively shift the costs of those discounts to regular ratepayers, the authors wrote. Many state laws can shield disclosure of those rates, they said.

In Pennsylvania, an emerging data center hot spot, the state utility commission is drafting a model rate structure for utilities to consider adopting. An overarching goal is to get data center developers to put their money where their mouth is.

Were talking about real transmission upgrades, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, commission chairman Stephen DeFrank said. And thats what you dont want the ratepayer to get stuck paying for."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Saturday the planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, warning that any peace deal excluding Kyiv would lead to dead solutions.

The Trump-Putin meeting, scheduled for Friday in Alaska, is seen as a potential breakthrough.

Trump had previously agreed to meet with Putin even if the Russian leader would not meet with Zelenskyy, stoking fears Ukraine could be sidelined in efforts to stop the continents biggest conflict since World War II.

In a statement posted to Telegram, Zelenskyy said Ukraines territorial integrity, enshrined in the constitution, must be non-negotiable and emphasized that lasting peace must include Ukraines voice at the table.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine will not give Russia any awards for what it has done and that Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier.

Touching on Ukrainian anxieties that a direct meeting between Putin and Trump could marginalize Kyiv and European interests, Zelenskyy said: Any decisions that are without Ukraine are at the same time decisions against peace. They will not bring anything. These are dead decisions. They will never work.

RELATED STORY | Trump to meet with Putin next week in Alaska to discuss Ukraine ceasefire deal

Ukrainian officials had previously told the Associated Press privately that Kyiv would be amenable to a peace deal that would de facto recognize Ukraines inability to regain lost territories militarily.

The summit

Trump said he will meet with Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

It seems entirely logical for our delegation to fly across the Bering Strait simply, and for such an important and anticipated summit of the leaders of the two countries to be held in Alaska, Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Saturday in a statement posted to the Kremlin's news channel.

Such a summit may prove pivotal in a war that began more than three years ago when Russia invaded its western neighbor and has led to tens of thousands of deaths, although theres no guarantee it will stop the fighting since Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart on their conditions for peace.

In comments to reporters at the White House before his post confirming the date and place, Trump suggested that any agreement would likely involve some swapping of territories, but he gave no details. Analysts, including some close to the Kremlin, have suggested that Russia could offer to give up territory it controls outside of the four regions it claims to have annexed.

Trump said his meeting with Putin would come before any sit-down discussion involving Zelenskyy. His announcement that he planned to host one of Americas adversaries on U.S. soil broke with expectations that theyd meet in a third country. The gesture gives Putin validation after the U.S. and its allies had long sought to make him a pariah over his war against Ukraine.

Ultimatums and sanctions

Exasperated that Putin did not heed his calls to stop bombing Ukrainian cities, Trump, almost two weeks ago, moved up his ultimatum to impose additional sanctions on Russia and introduce secondary tariffs targeting countries that buy Russian oil if the Kremlin did not move toward a settlement.

The deadline was Friday. But the White House did not answer questions that evening about the state of possible sanctions after Trump announced an upcoming meeting with Putin.

Prior to Trump announcing the meeting with Putin, his efforts to pressure Russia into stopping the fighting had delivered no progress. The Kremlins bigger army is slowly advancing deeper into Ukraine at great cost in troops and armor while it relentlessly bombards Ukrainian cities. Russia and Ukraine are far apart on their terms for peace.

Russia and Ukraine trade attacks

Two people died and 16 were wounded Saturday when a Russian drone hit a minibus in the suburbs of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. Two others died after a Russian drone struck their car in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov.

Ukraines air force said Saturday it intercepted 16 of the 47 Russian drones launched overnight, while 31 drones hit targets across 15 different locations. It also said it shot down one of the two missiles Russia deployed.

Meanwhile, Russias Defense Ministry said its air defenses shot down 97 Ukrainian drones over Russia and the Black Sea overnight into Saturday, and 21 more on Saturday morning.

Colleges will be required to submit data to prove they do not consider race in admissions under a new policy ordered Thursday by President Donald Trump.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action in admissions but said colleges may still consider how race has shaped students lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.

Trump is accusing colleges of using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.

The role of race in admissions has featured in the Trump administration's battle against some of the nation's most elite colleges viewed by Republicans as liberal hotbeds. For example, the new policy is similar to parts of recent settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.

Trump says colleges may be skirting SCOTUS ruling

Conservatives have argued that despite the Supreme Court ruling, colleges have continued to consider race.

"The persistent lack of available data paired with the rampant use of diversity statements and other overt and hidden racial proxies continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in admissions decisions in practice, says the memorandum signed by Trump.

The memo directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to require colleges to report more data to provide adequate transparency into admissions. The National Center for Education Statistics will collect new data, including the race and sex of colleges' applicants, admitted students and enrolled students, the Education Department said in a statement.

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete and accurate data, McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students, according to the memo.

It is unclear what practical impact the executive order will have on colleges. Current understanding of federal law prohibits them from collecting information on race as part of admissions, said Jon Fansmith, senior vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, an association of college presidents.

Ultimately, will it mean anything? Probably not, Fansmith said. But it does continue this rhetoric from the administration that some students are being preferenced in the admission process at the expense of other students.

Because of the Supreme Court ruling, colleges have been barred from asking the race of students who are applying, Fansmith said. Once students enroll, the schools can ask about race, but students must be told they have a right not to answer. In this political climate, many students wont report their race, Fansmith said. So when schools release data on student demographics, the figures often give only a partial picture of the campus makeup.

Diversity changed at some colleges but not all

The first year of admissions data after the Supreme Court ruling showed no clear pattern in how colleges' diversity changed. Results varied dramatically from one campus to the next.

Some schools, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Amherst College, saw steep drops in the percentage of Black students in their incoming classes. But at other elite, selective schools such as Yale, Princeton and the University of Virginia, the changes were less than a percentage point year to year.

Some colleges have added more essays or personal statements to their admissions process to get a better picture of an applicant's background, a strategy the Supreme Court invited in its ruling.

Nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicants discussion of how race affected the applicants life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in 2023 for the courts conservative majority.

As an alternative to affirmative action, colleges for years have tried a range of strategies to achieve the diversity they say is essential to their campuses.

Many have given greater preference to low-income families. Others started admitting top students from every community in their state.

Prior to the ruling, nine states had banned affirmative action, starting with California in 1996. The University of California saw enrollment change after the statewide ban in 1996. Within two years, Black and Hispanic enrollments fell by half at the systems two most selective campuses Berkeley and UCLA. The system would go on to spend more than $500 million on programs aimed at low-income and first-generation college students.

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The 10-campus University of California system also started a program that promises admission to the top 9% of students in each high school across the state, an attempt to reach strong students from all backgrounds. A similar promise in Texas has been credited for expanding racial diversity, and opponents of affirmative action cite it as a successful model.

In California, the promise drew students from a wider geographic area but did little to expand racial diversity, the system said in a brief to the Supreme Court. It had almost no impact at Berkeley and UCLA, where students compete against tens of thousands of other applicants.

Today at UCLA and Berkeley, Hispanic students make up 20% of undergraduates, higher than in 1996 but lower than their 53% share among Californias high school graduates. Black students, meanwhile, have a smaller presence than they did in 1996, accounting for 4% of undergraduates at Berkeley.

After Michigan voters rejected affirmative action in 2006, the University of Michigan shifted attention to low-income students.

The school sent graduates to work as counselors in low-income high schools and started offering college prep in Detroit and Grand Rapids. It offered full scholarships for low-income Michigan residents and, more recently, started accepting fewer early admission applications, which are more likely to come from white students.

Despite the University of Michigan's efforts, the share of Black and Hispanic undergraduates hasnt fully rebounded from a falloff after 2006. And while Hispanic enrollments have been increasing, Black enrollments continued to slide, going from 8% of undergraduates in 2006 to 4% in 2025.

The remains of three victims from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have been newly identified.

New York City officials announced Thursday they had identified remains of Ryan D. Fitzgerald, a 26-year-old currency trader; Barbara A. Keating, a 72-year-old retired nonprofit executive; and another woman whose name authorities kept private at her family's request.

They were identified through now-improved DNA testing of minute remains found more than 20 years ago amid the wreckage of the World Trade Center.

Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time," chief medical examiner Dr. Jason Graham said in a statement. We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost.

Keating's son, Paul Keating, told media outlets he was amazed and impressed by the enduring endeavor.

Its just an amazing feat, gesture," he told the New York Post. He said genetic material from part of his mothers hairbrush was matched to DNA samples from relatives. A bit of his mother's ATM card was the only other trace of her ever recovered from the debris, he said.

Barbara Keating was a passenger on Boston-to-Los Angeles-bound American Airlines Flight 11 when hijackers slammed it into the World Trade Center. She was headed home to Palm Springs, California, after spending the summer on Massachusetts' Cape Cod.

Keating had spent her career in social services, including a time as executive director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Middlesex, near Boston. In retirement, she was involved in her Roman Catholic church in Palm Springs.

The Associated Press sent messages Friday to her family and left messages at possible numbers for Fitzgerald's relatives.

Fitzgerald, who lived in Manhattan, was working at a financial firm at the trade center, studying for a master's degree in business and talking about a long-term future with his girlfriend, according to obituaries published at the time.

In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed when the hijackers crashed jetliners into the trade centers twin towers, the Pentagon and a field in southwest Pennsylvania on 9/11. The vast majority of the victims, more than 2,700, perished at the trade center.

The New York medical examiners office has steadily added to the roster of those with identified remains, most recently last year. The agency has tested and retested fragments as techniques advanced over the years and created new prospects for reading genetic code diminished by fire, sunlight, bacteria and more.

We hope the families receiving answers from the Office of Chief Medical Examiner can take solace in the citys tireless dedication to this mission, New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement Thursday.

James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.

Lovell died Thursday in Lake Forest, Illinois, NASA said in a statement on Friday.

Jims character and steadfast courage helped our nation reach the Moon and turned a potential tragedy into a success from which we learned an enormous amount, NASA said. "We mourn his passing even as we celebrate his achievements.

One of NASA's most traveled astronauts in the agency's first decade, Lovell flew four times Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8 and Apollo 13 with the two Apollo flights riveting the folks back on Earth.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 crew of Lovell, Frank Borman and William Anders was the first to leave Earth's orbit and the first to fly to and circle the moon. They could not land, but they put the U.S. ahead of the Soviets in the space race. Letter writers told the crew that their stunning pale blue dot photo of Earth from the moon, a world first, and the crew's Christmas Eve reading from Genesis saved America from a tumultuous 1968.

But the big rescue mission was still to come. That was during the harrowing Apollo 13 flight in April 1970. Lovell was supposed to be the fifth man to walk on the moon. But Apollo 13's service module, carrying Lovell and two others, experienced a sudden oxygen tank explosion on its way to the moon. The astronauts barely survived, spending four cold and clammy days in the cramped lunar module as a lifeboat.

''The thing that I want most people to remember is (that) in some sense it was very much of a success,'' Lovell said during a 1994 interview. ''Not that we accomplished anything, but a success in that we demonstrated the capability of (NASA) personnel.''

A retired Navy captain known for his calm demeanor, Lovell told a NASA historian that his brush with death did affect him.

I don't worry about crises any longer, he said in 1999. Whenever he has a problem, I say, I could have been gone back in 1970. I'm still here. I'm still breathing.' So, I don't worry about crises.

And the mission's retelling in the popular 1995 movie Apollo 13 brought Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert renewed fame thanks in part to Lovell's movie persona reporting "Houston, we have a problem," a phrase he didn't exactly utter.

RELATED STORY | NASA wants to put a nuclear reactor on the moon before other countries can

Lovell had ice water in his veins like other astronauts, but he didn't display the swagger some had, just quiet confidence, said Smithsonian Institution historian Roger Launius. He called Lovell a very personable, very down-to-earth type of person, who says 'This is what I do. Yes, there's risk involved. I measure risk'.

In all, Lovell flew four space missions and until the Skylab flights of the mid-1970s, he held the world record for the longest time in space with 715 hours, 4 minutes and 57 seconds.

Aboard Apollo 8, Lovell described the oceans and land masses of Earth. "What I keep imagining, is if I am some lonely traveler from another planet, what I would think about the Earth at this altitude, whether I think it would be inhabited or not," he remarked.

That mission may be as important as the historic Apollo 11 moon landing, a flight made possible by Apollo 8, Launius said.

"I think in the history of space flight, I would say that Jim was one of the pillars of the early space flight program," Gene Kranz, NASA's legendary flight director, once said.

But if historians consider Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 the most significant of the Apollo missions, it was during Lovell's last mission immortalized by the popular film starring Tom Hanks as Lovell that he came to embody for the public the image of the cool, decisive astronaut.

The Apollo 13 crew of Lovell, Haise and Swigert was on the way to the moon in April 1970, when an oxygen tank from the spaceship exploded 200,000 miles from Earth.

That, Lovell recalled, was the most frightening moment in this whole thing. Then oxygen began escaping and we didn't have solutions to get home.

We knew we were in deep, deep trouble, he told NASA's historian.

Four-fifths of the way to the moon, NASA scrapped the mission. Suddenly, their only goal was to survive.

Lovell's "Houston, we've had a problem," a variation of a comment Swigert had radioed moments before, became famous. In Hanks' version, it became "Houston, we have a problem."

What unfolded over the next four days captured the imagination of the nation and the world, which until then had largely been indifferent about what seemed a routine mission.

With Lovell commanding the spacecraft, Kranz led hundreds of flight controllers and engineers in a furious rescue plan.

The plan involved the astronauts moving from the service module, which was hemorrhaging oxygen, into the cramped, dark and frigid lunar lander while they rationed their dwindling oxygen, water and electricity. Using the lunar module as a lifeboat, they swung around the moon, aimed for Earth and raced home.

By coolly solving the problems under the most intense pressure imaginable, the astronauts and the crew on the ground became heroes. In the process of turning what seemed routine into a life-and-death struggle, the entire flight team had created one of NASA's finest moments that ranks with Neil Armstrongs and Buzz Aldrin's walks on the moon nine months earlier.

"They demonstrated to the world they could handle truly horrific problems and bring them back alive," said Launius.

The loss of the opportunity to walk on the moon "is my one regret," Lovell said in a 1995 interview with The Associated Press for a story on the 25th anniversary of the mission.

President Bill Clinton agreed when he awarded Lovell the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1995. "While you may have lost the moon ... you gained something that is far more important perhaps: the abiding respect and gratitude of the American people," he said.

Lovell once said that while he was disappointed he never walked on the moon, "The mission itself and the fact that we triumphed over certain catastrophe does give me a deep sense of satisfaction."

And Lovell clearly understood why this failed mission afforded him far more fame than had Apollo 13 accomplished its goal.

"Going to the moon, if everything works right, it's like following a cookbook. It's not that big a deal," he told the AP in 2004. "If something goes wrong, that's what separates the men from the boys."

James A. Lovell was born March 25, 1928, in Cleveland. He attended the University of Wisconsin before transferring to the U.S. Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland. On the day he graduated in 1952, he and his wife, Marilyn, were married.

A test pilot at the Navy Test Center in Patuxent River, Maryland, Lovell was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1962.

Lovell retired from the Navy and from the space program in 1973, and went into private business. In 1994, he and Jeff Kluger wrote "Lost Moon," the story of the Apollo 13 mission and the basis for the film "Apollo 13." In one of the final scenes, Lovell appeared as a Navy captain, the rank he actually had.

He and his family ran a now-closed restaurant in suburban Chicago, Lovell's of Lake Forest.

His wife, Marilynn, died in 2023. Survivors include four children.

A split appeals court panel tossed out a judges contempt finding against President Donald Trump's administration on Friday in a case over deportations to an El Salvador prison.

The decision comes after planes carrying Venezuelan migrants landed at the prison even after U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg said in court they must return to the United States.

Boasberg found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt of court. The ruling marked a dramatic battle between the judicial and executive branches of government.

But the divided three-judge panel in the nations capital found that Boasberg had exceeded his authority and intruded on the executive branchs foreign affairs powers.

Judges Gregory Katsas and Neomi Rao, both of whom were nominated by Trump in his first term in the White House, agreed with the unsigned majority opinion.

The district courts order attempts to control the Executive Branchs conduct of foreign affairs, an area in which a courts power is at its lowest ebb, Rao wrote.

Judge Cornelia Pillard, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, dissented. The majority does an exemplary judge a grave disservice by overstepping its bounds to upend his effort to vindicate the judicial authority that is our shared trust, she wrote.

The 250 migrants have since been released back to their home country in a prisoner swap with the U.S. after months at the mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.

Boasberg had accused Trump administration officials of rushing deportees out of the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act before they could challenge their removal in court and then willfully disregarding his order that planes already in the air should return.

The Trump administration has denied any violation, saying the judge's directive to return the planes was made verbally in court but not included in his written order.

Last month, the Justice Department filed an unusual judicial misconduct complaint against Boasberg over comments he allegedly made at a closed-door meeting of judges as well as his actions in the deportations case. The complaint calls for the case to be taken away from Boasberg while an investigation proceeds.

Attorney General Pam Bondi celebrated the appeals court ruling, calling it a MAJOR victory defending President Trumps use of the Alien Enemies Act in a social media post and vowing to continue fighting and WINNING in court.

Lee Gelernt, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who represented the migrants, said there was zero ambiguity in Boasberg's order about the planes.

We strongly disagree with todays decision regarding contempt and are considering all options going forward," he said.

The Trump administration is doubling the reward to $50 million for the arrest of Venezuela's President Nicols Maduro, accusing him of being one of the world's largest narco-traffickers and working with cartels to flood the U.S. with fentanyl-laced cocaine.

Under President Trumps leadership, Maduro will not escape justice and he will be held accountable for his despicable crimes, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday in a video announcing the reward.

Maduro was indicted in Manhattan federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency, along with several close allies on federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. At the time, the U.S. offered a $15 million reward for his arrest. That was later raised by the Biden administration to $25 million the same amount the U.S. offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Despite the big bounty, Maduro remains entrenched after defying the U.S., the European Union and several Latin American governments who condemned his 2024 reelection as a sham and recognized his opponent as Venezuela's duly elected president.

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Last month, the Trump administration struck a deal to secure the release of 10 Americans jailed in the capital, Caracas, in exchange for Venezuela getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administrations immigration crackdown. Shortly after, the White House reversed course and allowed U.S. oil producer Chevron to resume drilling in Venezuela after it was previously blocked by U.S. sanctions.

Bondi said the Justice Department has seized more than $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including two private jets, and said nearly 7 tons of seized cocaine had been traced directly to the leftist leader.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil released a statement characterizing the reward as pathetic and accusing Bondi of orchestrating a crude political propaganda operation.

Were not surprised, coming from whom it comes from. The same one who promised a nonexistent secret list of Epstein and who wallows in scandals for political favors, Gil said, referring to the backlash Bondi faced after the Justice Department announced last month that a long-rumored client list of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein does not exist. Her show is a joke, a desperate distraction from her own misery.

Federal prosecutors have issued subpoenas to New York Attorney General Letitia James for records related to a civil fraud case against President Donald Trump and a separate case against the National Rifle Association, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The two people could not publicly discuss specific details of the investigation and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Geoff Burgan, a spokesperson for the attorney generals office, declined to confirm the subpoenas but issued a statement that said, Any weaponization of the justice system should disturb every American. We stand strongly behind our successful litigation against the Trump Organization and the National Rifle Association, and we will continue to stand up for New Yorkers rights.

In a separate statement, James personal attorney, Abbe D. Lowell, said, If prosecutors carry out this improper tactic and are genuinely interested in the truth, we are ready and waiting with the facts and the law.

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Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the presidents political retribution campaign, Lowell said. Weaponizing the Department of Justice to try to punish an elected official for doing her job is an attack on the rule of law and a dangerous escalation by this administration.

James has sued Trump and his administration dozens of times over his policies as president and over how he conducted his private business empire. Trump is appealing the multimillion-dollar judgment she won against him in a lawsuit alleging that he defrauded banks and other lenders by giving them financial statements that inflated the value of his properties, including his golf clubs and penthouse in Trump Tower.

Trump says his financial statements actually understated his wealth and that any mistakes in the documents were harmless errors that played no role in banks lending decisions. He and his lawyers have repeatedly accused James of engaging in lawfare for political purposes a claim she has denied.

The subpoenas were issued as part of an investigation into whether James violated Trumps civil rights, another person familiar with the matter told the AP. The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The subpoenas mark an escalation of the Trump administrations ongoing efforts to scrutinize perceived adversaries of the president, including those like James who had investigated Trump before his election win last November.

News of the subpoena comes as the Justice Department advances an investigation into the Trump-Russia probe that shadowed Trump for much of his first term as president and as the administration has engaged in a widespread purge from the workforce of law enforcement officials who had been involved in examining the activities of Trump and his supporters.

A fast-growing brush fire has forced thousands of people to evacuate in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles.

The Canyon Fire ignited Thursday afternoon and grew to more than 7.6 square miles (19.7 square kilometers) by 11 p.m., according to the Ventura County Fire Department. At least 400 personnel were battling the blaze along with several planes and helicopters. It remained uncontained late Thursday and was spreading east into Los Angeles County, officials said.

The fire is burning just south of Lake Piru, a reservoir located in the Los Padres National Forest. It's close by Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area burned by the Hughes Fire in January. That fire burned about 15 square miles (39 square kilometers) in six hours and put 50,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings.

RELATED STORY | Crews struggle to contain massive California wildfire that's injured 3 people

Sunny, hot and dry conditions were expected in the area where the Canyon Fire was burning on Friday, with the daytime high near 100 degrees Fahrenheit and minimum humidity in the mid-teens, according to the National Weather Service. Winds were expected to be light in the morning and grow from the south to southwest in the afternoon.

In LA County, around 2,700 residents evacuated with 700 structures under an evacuation order, officials said late Thursday. Another 14,000 residents and 5,000 structures were covered by an evacuation warning. Areas within the Val Verde zone had been reduced from an order to a warning.

The evacuation zones in nearby Ventura County were relatively unpopulated, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd said Thursday. Fifty-six people were evacuated from the Lake Piru recreation area.

Dowd called the blaze a very dynamic situation caused by hot, dry weather, steep and rugged terrain and dry fuel.

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the district, urged residents to evacuate.

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Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed," Barger said in a statement. If first responders tell you to leave, gowithout hesitation.

The new blaze comes as a massive wildfire in Central California became the state's largest blaze of the year, threatening hundreds of homes and burning out of control in the Los Padres National Forest.

The Gifford Fire had spread to 155 square miles (402 square kilometers) by Thursday night with 15% containment. It grew out of at least four smaller fires that erupted Aug. 1 along State Route 166, forcing closures in both directions east of Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 people. It has injured at least four people. The causes of the fires are under investigation.

Wildfire risk will be elevated through the weekend across much of inland California as a heat wave gripping the area intensifies. August and September are typically the most dangerous months for wildfires in the state.

Israel said Friday it will intensify its 22-month war with Hamas by taking over Gaza City, drawing a dismissal from the militant group and renewed international calls to end the conflict, while stirring fears for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

Israels air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. The timing of another major ground operation remains unclear since it will likely hinge on mobilizing thousands of troops and forcibly evacuating civilians, almost certainly exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe.

Mediators from Egypt and Qatar are working on a new framework that will include the release of all hostages dead and alive in one go in return for an end of the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip, two Arab officials told The Associated Press.

Before Israel's Security Cabinet approved the plan to take over Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had outlined more sweeping plans Thursday in an interview with Fox News, saying Israel planned to take control of all of Gaza. Israel already controls around three-quarters of the territory.

Hamas rejected Israels plans in a statement. Expanding of aggression against our Palestinian people will not be a walk in the park, the group said.

Netanyahu had signaled plans for even broader war

An expanded offensive could widen discord between Israel and international powers, which have stepped up criticism of the war amid mounting shock over media reports showing starvation.

Britain urged Israel to reconsider, and Germany said it would not authorize the export of military equipment that could be used in Gaza until further notice.

The even harsher military action by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, approved by the Israeli Cabinet last night, makes it increasingly difficult for the German government to see how these goals will be achieved, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

Tensions could rise further if Netanyahu follows through on the more sweeping plans to take control of the entire territory, two decades after Israels unilateral withdrawal from the strip.

Asked in the interview with Fox News ahead of the Security Cabinet meeting if Israel would take control of all of Gaza, Netanyahu replied: We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there. He added that Israel did not intend to keep it.

Israel's new plan stopped short of that, and may be aimed in part at pressuring Hamas to accept a ceasefire on Israel's terms.

It may also reflect the reservations of Israels military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who reportedly warned that expanding operations would endanger the remaining 20 or so living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israels army after nearly two years of regional wars.

The military will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones, Netanyahu's office said in a statement after the meeting.

Amir Avivi, a retired brigadier general and chairman of Israels Defense and Security Forum, estimated it would take less than three months to mobilize some 30,000 troops, evacuate Palestinian civilians and take over Gaza City.

Hamas-led militants triggered the war when they stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251 people. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza. Israel believes around 20 of them to be alive.

RELATED STORY | Netanyahu seeks full military control of Gaza before handing it to Arab forces

Mediators try again to end the war

The efforts for a new ceasefire have the backing of major Arab Gulf monarchies, according to officials who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the discussions. One is involved directly in the deliberations and the second was briefed on the efforts. The monarchies are concerned about further regional destabilization if Israels government proceeds with a full reoccupation of Gaza, the officials said.

The yet-to-be finalized framework aims to address the contentious issue of what to do with Hamas weapons, with Israel seeking full disarmament and Hamas refusing. The official directly involved in the efforts said discussions are underway about freezing arms, which may involve Hamas retaining but not using its weapons. It also calls for the group to relinquish power in the strip.

A Palestinian-Arab committee would run Gaza and oversee the reconstruction efforts until the establishment of a Palestinian administration with a new police force, trained by two U.S. allies in the Middle East, to take over the strip, he said. It is unclear what role the Western-backed Palestinian Authority would play.

The second official said the U.S. administration has been briefed on the broad lines of the framework.

A senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to brief the media, said the groups leadership has been aware of the Arab mediators efforts to revive the ceasefire talks, but has yet to receive details.

AP reached out to the governments in Qatar, Egypt and Israel as well as the White House for comment.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff told hostage families during his recent visit that Israel was shifting its approach to pursue a comprehensive all-or-nothing deal aimed at ending the war and securing the release of hostages, a person who attended the meeting told the AP, speaking on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak about the private meeting.

There is nothing left to occupy

Israel has repeatedly bombarded Gaza City and carried out numerous raids there, only to return to neighborhoods again and again as militants regrouped. Today, it is one of the few areas in Gaza that hasnt been turned into an Israeli buffer zone or placed under evacuation orders.

A major ground operation there could displace tens of thousands of people and further disrupt efforts to deliver food to the hunger-stricken territory.

Its unclear how many people reside in the city, which was Gazas largest before the war. Hundreds of thousands fled under evacuation orders in the opening weeks of the conflict, but many returned during a ceasefire at the start of this year.

Palestinians were already anticipating even more suffering ahead of the decision, and at least 42 were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings on Thursday, according to local hospitals.

There is nothing left to occupy, said Maysaa al-Heila, who is living in a displacement camp. There is no Gaza left.

Of those killed Thursday, Nasser Hospital said at least 13 were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where U.N. aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by hungry crowds and people stealing food to resell it. Another two were killed on roads leading to nearby sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor, according to the hospital, which received the bodies.

GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday. Israels military said its forces did not fire in the morning and that it knew of no encounters in the area. The military zone, known as the Morag Corridor, is off limits to independent media.

Israels military offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals.

The United Nations and independent experts view the ministrys figures as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Israel has disputed them without offering a toll of its own.

OpenAI on Thursday released the fifth generation of the artificial intelligence technology that powers ChatGPT, a product update that's being closely watched as a measure of whether generative AI is advancing rapidly or hitting a plateau.

GPT-5 arrives more than two years after the March 2023 release of GPT-4, bookending a period of intense commercial investment, hype and worry over AI's capabilities.

In anticipation, rival Anthropic released the latest version of its own chatbot, Claude, earlier in the week, part of a race with Google and other competitors in the U.S. and China to leapfrog each other on AI benchmarks. Meanwhile, longtime OpenAI partner Microsoft said it will incorporate GPT-5 into its own AI assistant, Copilot.

Expectations are high for the newest version of OpenAI's flagship model because the San Francisco company has long positioned its technical advancements as a path toward artificial general intelligence, or AGI, a technology that is supposed to surpass humans at economically valuable work.

It is also trying to raise huge amounts of money to get there, in part to pay for the costly computer chips and data centers needed to build and run the technology.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the new model as a significant step along our path to AGI but mostly focused on its usability to the 700 million people he says use ChatGPT each week.

Its like talking to an expert a legitimate PhD-level expert in anything, any area you need, on demand, Altman said at a launch event livestreamed Thursday.

It may take some time to see how people use the new model now available, with usage limits, to anyone with a free ChatGPT account. The Thursday event focused heavily on ChatGPT's use in coding, an area where Anthropic is seen as a leader, and featured a guest appearance by the CEO of coding software maker Cursor, an important Anthropic customer.

OpenAI's presenters also spent time talking about safety improvements to make the chatbot less deceptive and stop it from producing harmful responses to cleverly worded prompts that could bypass its guardrails. The Associated Press reported Wednesday on a study that showed ChatGPT was providing dangerous information about drugs and self-harm to researchers posing as teenagers.

At a technical level, GPT-5 shows modest but significant improvements on the latest benchmarks, but when compared to GPT-4, it also looks very different and resets OpenAI's flagship technology in a way that could set the stage for future innovations, said John Thickstun, an assistant professor of computer science at Cornell University.

Im not a believer that it's the end of work and that AI is just going to solve all humanitys problems for it, but I do think theres still a lot of headroom for them, and other people in this space, to continue to improve the technology, he said. Not just capitalizing on the gains that have already been made.

RELATED STORY | ChatGPT's dark side: New report details alarming responses to teens seeking help

OpenAI started in 2015 as a nonprofit research laboratory to safely build AGI and has since incorporated a for-profit company with a valuation that has grown to $300 billion. The company has tried to change its structure since the nonprofit board ousted Altman in November 2023. He was reinstated days later.

It has not yet reported making a profit but has run into hurdles escaping its nonprofit roots, including scrutiny from the attorneys general in California and Delaware, who have oversight of nonprofits, and a lawsuit by Elon Musk, an early donor to and founder of OpenAI who now runs his own AI company.

Most recently, OpenAI has said it will turn its for-profit company into a public benefit corporation, which must balance the interests of shareholders and its mission.

OpenAI is the world's third most valuable private company and a bellwether for the AI industry, with an increasingly fragile moat at the frontier of AI, according to banking giant JPMorgan Chase, which recently made a rare decision to cover the company despite it not being publicly traded.

The inability of a single AI developer to have a sustained competitive edge could increasingly force companies to compete on lowering the prices of their AI products, the bank said in a report last month.

President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserves board of governors for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment.

Trump said he has named Stephen Miran, the chair of the White Houses Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a seat vacated by governor Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday. Miran, if approved by the Senate, will serve until January 31, 2026.

The appointment is Trumps first opportunity to exert more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining independent federal agencies. Trump has relentlessly criticized the current chair, Jerome Powell, for keeping short-term interest rates unchanged, calling him a stubborn MORON last week on social media.

Miran has been a major defender of Trumps income tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough economic growth to reduce budget deficits. He also has played down the risk of Trumps tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Powell.

The choice of Miran may heighten concerns about political influence over the Fed, which has traditionally been insulated from day-to-day politics. Fed independence is generally seen as key to ensuring that it can take difficult steps to combat inflation, such as raising interest rates, that politicians might be unwilling to take.

Federal Reserve governors vote on all the central banks interest-rate decisions, as well as its financial regulatory policies.

Mirans nomination, if approved, would add a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates. Kugler had echoed Powells view that the Fed should keep rates unchanged and further evaluate the impact of tariffs on the economy before making any moves.

Trump has said he will appoint Fed officials who will cut interest rates, which he says will reduce the borrowing costs of the federal governments huge $36 trillion debt pile. Trump also wants lower rates to boost moribund home sales, which have been held back partly by higher mortgage costs. Yet the Fed doesnt directly set longer-term interest rates for things like home and car purchases.

At its most recent meeting last week, Fed officials kept their key rate unchanged at 4.3%, where it has stood after three rate cuts late last year. But two Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman dissented from that decision. Both were appointed by Trump in his first term.

RELATED STORY | Trump visits Federal Reserve amid criticism of Powell, renovation costs

Still, even with Miran on the board, 12 Fed officials vote on interest rate policy and many remain concerned that Trump's sweeping tariffs could push inflation higher in the coming months.

Miran could be renominated to a longer term on the Fed once his initial appointment is concluded, or replaced by another nominee.

Powells term as chair ends in May 2026. Yet, Powell could remain on the board of governors until January 2028, even after he steps down as chair. That would deny, or at least delay, an opportunity for Trump to appoint an additional policymaker to the Feds board.

As a result, one option for Trump is to appoint Powells eventual replacement as chair to replace Kugler once the remaining four months of her term are completed. Leading candidates for that position include Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and frequent critic of Powells chairmanship, and Kevin Hassett, another top Trump economic adviser.

Another option for the White House next May would be to select Waller, who is already on the board, to replace Powell, and who has been widely mentioned as a candidate.

Marco Casigraghi, an analyst at investment bank Evercore ISI, noted that the choice of Miran could be a positive sign for Waller, because Trump did not take the opportunity to nominate someone likely to become chair once Powell steps down.

After the July jobs report was released last Friday, Miran criticized the Fed chair for not cutting benchmark interest rates, saying that Trump had been proven correct on inflation during his first term and would be again. The president has pressured Powell to cut short-term interest rates under the belief that his tariffs will not fuel higher inflationary pressures.

What were seeing now in real time is a repetition once again of this pattern where the president will end up having been proven right, Miran said on MSNBC. And the Fed will, with a lag and probably quite too late, eventually catch up to the presidents view.

Last year, Miran expressed support for some unconventional economic views in commentaries on the Fed and international economics.

Last November, he proposed measures that would reduce the value of the dollar in order to boost exports, reduce imports and cut the U.S. trade deficit, a top priority for Trump. He also suggested tariffs could push U.S. trading partners, such as the European Union and Japan, to accept a cheaper dollar as part of a Mar-a-Lago Accord, an echo of the Plaza Accord reached in the 1980s that lowered the dollar's value.

As a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, Miran in March 2024 also proposed overhauling the Fed's governance, including by making it easier for a president to fire members of its board of governors.

The Feds current governance has facilitated groupthink that has led to significant monetary-policy errors, Miran wrote in a paper with Dan Katz, now a top official at the Treasury Department.

Most Americans get more than half their calories from ultra-processed foods, those super-tasty, energy-dense foods typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, according to a new federal report.

Nutrition research has shown for years that ultra-processed foods make up a big chunk of the U.S. diet, especially for kids and teens.

For the first time, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023.

The report comes amid growing scrutiny of such foods by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames them for causing chronic disease.

We are poisoning ourselves and it's coming principally from these ultra-processed foods, Kennedy told Fox News earlier this year.

Overall, about 55% of total calories consumed by Americans age 1 and older came from ultra-processed foods during that period, according to the report. For adults, ultra-processed foods made up about 53% of total calories consumed, but for kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%.

The top sources included burgers and sandwiches, sweet baked goods, savory snacks, pizza and sweetened drinks.

Young children consumed fewer calories from ultra-processed foods than older kids, the report found. Adults 60 and older consumed fewer calories from those sources than younger adults. Low-income adults consumed more ultra-processed foods than those with higher incomes.

The results were not surprising, said co-author Anne Williams, a CDC nutrition expert.

What was surprising was that consumption of ultra-processed foods appeared to dip slightly over the past decade. Among adults, total calories from those sources fell from about 56% in 2013-2014 and from nearly 66% for kids in 2017-2018.

RELATED STORY | Alarming number of adolescents have prediabetes, new data from CDC says

Williams said she couldn't speculate about the reason for the decline or whether consumption of less processed foods increased.

But Andrea Deierlein, a nutrition expert at New York University who was not involved in the research, suggested that there may be greater awareness of the potential harms of ultra-processed foods.

People are trying, at least in some populations, to decrease their intakes of these foods, she said.

Concern over ultra-processed foods' health effects has been growing for years, but finding solutions has been difficult. Many studies have linked them to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but they haven't been able to prove that the foods directly cause those chronic health problems.

One small but influential study found that even when diets were matched for calories, sugar, fat, fiber and micronutrients, people consumed more calories and gained more weight when they ate ultra-processed foods than when they ate minimally processed foods.

Research published this week in the journal Nature found that participants in a clinical trial lost twice as much weight when they ate minimally processed foods such as pasta, chicken, fruits and vegetables than ultra-processed foods, even those matched for nutrition components and considered healthy, such as ready-to-heat frozen meals, protein bars and shakes.

Part of the problem is simply defining ultra-processed foods.

The new CDC report used the most common definition based on the four-tier Nova system developed by Brazilian researchers that classifies foods according to the amount of processing they undergo. Such foods tend to be hyperpalatable, energy-dense, low in dietary fiber and contain little or no whole foods, while having high amounts of salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats, the CDC report said.

U.S. health officials recently said there are concerns over whether current definitions accurately capture the range of foods that may affect health. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department recently issued a request for information to develop a new, uniform definition of ultra-processed foods for products in the U.S. food supply.

In the meantime, Americans should try to reduce ultra-processed foods in their daily diets, Deierlein said. For instance, instead of instant oatmeal that may contain added sugar, sodium, artificial colors and preservatives, use plain oats sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Read food packages and nutrition information, she suggested.

I do think that there are less-processed options available for many foods, she said.

The U.S. Air Force said Thursday it would deny all transgender service members who have served between 15 and 18 years the option to retire early and would instead separate them without retirement benefits.

The move means that transgender service members will now be faced with the choice of either taking a lump-sum separation payment offered to junior troops or be removed from the service.

An Air Force spokesperson told The Associated Press that although service members with 15 to 18 years of honorable service were permitted to apply for an exception to policy, none of the exceptions to policy were approved. About a dozen service members had been prematurely notified that they would be able to retire before that decision was reversed, according to the spokesperson who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Air Force policy.

All transgender members of the Air Force are being separated from the service under the Trump administration's policies.

A federal judge on Thursday ordered a temporary halt to construction at an immigration detention center built in the middle of the Florida Everglades and dubbed Alligator Alcatraz as attorneys argue whether it violates environmental laws.

The facility can continue to operate and hold detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but workers will be barred from adding any new filling, paving or infrastructure for the next 14 days. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the ruling during a hearing and said she will issue a written order later Thursday.

Environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe have asked Williams to issue a preliminary injunction to halt operations and further construction. The suit claims the project threatens environmentally sensitive wetlands that are home to protected plants and animals and would reverse billions of dollars worth of environmental restoration.

Plaintiffs presented witnesses Wednesday and Thursday in support of the injunction, while attorneys for the state and federal government were scheduled to present next week.

Following Thursdays testimony, Paul Schwiep, an attorney for the environmental groups, asked Williams to issue a temporary restraining order that would at least prevent any new construction at the site while the preliminary injunction was argued.

Williams asked Florida attorney Jesse Panuccio if the state would agree to halt construction so that she wouldnt need to issue the restraining order. She pointed out that anything built at the site would likely remain there permanently, regardless of how the case was ultimately decided.

Panuccio said he couldnt guarantee that the state would stop all work.

This sparked an hour-long hearing about the temporary restraining order, which will be in place for the next two weeks while the still ongoing preliminary injunction hearing continues.

The crux of the plaintiffs argument is that the detention facility violates the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of major construction projects.

Panuccio said during the hearing that although the detention center would be holding federal detainees, the construction and operation of the facility is entirely under the state of Florida, meaning the NEPA review wouldnt apply.

Schwiep said the purpose of the facility is for immigration enforcement, which is exclusively a federal function. He said the facility wouldnt exist if it wasnt for the federal governments desire for a facility to hold detainees.

Williams said Thursday that the detention facility was at a minimum a joint partnership between the state and federal government.

RELATED STORY | IndyCar distances itself from 'Speedway Slammer' immigration detention facility

The lawsuit in Miami against federal and state authorities is one of two legal challenges to the South Florida detention center which was built more than a month ago by the state of Florida on an isolated airstrip owned by Miami-Dade County.

A second lawsuit brought by civil rights groups says detainees constitutional rights are being violated since they are barred from meeting lawyers, are being held without any charges, and a federal immigration court has canceled bond hearings. A hearing in that case is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Under the 55-year-old federal environmental law, federal agencies should have examined how the detention centers construction would impact the environment, identified ways to minimize the impact and followed other procedural rules such as allowing public comment, according to the environmental groups and the tribe.

It makes no difference that the detention center holding hundreds of detainees was built by the state of Florida since federal agencies have authority over immigration, the suit said.

Attorneys for federal and state agencies last week asked Williams to dismiss or transfer the injunction request, saying the lawsuit was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Even though the property is owned by Miami-Dade County, Floridas southern district is the wrong venue for the lawsuit since the detention center is located in neighboring Collier County, which is in the states middle district, they said.

Williams had yet to rule on that argument.

The lawsuits were being heard as Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis administration apparently was preparing to build a second immigration detention center at a Florida National Guard training center in north Florida. At least one contract has been awarded for whats labeled in state records as the North Detention Facility.

RELATED STORY | Florida Democrats reveal what they saw inside Alligator Alcatraz on tour

Two Pennsylvania State Police troopers were shot Thursday morning, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

About an hour ago in Susquehanna County, two state troopers were shot. Lori and I are praying for those troopers, Shapiro said at an event in Philadelphia.

A state police spokesperson, Trooper Logan T. Brouse, said the shooting occurred along Route 171 near the village of Thomson. Thats about 40 miles (63 kilometers) north of Scranton.

"The scene remains very active and information on the suspect will be released at a later time," a statement from State Police said.

The troopers were reportedly responding to a call when they were shot. Both troopers were taken to a local hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The FBI is forcing out more senior officials, including a former acting director who resisted Trump administration demands to turn over the names of agents who participated in Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations and the head of the bureau's Washington field office, according to people familiar with the matter and internal communications seen by The Associated Press.

The basis for the ouster of Brian Driscoll, who led the bureau in the turbulent weeks that followed President Donald Trump's inauguration last January, were not immediately clear, but his final day is Friday, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the personnel move by name and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

I understand that you may have a lot of questions regarding why, for which I have no answers, Driscoll wrote in a message to colleagues. No cause has been articulated at this time.

Another high-profile termination is Steven Jensen, who for months had led the Washington office, one of the bureau's largest and busiest. He confirmed in a message to colleagues on Thursday he had been told he was being fired effective Friday.

I intend to meet this challenge like any other I have faced in this organization, with professionalism, integrity and dignity, Jensen wrote in an email.

Jensen did not say if he had been given a reason, but his appointment to the job in April was sharply criticized by some Trump supporters because he had overseen a domestic terrorism section after the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. The FBI has characterized that attack, in which the Republican president's supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to halt the certification of election results after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, as an act of domestic terrorism.

Spokespeople for the FBI declined to comment Thursday.

A broader personnel purge

The news about Driscoll and Jensen comes amid a much broader personnel purge that has unfolded over the last several months under the leadership of FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino. Numerous senior officials including top agents in charge of big-city field offices have been pushed out of their jobs, and some agents have been subjected to polygraph exams, moves that former officials say have roiled the workforce and contributed to angst.

Driscoll, a veteran agent who worked international counterterrorism investigations in New York and had commanded the bureaus Hostage Rescue Team, had most recently served as acting director in charge of the Critical Incident Response Group, which deploys resources to crisis situations.

Driscoll was named acting director in January to replace Christopher Wray and served in the position as Patels nomination was pending.

He made headlines after he and Rob Kissane, the then-deputy director, resisted Trump administration demands for a list of agents who participated in investigations into the Jan. 6 riot. Many within the FBI had seen that request as a precursor for mass firings, particularly in light of separate moves to fire members of special counsel Jack Smiths team that prosecuted Trump, reassign senior career Justice Department officials and force out prosecutors on Jan. 6 cases and top FBI executives.

The Justice Department's request

Emil Bove, the then-senior Justice Department official who made the request and was last week confirmed for a seat on a federal appeals court, wrote a memo at the time accusing the FBIs top leaders of insubordination" for resisting his requests to identify the core team responsible for Jan. 6 investigations. He said the requests were meant to permit the Justice Department to conduct a review of those particular agents conduct pursuant to Trumps executive order on weaponization in the Biden administration.

Responding to Boves request, the FBI ultimately provided personnel details about several thousand employees, identifying them by unique employee numbers rather than by names.

In his farewell note, Driscoll told colleagues that it was the honor of my life to serve alongside each of you.

He wrote: Our collective sacrifice for those we serve is, and will always be, worth it. I regret nothing. You are my heroes and I remain in your debt.

Agents demoted, reassigned and pushed out

The FBI has moved under Patels watch to aggressively demote, reassign or push out agents seen as being out of favor with bureau leadership or the Trump administration. In April, for instance, the bureau reassigned several agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, two people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

Numerous special agents in charge of field offices have been told to retire, resign or accept reassignment.

Another agent, Michael Feinberg, has said publicly that he was told to resign or accept a demotion amid scrutiny from leadership of his friendship with Peter Strzok, a lead agent on the FBIs Trump-Russia investigation who was fired by the Justice Department in 2018 following revelations that he had exchanged negative text messages about Trump with an FBI lawyer, Lisa Page.

Statement from FBI Agents Association

The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) is deeply concerned by reports that FBI Special Agentscase agents and senior leaders alikeare going to be summarily fired without due process for doing their jobs investigating potential federal crimes.Agents are not given the option to pick and choose their cases, and these Agents carried out their assignments with professionalism and integrity. Most importantly, they followed the law.There is a review process when employment actions are taken against Agents. The process was established so that the FBI could remain independent and apolitical. FBI leadership committedboth publicly and directly to FBIAAthat they would abide by that process. We urge them to honor that commitment and follow the law.If these Agents are fired without due process, it makes the American people less safe. Agents need to be focused on their work and not on potentially being illegally fired based on their assignments.FBIAA is actively reviewing all legal options to defend our members. We will always have the backs of FBI Agents.

Restoring a memorial to the Confederacy that was removed from Arlington National Cemetery at the recommendation of Congress will cost roughly $10 million total, a U.S. Army official said Wednesday the latest development in a Trump administration effort to combat what it calls erasing American history.

Once back in the cemetery, the monument described a few years ago as problematic from top to bottom will also feature panels nearby that will offer context about its history, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity about a project still in progress.

The Pentagon expects it to take about two years to restore the monument to its original site, the official told The Associated Press. The base that it sat on needs to be replaced and the monument itself will be refurbished as well.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the Pentagon would reinstall the memorial at Arlington an expanse just outside Washington that once contained the land of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee less than two years after it was removed on the recommendation of an independent commission.

On social media Tuesday, Hegseth said the Arlington statue never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we dont believe in erasing American history we honor it.

It was erected more than a century ago

The Confederate monument, erected in 1914, was the creation of sculptor and Confederate veteran Moses Ezekiel. It features a classical female figure, crowned with olive leaves, representing the American South, alongside sanitized depictions of slavery.

RELATED STORY | Confederate statue toppled during 2020 protests to be restored

In 2022, a congressionally mandated commission recommended that the memorial, along with scores of other military assets that bore Confederate references, be either removed or renamed. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule, the vice chair of the commission, said that the group found that Ezekiels memorial was problematic from top to bottom.

Arlington National Cemeterys page on the memorial noted that aside from the sanitized depictions of enslaved people, the statue featured a Latin phrase that equated the Souths secession to a noble lost cause." That's a false interpretation of the Civil War that glorifies the conflict as a struggle over the power of the federal government and not the institution of slavery.

Hegseth has made a point of circumventing the will of the commission several times now by reverting the names of several Army bases back to their original, Confederate-linked names, though by honoring different figures.

For example, following the recommendations of the commission, officials renamed Fort Bragg, a name that honored Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, a slave owner who lost several key Civil War battles, to Fort Liberty. In February, Hegseth reverted the name back to Fort Bragg but honoring Army Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II soldier who earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart for exceptional courage during the Battle of the Bulge.

The effort is part of a larger Trump initiative

In March, President Donald Trump issued an executive order entitled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. It decried efforts to reinterpret American history, stating, rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame.

The order targeted the Smithsonian network of museums as having come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. It also instructed the Interior Department to restore any statue or display that was removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.

This has been an active week when it comes to the dispute over how American history and culture are portrayed. On Monday, the National Park Service announced that the statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate brigadier general and a revered figure among Freemasons, would resume its previous position in Washingtons Judiciary Square, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. It was the only outdoor statue of a Confederate military leader in the nations capital.

And late last week, the Smithsonian Museum of American History announced that it would revert an exhibit on the presidency to the 2008 era, eliminating any mention of the two Trump impeachments.

After that move sparked discussion about how history is portrayed by government-backed institutions, the Smithsonian said it had come under no pressure from the White House and had been planning all along to update that part of the exhibit, which it said was temporary, to 2025 specifications.

Ever since the NFL announced it was looking to sell NFL Network and other media assets, ESPN had been seen as one of the favorites to make a deal.

Nearly five years later, a framework is finally in place.

The NFL announced Tuesday night that it has entered into a nonbinding agreement with ESPN. Under the terms, ESPN will acquire NFL Network, NFL Fantasy and the rights to distribute the RedZone channel to cable and satellite operators and the league will get a 10% equity stake in ESPN.

The league and ESPN still have to negotiate a final agreement and get approval from NFL owners. The agreement will also have to undergo regulatory approvals.

Sometimes great things take a long time to get to the point where its right. And we both feel that it is at this stage, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a call with The Associated Press.

Along with the sale of NFL Network, the NFL and ESPN will have a second nonbinding agreement where the NFL will license to ESPN certain NFL content and other intellectual property that can be used by NFL Network and other assets that have been purchased.

We have been talking about it in earnest for the last few years. But interestingly enough, we started talking about this over a decade ago but nothing really ended up happening. And we got back at it when I came back to Disney after my retirement, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a call with the AP.

What ESPN gets

ESPN is expected to launch its direct-to-consumer service before the end of September. The service would give cord-cutters access to all ESPN programs and networks for $29.99 per month. The addition of more NFL programming increases the value.

Many viewers will receive the service for free as part of their subscription to cable, satellite and most streaming services.

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When I came back to Disney and assessed essentially the future of ESPN, it became clear that ESPN had to launch a bigger and more robust and digital or direct-to-consumer product, not only for the sake of ESPNs business, but for the sports fan, Iger said. And obviously, when you start thinking about high-quality sports content, your eyes immediately head in the direction of the NFL because theres really nothing more valuable and more popular than that.

NFL Network which has nearly 50 million subscribers would be owned and operated by ESPN and would be included in ESPN's direct-to-consumer product.

The NFL RedZone channel would be distributed by ESPN to cable and satellite operators. However, the NFL will continue to own, operate and produce the channel as well as retain the rights to distribute the channel digitally. ESPN would also get rights to the RedZone brand, meaning RedZone channels for college football and basketball or other sports could be coming in the future.

NFL Fantasy Football would merge with ESPN Fantasy Football, giving ESPN the official fantasy football game of the league.

NFL Network will still air seven games per season. Four of ESPN's games, including some that are in overlapping windows on Monday nights, would move to NFL Network. ESPN will license three additional games that will be carried on NFL Network.

What the NFL receives (and retains)

The league gets a 10% equity stake in ESPN. Aidan O'Connor, a senior vice president at the Prosek Partners marketing firm, estimates the value of that would be $2.2 billion to $2.5 billion.

ESPN is currently 80% owned by ABC Inc. as an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The other 20% is owned by Hearst. Once the deal is official and approved, the breakdown of ESPN will be 72% ABC Inc., 18% Hearst and 10% NFL.

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This isn't the first time the league has had an equity stake in a digital or communications business. It had that in the past with Sirius Satellite Radio and SportsLine. The NFL could also have equity in the newly formed Paramount Skydance Corporation, which owns CBS, due to the league's partnership with Skydance.

This is new as far as a partner now operating a business that we built, ran and grew," said Hans Schroeder, the NFLs executive vice president of media distribution. "Itll also be a little bit new again with some of the dynamics here, but well continue to balance that in a really arms length way where well think about how we manage and work across to all our partners.

The league will continue to own and operate NFL Films, NFL+, NFL.com, the official websites of the 32 teams, the NFL Podcast Network and the NFL FAST Channel (a free ad-supported streaming channel).

The moves align with the NFLs longstanding ambition to reach $25 billion in annual revenue by 2027 a target first set in 2010, when league revenue stood at approximately $8.5 billion, OConnor said. Financially, the move also signals to investors that ESPN is doubling down on differentiation and content stickiness by offering a scarce and premium product in a crowded marketplace. Intentionally ceding equity to the NFL transforms ESPN from a media licensee into a true platform partner with few properties rivaling the league in terms of cultural significance, appointment viewing, audience reach, and monetization efficiency."

No major changes yet

Viewers will likely not see any immediate impacts until next year once everything is approved.

Besides ESPN, the biggest winner in this could be NFL Network, which had seen reductions in original programming the past couple years. Total Access, the network's flagship show since its launch in 2003, ended in May 2024 amid a series of layoffs and cost-cutting moves. Good Morning Football also moved from New York, where it had been since its start in 2016, to Southern California last year.

NFL Network moved to a broadcast facility across the street from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in 2021.

The thing thats exciting for us is that we have put a lot into the network. I think its been very effective for fans. We know its in good hands, Goodell said. Theyre innovative, they recognize great production and know how to produce it. They will do a fantastic job of operating the network and taking it to another level.

Four Barbary lion cubs were born recently in a Czech zoo, a vital contribution for a small surviving population of the rare lion that is extinct in the wild.

The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvr Krlov Safari Park on Wednesday, enjoying themselves under the watchful eyes of their parents, Khalila and Bart.

That will change soon. As part of an international endangered species program that coordinates efforts for their survival in captivity, the cubs will be sent to other participating parks, including the Beersheba zoo in Israel.

Chances are that might not be the end of the story for the animal.

Dvr Krlov Deputy Director Jaroslav Hyjnek said that while preliminary steps have been taken for a possible reintroduction of the Barbary lion into its natural habitat, its still a far distant future.

The majestic member of the Northern lion subspecies, the Barbary lion once roamed freely its native northern Africa, including the Atlas Mountains.

A symbol of strength, they were almost completely wiped out due to human activities. Many were killed by gladiators in Roman times, while overhunting and a loss of habitat contributed to their extinction later.

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The last known photo of a wild lion was taken in 1925, while the last individual was killed in 1942.

Its believed the last small populations went extinct in the wild in the middle of the 1960s.

Fewer than 200 Barbary lions are currently estimated to live in captivity.

Hyjnek said that after initial talks with Moroccan authorities, who have not rejected the idea of their reintroduction, a conference of experts has been planned to take place in Morocco late this year or early 2026 to decide whether it would make sense to go ahead with such a plan in one of the national parks in the Atlas Mountains.

Any reintroduction would face numerous bureaucratic and other obstacles. Since the lion has not been present in the environment for such a long time, the plans would have to ensure their protection, a sufficient prey population and cooperation and approval from local communities.

Hyjnek said such a move is still worth trying if it turns out to be sustainable.

Its important to have such a vision for any animal, he said. Without it, the existence of zoos wouldnt make sense.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to place an additional 25% tariff on India for its purchases of Russian oil, bringing the combined tariffs imposed by the United States on India to 50%.

The tariffs would go into effect 21 days after the signing of the order, meaning that both India and Russia might have time to negotiate with the administration on the import taxes.

Trump's move could reshape India's economic ambitions. Many American companies have seen India as an alternative to Chinese manufacturing, which Trump had hoped to diminish through the use of tariffs. Even though China also buys oil from Russia, Beijing was not subject to the additional tariffs in the order signed by the Republican president.

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The U.S. and China are currently in negotiations on trade, with Washington imposing a 30% tariff on Chinese goods and facing a 10% retaliatory tax from Beijing on American products.

Apple CEO Tim Cook joined President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to announce a commitment by the tech company to increase its investment in U.S. manufacturing by an additional $100 billion over the next four years.

"This is a significant step toward the ultimate goal of ensuring that iPhones sold in the United States of America also are made in America," Trump said at the press conference. Todays announcement is one of the largest commitments in what has become among the greatest investment booms in our nations history."

As part of the Apple announcement, the investments will be about bringing more of its supply chain and advanced manufacturing to the United States as part of an initiative called the American Manufacturing Program, but it is not a full commitment to build its popular iPhone device domestically.

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This includes new and expanded work with 10 companies across America. They produce components semiconductor chips included that are used in Apple products sold all over the world, and were grateful to the President for his support, Cook said in a statement announcing the investment.

The new manufacturing partners include Corning, Coherent, Applied Materials, Texas Instruments and Broadcom among others.

Apple had previously said it intended to invest $500 billion domestically, a figure it will now increase to $600 billion. Trump in recent months has criticized the tech company and Cook for efforts to shift iPhone production to India to avoid the tariffs his Republican administration had planned for China.

While in Qatar earlier this year, Trump said there was a little problem with the Cupertino, California, company and recalled a conversation with Cook in which he said he told the CEO, I dont want you building in India.

India has incurred Trumps wrath, as the president signed an order Wednesday to put an additional 25% tariff on the worlds most populous country for its use of Russian oil. The new import taxes to be imposed in 21 days could put the combined tariffs on Indian goods at 50%.

Apples new pledge comes just a few weeks after it forged a $500 million deal with MP Materials, which runs the only rare earths producer in the country. That agreement will enable MP Materials to expand a factory in Texas to use recycled materials to produce magnets that make iPhones vibrate.

Speaking on a recent investors call, Cook emphasized that theres a load of different things done in the United States. As examples, he cited some of the iPhone components made in the U.S. such as the devices glass display and module for identifying peoples faces and then indicated the company was gearing to expand its productions of other components in its home country.

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Were doing more in this country, and thats on top of having roughly 19 billion chips coming out of the US now, and we will do more, Cook told analysts last week, without elaborating.

News of Apples latest investment in the U.S. caused the companys stock price to surge by nearly 6% in Wednesdays midday trading. That gains reflect investors relief that Cook is extending an olive branch to the Trump administration, said Nancy Tengler, CEO of money manager Laffer Tengler Investments, which owns Apple stock.

Despite Wednesdays upturn, Apples shares are still down by 14% this year, a reversal of fortune that has also been driven by the companys botched start in the pivotal field of artificial intelligence.

Two Washington, D.C.-area statues commemorating the Confederacy will be restored and replaced, in line with President Donald Trump's pushback on recent efforts to reframe America's historical narrative.

The National Park Service announced Monday that the statue of Albert Pike, a Confederate brigadier general and a revered figure among Freemasons, would resume its previous position in Washington's Judiciary Square, a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol. It was the only outdoor statue of a Confederate military leader in the nations capital.

The statue was pulled down with ropes and chains on Juneteenth in 2020 as part of mass protests following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Confederate statues around the country were toppled by similar protests while several military bases named for Confederate leaders were renamed.

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The Pike statue restoration, which is targeted for October, aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nations capital and reinstate pre-existing statues, the park service said in a statement.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced Tuesday that a statue commemorating the Confederacy would be returned to Arlington National Cemetery. The statue, which Hegseth referred to as The Reconciliation Monument, was removed in 2023.

Arlingtons Confederate Memorial

On social media Tuesday, Hegseth said the Arlington statue never should have been taken down by woke lemmings. Unlike the Left, we dont believe in erasing American history we honor it.

In 2022, an independent commission recommended that the memorial be taken down, as part of its final report to Congress on renaming of military bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy.

The statue, unveiled in 1914, features a bronze woman, crowned with olive leaves, standing on a 32-foot pedestal, and was designed to represent the American South. Some of the figures also on the statue include a Black woman depicted as Mammy holding what is said to be the child of a white officer, and an enslaved man following his owner to war.

Restoration is part of a larger narrative

In March, Trump issued an executive order entitled Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History. It decried post-Floyd efforts to reinterpret American history, stating, rather than fostering unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past, the widespread effort to rewrite history deepens societal divides and fosters a sense of national shame."

The order targeted the Smithsonian network of museums as having come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology. It also instructed the Interior Department to restore any statue or display that was removed or changed to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history, inappropriately minimize the value of certain historical events or figures, or include any other improper partisan ideology.

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Pike, who died in 1891, is more known for his decades-long stint as a senior leader of the Freemasons than for his Confederate military career. The Masons lobbied Congress for the right to erect the statue on NPS land in 1901 provided that he be depicted in civilian, not military, garb.

But Pike did lead a regiment for the Confederacy during the Civil War. And as the only outdoor statue of a Confederate leader in Washington, D.C., it had been a source of controversy for decades. Even the brief Park Service page on the statue notes that it has stirred opposition since it was first planned.

A long history of demands for removal of the Pike statue

The D.C. Council asked for its removal in 1992. In 2017, Mayor Muriel Bowser struck an agreement with congressional leaders to eventually remove it.

When protesters toppled the statue in 2020 while police officers looked on, Trump then in his first term called it a disgrace to our Country on social media and called for their immediate arrests.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's non-voting delegate in Congress, called the Park Service move odd and indefensible in a statement Monday. Norton said she would introduce legislation to remove the statue permanently and place it in a museum.

Ive long believed Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts," she said, not remain in parks and locations that imply honor.

President Trump is open to a meeting with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House said Wednesday.

President Trump said Wednesday there was a "very good prospect" of a meeting with both leaders. He did not give details of when such a meeting might take place.

As President Trump said earlier today on TRUTH Social, great progress was made during Special Envoy Witkoffs meeting with President Putin. The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the President is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelensky. President Trump wants this brutal war to end, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

The development comes as Putin held talks with U.S. President Donald Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, and days before the White Houses deadline for Russia to reach a peace deal with Ukraine or potentially face severe economic penalties that could also hit countries buying its oil.

The meeting between Putin and Witkoff lasted about three hours.

Earlier, Witkoff took an early morning stroll through Zaryadye Park, a stone's throw from the Kremlin, with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's envoy for investment and economic cooperation, footage aired by TASS showed. Dmitriev said later on social platform X that dialogue will prevail.

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Dmitriev played a key role in three rounds of direct talks between delegations from Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul in recent months, as well as discussions between Russian and U.S. officials. The negotiations made no progress on ending the three-year war following Russia's invasion of its neighbor.

Trumps deadline for Putin ends on Friday. Washington has threatened severe tariffs and other economic penalties if the killing doesnt stop.

The meeting with Russia and Special Envoy Witkoff went well. The Russians are eager to continue engaging with the United States. The secondary sanctions are still expected to be implemented on Friday," a White House official told Scripps News.

Trump has expressed increasing frustration with Putin over Russias escalating strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine, intended to erode morale and public appetite for the war. The intensified attacks have occurred even as Trump has urged the Russian leader in recent months to relent.

Overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Russian forces hit a recreational center in Ukraines southern Zaporizhzhia region, killing two people and injuring 12, including two children, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said Wednesday.

Russian forces launched at least four strikes on the area and initially attacked with powerful glide bombs.

There is zero military sense in this strike. Only cruelty to intimidate, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.

Russia also struck the Ukrainian power grid and facilities for heating and cooking gas, Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine makes preparations for winter.

Western analysts and Ukrainian officials say Putin is stalling for time and avoiding serious negotiations while Russian forces push to capture more Ukraine land. A Russian offensive that started in the spring and is expected to continue through the fall is advancing faster than last year's push, but is making only slow and costly gains and has been unable to take any major cities.

The situation on the front line is critical for Ukrainian forces, but defenses are not about to collapse, analysts say.

On Tuesday, Trump said well see what happens regarding his threat to slap tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil, which could increase import taxes dramatically on China and India.

We have a meeting with Russia tomorrow, Trump said. Were going to see what happens. Well make that determination at that time.

The president said that he has not publicly committed to a specific tariff rate.

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Stepping up diplomatic and economic pressure on the Kremlin risks stoking international tensions amid worsening Russia-U.S. relations.

The Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis warned in an assessment this week that there are clear signs that the Kremlin is preparing for a broader confrontation with NATO, including a military build-up along Russias western flank with alliance countries in recent years.

Putin has strengthened Russias military ties with China, North Korea and Iran. NATO, meanwhile, said Tuesday it has started coordinating regular deliveries of large Western weapons packages to Ukraine. European allies and Canada are buying most of the equipment they plan to transport from the United States. The Trump administration is not donating any arms to Ukraine.

Putin has given no hint that he might be ready to make concessions. Instead, the Russian leader and senior Kremlin officials have talked up the countrys military strength.

Putin announced last week that Russias new hypersonic missile, which he says cannot be intercepted by current NATO air defense systems, has entered service.

Russia announced Tuesday that it no longer regards itself as bound by a self-imposed moratorium on the deployment of nuclear-capable intermediate range missiles, a warning that potentially sets the stage for a new arms race.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, meantime, warned that the Ukraine war could bring Russia and the U.S. into armed conflict. Trump responded to that by ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday welcomed Witkoff's visit. We consider (talks with Witkoff) important, substantive and very useful," he said.

Trump initially gave Moscow a 50-day deadline, but later moved up his ultimatum as the Kremlin continued to bomb Ukrainian cities.

However, Trump himself doubted their effectiveness, saying Sunday that Russia has proven to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions.

Theyre wily characters, he said of the Russians.

The Kremlin has insisted that international sanctions imposed since its February 2022 invasion of its neighbor have had a limited impact.

Ukraine maintains the sanctions are taking their toll on Moscows war machine and wants Western allies to ramp them up.

A volcano on Russias far eastern Kamchatka Peninsula erupted overnight into Sunday for what scientists said is the first time in hundreds of years, days after a massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

The Krasheninnikov volcano sent ash 3.7 miles into the sky, according to staff at the Kronotsky Reserve, where the volcano is located. Images released by state media showed dense clouds of ash rising above the volcano.

The plume is spreading eastward from the volcano toward the Pacific Ocean. There are no populated areas along its path, and no ashfall has been recorded in inhabited localities, Kamchatkas emergencies ministry wrote on Telegram during the eruption.

The eruption was accompanied by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake and prompted a tsunami warning for three areas of Kamchatka. The tsunami warning was later lifted by Russias Ministry for Emergency Services.

This is the first historically confirmed eruption of the Krasheninnikov volcano in 600 years, Olga Girina, head of the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team, told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

The Smithsonian Institutions Global Volcanism Program, based in the U.S., however, lists Krasheninnikovs last eruption as occurring 475 years ago in 1550.

The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.

The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team said late Sunday that the volcano's activity was decreasing but that moderate explosive activity" could continue.

The eruption occurred after a huge earthquake struck Russias Far East early Wednesday, an 8.8-magnitude temblor that caused small tsunami waves in Japan and Alaska and prompted warnings for Hawaii, North and Central America and Pacific islands south toward New Zealand.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday told more than a million Catholic youths at a closing Mass for a weeklong encounter with the next generation of faithful that they are the sign that a different world is possible" where conflicts can be resolved with dialogue, not weapons.

In his closing blessing for the Jubilee of Youth, Leo remembered the young people of Gaza and Ukraine and other countries at war who could not join their celebration.

We are closer than ever to young people who suffer the most serious evils, which are caused by other human beings, Leo said. We are with the young people of Gaza. We are with the young people of Ukraine, with those of every land bloodied by war.

My young brothers and sisters, you are the sign that a different world is possible. A world of fraternity and friendship, where conflicts are not resolved with weapons, but with dialogue.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Pope Leo XIV marks new beginning with American and global outlook

The young people camped out in sprawling fields southeast of Rome overnight after attending a vigil service on Saturday, also presided by Leo who has been ferried from Vatican City by helicopter. The special Jubilee celebration is part of the Holy Year that is expected to draw 32 million people to the Vatican for the centuries-old pilgrimage to the seat of Catholicism.

The Vatican said more than 1 million young people were present, along with 7,000 priests and 450 bishops.

During the Sunday homily, Leo urged the participants to spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith when they return home to some 150 countries.

Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are," Leo urged the young faithful. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you."

Leo reminded the crowd that their next encounter will be during World Youth Day, set for Aug. 3-8, 2027, in Seoul, South Korea.

The week has been a joyous gathering marked by bands of youths singing hymns as they move down cobblestoned streets, praying the Rosary in piazzas and standing for hours at the Circus Maximus to confess their sins to priests offering the sacrament in a dozen languages.

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Leo also shared some tragic news on Saturday: two young people who had made the pilgrimage to Rome had died, one reportedly of cardiac arrest, while a third was hospitalized.

Rain overnight awakened the faithful but didnt dampen their spirits.

At least we were a little covered, but we still got a bit wet. We lost our voices a little. It was cold, but we woke up to a beautiful sun and view," said Soemil Rios, 20, from Puerto Rico. Despite the difficulties, it was very nice and very special to have been part of this historic moment.

Sister Giulia De Luca, from Rome, acknowledged that waking up was a bit tough, but that she was looking forward to seeing the pope again.

It will be very nice to conclude a very intense week together. Definitely a lot of fun, but also very challenging in many ways," she said.

Israeli forces killed at least 23 Palestinians seeking food on Sunday in Gaza, according to hospital officials and witnesses, who described facing gunfire as hungry crowds surged around aid sites, as the malnutrition-related death toll also rose.

Desperation has gripped the Palestinian territory of more than 2 million, which experts have warned is facing famine because of Israels blockade and nearly two-year offensive.

Yousef Abed, among the crowds en route to a distribution point, described coming under what he called indiscriminate fire, seeing at least three people bleeding on the ground.

I couldnt stop and help them because of the bullets, he said.

Southern Gazas Nasser Hospital said they received bodies from routes to the sites, including eight from Teina, about 1.8 miles away from a distribution site in Khan Younis, which is operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the private U.S.- and Israeli-backed contractor that took over aid distribution more than two months ago.

The hospital received one body from Shakoush, hundreds of yards north of a GHF site in Rafah. Another nine aid-seekers were killed by troops near the Morag corridor, it said.

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Three Palestinian eyewitnesses, seeking food in Teina and Morag, told The Associated Press shootings occurred on the routes to distribution points, which are in military zones secured by Israeli forces. They said they saw soldiers open fire on hungry crowds advancing toward troops.

Further north in central Gaza, hospital officials described a similar episode, with Israeli troops opening fire Sunday morning toward crowds of Palestinians trying to reach GHFs fourth and northernmost distribution point.

Troops were trying to prevent people from advancing. They opened fire and we fled. Some people were shot, said Hamza Matter, one of the aid seekers.

At least five people were killed and 27 wounded near GHFs site close to Netzarim corridor, Awda Hospital said.

Eyewitnesses seeking food have reported similar gunfire attacks in recent days near aid distribution sites, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead.

The United Nations reported 859 people were killed near GHF sites from May 27 to July 31 and that hundreds more have been slain along the routes of U.N.-led food convoys.

The GHF launched in May as Israel sought an alternative to the U.N.-run system, which had safely delivered aid for much of the war but was accused by Israel of allowing Hamas, which guarded convoys early in the war, to siphon supplies.

Israel has not offered evidence of widespread theft. The U.N. has denied it.

GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray or fired warning shots to prevent deadly crowding. Israels military has said it only fires warning shots as well. Both claimed the death tolls have been exaggerated

Israels military did immediately responded to questions about Sunday's reported fatalities. GHF's Media Office said there was no gunfire near or at our sites.

Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said six more Palestinian adults died of malnutrition-related causes over the past 24 hours. It said Sunday's casualties brought the death toll among Palestinian adults to 82 over the five weeks since the ministry started counting deaths among adults in late June. Malnutrition-related deaths are not included in the ministrys count of war casualties.

Ninety-three children have also died of causes related to malnutrition since the war in Gaza started in 2023, the ministry said.

Israeli minister prays at flashpoint holy site

Israels far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir prayed at Jerusalems most sensitive holy site, a move swiftly condemned as a incitement by Palestinian leaders as well as Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

At the hilltop compound in the Old City revered by Jews and Muslims, Ben Gvir called on Israel to annex the Gaza Strip and encourage Palestinians to leave.

This is the only way that we will return the hostages and win the war, he said.

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His visit on Sunday in honor of Tisha Bav, a day in which Jews mourn the destruction of two Jewish temples at the site, was the first in which a government minister openly prayed at the site.

Under the status quo, Jews have been allowed to tour the site but are barred from praying, with Israeli police and troops providing security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said afterward that Israel would not change the norms governing the holy site.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned Ben Gvir's visit. Ambassador Sufian Qudah, a spokesperson for Jordan's Foreign Ministry, condemned what he called provocative incursions by the extremist minister and implored Israel to prevent escalation.

Ben Gvir's visit took place on Tisha Bav, a day in which Jews mourn the destruction of their temples. He condemned a video that Hamas released of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David showing him emaciated in a dimly lit tunnel in Gaza.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the second-largest militant group in Gaza, triggered outrage when they released separate videos of individual hostages this week. Israeli media hasnt broadcast the videos, calling them propaganda, but Netanyahu met with the hostage families on Saturday, pledging further efforts to return them to Israel.

Red Crescent Facility Shelled

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli military attacked its headquarters in the southern city of Khan Younis early Sunday, killing a staffer and wounding three others.

The overnight strike wrecked the organization's multi-story building, leaving its offices full of broken concrete and blood, with gaping holes in the walls and floors, according to video released by the organization.

Red Crescent said the military shelled its Khan Younis facility three times between around 1 a.m. local time.

Elsewhere in Khan Younis, an Israeli strike hit a school sheltering displaced people, killing at least two, Nasser hospital said.

Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about either strike.

The war began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, and abducting another 251. They are still holding 50 captives, around 20 believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals. Israels retaliatory military offensive has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry.

The ministry, which doesnt distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, is staffed by medical professionals. The United Nations and other independent experts view its figures as the most reliable count of casualties. Israel has disputed its figures, but hasnt provided its own account of casualties.

The requests have come in letters, emails and phone calls. The specifics vary, but the target is consistent: The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up an effort to get voter data and other election information from the states.

Over the past three months, the departments voting section has requested copies of voter registration lists from state election administrators in at least 15 states, according to an Associated Press tally. Of those, nine are Democrats, five are Republicans and one is a bipartisan commission.

In Colorado, the department demanded all records relating to the 2024 election and any records the state retained from the 2020 election.

Department lawyers have contacted officials in at least seven states to propose a meeting about forging an information-sharing agreement related to instances of voting or election fraud. The idea, they say in the emails, is for states to help the department enforce the law.

The unusually expansive outreach has raised alarm among some election officials because states have the constitutional authority to run elections and federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.

It also signals the transformation of the Justice Departments involvement in elections under President Donald Trump. The department historically has focused on protecting access to the ballot box. Today, it is taking steps to crack down on voter fraud and noncitizen voting, both of which are rare but have been the subject of years of false claims from Trump and his allies.

The department's actions come alongside a broader effort by the administration to investigate past elections and influence the 2026 midterms. The Republican president has called for a special prosecutor to investigate the 2020 election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and continues to falsely claim he won. Trump also has pushed Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional maps to create more House seats favorable to the GOP.

The Justice Department does not typically engage in fishing expeditions to find laws that may potentially have been broken and has traditionally been independent from the president, said David Becker, a former department lawyer who leads the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research.

Now it seems to be operating differently, he said.

The department responded with an emailed no comment to a list of questions submitted by the AP seeking details about the communications with state officials.

Requests to states vary and some are specific

Election offices in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Utah, and Wisconsin confirmed to the AP that they received letters from the voting section requesting their statewide voter registration lists. At least one other, Oklahoma, received the request by phone.

Many requests included basic questions about the procedures states use to comply with federal voting laws, such as how states identify and remove duplicate voter registrations or deceased or otherwise ineligible voters.

Certain questions were more state-specific and referenced data points or perceived inconsistencies from a recent survey from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an AP review of several of the letters showed.

The Justice Department already has filed suit against the state election board in North Carolina alleging it failed to comply with a part of the federal Help America Vote Act that relates to voter registration records.

More inquiries are likely on the way

There are signs the department's outreach isn't done. It told the National Association of Secretaries of State that all states would be contacted eventually, said Maria Benson, a NASS spokeswoman.

The organization has asked the department to join a virtual meeting of its elections committee to answer questions about the letters, Benson said. Some officials have raised concerns about how the voter data will be used and protected.

Election officials in at least four California counties Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and San Francisco said the Justice Department sent them letters asking for voter roll records. The letters asked for the number of people removed from the rolls for being noncitizens and for their voting records, dates of birth and ID numbers.

Officials in Arizona, Connecticut, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Wisconsin confirmed to the AP that they received an email from two department lawyers requesting a call about a potential information-sharing agreement.

The goal, according to several copies of the emails reviewed by the AP, was for states to provide the government with information about instances of election fraud to help the Justice Department enforce Federal election laws and protect the integrity of Federal elections. One of those sending the emails was a senior counsel in the criminal division.

The emails referred to Trump's March executive order on elections, part of which directs the attorney general to enter information-sharing agreements with state election officials to the maximum extent possible."

Skeptical state election officials assess how to reply

Election officials in several states that received requests for their voter registration information have not responded. Some said they were reviewing the inquiries.

Officials in some other states provided public versions of voter registration lists to the department, with certain personal information such as Social Security numbers blacked out. Elsewhere, state officials answered procedural questions from the Justice Department but refused to provide the voter lists.

In Minnesota, the office of Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said the federal agency is not legally entitled to the information.

In a July 25 letter to the Justice Department's voting section, Simons general counsel, Justin Erickson, said the list contains sensitive personal identifying information on several million individuals. He said the office had obligations under federal and state law to not disclose any information from the statewide list unless expressly required by law.

In a recent letter, Republican lawmakers in the state called on Simon to comply with the federal request as a way "to protect the voting rights of the citizens of Minnesota.

Maine's secretary of state, Democrat Shenna Bellows, said the administration's request overstepped the federal governments bounds and that the state will not fulfill it. She said doing so would violate voter privacy.

The department doesnt get to know everything about you just because they want to, Bellows said.

Some Justice Department requests are questionable, lawyers say

There is nothing inherently wrong with the Justice Department requesting information on state procedures or the states providing it, said Justin Levitt, a former deputy assistant attorney general who teaches at Loyola Law School.

But the departments requests for voter registration data are more problematic, he said. That is because of the Privacy Act of 1974, which put strict guidelines on data collection by the federal government. The government is required to issue a notice in the Federal Register and notify appropriate congressional committees when it seeks personally identifiable information about individuals.

Becker said there is nothing in federal law that compels states to comply with requests for sensitive personal data about their residents. He added that while the outreach about information-sharing agreements was largely innocuous, the involvement of a criminal attorney could be seen as intimidating.

You can understand how people would be concerned, he said.

The collapse of an amusement park ride in western Saudi Arabia has left more than 20 people injured and prompted authorities to close the park and order an investigation, state media said.

The accident occurred in the Al-Hada area of the city of Taif on Wednesday, when the 360 Big Pendulum ride snapped in two, sending the part carrying people crashing to the ground.

Video footage posted on social media showed the pendulum swinging riders, who were strapped into their seats, in a wide arc several times before the pendulum arm snaps, sending the passenger section crashing to the ground.

The regional government said in a statement that the Taif governor, Prince Saud bin Nahar bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, had ordered an investigation and the parks closure. It said some of those injured received first aid at the amusement park, and others were taken to a hospital. It did not specify how many people were hospitalized.

State media said 23 people were injured, and that there were no fatalities.

A sex toy was tossed onto the court during a WNBA game for the second time this week.

Video showed the sex toy out of bounds under apa basket after a whistle was blown to stop play during the third quarter of the Golden State Valkyries 73-66 victory over the Chicago Sky. An official then kicked it aside before it was picked up and removed.

Its super disrespectful, Sky center Elizabeth Williams said in the postgame press conference. I dont really get the point of it. Its really immature. Whoever is doing it needs to grow up.

A similar incident occurred Tuesday during the Valkyries 77-75 victory over the Atlanta Dream in College Park, Georgia.

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I mean, first of all, it was super dangerous, Valkyries forward Cecilia Zandalasini said after Tuesday's game. And then when we found out what it was, I guess we just started laughing. Ive never seen anything like that. Im just glad we worked through that situation. We stayed locked in, we stayed concentrated.

New York Liberty forward Isabelle Harrison commented on social media about the situation Friday.

ARENA SECURITY?! Hello??! Harrison said on X. Please do better. Its not funny. Never was funny. Throwing ANYTHING on the court is so dangerous.

As Republicans move to redraw legislative maps in red states to pad their narrow House majority in Washington, some Democrats are rethinking their embrace of a nonpartisan approach to line-drawing that now complicates their party's ability to hit back before next year's midterm elections.

In many Democratic-controlled states, independent commissions rather than the state legislature handle redistricting, the normally once-a-decade task of adjusting congressional and legislative districts so their populations are equal. Parties in the majority can exploit that process to shape their lawmakers districts so they are almost guaranteed reelection.

The commission model limits parties ability to game the system, leading to more competitive districts. Not all redistricting commissions were created at Democrats insistence. And, like Republicans, the party has exploited line-drawing for its own gain in the handful of states where it controls the process. But unlike Republicans, many Democratic Party leaders have embraced the nonpartisan model.

That means Democrats have fewer options to match Republicans, who are redrawing the U.S. House map in Texas at President Donald Trumps urging to carve out as many as five new winnable seats for the GOP. That could be enough to prevent Democrats from winning back the majority next year.

Democrats have threatened payback. During a gathering on Friday in Wisconsin of Democratic governors, several of them said they wanted to retaliate because the stakes are so high.

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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, who has pushed for a nonpartisan redistricting commission in his state, said Democrats must do whatever we can to counter the Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps.

When you have a gun against your head, youve got to do something, he said.

Despite the ambitious talk, Democrats largely have their hands tied.

Democratic states have limited ability to redistrict for political edge

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he and the Democratic-controlled Legislature will try to redraw his states congressional map. But they would need to repeal or defy the 2008 ballot measure creating an independent redistricting commission. Voters extended its authority to congressional districts two years later.

Newsom supported the constitutional amendment at the time, when he was mayor of San Francisco. The Texas redistricting, which is expected to pass the Legislature next week, led him to modify that position.

We can act holier than thou, we can sit on the sidelines, talk about the way the world should be, or we can recognize the existential nature that is this moment, Newsom said earlier this month.

In New York, which also has a commission, the state constitution bars another map this decade. Democrats have moved for a change, but that could not happen until 2027 at the earliest, and then only with voter approval.

In other states where Democrats control the governor's office and legislature, including Colorado and Washington, the party has backed independent commissions that cannot redraw, let alone rig, maps in the middle of the decade.

Democrats say foundations of our democracy at stake

When the redistricting cycle kicked off in 2021, after the last census, independent commissions were in charge of drawing 95 House seats that otherwise would have been drawn by Democrats, but only 13 that would have been created by Republicans.

In a marker of the shift among Democrats, former Attorney General Eric Holder, who heads the partys redistricting effort and has called repeatedly for a more nonpartisan approach, seemed to bless his partys long-shot efforts to overrule their commissions.

We do not oppose on a temporary basis responsible, responsive actions to ensure that the foundations of our democracy are not permanently eroded, Holder said in a statement last week.

In states where they werent checked by commissions, Democrats have redistricted just as ruthlessly as Republicans. In Illinois, they drew a map that gave them a 14-3 advantage in the congressional delegation. In New Mexico, they tweaked the map so they control all three House seats. In Nevada, they held three of its four seats in November despite Trump winning the state.

Even in states where they have a lopsided advantage, Democrats are exploring ways to maximize it.

On Friday, Maryland's House Majority Leader, Democratic Del. David Moon, said he would introduce legislation to trigger redrawing of the congressional lines if Texas moves forward. Democrats hold seven of the state's eight congressional seats.

We cant have one state, especially a very large state, constantly trying to one-up and alter the course of congressional control while the other states sit idly by," he said.

Commissions promote fair representation, advocates say

Advocates of a nonpartisan model are alarmed by the shift among Democrats. They say the party would redistrict just as aggressively as the GOP if not held in check, depriving voters of a voice in districts whose winners would essentially be selected in advance by political leaders.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Texas Republicans aim to redraw House districts in special legislative session

Were very desperate were looking for any port in a storm, said Emily Eby French, Common Causes Texas director. This Democratic tit for tat redistricting seems like a port but its not a port. Its a jagged rock with a bunch of sirens on them.

The groups director of redistricting, Dan Vicua, said using redistricting for partisan advantage known as gerrymandering is highly unpopular with the public: This is about fair representation for communities."

Politicians used to shy away from discussing it openly, but that has changed in todays polarized environment. Trump earlier this month told reporters about his hopes of netting five additional GOP seats in Texas and more out of other Republican-controlled states.

He has urged new maps in GOP-controlled states such as Indiana and Missouri, while Ohio Republicans are poised to reshape political lines after neutralizing a push to create an independent redistricting commission.

Democrats are divided over how to respond to Texas

In a sign of the partys divide, Democrats have continued to push for a national redistricting panel that would remove partisanship from the process, even as some call for retaliation against Republicans in defiance of state limitations.

No unilateral disarmament till both sides are following the law, said Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, like Newsom a possible 2028 presidential contender, wrote on X. Gallego's post came a day before his Democratic colleagues gathered to announce they were reintroducing a bill to create the national commission.

An identical bill died in 2022 when it couldn't overcome Republican objections despite Democrats controlling Congress and the presidency. It has no chance now that the GOP is in charge of both branches.

Sen. Chris Murphy, another potential 2028 contender, didnt express regret over past reforms that have implemented independent redistricting boards in Democratic states, saying the party "should never apologize for being for the right thing.

But he added that Republicans are operating outside of the box right now and we cant stay inside the box.

If theyre changing districts in the middle of the 10-year cycle, we have to do the same thing, he said.

That approach, however, hasnt caught on across the party.

We shouldnt stoop to their tactics, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said. Its an ideal that we have accurate and fair representation. We cant abandon it just because Republicans try to manipulate and distort it.

Outerwear retailer Columbia Sportswear has sued Columbia University over alleged trademark infringement and a breach of contract, saying that the universitys merchandise looks too similar to its own offerings and can confuse shoppers.

In a lawsuit filed July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Columbia Sportswear, whose roots date back to 1938, alleges that the Ivy League university intentionally violated an agreement the parties signed on June 13, 2023. That agreement dictated how the university could use the word Columbia on its own apparel and accessories.

As part of the pact, the university could feature Columbia on its merchandise provided that the name included a recognizable school insignia or its mascot, the word university, the name of the academic department or the founding year of the university 1754 or a combination.

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Columbia Sportswear clothing is sold at more than 800 retail locations, including more than 150 of its branded stores as well as its website and third-party marketplaces.

But Columbia Sportswear alleges the university breached the agreement a little more than a year later, with the Portland, Oregon-based company noticing several garments without any of the school logos being sold at the Columbia University online store.

Many of the garments feature a bright blue color that is confusingly similar to the blue color that has long been associated with Columbia Sportswear, the suit alleged.

The lawsuit offered photos of some of the Columbia University items that say only Columbia.

The likelihood of deception, confusion, and mistake engendered by the universitys misappropriation and misuse of the Columbia name is causing irreparable harm to the brand and goodwill symbolized by Columbia Sportswears registered mark Columbia and the reputation for quality it embodies, the lawsuit alleged.

The lawsuit comes at a time when Columbia University has been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support.

Last week, Columbia University reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus.

Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said.

Columbia Sportswear aims to stop all sales of clothing that violate the agreement, recall any products already sold and donate any remaining merchandise to charity. Columbia Sportswear is also seeking three times the amount of actual damages determined by a jury.

Neither Columbia Sportswear nor Columbia University could be immediately reached for comment.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday night to uphold a lower courts temporary order blocking the Trump administration from conducting indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in Southern California.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held a hearing Monday afternoon at which the federal government asked the court to overturn a temporary restraining order issued July 12 by Judge Maame E. Frimpong, arguing it hindered their enforcement of immigration law.

Immigrant advocacy groups filed suit last month accusing President Donald Trumps administration of systematically targeting brown-skinned people in Southern California during the administration's crackdown on illegal immigration. The lawsuit included three detained immigrants and two U.S. citizens as plaintiffs.

In her order, Frimpong said there was a mountain of evidence that federal immigration enforcement tactics were violating the Constitution. She wrote the government cannot use factors such as apparent race or ethnicity, speaking Spanish or English with an accent, presence at a location such as a tow yard or car wash, or someones occupation as the only basis for reasonable suspicion to detain someone.

The appeals court panel agreed and questioned the government's need to oppose an order preventing them from violating the Constitution.

If, as Defendants suggest, they are not conducting stops that lack reasonable suspicion, they can hardly claim to be irreparably harmed by an injunction aimed at preventing a subset of stops not supported by reasonable suspicion, the judges wrote.

A hearing for a preliminary injunction, which would be a more substantial court order as the lawsuit proceeds, is scheduled for September.

The Los Angeles region has been a battleground with the Trump administration over its aggressive immigration strategy that spurred protests and the deployment of the National Guard and Marines for several weeks. Federal agents have rounded up immigrants without legal status to be in the U.S. from Home Depots, car washes, bus stops, and farms, many of whom have lived in the country for decades.

Among the plaintiffs is Los Angeles resident Brian Gavidia, who was shown in a video taken by a friend on June 13 being seized by federal agents as he yells, I was born here in the states, East LA bro!

They want to send us back to a world where a U.S. citizen ... can be grabbed, slammed against a fence and have his phone and ID taken from him just because he was working at a tow yard in a Latino neighborhood, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Mohammad Tajsar told the court Monday.

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The federal government argued that it hadnt been given enough time to collect and present evidence in the lawsuit, given that it was filed shortly before the July 4 holiday and a hearing was held the following week.

Its a very serious thing to say that multiple federal government agencies have a policy of violating the Constitution, attorney Jacob Roth said.

He also argued that the lower courts order was too broad, and that immigrant advocates did not present enough evidence to prove that the government had an official policy of stopping people without reasonable suspicion.

He referred to the four factors of race, language, presence at a location, and occupation that were listed in the temporary restraining order, saying the court should not be able to ban the government from using them at all. He also argued that the order was unclear on what exactly is permissible under the law.

Legally, I think its appropriate to use the factors for reasonable suspicion, Roth said

The judges sharply questioned the government over their arguments.

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No one has suggested that you cannot consider these factors at all, Judge Jennifer Sung said.

However, those factors alone only form a broad profile and dont satisfy the reasonable suspicion standard to stop someone, she said.

Sung, a Biden appointee, said that in an area like Los Angeles, where Latinos make up as much as half the population, those factors cannot possibly weed out those who have undocumented status and those who have documented legal status.

She also asked: What is the harm to being told not to do something that you claim youre already not doing?

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the Friday night decision a victory for the rule of law and said the city will protect residents from the racial profiling and other illegal tactics used by federal agents.

Jeannie Seely, the soulful country music singer behind such standards like "Don't Touch Me," has died. She was 85.

Her publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, said she died Friday after succumbing to complications from an intestinal infection.

Known as "Miss Country Soul" for her unique vocal style, Seely was a trailblazer for women in country music, celebrated for her spirited nonconformity and for a string of undeniable hits in the '60s and '70s.

Her second husband, Gene Ward, died in December. In May, Seely revealed that she was in recovery after undergoing multiple back surgeries, two emergency procedures and spending 11 days in the ICU. She also suffered a bout of pneumonia.

"Rehab is pretty tough, but each day is looking brighter and last night, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was neon, so I knew it was mine!" she said in a statement at the time. "The unsinkable Seely is working her way back."

Seely was born in July 1940, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, about two hours north of Pittsburgh and raised in nearby Townville. Her love of country music was instant; her mother sang, and her father played the banjo. When she was a child, she sang on local radio programs and performed on local television. In her early 20s, she moved to Los Angeles to kick-start a career, taking a job at Liberty and Imperial Records in Hollywood.

She kept writing and recording. Nashville was next: She sang on Porter Wagoner's show; she got a deal with Monument Records. Her greatest hit would arrive soon afterward: "Don't Touch Me," the crossover ballad written by Hank Cochran. The song earned Seely her first and only Grammy Award, for best country & western vocal performance in the female category.

Cochran and Seely were married in 1969 and divorced in 1979.

Seely broke boundaries in her career at a time when country music expected a kind of subservience from its women performers, Seely was a bit of a rebel, known for wearing a miniskirt on the Grand Ole Opry stage when it was still taboo.

And she had a number of country hits in the '60s and '70s, including three Top 10 hits on what is now known as Billboard's hot country songs chart: "Don't Touch Me," 1967's "I'll Love You More (Than You Need)" and 1973's "Can I Sleep In Your Arms?", adapted from the folk song "Can I Sleep In Your Barn Tonight Mister?"

In the years since, Seely continued to release albums, perform, and host, regularly appearing on country music programming. Her songs are considered classics, and have been recorded by everyone from Merle Haggard, Ray Price and Connie Smith to Ernest Tubb, Grandpa Jones, and Little Jimmy Dickens.

And Seely never stopped working in country music. Since 2018, she's hosted the weekly "Sunday's with Seely" on Willie Nelson's Willie's Roadhouse SiriusXM channel. That same year, she was inducted into the Music City Walk of Fame.

She appeared nearly 5,400 times at the Grand Ole Opry, which she has been a member of since 1967. Grubbs said Saturday's Grand Ole Opry show would be dedicated to Seely.

She released her latest song in July 2024, a cover of Dottie West's "Suffertime," recorded at the world-renowned RCA Studio B. She performed it at the Opry the year before.

In a warning to Russia, President Donald Trump said Friday he's ordering the repositioning of two U.S. nuclear submarines "based on the highly provocative statements" of the country's former president Dmitry Medvedev.

Trump posted on his social media site that, based on the "highly provocative statements" from Medvedev, he had "ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that."

The president added, "Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances."

It wasn't immediately clear what impact Trump's order would have on U.S. nuclear subs, which are routinely on patrol in the world's hotspots, but it comes at a delicate moment in the Trump administration's relations with Moscow.

Trump has said that special envoy Steve Witkoff is heading to Russia to push Moscow to agree to a ceasefire in its war with Ukraine and has threatened new economic sanctions if progress is not made. He cut his 50-day deadline for action to 10 days, with that window set to expire next week.

The post about the sub repositioning came after Trump, in the wee hours of Thursday morning, had posted that Medvedev was a "failed former President of Russia" and warned him to "watch his words." Medvedev responded hours later by writing, "Russia is right on everything and will continue to go its own way."

Medvedev was president from 2008 to 2012 while Putin was barred from seeking a second consecutive term but stepped aside to let him run again. Now deputy chairman of Russia's National Security Council, which Putin chairs, Medvedev has been known for his provocative and inflammatory statements since the start of the war in 2022, a U-turn from his presidency, when he was seen as liberal and progressive.

He has frequently wielded nuclear threats and lobbed insults at Western leaders on social media. Some observers have argued that with his extravagant rhetoric, Medvedev is seeking to score political points with Putin and Russian military hawks.

Trump and Medvedev have gotten into online spats before.

On July 15, after Trump announced plans to supply Ukraine with more weapons via its NATO allies and threatened additional tariffs against Moscow, Medvedev posted, "Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin. The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn't care."

Earlier this week, he wrote, "Trump's playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10" and added, "He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn't Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country."

Several colleges facing discrimination investigations have struck deals with President Donald Trumps administration to restore withheld federal funding.

Brown University is the latest university to strike a deal, as the administration presses for agreements with others. Brown will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the Trump administration that restores lost federal research funding and ends investigations into alleged discrimination, officials said Wednesday.

The university also agreed to several concessions in line with President Donald Trump's political agenda. Brown will adopt the government's definition of male and female, for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal preserves Brown's academic independence. The terms include a clause saying the government cannot dictate curriculum or the content of academic speech at Brown.

The Universitys foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values and who we are as a community at Brown, Paxson wrote.

It is the latest deal between an Ivy League school and the Trump administration, which has used its control of federal funding to push for reforms at colleges Trump decries as overrun by liberalism and antisemitism. The administration also has launched investigations into diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, saying they discriminate against white and Asian American students.

The Brown deal has similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University, which the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown's does not include an outside monitor.

The three-year agreement with Brown restores dozens of suspended grants and contracts. It also calls for the federal government to reimburse Brown for $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs.

The settlement puts an end to three federal investigations involving allegations of antisemitism and racial bias in Brown admissions, with no finding of wrongdoing. In a campus letter, Paxson anticipated questions about why the university would settle if it didnt violate the law. She noted Brown has faced financial pressure from federal agencies along with a growing push for government intrusion in academics.

Signing the agreement resolves the governments concerns without sacrificing university values, she said.

We stand solidly behind commitments we repeatedly have affirmed to protect all members of our community from harassment and discrimination, and we protect the ability of our faculty and students to study and learn academic subjects of their choosing, free from censorship, she wrote.

Brown agreed to several measures aimed at addressing allegations of antisemitism on its campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The school said it will renew partnerships with Israeli academics and encourage Jewish day school students to apply to Brown. By the end of this year, Brown must hire an outside organization to be chosen jointly by Brown and the government to conduct a campus survey on the climate for Jewish students.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon said Brown's deal ensures students will be judged solely on their merits, not their race or sex.

The Trump Administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nations higher education institutions, McMahon said in a statement.

The settlement requires Brown to disclose a wealth of data on students who apply to and are admitted to the university, with information about their race, grades and standardized test scores. The data will be subject to a comprehensive audit by the government.

It bars Brown from giving preference to applicants because of their race. A 2023 Supreme Court decision already forbids such consideration, but the deal appears to go further, stopping Brown from using any proxy for racial admission, including personal statements or diversity narratives.

The $50 million in payments to local workforce development organizations agreed to by Brown are to be paid over 10 years.

That's a step forward from paying a fine to the government, as Columbia agreed to do, said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, an organization of major universities. Still, Mitchell said, it remains unclear whether Brown and other universities are clear of governmental pressure.

Lets remember, these are deals. These are not policies, Mitchell said. I had hoped that the Trump administration, when it came in, was going to be interested in having serious policy discussions about the future of higher education. Theyve yet to do that.

Columbia last week agreed to pay $200 million to the government as part of its settlement. In negotiations with Harvard, the Trump administration has been pressing for the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school to pay far more.

In another agreement, the University of Pennsylvania pledged to modify school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a deal that included no fine.

Associated Press writer Cheyanne Mumphrey contributed to this report.

U.S. employers added just 73,000 jobs last month and Labor Department revisions showed that hiring was much weaker than previously reported in May and June. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.

The unexpectedly weak report raises questions about the health of the job market and the economy as President Donald Trump pushes forward with a radical and erratic overhaul of American trade policy, imposing hefty tariffs on imports from almost every country on earth.

The Labor Department reported Friday that revisions shaved a stunning 258,000 jobs off May and June payrolls.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% last month from 4.1% in June. The number of people in the labor force those working and looking for work fell modestly last month, and the ranks of the unemployed rose by 221,000.

Manufacturers cut 11,000 jobs last month after shedding 15,000 in June and 11,000 in May. The federal government, where employment has been targeted by the Trump administration, lost 12,000 jobs. Jobs in administration and support fell by nearly 20,000.

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Healthcare companies added 55,400 jobs last month accounting for 76% of the jobs added in July and offering another sign that recent job gains have been narrowly concentrated.

The stock market tumbled on the news.

The current situation is a sharp reversal from the hiring boom of just three years ago when desperate employers were handing out signing bonuses and introducing perks such as Fridays off, fertility benefits and even pet insurance to recruit and keep workers.

Weighing on the job market are the lingering effects of higher interest rates that were used by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation; Trumps massive import taxes and the costs and uncertainty they are imposing on businesses; and an anticipated drop in foreign workers as the presidents massive deportation plans move forward.

The rate of people quitting their jobs a sign theyre confident they can land something better has fallen from the record heights of 2021 and 2022 and is now below where it stood before the pandemic.

U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Thursday.

The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.1%, up from 3.7% the year before. It's the third record-breaking year in a row for the exemption rate, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons.

Meanwhile, 92.5% of 2024-25 kindergartners got their required measles-mumps-rubella shots, down slightly from the previous year. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccination rate was 95% the level that makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak.

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The vaccination numbers were posted as the U.S. experiences its worst year for measles spread in more than three decades, with more than 1,300 cases so far.

The concern, of course, is that with a further dip in the (vaccination) coverage, were going to see even more measles in the coming months, said Dr. Sean OLeary, of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

It's possible that this year's outbreaks may spur more parents to get their children vaccinated before they go to school, said O'Leary, a University of Colorado pediatric infectious diseases specialist.

But Dr. Philip Huang isn't optimistic. Texas was particularly hard hits by measles this year, with more than half of the cases reported nationally. Despite that, the state passed a law making it easier for parents to get school vaccine exemptions for their kids.

It's crazy, said Huang, Dallas County's health director.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traditionally releases the vaccination coverage data in its flagship publication, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. CDC officials usually speak to the trends and possible explanations, and stress the importance of vaccinations. This year, the agency quietly posted the data online and when asked about it emailed a statement.

The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. Parents should consult their health care providers on options for their families, the statement said, adding; Vaccination remains the most effective way to protect children from serious diseases like measles and whooping cough, which can lead to hospitalization and long-term health complications.

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The wording is more ambivalent about the importance of vaccinations than in the past. That is in keeping with communications from U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before President Donald Trump put him in charge of federal health agencies.

O'Leary noted the changes in the CDC messaging, which places personal choice before community protection.

To sort of weaken the language or weaken the messaging that they're sending is very concerning, because what they say does matter, he said.

Public health officials focus on vaccination rates for kindergartners because schools can be cauldrons for germs and launching pads for community outbreaks.

For years, those rates were high, thanks largely to school attendance mandates that required key vaccinations. All U.S. states and territories require that children attending child care centers and schools be vaccinated against a number of diseases, including, measles, mumps, polio, tetanus, whooping cough and chickenpox.

All states allow exemptions for children with medical conditions that prevent them from receiving certain vaccines. And most also permit exemptions for religious or other nonmedical reasons.

In the last decade, the percentage of kindergartners with medical exemptions has held steady, at about 0.2%. But the percentage with nonmedical exemptions has risen.

The rates can be influenced by policies that make it harder or easier to obtain exemptions, and by local attitudes among families and doctors about the need to get children vaccinated. Online misinformation and the political divide that emerged around COVID-19 vaccines have led more parents to question routine childhood vaccinations, experts say.

According to the CDC data, 15.4% of kindergartners had an exemption to one or more vaccines in Idaho in the last school year. But fewer than 0.5% did in Connecticut.

Its good news that the vast majority of parents continue to get their kids vaccinated, OLeary said. And its noteworthy that there is a gap between the percentage vaccinated and the percentage who are exempted meaning there likely are unmet access issues, he added.