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  • A 7.1 magnitude quake hits Japan’s southern Kyushu island and dozens are injured or missing

    A 7.1 magnitude quake hits Japan’s southern Kyushu island and dozens are injured or missing

    TOKYO — A 7.1 magnitude earthquake shook Japan ‘s southern main island of Kyushu on Tuesday, leaving dozens of people injured or missing after part of a shopping center and a huge chimney at a paper factory collapsed, officials said. A tsunami advisory was issued but quickly lifted.

    There were fears that at least two people were dead.

    In Kashima Town, the quake collapsed the second floor of the Aeon Mall shopping center, trapping an unknown number of people there, according to the fire department in the prefectural capital of Kumamoto. Japan’s NHK national television said the collapse came after an explosion, believed to have been triggered by a gas leak at the building.

    Four people were pulled out with injuries and taken to a hospital, while 10 others were unaccounted for, the Kumamoto prefectural emergency response team said. It said the extent of the damage was still being investigated as the search and rescue effort continued.

    A 35-year-old male shopkeeper told Japan’s Asahi newspaper that he fled the building after the quake alert, and heard an explosion sounding like a bomb blast about an hour later. When he turned around, he saw enormous white smoke billowing from the mall.

    A female employee at the mall told Japanese broadcaster TBS television that she and her colleagues smelled gas when they returned to their shops after helping customers to evacuate out of the building, then heard the explosion.

    A man interviewed by Yomiuri newspaper said that his friend who works at the mall was missing, and he was praying for those who are unaccounted for to be safely rescued.

    At the Nippon Paper Industries Co.’s Yatsushiro factory, where a chimney collapsed and the building was damaged, 11 people were trapped underneath the debris, the Kumamoto emergency team said. Two of them were later found without vital signs, while the conditions of nine others were unknown, the team said.

    The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said more than 260,000 people were advised to evacuate, most of them in Kumamoto prefecture, but also in the neighboring Nagasaki prefecture.

    The affected area is about 900 kilometers (540 miles) southwest of Tokyo, the country’s capital.

    A tsunami advisory for the Ariake and Yatsushiro Seas on the western coasts of Kumamoto prefecture and three neighboring prefectures was lifted within two hours, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

    Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told journalists that there were reports of damage to roads, bridges and buildings, as well as blackouts and fires, though details were unclear.

    The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said major public facilities or infrastructure were not damaged. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said no abnormalities were found at three nearby nuclear power plants. Kumamoto police have received more than 100 emergency calls following the quake, NHK said.

    Kyodo News said a hospital in the city of Yatsushiro took in about 40 people with injuries and about 50 others were taken to a hospital in Kumamoto city.

    The quake also affected a number of major manufacturers in Kyushu.

    Toyota Motor Corp. said it has suspended the operations at three of its factories in Kyushu in part because of safety issues, and that they will reopen on Wednesday. Toyota said there were no reports of injuries to people or damage at the plants, though the company was still assessing the situation.

    Honda Motor Co. and Nippon Paper also suspended operations, and Yamato Transport Co. has also stopped delivery services in and out of Kumamoto, the Nikkei business daily said.

    Shinkansen bullet trains and local trains in Kyushu were suspended for safety checks, and the runway at Aso Kumamoto Airport was closed, with “no prospect of resuming operations” anytime soon, according to a notice on the airport’s website. There were no details.

    The Japanese Defense Ministry said it dispatched military aircraft to the area to assess the situation.

    A train derailed and fell on its side at Yatsushiro station, and stone walls were damaged at Kumamoto Castle, a main tourist destination that was badly damaged in the 2016 quake and is still being repaired, Kyodo said.

    “The shaking reminded me of the Kumamoto quake (10 years ago) and I was frightened,” said Hiroki Shimoda, an official at Mifune town hall, who saw roof tiles of nearby homes crash to the ground. Kumamoto was hit with a deadly quake in 2016 that killed at least 50 people.

    Shinji Kiyomoto with the Japan Meteorological Agency urged residents to be cautious over the next two to three days.

    U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres’ deputy spokesperson extended sympathy to those in danger and the people of Japan.

    “Our hearts go out to the people affected by this earthquake,” said Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson. “The national authorities are leading the response, but we stand ready to support if needed.”

  • Judge rules singer D4vd must stand trial in killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

    Judge rules singer D4vd must stand trial in killing of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez

    LOS ANGELES — A judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence to put D4vd on trial in the killing and dismemberment of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who authorities said had threatened to expose their relationship and crater the indie-pop singer’s rising career just a few days before his debut album dropped.

    “i will end ur career and ur life,” she told him in a text message sent the night before her death.

    Los Angeles Judge Charlaine Olmedo decided that evidence presented during a preliminary hearing provided probable cause for a trial on charges of murder, continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14, and unlawful mutilation of human remains.

    The dark and disturbing details presented over five days brought tears, gasps, and horror to the courtroom. The evidence included grisly autopsy photos, explicit descriptions and depictions of sexual abuse, and a stark picture of the final texts she sent minutes before she died and her phone went permanently silent.

    The ruling was a major step in the 10-month investigation and prosecution of D4vd that began when the dismembered and decomposing body of a girl was found in the trunk of his Tesla in the Hollywood Hills in September while he was on tour.

    D4vd shows no emotion as decision is read, and now heads to trial

    D4vd, the 21-year-old whose legal name is David Burke, showed no emotion when the judge issued her ruling, watching calmly and intently in his orange jail clothes and glasses as he had throughout the proceedings.

    He has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers argued that the murder evidence was insufficient, but did not argue against the other two charges. They declined to comment outside court.

    Prosecutors argued that the evidence was overwhelming.

    “Based on the mountains of evidence presented,” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said, “all of the allegations have been proved way beyond the standard required.”

    Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside court that prosecutors presented only a “small fraction” of the evidence they have. They are still weighing whether to seek the death penalty, but Burke is eligible for it after Olmedo also found probable cause for lying in wait, killing for financial gain, and killing a potential witness, special circumstances in a crime that allow for a death sentence.

    Olmedo ordered that Burke continue to be held without bail. An arraignment is to be held on Aug. 31, and a trial could happen as soon as 60 days later.

    The last night of Celeste Rivas Hernandez

    Before the decision, prosecutors gave a moment-by-moment account of Rivas Hernandez’s last night.

    As she neared his Hollywood home shortly after 10 p.m. on April 23, 2025, in an Uber he had sent to pick her up, she sent her final text: “girly pop i’m almost there open ur door if ur home.”

    Prosecutors allege Burke stabbed her to death when she came through the door.

    The night before, the two argued via text about his relationship with a woman. She sent him an angry and profanity-riddled text saying she will tell her dad so many lies about him and that she would “end ur career and ur life.” She had sent several similar messages around the same time.

    Prosecutors said that Burke met Rivas Hernandez when she was 11, and began sexually abusing her when she was 13 and he was 18. A year before her death, the pair also exchanged messages about how she had become pregnant — she assured him the baby was his — and that she had an abortion.

    During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors introduced photos of the two of them kissing and lying in bed. The pictures showed that she had “David” tattooed in red ink on a finger — one of two that had been cut off when her body was found.

    Prosecutors said they have records showing Burke ordered chain saws and wading pools that he used to dismember her body in his garage, and that her DNA was found there on blood stains.

    They said he then drove around for weeks and even months with the body in his trunk before the seemingly abandoned Tesla was towed from the Hollywood Hills.

    Defense argues there’s insufficient evidence for murder

    The defense argued that the evidence didn’t show the kind of malice that was required for murder.

    “There’s no evidence that Mr. Burke harbored a deliberate intent to kill Miss Hernandez,” said Burke’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski.

    She said the communications between Burke and Rivas Hernandez showed “no threat, no evidence of a history of violence” and that he had “the opposite of homicidal malice” toward her.

    She argued that a medical examiner ruling that her death was a homicide from two puncture wounds was too vague and inconclusive to be evidence of murder. The defense did not directly give an alternative theory on how she died and isn’t required to.

    The defense also established that she had asked seven times to come to see him in the days before her death, and he reluctantly agreed only after she demanded it, and that she had threatened to kill Burke and to mutilate him.

    Silverman told the judge that “the defense tried numerous times throughout these proceedings to dirty up the victim” despite her being a child.

    Farrell, the detective, also said under defense questioning that the parents of both Burke and Rivas Hernandez knew about their relationship, that he had attended church with members of her family, and that her parents had given their consent for her to go to London with him for a week.

    Patrick Steinfeld, an attorney for Rivas Hernandez’s family, said after the hearing that they were “horrified that the defense attorneys brought up evidence to put the blame on a 14-year-old girl.”

    Her parents sat in the front row through most of the hearing, but sat out some of the more graphic parts and left in the middle of the sexual testimony after her mother began crying.

    D4vd’s career was reaching new heights at time of killing

    D4vd (pronounced “David”) became an online musical phenomenon as a teen with a blend of indie rock, R&B, and lo-fi pop. He had huge followings on TikTok, Soundcloud, and Spotify, where his top songs, including his 2022 breakthrough “Romantic Homicide,” have more than a billion plays.

    In 2024 he played the Coachella music festival and released his first full-length album, Withered, two days after authorities say Rivas Hernandez was killed.

  • FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe’s UEFA

    FIFA plan for Kushner-backed $20 billion operation to run World Cup meets fury from Europe’s UEFA

    GENEVA — FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s plan to create a $20 billion company running the World Cup with private investors including the Kushner family was announced Tuesday — and immediately attacked by European soccer body UEFA.

    “It is not FIFA’s to sell,” UEFA said in a statement. “None of us are the owners of football.”

    Infantino’s plans to form a commercial subsidiary, which would be called FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), running competitions like the World Cup and Club World Cup was first reported by The Times of London.

    FIFA said in a statement FFE would raise up to $4.2 billion later this year to help fund development programs “based on an initial equity valuation of $20 billion by carefully selecting long-term investors who will purchase minority, non-controlling interests.”

    FIFA is working with J.P. Morgan while intended investors include Thrive Eternal launched by Joshua Kushner, whose brother Jared Kushner is a son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.

    The men’s World Cup that finished this month only deepened the political and personal ties between Trump and Infantino, and fueled concerns about those ties including from UEFA.

    “The soul and governance of football are not assets to trade — especially with zero transparency as to who gains financially,” UEFA said Tuesday, responding to the reports of selling stakes in FIFA competitions.

    FIFA is currently a Swiss-based not-for-profit association of its 211 national member federations worldwide.

    Those members must approve any plan and would get the chance “to access up to $20 million in one-off capital,” FIFA said.

    “This is about the democratization of football worldwide,” Infantino said in a FIFA statement, which added that “a consultation process has begun.”

    UEFA, however, said it took reports of the project “extremely seriously. So should every national Football Association.”

    “This crosses a line that football’s governing institutions should never cross,” said UEFA, which comprises 55 of the FIFA members.

    FIFA’s $20M offer to member federations

    The outline of Tuesday’s surprise announcement was, FIFA said, detailed by Infantino to members who met in Manhattan on July 18 ahead of the World Cup final. There, Infantino promised to “unleash the commercial potential and opportunity that FIFA has.”

    FIFA’s statement Tuesday about its proposed project led on how much money each of its 211 members could get through 2038 in the “FIFA Fast-Forward Program.”

    Instead of the currently promised $8 million each in development funds through the 2027-30 World Cup commercial cycle, it would be $20 million, then $22 million and $24 million in the following cycles.

    FIFA banked record World Cup income of about $12 billion from the 2026 tournament which had unprecedented high prices for tickets and hospitality across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It already was unclear how that money could be matched from Spain, Portugal and Morocco co-hosting the 2030 men’s edition.

    Member federations could choose if they wanted to take part in the new financial opportunities, FIFA said.

    “FIFA would retain sole control of FFE and exclusive authority over football governance, competitions, match calendar, and all regulatory and sporting decisions,” the soccer body said.

    FIFA’s integrity standards were called into question during the World Cup, including by team coaches, Norway’s soccer federation and a top European public body, the Council of Europe.

    FIFA’s previous attempt to privatize assets

    The project announced Tuesday is the second time in Infantino’s increasingly controversial 11-year presidency he has tried to push through a multi-billion dollar deal with private backers.

    In 2018, Infantino proposed a secretive $25 billion offer over 12 years with SoftBank of Japan to create new global competitions, including an expanded men’s Club World Cup, seemingly backed by Saudi Arabian money.

    That ultimately failed after meeting fierce resistance from UEFA, which saw threats to its prize assets: the Champions League and the European Championship.

    Infantino still built closer ties to Saudi soccer and the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup and largely funded the revamped men’s Club World Cup hosted in the U.S. last year.

    Infantino’s future?

    The financial success of the just-ended World Cup has looked likely to ensure Infantino is re-elected next year unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.

    At his re-election by acclaim in 2023 in Rwanda, Infantino suggested any CEO delivering similar financial results would be kept in the job forever.

    Speculation has swirled for years Infantino might want a different global role in soccer beyond his FIFA presidency, which is due to end when he is 61.

    The Times reported Tuesday that a CEO-like commissioner role of the new FFE operation could be created for Infantino.

    “This has never been discussed,” FIFA said in a statement Tuesday. “However, the FIFA president and the FIFA administration will and must have leading roles in this entity — if approved.”

    There was no timetable suggested Tuesday for debate and decisions by FIFA, its ruling Council chaired by Infantino, and the 211 members.

    FIFA is scheduled to hold an online congress on Nov. 23 to confirm hosts of the Women’s World Cup editions in 2031 and 2035.

  • Ex-Olympian charged with damaging Reflecting Pool sees ‘irregularities’ in grand jury proceedings

    Ex-Olympian charged with damaging Reflecting Pool sees ‘irregularities’ in grand jury proceedings

    WASHINGTON — A former Olympian charged with deliberately damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is seeking access to all of the closed-door testimony that led to his indictment, pointing to “irregularities” in those grand jury proceedings.

    In a court filing Monday, David Hearn’s attorneys requested an order for the government to turn over a complete transcript of all grand jury proceedings. They also want prosecutors to disclose the legal instructions they gave to grand jurors about the elements of Hearn’s alleged crime.

    Hearn pleaded not guilty earlier this month to one felony count of property destruction and has a trial scheduled to start Sept. 28 in D.C. Superior Court. The charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years upon conviction, accuses Hearn of causing at least $1,000 in damage to the pool.

    But his lawyers question whether prosecutors properly presented the grand jury with adequate evidence to support the amount of damage alleged in Hearn’s indictment. A National Park Service official testified that the pool already was damaged before Hearn allegedly touched it, couldn’t quantify any damage attributable to Hearn and said the same repairs would have been required regardless of his conduct, defense attorneys said.

    “The witness’s testimony established that the pool had substantial preexisting damage requiring repair before any alleged conduct by Mr. Hearn,” his lawyers wrote. “According to the witness, the pool was leaking more than one million gallons of water per week; its expansion joints had exceeded their service life; and the liner already contained a rip.”

    Hearn’s attorneys are basing those arguments on their limited review of grand jury testimony. They want court-ordered access to all the proceedings.

    A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office in Washington didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Hearn’s arguments.

    Hearn previously asked the court to dismiss the case, which stems from the troubled multimillion-dollar renovation project championed by President Donald Trump. His attorneys argued the government has failed to properly preserve important physical evidence from the Reflecting Pool.

    Trump, a Republican, has claimed that vandals have damaged the pool, but administration critics attribute the problems to shoddy repair work. During a speech Monday at General Motors in Michigan, Trump claimed a “sick” person cut the liner in the pool but said the attraction is receiving treatment.

    “It’s in the hospital now, but it’s going to get better very soon,” Trump said. “It’s almost ready to open.”

    Hearn and his supporters claim his prosecution is a politically motivated attempt by the Trump administration to deflect blame and scapegoat others.

    Hearn told The Associated Press he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours after stopping by the pool during a bike ride on June 19. He said he reached in to examine the pool’s newly peeled coating and briefly touched a chunk attached to the side of the pool, but said he obeyed a park worker who told him to let go of it.

    Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, competed in three Summer Olympics, earning his best finish, ninth, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says on its website.

    At least three other people have been charged in the same court with misdemeanors for allegedly removing pieces of paint from the pool.

  • 15-year-old arrested at Seattle food festival shooting was armed with a ghost gun, police say

    15-year-old arrested at Seattle food festival shooting was armed with a ghost gun, police say

    SEATTLE — The 15-year-old arrested after a shootout at a food festival near Seattle’s Space Needle over the weekend was armed with a ghost gun with an extended magazine, police said Tuesday.

    Police Chief Shon Barnes told a news conference that the weapon was a 9 mm gun from Polymer80 — a now-defunct company that was once a leading manufacturer of ghost gun parts.

    Investigators also recovered two other weapons and 14 shell casings that had been fired by weapons of two different calibers, he said.

    Shooting killed 3 people and injured 4, including a toddler

    The shooting in the waning hours of the three-day Bite of Seattle festival left three people dead, including a 19-year-old gunman, and at least four people injured, including a toddler. Authorities say they believe the violence was gang-related, and they are reviewing any available surveillance video and interviewing victims and witnesses in an effort to identify others who may have been involved.

    An eighth person with a possible gunshot wound checked themself into a Seattle hospital after the shooting, but checked out before investigators could conduct an interview, Barnes said. Legal obstacles have prevented detectives from obtaining the patient’s identity, he added. It’s unclear if the injury was related to the festival shooting or whether the person might have been involved in it, but Barnes asked for the person to come forward and speak with investigators.

    Ghost guns lack serial numbers law enforcement can use to trace them

    Ghost guns are privately made — often homemade — firearms that lack serial numbers used to trace them. They have often been purchased without a background check. Law enforcement officials say ghost guns, including those made with 3D printers, have been used in violent crimes across the U.S.

    Lawsuits and state-level bans eventually pushed Polymer80 out of business in 2024, and last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a rule adopted under former President Joe Biden requiring companies to treat gun kits like other firearms by adding serial numbers, running background checks, and verifying that buyers are 21 or older.

    The weapon the 15-year-old had been shooting when he surrendered to police was equipped with an extended 33-round magazine, Barnes said. The magazine still had 19 rounds in it.

    At the scene Sunday night, police also recovered a 9 mm handgun that they do not believe was used in the shooting.

    And on Monday, as food vendors were allowed to return to the area to clean up and collect their equipment, a third weapon was discovered: a Glock 45 model 9 mm with a switch allowing it to fire fully automatically, Barnes said. Police believe that gun was fired during the shooting. It had an extended 40-round magazine, with 21 rounds remaining in it.

    Police believe there were at least 3 shooters

    In a document filed in juvenile court in Seattle on Monday, police said they believed there were at least three shooters: the 15-year-old, an acquaintance who died at the scene, and “at least one other unknown suspect.” Authorities had earlier said they believed there were two.

    A judge on Monday ordered the 15-year-old to be held in juvenile detention for investigation of assault and firearms charges pending further hearings. The King County prosecutor’s office said it expected to receive the case from police on Wednesday for a charging decision. Hong Tran, a public defender assigned to the teen’s case, declined to comment in an email to the Associated Press on Tuesday.

    The King County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified the dead as Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44; Ashley Whitehead, 56; and Junior Cee Niko Semo, 19.

    Victims remembered as a kind man, and a ‘free spirit’

    Villalba was a husband and father of three known for his kindness and willingness to help others, according to a GoFundMe campaign launched Monday to help his family with funeral expenses. He died from a gunshot wound to his torso, while Whitehead died from a gunshot to her pelvis, and Semo died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the medical examiner’s office.

    Whitehead had just moved to Washington from Alabama a year ago and was enjoying the festival with one of her adult daughters when she was shot, her cousin Michelle Whitehead told the Associated Press. She was taken to the hospital and died in surgery, she said.

    Ashley Whitehead adored her two adult daughters, and also loved nature and arts and crafts, her cousin said.

    “I would consider her just a free spirit. She had the best sense of humor, the best gorgeous smile,” she said.

    During a vigil Monday night at the center, Michelle Whitehead stood among dozens of others with a sign that said “Whitehead Strong” as the group held a moment of silence and raised up flashlights on their phones to honor those that had been killed. Candles and flowers were arranged around them.

    The four wounded included a 2-year-old boy, two men, ages 23 and 27, and a woman, 39, all of whom were discharged, a hospital spokesperson said.

    One of the victims was walking a bicycle when struck, the court document said. The toddler was with his mother.

  • Zelensky has a ‘good meeting’ with Trump at the White House as he seeks more cooperation with U.S.

    Zelensky has a ‘good meeting’ with Trump at the White House as he seeks more cooperation with U.S.

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Tuesday ahead of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s funeral, with the two leaders discussing ways for Ukraine to produce its own powerful weapons and “other ideas that could help” in its ongoing war against Russia.

    The sit-down in the Oval Office, which was closed to the media, followed a consequential meeting at the NATO summit earlier this month in Ankara, Turkey, where Trump announced that the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to make Patriot defense systems — a long-running request from Kyiv to counter Russian missile attacks.

    In a post on social media after the meeting, Zelensky thanked Trump for the “good meeting” and the Republican administration’s efforts to aid Kyiv in the long-running war, which began more than four years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine.

    “The President and I discussed licenses for Patriot interceptor production and several other ideas that could help,” said Zelensky, who also noted that he offered condolences to Trump for the death of Graham, a close ally. “We also spoke about diplomacy – it’s important that the diplomatic process be reinvigorated.”

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said both the Zelensky meeting and a separate, later sit-down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were “positive and productive.”

    Trump welcomed Zelensky to the White House as the Ukrainian leader traveled to Washington to honor Graham, whose final act as a public official was visiting Kyiv and securing an agreement on a package of sanctions that seek to punish countries that purchase Russian oil, gas, and other exports.

    In a Fox News Channel interview on Tuesday, Trump recalled Graham’s hawkishness and said the Republican South Carolina senator’s support for Ukraine never wavered. Trump said Graham had suggested it was time to make a deal with Iran but had no similar suggestion for the Russia-Ukraine war.

    “Ukraine, he’s very militant about,” Trump said on Fox & Friends. “I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you.”

    The Trump administration’s embrace of Zelensky comes as a far-right activist with the U.S. president’s ear had a recent, widely publicized change of heart on Russia’s war against Ukraine.

    Laura Loomer, known primarily for her incendiary social media posts and her influence with Trump, has been traveling through Ukraine, witnessing Moscow’s barrage firsthand, and interviewing Zelensky while admitting she was “bamboozled by Russian propaganda.”

    Loomer said she spoke to Trump after she met with Zelensky in Ukraine last week and she expects to meet with the U.S. president once she returns from her trip.

    “It’s looking good for Ukraine, right?” Loomer said during an interview with the Associated Press. “Going into this meeting next week at the Oval Office is looking pretty good.”

    Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky also warned that Russia has been aiding Iran as the war persists by capturing satellite imagery of U.S. bases in the Gulf region that later appear in Iran. The Ukrainian president also asserted that there was a “clear correlation” between Russia’s images and subsequent Iranian strikes.

    “The purpose is clear,” Zelensky said earlier this month. “None of us in the world should turn a blind eye to one very simple fact: Evil always seeks ways to make things worse and spread further.”

    But on Monday, Trump downplayed any impact of potential Russian assistance for Iran.

    “I don’t think they’ve been doing it, certainly not at a high level,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan. “And if they have, it has been very un-impactful.”

    Still, he said he would raise the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    Zelensky has a busy itinerary during his latest visit to Washington. Besides his White House meeting, Zelensky was to head to the Capitol to meet with senators on Tuesday evening after Graham’s funeral at Washington National Cathedral, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

    Republican leadership is hoping to advance Graham’s sanctions legislation this week, although the Senate is juggling several other priorities before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess.

    The bill has dozens of backers from both major political parties and is seen as the main policy tribute to Graham, who died unexpectedly this month from a tear in his aorta. It imposes tariffs on goods from the world’s top five purchasers of Russia oil or natural gas, including China and India.

    The legislation also includes sanctions against Putin; senior Russian political and military leaders; and Russian financial institutions and energy projects.

  • Kentucky governor demands that McConnell prove he is fit to serve or resign

    Kentucky governor demands that McConnell prove he is fit to serve or resign

    WASHINGTON — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a rising national figure in the Democratic Party, is calling on the state’s Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell to either prove that he is fit to continue serving after his lengthy hospital stay or resign from office.

    Beshear made the demand in a letter after McConnell’s office said Monday that the 84-year-old senator had not yet been medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility where he has been undergoing physical therapy. The office said he would miss a major Kentucky political event and upcoming Senate votes. McConnell was hospitalized June 14 and disclosed weeks later that it was the result of a fall.

    Beshear, who is widely viewed as a potential presidential candidate in 2028, first urged McConnell in early July to release more information about his condition after weeks of public silence. His letter Tuesday marked a significant escalation.

    “I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote to McConnell.

    Beshear also sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, urging him to investigate McConnell’s condition if the senator does not demonstrate that he is capable of continuing to serve.

    McConnell and Thune’s offices did not provide comment on the letter.

    McConnell, who led Senate Republicans for nearly two decades, has long guarded his personal life. Since he was hospitalized last month, his office has issued major updates on July 12 and July 27, each accompanied by a single photograph.

    But public scrutiny of aging elected officials has intensified after several recent health episodes and deaths in office, including the deaths of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2023 and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham earlier this month, as well as President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection after concerns about his age and health became a dominant political issue.

    In the absence of regular public updates from McConnell himself, speculation about his condition has grown online.

    “All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency,” Beshear wrote to Thune.

  • Joe Biden interviews with memoir ghostwriter reveal him discussing sensitive information

    Joe Biden interviews with memoir ghostwriter reveal him discussing sensitive information

    Newly released audio tapes, disclosed by a conservative activist group, appear to show Joe Biden sharing classified information with a biographer and sometimes claiming memory lapses during interviews that occurred before his election to the presidency in 2020.

    About three hours of audio and 117 pages of transcripts — with many redactions — were released by the Oversight Project, an arm of the Heritage Foundation, after Biden lost a prolonged legal fight to keep his conversations with his memoir ghostwriter, Mark Lewis Zwonitzer, private.

    “They didn’t even know I had this,” Biden told Zwonitzer in October 2016, near the end of his second term as Barack Obama’s vice president, as he talked about sensitive foreign policy matters handled by the administration.

    In one 2017 session, after Biden had left the West Wing and before he’d launched his own presidential campaign, he appeared to admit retaining classified information from his time as vice president.

    “I just found all the classified stuff downstairs,” Biden said. “I wrote the President a handwritten 40-page memorandum arguing against deploying additional troops to Iraq — I mean, to Afghanistan on the grounds that it wouldn’t matter, that the day we left would be like the day before we arrived.”

    The potentially classified information itself is redacted in both the audio and transcripts that the Oversight Project released.

    The right-wing group first sued to obtain the tapes after Special Counsel Robert Hur decided in 2024 not to charge Biden for how he handled classified information. Biden cooperated with Hur’s inquiry and told the special prosecutor during his presidency that he did not intentionally mishandle any classified material.

    Hur, who obtained the tapes as part of his inquiry, said in announcing his decision that he believed a jury would find Biden a sympathetic figure because of his age and what Hur described as a “poor memory” — a statement that became a flashpoint in public debate about Biden’s age and fitness for the presidency.

    Biden was 74 when the interviews began. He was 81 and seeking reelection when Hur released his report in early 2024, though Biden later ended his campaign for a second term after a halting debate performance against Republican Donald Trump.

    The tapes contain instances of Biden being unable to recall some dates and details of topics he was discussing with Zwonitzer. Biden also showed a command of many details, recalling meetings and details of conversations referenced in the notes he shared.

    At the Oversight Project, vice president of litigation Jeff Clark insisted the tapes prove Biden’s decline.

    “The tapes have always belonged to the American People, the Oversight Project just delivered them to their rightful owner,” Clark said in a statement. “The knowledge of his deterioration was well-established.”

    A Biden spokesperson blasted the release as politically motivated.

    “President Biden’s conversations for a book a decade ago that discussed his late son are private, and were provided to the Department of Justice on the express condition they stay that way,” said TJ Ducklo. “Reversing course and making them public is just the latest example of this Administration weaponizing the DOJ for political retribution.”

    Biden initially sued to stop the Department of Justice from releasing the material, claiming the conversations were private. But he dropped his suit after a divided panel of appeals court judges rejected his bid. Biden could have petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene or asked for a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

    In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel from the circuit court found a “substantial” public interest in disclosing the material.

  • Stocks drift on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop as Mideast tensions cool

    Stocks drift on Wall Street and crude oil prices drop as Mideast tensions cool

    Stocks on Wall Street drifted to a mixed close Monday as oil prices fell after the U.S. and Iran paused their attacks while work resumed on restarting negotiations to end the war.

    The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1% after spending much of the day bouncing between small gains and losses. The benchmark index was coming off two weekly losses in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%, its fourth straight loss.

    The three major stock indexes are on pace to close out this month in the red. It would be the second straight monthly loss for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

    Oil prices reversed course from a week ago, when a sharp escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran worsened worries about global oil supplies. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, dropped 6.3% to settle at $85.87 a barrel for October delivery. Prices surged to over $100 a barrel last week before easing.

    U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell 7.5% to settle at $82.61 a barrel.

    The war between the U.S. and Iran has sharply curtailed, and at a times halted, traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz. That has had a ripple effect throughout the world’s economy. Gasoline prices have surged and shipping costs for most goods are rising, with businesses typically passing those costs along to households.

    Markets closed higher in Europe and Asia.

    Bond yields fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.65% from 4.69% late Friday.

    Technology companies were behind much of the shifts in the market, with gains and declines for a mix of big companies resulting in uncertain trading.

    Nvidia fell 5% and Micron Technology slumped 2.3%. At the same time, Microsoft rose 1.9% and Apple rose 1.2%. They are all among the most valuable companies in the world, and those huge valuations give them more influence over the direction of the broader market.

    The mix of gains and losses from a variety of those companies had more impact in pushing and pulling the market, even as the majority of companies in the S&P 500 gained ground.

    Communications company stocks were among the gainers Monday. Google parent Alphabet rose 2.1%, while Charter Communications jumped 6.7% and Comcast rose 2.3%.

    Credit card issuers and payment processors also notched gains. American Express climbed 2.8%, Capital One Financial added 2.1%, Visa rose 1.9%, and rival Mastercard gained 2.2%.

    In Asia, Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT soared in its debut in Shanghai. The company jumped to become China’s most valuable listed company with an estimated market capitalization of 3.3 trillion yuan (nearly $490 billion).

    All told, the S&P 500 added 1.20 points to 7,413.18. The Dow gained 262.83 points to 52,210.08, and the Nasdaq dropped 43.74 points to 24,932.08.

    Wall Street has a busy week ahead with several potentially mark-moving updates on the economy and company earnings. Reports are due out on consumer confidence Tuesday and inflation on Thursday.

    “This is a week with more than its fair share of potential surprises, good and bad,” said Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

    The big focus will be on the Federal Reserve, which will give an update Wednesday on its interest rate policy. The central bank has been grappling with the impact from rising inflation because of the ongoing U.S. war with Iran. It also has to contend with a fresh round of U.S.-imposed tariffs globally, which could further worsen inflation.

    Wall Street anticipates a nearly 36% chance that the Fed will raise interest rates at its meeting this week. Higher rates can help cool inflation by making borrowing more expensive and slowing economic growth.

    The central bank has been holding rates steady throughout the year as it monitors inflation’s direction and impact, but Wall Street expects at least one rate hike by the end of the year.

    Stubbornly high inflation has been squeezing households and fuel costs have hit budgets and spending particularly hard. Gasoline costs are taking a bigger chunk out of household budgets, and that could mean tighter spending on other things like clothing and travel.

    Investors are monitoring the latest round of corporate earnings for signs of consumer stress along with whether the yearlong jump in stock values throughout Wall Street is justified by profits and forecasts for profit growth.

    Investors also have a heavy round of corporate earnings to review this week. Many of those reports could provide more clues into the health of different areas of the economy. Paint and coatings maker Sherwin-Williams, aircraft maker Boeing, and payments processor Visa will report their latest results on Tuesday.

    Starbucks and Chipotle will report results on Wednesday.

    Technology companies are being watched especially closely because their sharp gains throughout the year have been behind the Wall Street’s record run. Microsoft will report results Wednesday. Amazon, with its growing cloud services business and AI focus, will report results on Thursday, along with Apple.

  • French president pledges support on visit to fire zone, vows: ‘We will win this battle together’

    LEGE-CAP FERRET, France — French President Emmanuel Macron urged fire crews to “stay strong” as they battled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control, warning that the fight will take time but vowing, “We will win this battle together.”

    On a visit to a coordination center for the massive firefighting effort in southwest France, Macron heard how the blaze raging since last week has been wildly unpredictable, transforming at times into a self-feeding fire storm as it burned through an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220,000 people to flee their homes.

    “We’re facing a completely unprecedented fire,” Macron said, describing the situation as France’s worst fire-related crisis since World War II.

    He praised firefighting teams who stopped the inferno’s progression Monday after days of spreading flames that edged toward the wine region city of Bordeaux. But with woodlands still smoldering, he and other government officials cautioned that the battle isn’t yet won, with forests turned tinder-dry by successive heat waves this year and another forecast for this week.

    “The weeks ahead will be hard. We must hold firm,” Macron said.

    Fire crews racing against feared next heat wave

    With thousands of firefighters on the ground and rotations of water- and retardant-dropping aircraft, it became a race against time Monday to contain the blaze before temperatures soar, with national weather service forecasts of 95 F and above in southwest France from Tuesday.

    Authorities also are working to feed, shelter and care for evacuees who fled in staggering numbers: 250,000 in the southwest, driven away by two fires.

    Macron spoke of displaced people “traumatized” by the upheaval and “who sometimes have lost everything.”

    No new evacuations were announced Monday. But with France about to enter its peak August tourist season, authorities for the Gironde region around Bordeaux worked to keep vacationers away, banning holiday camps for children and for people with disabilities. Government ministers also urged people not to travel to the region that is popular for its Atlantic beaches, famous wines and some of France’s largest expanses of forests.

    Crews using earth movers tore up strips of forest and scrubland to create barren spaces, intended to block the flames that officials said had come within 10 miles of Bordeaux’s outskirts. Farmers kept fire crews supplied with water, transporting it to them in tanks.

    Briefing Macron, the Gironde region’s fire chief explained how crews had wrestled with the blaze unlike any they’d previously tackled, extraordinarily virulent and capricious, “a fire that’s going everywhere” and which generated electrical storms that sparked more flare-ups.

    “The last 24 hours went well, thanks to your work” Macron told firefighters. “Doubtless, tomorrow will be more complicated than today.”

    Spain is also battling fires

    Around a dozen countries have provided planes, helicopters, firefighters, and other assistance to both France and Spain, which is also fighting unprecedented blazes. All told, fires in the two countries have forced more than 330,000 people to flee.

    In Spain, wildfires have burned out of control around Madrid and in the Valencia region. Authorities evacuated 79,000 people and confined 30,000 others to their homes.

    In both Spain and France, the exceptional scale of the fires — fueled by heat waves that hit especially hard and early this year, making forests and scrubland tinder-dry — are driving calls for stronger action against climate change.

    “What we are experiencing is not a series of isolated incidents. It is the consequence of a climate emergency that is making wildfires even more violent, heat waves more frequent,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said.

    A fire raging in hilly, rural terrain in Ávila, west of Madrid, has become Spain’s largest on record, scorching 193 square miles, the government said. That’s five times the size of Barcelona.

    “Look at how the valley is burned. Look at the houses, the people,” said David Gonzalez, a 48-year-old gardener who used his van to run supplies to firefighters in Ávila.

    “We are feeling lot of anger and helplessness. It’s something inhuman,” he said.

    Fires have burned 590 square miles this year in Spain — six times the area scorched by blazes in the first half of 2025, said Sara Aagesen, the ecology minister.

    The minister said that another heat wave forecast from Tuesday — which would be Spain’s fourth so far this year — could ratchet up the fire danger. Spain’s weather agency forecast temperatures above 104 F.

    Water-dropping planes combat fire in Italy

    A wildfire driven by strong winds broke out on Sunday afternoon near Peschici, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, burning pine forest and scrub and forcing the evacuation of about 300 tourists from beaches and campgrounds, authorities said.

    The Coast Guard evacuated tourists by sea to nearby Vieste, where authorities opened temporary shelters.

    Three Canadair water-bombing planes and fire crews on the ground continued Monday to battle the blaze, which revived memories of devastating wildfires that hit the same coastal area in 2007.