Braids have been a part of African culture since the beginning, carrying meaning far beyond style. For Black History Month, we're taking a closer look at how one Milwaukee stylist is keeping that history alive, one braid at a time.

Inside Lush Beauty Lounge, JuQuita Vance's hands move with purpose. For her, braiding is not just a skill it is a living connection to history, survival and identity.

How braids connect African American culture from past to present

"History teaches us that they started braiding hair, and they would put the maps in the hair for the escape routes. They would hide seeds in our hair for food. Everything that was meant for survival, we turned it into culture," Vance said.

Long before slavery, braid patterns across Africa signified tribe, status, age and identity. When Africans were enslaved, their heads were often shaved in an attempt to strip away culture.

What began as an act of survival was reclaimed, braid by braid and passed down through generations.

"It's never just about the hair," Vance said.

"This is a community. It's how it joins us together. It's our roots," Vance said.

Vance has extended those roots beyond the salon. She teaches braiding at Messmer High School, where she works to give students both a cultural foundation and a path to financial independence.

"I teach them the business aspect of it. I teach them how to make money off of it, how it can be profitable to them. I then teach them the technique whether it's locks, twists, braids and then I teach them how to keep their hair healthy," Vance said.

Most students begin the classes with little to no experience, but all leave with a skill they can carry with them.

"Knowing how to braid, knowing how to twist, knowing how to take care of their natural hair" Vance said.

For Vance, the impact reaches well beyond the classroom or the chair.

"I want to grab a hold of them, give them a hug, and tell them that you are great, you are powerful, you are going to be something," Vance said.

She sees every braid as an act of preservation.

"Our hair is powerful," Vance said.

"As a stylist, I'm keeping our culture alive It's been around for 5,000+ years. So why stop it now?" Vance said.

That sense of pride extends to how she sees Black hair in all its forms.

"When I see Black men with braids, locks, afros it symbolizes Black power It's a part of us," Vance said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

This story was originally reported by Gideon Verdin with the Scripps News Group station in Milwaukee.

In a controversial vote on Wednesday, the Little Miami Local Schools board voted 4-to-1 to remove a poster with the words "Hate Has No Home Here" from a classroom in the school district.

The district is located north of Cincinnati.

The poster, which a parent said has been hanging in the classroom for several years without complaints, includes five hands holding up hearts with images on them. Two of those images appear to reference the LGBTQ+ pride flag and the transgender pride flag.

"Hate has no place anywhere," said Mandy Bullock, board vice president. "But, once you add the symbols, that shouldn't be in a classroom setting."

Several board members during the meeting said they believe the poster is inappropriate, and board member Dan Smith talked about his religious beliefs before voting.

RELATED STORY | Salt Lake City adopts new flags to circumvent Utah's ban on pride flags in government buildings

WATCH: A controversial school board vote to remove an anti-hate poster has parents wondering if a lawsuit will follow

School board votes to remove 'Hate Has No Home Here' poster

"Christians are lovers. We love people. Jesus loved people," Smith said. "But I'll tell you what he didn't love. He didn't love sin."

During the nearly three-hour meeting, most parents who commented spoke in support of keeping the poster up. Parent Amanda Van Mil was one of those in attendance.

"What we've seen in our school board is that they replaced our council who advises the school board on legal issues," she said. "Our previous council at a school board meeting had advised that choosing which posters or which displays were allowed based on content was a violation of First Amendment rights and was likely to have the school district be sued."

The only school board member to vote against removing the poster, Wayne Siebert, echoed Van Mil's worries about litigation.

"This is ridiculous. This has gone on for over a year," Siebert said. "We were told if we adopt this policy, the lawsuits will follow."

In 2024, the previous school board mulled over a policy that looked to dictate what items are appropriate to display in classrooms across the school district.

We reached out to all five Little Miami Local Schools board members, asking them if they had any additional comments to provide. Only David Wallace, the school board president, responded as of Thursday evening.

RELATED STORY | The history behind the ubiquitous Pride flag

"This decision was not based on the words 'Hate Has No Home Here,'" Wallace wrote in a statement. "The district remains fully committed to ensuring every student feels safe, respected and free from bullying or harassment."

Some of the four school board members who voted to remove the poster cited Ohio House Bill 8, also known as Ohio's Parents' Bill of Rights law.

The law, enacted in April 2025, directed school boards across the state to adopt policies allowing parents to be notified and given the choice to opt their students out of any instruction that includes "sexuality content."

However, the Little Miami Local Schools policy carves out specific exemptions for this rule, including "incidental references to sexual concepts or gender ideology occurring outside of formal instruction."

The poster in question falls under "incidental references," according to Wallace.

"Under Ohio law, incidental references to sexual concepts or gender ideology do not trigger parental notification requirements," Wallace wrote in a statement. "However, based on the record before it, the board determined this poster was reasonably understood to engage students on those topics, which requires parental notice and the opportunity to review and opt out. Until those procedures are followed, the board directed that the poster be removed."

We asked Van Mil how the poster became an item on the school board's agenda and if a parent reported it.

"That's a good question," she said. "That information was not made public at the school board meeting, and I think that this is part of a trend with our new school board that was sworn in in January."

We spoke with another parent, Amanda Hollingsworth, who said she disagrees with the characterization that the poster falls under "sexuality content."

"In no way does it promote it. It's not teaching children how to have this gender ideology or the sexual ideology," she said. "It's acknowledging that these people exist. That's how I see it. And there are gay children in the schools, there are gay employees in the schools. I don't see any problem with recognizing that they are there."

This story was originally published by Connor Steffen for the Scripps News Group station in Cincinnati.

U.S. stocks are sinking as Wall Street gets back to hunting and punishing companies that could be made losers by the artificial-intelligence revolution. A surprisingly discouraging update on inflation also hurt the market.

The S&P 500 fell 0.8% and is staggering toward the finish of what would be just its second losing month in the last 10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 569 points, or 1.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.

A report showing that inflation at the U.S. wholesale level was at 2.9% last month, much higher than the 1.6% that economists expected, upset the market. The number was so much worse than expected that it could help persuade the Federal Reserve to hold off longer on its cuts to interest rates.

RELATED STORY |Andrew Yang predicts AI could eliminate half of white-collar jobs

Lower rates would give the economy and prices for investments a boost, but they risk worsening inflation at the same time.

The discouraging data layered more worries atop a Wall Street where investors returned to knocking down software companies and others whose businesses may end up getting supplanted by AI-powered competitors.

Block, the company behind Cash App, Square and other businesses, gave a signal of what AI could do after CEO Jack Dorsey said he was cutting its workforce by nearly half. Thats even though Blocks profit is growing and its sending more cash to shareholders through stock buybacks.

Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company, Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders while announcing Blocks latest profit results. Were already seeing it internally. A significantly smaller team, using the tools were building, can do more and do it better.

The co-founder of Twitter also said, I dont think were early to this realization. I think most companies are late. Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes.

Block is cutting more than 4,000 jobs from its workforce of over 10,000. Its stock jumped nearly 20%.

Capable AI tools that can replace humans could also replace entire companies, or at least eat away at their profit margins. Fears about AI disruption have been causing sudden and swift sell-offs for stocks seen as potentially under threat, rolling through industries as seemingly disparate as trucking logistics and legal services.

Salesforce, whose platform helps customers manage their relationships with clients, fell 4.4%. It gave back its 4% gain from the day before after reporting a better profit than analysts expected.

Even the companies currently seeing their revenue and profits soar because of AI-related demand are also weakening. Nvidia fell 2.6%, a day after dropping to its worst loss since last spring, even though it reported a better profit than analysts expected and forecast more in revenue for the current quarter.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Inside the secretive data centers powering the AI boom

Rival chip companies fell by similar amounts, and Broadcom dropped 2.6%. Worries are hurting such companies not only about whether their stock prices following huge gains in recent years but also whether the huge spending driving their growth can continue. Can big spenders like Amazon, Alphabet and others possibly make back all their billions of dollars in AI investments through higher productivity and profits in the future?

On the winning side of Wall Street was Netflix, which jumped 8.6% after walking away from its bid to buy Warner Bros. Discoverys studio and streaming business. That put Skydance-owned Paramount in a position to take over its Hollywood rival.

Paramount Skydance shares climbed 2.2%, while Warner Bros. Discovery fell 1.9%.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 3.97%. It swiveled higher following the inflation report, but its down from its 4.02% level late Thursday.

ln stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe and Asia. South Koreas Kospi fell 1% from its latest record, and Hong Kongs Hang Seng rose 0.9% in two of the worlds larger moves.

In energy markets, the price for a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 3.2% to $67.27. Worries about rising tensions between the United States and Iran over Irans nuclear program have been causing big swings.

The U.S. military has already gathered a massive fleet of aircraft and warships in the Middle East, and a conflict could disrupt the global flow of oil and drive prices higher.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.1% to $73.04 per barrel.

A metro Detroit woman is facing federal charges over an alleged multi-million-dollar fraud scheme involving supposed child modeling events.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, Chanise Coyne, 46, from New Boston, is charged with seven counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering.

The feds allege that Coyne obtained more than $4.6 million from a family by claiming that the money would be used for advanced fees associated with the family's young daughter participating in modeling events across the country.

According to the indictment, Coyne generated false records that allegedly showed the supposed placement of that girl in modeling events and she also impersonated a third party.

Feds say that Coyne used the money for significant gambling expenditures, including multiple alleged money laundering transactions on the FanDuel online gambling platform.

Fraud schemes that prey on the emotional bonds of families are egregious. This defendant allegedly took advantage of a familys love for their daughter, stole their nest egg, and then gambled it away. We will pursue fraud schemes in all their forms, U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon said in a statement.

A globally recognized brand is celebrating a Detroit invention that put the world on wheels. LEGO Group has teamed up with Ford Motor Company to build the Model T.

Its a project that started a year ago, and the LEGO set officially comes out Monday.

Watch Jolie's piece in the video player below: LEGO & Ford create a Model T set honoring 'the car that changed the world'

A Ford archivist and LEGO enthusiast was able to work on this project thats right in his wheelhouse.

We always, always build with the kids. So, I missed the ability to build with the kids, so I just said, 'heck, I'm gonna start getting them myself,'" said Ted Ryan, archives and brand manager for the Ford Motor Company.

Ryan says it was his passion for LEGOs and his passion for Ford that brought this amazing project together.

Ive got the Colosseum and the Eiffel Tower and once you get the bug, it's, you just get it," he said.

LEGO and Ford have done a number of LEGO sets over the years, but he says the replica of a Model T is different.

In this particular case, the questions and the level of details that the designer was looking for it made me know that she was really invested in making the project exactly as perfect as it could be," said Ryan.

And to get it just right, Ryan flew to Billund, Denmark, LEGOs headquarters, where he met with the designers in person and shared original artifacts.

It was a one-of-a-kind, unique experience getting to be in the LEGO campus at LEGO Idea House, seeing a prototype of something that I'd only seen pictures of," he said.

From classic old school tires and rims to a folding cloth top, this 1,000+ piece LEGO set is highly detailed and historically accurate.

"The wheels were white because the tire manufacturers hadn't switched to dyeing or to creating black wheels, so they did that," he said.

Designers also included a gas tank, which was under the main seat back in the day.

The group that actually produced it within the LEGO Group is called the LEGO Icons Team. And so they're the ones that look for things in culture that are significant enough to turn into a LEGO set, and they chose the Model T because it's the car that changed the world," said Ryan.

It's a Detroit invention that's still celebrated in 2026, more than a century later.

It's putting the Model T back up on a pedestal that it rightly belongs to be on," he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel on Friday told its staff that it could leave the country and urged anyone considering departure to do so immediately, as the threat of an American strike on Iran looms.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee told embassy employees in an email that discussions with officials in Washington had led to a decision authorizing departures for those who wished to leave.

The email was recounted to The Associated Press by someone involved with the U.S. mission who wasn't authorized to share details. Sent before 10:30 a.m., it urged staff considering departure to do so quickly, advising them to to focus initially on getting any flight out of Israel and to then make their way to Washington.

RELATED STORY | US military stages largest Middle East buildup since Iraq war amid heightened tensions with Iran

Those wishing to take AD should do so TODAY," Huckabee wrote, using an acronym for authorized departure.

While there may be outbound flights over the coming days, there may not be," he added.

Huckabee said that there was no need for panic, but for those desiring to leave, it was important to make plans soon.

The email came a day after Iran and the United States walked away from nuclear negotiations without a deal. Airlines such as Netherlands-based KLM have already announced plans to suspend flights out of Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport, and other embassies have also made plans for authorized departures from Israel and neighboring countries.

Australia on Wednesday directed the departure of all dependents of Australian officials posted to Israel in response to the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East. India and several European countries with missions in Iran advised citizens to avoid travel to the country as well.

On a town hall meeting Friday after the email was sent, Huckabee told staff that he was encouraging airlines to keep flying.

RELATED STORY | Trump weighing next steps with Iran

The departure authorizations signal a new level of contingency planning as a massive fleet of U.S. aircraft and warships mass in the Middle East.

Badr al-Busaidi, Oman's foreign minister who is mediating in the negotiations, said that there had been significant progress made on Thursday, though officials from Iran and the United States haven't announced steps forward.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday offered no specifics, but said what needs to happen has been clearly spelled out from our side.

Scouting America will alter several policies at the urging of the Pentagon, including a requirement that members use biological sex at birth and not gender identity, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Friday.

Some of the changes mirror what the organization suggested to the Defense Department in January, which included discontinuing its Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge as well as waiving registration fees for the children of military personnel.

Under Hegseth, the Pentagon has taken aim at the militarys partnership with Scouting America, decrying its historic rebrand in 2024 from the Boy Scouts and other changes in recent years that he sees as part of woke culture efforts that he wants to root out.

Hegseth said in a video posted on X that the Pentagon will vigorously review the changes the organization has made in six months and will cease its support of Scouting America if it fails to comply.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Boy Scouts of America changing name to more inclusive Scouting America after years of woes

We hope that doesnt happen, but it could, Hegseth said. Ideally I believe the Boy Scouts should go back to being the Boy Scouts as originally founded, a group that develops boys into men. Maybe someday.

Scouting America, which is based in Irving, Texas, didnt immediately comment.

The organization began allowing gay youth in 2013, ended a blanket ban on gay adult leaders in 2015 and announced in 2017 that it would accept transgender students. It began accepting girls as Cub Scouts as of 2018 and into the flagship Boy Scout program renamed Scouts BSA in 2019. As of May 2024, more than 6,000 girls had earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank.

The Pentagon said in a statement earlier this month that it was reviewing its relationship with Scouting America, claiming it had lost its way in many ways and calling the organizations diversity, equity and inclusion efforts unacceptable.

Scouting Americas leadership has made decisions that run counter to the values of this administration, the Feb. 6 statement said, including an embrace of DEl and other social justice, gender-fluid ideological stances.

The Pentagon previously said it and Scouting America were nearing an agreement to continue their partnership if the organization rapidly implements the common-sense, core value reforms.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Scouts can now earn merit badges in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity

Scouting America remains far from perfect, but they have firmly committed to a return to core principles, the statement said. Back to God and countryimmediately!"

The U.S. military and the Boy Scouts have had longtime ties, including the military providing logistical support for the National Boy Scout Jamboree since its inception in 1937.

The military also has a long history of sponsoring Scout troops and activities on U.S. military bases and has maintained a strong relationship with the Eagle Scouts, whose members often enlist in the armed forces.

In a statement last year, Scouting America raised concerns following a report from NPR that the Pentagon planned to cut support for Scouting programs on military bases as well as for the National Jamboree and would eliminate increases in pay grade for Eagle Scouts who enlist.

The Scouts told Hegseth in January that after hearing his suggestions, they had come up with a plan for him to review, which included discontinuing their Citizenship in Society merit badge and introducing a Military Service merit badge, waiving registration fees for military personnel and holding a ceremony to rededicate themselves to leadership, duty to God, duty to country and service, besides dissolving their DEI board committee.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Girl Scout cookie season returns with new flavor and digital skills program

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America achieved a vaunted status in the U.S. over the decades, with pinewood derbies, the Scout Oath and Eagle Scouts becoming part of the lexicon.

Lore has it that American businessman William Boyce was inspired to start the organization after he became lost in the fog in London and was guided to his destination by a youth who turned down a tip, telling Boyce that because he was a scout (they were formed in Britain in 1907) he couldnt accept money for a good deed.

Since then, the organization has faced controversies and undergone significant changes.

In 1990, the organization expelled an Eagle Scout who had become an assistant scoutmaster after discovering he was co-president of his universitys gay and lesbian organization. He sued in 1992 alleging discrimination and lost at the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that the Scouts could maintain membership and leadership criteria that excluded gay people.

Conservative groups rallied around the Boy Scouts, but scores of institutions curtailed support as the ban continued. The ban ended in 2013. In 2015, the organization ended its blanket ban on gay adult leaders while allowing church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.

In 2017, the Boy Scouts announced that they would allow transgender children who identify as boys to enroll in their boys-only programs. That came after an 8-year-old was asked to leave his Scout troop in New Jersey after parents and leaders found out he was transgender.

The Boy Scouts also faced a flood of sexual abuse claims and sought bankruptcy protection in 2020, when it had been named in about 275 lawsuits and had told insurers it was aware of another 1,400 claims.

In 2023, a judge upheld the $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan allowing the organization to keep operating while compensating more than 80,000 men who filed claims saying they were sexually abused while in scouting.

Last year, Scouting Americas President and CEO Roger Krone acknowledged some backlash to the rebrand but described the overall response as a positive one that generated wider interest.

The fact that we were going with a more kind of gender-neutral name, a lot of people kind of wanted to know more about it, Krone said.

The organization said it saw a gain in membership of about 16,000 new scouts, less than 2% from the prior year. The organization said at the time that it had just over 1 million members.

Shares in the financial technology company Block soared more than 20% in premarket trading Friday after its CEO announced it was laying off more than 4,000 of its 10,000 plus employees, reconfiguring to capitalize on its use of artificial intelligence.

The core thesis is simple. Intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company, Jack Dorsey said in a letter to shareholders in Block, the parent company to online payment platforms such as Square and Cash App. A significantly smaller team, using the tools were building, can do more and do it better, he said.

PAST STORY | Twitter Names Co-Founder Jack Dorsey As New CEO

Dorsey's comments explicitly naming AI as a key driver behind the move were also posted on X, or Twitter, a company he co-founded. The assertion that the job cuts will add to Block's profitability and efficiency led investors to jump in and buy, analysts said.

Blocks shares gained 5% Thursday to $54.53, before it reported its earnings. They shot up to nearly $69 in after-hours trading. The mobile payments services provider reported its fourth quarter gross profit jumped 24% from a year earlier.

For years, we have debated whether AI would dent jobs at the margin. Now we have a public case study in which the CEO explicitly says that intelligence tools have changed what it means to build and run a company, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Other large employers have announced tens of thousands of cuts in recent months. Some have downplayed the AI link. Block did not, he said.

A global technology company founded in 2009, San Francisco-based Block operates in the United States, Canada, parts of Europe, Australia and Japan.

RELATED STORY | If cash apps fail, consumers could lose billions, feds warn

In a post on X, Dorsey outlined various ways the company will support those laid off. For employees overseas, the terms might differ, he said.

It was unclear which employees would be laid off where.

Layoffs by American companies remain at relatively healthy levels, but the job cuts at Block are the latest among thousands announced in recent months.

A number of other high-profile companies have announced layoffs recently, including UPS, Amazon, Dow and the Washington Post.

Pakistan and Afghanistan traded attacks in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the countries that Pakistans defense minister said Friday means they are now in open war.

Tensions have been high between the neighbors for months, with border clashes in October killing dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants. Pakistan accuses Afghanistans Taliban government of harboring militant groups that then stage attacks across the border and also of allying with its archrival India.

A Qatari-mediated ceasefire ended the fighting, although the two sides still occasionally trade fire. Several rounds of peace talks in Istanbul in November failed to produce a formal agreement.

Late Thursday, Afghanistan launched a cross-border attack on Pakistan, saying it was in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas Sunday.

RELATED STORY | Pakistan and Afghanistan announce ceasefire after deadliest clashes in years

Pakistan then carried out airstrikes in Kabul and two other Afghan provinces early Friday.

After the strikes Friday, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif said in an X post that Pakistan had hoped for peace in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of NATO forces in 2021 and expected the Taliban, which seized power in the country, to focus on the welfare of the Afghan people and regional stability.

Instead, he said that the Taliban had turned Afghanistan into a colony of India, with which Pakistan has periodically engaged in wars, clashes and skirmishes since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. India has had improved ties with Afghanistan recently, offering to enhance bilateral trade, to the annoyance of Islamabad.

Our patience has now run out. Now it is open war between us, he said. There was no immediate reaction from Afghan officials.

Afghan authorities in the eastern Nangarhar province said that fighting was ongoing in the Torkham border area Friday morning. The province's information directorate said that Pakistani mortar fire hit civilian areas in Torkham, including a refugee camp, which had been evacuated overnight. In response, Afghanistan was targeting Pakistani army posts across the border, it said.

Exporting terrorism

Asif, the Pakistani defense minister, accused Afghanistan of exporting terrorism. Islamabad frequently levies the allegation at its western neighbor as militant violence has surged in Pakistan, accusing Afghanistan of supporting the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, and outlawed Baloch separatist groups.

Pakistan accuses the TTP which is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistans Taliban of operating from inside Afghanistan. Both the group and Kabul deny that charge.

RELATED STORY | Afghanistan, Iran among nations facing new Trump immigration pause

Pakistan has also frequently accused neighboring India of backing the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and the Pakistani Taliban, allegations New Delhi denies.

Asif's comments came hours after Pakistan carried out airstrikes in Afghanistans capital, Kabul, as well as in Kandahar in the south and Paktia province in the southeast, according to Pakistani officials and Afghanistan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid. Pakistan said the strikes were in retaliation for the Afghan cross-border attacks.

Retaliatory strikes

Afghanistan, meanwhile, said that it launched its attack late Thursday also in retaliation for deadly Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas Sunday.

The governments have issued sharply differing casualty claims. Each said that it inflicted heavy losses of dozens of soldiers on the other, while putting its own casualty figures in the single digits. The claims couldn't be independently verified.

Afghanistan also claimed it had captured an undisclosed number of Pakistani soldiers. Mosharraf Ali Zaidi, a spokesperson for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, denied any soldiers had been captured.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Pakistans anti-drone systems shot down several small drones over the northwestern cities of Abbottabad, Swabi, and Nowshera on Friday. He said the drones appeared to be part of a failed attack by the Pakistani Taliban, and that there were no casualties. Tarar claimed the drone attacks once again exposed direct linkages between the Afghan Taliban regime and terrorism in Pakistan.

International calls for restraint

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held separate phone calls with his Pakistani, Afghan, Qatari and Saudi counterparts on Friday to discuss the conflict, a Turkish official said, without providing details on the talks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

In October, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia had facilitated talks between the sides.

U.N. Secretary-General Antnio Guterres urged both sides to protect civilians as required under international law and to continue to seek to resolve any differences through diplomacy, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Russia called for an immediate halt to the fighting and for a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, Russian diplomat Zamir Kabulov told news agency Ria Novosti. Kabulov, who is President Vladimir Putins special envoy for Afghanistan, said that Moscow would consider mediating between the two countries if asked, according to Ria Novosti.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to resolve their differences through dialogue during the holy month of Ramadan. He also said that Tehran was ready to assist in facilitating dialogue.

Refugees at the border

Pakistani authorities said that dozens of Afghan refugees in the Torkham border area had been relocated to safer places.

Pakistan launched a sweeping crackdown in October 2023 to expel migrants without documents, urging those in the country to leave of their own accord to avoid arrest and forcibly expelling others. Iran also began a crackdown on migrants at around the same time.

Since then, millions have crossed the border into Afghanistan, including people who were born in Pakistan decades ago and had built lives and created businesses there.

Last year alone, 2.9 million people returned to Afghanistan, the U.N. refugee agency has said, with nearly 80,000 having returned so far this year.

Next week is National Consumer Protection Week, and Americans lost $1.2 billion from scams in 2025.

It's a sobering statement, and one of the reasons the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is raising awareness about red flags consumers should never ignore.

I had the chance to interview Eric Shen, the inspector in charge of USPIS. He said one of the problems is many scammers are using artificial intelligence.

Why do you think AI-powered scams are harder to detect and more convincing? I asked.

Well, Alicia, with voice cloning, even image cloning, you may think that that person's actually calling you or a video that's sent to you. You're seeing some of that manipulation of an actual person. So, it's harder to really differentiate. And that's why we always tell everyone now especially your viewers is to kind of take a step back and do some homework. Make sure that the person that's calling you is actually that person," Shen said.

Shen wants you to know how to stop scams in their tracks.

If you receive a phone call from a relative or government agency wanting money or personal information, hang up and verify it's really them by using known numbers Ignore unknown texts or emails and never click on links you recieve Paus before acting on fear or urgency, because scammers rely on pressure tactics Report mail-related scams to USPIS.gov/report

Shen said even if a scam starts on the phone or digitally, mail is often utilized in some form during fraud schemes. That's why USPIS wants you to include them when you report to law enforcement about being targeted by a scam

TAKE VO

Detroit's Autorama is back for its 73rd year, and Huntington Place has been transformed into what can only be described as horsepower heaven from candy-colored custom rides to fire-breathing hot rods around every corner.

This year, over 650 custom and classic cars are on display, along with several guest appearances.

See the full story in the video below

Detroit's 73rd annual Autorama car show brings over 650 custom cars to Huntington Place

Autorama Chairman Ken Douglass said the event is built for everyone.

"This is just a terrific family fun event for everyone to come and see," Douglass said.

Douglass has been coming to Autorama for 20 years, showing off a classic hot rod that carries deep personal meaning.

"It originally belonged to my father-in-law and got passed down to my wife and I, and we've been having fun in it ever since," Douglass said.

For Douglass, the show is about more than just the cars it's about the experience.

"This is a place where the Hot Wheels come to life, so to speak," Douglass said.

And the best part? You don't need a collector's budget to enjoy it just a sense of adventure.

One of this year's standout moments is the President's Award, won by Len Palmeri for a car he and his father custom-built together.

"The project was a father and son project, my father built many custom cars and hand-built cars," Palmeri said.

The award-winning build is a one-of-a-kind creation decades in the making.

"It's basically a reproduction of what we thought a 1929 Mercedes would look like. It was done 57 years ago, my father and I built it," Palmeri said.

Palmeri encouraged everyone to make the trip to Huntington Place.

"Come down to the Autorama and see the cars, have fun and talk to the guys that own them," Palmeri said.

Of course, no Autorama would be complete without the legendary Ridler Award the show's most prestigious honor, given to hand-crafted, meticulously engineered custom builds that are widely considered works of art on wheels.

I spoke with 2025 Ridler Award winner Tom Bresnahan about his custom 1955 Chevy Nomad, a build that started from almost nothing.

"This is a complete hand-built car we started basically with an abandoned car, just a body and a chassis, there was no engine, no transmission," Bresnahan said.

But the road to completing the Nomad was far from easy. Six years into the build, Bresnahan and his wife both received life-changing health news.

"We were about 6 years into the build and then I got diagnosed with cancer, so we stopped because 6 weeks later my wife got diagnosed with cancer, so we stopped and we didn't know what was going to happen," Bresnahan said.

After both beat cancer, they returned to the build and saw it through to the finish.

"After ten years and 20,000 hours later, this is what we came up with," Bresnahan said.

Every detail on the Nomad from the interior and tail lights to the wheels and engine is custom-made.

"Everything on this is custom-made and it takes hours and hours to do that," Bresnahan said.

For Bresnahan, the recognition at Autorama is a reflection of what the show means to the custom car world.

"It's true what they say it's the world's greatest car show and that's the truth," Bresnahan said.

Whether you're there for inspiration, nostalgia, or just to snap a photo next to the wildest custom car you've ever seen, Autorama delivers.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Where Your Voice Matters

Novi's new robotics hub gives students a dedicated space to build, test and compete, and district leaders say more STEM expansion is on the way.

Novi Public Schools cut the ribbon on a new state-of-the-art robotics center, a 24,000-square-foot facility featuring a kitchen, cafeteria, multiple build-and-test labs and a competition arena.

Watch Christiana Ford's video report below: Novi Public Schools cuts ribbon on new 24,000-square-foot robotics center

Its a stand-alone place outside taking the space previously occupied by Meadows Elementary.

The center was funded in part by the $185 million 2019 school bond approved by voters.

For 10th grade students Sanvi Chintamaneni and Pavithra Venkatesh, the new space is a dramatic upgrade.

"Last year, it was a very congested space having multiple groups in the same workspace," Chintamaneni said.

Venkatesh said the resources available in the new building immediately stood out.

"As soon as I walked into this building, it was just fascinating because I had never had this many resources open to me," Venkatesh said.

Students no longer have to wait for open classrooms or borrow space. The new facility gives them a dedicated place to work.

Banu Arslan, a parent of high school senior twins, said the change has been significant for students.

"This a huge transformation for our students. We now can come in here whenever we like," Arslan said.

Superintendent Ben Mainka said the district is planning to build on its STEM offerings using the 2025 bond approved by voters last November.

"That's going to be able to help us bring in a whole new STEM addition to our middle school, which will continue from our fifth grade all through 12th grade having high quality, some of the top STEM and robotics education facilities during the day as a part of our curriculum, so we're just very, very grateful for the community support," Mainka said.

The robotics program was started more than 25 years ago by Jennifer Harvey, a former art teacher after she attended a competition at Eastern Michigan University.

"I saw that and I thought I want Novi to have that. And look, look what we have now we have it," Harvey said.

The program has grown from 25 students to more than 150 annually and now includes two high school teams.

"This is something they won't be able to find until they are out of college," Harvey said.

Her son, a graduate of the program, went to college for computer science.

Both Chintamaneni and Venkatesh have their sights set on careers in engineering. Chintananeni said she hopes to combine her two passions.

"I'm really fascinated with robotics and also animals, so I hope to combine that field," Chintananeni said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

The Thunder Over Michigan Air Show returns to Willow Run Airport this summer with a special edition to celebrate Americas 250th birthday.

Organizers say the event will be bigger and bolder this year.

The U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team will rip through the sky. Along with great viewing spots, there will be entertainment for all ages on the airport's grounds from open to close.

The air show runs July 17 to July 19.

Tickets are on sale at a discounted price and are expected to go up as the event gets closer. More information about the event can be found on thunderovermichigan.org.

The U.S. military used a laser Thursday to shoot down a Customs and Border Protection drone, according to members of Congress, and the Federal Aviation Administration responded by closing more airspace near El Paso, Texas.

Just over two weeks ago, the FAA shut down the El Paso airport and the surrounding area after another use of an anti-drone laser. This time, commercial flights are not affected by the expanded airspace closure over Fort Hancock.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Pentagon-FAA dispute over lasers to thwart cartel drones led to airspace closure, AP sources say

Rep. Rick Larsen and several other top Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee said they were notified through official channels.

Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high risk counter-unmanned aircraft system, Larsen and the other representatives wrote. We said months ago that the White Houses decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, DHS and the FAA was a short-sighted idea. Now, were seeing the result of its incompetence.

The Defense Department and Transportation Department referred questions to the FAA, which said in a brief statement that it had expanded the airspace closure around Fort Hancock. Border Protection did not immediately respond to questions.

The U.S. military is amassing its largest concentration of forces in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq as tensions with Iran remain heightened.

Plane spotters and aviation enthusiasts first noticed American F-22 fighter jets lifting off one after another from a U.K. air base. The activity was an unmistakable signal from what is widely considered the most advanced fighter jet in the world.

RELATED STORY | 'Significant progress' made in talks between US and Iran to stave off war

The fleet soon touched down in the Israeli desert at a remote air base within operational range of Iran and its proxy forces. The deployment comes as U.S. and Iranian officials met Thursday in what was described as a last-chance effort at diplomacy over Tehrans nuclear program.

The F-22 Raptors are built to slip past radar, dominate enemy aircraft and clear skies before other forces move in. Their mission is clear: gain control of contested airspace before an adversary can respond.

From southern Israel, the jets are positioned within reach of Iranian air defense networks and possible infrastructure targets. They are also strategically located to respond to aerial threats facing Israel on multiple fronts, including from nearby Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have previously attacked Israel.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Trump warns of 'very bad day' if Iran doesn't agree to a nuclear deal

The buildup extends beyond air power. The USS Ford the worlds largest aircraft carrier, with more than 5,000 sailors and aviators departed from a naval base Thursday morning, believed to be heading toward the coast of Israel. The carrier brings a strike force of destroyers and submarines, signaling the U.S. and Israel may be bracing for potential direct attacks from Iran and its regional proxy networks.

Take your poop bags home: thats the message from the city of Birmingham intended especially to who they are calling dog bomb bandits.

Watch Evan's story in the video player below: Birmingham officials say 'dog bomb bandits' could face fines for illegal dumping

Stephanie Potts, who walks her dog Teddy daily, does her best to keep their neighborhood by Quarton Lake clean.

We walk locations where we know, therell be trash bins, Potts said.

But the city says many others are not keeping it clean. A Wednesday Facebook post explains the problem.

According to Birmingham officials, code enforcement has received multiple complaints of illegal dumping on construction sites throughout the city recently. Red circles added to the photo posted highlight bag after bag tossed next to a dumpster.

People should try to get the doggy bags in the dumpsters, Brooke Fisher of Birmingham said.

Fisher and her pup live nearby where this picture was taken, but she says Birmingham calling it a violation of city code is excessive.

Am I guilty of putting a doggie bag in an open dumpster? Probably, she said.

In the Facebook post the city said Please dont dump your refuse canine or otherwise on construction sites or in their private dumpsters. Its a violation of city code, which could result in fines and its just plain unsanitary.

We asked residents if they think what was posted was necessary.

Im gonna go with probably not," Fisher said.

A nice fair warning, but fines, probably not the best. Frankly, there should be a few more trash cans scattered around the city, Potts said.

A 30% drop in Canadians crossing land borders into the United States is hitting Detroit businesses, tourism officials say, as political tensions and currency exchange rates keep Canadian visitors home.

Detroit is home to the largest and busiest land border crossing between the two countries. The decline, reflected in data released by the Canadian government this week, is being felt in neighborhoods just minutes from the border.

Watch Brett Kast's video report below: Detroit tourism officials express concern after 30% drop in Canadian tourism to US

At McShane's Irish Pub in Corktown roughly a five-minute drive from the Canadian border manager Rita Cazaras said the Canadian regulars her staff once counted on have become a rare sight.

"We have seen the decline, and it's been a little hurtful to us," Cazaras said.

Cazaras said she was not surprised by the statistic, and says it's especially noticeable on game days and for big events.

"We've seen a 30% dip in Canadian visitors to Detroit and Southeast Michigan and that's certainly had an impact on hotels, our restaurants, our attractions," said Claude Molinari, president and CEO of Visit Detroit.

Many have heard from Canadians who no longer wish to travel to the United States amid the current political conflict between the two countries, with some finding it more patriotic to spend their money at home.

"Definitely the sentiment has changed, and we're seeing it both statistically and anecdotally," Molinari said.

Molinari noted that while overall tourism in Detroit remained flat, a stronger showing from Canadian visitors would have produced an overall increase in 2025.

"It matters for people who depend on tourism and hospitality for a living. You've lost a segment of the population that's just not coming right now," Molinari said.

Hear more from Claude Molinari below: Visit Detroit President and CEO Claude Molinari talks about decline in Canadian travel to US

But the decline can't be blamed soley on politics, according to Molinari and some Canadian residents.

Felicia Chibante, who lives in Windsor, Ontario, but works in Detroit, said finances are the bigger factor for her. Every U.S. dollar costs Canadian travelers roughly $1.37 in Canadian currency, making shopping and dining in Detroit less affordable.

"For leisure, we do find ourselves traveling a lot less than usual because it's not worth it," Chibante said. "It was nice to come here and shop and then maybe get dinner and stuff like that, so you find yourself doing a lot less of that."

Despite the decline, tourism officials say the door remains open.

"When they feel that it's an appropriate time to come back, we will welcome them back. I don't think they've wronged us," Molinari said.

Cazaras agrees, expressing hope the slowdown won't last.

"We are hopeful for that. We're hopeful it's just a temporary bump," Cazaras said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

The historic Book Tower has now been standing tall over Detroit for a full century. The 38-story site was the city's tallest building when it opened way back in 1926.

Since then, it's undergone a complete transformation.

Watch Jeffrey Lindblom's video report below: Detroit's Book Tower celebrates 100th anniversary

Bedrock Detroit reopened the tower in 2023 but the building's rich history hasn't been forgotten.

Im a proud Book. Very, very proud Book, Randy Book said. Hes the great grandson of Frank Book, who with his two brothers in the early 1900s developed much of the block including Book Tower.

When I walk into this building every time, I get goosebumps, Randy Book said.

Book Tower was originally an office building with some retail not a library like the last name would suggest.

Book told me a lot of whats inside the building is original like a letter box that stands right beside the historic exhibition thats maintaining 100 years worth of his familys history.

All this, I had it in a briefcase all this information that I had. It was just timeless information that I had, Randy Book said.

Randy Book, a fourth generation Detroiter, says its a blessing the original blueprints and all the history wasnt gone with the wind.

You know, this building could have gotten torn down, he said.

Video: Restoration project of Book Tower Video shows restoration project done by Bedrock on Book Tower

I sat down with Bedrock Senior Vice President of Architecture and Design Jamie Witherspoon, who shared with me the rough shape the building was in prior to them taking on the project in 2015.

Its sort of hard to overstate the level of disrepair, Witherspoon said. It was a full gut.

He says it was vacant for nearly a decade before they started an eight-year transformation cleaning a century worth of grease, grime and old bones and giving it a new life as a hotel and apartment complex.

Related: Before-and-after photos of $300M+ renovation of historic Book Tower

The original elevators and some of the 1920s walls and floors were preserved.

A rumored basement bar during The Prohibition was replaced with actual bars and a cafe in the way of French cuisine and an old-fashioned speakeasy, hoping to make Detroiters proud.

The legacy, right. This is a building that stood here for a century, Witherspoon said.

Book plans to hold an on-site family reunion in the coming weeks to honor 100 years of transformation, which he believes the city has done right alongside his familys 38-story heirloom.

Theres no reason this building cant be here for another five to eight hundred years, Randy Book said. I think that theyre going to be just really taken away.

If youd like to join the Book Tower in its centennial celebration, you can go to Bar Rotunda in the main lobby beginning in March for a drink theyre calling The Centennial Celebration.

A new lawsuit alleges that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using artificial intelligence to identify bystanders who are recording federal immigration enforcement operations and then adding those people to a secret database.

Two women from Maine filed the lawsuit and claim that federal agents threatened to add them to a database of domestic terrorists because they were legally recording the agents.

RELATED STORY | Mask ban for ICE agents emerges as flashpoint in DHS funding negotiation

In a video included in the lawsuit, a woman behind the camera tells a federal immigration agent that "it's not illegal to record" and questions why he is apparently documenting her information. The agent responds by saying "we have a nice little database. And now you're considered a domestic terrorist, so have fun with that."

That entire encounter is detailed in the lawsuit along with another where the plaintiff was told "if you keep coming to things like this, you are going to be on a domestic terrorist watch list. Then we're going to come to your house later tonight."

Both plaintiffs in the case allege the federal agents retaliated against them for exercising their First Amendment right to observe and protest against federal immigration operations.

The Department of Homeland Security has denied that any such database exists, but did say that the agency monitors and investigates any threats. However, what constitutes a threat remains uncertain as there have been numerous cases where people who were protesting the Trump administration's immigration crackdown were referred to by federal officials as "domestic terrorists" even if they weren't doing anything illegal.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | DHS top spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to step down

Scripps News spoke with one organizer from Minneapolis and she said people are aware that their personal information is being tracked by the federal government.

"There have been reports here in Minneapolis of federal agents stopping someone and calling them by name," said Irna Landrum, senior campaigner on AI at Kairos Fellows. "... It absolutely creates this sense that I'm being watched, I'm being monitored. And I'm being watched and monitored as a potential threat and being named as a potential threat by my own government."

The lawsuit comes as the DHS is rapidly expanding on its use of AI-powered surveillance tools, including technology that lets agents scan faces, license plates and social media posts in real time. It's cause for concern considering what was originally meant for tracking non-citizens is now also being used to monitor U.S. citizens, including protesters and bystanders, without a warrant.