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What to know after the US deports more migrants to Africa

By GERALD IMRAY, Associated Press

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Rwanda has become the third African nation to receive deportees from the United States as the Trump administration expands its program to send migrants to countries they have no ties with.

A Rwandan government spokesperson said Thursday that seven deportees arrived in the East African country earlier this month. No announcement was made at the time.

Rwanda did say in early August that it had agreed to take up to 250 deportees but declined then to say when the first would arrive.

Two other African nations, South Sudan and Eswatini, have already accepted a small number of deportees from the U.S. in what have also been secretive deals, while Uganda said last week it has an agreement in principle to take deportees.

Here’s what we know about the deportations of migrants from the U.S.

Rwanda

Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said the seven deportees are being visited by representatives from the United Nations’ migration agency and Rwandan social services.

Three of them want to return to their home countries while the other four “wish to stay and build lives in Rwanda,” she said. The Rwandan government didn’t say where the deportees are being held.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, left, and his wife, first lady Jeannette Kagame
FILE – Rwandan President Paul Kagame, left, and his wife, first lady Jeannette Kagame arrive for a ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, held at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, in Kigali, Rwanda, Sunday, April 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

There was no information on their identities, nationalities or if they have criminal records.

Deportees previously sent to South Sudan and Eswatini were all described by U.S. authorities as dangerous criminals.

Rwanda’s deal with the U.S. follows a contentious migrant agreement it reached with the U.K. in 2022 that collapsed and was ruled unlawful by Britain’s Supreme Court. That deal was meant to see people seeking asylum in the U.K. sent to Rwanda, where they would stay if their asylum applications were approved.

Uganda

Uganda, which borders Rwanda, said it would accept deportees from the U.S. as long as they don’t have criminal records or are unaccompanied minors.

Drivers of motorcycle taxis, known locally as boda-bodas, ride with passengers on a street of Kampala, Uganda
FILE – Drivers of motorcycle taxis, known locally as boda-bodas, ride with passengers on a street of Kampala, Uganda, on July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda, File)

The U.S. has said it wants to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, to Uganda.

Like the other countries, Uganda didn’t give any other details of its deal with the U.S. or what it might gain from accepting deported migrants. African nations might get a range of benefits for accepting deportees and improving their relations with the Trump administration.

“We are sacrificing human beings for political expediency, in this case because Uganda wants to be in the good books of the United States,” Ugandan human rights lawyer Nicholas Opio said when his country announced it was seeking a deal with the U.S.

South Sudan

The U.S. sent eight men from South Sudan, Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar and Vietnam to South Sudan in July after their deportations were held up by a legal challenge. That led to them being kept for weeks in a converted shipping container at an American military base in nearby Djibouti.

U.S. officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the U.S.

South Sudan’s government said it would ensure their “safety and wellbeing” but has declined to say where the men are being held and what their fate might be.

South Sudan has been wracked by conflict since it gained independence from Sudan in 2011 and is teetering on the edge of civil war again.

Eswatini

Two weeks after the South Sudan deportations, the U.S. announced that it had sent five other men — citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos — to the small kingdom of Eswatini, in southern Africa.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security described them as violent criminals whose home countries had refused to take them back.

Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini
FILE – Matsapha Correctional Complex is seen in Matsapha, near Mbabane, Eswatini, Thursday July 17, 2025. (AP Photo, File)

Eswatini’s government said the men would be held in solitary confinement until their repatriation, and later said that might take up to a year.

A human rights lawyer in Eswatini has taken the authorities to court alleging the men are being denied legal representation while being held in a maximum-security prison.

Eswatini, which borders South Africa, is one of the world’s last absolute monarchies. King Mswati III has ruled since he turned 18 in 1986 and authorities under him are accused of violently subduing pro-democracy movements.

FILE – President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters as he meets with Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, and Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

These colleges are welcoming pets in dorms to reduce students’ stress and anxiety

By CHEYANNE MUMPHREY

Crossing paths with dogs, cats and other animals is part of campus life for students at Eckerd College, a liberal arts school in Florida that allows pets to live in dormitories.

Sophie Nocera, an Eckerd senior, said she probably knows the names of pets better than her fellow students.

“That’s the case for a lot of the students,” said Nocera, who lives on the campus in St. Petersburg with her Border collie, Zuko. “When I’m walking my dog, I often hear, ‘Oh my god, hi, Zuko!’ It’s like I’m not even there.”

Some colleges and universities around the country welcome pets in campus residences, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to Stephens College in Missouri.

For students, the companionship can help reduce stress, anxiety and homesickness. The colleges also see benefits for student engagement and helping them build connections with one another.

Federal law requires public and private colleges to allow service animals and emotional support animals in student housing. But growing numbers of schools are allowing pets, with various restrictions.

Not all animals are welcome on pet-friendly campuses

MIT allows only cats, in limited numbers and in preapproved spaces. At Eckerd, students can bring their family pets to live with them on campus after their first semester. The college requires pets to have been part of students’ home life at least six months before coming to campus and must not be venomous or aggressive.

Student Molly Cheer's pet comfort cat, Louie, peers out of his shelter in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
Student Molly Cheer’s pet comfort cat, Louie, peers out of his shelter in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

At the University of Northern Colorado, students in three of the more than dozen residence halls on campus are allowed to have dogs and cats. The animals must be at least 6 months old and no more than 40 pounds. Students are limited to one pet. This fall, the school will have the most registered pets on campus since it began allowing them over a decade ago, said Jediah Cummins, executive director of housing.

“One of the markers of adulthood is, ‘Can I not just take care of myself, but can I take care of another living being?’ That’s an important part of this,” Cummins said.

Molly Cheer, a senior nursing major, said she chose Northern Colorado in part because of its pet-friendly policy. When she is stressed about school, she said, it helps coming home to Louie, the cat she adopted during her first year.

“Whenever I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I pick him up and cuddle him, and he just deals with it for as long as I need it,” she said.

Student Molly Cheer sits with her pet comfort cat, Louie, in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
Student Molly Cheer sits with her pet comfort cat, Louie, in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Eckerd has had pet-friendly dorms since 1973. Jack Layden, assistant dean for residential life and student engagement, said the college has hosted hundreds of animals, including rabbits, ferrets, chinchillas, birds, guinea pigs, bearded dragons, geckos, turtles, snakes, frogs, fish, and even a tarantula.

Pets change the college experience for their owners

Nocera said Zuko has helped her meet other people on campus, as well as emotionally, when she struggled with a decision to change her major.

“I remember coming back to my dorm and just melting to the floor, and Zuko was right there. And I remember thinking, whatever happens tomorrow, I’m going to wake up, and I’m going to take him to the dog park. And, we’re going to go play fetch regardless of what my major is,” said Nocera, who is the staff director of Pet Life, a student-led department on campus tasked with administering the pet policy.

Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, poses for a photo with her dog Zuco on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Tina Russell)
Sophie Nocera, 21, a senior at Eckerd College, poses for a photo with her dog Zuco on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Tina Russell)

At Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, Eva Chatterjee-Sutton saw the difference a pet can make when a first-year student was struggling to make connections before her mother suggested a puppy. After the dog’s arrival, the student became more involved in campus life, said Chatterjee-Sutton, vice president of student life.

“I think it’s absolutely changed her college trajectory and her connection with others on campus,” Chatterjee-Sutton said.

Residence halls set boundaries, get creative to support pet owners

Pet-friendly dorms require colleges to consider things like safety concerns, noise complaints, how to avoid agitating animals during fire alarm tests, as well as additional costs for cleaning, Layden said. Some schools charge a pet fee, which varies by school, type of pet and is often included in housing expenses. For example, at Stephens College, the annual fee for a dog or cat is $220, for a cage- or aquarium-dwelling pet is $50 and free for fish. Others require students to have liability insurance and roommate agreements. Pets are required to be restrained when in public, and most colleges require students to ensure their pets are healthy and vaccinated.

Eckerd and other colleges recognize pets’ role in their students’ lives at graduation ceremonies, allowing them to cross the commencement stage together in some cases.

“Having pets obviously isn’t for everyone, and that is totally OK,” Nocera said. “But for the people that it is a good fit for, it is so worth it. This upcoming year, I’ll be graduating, and Zuko will be in his little pet graduation ceremony, walking across the stage with me.”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Student Molly Cheer gives her pet comfort cat, Louie, a treat in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Japan’s chief trade envoy postpones US trip as Tokyo calls for faster action on its tariffs deal

By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s top trade negotiator abruptly canceled a trip to Washington aimed at issuing a joint statement on a tariffs deal with the Trump administration, as a top government spokesman urged the U.S. side to speed up implementation of the agreement.

Trade envoy Ryosei Akazawa was scheduled to leave Tokyo for Washington on Thursday for a 10th round of talks, following up on the agreement announced on July 22.

But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters some details required further consultations, so the trip was postponed.

In July, the two sides agreed on a 15% tax on imports of most Japanese goods, effective Aug. 1, down from an earlier 25% rate announced by President Donald Trump as so-called “reciprocal tariffs” on the major U.S. ally. Japanese officials discovered days later that the preliminary deal would add a 15% tariff to other tariffs and objected. Officials in Washington have acknowledged the mistake and agreed to abide by the agreement on a 15% tariff, and to refund any excess import duties that were paid.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

“We will strongly request the United States to amend its presidential order to correct the reciprocal tariffs and to issue the presidential order to lower tariffs on autos and auto parts,” Hayashi said.

In an interview with Fox News earlier this week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Washington was ready to finalize the deal, in which Japan also pledged to invest up to $550 billion in the United States in coming years.

Plans for Akazawa to visit Washington are undecided, Hayashi said during a daily briefing, with another nudge at the Trump administration.

“Japan and the United States have confirmed the importance of sincere and prompt implementation of the agreement between the two countries,” he said, adding that a deal was essential for the economic security of both countries.

FILE – Ryosei Akazawa, newly appointed Minister in charge of Economic Revitalization, arrives at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo, on Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

Photos of pets in dorms: Colleges are welcoming animals to help students feel at home

By TINA RUSSELL and THOMAS PEIPERT The Associated Press

Sophie Nocera, a senior at Eckerd College, lives on the campus of the liberal arts school in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her Border collie, Zuko.

Molly Cheer, a senior nursing major who has a cat named Louie, said she chose Northern Colorado in part because of its pet-friendly policy. Some colleges are allowing pets in dorms to boost students’ mental health and help them feel more at home.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Student Molly Cheer sits with her pet comfort cat, Louie, as she looks at upcoming course work in her dorm room at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo., on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Today in History: August 28, Emmett Till’s brutalized body found

Today is Thursday, Aug. 28, the 240th day of 2025. There are 125 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 28,1955, Emmett Till, a Black teenager from Chicago, was abducted from his uncle’s home in Money, Mississippi, by two white men after he had allegedly whistled at a white woman four days prior; he was found brutally slain three days later.

Also on this date:

In 1845, the first issue of “Scientific American” magazine was published; it remains the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States.

In 1862, the Second Battle of Bull Run began in Prince William County, Virginia, during the Civil War; the Union army retreated two days later after suffering 14,000 casualties.

In 1898, pharmacist Caleb Bradham of New Bern, North Carolina changed the name of the carbonated beverage he’d created five years earlier from “Brad’s Drink” to “Pepsi-Cola.”

In 1957, then U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond (D-South Carolina) began what remains the longest speaking filibuster in Senate history (24 hours and 18 minutes) seeking to stall the passage of the Civil Rights Act of that year.

In 1963, during the March on Washington, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech before an estimated 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

In 1968, police and anti-war demonstrators clashed in the streets of Chicago as the Democratic National Convention nominated Hubert H. Humphrey for president.

In 1988, 70 people were killed when three Italian Air Force stunt planes collided during an air show at the U.S. Air Base in Ramstein, West Germany.

In 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin ordered a mandatory evacuation as Hurricane Katrina approached the city.

In 2013, a military jury sentenced Maj. Nidal Hasan to death for the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood that claimed 13 lives and left 30 people injured.

In 2016, six scientists completed a yearlong Mars simulation on the big island of Hawaii, where they emerged after living in a dome in near isolation on Mauna Loa.

Today’s Birthdays:

  • Actor Ken Jenkins (TV: “Scrubs”) is 85.
  • Former MLB manager and player Lou Piniella (pih-NEHL’-uh) is 82.
  • Former MLB pitcher Ron Guidry (GIH’-dree) is 75.
  • Former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove is 73.
  • Artist Ai Weiwei is 68.
  • Actor Daniel Stern is 68.
  • Olympic gold medal figure skater Scott Hamilton is 67.
  • Actor Jennifer Coolidge is 64.
  • Film director David Fincher is 63.
  • Country singer Shania (shah-NY’-uh) Twain is 60.
  • “Pokemon” creator Satoshi Tajiri is 60.
  • Actor Billy Boyd is 57.
  • Actor Jack Black is 56.
  • Hockey Hall of Famer Pierre Turgeon is 56.
  • Actor Jason Priestley is 56.
  • Olympic gold medal swimmer Janet Evans is 54.
  • Actor Carly Pope is 44.
  • Country singer Jake Owen is 44.
  • Country singer LeAnn Rimes is 43.
  • Rock singer Florence Welch (Florence and the Machine) is 39.
  • Actor Quvenzhane (kwuh-VEHN’-zhah-nay) Wallis is 22.

The crowd files past the open casket of Emmett Till inside Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ to pay their respects at his funeral on Sept. 3, 1955, in Chicago. (Phil Mascione/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Morales pitches 7 sharp innings and Gelof powers A’s past Tigers 7-0 for 3-game sweep

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Luis Morales pitched seven sparkling innings, Zack Gelof homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0 on Wednesday night to sweep their three-game series.

Making his fourth career start, Morales (2-0) allowed two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. The 22-year-old rookie from Cuba lowered his ERA to 1.19 in five major league appearances.

The AL Central-leading Tigers lost their fourth in a row and fell a half-game behind AL East-leading Toronto for the best record in the American League.

Brett Harris and Nick Kurtz each had two hits and scored two runs.

Harris doubled off Detroit starter Casey Mize leading off the fourth and scored when a throwing error by Mize allowed Gelof to reach safely, making it 5-0.

Mize (12-5) permitted five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Kurtz singled leading off the first, moved to second when Shea Langeliers walked and scored on a single by Tyler Soderstrom.

Spencer Torkelson tripled in the second and Dillon Dingler singled in the fifth for Detroit’s only hits.

Key moment

Harris reached on an infield single in the second and Gelof hit the next pitch over the left-center wall. Kurtz followed with a single, advanced to third on Langeliers’ double and then scored on Brent Rooker’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-0.

Key stats

Gelof entered batting .063 (2 for 32) with one RBI this season. … Harris had his fourth career multihit game and first since July 13, 2024.

Up next

Detroit’s Chris Paddack (5-11, 4.98 ERA) is scheduled to pitch Friday against Kansas City’s Seth Lugo (8-6, 3.99) in the opener of a three-game series.

The Athletics hadn’t announced their starter for Friday, the first of three games against Texas. Jack Leiter (8-7, 3.81 ERA) is set to pitch for the Rangers.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Casey Mize throws to an Athletics batter during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Sergio Estrada)

Minneapolis police: shooting at Catholic school has left 3 dead, including shooter, and 17 injured

Reporting by Steve Karnowski and Mark Vancleave, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A gunman opened fire with a rifle through the windows of a Catholic church and struck a group of children celebrating Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 17 in an act of violence the police chief called “absolutely incomprehensible.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said the shooter — armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol — approached the side of the church and shot through the windows toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School.

O’Hara said the shooting suspect is dead and in his early 20s and does not have an extensive known criminal history. Officials are looking into his motive.

“This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping. The sheer cruelty and cowardice of firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible,” said the police chief, who noted that a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors.

The children who died were 8 and 10, he said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the violence “horrific” in a social media post.

Children’s Minnesota, a pediatric trauma hospital, said in a statement five children were admitted for care. Hennepin Healthcare, which has Minnesota’s largest emergency department, said it also was caring for patients from the shooting.

Bill Bienemann, who lives a couple of blocks away and has long attended Mass at Annunciation Church, said he heard dozens of shots, perhaps as many as 50, over as long as four minutes.

“I was shocked. I said, ‘There’s no way that could be gunfire,’” he said. “There was so much of it. It was sporadic.”

Bienemann’s daughter, Alexandra, said she attended the school from kindergarten to 8th grade, finishing in 2014. After she heard of the shooting, she said she was shaking and crying, and her boss told her to take the day off.

Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church's school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Law enforcement officers gather outside the Annunciation Church’s school in response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)

“It breaks my heart, makes me sick to my stomach, knowing that there are people I know who are either injured or maybe even killed,” Alexandra Bienemann said. “It doesn’t make me feel safe at all in this community that I have been in for so long.”

The school was evacuated, and students’ families later were directed to a “reunification zone” at the school. Outside, amid a heavy uniformed law enforcement presence, were uniformed children in their dark green shirts or dresses. Many were trickling out of the school with adults, giving lingering hugs and wiping away tears.

Local, state, county and federal law enforcement officers and agents converged on the area, a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of downtown Minneapolis. On Truth Social, President Donald Trump said he was briefed on the “tragic shooting” and that the White House would continue to monitor it.

A person walks out of the Annunciation Church's school as police response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
A person walks out of the Annunciation Church’s school as police response to a reported mass shooting, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Dating to 1923, the pre-kindergarten through eighth grade school had an all-school Mass scheduled at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to its website. Monday was the first day of school. Recent social media posts from the school show children smiling at a back-to-school event, holding up summer art projects, playing together and enjoying ice pops.

At a meeting of Democratic officials elsewhere in Minneapolis, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin noted the shooting and “unknown amount of victims.”

The gunfire was the latest in a series of fatal shootings in the city in less than 24 hours. One person was killed and six others were hurt in a shooting Tuesday afternoon outside a high school in Minneapolis. Hours later, two people died in two other shootings in the city.

Wednesday’s school shooting also followed a spate of hoax calls about purported shootings on at least a dozen U.S. college campuses. The bogus warnings, sometimes featuring gunshot sounds in the background, prompted universities to issue texts to “run, hide, fight” and frightened students around the nation as the school year begins.

Students and parents await news during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)
Students and parents await news during a mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via AP)

Associated Press writers Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa; Jennifer Peltz in New York; Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota; and Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; contributed to this report.

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Today in History: August 27, Hurricane Irene makes landfall

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 27, the 239th day of 2025. There are 126 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 27, 2011, Hurricane Irene made landfall in the United States; the storm would be responsible for 49 total deaths and more than $14 billion in damage.

Also on this date:

In 1883, the island volcano Krakatoa erupted with a series of cataclysmic explosions. The explosions (which could be heard 3,000 miles away) and resulting tsunamis in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait claimed some 36,000 lives in Java and Sumatra.

In 1894, Congress passed the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act, which contained a provision for a graduated income tax that was later struck down by the Supreme Court.

In 1964, the film “Mary Poppins” had its world premiere in Los Angeles, California.

In 1979, British war hero Lord Louis Mountbatten and three other people, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, were killed off the coast of Ireland in a boat explosion claimed by the Irish Republican Army.

In 1982, Rickey Henderson of the Oakland A’s stole his 119th base of the season, breaking Lou Brock’s single-season stolen base record. (Henderson would finish the season with a still-unmatched 130 stolen bases.)

In 1990, blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughn and four others were killed in a helicopter crash near East Troy, Wisconsin.

In 2001, Israeli helicopters fired a pair of rockets through office windows, killing senior PLO leader Mustafa Zibri.

In 2005, coastal residents jammed freeways and gas stations as they rushed to avoid Hurricane Katrina, which was headed toward New Orleans.

In 2008, Barack Obama was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Denver, becoming the first Black presidential nominee from a major political party.

Today’s Birthdays:

  • Author William Least Heat-Moon is 86.
  • Actor Tuesday Weld is 82.
  • Former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., is 82.
  • Actor G.W. Bailey is 81.
  • Rock musician Alex Lifeson (Rush) is 72.
  • Actor Peter Stormare is 72.
  • Rock musician Glen Matlock (The Sex Pistols) is 68.
  • Golfer Bernhard Langer is 68.
  • Gospel singer Yolanda Adams is 64.
  • Fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford is 64.
  • Actor Chandra Wilson is 56.
  • Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Thome is 55.
  • Rapper Mase is 50.
  • Actor Sarah Chalke is 49.
  • Actor Aaron Paul is 46.
  • Actor Patrick J. Adams (TV: “Suits”) is 44.
  • Singer Mario is 39.
  • Actor Alexa PenaVega is 37.
  • Singer-songwriter Kim Petras is 33.
  • U.S. Olympic and WNBA basketball star Breanna Stewart is 31.
  • Rapper/singer-songwriter Rod Wave is 27.

National Hurricane Center meteorologist David Zelinsky watches weather radar that shows the eye of Hurricane Irene as it nears North Carolina’s Outer Banks Saturday, Aug. 27, 2011, at the hurricane center in Miami. Forecasters warned Irene, currently category 1, would remain a hurricane as it moves up the mid-Atlantic coast, and then toward the New York City area and New England. (AP Photo/Andy Newman)

FBI agents who had accused bureau of politicization during Biden administration reach settlements

By ERIC TUCKER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has reached settlements with a group of current and former FBI agents who have said they were disciplined for invoking personal and political views, including about the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot and the COVID-19 vaccine, or for clashing with supervisors about approaches to investigations, their lawyers said Tuesday.

Empower Oversight, a group founded and led by former staff members of Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, announced the resolutions of 10 cases, including eight settlements in the last two weeks. Most of the cases concern agents who had accused the FBI of politicizing its work during President Joe Biden’s administration, a claim leadership denied.

Three of the agents are returning to duty at the FBI. Others are being permitted to voluntarily retire, and some are receiving restoration of back pay and benefits, the organization said in a statement announcing the deals. The FBI did not return an email seeking comment, though Director Kash Patel said on social media last week that agreements had been reached.

The resolutions come even as the FBI under Patel has moved to reassign and outright dismiss experienced senior executives for unclear reasons. The bureau this month fired, among others, a former acting director who had resisted a Trump administration demand to produce the names of agents who participated in Jan. 6 investigations. The head of its Washington field office, who had played an important role in those probes, was also forced out.

The FBI Agents Association has warned that those terminations were done without due process.

The settlements announced Tuesday include agents who were held up by Republican lawmakers looking to establish that the FBI during the Biden administration had become intolerant of the expression of conservative viewpoints — something Patel’s predecessor, Chris Wray, vigorously denied. Several accused the FBI of politicization before a special House committee in 2023 investigating what Republicans assert is the “weaponization” of the federal government against conservatives.

Democrats dismissed the testimony, calling the hearing another attempt by Republicans on the committee to help now-President Donald Trump.

Those being reinstated include Steve Friend, who has said he was suspended and later resigned after refusing to participate in a SWAT team arrest of a Jan. 6 suspect, and also objected to a COVID vaccine mandate.

Another is Garret O’Boyle, who complained to Congress about the FBI’s handling of Jan. 6 investigations. His lawyers said he was suspended after being suspected of improperly accessing and sharing case information about conservative activist group Project Veritas.

Also reinstated was Zachery Schoffstall, whose lawyers say he was disciplined after he complained about the exclusion of what he believed was exculpatory information in an FBI affidavit during an investigation into a white nationalist hate group.

One of the 10 settlements was reached last year, when the Biden administration agreed to restore the security clearance of Marcus Allen, another FBI employee who had accused the bureau of politicizing its work. He formally resigned.

FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Today in History: August 26, AIDS patient begins school via phone hook-up

Today is Tuesday, Aug. 26, the 238th day of 2025. There are 127 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 26, 1985, 13-year-old AIDS patient Ryan White began “attending” classes at Western Middle School in Kokomo, Indiana via a telephone hook-up at his home, as school officials had barred White from attending classes in person due to his illness.

Also on this date:

In 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were broadcast on experimental station W2XBS: a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. The Reds won the first game, 5-2, and the Dodgers the second, 6-1.

In 1944, French Gen. Charles de Gaulle braved the threat of German snipers as he led a victory march in Paris, which had just been liberated by the Allies from Nazi occupation.

In 1958, Alaskans went to the polls to overwhelmingly vote in favor of statehood.

In 1968, the Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago; the four-day event that resulted in the nomination of Hubert H. Humphrey for president was marked by a bloody police crackdown on antiwar protesters in the streets.

In 1972, the summer Olympics opened in Munich, West Germany.

In 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani (al-BEE’-noh loo-CHYAH’-nee) of Venice was elected pope following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff, who took the name Pope John Paul I, died just over a month later.

In 1980, the FBI inadvertently detonated a bomb planted at Harvey’s Resort Hotel in Stateline, Nevada, while attempting to disarm it. (The hotel had been evacuated and no injuries were reported but the blast caused significant damage.)

In 2009, kidnapping victim Jaycee Dugard was discovered alive in California after being missing for more than 18 years.

In 2022, an affidavit released by the FBI showed that 14 of the 15 boxes recovered from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate contained classified documents, many of them top secret, mixed in with miscellaneous newspapers, magazines and personal correspondence.

Today’s Birthdays:

  • Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge is 80.
  • R&B singer Valerie Simpson (Ashford & Simpson) is 79.
  • Broadcast journalist Bill Whitaker is 74.
  • Puzzle creator/editor Will Shortz is 73.
  • Jazz musician Branford Marsalis is 65.
  • Actor-singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 59.
  • Actor Melissa McCarthy is 55.
  • Latin pop singer Thalia is 54.
  • Actor Macaulay Culkin is 45.
  • Actor Chris Pine is 45.
  • Comedian/actor/writer John Mulaney is 43.
  • Country musician Brian Kelley (Florida Georgia Line) is 40.
  • NBA guard James Harden is 36.
  • Actor Dylan O’Brien is 34. Actor Keke Palmer is 32.

AIDS victim Ryan White, of Kokomo, Ind., and his mother Jeanne White enter U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, Aug. 16, 1985. Ryan, a hemophiliac, has been barred from attending middle school because he has AIDS. He and his mother filed suit, alleging the Western School Corp. violated Ryan’s rights to equal protection and illegally discriminated against. him as a handicapped person. The Whites are seeking an injunction to allow Ryan to start school Aug. 26. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Shea Langeliers hits 2nd career grand slam to help power Athletics to 8-3 win over the Tigers

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Shea Langeliers hit his second career grand slam and Colby Thomas added a solo homer — all in a five-run seventh inning — as the Athletics rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-3 on Monday night.

Langeliers was 0 for 8 with the bases loaded this season before his 450-foot shot over the left-field wall. It was the first grand slam allowed in Detroit ace Tarik Skubal’s career.

Skubal was in full control through six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. Thomas opened the inning with a homer and the Athletics had two straight hits and then an error, loading the bases. Skubal got back-to-back strikeouts before Langeliers’ blast gave the A’s a 6-3 lead.

Rookie Nick Kurtz added his 27th home run of the season in the eighth — the first of his career as a pinch hitter.

The Athletics have won six straight games against left-handed starters.

Skubal (11-4) allowed six runs, one earned, in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out 12 in his 10th game this season with double-digit strikeouts, moving within one of tying the club’s single-season record held by Mickey Lolich (11) since 1971.

Detroit, coming off a 5-1 homestand, lost for just the fifth time in 17 games dating to Aug. 8.

The Tigers opened the scoring with three runs in the sixth. Gleyber Torres hit a solo home run and Wenceel Perez found the gap in right-center field to drive home two for a 3-0 lead.

Key moment

Athletics reliever Michael Kelly (4-2) got Perez to pop out with the bases loaded to end the top of the seventh. Then Thomas led off the bottom half with a solo home run to get the A’s within 3-2.

Key stat

Detroit entered 55-15 when scoring first.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal reacts after the final out of the bottom of the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Athletics, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif. (SCOTT MARSHALL — AP Photo)

Trump says he’s firing Fed Governor Lisa Cook, opening new front in fight for central bank control

By CHRIS RUGABER and WILL WEISSERT, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday night that he’s firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, an unprecedented move that would constitute a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is removing Cook effective immediately because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. Bill Pulte, a Trump appointee to the agency that regulates mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, made the accusations last week.

Cook said Monday night that she would not step down. “President Trump purported to fire me ‘for cause’ when no cause exists under the law, and he has no authority to do so,” she said in an emailed statement. “I will not resign.”

Pulte alleged that Cook had claimed two primary residences — in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Atlanta — in 2021 to get better mortgage terms. Mortgage rates are often higher on second homes or those purchased to rent.

Trump’s move is likely to touch off an extensive legal battle that will probably go to the Supreme Court and could disrupt financial markets, potentially pushing interest rates higher. Stock futures declined slightly late Monday, as did the dollar against other major currencies.

If Trump succeeds in removing Cook from the board, it could erode the Fed’s political independence, which is considered critical to its ability to fight inflation because it enables it to take unpopular steps like raising interest rates. If bond investors start to lose faith that the Fed will be able to control inflation, they will demand higher rates to own bonds, pushing up borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business loans.

Cook has retained Abbe Lowell, a prominent Washington attorney. Lowell said Trump’s “reflex to bully is flawed and his demands lack any proper process, basis or legal authority,” adding, “We will take whatever actions are needed to prevent his attempted illegal action.”

Cook was appointed to the Fed’s board by then-President Joe Biden in 2022 and is the first Black woman to serve as a governor. She was a Marshall Scholar and received degrees from Oxford University and Spelman College, and she has taught at Michigan State University and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Her nomination was opposed by most Senate Republicans, and she was approved on a 50-50 vote with the tie broken by then-Vice President Kamala Harris.

Questions about ‘for cause’ firing

The law allows a president to fire a Fed governor “for cause,” which typically means for some kind of wrongdoing or dereliction of duty. The president cannot fire a governor simply because of differences over interest rate policy.

Establishing a for-cause removal typically requires some type of proceeding that would allow Cook to answer the charges and present evidence, legal experts say, which hasn’t happened in this case.

“This is a procedurally invalid removal under the statute,” said Lev Menand, a law professor at Columbia law school and author of “The Fed Unbound,” a book about the Fed’s actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Menand also said for-cause firings are typically related to misconduct while in office, rather than based on private misconduct from before an official’s appointment.

“This is not someone convicted of a crime,” Menand said. “This is not someone who is not carrying out their duties.”

Fed governors vote on the central bank’s interest rate decisions and on issues of financial regulation. While they are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, they are not like cabinet secretaries, who serve at the pleasure of the president. They serve 14-year terms that are staggered in an effort to insulate the Fed from political influence.

No presidential precedent

While some presidents have pushed out Fed chairs before, no president has sought to fire a Fed governor. In recent decades, presidents of both parties have largely respected Fed independence, though Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson put heavy pressure on the Fed during their presidencies — mostly behind closed doors. Still, that behind-the-scenes pressure to keep interest rates low, the same goal sought by Trump, has widely been blamed for touching off rampant inflation in the late 1960s and ’70s.

President Harry Truman pushed Thomas McCabe to step down from his position as Fed chair in 1951, though that occurred behind the scenes.

The Supreme Court signaled in a recent decision that Fed officials have greater legal protections from firing than other independent agencies, but it’s not clear if that extends to this case.

Menand noted that the Court’s conservative majority has taken a very expansive view of presidential power, saying, “We’re in uncharted waters in a sense that it’s very difficult to predict that if Lisa Cook goes to court what will happen.”

Sarah Binder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said the president’s use of the “for cause” provision is likely an effort to mask his true intent. “It seems like a fig leaf to get what we wants, which is muscling someone on the board to lower rates,” she said.

FILE - Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, right, talks with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE – Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Lisa Cook, right, talks with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell before an open meeting of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, June 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

A fight over interest rates

Trump has said he would only appoint Fed officials who would support lower borrowing costs. He recently named Stephen Miran, a top White House economic adviser, to replace another governor, Adriana Kugler, who stepped down about five months before her term officially ended Aug. 1.

Trump appointed two governors in his first term, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, so replacing Cook would give Trump appointees a 4-3 majority on the Fed’s board.

“The American people must have the full confidence in the honesty of the members entrusted with setting policy and overseeing the Federal Reserve,” Trump wrote in a letter addressed to Cook, a copy of which he posted online. “In light of your deceitful and potentially criminal conduct in a financial matter, they cannot and I do not have such confidence in your integrity.”

Trump argued that firing Cook was constitutional. “I have determined that faithfully enacting the law requires your immediate removal from office,” the president wrote.

Cook will have to fight the legal battle herself, as the injured party, rather than the Fed.

Trump’s announcement drew swift rebuke from advocates and former Fed officials.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called Trump’s attempt to fire Cook illegal, “the latest example of a desperate President searching for a scapegoat to cover for his own failure to lower costs for Americans. It’s an authoritarian power grab that blatantly violates the Federal Reserve Act, and must be overturned in court.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell, for not cutting its short-term interest rate, and even threatened to fire him.

Forcing Cook off the Fed’s governing board would provide Trump an opportunity to appoint a loyalist. Trump has said he would only appoint officials who would support cutting rates.

Powell signaled last week that the Fed may cut rates soon even as inflation risks remain moderate. Meanwhile, Trump will be able to replace Powell in May 2026, when Powell’s term expires. However, 12 members of the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the chair might not guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants.

Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein contributed.

FILE – Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve member Lisa Cook, speaks during a conversations with leaders from organizations that include nonprofits, small businesses, manufacturing, supply chain management, the hospitality industry, and the housing and education sectors at the Federal Reserve building, Sept. 23, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Trump honors fallen US service members and criticizes Biden to mark Afghanistan bombing anniversary

By WILL WEISSERT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday marked the fourth anniversary of the suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the chaotic withdrawal at the end of the Afghanistan War by signing a proclamation honoring the fallen.

Surrounded by about 35 family members of those killed, including one wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap, Trump used the somber occasion to decry his predecessor, Democratic President Joe Biden, for allowing the attack to happen.

Tuesday is the anniversary of the bombing that also killed more than 100 Afghans at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021. Trump called it “one of the dumbest days in the history of our country by the previous administration.”

“That was a terrible day,” Trump said. “And I think it was the worst day, and in many ways the most embarrassing day, in the history of our country.”

Biden’s White House was following a withdrawal commitment and timeline that the Trump administration had negotiated with the Taliban in 2020. A 2022 review by a government-appointed special investigator concluded decisions made by both Trump and Biden were the key factors leading to the rapid collapse of Afghanistan’s military and the Taliban takeover.

Trump made the suicide bombing and Biden’s handling of it a frequent topic as he campaigned for president. The relatives of some of the U.S. service members killed also appeared on stage at the Republican National Convention in July 2024.

On the third anniversary of the attack, Trump was invited by family members of some suicide bombing victims to Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60, a hallowed section where U.S. forces killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried.

That became a flashpoint after a staffer from Trump’s campaign reportedly shoved a cemetery employee who was trying to prevent the photographing of a ceremony honoring the service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal. Federal law prohibits campaign or election-related activities within Army national military cemeteries.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, speaks alongside family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan at the attack at Abbey Gate, during an event where President Donald Trump signs a proclamation honoring the fourth anniversary of the attack, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, speaks alongside family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan at the attack at Abbey Gate, during an event where President Donald Trump signs a proclamation honoring the fourth anniversary of the attack, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In a statement marking the third anniversary of the attack, Biden called the 13 Americans who died “patriots in the highest sense” who “embodied the very best of who we are as a nation: brave, committed, selfless.”

“Ever since I became Vice President, I carried a card with me every day that listed the exact number of American service members who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan — including Taylor, Johanny, Nicole, Hunter, Daegan, Humberto, David, Jared, Rylee, Dylan, Kareem, Maxton, and Ryan,” Biden said in a statement in August 2024.

Also on hand for Monday’s proclamation signing were Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, who told victims’ relatives that Trump’s action was “a rectification of a wrong” because Biden “lost your loved ones through incompetence” and his government “never actually put pen to paper to say we’re grateful for your sacrifice.”

Trump has ordered a new Defense Department review of what occurred during the withdrawal of U.S. forces, and Hegseth said he expected that to be complete by the middle of next year.

“The military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan,” Hegseth said.

President Donald Trump, surrounded by family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan at the attack at Abbey Gate, holds up a signed proclamation honoring the fourth anniversary of the attack, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

New top admiral takes over the US Navy amid military firings

By KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adm. Daryl Caudle took over as the Navy’s highest-ranking officer Monday, ending a six-month vacancy created by the Trump administration’s firing of his predecessor.

Caudle became chief of naval operations as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ousted a growing list of military leaders with little or no explanation. Remarks at a swearing-in ceremony at Washington Navy Yard offered several nods to the admiral being in close alignment with the Trump administration leaders above him.

In February, Hegseth fired Caudle’s predecessor, Adm. Lisa Franchetti, without explanation. Neither Caudle nor Navy Secretary John Phelan addressed the ouster at the ceremony Monday, though Franchetti was among several former chiefs of naval operations in attendance.

Franchetti had been the second woman ever to be promoted to four-star admiral and is among several female military leaders fired by the Trump administration. She was ousted the same day as Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Phelan, the Navy’s civilian leader, described the sea service as rife with issues like “decaying shipyards, inadequate maintenance, enormous cost overruns (and) delayed delivery and repair rates” and unspecified traditions that were stifling innovation.

“Admiral Caudle, together we must rebuild, reform and refocus on what matters — readiness, accountability and results — in order to execute President Trump’s mandate of peace through strength,” Phelan said.

Caudle was unequivocal in his agreement with the often-repeated Trump administration phrase, saying, “Peace through strength works.”

The admiral, who until the promotion was commanding U.S. Fleet Forces Command, said he wanted to be “judged by the results we achieved.”

Specifically, he cited the number of ships delivered and repaired on time, the number of ships that are fully manned, and ordinance production as meeting the Navy’s demands.

Phelan said Caudle’s success “is inextricably linked to my success as secretary of the Navy and vice versa.”

FILE – Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of the United States Forces Command, arrives to ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, May 26, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Maine clinics denied Medicaid funds during lawsuit after Trump cuts to abortion providers

By PATRICK WHITTLE

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A network of clinics in Maine will not resume getting Medicaid funds to treat thousands of low-income patients during its lawsuit over Trump administration cuts to abortion providers, a judge ruled Monday.

The decision against Maine Family Planning came despite a ruling last month by another federal judge, who said Planned Parenthood clinics around the country must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the provider wrangles with the Trump administration over efforts to defund it. That legal fight continues.

Without Medicaid, the much smaller provider in Maine says it will have to stop serving hundreds of primary care patients by the end of October. The organization says abortions are a relatively small percentage of its overall services, which include cervical cancer screenings, contraception and primary care to low-income residents in one of the poorest and most rural states in the Northeast.

President Donald Trump’s policy and tax bill, known as the “ big beautiful bill,” blocked Medicaid money from flowing to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. The parameters in the bill also stopped funding from reaching Maine Family Planning, and it is the only other organization that has come forward publicly to say its funding is at risk.

Maine Family Planning says Medicaid dollars are not used for its abortion services, and it’s unfair to cut off funding for the clinics “solely because Congress wanted to defund Planned Parenthood,” an attorney for the organization told the judge earlier this month.

However, Judge Lance Walker said in his ruling Monday that the payments will not resume during the ongoing lawsuit by the provider seeking to restore the funds. He wrote that Congress can “withhold federal funds and otherwise disassociate from conduct that is not enshrined” as a constitutional right.

Walker, a 2018 Trump appointee, also wrote that it would be “a special kind of judicial hubris” to undermine the big bill, which he described as the end result of democratic processes.

The network of 18 clinics said in a statement Monday that Walker’s ruling will destabilize the state’s entire health infrastructure by potentially turning low-income patients away from their doctors. The group said about 8,000 people receive family planning and primary care from its clinics.

“Mainers’ health should never be jeopardized by political decisions, and we will continue to fight for them,” said George Hill, president and chief executive officer of Maine Family Planning.

When asked if the organization is considering appealing the decision, the group issued a statement that said the network is “considering all options to ensure that Maine’s Medicaid patients can continue to receive the health care they need and deserve.”

Attorneys representing the Trump administration did not immediately comment. Emily Hall, an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, told the judge in court earlier this month that Congress has a right not to contract with abortion providers.

“The rational basis is not simply to reduce the number of abortions, it’s to ensure the federal government is not paying out money to organizations that provide abortions,” Hall said.

While advocates of cutting Medicaid for abortion providers focused on Planned Parenthood, the bill did not mention it by name. Instead, it cut off reimbursements for organizations that are primarily engaged in family planning services — which generally include items such as contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.

The U.S. Senate’s parliamentarian rejected a 2017 effort to defund Planned Parenthood because it was written to exclude all other providers by barring payments only to groups that received more than $350 million a year in Medicaid funds. Maine Family Planning asserts in its legal challenge that the threshold was lowered to $800,000 this time around to make sure Planned Parenthood would not be the only entity affected.

FILE – Vanessa Shields-Haas, a nurse practitioner, walks from the lobby toward the examination rooms at the Maine Family Planning healthcare facility, July 15, 2025, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Photo gallery from the Lions’ 26-7 loss to Texans in preseason finale

The Detroit Lions wrapped up their preseason slate on Saturday with a 26-7 loss to the Houston Texans, as the positional battles went down to the wire.

Here are the highlights of Saturday’s loss, in photos:

  • Football players
    Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker (2) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive tackle Haggai Ndubuisi during the second half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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Detroit Lions quarterback Hendon Hooker (2) is sacked by Houston Texans defensive tackle Haggai Ndubuisi during the second half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Expand

Hendon Hooker sputters again as Lions drop preseason finale to Texans

Key takeaways from Detroit Lions’ loss against Texans

Detroit Lions cornerback Tyson Russell (35) intercepts a pass intended for Houston Texans wide receiver Quintez Cephus (14) during the second half of a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Grow fruit trees in small spaces with the trick known as espalier

By JESSICA DAMIANO

If you’d love to grow fruit trees but think you don’t have the space, think again. You don’t need an orchard or even a large backyard to enjoy garden-picked fruit.

Instead, use a method perfected by Louis XIV’s gardeners back in the 1600s at Versailles, when cold, windy winters, not a lack of space, inspired them to train trees to grow flat against walls. Their goal was to use the masonry as a windbreak and insulator, but the method they called “espalier” also made excellent use of a tiny footprint.

The trees’ form maximized their exposure to sunlight, and also enabled the trees to withstand chilly temperatures better than their untrained cousins. Surprisingly, perhaps, they also produced more fruit.

Which trees are good for espalier?

Most trees with long, flexible branches, such as apple, cherry, fig, peach, pear, plum and quince lend themselves nicely to the espalier method. Even ornamental trees like magnolia, firethorn and witch hazel are good candidates.

The name “espalier” comes from French, indicating something to lean a shoulder against, as the trees lean on their supports.

This undated image provided by Missouri Botanical Garden shows a mature espaliered dwarf Moonglow pear tree in the Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. (Tom Incrocci/Missouri Botanical Garden via AP)
This undated image provided by Missouri Botanical Garden shows a mature espaliered dwarf Moonglow pear tree in the Kemper Center for Home Gardening at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. (Tom Incrocci/Missouri Botanical Garden via AP)

But the 17th century French didn’t invent espalier; it is believed to have been practiced in the Middle Ages and even as far back as ancient Egypt. The Versailles gardeners, however, gave the method a name — and fame.

How it works

Training an espalier tree requires equal parts pruning and patience. You remove undesired branches and coax the remainder to grow sideways by affixing them to walls or fencing with wires or frames until they submit to the process and adapt to the pattern.

Trees will send up shape-spoiling shoots that will continually need to be clipped, but the desired branches will take longer to establish.

To accelerate growth, apply a dose of high-nitrogen fertilizer (look for a ratio of 12-4-8 or 16-4-8 on the package label) three times per season — in mid spring, early summer and late summer.

This 2025 image provided by Planting Fields Foundation shows a free-standing espaliered pear tree at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, N.Y. (Planting Fields Foundation via AP)
This 2025 image provided by Planting Fields Foundation shows a free-standing espaliered pear tree at Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park in Oyster Bay, N.Y. (Planting Fields Foundation via AP)

Don’t expect flowers or fruit during this stage, which can take several years. The point of the fertilizer is to force the trees to direct most of their energy on growth, not production.

When the tree has achieved the shape and size you desire, switch to a fertilizer specifically formulated for fruit trees and cut down the frequency to just one application per year, in spring, following the dosage recommended on the package. (If growing a non-fruiting tree, seek out a product intended for the species).

The method, however, can lead to increased pest and disease problems, as growing a tree pressed against a wall will restrict air flow around it. So be sure to monitor trees closely, and address issues quickly if they arise.

All that TLC will pay off with a beautiful, living garden sculpture –- and a great story to tell as you await your juicy harvest.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

This May 23, 2023, image provided by Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association shows espaliered fruit trees trained against a wall at George Washington’s Mount Vernon in Mount Vernon, Va. (Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association via AP)

Nvidia’s CEO says it’s in talks with Trump administration on a new chip for China

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Friday that the company is discussing a potential new computer chip designed for China with the Trump administration.

Huang was asked about a possible “B30A” semiconductor for artificial intelligence data centers for China while on a visit to Taiwan, where he was meeting Nvidia’s key manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s largest chip maker.

“I’m offering a new product to China for … AI data centers, the follow-on to H20,” Huang said. But he added that “That’s not our decision to make. It’s up to, of course, the United States government. And we’re in dialogue with them, but it’s too soon to know.”

Such chips are graphics processing units, or GPUs, a type of device used to build and update a range of AI systems. But they are less powerful than Nvidia’s top semiconductors today, which cannot be sold to China due to U.S. national security restrictions.

The B30A, based on California-based Nvidia’s specialized Blackwell technology, is reported to operate at about half the speed of Nvidia’s main B300 chips.

Huang praised the the Trump administration for recently approving sales of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China after such business was suspended in April, with the proviso that the company must pay a 15% tax to the U.S. government on those sales. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, was told to pay the same tax on its sales of its MI380 chips to China.

As part of broader trade talks, Beijing and Washington recently agreed to pull back some non-tariff restrictions. China approved more permits for rare earth magnets to be exported to the U.S., while Washington lifted curbs on chip design software and jet engines. After lobbying by Huang, it also allowed sales of the H20 chips to go through.

Huang did not comment directly on the tax when asked but said Nvidia appreciated being able to sell H20s to China.

He said such sales pose no security risk for the United States. Nvidia is also speaking with Beijing to reassure Chinese authorities that those chips do not pose a “backdoor” security risk, Huang said.

“We have made very clear and put to rest that H20 has no security backdoors. There are no such things. There never has. And so hopefully the response that we’ve given to the Chinese government will be sufficient,” he said.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog, recently posted a notice on its website referring to alleged “serious security issues” with Nvidia’s computer chips.

It said U.S. experts on AI had said such chips have “mature tracking and location and remote shutdown technologies” and Nvidia had been asked to explain any such risks and provide documentation about the issue.

Huang said Nvidia was surprised by the accusation and was discussing the issue with Beijing.

“As you know, they requested and urged us to secure licenses for the H20s for some time. And I’ve worked quite hard to help them secure the licenses. And so hopefully this will be resolved,” Huang said.

Unconfirmed reports said Chinese authorities were also unhappy over comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggesting the U.S. was only selling outdated chips to China.

Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick said the U.S. strategy was to keep China reliant on American chip technology.

“We don’t sell them our best stuff,” he said. “Not our second best stuff. Not even our third best, but I think fourth best is where we’ve come out that we’re cool,” he said.

China’s ruling Communist Party has made self-reliance in advanced technology a strategic priority, though it still relies on foreign semiconductor knowhow for much of what it produces.

AP Videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang arrives before President Donald Trump speaks during an AI summit at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Moving to a new home or school can stress kids out. How to make it more manageable

By KATHERINE ROTH

NEW YORK (AP) — Summer can be a time of big transitions for kids. It’s often the season for moving to a new home or preparing for a different school. And that brings worry and stress.

Parents and families can help make things feel more manageable. If kids feel supported, they might even look forward to some of the changes and gain confidence, experts say.

“When routines, familiar places and even knowing where things are in the house are suddenly gone, it forces youth to relearn their daily lives from scratch,” which can be stressful, says Victoria Kress, a professional counselor and president of the American Counseling Association.

At the same time, “this can invite exciting opportunities for growth,” she says.

Author Nadine Haruni’s book “Freeda the Frog is on the Move” aims to help school-age kids deal with moving. Haruni, who guided her own family through moves and changes, tells the story of a mother frog who helps her little tadpoles adjust as they leave their hometown and settle in a new one.

“It’s really important to recognize that transitions take time and that is totally normal. It’s OK to feel nervous and sad and anxious and maybe all of those things all at once, and even adults feel that way sometimes,” says Haruni.

“If you listen, you might be surprised. What matters to a child is not always what you might think it is,” she says.

Moves can be especially difficult if accompanied by other significant changes, such as a death, divorce or loss of family income.

Haruni’s book was inspired by her family’s big, multifaceted transition. She was moving from Manhattan to New Jersey with her then-5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, and getting married all in the same week, a big transition for her kids and three teenage stepdaughters. In addition, the kids were starting at a new school the following week.

“The kids were very sad and worried at first. Life is about change, and it’s really hard to address that sometimes. Luckily, the kids discovered that they loved having more space and, like the tadpoles in the book, they happily adapted,” she says.

Here are some tips to reduce the stress of a move or other big transition for kids:

Talk it out

“Communicating and listening can alleviate a lot of anxiety,” Haruni says. “Let kids share their feelings and know that they are being heard, so they know that they matter. That really helps them feel like they have some control.”

Explain why a move is necessary, and preview what’s ahead. Discuss the destination ahead of time, especially its good points. Familiarity can help kids feel more confident, the experts say.

Even sharing some photos or a map is helpful in easing jitters.

“Can they meet a few kids in the new neighborhood ahead of time?” Haruni asks.

Involve kids in the move itself

“Involving children in age-appropriate moving tasks — such as packing their own belongings or helping to choose new room decorations — can give them a sense of control and security during an uncertain time,” says Kress.

Kids can help plan meals, organize their space or continue family traditions.

“Frame it as an adventure,” says Haruni. “Let them help choose things for their new room if they are moving, but also bring a few items that feel familiar and comforting.”

Keep up daily routines

Sticking to some daily routines creates structure when things feel new and scary.

“The thing with moves is they disrupt everyone’s life. Too much change at once discombobulates everybody, so keeping meals at the same time and bedtime rituals the same can really help a lot,” says George M. Kapalka, a clinical psychologist and professor at the California School of Professional Psychology.

Arrange common areas similarly to how they were before the move, says Kress. Place favorite toys, blankets or pictures where your child expects to find them.

Consider getting help from a professional

Adapting to change takes time, and patience. Let kids know that’s normal, that they will get through it, and that they are being heard and have some control over things, says Haruni.

And know when to seek help.

“Some sadness, worry, or adjustment difficulties are normal after a move. But if symptoms persist for more than a few weeks, worsen over time, or disrupt daily life, then counseling is advisable,” says Kress.

(AP Illustration / Peter Hamlin)
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