LUY-Development

Category: AP News Feed

  • Astronauts briefly take shelter during repair to fix leak on the International Space Station


    NASA on Friday temporarily ordered astronauts to take shelter during repairs to fix a fresh leak aboard the International Space Station.

    The five astronauts moved into the SpaceX capsule that is docked at the station while cosmonauts worked to fix the leak, which is on the Russian side of the orbiting laboratory.

    The decision was made “out of an abundance of caution,” NASA spokesperson Bethany Stevens said via X.

    The crew left the capsule and returned to regular operations after repair work was paused.

    That part of the space station has suffered from cracks and leaks over the years. NASA said Roscosmos decided to do a more extensive repair after fresh problems were found.

    The space agencies have been working to determine the cause of the cracks.

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


  • The US job market is strong but many Americans are still frustrated by prospects and rising prices


    WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market continues to show surprising strength — good news for President Donald Trump who has taken a beating in the polls over the surging gasoline prices that followed U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran.

    Employers added 172,000 jobs in May – roughly double what forecasters had expected – and the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Friday.

    Job growth was down slightly last month from a revised 179,000 in April.

    Hiring has bounced back this year from a miserable 2025, showing resilience in the face of economic uncertainty and painfully high energy prices since the Iran war started in late February.

    The job gains are broad-based. Local governments added 55,000 workers, restaurants and bars 48,000, healthcare companies 35,000.

    In another sign of job market strength, Labor Department revisions added a combined 93,000 jobs in March and April. Job growth averaged 188,000 a month from March through May, marking the best three months of hiring since early 2024.

    “The hiring recession is over. American firms are hiring again,’’ said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “The job rebound is happening in almost every industry … This is encouraging news for job seekers and for the U.S. economy. The labor market has stabilized and is showing early signs of a genuine rebound.’’

    With just five months to go before consequential midterm elections in the U.S., Americans have grown increasingly frustrated by rising costs, and it’s unclear if the strong job numbers this year will change their gloomy view of the economy.

    Inflation data last week showed that in addition to gasoline, prices for groceries, clothing and electricity are also on the rise, indicating that inflation may be growing more entrenched.

    Polls show that Trump’s approval rating on the economy is falling sharply after being reelected largely on the promise of taming inflation.

    And despite the pickup in hiring, wage gains were modest. Average hourly wages rose 0.3% from April and 3.4% from May 2025.

    Many young people are still finding it tough to catch a break on a job, and workers who have been laid off have struggled to find another. Nearly 28% of the unemployed in April had been jobless for more than six months, the largest share since December 2021.

    But the labor market is clearly improving. Last year, employers added just 9,700 jobs a month, the fewest outside of a recession since 2002. Hiring has rebounded, averaging 114,000 new jobs a month so far this year.

    Friday’s report “really is a positive surprise, particularly given the headwinds from the Iran conflict, which clearly led to much higher energy prices and which are going to act to slow economic activity to some degree,’’ said Ryan Nunn, research director at Yale University’s Budget Lab.

    The economy, Nunn said, has been boosted by a surge in investment in artificial intelligence. Also helping are lower tariff rates since President Donald Trump has effectively lowered the massive import taxes he imposed last year – and the Supreme Court in February struck down his most sweeping levies, setting the stage for businesses to get back money they’d paid.

    Big tax refunds — the product of Trump’s 2025 tax cuts — have given the economy a lift, offsetting the impact of higher energy prices. But the refunds have mostly been pocketed, and gasoline prices have remained above $4 per gallon since March.

    U.S. financial markets retreated after the jobs data was released Friday. Healthy hiring has raised the odds that the Fed’s next move will be an interest rate increase, a sharp change from the start of the year when central bank officials had still penciled in two rate cuts for 2026.

    Wall Street now expects a rate hike in December, which would be sharply at odds with Trump’s repeated demands for a cut. An increase by the Fed could lead, over time, to higher borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and business loans.

    “Higher rates are coming, particularly when inflation is above target and clearly moving in the wrong direction,” said Dario Perkins, an economist at TS Lombard. “The only question is when.”

    Uncle Giuseppe’s Marketplace, which operates 12 grocery stores across New York and New Jersey, is on a hiring spree. President Mike Nelson announced last fall that he wanted to add 1,000 workers over the next year, pushing the company’s payroll over 3,500.

    Nelson says his problem is finding skilled workers.

    “We’re looking for a butcher who can cut meat in the store and engage with our customers and give them cooking ideas and speak to them about what makes the product special,” he said. “You don’t find that everywhere now.”

    Like other grocery stores, Uncle Giuseppe’s has benefited as Americans cut back on dinners out as the cost of living marches higher. The company is marketing specials to lure inflation-scarred shoppers, like a $39.99 chicken Parmesan and pasta meal for a family of four that includes a loaf of bread and a salad.

    Michael Wieder, the co-founder of the baby products maker Lalo, is also hiring a few new workers.

    Wieder is feeling optimistic because he expects $2 million in tariff refunds after the trade policies of President Trump were shot down by the courts. He is planning to use that money for hiring, but gotten less than $50,000 back to date.

    He has roughly 20 employees who work in marketing, operations, customer service and other areas for his New York company. He said he’s looking for applicants that will embrace artificial intelligence. Lalo has already been using AI tools in areas like marketing and plans to launch an AI tool on Monday that helps parents potty train their children.

    “We’re evaluating the type of people we hire in this rapidly changing environment,” he said.

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    AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber contributed to this report.

    Anne D’Innocenzio reported from New York.


  • John Tortorella’s failed coach’s challenge is a difference-maker in Stanley Cup Final Game 2

    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A failed coach’s challenge by John Tortorella was a momentum-changing moment in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.

    His Vegas Golden Knights appeared to score with five minutes left in regulation, but referee Jean Hebert waved it off immediately, citing goaltender interference. Hebert announced that he and the other on-ice officials thought Ivan Barbashev pushed Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen to knock the puck into the net.

    Tortorella after some deliberation decided to challenge the play, and it did not take long for officials and the on-site NHL situation room to stick with the call on the ice of no goal. The Hurricanes scored on the ensuing power play 25 seconds later and went on to win 4-3 in overtime to tie the series.

    “I saw a loose puck in front of Freddie,” Tortorella said. “Our player stabbed it, didn’t move the goalie and it goes through him into the other side. I’d challenge it 10 out of 10 times.”

    The next morning, he expressed no regrets.

    “That’s been explained by the league, and I stand behind my decision,” Tortorella said Friday.

    It was purely a video review of goalie interference and had nothing to do with whether the whistle was blown before the puck crossed the goal line.

    “The ruling on the play was goaltender interference,” Stephen Walkom, executive vice president and director of officiating, told a pool reporter. “He waved it (off) immediately. He believed that it was under the goalie, and the Vegas player went after the puck and interfered with the goalie and his ability to freeze the puck and waived it off immediately.”

    Mark Jankowski had just tied it for the Hurricanes a few shifts earlier after Logan Stankoven started the comeback from down 2-0. On the opposing bench, Carolina players and coach Rod Brind’Amour were not sure how the review was going to go.

    “Obviously, you’re hoping for the best,” center Sebastian Aho said. “You can’t really control it. I didn’t have a really good view of it, so I had no clue. So, I was just hoping for the best.”

    Brind’Amour decided not to challenge for goalie interference in Game 1 on Tuesday night because there were too many variables at play. His thinking turned out to be right again.

    “It happened to us in I guess the first game: When it’s called a goal or no goal on the ice, it better be 100% to challenge it,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s the rule we go by. So, they called no goal on the ice, so that’s kind of how I think it worked out. I don’t know. I don’t know what the explanation is. It looked like he had it covered, and then all of a sudden it was in the net. I don’t know. I haven’t really looked at it. I was just happy that it went our way.”

    Andersen went full extension to make a paddle save to deny Barbashev on the initial shot. A scrum ensued around the crease, with players diving at the puck hoping to knock it in or keep it out.

    “To me, it felt like a no goal,” Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. “Obviously, I’m on the other side, but I’m sure they have a different opinion. My gut was like, ‘Man, there’s no way.’ What an incredible effort by Freddie just staying with that one and finding a way to get a piece of that. I was flopping everywhere. I didn’t know what was going on. Freddie just stuck with it. The guy’s an absolute animal. That was a pretty crazy play and obviously a game-changer for us.”

    The punishment for a failed coach’s challenge is a two-minute minor penalty. Vegas was 4 for 4 on the penalty kill against Carolina’s power play to that point in the series.

    “I’m not sure how they go about their thought process, Brind’Amour said. “They’ve obviously killed all the penalties. That’s a big one.”

    Staal made sure the Golden Knights didn’t kill this one, tipping defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere’s point shot in for the Hurricanes’ eighth power-play goal of the playoffs. Seth Jarvis made it nine when he scored in overtime, though it may have never gotten to that point had Tortorella not challenged.

    “You’d like to make them pay every time,” Aho said. “It’s a big swing because the other option is going down a goal. But other than that, every time you get a power play, you’re trying to score. So, it’s not that different, but obviously it was a big swing.”

    ___

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

  • Treasury warns banks of ‘red flags’ tied to customers in the US illegally


    WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury’s financial crimes arm wants banks to help identify payroll schemes tied to people living in the country illegally, as part of the Trump administration’s latest measure to clamp down on immigration.

    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — also known a FinCEN — issued an advisory Friday to banks that tells them to watch out for identity theft, payroll tax fraud, and money laundering schemes tied to hiring unauthorized workers.

    This comes after President Donald Trump in May signed an executive order that requires banks to take a closer look at the citizenship of their customers.

    The order directs bank regulators and government departments to look for signs that people without legal status are opening accounts or obtaining loans or credit cards. However, the order is less aggressive than banks had previously expected, as earlier reports suggested the White House was drafting an order that would make collecting customers’ citizenship information mandatory.

    Still, without encouraging a blanket debanking of broad segments of the population, the order and latest advisory acts to discourage people in the U.S. illegally from interacting with the larger U.S. financial system.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement that the Trump administration “will not allow illegal aliens to abuse financial institutions to steal billions of dollars from hardworking American taxpayers.”

    “Schemes to pay unlawful workers often rely upon access to the U.S. financial system, including U.S. banks,” he said.

    Since banks have never collected any information about their customers’ citizenship or immigration status, there are no reliable public figures on how much risk these customers pose to the financial system.

    The banking industry had been aggressively lobbying for months to stop the White House from issuing an executive order that would have made collecting customers’ citizenship status mandatory, arguing it would be expensive and require vast amounts of paperwork. Since the order only offered guidance to the banks instead of a mandate, it appears the banks were able to win over the White House.

    The advisory calls on financial institutions to be alert for more than a dozen so-called ‘”red flags” that indicate an individual is in the U.S. illegally.

    ——-

    Sweet reported from New York.


  • Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ song is a return to pop country

    NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift’s new song for the Disney and Pixar’s forthcoming “Toy Story 5” film is here. On Friday, Swift released “I Knew It, I Knew You,” a bit of a return to country music for the performer who first made a name for herself in the Nashville music scene before taking over the world.

    Here’s everything you need to know about “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

    Taylor Swift goes country … again

    Swift doesn’t sing with a familiar twang on “I Knew It, I Knew You,” but no matter — the song features some elements inextricable from the country genre: Live instrumentation, plucky banjo and harmonica that opens the track.

    Most view Swift’s last official foray into the country music genre to be 2012’s “Red,” though the album is much more of a crossover experiment. It would be more astute to label “Speak Now” as her last true-blue, full-length, country music release — and that was more than 15 years ago.

    Additionally: “I Knew It, I Knew You” is also Swift’s first original material since “The Life of a Showgirl” was released in October.

    The song is also co-produced by Jack Antonoff, her former, frequent collaborator. Swift started working with Antonoff on 2014’s “1989” through 2024’s “The Tortured Poets Department.”

    Notably, the pair started their long collaboration after Swift’s country era, perhaps with the rare exception of “Betty” from her 2020 “Folklore” album.

    “Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time. Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once,” Swift wrote on social media Friday, referencing the beloved cowgirl character. “And being a ‘Toy Story’ kid from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”

    The ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ rollout

    Last weekend, billboards with the initials “TS,” stylized like the “Toy Story” logo, appeared in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City and London — fitting, as “TS” works both for the beloved franchise and the musician.

    On Monday, Swift confirmed the song was forthcoming, writing on Instagram, “I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first Toy Story movie. I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?”

    She also shared that preorders for three CD single versions of the track were available on her site. They quickly sold out: One features the song as it appears in the film, another is an acoustic version and the last is a piano version.

    “It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song. Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable,” “Toy Story 5” director and writer Andrew Stanton said in a press statement at the time. “The song is so deeply connected to ‘Toy Story.’ So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet.”

    Is Taylor Swift headed to the Oscars?

    Some fans online have begun speculating: Could this be an Oscar contender in the original song category?

    Quite possibly, if it adheres to all relevant rules and regulations! For 2027 Academy Awards consideration, a feature film — and its song submissions — must have a qualifying theatrical release between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 this year. “Toy Story 5” will be released in theaters worldwide on June 19, so it qualifies there.

    It also depends on when “I Knew It, I Knew You” is placed in “Toy Story 5.” There’s a new rule this year: If the song plays over the end credits, it must also overlap with the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits actually begin.

    At any rate, if Swift’s song is submitted — and if she were to win — she’d be just that much closer to an EGOT. She has 14 Grammys and an Emmy. An Oscar would mean she’d only need a Tony. Could Broadway be next?

  • Some of the most dedicated World Cup fans skipping this year’s tournament, citing costs and politics

    Soccer fans will soon crisscross continents to see their beloved national teams compete on the sport’s grandest stage, the World Cup. They’ll pack bars and fan zones, singing chants and debating who is going to win it all.

    This time, however, it’s different for some superfans, who say organizers have made this summer’s World Cup the least welcoming one they have experienced. Ticket prices, expensive cross-country travel and concerns about entering the U.S. have prompted some of them to stay home.

    London-based IT worker Mike Wilson has been to four World Cups over the past 20 years. This summer, he’ll be staying in Europe and watching part of the tournament from a Portuguese beach.

    Argentine doctor Emiliano Becerra likes to follow his team through every step of the elimination round. This time he’ll attend two early matches and then fly home.

    Dutch-born finance manager Peter Bergakker flew to South Africa to watch the Netherlands play in the 2010 World Cup final. But no matter how far the “Oranje” advance this summer, he said he won’t travel to the U.S.

    Exactly how many fans are staying away is unclear, but the warning signs are there.

    Hotel bookings have been lighter than expected in many U.S. host cities. Meanwhile, the president of the travel agency association in soccer-mad Uruguay said they have arranged tour packages for about 3,000 fans, significantly fewer than attended recent World Cups.

    A financially inaccessible tournament

    The number of fans able to travel and take weeks off of work to cheer on their team during the World Cup understandably skews to the wealthy. But previous tournaments have remained accessible for fans who, in some cases, would save for years for their flights and match tickets.

    Four years ago, lower-tier Category 3 tickets to group stage matches were $69. This year, FIFA has been selling them for as much as $265.

    The last two tournaments in Russia and Qatar offered match-going fans free transportation between host cities, though many matches were much closer than the vast area covered by the 16 stadiums hosting matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

    And while fans there were not permitted by FIFA to sell their tickets on the official resale site for above face value, the sports governing body has taken a different approach this time — encouraging fans to resell tickets for as high as they want, with FIFA pocketing 30% in fees along the way. FIFA did not respond to a request for comment Thursday but has previously defended ticket prices as a reflection of “record-breaking” demand.

    Tomonori Akutsu, who lives outside Tokyo, said if he had realized how expensive this tournament would be when he started making plans, he might have reconsidered attending his sixth straight World Cup.

    Without question, he believes, the U.S. has been the worst host, and tournament organizers have demonstrated a “complete lack of hospitality in every aspect,” citing things like ticket prices, an inflated resale market, expensive hotel prices and fan festivals that cost money to attend.

    “Simply, my impression is ‘this is America,’ the ultimate capitalism,” Akutsu said.

    Becerra, of Argentina, spent $1,100 to see Argentina defeat France in the 2022 final in Qatar. For the past three World Cups, he followed Argentina through the knockout stages.

    Not this time.

    This year, he paid even more — $1,200 — for a resale ticket to see Argentina’s match against low-ranked Jordan in Dallas.

    “It’s absolutely crazy – it’s just a group stage match,” said Becerra, a 64-year-old ophthalmologist who lives in Neuquén, in northern Patagonia.

    Becerra will head home before the knockout stage begins. The prices, he said, are “just not possible for me.”

    Will ticket prices cost the World Cup some of its culture?

    Wilson, the IT specialist from England, said he and his friends opted to skip this summer’s tournament because they couldn’t justify spending the prices they were seeing.

    Wilson had never spent more than $200 for any World Cup match, a price that, on the resale market, barely buys a nosebleed seat at a group stage match between two obscure teams. Instead, he and his friends have booked a Portugal getaway.

    For Wilson, the World Cup is more about the atmosphere than the matches.

    “That’s the great thing about these tournaments: You’re sitting at a hostel, chatting with U.S. fans, and then you go to a bar up the road and there are loads of Chileans who have just taken over the place,” Wilson said, recalling a memorable night in Johannesburg in 2010. “It’s stuff like that which makes the World Cup. But now they’ve just priced everyone out.”

    Mark Doidge, a sociologist at England’s Loughborough University, said World Cups have long been defined by their traveling supporters, pointing to Colombia’s famous “Birdman” and the sea of St. George’s crosses at every England match. Rising costs, he said, risk losing exactly those fans.

    “Most of those buying expensive tickets are not those passionate fans, but wealthy people paying for an experience,” he said.

    Expensive World Cup won’t deter some ardent fans

    There is at least one group of supporters that appears determined to come regardless of the cost: the Scots, who are eager to see their team compete in their first World Cup in 28 years.

    Campbell Lewis and his friends began booking refundable accommodations across the U.S. as soon as Scotland qualified last year before prices rose.

    With tens of thousands of Scottish fans expected to attend, tickets for their team’s matches have proven harder to obtain.

    But after prices began to drop in recent weeks, Lewis bought two tickets for Scotland’s second match for him and his 10-year-old son. He and his friends are still waiting until the final days to get tickets to the team’s opener against Haiti, though. As of Thursday, the cheapest resale ticket for that match outside Boston exceeded $600.

    “For a lot of Scottish people of my generation, this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” he said. “We were all kids the last time we qualified. And even though the prices have gotten out of hand, there’s just this determination that we want to go.”

    Fans have concerns about traveling to the U.S.

    U.S. entry requirements may also be limiting international visitors.

    Unlike Russia in 2018, which waived visa requirements for ticketholders, and Qatar in 2022, which streamlined entry for fans, many traveling to the U.S. still face strict visa requirements. Until the U.S. reversed course last month, ticket-holding fans from Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Tunisia were even going to have to pay as much as $15,000 in bonds to enter the country.

    Carlos Pera, president of Uruguay’s travel agency association, recently told Uruguay’s Subrayado that U.S. visa requirements were among the reasons fewer Uruguayans are making the trip this year.

    U.S. officials have pushed back on concerns about visitors encountering an unwelcome environment, and the White House’s World Cup task force has highlighted efforts to prioritize visa interviews for fans with tickets. Andrew Giuliani, who leads the task force, dismissed concerns Thursday that traditional traveling supporters may be staying away.

    “We want superfans and first-time visitors alike to know: America welcomes you to what will be the greatest World Cup yet,” he said in a statement.

    For some fans, however, the concern goes beyond visas and cost.

    Bergakker, a 48-year-old Dutch financial controller who lives near Heidelberg, Germany, said President Donald Trump’s “hostile” approach toward European allies has changed his view of traveling to the U.S.

    Bergakker has attended two World Cups and four European Championships and said he is extremely susceptible to “Oranjekoorts” — the orange fever that grips Dutch fans as a tournament progresses.

    A deep Netherlands run usually would be all it takes to get him on a plane, no matter the price of tickets. But Bergakker said he worries his criticism of Trump on social media could lead to problems at the border, a concern the White House rejected. A spokesperson said Thursday that a Customs and Border Protection proposal to scrutinize World Cup visitors’ social media accounts was never enacted.

    Still, Bergakker said that as long as Trump is president, “this Oranje fan won’t be visiting.”

    ___

    Rico reported from Atlanta. Associated Press reporters Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo; and Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands; and Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.

  • Wemby misses at the end, Knicks beat Spurs 105-104 for 2-0 lead in NBA Finals


    SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Go crazy, New York. Or, perhaps more accurately, crazier.

    The red-hot Knicks are going home, two wins away from an NBA championship that the capital of the world has been waiting to see for generations.

    Jalen Brunson hit a go-ahead free throw with 9.5 seconds left after a turnover by Victor Wembanyama moments earlier, then Wembanyama missed a jumper at the end of New York’s 105-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.

    Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 13 rebounds, while Brunson and Mikal Bridges each scored 20 for the Knicks. They have won 13 straight, the second-longest streak by any team in NBA playoff history.

    The Knicks are now just the third team to win the first two games of a finals on the road, joining Michael Jordan and the 1993 Chicago Bulls, and Hakeem Olajuwon and the 1995 Houston Rockets.

    Both of those teams won championships, the Bulls needing six games to oust the Phoenix Suns, the Rockets going home after winning those first two games in Orlando and sweeping the Magic. The Knicks, seeking their first championship since 1973, are in position to join them.

    Wembanyama, after a very quiet first half, scored 29. De’Aaron Fox had 20 for San Antonio.

    The series now shifts to New York. Game 3 is at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

    President Donald Trump — a native New Yorker — plans on attending Monday. And ticket prices on the secondary market, for the worst seats at MSG, were approaching $9,000 apiece on Friday night, with Knicks fans evidently willing to pay tippy-top dollar just to be in the building as the team nears what would be its first championship in 53 years.

    The Spurs were down 12 midway through the fourth and came all the way back. Wembanyama’s three-point play with 57 seconds left gave the Spurs their first lead in nearly two full quarters, putting San Antonio up 104-102.

    Brunson scored on the next possession, just his seventh basket in 24 shots on the night, and the game was tied. Wembanyama missed a long jumper, OG Anunoby got the rebound for New York with 30 seconds left, the Knicks called time and the stage was set.

    The Spurs got a stop, but Wembanyama threw the ball away. Brunson got fouled, the Knicks had the lead back and before long Spurs fans were filing out of the arena — possibly for the final time this season.

    The Spurs called time with 7.5 seconds remaining. Fox took the inbound pass, then set up Wembanyama for a jumper that would have won it. The shot bounced off the rim, and it was over.

    ___

    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA


  • Video shows moment truck-driving preacher helps thwart alleged kidnapping in South Carolina

    A truck-driving preacher who helped thwart an alleged kidnapping attempt in South Carolina — all caught on his rig’s dashboard camera — said Thursday that he was not a hero, but a “divine” tool.

    Anthony J. Moore, 53, was driving a route in Aiken County, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Georgia border, last Friday when a woman ran directly into his path with her hands cuffed behind her back.

    The video, which has no sound, shows the drama unfold: The woman passes in front of the truck, and a man in a Cadillac that had been on the side of the road swerves in front of the truck before taking off. The woman then runs down the road, and the man drives off.

    “I just see it as a divine assignment from God, because had not I been there with the dashcam … they probably wouldn’t have caught the footage that needed to be catched,” Moore told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “It was another assignment from God, a special assignment from God. That a life needed to be saved.”

    Authorities arrested Jonathan Willard, 39, of New Ellenton, on one count each of kidnapping and impersonation of a law enforcement officer. He was being held Thursday at the Aiken County Detention Center.

    According to an incident report from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Department, the woman was taking a walk when a man in a green Cadillac “came from behind her and told her he was with the police.” She said he took her phone and Social Security card, put her in handcuffs and placed her in the back seat of the car.

    The woman told police that the man pulled over by a gated property and got out. She said she tried to open the rear doors, but they were locked.

    As the man rummaged through the trunk, she said, she climbed over the seat and escaped through the open driver’s side door.

    Moore was driving south of Aiken when he saw the woman running toward him.

    “I let my window down and she said, ‘Please help me. He’s trying to kidnap me,’” Moore said.

    As the woman swerved, Moore said, the man chasing her pulled up beside him and showed “what looks to be a badge.”

    “And he said, ‘I’m with law enforcement, and she jumped out of my car,’” Moore recounted. The man then left in the Cadillac.

    Bystanders called 911, helped get the cuffs off the woman and gave her water. Moore said she told him that she had just graduated the day before, and that the man had also taken her diploma.

    She asked Moore if he would accompany her back to the spot where she escaped, to see if the man had might have dumped her belongings. He said they found nothing.

    The Aiken County Solicitor’s Office said Willard had not yet been assigned a defense attorney and no court dates had been scheduled. The AP called the jail to speak with Willard, but the request was denied.

    Moore is pastor of Amazing Grace Ministries in Denmark, South Carolina. Moore is also a 27-year Army veteran, said his wife, Betty, an associate pastor at the church.

    “When I learned that he was caught the next day I was relieved of a lot of things that he didn’t get away,” he said, “to go try that again someplace else.”

  • Fishermen prepared for the longest red snapper season in recent memory. A court order stopped it

    ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (AP) — Miles from shore, Chris Kemp pumps and reels as he battles a fish 150 feet below. Eventually, it gives up, and the 10-pound red snapper is hauled aboard the Jodie Lynn II.

    There’s barely time to rejoice. As Kemp raises his trophy for a picture, the charter boat’s captain rushes over and then drives a knifelike tool into the fish’s gas-filled bladder. The procedure, required by federal law, is intended to improve the fish’s chances of survival after release.

    “Send it overboard,” orders the captain. And with that, Kemp’s hopes of bringing the fish home to eat was lost.

    Recreational fishermen like Kemp are pitched against commercial fishermen and environmentalists in a legal dispute that has halted what was expected to be the longest snapper season in years, reflecting broader tensions over the Trump administration’s efforts to loosen fishing rules and deregulate the seas.

    As part of those efforts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in May exempted states from some restrictions under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the landmark law that guides fisheries management. But the decision was halted at the last minute by a federal judge in Washington who blocked the plan.

    The Atlantic red snapper is known for both its fighting ability and popularity at the dinner table. After decades of overfishing, regulators in 2010 restricted recreational fishing to only a handful of days each year — when not banned altogether.

    Starting last year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis led a charge with officials in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina to take over management of the recreational Atlantic snapper fishery, casting the effort as guaranteeing anglers’ “God-given right to fish.”

    In May, NOAA issued special permits exempting the states from some legal requirements to protect fish. Instead of imposing wholesale fishing bans on bottom fishing each winter, as NOAA had proposed last year, the agency set up an Atlantic snapper season in four states ranging from 39 to 62 days, allowing anglers to keep one fish per day.

    “We were excited,” said Kemp, who booked a charter to coincide with the season’s opening day.

    Court battle pits recreational anglers against commercial fishermen

    The conflict landed in court just before the season was about to begin May 22, and U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras issued an injunction based in part on environmental concerns. He relied on estimates from the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy suggesting recreational catches could reach up to 485,000 in Florida alone during the expanded season — 20 times the number of landed catch allowed.

    Kemp learned about the judge’s order from a text message sent by a friend while driving to the marina.

    “Originally we thought it was a joke, given the severity,” said Kemp.

    The ruling sparked immediate backlash. Florida wildlife officials denounced the decision as the work of a “rogue federal judge,” while some fishermen involved in the lawsuit reported receiving threats after DeSantis falsely accused them of trying to commandeer the quota all for themselves.

    One of the plaintiffs, North Carolina fisherman Jeff Oden, said commercial fishermen are struggling to survive amid rising costs and competition from imported seafood. He worries that expanded recreational harvests could leave too few snapper available when the commercial season begins later this year.

    “We’re vanishing,” Oden said. “You as a consumer, you’re the loser.”

    Stock is rebounding but scientists urge caution

    The dispute stems in part from disagreements over the health of the fishery. NOAA estimates that roughly one-quarter of released red snapper die, despite techniques designed to improve their survival like puncturing the bladder to reduce gases that build up in their bladder when pulled up, hindering them from returning to the ocean’s depths where they live.

    Yet many fishermen argue the stock is thriving. Kemp’s group hooked about a dozen fish within 40 minutes of arriving to a reef off Florida’s coast.

    “To be completely honest, we have never seen an unhealthy stock,” said Haley Stephens, who with her husband operates the Sea Spirit, a charter boat in Ponce Inlet, Florida.

    Scientists counter that the abundance of younger fish is misleading and point to biological sampling that indicates most fish being caught haven’t reached the peak of their reproductive maturity.

    “It’s tricky because this is a rebuilding fish stock,” said Meredith Moore, a program director at Ocean Conservancy. “So people out in the water are seeing more of the fish than they have seen in a long time, and so that gives them the sense that everything is great.”

    NOAA declined to comment on the snapper dispute, citing ongoing litigation. However, it said that it is working with fisheries managers across the country “to better prioritize work around existing resources, explore efficiencies, and streamline operations” in accordance with the “Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness” executive order signed last year by President Donald Trump.

    The judge, in his ruling, faulted Florida and the other states for declining to provide their own harvest projections. Officials, however, argued that existing federal estimates were unreliable and would eventually be replaced with improved state-collected data.

    Oden said he understands the frustrations of recreational anglers but believes everyone must share the burden of conservation.

    “There’s only so many fish to go around,” he said.

    ___

    Wieffering reported from Washington. Serginho Roosblad contributed from Washington.

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  • Family questions rescue efforts for Sherpa guide found alive on Everest

    KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Sherpa guide who survived a week on the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest was recovering at a hospital in Nepal’s capital on Friday, while his family angered by a delay in rescue efforts sought legal action against those responsible.

    Dawa Sherpa was found Thursday crawling in the snowy slopes around the Khumbu Icefall, just above Everest base camp, a week after he went missing. The 57-year-old was flown to a Kathmandu and reunited with his family. He was being treated for frostbite, dehydration and problems in his thighs but was stable and recovering, HAMS Hospital said in a statement.

    His family said they were upset that the search had not begun earlier and filed a police case against Dawa’s employer, the Kathmandu-based Himalayan Traverse company, and a complaint at the Department of Tourism, which handles mountaineering in Nepal.

    “Action needs to be taken by the mountaineering department. It was negligence of the company that resulted in so much delay in starting rescue,” Dawa’s nephew, Karma Gelje Sherpa, said. “If he had been a foreign climber, rescue would definitely have been organized much faster and prompt, but he happened to be an old Nepali.”

    Himalayan Traverse could not be immediately reached for comment Friday.

    Dawa was last seen around May 29 descending the mountain, but he did not reach base camp even though two other foreign climbers who were with him did. They were among the last climbers on the mountain as the climbing season came to an end and the route was dismantled.

    Dawa’s last location was a spot called Yellow Band above the Camp 3, which is located at 7,200 meters (23,622 feet). The base camp is at 5,300 meters (17,388 feet).

    Dawa was last seen with British climber Chris Thrall and a Polish climber identified by local media as Mariusz Chmielewski. Thrall said in his Instagram post that he had to help the Polish climber down the mountain because he was in bad shape and had frostbites.

    “He (Dawa) had been in death zone for 19 hours and at that point, a decision was made that we needed to descent through the Icefall,” he said earlier this week, explaining why he did not go up the mountain to look for Dawa.

    When helicopters were finally sent to look for him, they could not find him.

    It was not clear why the men were on the mountain when authorities had removed the ladders on the path on May 29.

    Dawa’s family had already given up hope and they were on the second day of a funeral ritual, which lasts for several days.

    The team that spotted him was part of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, which lays the ladders and ropes on the route at the start of each climbing season and then removes the equipment and cleans up the site after climbers have left.