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Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. KABUL, Afghanistan — Desperate Afghans clawed through rubble in the dead of the night in search of missing loved ones after a strong earthquake killed some 800 people and injured more than 2,500 in eastern Afghanistan, according to figures provided Monday by the Taliban government. The 6.0 magnitude quake late Sunday hit towns in the province of Kunar, near the city of Jalalabad in neighboring Nangarhar province, causing extensive damage. The quake at 11:47 p.m. was centered 27 kilometers (17 miles) east-northeast of Jalalabad, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It was just 8 kilometers (5 miles) deep. Shallower quakes tend to cause more damage. Several aftershocks followed. Footage showed rescuers taking injured people on stretchers from collapsed buildings and into helicopters as people frantically dug through rubble with their hands. The Taliban government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said at a press conference Monday that the death toll had risen to at least 800 with more than 2,500 injured. He said most of the casualties were in Kunar. Buildings in Afghanistan tend to be low-rise constructions, mostly of concrete and brick, with homes in rural and outlying areas made from mud bricks and wood. Many are poorly built. One resident in Nurgal district, one of the worst-affected areas in Kunar, said nearly the entire village was destroyed. “Children are under the rubble. The elderly are under the rubble. Young people are under the rubble,” said the villager, who did not give his name. “We need help here,” he pleaded. "We need people to come here and join us. Let us pull out the people who are buried. There is no one who can come and remove dead bodies from under the rubble.” Eastern Afghanistan is mountainous, with remote areas. The quake has worsened communications. Blocked roads are forcing aid workers to walk four or five hours to reach survivors. Dozens of flights have operated in and out of Nangarhar Airport, transporting the injured to hospital. One survivor described seeing homes collapse before his eyes and people screaming for help. Sadiqullah, who lives in the Maza Dara area of Nurgal, said he was woken by a deep boom that sounded like a storm approaching. Like many Afghans, he uses only one name. He ran to where his children were sleeping and rescued three of them. He was about to return to grab the rest of his family when the room fell on top of him. “I was half-buried and unable to get out,” he told The Associated Press by phone from Nangarhar Hospital. “My wife and two sons are dead, and my father is injured and in hospital with me. We were trapped for three to four hours until people from other areas arrived and pulled me out." It felt like the whole mountain was shaking, he said. Rescue operations were underway and medical teams from Kunar, Nangarhar and the capital Kabul have arrived in the area, said Sharafat Zaman, a health ministry spokesman. Zaman said many areas had not been able to report casualty figures and that “the numbers were expected to change” as deaths and injuries are reported. The chief spokesman, Mujahid, said helicopters had reached some areas but road travel was difficult. “There are some villages where the injured and dead haven't been recovered from the rubble, so that’s why the numbers may increase,” he told journalists. Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the earthquake intensified existing humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan and urged international donors to support relief efforts. “This adds death and destruction to other challenges including drought and the forced return of millions of Afghans from neighbouring countries,” Grandi wrote on the social media platform X. “Hopefully the donor community will not hesitate to support relief efforts.” A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2023, followed by strong aftershocks. The Taliban government estimated at least 4,000 people perished in that quake. The U.N. gave a far lower death toll of about 1,500. It was the deadliest natural disaster to strike Afghanistan in recent memory. The latest earthquake was likely to “dwarf the scale of the humanitarian needs” caused by the disaster of 2023, according to the International Rescue Committee. Entire roads and communities have been cut off from accessing nearby towns or hospitals and 2,000 casualties were reported within the first 12 hours, said Sherine Ibrahim, the country director for the aid agency. “Although we have been able to act fast, we are profoundly fearful for the additional strain this will have on the overall humanitarian response in Afghanistan," said Ibrahim. " Global funding cuts have dramatically hampered our ability to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis.” Sunday night’s quake was felt in parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad. There were no reports of casualties or damage. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he was deeply saddened by events in Afghanistan. “Our hearts go out to the victims and their families. We are ready to extend all possible support in this regard,” he said on the social platform X. Pakistan has expelled tens of thousands of Afghans in the past year, many of them living in the country for decades as refugees. At least 1.2 million Afghans have been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan so far this year, according to a June report by UNHCR. Associated Press journalist Suzan Fraser contributed reporting from Ankara, Turkey. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.     

A woman from Sequim is encouraging people to wear life jackets on the water after her son drowned while kayaking near the Dungeness Spit. SEQUIM, Wash. — As families across western Washington enjoy a long weekend by the water, one grieving mother is hoping her son’s story will serve as a reminder: water safety can mean the difference between life and death. Michele Duncan recently built a memorial bench in her backyard for her son, 21-year-old Ty Bradley Coone, who drowned in May while kayaking near the Dungeness Spit. “I know my son is in a beautiful place,” Duncan said. “He was a light… always a light for everybody.” Duncan learned this weekend of several recent drownings and near-drownings across the region — incidents that struck a deeply personal chord. “Safety first. I cannot emphasize that enough,” Duncan said. Coone’s death was a sudden and tragic turn. What began as a routine day on the water turned deadly when conditions changed. “It can turn on you in a minute, and that’s obviously what happened that day,” Duncan said. “Ty did not plan to go out and have high winds come up, and it became a small craft advisory… and it took his life.” She hopes others fully understand the potential dangers that can arise on the water. “He was fit, he was strong, and Mother Nature doesn’t play favors on who you are, or how old you are," said Duncan. First responders echoed that message. “We’ve had three accidents. These all could have been prevented,” said Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Carly Cappetto, adding that she's never seen a drowning victim who was wearing a life jacket. “It really shows that wearing a life jacket can save lives." Labor Day weekend typically marks the start of some of the warmest water temperatures of the year in western Washington — drawing swimmers, kayakers and paddle boarders out in large numbers. But officials say that’s exactly why extra caution is needed. Paddle sports have seen a surge in popularity. Yet, according to a Washington State Parks report, paddle sport deaths have increased 28% in the last decade. With more people expected to head out for water activities during the warmer months, authorities are reminding paddlers to wear life jackets, avoid going out alone and be aware of water temperatures. A beachgoer at Lake Sammamish State Park shared her reaction with KING 5 after learning that the day before, a pair or kayakers or canoers accidentally fell into the water and were hospitalized.  “It’s a shame,” said Pam Brown. “There’s lots of issues with water safety and people not wearing their life jackets.” Some parents at the beach Sunday enforced their own rules. “You just never know, especially with power boats and waves,” said Tanya Edden, who said she always makes her children wear life jackets, even amid pushback. “We just have a standard: when you’re on the lake, you wear the life jacket. It doesn’t always go down well… sometimes we just have to be, ‘Sorry, we’re just being the parent.’” Those are the kinds of actions Duncan hopes more families will take seriously. “Know that it can only take one second for you to make the wrong mistake,” Duncan said. “And that will be the mistake that will change your life and everybody else’s life forever.” The reminders come after an alarming weekend in Western Washington, with three separate water incidents leaving two dead and two hospitalized. In addition to the Lake Sammamish State Park incident, a 43-year-old man drowned at Gene Coulon Beach Park while reportedly trying to evade police after a suspicious vehicle report. Also, in Pierce County, a 55-year-old man drowned in Lake Tapps on Saturday. Witnesses say he was found floating face down, and investigators are working to learn whether he suffered a medical emergency related to his diabetes. “Safety is so important,” Duncan said. “A life jacket will make a difference between whether you live or you die.” To learn more about water safety, visit this American Red Cross webpage.

Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce. It's tomato season and Lidia is harvesting on farms in California's Central Valley. She is also anxious. Attention from U.S. Immigration Control and Enforcement could upend her life more than 23 years after she illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border as a teenager. “The worry is they’ll pull you over when you’re driving and ask for your papers,” said Lidia, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition that only her first name be used because of her fears of deportation. “We need to work. We need to feed our families and pay our rent.” As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation's labor force. More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20% of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45% of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer. About 30% of all construction workers are immigrants and 24% of service workers are immigrants, she added. The loss in immigrant workers comes as the nation is seeing the first decline in the overall immigrant population after the number of people in the U.S. illegally reached an all-time high of 14 million in 2023. “It’s unclear how much of the decline we’ve seen since January is due to voluntary departures to pursue other opportunities or avoid deportation, removals, underreporting or other technical issues,” Kramer said. “However, we don’t believe that the preliminary numbers indicating net-negative migration are so far off that the decline isn’t real.” Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the U.S. illegally. He has said he is focusing deportation efforts on “dangerous criminals,” but most people detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. At the same time, the number of illegal border crossings has plunged under his policies. Pia Orrenius, a labor economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said immigrants normally contribute at least 50% of job growth in the U.S. “The influx across the border from what we can tell is essentially stopped, and that’s where we were getting millions and millions of migrants over the last four years,” she said. “That has had a huge impact on the ability to create jobs.” 'Crops did go to waste’ Just across the border from Mexico in McAllen, Texas, corn and cotton fields are about ready for harvesting. Elizabeth Rodriguez worries there won’t be enough workers available for the gins and other machinery once the fields are cleared. Immigration enforcement actions at farms, businesses and construction sites brought everything to a standstill, said Rodriguez, director of farmworker advocacy for the National Farmworker Ministry. “In May, during the peak of our watermelon and cantaloupe season, it delayed it. A lot of crops did go to waste,” she said. In Ventura County, California, northwest of Los Angeles, Lisa Tate manages her family business that grows citrus fruits, avocados and coffee on eight ranches and 800 acres (323 hectares). Most of the men and women who work their farms are contractor-provided day laborers. There were days earlier this year when crews would be smaller. Tate is hesitant to place that blame on immigration policies. But the fear of ICE raids spread quickly. Dozens of area farmworkers were arrested late this spring. “People were being taken out of laundromats, off the side of the road,” Tate said. Lidia, the farmworker who spoke to the AP through an interpreter, said her biggest fear is being sent back to Mexico. Now 36, she is married with three school-age children who were born here. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to bring my kids," said Lidia. "I’m also very concerned I’d have to start from zero. My whole life has been in the United States.” From construction to health care Construction sites in and around McAllen also “are completely dead,” Rodriguez said. “We have a large labor force that is undocumented,” she said. “We’ve seen ICE particularly targeting construction sites and attempting to target mechanic and repair shops." The number of construction jobs are down in about half of U.S. metropolitan areas, according to an Associated General Contractors of America analysis of government employment data. The largest loss of 7,200 jobs was in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, California, area. The Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale area lost 6,200 jobs. “Construction employment has stalled or retreated in many areas for a variety of reasons,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “But contractors report they would hire more people if only they could find more qualified and willing workers and tougher immigration enforcement wasn’t disrupting labor supplies.” Kramer, with Pew, also warns about the potential impact on health care. She says immigrants make up about 43% of home health care aides. The Service Employees International Union represents about 2 million workers in health care, the public sector and property services. An estimated half of long-term care workers who are members of SEIU 2015 in California are immigrants, said Arnulfo De La Cruz, the local's president. “What’s going to happen when millions of Americans can no longer find a home care provider?" De La Cruz said. “What happens when immigrants aren’t in the field to pick our crops? Who’s going to staff our hospitals and nursing homes?” Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.     

The grant has helped fund or repair more than 1.3 million affordable units, including 540,000 in rural areas and small towns. TENNESSEE, USA — Heather Colley and her two children moved four times over five years as they fled high rents in eastern Tennessee, which, like much of rural America, hasn't been spared from soaring housing costs. A family gift in 2021 of a small plot of land offered a shot at homeownership, but building a house was beyond reach for the 45-year-old single mother and manicurist making $18.50 an hour. That changed when she qualified for $272,000 from a nonprofit to build a three-bedroom home because of a grant program that has helped make affordable housing possible in rural areas for decades. She moved in last June. “Every time I pull into my garage, I pinch myself,” Colley said. Now, President Donald Trump wants to eliminate that grant, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and House Republicans overseeing federal budget negotiations did not include funding for it in their budget proposal. Experts and state housing agencies say that would set back tens of thousands of future affordable housing developments nationwide, particularly hurting Appalachian towns and rural counties where government aid is sparse and investors are few. The program has helped build or repair more than 1.3 million affordable homes in the last three decades, of which at least 540,000 were in congressional districts that are rural or significantly rural, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal data. “Maybe they don’t realize how far-reaching these programs are,” said Colley, who voted for Trump in 2024. Among those half a million homes that HOME helped build, 84% were in districts that voted for him last year, the AP analysis found. “I understand we don’t want excessive spending and wasting taxpayer dollars," Colley said, "but these proposed budget cuts across the board make me rethink the next time I go to the polls.” The HOME program, started under President George H. W. Bush in the 1990s, survived years of budget battles but has been stretched thin by years of rising construction costs and stagnant funding. That's meant fewer units, including in some rural areas where home prices have grown faster than in cities. The program has spent more than $38 billion nationwide since it began filling in funding gaps and attracting more investment to acquire, build and repair affordable homes, HUD data shows. Additional funding has gone toward projects that have yet to be finished and rental assistance. HOME's future is in political limbo To account for the gap left by the proposed cuts, House Republicans want to draw on nearly $5 billion from a related pandemic-era fund that gave states until 2030 to spend on projects supporting people who are unhoused or facing homelessness. That $5 billion, however, may be far less, since many projects haven’t yet been logged into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's tracking system, according to state housing agencies and associations representing them. A spokesperson for HUD, which administers the program, said HOME isn't as effective as other programs where the money would be better spent. In opposition to Trump, Senate Republicans have still included funding for HOME in their draft budget. In the coming negotiations, both chambers may compromise and reduce but not terminate HOME's funding, or extend last years’ overall budget. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle didn't respond to specific questions from the AP. Instead, Ingle said that Trump's commitment to cutting red tape is making housing more affordable. A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is working to reduce HOME’s notorious red tape that even proponents say slows construction. Some rural areas are more dependent on HOME In Owsley County — one of the nation's poorest, located in the rural Kentucky hills — residents struggle in an economy blighted by coal mine closures and declining tobacco crop revenues. Affordable homes are needed there, but tough to build in a region that doesn't attract larger-scale rental developments that federal dollars typically go toward. That’s where HOME comes in, said Cassie Hudson, who runs Partnership Housing in Owsley, which has relied on the program to build the majority of its affordable homes for at least a dozen years. A lack of additional funding for HOME has already made it hard to keep up with construction costs, Hudson said, and the organization builds a quarter of the single-family homes it used to. “Particularly for deeply rural places and persistent poverty counties, local housing developers are the only way homes and new rental housing gets built,” said Joshua Stewart of Fahe, a coalition of Appalachian nonprofits. That's in part because investment is scant and HOME steps in when construction costs exceed what a home can be sold for — a common barrier in poor areas of Appalachia. Some developers use the profits to build more affordable units. Its loss would erode those nonprofits' ability to build affordable homes in years to come, Stewart said. One of those nonprofits, Housing Development Alliance, helped Tiffany Mullins in Hazard, Kentucky, which was ravaged by floods. Mullins, a single mother of four who makes $14.30 an hour at Walmart, bought a house there thanks to HOME funding and moved in August. Mullins sees the program as preserving a rural way of life, recalling when folks owned homes and land “with gardens, we had chickens, cows. Now you don’t see much of that." It’s a long-term impact In congressional budget negotiations, HOME is an easier target than programs such as vouchers because most people would not immediately lose their housing, said Tess Hembree, executive director of the Council of State Community Development Agencies. The effect of any reduction would instead be felt in a fizzling of new affordable housing supply. When HOME funding was temporarily reduced to $900 million in 2015, “10 to 15 years later, we’re seeing the ramifications," Hembree said. That includes affordable units built in cities. The biggest program that funds affordable rental housing nationwide, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, uses HOME grants for 12% of units, totaling 324,000 current individual units, according to soon-to-be-published Urban Institute research. Trump's spending bill that Republicans passed this summer increased LIHTC, but experts say further reducing or cutting HOME would make those credits less usable. “It's LITHC plus HOME, usually,” said Tim Thrasher, CEO of Community Action Partnership of North Alabama, which builds affordable apartments for some of the nation's poorest. In the lush mountains of eastern West Virginia, Woodlands Development Group relies on HOME for its smaller rural projects. Because it helps people with a wider range of incomes, HOME is “one of the only programs available to us that allows us to develop true workforce housing,” said executive director Dave Clark. It’s those workers — nurses, first responders, teachers — that nonprofits like east Tennessee’s Creative Compassion use HOME to build for. With the program in jeopardy, grant administrator Sarah Halcott said she fears for her clients battling rising housing costs. “This is just another nail in the coffin for rural areas,” Halcott said. Kramon reported from Atlanta. Bedayn reported from Denver. Herbst contributed from New York City, and Kessler reported from Washington, D.C. Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.     

Unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, most national retailers will remain open Labor Day. SAN FRANCISCO — Labor Day, a federal holiday honoring the U.S. labor movement and the achievements of American workers, is here once again. The holiday with activist roots, observed on the first Monday of September, creates a three-day weekend marking the unofficial end of summer — if the pumpkin spiced lattes and back-to-school shopping hadn't already set the tone.  Unlike other federal holidays, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, most stores and major retailers will remain open or have adjusted hours Labor Day.  Many businesses use the holiday to reel in customers with Labor Day sales. Just a reminder, some deals are only valid through Labor Day, so get your shopping in while you can.  While the majority of stores will keep their doors open Monday, Sept. 1, a handful will be closed.  If you plan on hitting the stores Monday, make sure to double-check your local store hours as some may be operating on reduced holiday schedules. Labor Day 2025: What will be open? Grocery stores:  Most grocery stores are open Labor Day but be sure to check with local stores to see if they have reduced hours. Is mail delivered on Labor Day? Post Office: As is the case with all federal holidays, the United States Postal Service will take a break from delivering mail Monday, Sept. 1, in observance of Labor Day. Post offices across the U.S. will remain closed for the holiday and mail delivery will be paused until Tuesday.  UPS Store:  UPS Store locations are closed on Labor Day, as well as other federal holidays, and there will be no pickup or delivery services.  FedEx: FedEx U.S. and international package and express freight services and FedEx Logistics will be closed Monday. FedEx Offices may be open with modified hours based on location, and FedEx Custom Critical will remain open on Labor Day.  Stock market: The New York Stock Exchange observes U.S. holidays, so the stock market will be closed Labor Day. Government offices:  State, local and federal offices are closed for Labor Day. Are banks closed on Labor Day?  Most banks will close for the federal holiday, though ATMs and online banking will still be available.  Is Costco open on Labor Day? Costco is one of the few national retailers that is traditionally closed on Labor Day. The warehouse club will not be open Monday, Sept. 1. Stores open on Labor Day 2025 Below is a list of some of the select national retailers that will be open on Labor Day this year.  Aldi: The grocery store chain is open on Labor Day but operates with "limited hours." While stores usually close around 6 p.m. for Labor Day, you can check individual store times on Aldi's website.Best BuyHome DepotKohl's KrogerTrader Joe'sLowe's Macy's Sam's Club: The warehouse club is open on Labor Day, but closes at 6 p.m. Starbucks: Most locations will be open, though you'll need to check with your local store to see if there are holiday hours. TargetWalmart  Is Target open on Labor Day?  Yes, Target is open on Labor Day for 2025. Most stores will be open with normal business hours, but Target encourages customers to double check local store hours.  Is Walmart open on Labor Day?  Walmart locations nationwide will be open during regular business hours. 

The crash was reported around 2 p.m. The cause of the crash is currently unknown. KIRKLAND, Wash. — 1 person is dead and multiple people are injured after a car crashed into Kirkland Grocery Outlet Sunday.  Kirkland Fire said the driver hit the front of the building. The driver and three other bystanders have been transported to the hospital. Their conditions are unknown at this time.  It is unclear whether those hit by the car were in the store at the time of the crash.  The cause of the crash is currently being investigated by Kirkland Fire.  This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information is received. 

Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for injuries. NEW HAMPSHIRE, USA — Rudy Giuliani is recovering from a fractured vertebra and other injuries following a car crash in New Hampshire in which he was a passenger, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said Sunday. Giuliani was being driven in a rented Ford Bronco by his spokesperson Ted Goodman when their vehicle was struck from behind by a Honda HR-V driven by a 19-year-old woman late Saturday evening, New Hampshire State Police said in a statement. Troopers witnessed the crash, which caused both vehicles to hit the highway median and left them “heavily damaged,” state police said. Goodman and the 19-year-old suffered “non-life-threatening injuries” and were taken to hospitals for treatment, the agency added. State police said they are investigating the crash and no charges have been filed. Giuliani, 81, was taken to a nearby trauma center and was being treated for a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg, according to a statement posted on X by Michael Ragusa, Giuliani’s head of security. Giuliani “sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Ragusa said, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.” Prior to the accident, Giuliani had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident" and contacted police assistance on her behalf, Ragusa said. After police arrived, Giuliani continued on his way and his vehicle was hit shortly after pulling onto the highway in a crash that was “entirely unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Ragusa told The Associated Press in an emailed statement. State police said troopers were investigating a domestic violence report on the southbound Interstate 93 highway shortly before 10 p.m. and observed the crash, which occurred on the northbound lanes. Troopers and fire personnel quickly crossed to provide help. Goodman did not respond to requests for comment and Giuliani's team did not provide additional details about the circumstances surrounding the crash. “Thank you to all the people that have reached out since learning the news about my Father,” Andrew Giuliani, Rudy Giuliani’s son, wrote in post on X. “Your prayers mean the world.” The crash follows some rocky years for the onetime Republican presidential candidate, who was dubbed “America’s mayor” in light of his leadership in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. Giuliani later became President Donald Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error. Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers. Associated Press writer Jennifer Peltz in New York City contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.     

It comes after the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness. WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Sunday said that the Trump administration will soon expand immigration operations in Chicago, confirming plans for a stepped up presence of federal agents in the nation's third-largest city as President Donald Trump continues to lash out at Illinois' Democratic leadership. Noem's comments come after the DHS last week requested limited logistical support from officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes to support the agency's anticipated operations. The military installation is about 35 miles north of Chicago. “We’ve already had ongoing operations with ICE in Chicago... but we do intend to add more resources to those operations,” Noem said during an appearance CBS News' ”Face the Nation." Noem declined to provide further details about the planned surge of federal officers. It comes after the Trump administration deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to target crime, immigration and homelessness, and two months after it sent troops to Los Angeles. Trump lashed out against Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in a social media posting Saturday, warning him that he must straighten out Chicago's crime problems quickly “or we're coming.” The Republican president has also been critical of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. Johnson and Pritzker have pushed back against the expected federal mobilization, saying crime has fallen in Chicago. They are planning to sue if Trump moves forward with the plan. Johnson has already signed an order barring the Chicago Police Department from helping federal authorities with civil immigration enforcement or any related patrols, traffic stops and checkpoints during the surge. Chicago is home to a large immigrant population, and both the city and the state of Illinois have some of the country’s strongest rules against cooperating with federal government immigration enforcement efforts. That has often put the city and the state at odds with Trump’s administration as it tries to carry out his mass deportation agenda. Pritzker in an interview aired Sunday on “Face the Nation” charged that Trump's expected plans to mobilize federal forces in the city may be part of a plan to “stop the elections in 2026 or, frankly, take control of those elections.” Noem said it was a Trump “prerogative” whether to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago as he did in Los Angeles in June in the midst of immigration protests in the California city. “I do know that LA wouldn’t be standing today if President Trump hadn’t taken action," Noem said. “That city would have burned if left to devices of the mayor and governor of that state.” Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.     

Charles Bierbauer's career spanned across decades and countries. USA, — Charles Bierbauer, a former CNN correspondent turned journalism academic, has died. He was 83. Bierbauer died Friday at his home in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, where he had been living in retirement, university spokesman Jeff Stensland told the Associated Press.  Bierbauer worked as a Pentagon, White House and United States Supreme Court correspondent for CNN from 1981 until his retirement in 2001, according to CNN. He also anchored CNN's show "Newsmaker Saturday," which featured top newsmakers on the program every week for a decade.  He reported on five presidential campaigns and traveled with U.S. presidents across the country and world. A CNN spokesperson said he was a "tireless reporter and wonderful colleague" and will be remembered for his "outstanding journalism and his willingness to help others." He's won an Emmy for his coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Park bombing, according to CNN.  Before breaking into professional news, Bierbauer attended and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in the 60s. He earned his undergraduate degree in Russian and eventually earned his graduate degree in journalism.   He traveled the world and reported for ABC News as their Moscow bureau chief and their bureau chief while in Germany from 1978 until 1981, until he went to CNN — just a year after the network's inception. He also previously worked in London and Vienna for another broadcast company.  "Charles inspired me and helped me throughout my assignments at the Pentagon and the White House," said longtime CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer in a statement. "He was a good friend, colleague, and mentor, and I will certainly miss him." After retiring from news, Bierbauer became University of South Carolina's first dean of the newly merged College of Mass Communications and Information Studies, which is now called the College of Information and Communications, from 2002 until 2018. He also served as president of the White House Correspondents' Association from 1991 to 1992.  Journalists and former students alike took to social media to express their sympathies for the loss.  "RIP to Charles Bierbauer, a terrific mentor, friend, dean and human. I can’t overstate his impact on my life as a student and the lives of countless others," wrote Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Dawsey. "He was a smart, kind and incredibly insightful man I will miss very much." Bierbauer is survived by his wife, a former Associated Press journalist, Susanne Schafer, according to CNN. 

The latter half of the summer box office struggled despite the success of movies like “Weapons." LOS ANGELES — “Weapons” found its way back on top during the Labor Day weekend, culminating a summer box office that's likely to fall right below meeting last year's earnings. Zach Cregger's horror proved its staying power as a late-summer viral success and regained the top spot after last weekend saw “Kpop Demon Hunters” give Netflix its first box-office win. “Weapons” generated $10.2 million during its fourth weekend in theaters. Universal’s 50th rerelease of “Jaws” also made a splash in theaters, securing the second spot. Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film took “a bite out of the box office,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the data firm Comscore, earning $8.1 million in 3,200 North American theaters. “How appropriate that a movie that’s celebrating its 50 years, an all-time classic, Jaws, should be as relevant today as it was when it opened,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s so great because we need every dollar to contribute to the bottom line for this summer.” The rerelease helped boost a summer with earnings likely coming in at $3.7 billion, just under last summer. Still, this year will miss the typical pre-pandemic summer box office benchmark of $4 billion, Dergarabedian said. “There were casualties this summer. It’s a very crowded summer, very competitive,” Dergarabedian said. “At the end of the day, you can’t get to that four billion mark unless every movie just clicked and is performing at or above expectations.” This summer's earnings were front-loaded, with May releases like “Thunderbolts” and “Lilo & Stitch” becoming box office wins. However, the latter half of the summer struggled despite the success of movies like “Weapons." Dergarabedian said the summer succeeded in provided high-quality movies and marketing, but it's “kind of limping a bit to the finish line in terms of the summer movie season.” The crime caper “Caught Stealing,” starring Austin Butler, generated $7.8 million domestically and snatched third place its debut weekend. Set in 1998 and directed by Darren Aronofsky, the film follows Butler as a New York City bartender who is unexpectedly wrapped up the city's crime world. “Freakier Friday,” which debuted alongside “Weapons” early this month for a successful humor/horror double feature, took fourth place, earning $6.5 million domestically. “The Roses,” another newcomer, came in fifth with $6.4 million. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps" landed in sixth place with $4.8 million. The Marvel superhero film hit box office gold during its late July entry, debuting at $118 million. The film, however, experienced a downward trend in earnings since its release. “The Bad Guys 2" came in just below “First Steps,” with $4.7 million, followed by “Superman,” an early July entry that generated $2.6 million during the Labor Day weekend. Top 10 movies by domestic box office With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: “Weapons,” $10.2 million.“Jaws (1975),” $8.1 million.“Caught Stealing,” $7.8 million.“Freakier Friday,” $6.5 million.“The Roses,” $6.4 million.“The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” $4.8 million.“The Bad Guys 2," $4.7 million.“Superman,” $2.6 million.“Nobody 2,” $1.8 million.“The Naked Gun,” $1.8 million. Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.