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US strikes a vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 people in first attack in months
WASHINGTON (AP) -- After a pause of more than two months, the U.S. military announced Monday that it once again carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people accused of trafficking drugs.
It brings the overall death toll to 223 people killed in 67 strikes during the nearly yearlong U.S. campaign of bombing alleged drug boats off Latin America's Caribbean coast and in the eastern Pacific Ocean. U.S. Southern Command says the campaign has resulted in the destruction of 64 speedboats, three "low-profile" ships and a semisubmersible craft.
The command said on social media early Monday that forces "executed a lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narcotrafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific." The military said the strike occurred Sunday, and it marked the first since powerful back-to-back June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela killed thousands of people.
As with most of the military's statements, Southern Command did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs.
"We are committed to imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists -- disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region," said Gen. Francis Donovan, who leads U.S. Southern Command.
The latest strike comes as the Trump administration pursues deals with allied nations to extend its offensive to land across multiple Latin American countries. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a visit to Panama this month that Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras had agreed to allow the U.S. to carry out joint military operations against criminal groups on their soil. Guatemala denied reaching such a deal.
Ecuador launched similar missions with the U.S. in March.
The Trump administration's boat bombing campaign began in early September and has left numerous survivors, but most of them have never been recovered.
U.S. Southern Command said in a separate statement Monday that there have been more than 20 search and rescue efforts overall, almost all of which were unsuccessful.
US Postal Service issues new rule for mail ballots, but its impact on the midterms is uncertain
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled new requirements for mail ballots less than two weeks before some states begin sending them and in time for the conservative majority of the Supreme Court to clear the way for President Donald Trump's executive order limiting the method to be used in November's elections.
The provisions are still subject to additional legal challenges and may not go into effect in time to meet the tight deadline to change procedures for the midterm elections. They would forbid the Postal Service from sending mail ballots from any state that does not comply with Trump's order and would require an overhaul of the envelopes containing the ballots.
Despite the high court's initial clearance of the order, it did not decide on the constitutionality of the new regulation-- only on whether the challenge was premature when Democratic-controlled states persuaded a federal judge in Boston to suspend them in June. A second ruling from the same judge would prevent the Postal Service from implementing any procedural changes before this year's midterms and would likely need to be nullified, as well.
Time is running out for the administration to make any changes in the nation's voting procedures. The first mail ballots are required to be sent to military and overseas voters from North Carolina on Sept. 4. At that point, it would be virtually impossible for all states to alter the formatting of their mail ballots to comply with Trump's directive. The Postal Service rule also requires states to submit voter lists in order to get their mail ballots delivered.
The Postal Service said it could not comment on its rule given the litigation.
Lawyers from Democratic-run states and civil rights groups who sued to block the order argued that Trump doesn't have the authority to change election regulations in states. The U.S. Constitution vests that power in the states or Congress, which has been unable to pass Trump's desired election changes.
The Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court last month to let it move forward with the executive order, which calls for the federal government to compile a list of eligible voters and send mail ballots only to those on the list.
8-year-old Louisiana girl dies from a rare brain-eating amoeba found in warm freshwater
An 8-year-old girl in Louisiana has died after being infected by an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba that is found in warm freshwater, her family says.
Lillian Smart died over the weekend after being diagnosed with an infection from Naegleria fowleri, according to a spokesperson for her family. Health authorities describe it as a "brain-eating amoeba" that thrives in freshwater bodies around the U.S. and can shoot up the nose and cause an infection that almost always proves fatal. On average there are fewer than 10 cases annually in the U.S.
"Last night Lillian ran from our arms to the arms of Jesus," her parents, Daniel and Rebecca Smart, wrote Sunday in a public post on Facebook. "The injuries to her brain were too severe for her little body to recover from. Everyone did everything they could to keep her here."
The Louisiana Department of Health said last week that the state had experienced its first confirmed Naegleria fowleri infection since 2013. The department, which did not identify Smart, does not comment on individual cases or specific patients, according to spokesperson Stacey Grow.
"Heartbroken over the news of Lillian's passing," Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wrote on X.
The infection was likely contracted while swimming in Lake Claiborne in north Louisiana, the Louisiana Department of Health said.
The amoeba can lead to a fatal infection known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis when water carrying the amoeba travels up the nose and into the brain. Between 1937 and 2025, there have only been approximately 180 confirmed infections in the U.S., according to the Health Department, which added that the cases are "nearly always fatal." The infection cannot spread from person to person.
Naegleria fowleri is found in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, canals and ponds throughout the U.S. The amoeba becomes dangerous in water that stays over 77 degrees Fahrenheit and for years has been seen almost exclusively in the summer in the southern part of the country. A few recent cases have appeared in Maryland, Indiana and Minnesota, scientists said.
"The amoeba is naturally occurring, and there is no routine environmental test for Naegleria fowleri in bodies of water," the Louisiana Department of Health stated.
Last year, a 12-year-old boy in South Carolina also died from an infection caused by the amoeba.
Shelley Fabares, 'Johnny Angel' singer and actor in 'The Donna Reed Show' and 'Coach,' dies at 82
Shelley Fabares, an actor who was a fixture on television for decades from her days as a young teenager on "The Donna Reed Show," through "One Day at a Time" and "Coach," has died. She was 82.
She died Saturday in Los Angeles, her family said in a statement to The Associated Press. No cause was given.
"To her family and friends, Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort," her family wrote. "She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for."
Fabares was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1944, and started acting as a young child. Her first television credit came at age 10 when she appeared on "The Loretta Young Show." Many movies and television shows followed: She acted with Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra and Eva Marie Saint in a Producers Showcase production of "Our Town"; was in the Rosalind Russell movie "The Girl Rush" and the Rock Hudson drama "Never Say Goodbye." Other early credits include "Annette," "Captain Midnight" and the "Black Leather Jackets" episode of "The Twilight Zone."
Her biggest break came when she was cast as Mary Stone on "The Donna Reed Show," where she was a regular from 1958 through 1963. During that time she also got a recording contract and had two Top 40 hits including "Johnny Angel." In the early 1960s, she also co-starred in three movies with Elvis Presley: "Girl Happy," "Spinout" and "Clambake."
"I think the years on 'The Donna Reed Show,' the years from 14 to 19, were so incredibly important," Fabares told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. "Donna Reed was simply an extraordinary woman, a woman of great strength, kindness, integrity and compassion. I am not trying to make her sound like a saint, but she had the most profound influence on me. I carry her with me today."
In the late 1970s, Fabares made an impression as Francine Webster on the CBS sitcom "One Day at a Time." She also played James Caan's wife in "Brian's Song." One of her biggest roles came when she was cast as Christine Armstrong in "Coach," although the show took a minute to find its audience.
"I did always feel from the very beginning if they could find the right spot for us, this was a show that would last," she said in the 1993 Los Angeles Times interview.
Preservationists are working to extend the life of a rare Revolutionary War 'witness tree'
EUTAW SPRINGS, S.C. (AP) -- Standing beneath the spreading branches of a massive live oak, historian Garrison Marcoux tries to imagine what this scarred, struggling tree saw 245 years ago.
Did one of the British soldiers encamped at this South Carolina crossroad near the end of the Revolutionary War sit in the oak's shade to recuperate from the series of attacks in American Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene's "war of posts?" Did he or his comrades take cover behind its then slender trunk and fire at the onrushing Continental Army?
Perhaps a soldier took his last breath beneath its canopy, watering its roots with his blood.
"I'm a spiritual person," Marcoux, with the South Carolina Battlefield Preservation Trust, said as workers clamber among the limbs above. "To say that a place that experienced a lot of violence and intense emotion and things like that doesn't hold some kind of energy is probably not likely. I think that energy exists where something like this happened."
This is a "witness tree." And it now faces its own fight for survival.
After multiple attempts to stave off its death over the decades, it is being choked by the chains and cables meant to support it. Preservationists are working to save this unique, living reminder of an oft-overshadowed chapter in U.S. history.
Arborists estimate that the tree was about 50 years old on Sept. 8, 1781, when British and colonial forces clashed during the Battle of Eutaw Springs -- considered by historians to be the last open field engagement of the American Revolution.
"It's very rare to have a witness tree, especially from the Revolutionary War," Marcoux said on a recent sultry morning as gnats and mosquitoes buzzed around his head. "To have the tree that witnessed this battle and still standing is short of a miracle."
Among the officers were famous names like Lt. Col. Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee and Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, better known as the "Swamp Fox."
About 2,500 Americans attacked the roughly 2,000 British and Loyalist troops camped around a fortified brick house. Greene, who had a horse shot out from under him during the battle, called Eutaw Springs "by far, the hottest action I ever saw, and the most bloody for the numbers engaged."
Firefighters make progress against a Nevada wildfire that's destroyed more than 30 homes
RENO, Nevada (AP) -- Crews have started to contain a wildfire in the Sierra Nevada foothills near Reno, Nevada, that destroyed more than 30 homes as it spread perilously close to dense neighborhoods, officials said Monday.
Containment reached 27% and there was no new growth of the Hawk Fire, which has held steady at about 23 square miles (60 square kilometers) since it burned out of control on Sunday, authorities said at an afternoon news briefing.
"We are making progress," said U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Matt Zumstein.
The number of residents under evacuation orders and warnings was reduced to about 63,000, down from more than 90,000 people when the blaze mushroomed over the weekend. While winds have eased, there's still concern that gusts could push the flames through dry brush into newly developed neighborhoods in Nevada's largest city outside of metro Las Vegas.
Firefighters are also contending with hot temperatures and low humidity. At least 32 homes have burned and six are damaged, but authorities said those numbers are sure to rise as assessment teams begin to survey the charred areas.
Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said the way the fire spread so quickly at its height had her fearing for the worst.
"It lit up these areas like nothing I've seen before," she said Monday. "It took your breath away, in the worst way."
Schools across Washoe County were closed Monday because of the evacuations and to keep roads clear for emergency crews. Nevada's governor declared a state of emergency in the county and mobilized the National Guard to help with aerial firefighting and protecting evacuated neighborhoods northwest of downtown Reno.
At one roadblock, residents expressed frustration Monday that they could not get back into their homes.
"There's no fire here! Why are the National Guard here?" a driver yelled.
Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam said he understands that some residents are frustrated that they can't get home but the danger isn't over yet. "It just takes that little breeze and one ember," he said.