Trump went all the way to Alaska in a sign of just how close its Senate race may be
WASILLA, Alaska (AP) — It’s a long way from Washington, has a small population and hasn't backed a Democrat for Senate in nearly 20 years.
Yet President Donald Trump on Tuesday devoted a big chunk of his dwindling time ahead of crucial midterm elections to head to Alaska — attempting to bolster a Republican incumbent senator in another sign of GOP fears about retaining control of Congress after Election Day on Nov. 3.
Trump headlined a rally for Sen. Dan Sullivan in Wasilla, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Anchorage — famous for being the hometown of former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and the headquarters of the Iditarod sled dog race across the state.
Trump's stop is part of a western swing also taking him to rallies in Arizona and Montana on Wednesday.
The president noted to the crowd that he had flown eight hours to rally for Sullivan, whom he called “one of the best and most respected senators in D.C.” Sullivan, seeking a third term, faces Democrat Mary Peltola, a former congresswoman who is running to put “Alaska first” and emphasizing cost-of-living issues.
___
Trump's ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, resigns after allegations of improper conduct
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House publicly asked for U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle's resignation on Tuesday as she faced mounting accusations of improper conduct, and she announced within two hours that she was quitting, ending days of talk and speculation about her professional fate. Guilfoyle insisted that she would “vigorously defend” herself.
President Donald Trump's administration had said earlier Tuesday it had asked Guilfoyle to leave her post after she faced severe criticism over allegations she engaged in improper and possibly illegal conduct before and during her tenure in Athens.
That revelation came in response to a question to freshly minted White House press secretary Katie Zacharia at her first media briefing Tuesday morning. Zacharia said Guilfoyle “has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.”
"She went to Greece. She was doing a good job, but we didn’t like what we were reading," Trump said just after Guilfoyle's resignation, which was posted on her X account. He said he had not spoken to her but "she will not be there.”
Guilfoyle’s departure comes after its possibility was previewed to The Associated Press over the weekend and Trump registered his unhappiness on Monday at reports about her alleged conduct. Those comments came a day after the AP, citing a senior U.S. official, reported that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s reported conduct.
___
Six Flags closes 9 North American roller coasters after families watch man fall to his death
ATLANTA (AP) — Witnesses watched in horror as a man riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia was ejected from his seat, almost seeming to hover above the car before hitting several people and falling to his death.
The nightmarish death prompted Six Flags to temporarily close nine similar coasters across North America.
Police and a state agency that oversees ride inspections are investigating, but many questions remained Tuesday, including how the man fell out and whether there were problems with his restraints.
The man, a school employee from Atlanta, was killed Monday while riding Goliath, the park's tallest roller coaster with a first hill of 200 feet (61 meters).
“It looked like he was hovering because the car was moving underneath him,” said Nick Mendenhall, who had just ridden Goliath with his son and was watching the coaster cars passing overhead.
___
Pope Leo XIV diagnosed with lung cancer after surgery to remove part of right lung
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery Tuesday that confirmed he has lung cancer and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said.
Tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.
The statement made no mention of treatment going forward, and the Vatican said doctors were not currently speaking of chemotherapy or other therapies pending the results of other tests. The Vatican press office noted the medical statement spoke of the “radical” removal of the lobe as an indication that doctors removed all suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.
Leo's lymph nodes also would have been removed and tested, to determine if the cancer had spread, and there was no word yet on those test results.
“Adenocarcinoma is the most common (type of lung cancer), also with the most favorable prognosis,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. “While we know the diagnosis we now need to know the stage."
___
Duane ‘Keffe D’ Davis gets 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of Tupac Shakur
LAS VEGAS (AP) — An aging ex-gang leader was sentenced Tuesday to 40 years to life in prison for orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting of rap icon Tupac Shakur near the Las Vegas Strip.
The killing, rooted in a long-running gang feud, had gone unsolved for decades — captivating the public and tormenting Shakur’s loved ones — until Duane “Keffe D” Davis started bragging about it in interviews and a memoir.
Davis, 63, was convicted in August of first-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon. A former leader of the South Side Compton Crips, Davis stared blankly at Judge Carli Kierny as she imposed a penalty that, even with credit for time served, won’t see him eligible for parole until he’s at least 100.
“You don’t get to take a man from his family, you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” Kierny said. “The world never forgot about him and his death and neither did Las Vegas.”
Davis, whose lawyer said he will appeal his conviction, is the only person ever charged in Shakur’s death. The late rapper’s legend has only grown in the years since, and his songs continue to resonate with themes of hardship, love and Black struggles.
___
US hits Bank of America with $1.2 billion fine, saying it violated money laundering, sanctions laws
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that it’s imposing $1.2 billion in fines on Bank of America for allegedly violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.
The fines on America’s second-biggest bank amount to the third-largest in the department’s history.
“When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions obligations, the consequences extend far beyond its own walls, exposing the entire U.S. financial system to significant illicit finance risks,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Today’s actions send a clear message that even the biggest financial institutions are not above the law.”
Treasury said Bank of America also reached an $11.6 million settlement with the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control over “apparent violations of numerous sanctions programs, including on Iran, Russia, narcotics, and global terrorism."
In a statement, Treasury said its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) assessed the $1.2 billion penalty for Bank of America's "failure to mitigate and report priority national security risks, including Chinese Money Laundering Networks and illicit finance along the southwest border.''
___
Cornell suspends fraternity parties, gives state police role in investigating campus assault reports
Cornell University suspended parties at fraternity houses until next year and is giving state police a role in investigating reports of sexual assault on campus in the school’s latest response to outrage over its handling of a gang rape allegation.
The measures announced Tuesday by Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff include a suspension of all parties and social events at Interfraternity Council houses through the end of the 2026-27 academic year and a new “zero tolerance” policy that would immediately suspend chapters for violations.
“These measures will provide time for a thorough review of fraternity life at Cornell to determine whether and how it can safely continue,” Kotlikoff wrote in a letter to the campus community.
Cornell has more than 20 active Interfraternity Council fraternities. The council did not immediately respond to an email request for comment. It’s unclear whether the restrictions extend to off-campus parties.
It’s not the first time Cornell has cracked down on fraternity parties. The university temporarily suspended them in 2022 after reports of a sexual assault and students being drugged at fraternity-affiliated housing.
___
Death toll rises to 6 as Hurricane Simon and Rachel remnants unleash floods in Mexico
ENSENADA, Mexico (AP) — The death toll from Hurricane Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six Tuesday after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico’s Pacific coast, authorities said.
Simon was a Category 1 storm before strengthening Tuesday night and was nearly a major hurricane again, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Off Mexico’s Pacific coast, Simon was bringing heavy rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remained on alert for rising rivers and flooding. Over the weekend, the hurricane brought heavy rain to the southern state of Guerrero, killing one person.
But the worst damage was reported farther north, in the coastal city of Ensenada, Baja California, where flooding caused by Rachel’s remnants killed at least five people.
The victims included a 13-year-old girl whose body was found Sunday, two women ages 30 and 35 and a 4-year-old boy whose bodies were recovered Monday, and an unidentified person found near a stream Tuesday, the state prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press.
Five others remained missing in Baja California, including three in Ensenada and a father and son who went fishing Saturday in San Felipe, on the Gulf of California, and never returned.
___
Supreme Court agrees to hear watchdog lawsuit seeking records on Elon Musk’s DOGE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to hear arguments in a watchdog’s lawsuit seeking public records about billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The high court is intervening for a second time in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s case, which seeks access to DOGE records from its operations in the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term. The Trump administration asked the court to hear the case.
Last year, the high court reined in a district court’s order for the government to produce DOGE-related records to CREW. The high court’s conservative majority concluded in June 2025 that U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled too broadly in ordering documents to be turned over to the group.
CREW claims DOGE is a federal agency and therefore is subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
The Trump administration argues that DOGE is exempt from FOIA’s requirements as a presidential advisory body.
___
Saudi Ministry of Energy reports limited fire in building at Aramco compound targeted in attack
CAIRO (AP) — A limited fire broke out Tuesday in an administrative building at Aramco, one of the world’s largest oil facilities, that was targeted in an attack in the country’s Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Energy said. The ministry said no injuries were reported.
The attack came as the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi coalition fighting them exchanged attacks Tuesday night. The fighting marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis and came shortly after the Saudi coalition reported a series of alerts for incoming missiles heading for the Eastern Province, a major oil-producing region, and the capital Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense said debris from two intercepted Houthi missiles fell on residential areas in Riyadh, injuring four people and damaging 15 homes.
The coalition of forces in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia carried out new airstrikes Tuesday on the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and residents said.
The strikes came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety. Witnesses reported hearing strong explosions in Sanaa hours after the coalition struck the Subaha fuel facility west of the city.
