Israel and Hamas prepare for negotiations in Egypt ahead of possible ceasefire

Israel and Hamas prepare for negotiations in Egypt ahead of possible ceasefire

By SAMY MAGDY and MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Israel and Hamas prepared for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday, as hopes for a possible ceasefire in Gaza grew after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a hostage release could be announced this week.

Tuesday marks two years since the Hamas attack that sparked the war.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Sunday that he hoped his government was “the closest to a hostage deal since January” as Israel and Hamas were preparing for indirect negotiations in Egypt on Monday. (AP Video)

President Donald Trump has welcomed the Hamas statement accepting some elements of the U.S. peace plan. Israel has said it supported the new U.S. effort. Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages — about 20 believed to be alive — within three days. It would give up power and disarm.

The delegation led by top Israeli negotiator Ron Dermer will leave Monday for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Netanyahu’s office said. An Egyptian official said the Hamas delegation had arrived. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters, said U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff is joining the talks.

Discussions will focus on the proposed exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, Egypt’s foreign ministry said.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the situation “the closest we’ve come to getting all of the hostages released.”

Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,’’ he described two phases after Hamas accepts Trump’s framework: The hostages are released and Israel pulls back in Gaza to the “yellow line,” where it was in August.

Rubio told CBS that Hamas should release hostages as they are ready, and that bombardment needs to end so they can be released.

The U.S. plan also addresses Gaza’s future. In a text exchange with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Trump said there would be “complete obliteration” if Hamas stayed in power there. Trump also texted that Netanyahu was on board for ending the bombing and peace in Gaza but added, “soon on the rest.”

Support for a ceasefire grows

Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Badrosian told journalists that Netanyahu is in “regular contact” with Trump and that the prime minister has stressed that the talks in Egypt “will be confined to a few days maximum.”

“I hope that we are closest to a hostage deal since the (ceasefire) deal in January,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said in a speech.

Anxious relatives of hostages gathered near Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, with some urging Trump to continue to apply pressure. Israel’s recent military offensive in Gaza City led many to fear for the hostages’ lives.

“We cannot allow such a historic agreement to be sacrificed again,” said Michel Ilouz, father of Guy Ilouz.

As hundreds of thousands of people marched across several European cities and elsewhere in support of Palestinians, the foreign ministers of eight Muslim-majority countries issued a joint statement welcoming steps toward a possible ceasefire.

They also underlined their commitment to the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza, unifying Gaza and the West Bank and reaching an agreement leading to a “full Israeli withdrawal” from Gaza.

Rubio told ABC that decisions regarding a governing structure or international group to manage Gaza can take place simultaneously with the ceasefire’s first step.

“That’s the part that I think is going to be a little tougher to work through, but that’s what’s going to provide permanency to the end of the conflict,” he said.

At least 12 killed in Gaza on Sunday

Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing Gaza, but residents and local hospitals said strikes continued across the territory.

The Israeli government spokeswoman, Badrosian, said “certain bombings have actually stopped inside of the Gaza Strip.”

But Israel’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said that “if the political effort does not succeed, we will return to fight.”

At least eight people were killed Sunday in multiple strikes in Gaza City, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media said the strikes were against Hamas militants who were a threat to troops.

Four other people were shot dead near an aid distribution site in the southern city of Rafah, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military said it was not involved.

Doctors Without Borders confirmed the death of colleague Abed El Hameed Qaradaya, who was wounded in an attack Thursday that killed another colleague in Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll in the war reached 67,139 on Sunday, with nearly 170,000 injured. The ministry does not differentiate how many of those killed were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up about half of the dead. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the U.N. and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

Israel’s military has said it continues to dismantle Hamas infrastructure and warned residents not to return to northern Gaza.

“We’re on the brink, and we don’t know whether one will die of a strike or starvation,” said Mahmoud Hashem, a Palestinian father sheltering in a tent in Gaza City.

___

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writer Andrew Wilks contributed from Istanbul.

Carolina’s Rico Dowdle predicted he’d have a big game against Miami. Then he rushed for 206 yards

Carolina’s Rico Dowdle predicted he’d have a big game against Miami. Then he rushed for 206 yards

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE,. N.C. (AP) — Rico Dowdle told his Carolina Panthers teammates last week that he’d run for 180 yards against the Miami Dolphins.

It sounded like a bold prediction, but he more than backed it up.

Dowdle, who got his first start of the season in place of the injured Chuba Hubbard, had runs of 53 and 43 yards in the second half on Sunday and finished with a career-high 206 yards on 23 carries, tied for the second-highest rushing total in franchise history — only 5 yards shy of breaking DeAngelo Williams’ single-game record.

“I put trust in those guys up front,” Dowdle said after Carolina’s 27-24 come-from-behind win. “I knew we would be able to run the ball, it was just a matter of how well we could run it. I had great confidence in those guys up front and myself, and it worked out in my favor. We had an opportunity and we took advantage.”

Dowdle almost didn’t get that chance.

Bryce Young turned the ball over on each of Carolina’s first two possessions and the Panthers fell behind 17-0. But instead of panicking and going exclusively to the passing game, Panthers second-year coach Dave Canales stuck with Dowdle — and it paid off.

Dowdle even helped out the coaching staff along the way.

During the second quarter, he noticed the Panthers might have an opportunity for a big gain if they ran a toss play to the right side. He relayed the message to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik in the second quarter, and Canales decided to call the play to start the second half.

The result was Dowdle breaking a tackle and scampering 53 yards to set up a field goal that cut Miami’s lead to 17-13. He later scored on a 1-yard plunge to give Carolina its first lead with 6:10 remaining.

“(Idzik) came up to me after the game and told me, ‘Just tell me what runs you want to run,’” Dowdle said with a laugh.

It’s unclear if Hubbard, who has a calf injury, will be back for Week 6. No matter what, Dowdle appears to have earned more playing time.

“The attitude that he ran with, the violence that he ran with, finishing through arm tackles, it’s something that we’ve been challenging our guys on,” Canales said. “When we get you to the second level, have a plan for how you finish, and I saw a great finish today out of Rico.”

Dowdle didn’t realize until someone told him after the game how close he was to breaking the team rushing record.

He felt like he would have shattered the mark if he hadn’t had to leave the game on multiple occasions in the second half with cramping in both legs. Dowdle said he drank five cups of pickle juice and a packet of hydration mix, which allowed him to return for the final drive.

“Hey, I will get another opportunity to do it again,” Dowdle said of the record.

His first chance comes next Sunday on the same field against his former team, the Dallas Cowboys.

Dowdle eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the Cowboys last season, but owner and general manager Jerry Jones showed little interest in re-signing him. Dowdle said he’s had a chip on his shoulder since coming into the league as an undrafted free agent and having to bide his time as a special-teams player. Facing Dallas, he said, might mean a little more to him.

The Dolphins ranked 30th in the league against the run coming into the week; the Cowboys were 20th.

“They’ve got to buckle up. I think they know, for sure,” Dowdle said. “I had been there for five years and they didn’t keep me there five years for no reason, I will definitely say that.”

Joey Logano clinches final playoff spot in dramatic Charlotte finish

Joey Logano clinches final playoff spot in dramatic Charlotte finish

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — Joey Logano, winner of two of the last three Cup Series championships, was never part of the conversation of potential elimination from NASCAR playoffs.

At least not until Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the Team Penske driver found himself struggling most of the race and in a tense battle with Ross Chastain for the final spot in the round of eight.

The two swapped the final transfer spot multiple times as NASCAR prepared to cut the field from 12 drivers to eight ahead of the third round of the playoffs. Chastain was in, then it was Logano, then the two were tied with Logano holding the tie-breaker.

Logano, on fresher tires, worked his way through the field for every point possible. Chastain was nursing old Goodyears and holding off every challenging driver closing quickly in his rearview mirror.

But then came Denny Hamlin, who for the second week in a row played a pivotal role in the finish and the playoff field. A week ago, his hard racing of Bubba Wallace kept Wallace from winning at Kansas Speedway and ultimately led to Wallace being eliminated from the playoffs.

This time it was chasing down Chastain. The two cars had contact, Chastain spun, and crossed the finish line backward in 21st, one spot behind Logano. It was enough to give Logano the final spot in the third round of the playoffs and eliminate Chastain.

An animated Hamlin on pit road complained to his No. 11 crew that he was not made aware of the situation and would not have passed Chastain had he known it would benefit three-time Cup Series champion Logano.

“I didn’t know anything about anything on that last run, I wasn’t very good,” Hamlin said. “I saw (Chastain) and I didn’t know anything about anything going on. I didn’t know. I thought I was racing for about 18th. I just wish I knew so I could have been either prepared or made a different decision.”

Shane van Gisbergen, meanwhile, won his fifth consecutive race on a road or street course. Charlotte, called The Roval in this configuration, is a hybrid road course/oval.

The theory headed into Charlotte was that van Gisbergen had the race locked up and the only way a driver below the cutline could save his championship chances was if the New Zealander was beat.

Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell both put tough challenges on van Gisbergen, but van Gisbergen emerged from a car-slamming battle with Larson through the turns with 14 laps remaining and took the lead for good with 11 laps remaining.

That eliminated any shot for Tyler Reddick and Wallace of 23XI Racing, or Austin Cindric of Team Penske, claiming the final playoff position. Chastain of Trackhouse Racing remained in the hunt, though, as Logano couldn’t get his Penske Ford running well enough to secure his spot in the playoffs.

“Everybody was telling me how close it was going to be there. We’re still in. We’re still alive, baby,” Logano said as he reveled in a loud chorus of fan booing. “I knew it was within a point there, and I knew we were going to be tied there at the end and Ross was going to do whatever he had to do to make it happen.

“If you want drama, the playoffs bring it every time. What an entertaining finish there. We’ve still got a shot.”

It was similar to a year ago when Logano left Charlotte eliminated from the playoffs, only to learn hours later while having dinner with his family that Alex Bowman had been disqualified and Logano was back in the field. He went on to win the Cup Series championship.

“Unforced errors, it’s just terrible,” Chastain said of two early race speeding penalties that made him want to “start the whole day over.”

“It’s heartbreaking for almost 200 employees at Trackhouse,” Chastain said. “It’s not acceptable, just completely unacceptable. To get here and fail is a terrible feeling. I will wake up tomorrow and get right back to work.”

The eight drivers moving on to the third round of the playoffs are Ryan Blaney and Logano of Penske, Chase Elliott, Larson and William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports, Hamlin, Bell and Chase Briscoe of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Chastain, Cindric, Reddick and Wallace were eliminated — which takes both of the Michael Jordan-owned cars out of title contention.

Bad day for Cindric

Cindric opened Sunday ranked last in the 12-driver playoff field and never had a shot to race for the win that would have prevented his elimination.

He spun early, was hit by another driver in the second stage, and had to go to the garage for lengthy repairs. That made him the first of four drivers eliminated. Team Penske teammates Logano and Blaney, who combined have won the last three Cup titles, advanced into the round of eight.

Smokey Yunick award

Chad Knaus, the vice president of competition at Hendrick Motorsports, was named the recipient of the 2025 Smokey Yunick Award ahead of Sunday’s race.

The award that began in 1997 is named after the late mechanic and innovator Henry “Smokey” Yunick to recognize an individual who demonstrated exceptional innovation and made a major impact in the world of motorsports.

“This means a lot to me,” Knaus said. “I have been a Smokey Yunick fan for my career, quite honestly, and the biggest reason is because of the stemming of invention and pushing the boundaries — that if there’s not a rule, try to exploit that opportunity. When I was a young man, the stories, and the lore of Smokey Yunick, was there. That was a bit of a fuel for me — it was something that I wanted to try to create.”

Knaus was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2024 and won 82 Cup Series races — 81 and seven Cup Series titles with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Jimmie Johnson — and one with William Byron.

Up Next

NASCAR opens the third round of the playoffs Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Logano won last year to earn a berth into the championship-deciding finale. He went on to win his third Cup Series title, most among active drivers.

Trump plans aid package for US soybean farmers while seeking trade deal with China

Trump plans aid package for US soybean farmers while seeking trade deal with China

By DIDI TANG and JOSH FUNK Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is planning a significant aid package to U.S. soybean farmers to help them survive China’s boycott of American beans in response to his trade war even as the president says he is still seeking a soybean deal with Beijing.

But farmers are worried that time is quickly running out to reach a deal in time to sell any of this year’s crop to their biggest customer.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Thursday said on CNBC that the public could expect news of “substantial support for our farmers, especially the soybean farmers” as soon as Tuesday.

Details of the aid package are unknown, but it would come as the world’s two largest economies have been unable to reach a trade deal and China has halted purchases of U.S. beans. China, the biggest foreign buyer of American soybeans for many years, last bought American beans in May and has not bought any for this harvest season, which began in September.

“The Soybean Farmers of our Country are being hurt because China is, for ‘negotiating’ reasons only, not buying,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. “We’ve made so much money on Tariffs, that we are going to take a small portion of that money, and help our Farmers.”

“I’ll be meeting with President Xi, of China, in four weeks, and Soybeans will be a major topic of discussion,” Trump wrote.

The soybeans that China imports largely for oil extraction and animal feed are an important crop for U.S. agriculture because they are the top U.S. food export, accounting for about 14% of all farm goods sent overseas and China has been buying 25% of all American soybeans in recent years.

U.S. farmers grew $60.7 billion worth of soybeans, or nearly 4.3 billion bushels, in the 2022-2023 marketing year, according to the American Soybean Association. Just over half were exported. Illinois is the top soybean growing state, but Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota are also large producers.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping, to be held at the end of October in South Korea.

In Trump’s first trade war with China, he gave American farmers more than $22 billion in aid payments in 2019 and nearly $46 billion in 2020, though the latter also included aid related to the COVID pandemic.

Time is running out

Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer who serves as president of the American Soybean Association, welcomed Trump acknowledging the difficulties faced by farmers. He said actions are needed to prevent many farmers from going out of business.

Before the trade war, farmers were already pinched by high costs and low crop prices, he said. Then, their biggest customer vanished.

“It’s just unfortunate that we’re being used as a bargaining chip in this trade war that’s not of our own doing,” Ragland said.

He said time is running low for the two governments to strike a deal, because China has already ordered soybeans from countries such as Brazil and Argentina for deliveries through December and, if there’s no soybean deal soon, China could skip the U.S. entirely.

“If they get another couple months, they’re into new crop soybeans in Brazil and Argentina. And they’re going to bypass us altogether if we’re not careful,” Ragland said.

Deal is still likely

China has slapped 20% tariffs on U.S. soybeans since Trump announced his tariffs on the world in the spring, making U.S. beans uncompetitive in price.

The retaliatory tariffs are in response to Trump’s new import taxes on Chinese goods over allegations that Beijing has failed to stem the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl as well as Trump’s across-the-board “Liberation Day” tariffs, which have been reduced to the 10% baseline rate.

Observers say China could ease tariffs on U.S. farm goods should the White House walk back on fentanyl-related tariffs. That has yet to happen.

The White House “has not prioritized fentanyl” since this spring, said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center. She said Wang Xiaohong, China’s public security minister, showed up in Geneva in May but met no counterpart from the U.S. to negotiate with.

But it is not time yet to write off a soybean deal, she said. “China still needs to have something to show for at the leadership meeting in South Korea,” Sun said.

Gabriel Wildau, managing director of the consultancy Teneo, said a soybean deal is “the lowest-hanging fruit” for both governments.

“China needs beans, and the U.S. has them to sell. It costs China basically nothing to shift towards U.S. beans and away from Brazil and Argentina,” Wildau said. “If Washington and Beijing can’t reach a deal on soybeans, then they don’t have much hope of reaching a deal on thornier issues like export controls.”

Argentina is a sore subject for U.S. farmers right now because on September 24, Beijing took advantage of a tax holiday in Argentina and ordered nearly 2 million tons of Argentine soybean and soy products. The tax holiday came after the U.S. signaled it would provide a $20 billion support package to help stabilize the Latin American country’s economy.

“That situation was angering to many farmers,” Ragland said. “And while I don’t think the specific intent was just to give a big chunk, give $20 billion to Argentina so that they could send China soybeans. That was the result. And the optics of it look absolutely terrible.”

Farmers prefer trade over aid

Government aid might be necessary to help farmers get through this year if they cannot sell to China, but farmers say they would rather sell their crops on the market.

“All farmers are proud of what they do and they don’t like handouts. We’d rather make it with our own two hands than have it handed to us,” Iowa farmer Robb Ewoldt said.

Meanwhile, farmers like Ryan Mackenthun, a fifth-generation farmer in south-central Minnesota, say they will do everything they can to survive.

“It’s definitely tighten the belt, to look at the inputs, look at the previous investments I made in fertilizer and see if I can stretch another year or two out of them to reduce costs but maintain the same yield projections, run equipment longer,” Mackenthun said.

October 5th 2025

October 5th 2025

Thought of the Day

Getty Image

I’m convinced that when you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back to life as a tupperware lid that doesn’t fit on any of your containers.

Lunch with Kitty: Win a 4-Pack of Tickets Plus Parking for Salt & Smoke & Sound Festival!

Lunch with Kitty: Win a 4-Pack of Tickets Plus Parking for Salt & Smoke & Sound Festival!

Salt & Smoke & Sound is an immersive all day outdoor festival focused on the finest regional music and food. This October 18, we’re creating Chapel Hill’s most anticipated cultural celebration, bringing together award-winning chefs, celebrated musicians, and thousands of engaged community members for an unforgettable day of gastronomy and melody at Blackwood Farm Park.

Listen in the noon hour for Lunch with Kitty and your chance to win a 4-pack of tickets PLUS parking!

Tickets on sale now!

Trump plans to federalize 300 troops in Illinois, as judge blocks a similar mobilization in Oregon

Trump plans to federalize 300 troops in Illinois, as judge blocks a similar mobilization in Oregon

President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets in Chicago on Saturday, marking the latest escalation of the his use of federal intervention in cities.

But the same day, a similar mobilization of 200 National Guard troops in Oregon was temporarily blocked after a federal judge found President Donald Trump was likely overstepping his legal authority in responding to relatively small protests near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson confirmed that the president authorized using the Illinois National Guard members, citing what she called “ongoing violent riots and lawlessness” that local leaders have not quelled.

Trump has characterized both Portland and Chicago as cities rife with crime and unrest, calling the former a “war zone” and suggesting apocalyptic force was needed to quell problems in the latter. Since the start of his second term, he has sent or talked about sending troops to 10 cities, including Baltimore, Maryland; Memphis, Tennessee; the District of Columbia; New Orleans, Louisiana; and the California cities of Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

But the governors of Illinois and Oregon see the deployments differently.

“This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement. “It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek talked to Trump in late September and said the deployment was unnecessary. She refused to call up any Oregon National Guard troops, so Trump did so himself in an order to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. That prompted the lawsuit from city and state officials.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued a memo that also directs component agencies within the Justice Department, including the FBI, to help protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities, including in Chicago and Portland.

Here’s a snapshot of where things stand with federal law enforcement activity in Chicago, Portland, and elsewhere:

In Chicago, alarms raised about racial profiling

The sight of armed, camouflaged and masked Border Patrol agents making arrests near famous downtown landmarks has amplified such concerns. Many Chicagoans were already uneasy after an immigration crackdown began earlier this month. Agents have targeted immigrant-heavy and largely Latino areas.

Protesters have frequently rallied near an immigration facility outside the city, and federal officials reported the arrests of 13 protesters Friday near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing facility in Broadview.

The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that federal agents shot a woman Saturday morning on the southwest side of Chicago. A statement from the department said it happened after Border Patrol agents patrolling the area “were rammed by vehicles and boxed in by 10 cars.”

“The officers exited their trapped vehicle, when a suspect tried to run them over, forcing the officers to fire defensively,” the statement said.

No law enforcement officers were seriously injured, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

The woman who was shot was a U.S. citizen and was armed with a semiautomatic weapon, according to McLaughlin. She said the woman drove herself to a hospital for treatment, but a Chicago Fire Department spokesperson told the Chicago Sun-Times that she was found near the scene and taken to a hospital in fair condition.

Immigrants’ rights advocates and residents separately reported that federal agents used tear gas near grocery or hardware stores targeted for enforcement elsewhere in Chicago on Friday and detained a city council member as she questioned the attempted arrest of a man.

Deployment in Portland blocked by judge

U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut and issued the ruling temporarily blocking the deployment on Saturday afternoon, saying the relatively small protests the city has seen did not justify the use of federalized forces and allowing the deployment could harm Oregon’s state sovereignty.

“This country has a longstanding and foundational tradition of resistance to government overreach, especially in the form of military intrusion into civil affairs,” Immergut wrote. She later said: “This historical tradition boils down to a simple proposition: this is a nation of constitutional law, not martial law.”

Trump has called Portland “war-ravaged” and suggested the city is “burning down.” But local officials have said many of his claims and media posts appear to rely on images from 2020, when demonstrations and unrest gripped the city following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

On Saturday, before the judge’s ruling was released, about 400 protesters marched from a park to the Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention facility. The group included people of all ages and races, families with children and retirees with walkers, the Oregonian reported. Federal agents used chemical crowd control munitions, including tear gas canisters and less-lethal guns that sprayed pepper balls, and arrested at least six people as the group reached the ICE facility.

By 4 p.m. the crowd had thinned significantly.

A federal ‘crime force’ in Memphis

On Wednesday, Hegseth, Bondi and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller rallied members of a federal law enforcement task force that began operating in Memphis as part of Trump’s crime-fighting plan. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, has supported the effort.

Bondi said via social media that the task force made more than 50 arrests over a two-day period. More than 200 officers were deputized, including personnel from immigration and drug enforcement. They were serving criminal arrest warrants and teaming with state agencies on traffic stops.

Some residents, including Latinos, have expressed concerns that agents will detain people regardless of immigration status.

Louisiana’s governor asks for National Guard

On Sept. 30, Republican Gov. Jeff Landry asked for a guard deployment to New Orleans and other cities to help fight crime.

In a letter to Hegseth, Landry also praised the president’s decision to send troops to Washington and Memphis.

He said there has been “elevated violent crime rates” in Shreveport, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, as well as shortages in local law enforcement.

But crime in some of the state’s biggest cities has actually decreased recently, with New Orleans seeing a particularly steep drop in 2025 that has it on pace for the lowest number of killings in over five decades.

Appellate court weighs California deployment

Trump deployed guard soldiers and active duty Marines in Los Angeles during the summer over the objections of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who sued and won a temporary block after a federal judge found the president’s use of the guard was likely unlawful.

The Trump administration appealed, and the block was put on hold by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate case is still underway, but the panel has indicated that it believes the administration is likely to prevail.

___

Associated Press reporters across the U.S. contributed, including Thomas Peipert in Denver; Claire Rush in Portland; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.

Dabo Swinney and Clemson find positives after a bye. Bill Belichick and UNC find more of the same

Dabo Swinney and Clemson find positives after a bye. Bill Belichick and UNC find more of the same

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Dabo Swinney watched his Clemson team start Saturday with a trick play that went for a 75-yard touchdown and never look back.

North Carolina ended its Saturday with Bill Belchick calling a timeout with 1 second left, extending the game to coach a team long since beaten in a home stadium largely emptied by halftime.

The Atlantic Coast Conference’s marquee coaching names — Clemson’s Swinney with two national championships, UNC’s Belichick with six Super Bowl titles in the NFL — each entered this game hoping for positive signs after an open date that followed a bumpy September. They exited with very different vibes: Swinney getting confirmation on previous hope in a 38-10 win, Belichick losing in lopsided fashion for the third time in as many games against a power-conference program.

“I’ll keep my conversations with the team between myself and the team,” Belchick said, his voice low and answers terse. “But I’ll just say we’re going to work through it, and work our way out of it. We’ll get better every week and keep working every week and prepare for the next team, be ready to go. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Belichick’s arrival in Chapel Hill and Swinney’s stature as one of the biggest names in college football certainly made this game stand out on the schedule in the offseason. But the game had lost luster, between the Tigers — ranked No. 4 in the preseason AP Top 25 as ACC favorite — going 1-3 for the worst start in Swinney’s long tenure and the Tar Heels struggling so badly to start Belichick’s tenure.

It marked only the second time in college football history that a coach with multiple national championships faced one with multiple Super Bowl titles.

Tigers find cause for optimism

This one was decided in the first 15 minutes, with Clemson scoring 28 points and averaging 15.8 yards per play in the opening quarter. Cade Klubnik had four TD passes by halftime — two each to Adam Randall and Christian Bentancur — in a game so under control that Swinney told Klubnik he planned to pull him for reserve Christopher Vizzina on the second drive of the third quarter.

Afterward, Swinney was ebullient, from the way the team practiced through the week to Klubnik’s play (22 of 24 passing for 254 yards) and the defensive effort with coordinator Tom Allen opting to work the sideline instead of being in the coaches’ box in previous games.

“We’ve got to try to find a way to build momentum, to develop some confidence from this, because we have not played with a lot of confidence,” Swinney said. “We have not played with a lot of precision. And you saw us make plays today that we just haven’t been making.”

Clemson had lost one-possession games to ranked LSU and Georgia Tech teams, as well as losing at home to Syracuse.

“I would just say that we finally we played complementary football, and what we were capable of doing,” cornerback Ashton Hampton said. “That’s just something we were trying to do the first four or five weeks and just haven’t been able to get it done.”

Then there’s the Tar Heels, who found merely more of the same.

Tar Heels lose ugly again

The 73-year-old Belichick started his UNC tenure with a 48-14 loss on Labor Day to TCU, with every ugly moment preserved in a national spotlight. Wins followed against Charlotte of the American Athletic Conference and Championship Subdivision opponent Richmond, but their second matchup against a Big 12 team — this time, UCF — was another blowout loss.

This time, a perfect-weather day that included buzz from a concert by rapper Ludacris on a nearby campus quad gave way to the home fans fleeing in droves by halftime with the Tigers up 35-3 — a repeat of the opening-night exodus against TCU, though a quarter earlier.

That led to a humbling repeat of the game being played out in a largely empty stadium, with the Tar Heels managing a fourth-quarter TD with the outcome long decided. Now UNC has a touchdown on 4 of 29 drives (13.8%) against power-conference opponents, not counting drives stopped by halftime or game’s end.

That’s not exactly in line with the school paying Belichick at least $10 million guaranteed for three seasons as part of an upgraded football investment.

And Belichick didn’t sound on the verge of making major changes, including when asked about coaching duties or play-calling responsibilities.

No, the plan is more of the same heading into another open week before visiting California on Oct. 17.

“The main thing we need to do is keep doing what we’re doing and do it better,” Belichick said. “I don’t think fundamentally we’re doing the wrong things. We’re just not doing it well enough.”

Clemson rolls out of open date by beating North Carolina 38-10 in Swinney-Belichick coaching matchup

Clemson rolls out of open date by beating North Carolina 38-10 in Swinney-Belichick coaching matchup

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Antonio Williams threw a 75-yard trick-play touchdown pass to T.J. Moore on the first offensive snap to start Clemson’s dominating show in a 38-10 win at North Carolina on Saturday.

The coaching matchup of Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and North Carolina’s Bill Belichick became a romp by the Tigers (2-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who quickly overwhelmed the Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1) as both teams emerged from an open date hoping to regroup from a bumpy September.

“Everybody’s kind of been in a little bit of funk,” Swinney said. “And today they kind of played themselves out of it.”

Clemson scored 28 points while averaging 15.8 yards per play in the opening quarter. Cade Klubnik threw four TD passes by halftime — two each to Adam Randall and Christian Bentancur — before giving way in the third to reserve Christopher Vizzina.

Klubnik completed 22 of 24 passes for 254 yards in his abbreviated afternoon.

“Cade was awesome,” Swinney said.

Max Johnson threw for 213 yards in starting for the injured Gio Lopez for UNC, while Benjamin Hall ran for a fourth-quarter touchdown with the outcome long decided.

The Tigers had largely driven most of the home fans to the Kenan Stadium exits by halftime with a 35-3 lead, another telling visual of how UNC’s bet on hiring the 73-year-old Belichick as a first-time college coach has gone so far.

This marked only the second pairing of coaches with multiple national championships against one with multiple Super Bowl titles, though it had lost its luster with each team’s September start.

Only the Tigers managed to show a different trajectory.

“I thought we had a good week, I think we were ready to go,” Belichick said. “Unfortunately we gave up some big plays early in the game that really tilted the game, and were just never able to recover.”

The takeaways

Clemson: The preseason ACC favorite opened the year ranked No. 4 in the AP Top 25, only to go 1-3 for the worst start in Swinney’s long tenure. But they were never threatened to start October.

UNC: The school is paying Belichick — who won six Super Bowl titles leading the NFL’s New England Patriots — at least $10 million guaranteed for three seasons as part of an upgraded football investment. His debut was a 48-14 flop against TCU, with Kenan largely empty in the third quarter. There was also a 34-9 loss at UCF. Add Saturday, and UNC now a touchdown on 4 of 29 drives (13.8%) against power-conference opponents, not counting drives stopped by halftime or game’s end.

Up next

Clemson: The Tigers visit Boston College on Oct. 11.

UNC: The Tar Heels get another open week before visiting California on Oct. 17.

October 4th 2025

October 4th 2025

Thought of the Day

Procrastination
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Procrastination is the arrogant assumption that God owes you another opportunity to do what you had time to do.

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