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A lone tree stands in the debris from structures that were wiped out after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)2025-12-06T05:13:59Z KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) Many of the voices were frantic and desperate. A few were steady and calm amid mounting, frightening danger, and in some cases, inescapable doom.They came from families huddled on rooftops to escape rising, swirling waters, mothers panicked for the wellbeing of their children and onlookers who heard people yell for help through the dark as they clung to treetops.One man, stuck high in a tree as it began to break under the pressure of the floodwaters, asked emergency dispatchers for a helicopter rescue that never came.Their pleas were among more than 400 calls for help across Kerr County last summer when devastating floods hit during the overnight hours on the July Fourth holiday. The recordings of the 911 calls were released Friday.The sheer volume of calls would overwhelm two county emergency dispatchers on duty in the Texas Hill Country as catastrophic flooding inundated cabins and youth camps along the Guadalupe River. Theres water filling up super fast, we cant get out of our cabin, a camp counselor told a dispatcher above the screams of campers in the background. We cant get out of our cabin, so how do we get to the boats? Amazingly, everyone in the cabin and the rest of campers at Camp La Junta were rescued. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The flooding killed at least 136 people statewide during the holiday weekend, including at least 117 in Kerr County alone. Most were from Texas, but others came from Alabama, California and Florida, according to a list released by county officials. One woman called for help as the water closed in on her house near Camp Mystic, a century-old summer camp for girls, where 25 campers and two teenage counselors died.Were OK, but we live a mile down the road from Camp Mystic and we had two little girls come down the river. And weve gotten to them, but Im not sure how many others are out there, she said in a shaky voice.A spokesperson for the parents of the children and counselors who died at Camp Mystic declined to comment on the release of the recordings. Calls came from people on rooftops and in treesMany residents in the hard-hit Texas Hill Country have said they were caught off guard and didnt receive any warning when the floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Kerr County leaders have faced scrutiny about whether they did enough right away. Two officials told Texas legislators this summer that they were asleep during the initial hours of the flooding, and a third was out of town. Using recordings of first responder communications, weather service warnings, survivor videos and official testimony, The Associated Press assembled a chronology of the chaotic rescue effort. The AP was one of the media outlets that filed public information requests for recordings of the 911 calls to be released.Many people were rescued by boats and emergency vehicles. A few desperate pleas came from people floating away in RVs. Some survivors were found in trees and on rooftops.But some of the calls released Friday came from people who did not survive, said Kerrville Police Chief Chris McCall, who warned that the audio is unsettling. The tree Im in is starting to lean and its going to fall. Is there a helicopter close? Bradley Perry, a firefighter, calmy told a dispatcher, adding that he saw his wife, Tina, and their RV wash away.Ive probably got maybe five minutes left, he said.Bradley Perry did not survive. His wife was later found clinging to a tree, still alive.Moving higher and higher to survive In another heartbreaking call, a woman staying in a community of riverside cabins told a dispatcher the water was inundating their buildingWe are flooding, and we have people in cabins we cant get to, she said. We are flooding almost all the way to the top.The caller speaks slowly and deliberately. The faint voices of what sounds like children can be heard in the background.Some people called back multiple times, climbing higher and higher in houses to let rescuers know where they were and that their situations were getting more dire. Families called from second floors, then attics, then roofs sometimes in the course of 30 or 40 minutes, revealing how fast and how high the waters rose. As daylight began to break, the call volume increased, with people reporting survivors in trees or stuck on roofs, or cars floating down the river.Britt Eastland, the co-director of Camp Mystic, asked for search and rescue and the National Guard to be called, saying as many as 40 people there were missing. Were out of power. We hardly have any cell service, he said.The 911 recordings show that relatives and friends outside of the unfolding disaster and those who had made it to safety had called to get help for loved ones trapped in the flooding.One woman said a friend, an elderly man, was trapped in his home with water up to his head. She had realized his phone cut out as she was trying to relay instructions from a 911 operator. Dispatchers gave advice and comfortOverwhelmed by the endless calls, dispatchers tried to comfort the panic-stricken callers yet were forced to move on to the next one. They advised many of those who were trapped to get to their rooftops or run to higher ground. In some calls, children could be heard screaming in the background. There is water everywhere, we cannot move. We are upstairs in a room and the water is rising, said a woman who called from Camp Mystic. The same woman called back later.How do we get to the roof if the water is so high? she asked. Can you already send someone here? With the boats? She asked the dispatcher when help would arrive.I dont know, the dispatcher said. I dont know.___Associated Press reporters Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Ed White in Detroit; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; and Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey, contributed. JIM VERTUNO Vertuno has been covering news, sports and politics from Texas for The AP since 1998. He won a National Headliner Award for sports writing in 2013. twitter mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points, stretching his 20-point streak to 95 straight games, and the Thunder stomped the Mavericks 132-111 for their 14th straight win.

Blake Baker will remain defensive coordinator at LSU, head coach Lane Kiffin confirmed Friday night.

Ours is a time of provably wrong claims, vociferously stated.Gas prices are headed to $2 a gallon, President Donald Trump claimed. (Not true gas prices just dipped below an average of $3 a gallon this week.) The drugs carried by a single smugglers boat off the coast of Venezuela are potent enough to kill 25,000 Americans. (Another Trump claim thats not remotely accurate; the annual estimated death toll from all overdoses last year totaled 80,391.) U.S. citizens caught up in immigration raids face only brief inconvenience and are promptly let go as soon as it is determined that a person is lawfully in the country.That last assertion, by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in an opinion permitting racial profiling by immigration agents in Los Angeles-area sweeps, caught our eye.It was an easily tested question: Either U.S. citizens have been detained and arrested or they havent. As it happens, we had a reporter who was tracking exactly that. Nicole Foy had been combing social media posts, press reports and court records and had already found multiple instances of citizens who were arrested or detained. It was enough for a story to refute Kavanaughs misstatement.We decided to try to do something more than a fact check, a now familiar form of journalism that is worthwhile but generally gets lost in the cacophony of the next days claims and counter-claims. And so we set out, through our own independent reporting, to compile a nationwide count of U.S. citizens who were detained by immigration agents. Our hope was that a precise number might break through the noise. We understood from the beginning that this list would be a significant undercount. People who have been improperly arrested have every reason not to further antagonize immigration officers.Foys reporting identified more than 170 citizens who had been detained at raids and protests. More than 20 of these people reported being detained by immigration agents for at least a day during which they were not allowed to call their loved ones or a lawyer. We found about 130 people who were arrested for allegedly assaulting or impeding the work of agents, many of whom were ultimately not charged with any crime or whose cases were quickly dismissed.In response to questions from ProPublica about the story, the Department of Homeland Security said agents do not racially profile or target Americans. We dont arrest US citizens for immigration enforcement, wrote spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.This story turned out to be one of our most-read investigations of the year. Congressional Democrats launched their own inquiry, and the number of U.S. citizens detained more than 170 turned into a focal point of questions about the immigration raids. The number became an important, irrefutable fact in the conversation about the immigration crackdown.A few weeks after our story appeared, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told reporters in Gary, Indiana, that no American citizens have been arrested or detained, adding: We focus on those that are here illegally. And anything that you would hear or report that would be different than that is simply not true and false reporting.That assertion was met with a fresh round of fact-checking from news outlets, many of which cited our count of arrests.Our list of Americans detained was assembled through shoe-leather reporting. That included sifting through English- and Spanish-language social media, lawsuits, court records and local media reports, as well as interviewing dozens of people to hear their firsthand accounts. We compiled and reviewed all incidents we could find of citizens being held against their will by immigration officers to come up with our tally.Another recent ProPublica story, on the record number of children detained in federal facilities after encounters with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, drew on internal government data to get a precise picture of a major new trend.The data showed that 600 children have been placed in shelters by immigration agents so far this year, the highest annual total since recordkeeping began more than a decade ago. That number was only the start. From our previous reporting on this subject, we knew that some portion of immigrant children sent to federal shelters were removed from their homes because of concerns about possible abuse or neglect. And so we gathered records for some 400 of the kids and found around 160 were in detention as a result of alleged child welfare concerns, similar to levels seen in past years. However, our reporting showed something unprecedented: that a solid majority of the children were being held because of the ongoing crackdown, many picked up after routine traffic stops or at immigration hearings, or detained after ICE agents came to a home or business to arrest someone else.McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, told ProPublica that ICE does not separate families and instead offers parents the choice to have their children deported with them or to leave the children in the care of another safe adult, consistent with past practices. The White House said the administration was ensuring that unaccompanied minors do not fall victim to dangerous conditions.As the leader of a news organization that seeks to spur change through journalism, I am frequently asked how we can restore the publics trust in the media, which has steadily declined over the years. There are no easy answers to this question, of course. One is to acknowledge errors whenever we make them and correct the record as soon as possible. Another is to be precise with our journalism, providing specific statistics that can be verified by readers.Read MoreWe Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. Theyve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.As weve been telling our supporters this week in our winter fundraising appeals, this sort of reporting takes enormous amounts of time and effort. Earlier this year, we managed to trace the criminal histories of 238 Venezuelans sent to an infamous prison in El Salvador. We obtained unpublished U.S. government data which we verified by scouring police and court records in the U.S. and abroad (with help of Venezuelan reporting partners) and found the Trump administration knew that at least 197 had not been convicted of crimes in the United States. Only six had convictions for violent offenses in American courts. This research allowed us to create an interactive database of all the men that showed, among other things, at least 166 were labeled gang members in part because of their tattoos, an indicator the government itself acknowledges is not reliable.Our reporters also chased down the facts when the federal government raided a Chicago apartment building in late September, claiming it had been taken over by members of the Tren de Aragua gang. After federal officials declined to release the names of the 37 Venezuelan immigrants detained, our reporters identified 21 of them and interviewed a dozen. Their reporting, which included reviewing public record databases, court documents, video recordings and social media posts, ultimately found little evidence to back up the governments claims.You wont get this sort of clear-eyed precision from the federal government, which has restricted the collection and publication of data on the effects of its major initiatives; or from congressional oversight committees, which hold few hearings; or from the immigration agencies internal watchdogs, which have been largely dismantled. At this moment in history, the counting and measuring have fallen to the media, and were grateful every day for your support in helping us do this essential job in our democracy.The post The Data Doesnt Lie: How ProPublica Reports the Truth in an Era of False Claims appeared first on ProPublica.

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Workers and military inspect Ukrainian Fire Point's Flamingo missiles during handover to the military in an undisclosed location in Ukraine Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)2025-12-06T09:35:25Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Russia unleashed a major missile and drone barrage on Ukraine overnight into Saturday, after U.S. and Ukrainian officials said theyll meet on Saturday for a third day of talks aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war, Following talks that made progress on a security framework for postwar Ukraine, the two sides also offered the sober assessment that any real progress toward any agreement ultimately will depend on Russias readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.The statement from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday. They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end the war. Russia used 653 drones and 51 missiles in the wide-reaching overnight attack on Ukraine, which triggered air raid alerts across the country and came as Ukraine marked Armed Forces Day, the countrys air force said Saturday morning. Ukrainian forces shot down and neutralized 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force said, adding that 29 locations were struck.At least eight people were wounded in the attacks, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said.Among these, at least three people were wounded in the Kyiv region, according to local officials. Drone sightings were reported as far west as Ukraines Lviv region. Russia carried out a massive missile-drone attack on power stations and other energy infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, Ukraines national energy operator, Ukrenergo, wrote on Telegram.Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost all off-site power overnight, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Saturday, citing its Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi. The plant is in an area under Russian control since early in Moscows invasion of Ukraine and is not in service, but it needs reliable power to cool its six shut-down reactors and spent fuel, to avoid any catastrophic nuclear incidents.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that energy facilities were the main targets of the attacks, also noting that a drone strike had burned down the train station in the city of Fastiv, located in the Kyiv region.Russias Ministry of Defense said its air defenses had shot down 116 Ukrainian drones over Russian territory overnight into Saturday.Russian Telegram news channel Astra said Ukraine struck Russias Ryazan Oil Refinery, sharing footage appearing to show a fire breaking out and plumes of smoke rising above the refinery. The Associated Press could not independently verify the video.Ukraine did not immediately comment on the alleged attack. Ryazan regional Gov. Pavel Malkov said a residential building had been damaged in a drone attack and that drone debris had fallen on the grounds of an industrial facility, but did not mention the refinery. Months of Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries have aimed to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue the war. Meanwhile, Kyiv and its western allies say Russia is trying to cripple the Ukrainian power grid and deny civilians access to heat, light and running water for a fourth consecutive winter, in what Ukrainian officials call weaponizing the cold.The latest round of attacks came as U.S. President Donald Trumps advisers and Ukrainian officials said theyll meet for a third day of talks on Saturday, after making progress on finding agreement on a security framework for postwar Ukraine.Following Fridays talks, the two sides also offered the sober assessment that any real progress toward any agreement ultimately will depend on Russias readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace.The statement from U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner as well as Ukrainian negotiators Rustem Umerov and Andriy Hnatov came after they met for a second day in Florida on Friday. They offered only broad brushstrokes about the progress they say has been made as Trump pushes Kyiv and Moscow to agree to a U.S.-mediated proposal to end nearly four years of war.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A Ukrainian drone operator from the Kraken 1654 unit, callsign Imla, flies a Vampire drone during a demonstration for The Associated Press, Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-06T05:04:19Z KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) When Russias full-scale invasion began nearly four years ago, a 26-year-old soldier known as Monka didnt see a combat role she could do. But that changed as technology reshaped the battlefield and opened new paths.Last year, she joined the military as a pilot of short-range, first-person view, or FPV, drones after giving up a job managing a restaurant abroad and returning home to Ukraine to serve.Her shift is part of a larger trend of more women joining Ukraines military in combat roles, a change made possible by the technological transformation of modern warfare, military officials say. The fact that technology lets us deliver ammunition without carrying it in our hands or running it to the front line thats incredible, said Monka, who serves in the Unmanned Systems Battalion of the Third Army Corps. She and other women followed Ukraines military protocol by identifying themselves using only their call signs. More than 70,000 women served in Ukraines military in 2025, a 20% increase compared with 2022, including over 5,500 deployed directly on the front line, according to Ukraines Defense Ministry. Some units have tailored recruitment efforts toward women, expanding rosters in a sign that Ukraine is looking to strengthen and expand its army even as peace negotiations weigh a possible cap on the future size of the military. Leaders in the capital Kyiv, as well as many soldiers like Monka, see the army as one of the few security guarantees that Ukraine has against Russia.We need everyone engineers, pilots, IT specialists, programmers, we simply need brains. Its not about men or women. We need people who are ready to work hard, she said. More women seek combat jobs as technology changes A drone pilot is one of the Ukrainian militarys most popular combat professions chosen by women, military officials said. When Imla from the Kraken 1654 unit left her career as a professional hockey player to join the military, the 27-year-old initially planned to become a combat paramedic.She spent her first six months as a platoon medic, but the job required learning to fly drones. She started with small ones before moving to larger models carrying bombs and eventually switching to full-time drone work.Imla clearly remembers her first drone flight, a reconnaissance mission. When they handed her the controller, she was so nervous her hands wouldnt stop shaking. To be honest, I even wanted to cry in some moments, she recalled. But then, over time, you build up experience on the job and start feeling confident.The Khartiia Corps has taken more women into its ranks, reporting a 20% increase since 2024. About six months ago, the brigade launched a recruitment campaign aimed at women for combat and technological roles in cooperation with the Dignitas Foundation, a charity organization supporting Ukraine by funding technological innovation and civic development projects.In recent months, dozens of women have joined us in combat roles and are working successfully, said Volodymyr Dehtyarov, the Khartiia Corps public affairs officer. The more technology we have, like drones, the more historically male professions open up.Khartiia has started training officers and future commanders on how to work with mixed units including people of different ages, genders and backgrounds, which Dehtyarov said helps commanders become more effective leaders. Women still face obstaclesThe Ukrainian army remains conservative at its core and some units dont make it easy for women. A 25-year-old soldier with the call sign Yaha joined the military in 2023 and initially did paperwork as an army clerk. Three months later, she began asking to attend drone courses. Commanders at the time did not respond with enthusiasm and instead suggested she replace the cook.It was unpleasant for me, because I didnt expect such uncomfortable conditions, such strict limitations, Yaha said.In the kitchen, she spent her free time studying drone manuals, practicing on a simulator and training in computer clubs with a controller she bought herself. I liked that you could strike the enemy remotely, she said. So I thought this was our future.Eventually, she became a bomber-drone pilot in the 9th Brigade.War is not cool or glamorous. Its pain, suffering and loss. You just do it because you want to change the situation, she said. But youre not invincible. Youre just a person like everyone else.Chibi, a 20-year-old FPV technician from the Khartiia Brigade, prepares drones for the battlefield from a dark damp basement near the front line in eastern Ukraine. She initially faced prejudice from soldiers who claimed she had inferior technical skills because she was a woman. But she also had a supportive male colleague who helped her take the first steps toward becoming an FPV technician, which she finds more interesting than being a pilot.There needs to be more women in the army, Chibi said, her hair dyed pink and dark blue. The more women there are, the better the attitude toward them will be. The army needs more women Olha Meloshyna, the spokesperson for Ukraines Unmanned Systems Forces, says the belief that drone roles are safer is wrong, as Russians actively hunt drone operators.Their unit is seeing more women move into technological roles, including drone operation, drone repair and electronic warfare, as drones have become one of the main tools of striking and reconnaissance on the battlefield.According to Meloshyna, 4.2% of the Unmanned Systems Forces are women, a number she considers significant because women enlist voluntarily.We are part of the new Ukrainian army that formed during the invasion. So in terms of gender-based acceptance into the Armed Forces, we have never had any division what matters to us is desire and motivation, she said.She said that they are now conducting a more media-focused recruitment campaign, inviting and planning to recruit 15,000 people to join, including women. Recruiters say that women are applying for both combat and noncombat positions.The Unmanned Systems Forces are a system, and it is made up of people men and women, Meloshyna said. No drone is autonomous. It needs human involvement. And the more personnel we have, the more drones will fly toward Russia. HANNA ARHIROVA Arhirova is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine. She is based in Kyiv. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Tents sheltering displaced Palestinians stand amid the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive in Gaza City Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)2025-12-06T09:38:59Z DOHA, Qatar (AP) Qatars prime minister on Saturday said the Gaza ceasefire has reached a critical moment as its first phase winds down, with the remains of just one Israeli hostage still held by militants. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital that international mediators, led by the U.S., are working to force the way forward to the second phase to cement the deal.What we have just done is a pause, he told the Doha Forum. We cannot consider it yet a ceasefire.A ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, there is stability back in Gaza, people can go in and out, which is not the case today, he said.While the ceasefire halted the heavy fighting of the two-year war, Gaza health officials say that over 360 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took effect in October. In new violence, two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike northwest of Gaza City, Shifa Hospital said.Israels army said it wasnt aware of an airstrike in that location. However, it said that Israeli soldiers on Saturday killed three militants who crossed the yellow line into Israeli-controlled northern part of Gaza and posed an immediate threat. Since the ceasefire, the Israeli army says it has carried out a number of attacks on Palestinians crossing the ceasefire lines. Second phase hasnt begunThe first phase of U.S. President Donald Trumps 20-point peace plan took effect Oct. 10. The fighting stopped and dozens of hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli prison. Israel sent a delegation last week to Egypt for talks on returning the remains of the last hostage.The next phase, which includes the deployment of an international security force in Gaza, formation of a new technocratic government for the territory, disarmament of Hamas and an eventual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has not yet begun.Arab and Western officials told The Associated Press on Friday that an international body overseeing the ceasefire, to be led by Trump himself, is expected to be appointed by the end of the year. In the long term, the plan also calls for a possible pathway to Palestinian independence.Sheikh Mohammed said that even the upcoming phase should be temporary and that peace in the region could only take place with the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state something that is opposed by Israels hard-line government.If we are just resolving what happened in Gaza, the catastrophe that happened in the last two years, its not enough, he said. There is a root for this conflict. And this conflict is not only about Gaza.He added: Its about Gaza. Its about the West Bank. Its about the rights of the Palestinians for their state. We are hoping that we can work together with the U.S. administration to achieve this vision at the end of the day. Turkeys Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said there is a big question over the formation of an international security force for Gaza. Speaking at the same conference, he said its unclear which countries will be joining the force, what the command structure would look like and what its first mission will be. Turkey is one of the guarantors of the ceasefire, but Israel, which has rocky relations with the Ankara government, has rejected any Turkish participation in the force.Thousands of details, questions are in place, Fidan said. I think once we deploy ISF, the rest will come.UN agency seeks a clear role in GazaA day after an overwhelming international endorsement, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said its future role in Gaza is unclear. Throughout the war, Israel and the United States have sidelined UNRWA, accusing it cooperating with Hamas, a charge UNRWA denies.Tamara Alrifai, UNRWAs director of external relations and communications, said her agency continues to offer humanitarian and educational services in Gaza. But she said UNRWA has been excluded from U.S.-led talks on the second phase of the ceasefire. Alrifai said that UNRWA serves as the de facto public sector in Gaza. And with 12,000 employees, she said it will be nearly impossible for the international community to duplicate the agencys network of services.If you squeeze UNRWA out, what other agency can fill that void? she said on the sidelines of the Doha Forum in Qatar.The U.S., formerly the largest donor to UNRWA, halted funding to the agency in early 2024. On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly renewed UNRWAs mandate through 2029. But Alrifai said the cash crisis continues. Votes are great. Cash is better, Alrifai said. Over 70,000 killed in Gaza The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants entered Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking over 250 people hostage. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gazas Health Ministry.The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but says that nearly half the dead have been women and children. The ministry is part of Gazas Hamas government and its numbers are considered reliable by the U.N. and other international bodies.Israel accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto JOSEF FEDERMAN Federman manages coverage of Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan and has covered the Middle East for The AP for two decades.. twitter mailto

Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell preaches at 2819 Church on Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)2025-12-06T12:41:13Z ATLANTA (AP) After Atlanta pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell stopped dwelling on growing his congregation about three years ago, its attendance surged. Now, lines packed with young adults snake outside 2819 Church, some arriving as early as 5:30 a.m. to secure a spot for Sunday worship.Christian rap blasts like a block party as volunteers cheer into megaphones for around 6,000 weekly churchgoers up from less than 200 in 2023, the church reports. Inside the sanctuary, the atmosphere turns serious. Many drawn to 2819s riveting worship are hungry for Mitchells animated intensity and signature preaching: No sugarcoating the Bible. After spirited prayers and songs leave many crying, Mitchell ambles onstage in his all-black uniform, sometimes in quiet contemplation or tears, before launching into a fiery sermon. His messages, unpolished and laden with challenges to revere God and live better, often spread quickly online. A recent prayer event drew far more people than State Farm Arena could handle, with many flying in. Crying, shouting, storming across the platform and punching the air, Mitchell preaches with his whole body and an urgency to bring people to faith before they die or what he calls Jesus impending return to Earth. It is life or death for me, Mitchell told The Associated Press, comparing preaching to the front lines of war. There are souls that are hanging in the balance. I think about the fact that in that room somebody might hear the Gospel, and that might be their last opportunity. The church whose name references Matthew 28:19, a Bible verse commanding believers to go make disciples of all the nations is nondenominational and theologically conservative, with beliefs opposing abortion and in support of marriage only between a man and a woman. The congregations growth has attracted people of many races and ages, but its predominantly young Black adults. Their youth is notable since Americans ages 18 to 24 are less likely than older adults to identify as Christian or attend religious services regularly, according to Pew Research Center. Sharp sermons and moving worshipWarren Bird, an expert on fast-growing churches, believes the right leader is key to a churchs growth along with Gods help and described Mitchell as speaking a language that connects with young people who other pastors havent reached.Churchgoers say Mitchells message resonates because he carefully walks them through scripture and talks candidly about his spiritual transformation, including his past dealing drugs, paying for abortions and attempting suicide.Im still a little rough around the edges, right? I still got a little hood in me, said Mitchell, who still speaks with a regional New York accent.Many at 2819 want more than motivational speeches and say Mitchells sermons are counterweights to the feel-good American preaching he criticizes.Im preaching without watering that down, without filtering out things that we think might be too controversial, said Mitchell, who wants people to mature spiritually and insists they cant deal with sin and its consequences without Jesus. I think that there is a generation that is gravitating towards that authenticity and truth, he said. As a result of that, we are seeing lives being radically transformed.Christian podcaster Megan Ashley said she brought a friend to 2819 who had stepped away from her faith, and Mitchell had an impact. The friend told Ashley, When he speaks, I believe him.The tougher messages might hurt some peoples feelings, said Donovan Logan, 23.But thats what its supposed to do. If you dont come to church and want to change, then thats not the church youre supposed to be going to, Logan said. Elijah McCord, 22, said Mitchells sermons about sin touch on whats happening around him in Atlanta, and Mitchells story shows that theres life in what God has commanded. He also values Mitchells pleadings to wait until marriage to have sex.He biblically talks about sin and repentance and how theres actually hope in the Gospel, McCord said. Churchgoers say 2819s draw goes beyond Mitchell. Its the entire worship experience.Passing the dancing greeters, the Sunday crowd enters the dark sanctuary. Its permeated with prayer and bold instrumental music before the service officially begins, with hands already lifted amid shouts of praise. Tissue boxes sit at the end of aisles, ready to aid those moved to tears.The worship is crazy. The Holy Spirit is just there. Like, tangible presence. You feel it! said Desirae Dominguez, 24. Mitchell feels ill-equipped to lead 2819Mitchell spent 10 years preaching, racking up unfruitful notes from church growth conferences, and eventually started struggling with depression. During that time, he took a transformative trip to Israel where he said encounters with God and other Christians changed him. Then, in 2023, he changed the churchs name to 2819.Mitchell, who has spent three years preaching just from the Book of Matthew alone, said God told him to preach without bringing prepared notes onstage. Although he attended Bible college, he sometimes doubts himself because of his past.I shed a lot of tears because I feel often ill-equipped, undeserving, said Mitchell. I would not have called me if I was God to steward something like this, and sometimes I dont know why my preaching is reaching (people). Im still shocked myself. When preparing to preach, Im thinking about the brokenness of the people in the room, the troubled marriages, the one who is suicidal. Im thinking about the young lady whos battling crippling insecurities and dont know that she has a father up there that loves her more than any man shes going to find down here.When not preaching, Mitchells demeanor is quieter. He and his staff are here to serve, he often says.His large online platform exposes him and sometimes his family to public critique, pushback, and even threats. Some accuse him of self-righteousness or say hes too harsh. He also issued a public apology earlier this year for comments in a sermon about obeying authority that were seen as dismissive of police brutality. At times, he says he is deeply affected by criticism and said he repents for some of what critics decried. But Mitchell also finds solace in better understanding Jesus by enduring it. Staff constantly adjusts for growthThe church recently moved into its own building, having outgrown the high school where they held services, which they call gatherings, and added a third one. On the first two Sundays at the new location, they added an impromptu fourth service because so many people came. The staff faced similar conundrums at Access, the churchs October prayer event that drew an estimated 40,000 people. State Farm Arena was filled to capacity, as was an overflow space in a nearby convention center, leaving many outside. Were constantly tinkering. Were constantly fixing things, said Tatjuana Phillips, 2819s ministries director.Logistical challenges, such as packed parking lots and swamped staff, are common at fast-growing churches, said Bird, the church growth expert. Despite its size, the church encourages community through its small groups, called squads, that give about 1,700 people a place to discuss sermons and support each others personal growth. Staff also engage with about 75,000 people weekly who watch gatherings online.The long lines also yield friendships. Ashley Grimes, 35, said thats where shes met so many brothers and sisters in Christ that I now get to do life with. Many of those new friends can be found shuffling into the churchs sanctuary on Sundays while volunteers, called servant leaders, pray over each seat before Mitchell preaches. On a recent Sunday, Mitchell told the crowd that they can turn to Jesus regardless of what theyve done. It worked for him. God, he said, used failure to transform my life. ___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. ___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. CHARLOTTE KRAMON Kramon covers government and politics from Atlanta. She is a Report for America corps member. twitter mailto

Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell preaches at 2819 Church on Nov. 16, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)2025-12-06T12:20:23Z CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) A mass shooting at a bar left at least 11 people, including three children, dead in a township near the South African administrative capital of Pretoria, police said on Saturday.Another 14 people were wounded and taken to the hospital, according to a statement from the South African Police Services. Police didnt give details on the ages of those who were injured.The shooting happened at an unlicensed bar in the Saulsville township west of Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday. Local media reported the bar was inside a hostel.The children killed were a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police said they were searching for three suspects.South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides. The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, authorities say.There have been several mass shootings at bars sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa in recent years, including one that killed 16 people in the Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2022. Police said 18 people were killed, 15 of them women, in mass shootings at two separate houses on the same road in a rural part of Eastern Cape province in September last year. A man was charged with 18 counts of murder for allegedly shooting the victims with an AK-style assault rifle.___AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

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President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)2025-12-06T13:11:03Z WASHINGTON (AP) Chief Justice John Roberts has led the Supreme Court s conservative majority on a steady march of increasing the power of the presidency, starting well before Donald Trumps time in the White House.The justices could take the next step in a case being argued Monday that calls for a unanimous 90-year-old decision limiting executive authority to be overturned.The courts conservatives, liberal Justice Elena Kagan noted in September, seem to be raring to take that action.They already have allowed Trump, in the opening months of the Republicans second term, to fire almost everyone he has wanted, despite the courts 1935 decision in Humphreys Executor that prohibits the president from removing the heads of independent agencies without cause.The officials include Rebecca Slaughter, whose firing from the Federal Trade Commission is at issue in the current case, as well as officials from the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The only officials who have so far survived efforts to remove them are Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, and Shira Perlmutter, a copyright official with the Library of Congress. The court already has suggested that it will view the Fed differently from other independent agencies, and Trump has said he wants her out because of allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook says she did nothing wrong. Humphreys Executor has long been a target of the conservative legal movement that has embraced an expansive view of presidential power known as the unitary executive. The case before the high court involves the same agency, the FTC, that was at issue in 1935. The justices established that presidents Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt at the time could not fire the appointed leaders of the alphabet soup of federal agencies without cause. The decision ushered in an era of powerful independent federal agencies charged with regulating labor relations, employment discrimination, the air waves and much else.Proponents of the unitary executive theory have said the modern administrative state gets the Constitution all wrong: Federal agencies that are part of the executive branch answer to the president, and that includes the ability to fire their leaders at will.As Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in a 1988 dissent that has taken on mythical status among conservatives, this does not mean some of the executive power, but all of the executive power.Since 2010 and under Roberts leadership, the Supreme Court has steadily whittled away at laws restricting the presidents ability to fire people.In 2020, Roberts wrote for the court that the Presidents removal power is the rule, not the exception in a decision upholding Trumps firing of the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau despite job protections similar to those upheld in Humphreys case.In the 2024 immunity decision that spared Trump from being prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Roberts included the power to fire among the presidents conclusive and preclusive powers that Congress lacks the authority to restrict. But according to legal historians and even a prominent proponent of the originalism approach to interpreting the Constitution that is favored by conservatives, Roberts may be wrong about the history underpinning the unitary executive.Both the text and the history of Article II are far more equivocal than the current Court has been suggesting, wrote Caleb Nelson, a University of Virginia law professor who once served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas.Jane Manners, a Fordham University law professor, said she and other historians filed briefs with the court to provide history and context about the removal power in the countrys early years that also could lead the court to revise its views. Im not holding my breath, she said.Slaughters lawyers embrace the historians arguments, telling the court that limits on Trumps power are consistent with the Constitution and U.S. history. The Justice Department argues Trump can fire board members for any reason as he works to carry out his agenda and that the precedent should be tossed aside.Humphreys Executor was always egregiously wrong, Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote. A second question in the case could affect Cook, the Fed governor. Even if a firing turns out to be illegal, the court wants to decide whether judges have the power to reinstate someone.Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote earlier this year that fired employees who win in court can likely get back pay, but not reinstatement.That might affect Cooks ability to remain in her job. The justices have seemed wary about the economic uncertainty that might result if Trump can fire the leaders of the central bank. The court will hear separate arguments in January about whether Cook can remain in her job as her court case challenging her firing proceeds. MARK SHERMAN Sherman has covered the Supreme Court for The Associated Press since 2006. His journalism career spans five decades. He is based in Washington, D.C., and previously lived in New York, Paris and Atlanta. twitter mailto

Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that fought for their food, took one for the team, passed the extraterrestrial sugar, and got lost in an ancient haze.First, a story about the spiciest meatball in the animal kingdom. Then: ants are being interesting again, a new discovery about an old rock, and a walk in an ancient sulfur rainstorm.As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens or subscribe to my personal newsletter the BeX Files.Pond frog versus murder hornetSugiura, Shinji. Pond frog as a predator of hornet workers: High tolerance to venomous stings. Ecosphere.Most animals dont eat hornets, because dinner is just not as fun if it comes with a side of deadly venom and stab wounds. But a scientist has now observed an incredible exception to the rule with the humble black-spotted pond frog (Pelophylax nigromaculatus), which will straight-up house a hornet and ask for seconds.Hornets have occasionally been found in the bellies of pond frogs, suggesting that the amphibians can tolerate their intense stings, but not much else is known about this unusual predator-prey relationship. To remedy the situation, Shinji Sugiura of Kobe University went out to the prefecture of Hyogo in Central Japan and netted a bunch of hornets from grasslands and forestsincluding the infamous murder hornet Vespa mandarinia, the largest in the world. He then captured pond frogs from wetlands with paddy fields and ponds in Hyogo and Shimane prefectures. Then, he let them duke it out in the lab in the worlds gnarliest series of cage matches.When a frog opened its mouth and its tongue made contact with a hornet, the action was classified as an attack on the hornet, Sugiura said in the study. If the frog did not stop the attack, spit out, or regurgitate the hornet, it was considered to have successfully consumed the hornet.The results revealed that most frogs made short work of the hornets (Videos S2) even though their meals were actively stinging them in their faces, eyes, tongues, palates, or throats of the frogs during attacks (Figure 3c,d).None of the frogs regurgitated the hornets after swallowing them, Sugiura noted. All frogs that swallowed hornets excreted the undigested body parts of the hornets as feces 24days after ingestion.Lets just sit with that mental image of poopy undigested hornets for a second. What a nightmare. But whats truly wild about this study is that the insects are known to inject lethal doses of venom into much larger animals, like mice, so the frogs clearly have some unknown defense against their attacks.Although many frogs were stung repeatedly by [hornets] in this studynone of the frogs died, and all individuals resumed normal behavior shortly after being stung, Suguira said. Moreover, despite repeated stings, most of the frogs ultimately consumed hornet workersindicating a high level of predation success even against the largest hornet species.We humans are so lucky that when we sit down to dinner, our food generally does not try to kill us with repeated venomous needlepoint impalements. Count your blessings!In other newsMeet the ant-y ChristsDawson, Erika H. Altruistic disease signalling in ant colonies. Nature Communications.Well move now from death by frog munchies to death by team spirit. Scientists have discovered that ant pupae (baby ants) will sacrifice themselves if they are sick, lest they risk the health of the entire colony.Here we showthat sick ant pupae instead actively emit a chemical signal that in itself is sufficient to trigger their own destruction by colony members, said researchers led by Erika H. Dawson of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria. Our data suggest the evolution of a finely-tuned signalling systemthat triggers pupal signalling for sacrifice. This demonstrates a balanced interplay between individual and social immunity that efficiently achieves whole-colony health.In other words, if an ant gets bitten by a zombie in a movie, it would immediately let everyone know and offer its life for the good of the group. Do what you will with this information.Do you take sugar in your asteroid?Furukawa, Yoshihiro et al. Bio-essential sugars in samples from asteroid Bennu. Nature Geoscience.Scientists have found bio-essential sugars, including ribose and glucose, in samples of an asteroid called Bennu that were brought to Earth by NASAs OSIRIS-REx mission in 2023. The discovery marks the first time key sugars have been found in any extraterrestrial sample. Ribose is an essential ingredient of RNA (ribonucleic acid), making it a particularly significant find in the quest to understand how life arose on Earth, and if it exists elsewhere.https://youtu.be/9LyH6jTefU8?si=CU3rVmPEzTbPf5oKAll five of the canonical nucleobases in DNA and RNA, and phosphate, were previously found in Bennu samples, said researchers led by Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University. Our detection of ribose means that all the components of RNA are present in Bennu.Our confident detection in Bennu of abundant glucosethe hexose molecule that is lifes common energy sourceand other hexoses indicates that they were present in the early solar system, the team added. Thus, all three crucial building blocks of life bio-essential sugars, nucleobases, and protein-building amino acidswould have reached the prebiotic Earth and other potentially habitable planets.While Bennu bears the stuff of life, it may also be an omen of death: It has a 1 in 2,700 chance of hitting Earth on September 24, 2182. These are very low odds, but the risk is high enough to classify Bennu as potentially hazardous. So while visions of sugar plums may dance in your head this season, beware the nightmares about sugar-asteroids.Its raining sulfurhallelujah!Reed, Nathan W. An Archean atmosphere rich in sulfur biomolecules. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Ive made you walk through many valleys of death in this newsletter, but well close with some unadulterated life. Scientists have discovered that many of the sulfur molecules that help make up all modern organisms may have rained down from the hazy skies of the Archean period four billion years ago.Assuming the results are confirmed in future research, it would mean that these sulfur molecules could have predated life, upending a leading hypothesis that they were a product of life and thus emerged later.The work challenges the assumption that life must have invented sulfur biomolecules during evolutionby demonstrating the production of a variety of sulfur biomolecules, including cysteine, in laboratory experiments mimicking the atmospheric chemistry of the early Earth, said researchers led by Nathan Reed of NASA, who conducted the work while at the University of Colorado, Boulder.The results presented here imply that an atmospheric organic haze is a potential powerhouse in providing a diversity of essential biomolecules in sufficient quantities for a budding global biosphere, the team concluded.Taken together with the Bennu study, it looks as if early Earth was positively marinating in life juices from multiple sources, including the sky and extraterrestrial impactors. Though this still doesnt explain how living things sprang up from the prebiotic stew, it provides further confirmation that the ingredients of life as we know it are spread far and wide here in our solar system, and beyond.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

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Annette Groos holds a sign before the start of a rally featuring former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg at the Statehouse in Indianapolis, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025 for Indiana Democrats amid pressure from President Donald Trump on Republicans who control the state's legislature to redistrict congressional seats. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)2025-12-06T14:36:28Z Spencer Deerys son was getting ready for school when someone tried to provoke police into swarming his home by reporting a fake emergency. Linda Rogers said there were threats at her home and the golf course that her family has run for generations. Jean Leising faced a pipe bomb scare that was emailed to local law enforcement. The three are among roughly a dozen Republicans in the Indiana Senate who have seen their lives turned upside down while President Donald Trump pushes to redraw the states congressional map to expand the partys power in the 2026 midterm elections. Its a bewildering and frightening experience for lawmakers who consider themselves loyal party members and never imagined they would be doing their jobs under the same shadow of violence that has darkened American political life in recent years. Leising described it as a very dangerous and intimidating process. Redistricting is normally done once a decade after a new national census. Trump wants to accelerate the process in hopes of protecting the Republicans thin majority in the U.S. House next year. His allies in Texas, Missouri, Ohio and North Carolina have already gone along with his plans for new political lines. Now Trumps campaign faces its greatest test yet in a stubborn pocket of Midwestern conservatism. Although Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and the House of Representatives are on board, the proposal may fall short with senators who value their civic traditions and independence over what they fear would be short-term partisan gain. When you have the president of the United States and your governor sending signals, you want to listen to them, said Rogers, who has not declared her position on the redistricting push. But it doesnt mean youll compromise your values.On Friday, Trump posted a list of senators who need encouragement to make the right decision, and the conservative campaign organization Turning Point Action said it would spend heavily to unseat anyone who voted no. Senators are scheduled to convene Monday to consider the proposal after months of turmoil. Resistance could signal the limits of Trumps otherwise undisputed dominance of the Republican Party. Threats shadow redistricting sessionDeery considers himself lucky. The police in his hometown of West Lafayette knew the senator was a potential target for swatting, a dangerous type of hoax when someone reports a fake emergency to provoke an aggressive response from law enforcement. So when Deery was targeted last month while his son and others were waiting for their daily bus ride to school, officers did not rush to the scene. You could have had SWAT teams driving in with guns out while there were kids in the area, he said. Deery was one of the first senators to publicly oppose the mid-decade redistricting, arguing it interferes with voters right to hold lawmakers accountable through elections. The country would be an uglier place for it, he said just days after Vice President JD Vance visited the state in August, the first of two trips to talk with lawmakers about approving new maps. Republican leaders in the Indiana Senate said in mid-November that they would not hold a vote on the matter because there was not enough support for it. Trump lashed out on social media, calling the senators weak and pathetic. Any Republican that votes against this important redistricting, potentially having an impact on America itself, should be PRIMARIED, he wrote. The threats against senators began shortly after that.Sen. Sue Glick, a Republican who was first elected in 2010 and previously served as a local prosecutor, said she has never seen this kind of rancor in politics in her lifetime. She opposes redistricting, saying it has the taint of cheating.Not even the plans supporters are immune to threats. Republican Sen. Andy Zay said his vehicle-leasing business was targeted with a pipe bomb scare on the same day he learned that he would face a primary challenger who accuses Zay of being insufficiently conservative. Zay, who has spent a decade in the Senate, believes the threat was related to his criticism of Trumps effort to pressure lawmakers. But the White House has not heeded his suggestions to build public support for redistricting through a media campaign. When you push us around and into a corner, were not going to change because you hound us and threaten us, Zay said. For those who have made a decision to stand up for history and tradition, the tactics of persuasion do not embolden them to change their viewpoint.The White House did not respond to messages seeking a reaction to Zays comments. Trump sees mixed support from IndianaTrump easily won Indiana in all his presidential campaigns, and its leaders are unquestionably conservative. For example, the state was the first to restrict abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. But Indianas political culture never became saturated with the sensibilities of Trumps Make America Great Again movement. Some 21% of Republican voters backed Nikki Haley over Trump in last years presidential primary, even though the former South Carolina governor had already suspended her campaign two months earlier. Trump also holds a grudge against Indianas Mike Pence, who served the state as a congressman and governor before becoming Trumps first vice president. A devout evangelical, Pence loyally accommodated Trumps indiscretions and scandals but refused to go along with Trumps attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to overturn Democrat Joe Bidens victory.Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what was necessary, Trump posted online after an angry crowd of his supporters breached the U.S. Capitol.Pence has not taken a public stance on his home states redistricting effort. But the governor before him, Republican Mitch Daniels, recently said it was clearly wrong.The proposed map, which was released Monday and approved by the state House on Friday, attempts to dilute the influence of Democratic voters in Indianapolis by splitting up the city. Parts of the capital would be grafted onto four different Republican-leaning districts, one of which would stretch all the way south to the border with Kentucky. Rogers, the senator whose family owns the golf course, declined to discuss her feelings about the redistricting. A soft-spoken business leader from the suburbs of South Bend, she said she was very disappointed about the threats. On Monday, Rogers will be front and center as a member of the Senate Elections Committee, the first one in that chamber to consider the redistricting bill.We need to do things in a civil manner and have polite discourse, she said. __Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa, and Volmert from Lansing, Mich. THOMAS BEAUMONT Beaumont covers national politics for The Associated Press. He is based in Des Moines, Iowa. twitter mailto ISABELLA VOLMERT Volmert covers Michigan government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Lansing. twitter mailto

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Afghans pray during the funeral of a man killed during an overnight exchange of fire between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Sibghatullah)2025-12-06T10:13:50Z JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) An overnight exchange of fire between Afghan forces and Pakistani troops along the two countries tense border killed five Afghan civilians and wounded five others, while three civilians were also wounded on the Pakistani side, officials from the two countries said Saturday.Each side has blamed the other for triggering the clash in violation of a tenuous two-month ceasefire.Those killed in the border area near the Afghan city of Spin Boldak, in southern Afghanistans Kandahar province, included three children and one woman, said Ali Mohammad Haqmal, the head of information of Spin Boldak District.Pakistani police and a hospital official in the Pakistani city of Chaman, Mohammad Awais, said three people, including a woman, were wounded in the shooting and shelling that came from the Afghan side. The clashes lasted until dawn Saturday, police said. Tension between the two countries has been high since October, when deadly border clashes killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants, and wounded hundreds on both sides. The violence erupted after explosions in Kabul, the Afghan capital, on Oct. 9 that the Taliban government blamed on Pakistan and vowed to avenge. The fighting has been the worst between the neighbors in recent years. A Qatar-mediated ceasefire began in October and has largely held, but peace talks have so far failed to produce an agreement. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Pakistan has suffered several militant attacks inside its country, and has blamed most of them on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. Though separate from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with it, and many of its fighters are believed to have taken refuge in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power there in 2021, further straining relations. Pakistan and Afghanistan have both blamed each other for the cross-border exchange of fire that broke out Friday night. Haqmal said the Afghan side didnt respond for 10-15 minutes after Pakistani forces began shooting, and that once the Afghan side responded, it stopped firing within an hour. The shooting by the Pakistani side continued until Saturday morning, he said.However, Mohammad Sadiq, a local Pakistani police official, claimed the shooting started from the Afghan side and that Pakistani troops returned fire near the Chaman border crossing, a key transit route. The exchange came a day after Pakistan said it would allow the United Nations to send relief supplies into Afghanistan through the Chaman and Torkham border crossings, which have been mostly closed for nearly two months amid escalating tensions. Abidullah Farooqi, a spokesman for the Afghan border police, said Friday night that Pakistani forces first threw a hand grenade into the Spin Boldak border area on the Afghan side, prompting a response. He said Afghanistan remains committed to the ceasefire. Mosharraf Zaidi, a spokesman for Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said on X that earlier in the evening, the Afghan Taliban regime resorted to unprovoked firing along the Chaman border. He added that Pakistani forces remain fully alert and committed to ensuring the countrys territorial integrity and the safety of its citizens. Separately, Pakistans military said Saturday that its security forces had killed nine Pakistani Taliban militants during two intelligence-based operations Friday in Pakistans northwestern districts of Tank and Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.___Ahmed reported from Islamabad, Pakistan. Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, contributed to this report.