Florida

Brad Marchand scored two goals and Sam Reinhart got the go-ahead goal on his 30th birthday in the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.

Anton Lundell got a shorthanded goal in the third period and Sam Bennett also scored for the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who rebounded from a 7-3 loss against the Ducks to get their first victory on their four-game West Coast road trip.

Marchand has scored a goal in three straight games since returning to the Panthers from a one-game absence to travel to Nova Scotia to support a close friend who lost his daughter to cancer last month. The veteran tied the game late in the first period after taking the puck from Anton Forsberg behind the Kings’ net, and he added his ninth goal of the season in the third.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves.

Anze Kopitar got the first goal of his 20th NHL season and Corey Perry also scored for the Kings, who have lost three of four.

Forsberg stopped 19 shots for the Kings, who have started 1-4-2 at their downtown arena after being the NHL’s best home team last season.

Bennett put the Panthers ahead just 2:06 in, controlling and converting the rebound of Jeff Petry’s long shot.

Kopitar scored on the power play midway through the first, and Perry put the Kings ahead on a breakaway set up by a spectacular long pass from Mikey Anderson.

Reinhardt put the Panthers back ahead in the second, getting to the slot and firing a backhand for his seventh goal.

Lundell scored on a short-handed breakaway in the third after a turnover by Adrian Kempe.

Several members of the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers were the Kings’ guests at the game, getting multiple loud ovations.

Up next for Kings: at Pittsburgh on Sunday to open a six-game trip.

Ten nightmares – one night – Kelly Williams’ favourites in a gauntlet of unforgettable hell at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2025 where she screamed herself hoarse

I’d been anxiously counting down the days until the opening of Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights and finally, it had arrived.

The air in the park felt electric – thick with fog, echoing with screams and a primal promise that tonight, my nightmares would come alive.

Suddenly, I didn’t feel so brave as my heart jumped into my throat at the sound of chainsaws buzzing in the distance. Before I’d even reached the 10 haunted houses, I found myself in a hunting ground of bloodthirsty zombies as panicked victims urged me to run.

But there was no turning back…

Five Nights at Freddy’s

I started with a childhood-unravelled – the eerie animatronics of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy lurking at every turn of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop creations looked terrifyingly real, and when Freddy reached forward with his blazing eyes, I jolted.

The flickering cameras, the dim corridors, it was like stepping into a haunted bedtime story that always ends badly. And just as I thought I was safe, a flicker of a poster caught my eye near the exit. The design didn’t quite fit—newer, sharper, like it was whispering about horrors still to come in a sequel I wasn’t ready for.

El Artista: A Spanish Haunting

19th-century Spain never looked so menacing at this original concept house. I wandered into a country manor alive with bloody paintings, possessed by tortured spirits, where artist Sergio Navarro’s vision turned against him and dragged me into madness.

Figures chanted in candlelight, and I was swallowed by pitch-black hallways so disorienting I had to grope along the walls, certain something was right behind me (it was). The Gothic atmosphere and haunting visuals were beautiful yet utterly terrifying.

WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks

If every other house had been pure terror, this one was theatrical dread, despite the fact that my WWE knowledge is limited, to say the least. Entering, I passed through a twisted lantern-lit stage into a tunnel filled with the distorted faces of 27 WWE icons, including Bray Wyatt tributes.

The surreal realm of Uncle Howdy, Mercy the Buzzard, Abby the Witch – it was like a haunted wrestling dreamscape laced with sorrow and nightmares. I felt both unnerved and strangely reverent. This house was surprisingly one of my favourites.

Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters

This was raw, fiery chaos – an Old West torn apart by lava demons melting everything in sight. I dodged demonic assaults and swampy lava flows as bounty hunters hunted the chaos, while heat and horror raged around me.

Try as I might, I couldn’t look away, even though behind every corner was a scare actor waiting to spring. My heart jumped into my throat, and I laughed nervously, realising this was just the beginning.

Dolls: Let’s Play Dead

Suddenly, I was doll-sized, trapped in a nightmarish toy world as burnt, stitched, malformed dolls limped from shadows. A twisted little girl named Lyla giggled as I ran, chased by cursed playthings. The scenes were harrowing, and strangely childlike – a grotesque playroom with a dark twist.

Dolls had been tortured in a way that made Sid from Toy Story look like Willy Wonka. Pure nightmare fuel.

Grave of Flesh

I barely had time to steady my breath before I was dropped into my own funeral. In tight, cavernous tunnels, flesh-eating creatures pursued me relentlessly. The narrative is that flesh-eating zombies feast on our corpses when we die and drag our souls into a relentless world of horror.

Panic, claustrophobia, the feeling of being buried alive – it was hell incarnate, and I crawled out trembling.

Gálkn: Monsters of the North

Finally, a Norse-myth horror – ice, fjords, and ancient beasts stirring deep beneath a northern village. I raced through fjord fiends and a monstrous resurrection that felt like stepping into a brutal saga where survival was never guaranteed.

My voice was hoarse from screaming and laughing hysterically at the same time. My group huddled tighter together, knowing the scares came harder when we split apart.

Fallout

Next, I plunged into a decaying Vault 33 that opened into the blasted wasteland of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Rad-roaches scuttled by while Lucy’s voice echoed in my head.

Raiders, The Ghoul, even Maximus in his T-60 power armour – every element pulled me deeper into survival terrain, like a living nightmare in the world of Fallout.

Jason Universe

Here’s where I felt my heart really start pounding. Walking through the haunted woods, past the creaking lodge and into the decaying cabins of Camp Crystal Lake – Jason stands silent, relentless, a gauntlet of killers from the Friday the 13th films from 1 to 8.

It pulled me through scenes that felt cinematic, each room ratcheting up the dread, with Jason’s mum even making an appearance.

It wasn’t just nostalgia; it was a matter of being hunted. I bolted out, breathless and, somehow, triumphant that I’d survived what felt like endless corridors of hell – even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Terrifier

Terrifier pushed horror into the realm of the visceral with an intense sensory overload. Art the Clown’s gruesome funhouse assaulted my senses with blood-soaked corridors and a hacksaw kill recreated in sickening detail.

Nauseating smells – faeces, bleach, salted flesh – clung to everything. With 35 bodies and six gallons of “blood” this is Universal’s first “unrated” house. I wanted to look away, but the narrow corridors kept pushing me deeper.

Victims can choose to take the ‘dry path’ or the ‘blood bath’ at the end of the maze. I chose the latter so the finale drenched me in warm, iron-scented water as I staggered out, sticky, unsettled with adrenaline crackling in my veins.

By the time I stumbled out of the last maze, I thought I’d finally be able to breathe. But instead of relief, I was plunged into more horror.

Neon lights from food stalls flickered, barely cutting through the haze. That’s when the sound hit me first—wet dragging footsteps, a low snarl, and then the unmistakable rattle of chains. Zombies appeared from nowhere, their skin mottled, their eyes glazed with hunger.

One carried a dismembered leg on a plate as he shuffled toward me. Another creature, something less human – its body twisted and barnacle-covered like it had risen straight from the depths – lurched over my shoulder.

Everywhere I turned, more figures emerged: a beautifully terrifying woman with teeth sharpened to jagged points, a gruesome gargoyle, and frantic villages begging me to turn back.

I forced myself forward, weaving between the monsters, my pulse hammering as one leaned close enough for me to feel its breath down my neck. And then – just as suddenly as it began – the creatures melted back into the fog, swallowed whole by shadows.

I found myself shaking, my skin damp with sweat and mist, and I realised Halloween Horror Nights didn’t let you escape when you left a house. No, they followed me to my bed that evening, where I relived the horrors all over again.

But in that moment, standing there under the Florida sky, with the distant shrieks of other brave souls echoing around me, I realised I’d done it. Ten houses. Ten nightmares survived. My nerves were fried, my legs ached, but I couldn’t stop grinning.

Halloween Horror Nights wasn’t just about the scares – it was about being fully alive in the middle of the madness.

Book it

Virgin Atlantic Holidays offers seven nights on a room-only basis at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort in Orlando, starting at £1,719pp, including Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow and a ticket to Halloween Horror Nights. Find out more and book at virginholidays.co.uk.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A pair of court rulings declaring some of Florida’s gun restrictions unconstitutional are creating some confusion in the notoriously firearm-friendly state — and fueling activists’ calls for Republican legislators to take action to update state statutes so they abide by the new legal landscape.

Despite Florida’s history of being a gun-supporting climate, Florida’s GOP-dominated state Legislature took steps to restrict gun laws in the wake of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Since the day the measure was signed into law, gun rights advocates have been pushing to unravel it.

Now, activists say recent court rulings are fueling their push to expand gun rights in the state, emboldened by U.S. Supreme Court’s updated standards for evaluating gun laws based on the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.

“Leaving unconstitutional laws on the books creates nothing but confusion,” said Sean Caranna, executive director of the advocacy group Florida Carry.

Here’s what to know.

Judge finds age restriction on concealed carry unconstitutional

A ruling by a circuit court judge in Broward County, home to Fort Lauderdale, found that Florida’s prohibition against people under the age of 21 from carrying a concealed firearm is unconstitutional, at least as it relates to the case in question.

Last week, Judge Frank Ledee tossed out the conviction of 19-year-old Joel Walkes, who was charged with a third-degree felony for carrying a concealed handgun. Florida statutes currently allow people between the age of 18 and 20 to possess a firearm, if they legally receive it as a gift or an inheritance, but they are barred from purchasing guns or carrying them concealed.

Ledee found the state’s prohibition is incompatible with the Supreme Court’s historical test, and inconsistent with a recent appeals court ruling that found a state law banning the open carrying of firearms is unconstitutional. In his decision, the judge pointed to the Legislature’s role in codifying and clarifying the changes.

“Distilling these inconsistencies into a framework of firearm regulations compatible with the guarantee to bear arms pursuant to the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is best left to the wisdom of legislative debate,” Ledee wrote.

Open carry ruling sparks questions

Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeal issued its ruling last month in a case stemming from the July 4, 2022, arrest of a man who stood at a major intersection in downtown Pensacola carrying a visible, holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.

The decision legalizes open carry, though there are preexisting limitations against carrying in a threatening manner or in certain restricted spaces like government meetings, schools and bars. The ruling has prompted some Florida sheriffs to urge caution among gun owners and seek clarity from lawmakers.

Legalizing open carry has long been a major focus of gun rights activists in the state, who oppose the slate of restrictions that Florida lawmakers implemented in the wake of the Parkland school shooting, which killed 17 people and injured 17 others. Among the law’s provisions was raising the legal gun-buying age to 21.

Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, said the recent court decisions put more onus on lawmakers to enact state statutes that line up with recent judicial rulings.

“I would not be surprised if in the next session the Florida Legislature doesn’t just take care of this by amending the statute to say, ‘clean it up.’ And then that’ll end all these lawsuits and possible lawsuits,” Jarvis said of the age-related prohibition. “And that’s really now what should happen.”

Advocates push for expanding gun laws

In the years since the 2018 Parkland shooting, lawmakers’ efforts to lower the gun-buying age to 18 have advanced in the Florida House but ultimately failed in the state Senate.

Now some advocates say the recent court rulings should force the hand of legislators who have opposed expanding gun rights in the past.

“We’ve been telling the Legislature since 2010 that this was going to be a problem for them if they didn’t act. And they chose not to act,” Caranna said.

“I hope that given some of the recent decisions from the United States Supreme Court and the Florida courts, that they will finally see that the 2nd Amendment is not a second-class right,” he added.

Representatives for Florida’s House speaker and Senate president did not immediately respond to inquiries Wednesday.

Payne writes for the Associated Press.

Oct. 20 (UPI) — Florida’s attorney general announced Monday that criminal subpoenas have been issued to the online children’s gaming site Roblox as he called the platform a “breeding ground for predators.”

Attorney General James Uthmeier accused Roblox of failing to verify users’ ages and failing to moderate sexually explicit content.

“We are issuing criminal subpoenas to Roblox, which has become a breeding ground for predators to gain access to our kids,” Uthmeier announced Monday in a post on X.

“We will stop at nothing in the fight to protect Florida’s children, and companies that expose them to harm will be held accountable,” the state attorney general added.

Uthmeier said recent investigations into Roblox found sexual predators have used the in-game currency on the platform to bribe minors into sending them explicit content of themselves.

Before Monday’s criminal subpoenas, Roblox has faced lawsuits, accusing the platform of failing to implement safety measures, provide proper warnings or report incidents of child victimization.

In August, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed a lawsuit, which also accused Roblox of enabling online predators to endanger children after an alleged sexual predator was arrested while using the site.

“Roblox profited off of our kids while exposing them to the most dangerous of harms,” Uthmeier said. “They enable our kids to be abused.”

Uthmeier issued a subpoena against Roblox in April to get more information on how the platform moderates chat rooms and markets its site to kids.

“As a father and attorney general, children’s safety and protection are a top priority,” Uthmeier said. “There are concerning reports that this gaming platform, which is popular among children, is exposing them to harmful content and bad actors.”

Oct. 17 (UPI) — The Palm Bay City Council in central Florida censored council member Chandler Langevin after controversial remarks about the local Indian community on social media, including a call to “deport every Indian immediately” and “Indians are destroying the South.”

The 3-2 decision Thursday restricts his ability to introduce agenda items, speak during council reports and serve on city-appointed committees and boards. Langevin now has to receive majority approval from the council to place an item on the agenda.

Langevin voted against the measure.

Palm Bay, with a population of 142,000, is located about 50 miles south of the Kennedy Space Center.

Langevin is a 33-year-old Republican elected to a four-year term in November after serving in the U.S. Marines.

He has targeted others with incendiary, racist and xenophobic statements online though his X account.

Regarding Indians in the community, he wrote: “Indian migration has to cease immediately.”

He also wrote: “There is not a single Indian that cares about the United States. They are here to exploit us financially and enrich India and Indians.”

“I not only have a constitutional right, but I personally believe that I have a duty and an obligation to engage other elected officials, to have dialogue with my constituents and to drive policy in a matter that I deem best,” Langevin said, in describing the situation as a witchhunt.

Langevin, wearing a U.S. Flag around his neck during the meeting, said he would sue, alleging a violation of the First Amendment.

Anthony Sabatini, an attorney and Lake County commissioner, posted on X: “This textbook first amendment retaliation & totally illegal -tomorrow we will file a lawsuit and now they will pay.”

“The government cannot punish and limit your rights just purely based on your viewpoint,” Sabatini said in a report by WKMG-TV. “You can pass a censure motion, that’s fine, but you can’t limit his ability to speak based on his opinion.”

The council also voted 4-1 to look into hiring an outside attorney to investigate whether Langevin made any ethics violations.

Two weeks earlier, the commissioners wrote a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis asking to have Langevin removed from his elected seat.

Commissioners, as well as Mayor Rob Medina, said his comments are serious misconduct.

“I think if we represent the population at large, there’s some issues then we need to tailor our speech,” Medina said. “We represent everyone, right, so it is conduct unbecoming.”

Councilman Richard “Mike” Hammer voted against the censure. Hammer posted on Facebook that he did not agree with the things Langevin said about Indian Americans, but he did not agree with the restrictions placed on him, he said.

Indian American Chamber of Commerce President Jan Gautman told Spectrum News that he was satisfied with an apology.

“After meeting with several community leaders, he came to understand the tremendous value the Indian American community brings to this country — especially through business ownership, job creation, and contributions as one of the strongest economic drivers in our nation,” Gautman said. “Our community appreciates his apology and chooses to move forward with positivity, focusing on unity, understanding, and the betterment of our shared future.

“We wish him well and look forward to continued collaboration in building stronger communities together.”

On Oct. 6, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a statement: “Chandler Langevin’s comments towards the Indian American community are vile and reprehensible. The people of Palm Bay deserve better leadership than someone who so proudly displays his hateful ignorance through divisive and racist rhetoric.

“The Florida Democratic Party proudly stands in solidarity with our Indian American neighbors and is grateful for their contributions to our State. We look forward to beating bigots like Mr. Langevin at the ballot box to ensure Florida’s elected officials represent the best of our shared values.”

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wrote on X on Oct. 1 that there is “no place for this kind of hate in Florida. As Governor and now as U.S. Senator, I’ve been proud to stand with our state’s incredible Indian American community, who are proud Americans and value the ideas that make our country great.”

Federal officials on Friday confirmed that Florida has been reimbursed $608 million for the costs of building and running an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades, exposing “Alligator Alcatraz” to the risk of being ordered to close for a second time.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an email that the state of Florida was awarded its full reimbursement request.

The reimbursement exposes the state of Florida to being forced to unwind operations at the remote facility for a second time because of a federal judge’s injunction in August. The Miami judge agreed with environmental groups who had sued that the site wasn’t given a proper environmental review before it was converted into an immigration detention center and gave Florida two months to wind down operations.

The judge’s injunction, however, was put on hold for the time being by an appellate court panel in Atlanta that said the state-run facility didn’t need to undergo a federally required environmental impact study because Florida had yet to receive federal money for the project.

“If the federal defendants ultimately decide to approve that request and reimburse Florida for its expenditures related to the facility, they may need to first conduct an EIS (environmental impact statement),” the three-judge appellate court panel wrote last month.

The appellate panel decision allowed the detention center to stay open and put a stop to wind-down efforts.

President Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

Environmental groups that had sued the federal and state governments said the confirmation of the reimbursement showed that the Florida-built facility was a federal project “from the jump.”

“This is a federal project being built with federal funds that’s required by federal law to go through a complete environmental review,” Elise Bennett, Florida and Caribbean director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement. “We’ll do everything we can to stop this lawless, destructive and wasteful debacle.”

Schneider writes for the Associated Press.

ORLANDO, Fla. — After Paola Freites was allowed into the U.S. in 2024, she and her husband settled in Florida, drawn by warm temperatures, a large Latino community and the ease of finding employment and housing.

They were among hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came to the state in recent years as immigration surged under former President Biden.

No state has been more affected by the increase in immigrants than Florida, according to internal government data obtained by the Associated Press. Florida had 1,271 migrants who arrived from May 2023 to January 2025 for every 100,000 residents, followed by New York, California, Texas and Illinois.

Freites and her husband fled violence in Colombia with their three children. After some months in Mexico they moved to Apopka, an agricultural city near Orlando, where immigrants could find cheaper housing than in Miami as they spread throughout a community that already had large populations of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. Her sister-in-law owned a mobile home that they could rent.

“She advised us to come to Orlando because Spanish is spoken here and the weather is good,” Freites, 37, said. “We felt good and welcomed.”

The data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which must verify addresses of everyone who is allowed to enter the U.S. and stay to pursue an immigration case, shows Miami was the most affected metropolitan area in the U.S. with 2,191 new migrants for every 100,000 residents. Orlando ranked 10th with 1,499 new migrants for every 100,000 residents.

The CBP data captured the stated U.S. destinations for 2.5 million migrants who crossed the border, including those like Freites who used the now-defunct CBP One app to make an appointment for entry.

Freites and her husband requested asylum and obtained work permits. She is now a housekeeper at a hotel in Orlando, a tourist destination with more than a dozen theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld. Her husband works at a plant nursery.

“We came here looking for freedom, to work. We don’t like to be given anything for free,” said Freites, who asked that the AP identify her by her middle and second last name for fear of her mother’s safety in Colombia.

Orlando absorbed new immigrants who came

Historically, Central Florida’s immigrant population was mainly from Mexico and Central America, with a handful of Venezuelans coming after socialist Hugo Chávez became president in 1999. In 2022, more Venezuelans began to arrive, encouraged by a program created by the Biden administration that offered them a temporary legal pathway. That same program was extended later to Haitians and Cubans, and their presence became increasingly visible. The state also has a large Colombian population.

Many immigrants came to Florida because they had friends and relatives.

In Orlando, they settled throughout the area. Businesses catering to newer arrivals opened in shopping areas with Mexican and Puerto Rican shops. Venezuelan restaurants selling empanadas and arepas opened in the same plaza as a Mexican supermarket that offers tacos and enchiladas. Churches began offering more Masses in Spanish and in Creole, which Haitians speak.

As the population increased, apartments, shopping centers, offices and warehouses replaced many of the orange groves and forests that once surrounded Orlando.

The economy grew as more people arrived

New immigrants found work in the booming construction industry, as well as in agriculture, transportation, utilities and manufacturing. Many work in restaurants and hotels and as taxi drivers. Some started their own businesses.

“It’s just like a very vibrant community,” said Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director at Hope CommUnity Center, a group that offers free services to immigrants in Central Florida. “It’s like, ‘I’m going to work hard and I’m going to fight for my American dream,’ that spirit.”

Immigrants’ contributions to Florida’s gross domestic product — all goods and services produced in the state — rose from 24.3% in 2019 to 25.5% in 2023, according to the pro-immigration American Immigration Council’s analysis of the Census Bureau’s annual surveys. The number of immigrants in the workforce increased from 2.8 million to 3.1 million, or 26.5% to 27.4% of the overall population. The figures include immigrants in the U.S. legally and illegally.

Immigrants looked for advice

Groups that help immigrants also increased in size.

“We got hundreds of calls a week,” said Gisselle Martinez, legal director at the Orlando Center for Justice. “So many calls of people saying ‘I just arrived, I don’t know anybody, I don’t have money yet, I don’t have a job yet. Can you help me?’”

The center created a program to welcome them. It grew from serving 40 people in 2022 to 269 in 2023 and 524 in 2024, Melissa Marantes, the executive director, said.

In 2021, about 500 immigrants attended a Hispanic Federation fair offering free dental, medical, and legal services. By 2024, there were 2,500 attendees.

Hope, meantime, went from serving 6,000 people in 2019, to more than 20,000 in 2023 and 2024.

Many now fear being detained

After President Trump returned to office in January, anxiety spread through many immigrant communities. Florida, a Republican-led state, has worked to help the Trump administration with its immigration crackdown and has enacted laws targeting illegal immigration.

Blanca, a 38-year-old single mother from Mexico who crossed the border with her three children in July 2024, said she came to Central Florida because four nephews who were living in the area told her it was a peaceful place where people speak Spanish. The math teacher, who has requested asylum, insisted on being identified by her first name only because she fears deportation.

In July 2025, immigration officials placed an electronic bracelet on her ankle to monitor her.

Because a friend of hers was deported after submitting a work permit request, she has not asked for one herself, she said.

“It’s scary,” she said. “Of course it is.”

Salomon writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — A new report on book bans in U.S. schools finds Stephen King as the author most likely to be censored and the country divided between states actively restricting works and those attempting to limit or eliminate bans.

PEN America’s “Banned in the USA,” released Wednesday, tracks more than 6,800 instances of books being temporarily or permanently pulled for the 2024-2025 school year. The new number is down from more than 10,000 in 2023-24, but still far above the levels of a few years ago, when PEN didn’t even see the need to compile a report.

Some 80% of those bans originated in three states that have enacted or attempted to enact laws calling for removal of books deemed objectionable — Florida, Texas and Tennessee. Meanwhile, PEN found little or no instances of removals in several other states, with Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey among those with laws that limit the authority of school and public libraries to pull books.

“It is increasingly a story of two countries,” says Kasey Meehan, director of PEN’s Freedom to Read program and an author of the report. “And it’s not just a story of red states and blue states. In Florida, not all of the school districts responded to the calls for banning books. You can find differences from county to county.”

King’s books were censored 206 times, according to PEN, with “Carrie” and “The Stand” among the 87 of his works affected. The most banned work of any author was Anthony Burgess’ dystopian classic from the 1960s, “A Clockwork Orange,” for which PEN found 23 removals. Other books and authors facing extensive restrictions included Patricia McCormick’s “Sold,” Judy Blume’s “Forever” and Jennifer Niven’s “Breathless,” and numerous works by Sarah J. Maas and Jodi Picoult.

Reasons often cited for pulling a book include LGBTQ+ themes, depictions of race and passages with violence and sexual violence. An ongoing trend that PEN finds has only intensified: Thousands of books were taken off shelves in anticipation of community, political or legal pressure rather than in response to a direct threat.

“This functions as a form of ‘obeying in advance,’” the report reads, “rooted in fear or simply a desire to avoid topics that might be deemed controversial.”

The PEN report comes amid ongoing censorship efforts not just from states and conservative activists but from the federal government. The Department of Education ended an initiative by the Biden administration to investigate the legality of bans and has called the issue a “hoax.” PEN’s numbers include the Department of Defense’s removal of hundreds of books from K-12 school libraries for military families as part of an overall campaign against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and “un-American” thinking.

In Florida, where more than 2,000 books were banned or restricted, a handful of counties were responsible for many of the King removals: Dozens were pulled last year as a part of a review for whether they were in compliance with state laws.

“His books are often removed from shelves when ‘adult’ titles or books with ‘sex content’ are targeted for removal — these prohibitions overwhelmingly ban LGBTQ+ content and books on race, racism, and people of color — but also affect titles like Stephen King’s books,” Meehan says. “Some districts — in being overly cautious or fearful of punishment — will sweep so wide they end up removing Stephen King from access too.”

PEN’s methodology differs from that of the American Library Assn., which also issues annual reports on bans and challenges. PEN’s numbers are much higher in part because the free expression organization counts any books removed or restricted for any length of time, while the library association only counts permanent removals or restrictions.

Both organizations have acknowledged that because they largely rely on media reports and information that they receive directly, their numbers are far from comprehensive.

The PEN report does not include data from Ohio, Oklahoma, Arkansas and other red states because researchers could not find adequate documentation. Meehan said PEN also doesn’t know the full impact of statewide laws.

Italie writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.

Sept. 29 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Imelda, which formed in the Atlantic on Sunday, strengthened slightly overnight, according to forecasters, who said recent modeling showed the risk of dangerous wind impacts along the southeastern U.S. coast was diminishing.

Imelda, the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, up 5 mph from late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 a.m. EDT update.

It was located about 130 miles northwest of the Central Bahamas and about 315 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to the forecasters, who said it was moving north at 8 mph.

“Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and Imelda is forecast to become a hurricane by Tuesday,” the NHC update said.

“On the forecast track, the center of the system is expected to move across the northwestern Bahamas today and then turn east-northeastward, moving away from the southeastern U.S. by the middle part of this week.”

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and San Salvador, as well as portions of the northwestern Bahamas.

Eastern Cuba is expected to see 2 to 4 inches of rain, while the northwest Bahamas could receive between 4 and 8 inches through Tuesday, the forecasters said.

“This rainfall will likely produce flash and urban flooding,” NHC said. “Mudslides are also possible in areas of higher terrain across eastern Cuba.”

Coastal southern North Carolina and southeast areas expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall with a maximum of 6 inches through Tuesday. This could also result in flash and urban flooding, the forecasters warned.

Swells generated by the cyclone, as well as Hurricane Humberto, are affecting parts of the Bahamas and are predicted to spread to the southeast U.S. coast early next week.

The potential for swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, NHC said.

Sept. 28 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Imelda formed in the Atlantic on Sunday evening, making it the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

Imelda had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 p.m. EDT update.

It was located about 125 miles northwest of the Central Bahamas and about 320 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to the forecasters, who said it was moving north at 9 mph.

“Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and Imelda is forecast to become a hurricane by late Monday or Tuesday,” the NHC update said.

“On the forecast track, the center of the system is expected to move across the central and northwestern Bahamas tonight and Monday and then turn east-northeastward, moving away from the southeastern U.S. by the middle part of this week.”

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and San Salvador, as well as portions of northwestern Bahamas.

Eastern Cuba is expected to see 2 to 4 inches of rain with northwest Bahamas to see between 4 and 8 inches through Tuesday, the forecasters said.

“This rainfall will likely produce flash and urban flooding,” NHC said. “Mudslides are also possible in areas of higher terrain across eastern Cuba.”

Coastal southern North Carolina and its southeast are expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall with a maximum of 6 inches through Tuesday. This could also result in flash and urban flooding, the forecasters warned.

Swells generated by the cyclone, as well as Hurricane Humberto, will affect parts of the Bahamas this weekend and are predicted to spread to the southeast U.S. coast early next week.

The potential for swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, NHC said.

A US jury finds that Routh intended to kill then-presidential candidate Donald Trump last September.

A US man has been found guilty of the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump last September near Trump’s Florida golf course, United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media.

A jury found that Ryan Routh, 59, intended to kill Trump, then a former president and Republican presidential candidate, when he pointed a rifle through a fence while Trump was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

He was also found guilty on the four other charges he faced, including impeding a federal agent and weapons offences. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Last year, Routh fled from the golf course without firing a shot after a US Secret Service agent patrolling the course ahead of Trump spotted Routh and the rifle and opened fire, according to witness testimony in the case.

“This plot was carefully crafted and deadly serious,” prosecutor John Shipley said at the start of the trial, adding that without the intervention of the Secret Service agent, “Donald Trump would not be alive”.

‘Political violence’

The 12-day trial in a federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, unfolded in the aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which again thrust the growth of political violence in the US to the centre of the national conversation.

Trump was targeted in two assassination attempts, including one that wounded him in the ear, during his 2024 presidential campaign that returned him to the White House.

“Today’s guilty verdict against would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh illustrates the Department of Justice’s commitment to punishing those who engage in political violence,” Attorney General Bondi said in a statement on X. “This attempted assassination was not only an attack on our President, but an affront to our very nation itself.”

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, lauded the verdict, adding, “This was an evil man with an evil intention, and they caught him.”

Routh appeared to try to stab himself with a pen several times after the verdict was revealed in court, and had to be restrained by US marshals, according to US media reports. His daughter, Sara, also yelled in court that her father had not hurt anyone and that she would get him out of prison.

Prosecutors alleged that Routh arrived in South Florida about a month before the September 15, 2024, incident, staying at a truck stop and tracking Trump’s movements and schedule. Routh allegedly carried six mobile phones and used fake names to conceal his identity.

He lay in wait for nearly 10 hours on the day of the incident, concealing himself in thick bushes overlooking the sixth hole green, prosecutors alleged. Investigators at the scene found a semiautomatic rifle, two bags containing metal plates like those used in body armour, and a small video camera pointed towards the course.

Trump was on the fifth hole a few hundred yards away when Routh was discovered. He was arrested later that afternoon after being stopped by police along a Florida highway.

A TEENAGER who was mauled by a shark recalled the terrifying moment she “raised her arm out of the water and saw she had no hand”.

Lulu Gribbin, 15, was enjoying a beach day in Florida last summer when she lost her arm and leg in the brutal attack.

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She and her family had heard speculation that a shark was in the sea by the beach they were at in Walton County, northwest Florida.

But it wasn’t until the teen saw “a shadow” in the water that panic set in.

She told ABC News: “I never saw a tail or a fin. I never saw its eyes.”

After spotting a “glimpse” of the shark’s body, she initially started swimming as fast as she could.

But after recalling advice she had heard in a movie, she stopped – thinking her frantic movements would encourage the shark to chase her.

It was then that her life would drastically change forever.

She said: “I told everyone to just calm down…and the next thing I know is that I raised my hand out of the water and there just was no hand there.”

Lulu was rushed to the shore where her twin sister, Ellie, sat by her side, keeping her calm and ensuring she remained conscious until paramedics arrived.

Meanwhile, doctors on the beach wrapped a tourniquet around Lulu’s injuries.

Her mom, Ann Blair Gribbin, said she rushed to the beach when her daughter didn’t pick up her phone.

Comparing her child’s injuries to something out of a movie, she said she found her “lifeless” with her “eyes closed, and her mouth white and pale”.

She said: “All I could say was, ‘Just keep breathing. Please keep breathing. God, please let her keep breathing.

“We didn’t know anything, no idea if she was alive.”

The teen was then airlifted to a Pensacola hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries leading to her leg and arm being amputated.

Doctors said she had also lost around two-thirds of the blood in her body.

Following the horror incident, her mom paid tribute to the doctors who saved Lulu’s life.

She also described her daughter as a “miracle” admitting the family’s life will “be forever changed”.

Ann said: “At this point, we will have multiple surgeries in the days to come and our lives will be forever changed.

“She is truly a miracle.  We have a long road ahead and our journey is just beginning!”

MULTIPLE ATTACKS

Lulu wasn’t the only victim that day.

According to the teen, there was another shark attack just 90 minutes before just a few miles down the coast.

She said: “If I wouldn’t known about this, I wouldn’t have been in the water”.

Lulu’s friend McCray was also bitten on her foot, and officials suspect the same beast attacked three other people.

This spate of maulings were the first in the county for three years, with the last fatality recorded in Walton County in 2005.

Cops in the area, however, stressed that sharks are always present in the Gulf.

Officers previously said: “Swimmers and beachgoers should be cautious when swimming and stay aware of their surroundings”.

Her brutal attack comes as a little boy was mercilessly savaged off the Florida coast by a blacktip shark earlier this month.

The blacktip shark rushed Richard Burrows, his sister Rose, and his dad, David, as they snorkeled at Horseshoe Reef, about four miles off Key Largo, at around 3 pm on September 1.

Richard was bitten above his right knee and on his arm, leaving him gushing blood in the water as his dad and sister scrambled to help.

David quickly applied a tourniquet to Richard’s leg to stop the bleeding, which doctors later said helped to save his life.

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Disney World, in Florida, is reported to be “dead”, as rides are quiet and there are few queues. Americans have expressed worry about the state of tourism in the US

There’s been plenty of upheaval at Disney World lately, with a beloved attraction shutting its doors for good after 54 years. However, holidaymakers are now spotting another major shift at the popular destination, as the resort has apparently become “dead.”

Claims are emerging that the famous theme park has grown remarkably quiet this summer, with visitors sharing different theories about what might be behind it. The issue was recently highlighted by a man called thenobleways on TikTok, who filmed his latest trip to Disney World to share his thoughts on what was happening in Florida.

During his weekend visit, he insisted Disney World was “empty.” This comes months after several rides at the theme park shut down permanently.

He said: “I’m at Magic Kingdom right now, and this place is a tomb. There is literally nobody here. There is no wait time for anything.

“Space Mountain – walk on. Haunted Mansion – walk on. Pirates of the Caribbean – walk on. The longest I have even seen a wait time for Seven Dwarfs today [is] 30 minutes.

“Peter Pan’s Flight – up to 30 minutes, but everything is walk on all day long. I don’t know what’s going on. It’s Labor Day weekend – should be crowded, should be packed normally – this place is empty.

“I am absolutely loving it, but what do you think? What’s going on? Why is there nobody here? I have never seen it like this.

“It’s been years since I’ve seen it this empty, especially on a holiday weekend. I don’t know, I’m going to enjoy it while I can.”

The clip has racked up more than 7,000 views since being posted, with viewers rushing to share their theories about the quiet scenes.

One person commented: “People don’t want to go to Florida.” Another chimed in with: “Too expensive, politics, Trump.”

A third weighed in: “Florida is imploding financially and nobody wants to go there. Miami and the other beaches are struggling as well.”

Meanwhile, a fourth also remarked: “Nobody can afford Disney anymore. Think [it’s] the tariffs.”

Someone else also pitched in with: “That’s because it’s Florida. Disney in California is packed. Let’s face it, Florida is in major decline.”

Last month, CBS reported that tourism is actually on the rise in Florida, despite a drop in Canadian visitors. Visit Florida previously estimated 34.435 million people travelled to Florida from April 1 to June 30, which increased from 34.279 million people during the same period last year.

However, Disney is reported to have experienced a decline in tourism. The drop in travel to Orlando, particularly linked to the Walt Disney World theme parks, is said to partly stem from Disney Experiences’ major renovation projects taking place across the resort.

There could be a multitude of reasons for the dwindling crowds in Orlando, including steep ticket prices that some find hard to justify, a decrease in international visitors, particularly from Canada, stiff competition from Universal’s upcoming Epic Universe park and the ongoing effects of the pandemic.

Reality TV star Spencer Pratt joined two Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to bring attention to a newly launched congressional investigation into the response to the Palisades fire in Los Angeles.

“I feel like this is going to be so powerful for all of the United States because there shouldn’t be disasters that are preventable,” Pratt, who lost his home during the fire, told reporters.

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said the main goal of the investigation is to figure out why the fire happened, why the state and local governments were unable to prevent it and how officials are helping the victims recover.

“We are going to get answers,” Scott said. “We are going to do everything we can to help the victim and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

The congressional investigation, which launched on Monday, is focused only on the Palisades fire, but Scott said the probe could expand to other destructive fires that have taken place in Los Angeles County.

“We are going to start with this,” Scott said. “We’ll just let the facts take us where they are.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has welcomed the congressional investigation. At the news conference, Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin warned that if officials fail to cooperate, the panel is ready to issue subpoenas to compel them to do so.

“We don’t want to use it and we hope we don’t have to,” Johnson said. “It is a good sign Gov. Newsom is willing to do so, and that’s the best way of doing it. But if they don’t, you’ve always got that backstop of compelling testimony, compelling documents, and that’s what we’ll do if we have to.”

“But I don’t think we will have to, quite honestly,” he added.

Two Senate Republicans have opened yet another investigation into the deadly Palisades fire, adding to a long list of ongoing probes aimed at determining whether local officials prepared sufficiently for the emergency.

The investigation will look at whether emergency preparations were sufficient, including an examination of whether there was enough reservoir water to respond to the deadly wildfire.

Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin announced Monday that they were leading the congressional investigation, which they said is necessary to “uncover and expose the truth” about how the state and local governments responded to the major blaze, which broke out amid hurricane-force winds and quickly overwhelmed firefighting resources.

“Families in this community deserve answers and accountability,” Scott and Johnson wrote in a joint statement.

The new probe is the latest in a string of ongoing investigations into the start of the fire and how officials responded. It comes almost nine months since the fire broke out on Jan. 7, killing 12 and largely destroying Pacific Palisades. That same day, the Eaton fire erupted in Altadena, killing 19 people and devastating the foothill community.

The congressional investigation appears to focus only on the Palisades fire, and will look specifically at what water resources were — or weren’t — available, and why.

The Times first reported that the Santa Ynez Reservoir, located in the heart of Pacific Palisades, was empty when the fire broke out, and remained that way as firefighters experienced dry hydrants and water pressure issues. The 117-million-gallon water storage complex had been closed for repairs to its cover for nearly a year, officials said.

After The Times’ reporting on the reservoir, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered an investigation into the city’s water system and how it may have hampered firefighting efforts.

Times reporting also exposed poor preparation and deployment by the Los Angeles Fire Department, even as city officials were repeatedly warned about life-threatening winds and red flag conditions. Top brass at the agency decided not to deploy roughly 1,000 available firefighters and dozens of water-carrying engines in advance of the Palisades fire.

The announcement of this federal investigation comes a few weeks after Scott — the former governor of hurricane-prone Florida — met with former reality star Spencer Pratt to tour some of the areas destroyed by the Palisades fire. At the time of their meeting, Pratt, who lost a home in the fire, was demanding a congressional investigation — an action that Scott said he would do his “best to make sure it happens.”

Pratt has also sued the city, alleging it failed to maintain an adequate water supply and other infrastructure.

In recent weeks, Scott has sent letters to several agencies seeking answers about how California used federal funds for wildfire management and response. In an August letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Scott said it appeared that the state and the city of Los Angeles had not used the agency’s funds “wisely or appropriately.”

The response to the January firestorm, particularly in the Palisades, has become a polarizing topic — and rife with misinformation —among national and local political leaders, from President Trump to developer Rick Caruso, a former mayoral contender against L.A.’s current mayor, Karen Bass. Caruso, who owns Palisades Village mall, became an immediate critic of the city’s response, blasting officials for struggling to meet water demands during the fire fight.

But fire and water experts have repeatedly said that the conditions during the fire were unprecedented, and one that no urban water system could have been properly prepared.

Still, understanding what, if anything, went wrong during the Palisades fire appears to have struck somewhat of a bipartisan note. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said his team will “absolutely welcome” this additional review.

“It complements the thorough investigations already taking place — including by the federal government, the state, and an independent review by the nation’s leading fire experts,” Newsom said in a statement. “From day one, we’ve embraced transparency because Californians deserve nothing less.”

Los Angeles officials last month delayed releasing one of those reports, so as not to interfere with a federal investigation into the cause of the Palisades fire.

The new congressional investigation, which will be led by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, will give senators the power to issue subpoenas and seek documents for the committee’s review.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal trial is scheduled to begin Monday for a man charged with trying to assassinate Donald Trump as he played golf in Florida in September 2024.

Jury selection is expected to take three days, with attorneys questioning three sets of 60 prospective jurors. They’re trying to find 12 jurors and four alternates. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Thursday, and prosecutors will begin their case immediately after that. The court has blocked off four weeks for the trial, but attorneys are expecting they’ll need less time.

Here’s what to know about the case:

Defendant to represent himself

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signed off in July on Ryan Routh’s request to represent himself during his trial, but said court-appointed attorneys need to remain as standby counsel.

The judge told Routh she believes it’s a bad idea for him to represent himself, but he wouldn’t be dissuaded. Routh, who has described the extent of his education as two years of college after earning his GED certificate, told Cannon that he understood the potential challenges and would be ready.

Cannon confirmed during a recent hearing that Routh would be dressed in professional business attire for the trial. She also explained to Routh that he would be allowed to use a podium while speaking to the jury or questioning witnesses, but he would not have free rein of the courtroom.

“If you make any sudden movements, marshals will take decisive and quick action to respond,” Cannon said.

Self-styled mercenary leader

The 59-year-old Routh was a North Carolina construction worker who in recent years had moved to Hawaii. A self-styled mercenary leader, Routh spoke out to anyone who would listen about his dangerous, sometimes violent plans to insert himself into conflicts around the world, witnesses have told the Associated Press.

In the early days of the war in Ukraine, Routh tried to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan, Moldova and Taiwan to fight the Russians. In his native Greensboro, N.C., he had a 2002 arrest for eluding a traffic stop and barricading himself from officers with a fully automatic machine gun and a “weapon of mass destruction,” which turned out to be an explosive with a 10-inch-long fuse.

In 2010, police searched a warehouse Routh owned and found more than 100 stolen items, including power tools, building supplies, kayaks and spa tubs. In both felony cases, judges gave Routh either probation or a suspended sentence.

Attempted assassination charge

Authorities said Routh tried to assassinate Trump, then the Republican nominee for president, while Trump played golf at his club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Routh is facing five felony counts in federal court in Fort Pierce. They include attempted assassination of a major presidential candidate, possessing a firearm to carry out a violent crime, assaulting a federal officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

In addition to the federal charges, Routh also has pleaded not guilty to state charges of terrorism and attempted murder.

Same judge presided over Trump case

Cannon is the same judge who presided over another high-profile case involving Trump — the classified documents case against him.

Last year, Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump during his first term, sided with Trump’s lawyers who said the special counsel who filed the charges was illegally appointed by the U.S. Justice Department.

Cannon’s ruling halted a criminal case that, at the time it was filed, was widely regarded as the most perilous of all the legal threats the president faced before he returned to office in January. The felony case was being appealed when Trump was elected in November, after which that and other criminal indictments against him were dismissed, following a Justice Department policy not to charge a sitting president.

No signs of shots fired

Trump was uninjured, and there’s no evidence that Routh fired his weapon at the golf course. U.S. Secret Service agents stationed a few holes up from where Trump was playing golf noticed the muzzle of an AK-style rifle sticking through the shrubbery that lines the course, roughly 400 yards away. An agent fired, and the gunman dropped the rifle and fled in an SUV, leaving the firearm behind along with two backpacks, a scope used for aiming and a GoPro camera. He was later stopped by law enforcement in a neighboring county.

That alleged assassination attempt took place nine weeks after Trump survived another attempt on his life, in Pennsylvania, when a gunman’s bullet grazed the candidate’s ear during a rally.

Fischer writes for the Associated Press.

A BRIT dad who allegedly tried to drown his daughter-in-law on holiday has reportedly been freed from jail.

Mark Gibbon, 62, has been released on a £19,200 bail but he must wear an electronic tag and surrender his UK passport until his trial takes place.

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Gibbon and Jasmine Wyld, 33, got into a heated drunken row when on holiday together in Florida last month.

The grandad from Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, was initially accused of attempted murder after repeatedly holding Ms Wyld’s head underwater in a hotel pool, according to police.

It was later revealed the pair had been in a relationship for some time before the incident.

At a court hearing last week, the second degree attempted murder charge Gibbon was facing was downgraded to a charge of battery by strangulation.

And after almost a month behind bars, the Brit was allowed to leave his Florida jail cell after making bail.

Court records obtained by the Daily Mail show Gibbon met the terms of the £18,500) bail over the battery by strangulation charge.

He also had to pay £700 bail on a second charge of simple battery.

Last night a police spokesman confirmed: “Mr Gibbon has been in Polk County Jail since his arrest on August 3 because he was considered a flight risk. 

“He was granted bail but has to wear an ankle monitor, surrender his passport and stay within a restricted area.”

Gibbon is due back in court later this month with his trial expected to take place early next year. 

He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted on the battery by strangulation charge.

Investigators are continuing to look into the allegations first made by Ms Wyld in August.

She claimed that Gibbon, who also runs hairdressing business Sage Hairdressing, pushed her underwater after telling her she was not the main beneficiary of his will.

He reportedly admitted to pushing her but denied trying to kill her.

He claimed they had both been drinking when she slapped him as the situation escalated.

Ms Wyld initially told prosecutors she “could not breathe” and feared “she would drown”, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s office.

Her nine-year-old daughter is said to have been forced to leap into the hotel pool to try to “save” her.

Police reports added that Gibbon’s alleged attack left the mum with scratches and bruising.

Police were also making inquiries into whether the case should be treated as domestic violence.

Neighbours in Beaconsfield described Ms Wyld as the Brit granddad’s “girlfriend” – and said she was often seen at his £800,000 semi-detached home.

Family insiders also claimed Gibbon’s son Alex allegedly found Ms Wyld in his father’s bed around four years ago.

This is said to be around the time Alex and Ms Wyld called off their engagement in 2021.

One source told the Daily Mail: “Alex went up the stairs and found Jasmine in his father’s bed.

“They had a massive row. It’s torn the family apart… there’s been so much bad blood between Alex and his dad.”

The feud deepened when Alex was jailed for driving an £80,000 Porsche Cayenne into his father during a public row.

He was released seven months ago and the pair no longer speak.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida will work to phase out all childhood vaccine mandates in the state, building on the effort by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to curb vaccine requirements and other health mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DeSantis also announced on Wednesday the creation of a state-level “Make America Healthy Again” commission modeled after similar initiatives pushed at the federal level by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

On the vaccines, state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as an “immoral” intrusion on people’s rights bordering on “slavery,” and hampers parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.

“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” said Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, at a news conference in Valrico, Florida, in the Tampa area. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”

The state Health Department, Ladapo said, can scrap its own rules for some vaccine mandates, but others would require action by the Florida Legislature. He did not specify any particular vaccines but repeated several times the effort would end “all of them. Every last one of them.”

Florida would be the first state to eliminate so many vaccine mandates, Ladapo added.

In Florida, vaccine mandates for child day care facilities and public schools include shots for measles, chickenpox, hepatitis B, Diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP), polio and other diseases, according to the state Health Department’s website.

Under DeSantis, Florida resisted imposing COVID vaccines on schoolchildren, requiring “passports” for places that draw crowds, school closures and mandates that workers get the shots to keep their jobs.

“I don’t think there’s another state that’s done as much as Florida. We want to stay ahead of the curve,” the governor said.

The state “MAHA” commission would look into such things as allowing informed consent in medical matters, promoting safe and nutritious food, boosting parental rights regarding medical decisions about their children, and eliminating “medical orthodoxy that is not supported by the data,” DeSantis said. The commission will be chaired by Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and Florida first lady Casey DeSantis.

“We’re getting government out of the way, getting government out of your lives,” Collins said.

The commission’s work will help inform a large “medical freedom package” to be introduced in the Legislature next session, which would address the vaccine mandates required by state law and make permanent the recent state COVID decisions relaxing restrictions, DeSantis said.

“There will be a broad package,” the governor said.

Anderson writes for the Associated Press.

THIS is the moment US military forces bombed a drug running boat from the Tren de Aragua gang.

Dramatic footage shows a kinetic strike target and destroy a smuggling vessel in the Southern Caribbean.

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Washington designates Venezuela’s Tren de Agarua gang as a Maduro-backed terror group.

President Donald Trump, 79, confirmed US forces attacked the boat, killing 11.

Speaking from the Oval Office today, Trump said: “Over the last few minutes we just shot out a drug carrying boat, a lot of drugs on that boat.

“You’ll be seeing that, it just happened moments ago, our Great General and head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has been so incredible, including what took place in Iran knocking out potential nuclear power, I think within a month they would have had it if we didn’t do what we did.

“And there’s more where that came from. There’s a lot of drugs pouring into our country. These came out of Venezuela, a lot of things are coming out of Venezuela. We took it out.”

Meanwhile Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on X: ” The US military conducted a lethal strike… against a drug vessel which had departed from Venezuela and was being operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization.”

A senior defense official confirmed further information on the “precision strike” would “be made available at a later time.”

This comes amid rising tension between Caracas and Washington.

Last week the US leader sent warships to Venezuela as the country’s dictator moved 15,000 troops to the border with Colombia.

Three US destroyers and 4,000 marines are sailing towards the South American coastline as tensions skyrocket.

It comes after after Trump’s administration announced a $50million bounty on the ruthless tyrant’s head.

Trump has accused President Nicolas Maduro of “mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere”.

The White House previously accused the Tren de Aragua of having “unlawfully infiltrated the United States and are conducting irregular warfare and undertaking hostile actions against the United States.”

Trump also invoked the Alien Enemies Act against the Tren de Aragua gang as he continues efforts to speed up deportations.

The 1798 Act was last used to justify the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War 2.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 gives gargantuan levels of authority to the Republican to target and remove undocumented immigrants.

It is designed as a law to be invoked if the US is at war with another country or a nation has invaded the US or threatened to do so.

The proclamation called for all of those subject to the measure to be arrested, detained and removed immediately.

Trump said in a proclamation: “All Venezuelan citizens 14 years of age or older who are members of TdA, are within the United States, and are not actually naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the United States are liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured, and removed as Alien Enemies.”

But, a judge quickly blocked Trump from invoking the act and ordered any flights carrying the gang members to turn around with the order now set for a battle through the courts.

Tren de Aragua is a transnational criminal organisation and U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization from Venezuela.

Believed to have over 5,000 members, Homeland Security officials labeled the group “high-threat,” according to US media reports.

In comments after the strike today, the US president wrote on X: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, Military Forces conduced a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.

“TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere.

“The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States.

“The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No US Forces were harmed in this strike.

“Please let this serve as a notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

It comes as Trump has laughed off wild online rumours about his death, dismissing them as “fake news” during a primetime address after days of frenzied speculation over his health.

The president appeared on Tuesday to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado to Alabama.

He was then asked if he had seen the viral claims that he was no longer living.

“Really? I didn’t see that. That’s pretty serious!” Trump said, before insisting he had been busy behind the scenes.

“I did numerous interviews and had some pretty poignant posts on my social media site. I was very active over the weekend,” he added, noting that he also visited “some people” at his golf club in Sterling, Virginia.

The press conference had been called to announce that U.S. Space Command headquarters will move from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Huntsville, Alabama — a reversal of Joe Biden’s 2023 decision to keep the base in Colorado.

Trump originally reestablished Space Command in 2018, saying its mission was to defend U.S. interests in space.

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida taxpayers could be on the hook for $218 million the state spent to convert a remote training airport in the Everglades into an immigration detention center dubbed “ Alligator Alcatraz.”

The facility may soon be empty as a judge upheld her decision late Wednesday ordering operations to wind down indefinitely.

Shutting down the facility for the time being would cost the state $15 million to $20 million immediately, and it would cost another $15 million to $20 million to reinstall structures if Florida is allowed to reopen it, according to court filings by the state.

The Florida Division of Emergency Management will lose most of the value of the $218 million it has invested in making the airport suitable for a detention center, a state official said in court papers.

Built in just a few days, the facility consists of chain-link cages surrounding large white tents filled with rows of bunk beds. As of late July, state officials had already signed more than $245 million in contracts for building and operating the facility, which officially opened July 1.

President Trump toured the facility last month and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration races to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations.

The center has been plagued by reports of unsanitary conditions and detainees being cut off from the legal system.

It’s also facing several legal challenges, including one that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams ruled on late Wednesday. She denied requests to pause her order to wind down operations, after agreeing last week with environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe that the state and federal defendants didn’t follow federal law requiring an environmental review for the detention center in the middle of sensitive wetlands.

The Miami judge said the number of detainees was already dwindling, and the federal government’s “immigration enforcement goals will not be thwarted by a pause in operations.” That’s despite Department of Homeland Security lawyers saying the judge’s order would disrupt that enforcement.

When asked, the Department of Homeland Security wouldn’t say how many detainees remained and how many had been moved out since the judge’s temporary injunction last week.

“DHS is complying with this order and moving detainees to other facilities,” the department said Thursday in an emailed statement.

Environmental activist Jessica Namath, who has kept a nearly constant watch outside the facility’s gates, said Thursday that fellow observers had seen white tents hauled out but no signs of the removal of Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers or portable bathrooms.

“It definitely seems like they have been winding down operations,” Namath said.

Based on publicly available contract data, the Associated Press estimated the state allocated $50 million for the bathrooms. Detainees and advocates have described toilets that don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, although officials dispute such descriptions.

The facility was already being emptied of detainees as of last week, according to an email exchange shared with the AP on Wednesday. The executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, said on Aug. 22 “we are probably going to be down to 0 individuals within a few days,” in a message to a rabbi about chaplaincy services.

Funding is central to the federal government’s arguments that Williams’ order should be overturned by an appellate court.

Homeland Security attorneys said in a court filing this week that federal environmental law doesn’t apply to a state like Florida, and the federal government isn’t responsible for the detention center since it hasn’t spent a cent to build or operate the facility, even though Florida is seeking some federal grant money to fund a portion of the detention center.

“No final federal funding decisions have been made,” the attorneys said.

Almost two dozen Republican-led states also urged the appellate court to overturn the order. The 22 states argued in another court filing that the judge overstepped her authority and that the federal environmental laws applied only to the federal agencies, not the state of Florida.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ’ administration is preparing to open a second immigration detention facility dubbed “Deportation Depot” at a state prison in north Florida.

Civil rights groups filed a second lawsuit last month against the state and federal governments over practices at the Everglades facility, claiming detainees were denied access to the legal system.

A third lawsuit by civil rights groups on Aug. 22 described “severe problems” at the facility that were “previously unheard-of in the immigration system.”

Schneider and Payne write for the Associated Press.