AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT

US attacks Iran over ship being hit in Strait of Hormuz; Tehran lashes out again at Gulf Arab states

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States attacked Iran early Sunday morning over an Iranian strike on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz that set the container ship ablaze and forced its crew to abandon it. Iran apparently responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The strait has become the key sticking point in any further negotiations between Iran and the United States to find a permanent end to the war that began back on Feb. 28. About a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas passed through the strait before the war began. Iran’s grip on it during the war led to a global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it hit some 140 targets in the strikes, far more than the last two round, and went after missile and drone launch sites, ammunition dumps, communication equipment and other sites.

The attacks “degrade Iran’s ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial vessels freely transiting the strait,” it said.

The new crossfire in the Persian Gulf comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested an interim deal in the Iran war was “over.”

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Trump suggests a standing order to attack Iran if it assassinates him. But Vance would make the call

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting he has left standing orders for the U.S. military to destroy Iran “ at levels they’ve never seen before ” if Tehran follows through on its long-standing threats to kill him.

But the U.S. government has no way to create an automatic, preauthorized “dead man’s switch” that would prompt immediate retaliation.

Instead, if Trump were killed, the transfer of power to his successor is governed by the 25th Amendment and the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Vice President JD Vance instantaneously would become commander in chief and have authority for any retaliation.

Under such a scenario, Vance could do exactly what Trump called for, though there also is a chance he could decide not to follow his predecessor’s orders — or offer a direct response in a different way.

“The U.S. has, for a whole variety of reasons, never utilized a technical ‘dead man’s switch,’” said Garrett M. Graff, author of “Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die.”

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Dangerous heat wave threatens oppressive temperatures in much of the US

A widespread and dangerous heat wave was building across the U.S. on Saturday, with triple-digit highs expected in the Southwest and Great Plains this weekend before spreading eastward under a dome of high pressure that meteorologists say could trap oppressive temperatures for a week or more.

Forecasters advised people to stay hydrated and find places to cool off, warning of temperatures 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night — especially bad for people’s health because their bodies won’t have a chance to recover. The heat dome was expected to affect as much as two-thirds of the continental United States.

“The heat doesn’t necessarily stop when it’s dark out,” said Josh Adam, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, North Dakota, where temperatures will surpass 100 F (37 C) until Tuesday, a dramatic spike for a state where summer temperatures are typically in the 80s.

Tynika Smith of Bloomington, Minnesota, handed out frozen towels and wash cloths along with battery-operated fans at encampments of homeless people in nearby St. Paul and will continue next week, when temperatures are forecast to climb into the mid- to high 90s. The residents put the ice packs around their necks and on their heads.

“They can’t get into a car with air conditioning or go into a house,” said Smith, who also distributed water, freezer pops, food and hygiene supplies.

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New York Times reporters are subpoenaed after Air Force One stories, raising press freedom concerns

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice has subpoenaed New York Times journalists after they reported on security concerns involving the new, Qatari-gifted Air Force One, marking a dramatic escalation of President Donald Trump ’s campaign against the media that has drawn condemnation for eroding a fundamental freedom of American democracy.

The new jet, a present from the U.S. ally that the administration spent $400 million on to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week. But Trump used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran.

The subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan next week, the Times said, adding that federal agents delivered some subpoenas to the reporters at their homes.

They were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The journalists subpoenaed included Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt, the Times reported.

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A July 4 boat trip, an 18-year-old’s death and a family’s search for answers in the Deep South

NEW YORK (AP) — A week ago, 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells took a boat trip with friends to celebrate the Fourth of July on an island off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. He never came back.

Two days later, he was found dead. What happened, Wells’ parents say, is a mystery riddled with conflicting stories, implausible explanations and missing details. It is a case shadowed by the state’s fraught racial history and lingering distrust in law enforcement.

At a news conference Friday in New York City, Christine and Elmore Wonsley called for a thorough and transparent investigation into their son’s death, skeptical of claims that Wells told his friends to leave the island without him and suggestions that he, an elite athlete who knew how to swim, had accidentally drowned.

Wells’ body was found early Monday along the shore of Horn Island, about 7 miles (11.2 kilometers) off the Mississippi coast, more than a day after he was last seen alive. The roughly 11-mile long (17.7 kilometer) spit of land is near the Alabama state line. The island is uninhabited and accessible only by boat. About 200 people were there on July 4, the family’s lawyers said.

“We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn’t come home,” Christine Wonsley said, looking upward several times as she stood alongside her lawyer, Ben Crump, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who will officiate Wells’ funeral.

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Bellingham scores twice to lift England past Haaland and Norway 2-1 and into World Cup semifinals

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Jude Bellingham locked arms with teammate Harry Kane as England fans belted out the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.”

Bellingham certainly earned the serenade.

He scored twice on Saturday — an equalizer in the first half and the go-ahead goal in the third minute of extra time — to lift England past Norway 2-1 and into the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The Real Madrid star has now matched Kane with six goals in this tournament, two behind France’s Kylian Mbappé and Argentina’s Lionel Messi and one shy of Norway’s Erling Haaland, who was held scoreless by England. Bellingham also scored twice in the round of 16 as England beat co-host Mexico.

England, winner of the 1966 World Cup and facing pressure to return to the title match, is now one win away from getting there. The Three Lions will face Argentina in the semifinals.

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Alvarez’s 112th-minute goal helps lift Argentina past Switzerland 3-1 and into World Cup semifinals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Julian Alvarez sent defending champion Argentina into the World Cup semifinals with a long-range strike in the 112th minute against Switzerland, while another goal by Lautaro Martinez with seconds left in extra time only served to make the 3-1 victory look a whole lot easier than it was Saturday night.

Alexis Mac Allister also scored off a corner kick from Lionel Messi, helping La Albiceleste gut out another down-to-the-wire thriller and advance to play England on Wednesday in Atlanta. The Three Lions beat Norway 2-1 earlier in the day.

Messi’s nine-game World Cup scoring streak ended, but his pursuit of a second World Cup title continues.

The game swung in the second half on a call sure to rile up critics who believe Argentina has been favored in this tournament.

The Swiss had just tied the game on Dan Ndoye’s goal in the 67th minute when Leandro Paredes was shown a yellow card for a tackle on Breel Embolo. But video showed the Swiss player falling before the Argentina midfielder made contact with him, and since Embolo received a yellow card earlier in the match, he was sent off and Switzerland left to defend with 10 players.

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Shooting near Toronto street festival kills 2 people and wounds 4, police say

TORONTO (AP) — A shooting near a Toronto street festival killed two men and wounded four other people Saturday evening, police said, adding that what initially prompted an active-shooter warning was an exchange of gunfire between two people targeting each other.

Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said investigators recovered two firearms after the shooting that was reported at 8:12 p.m. near St. Clair Avenue West and Arlington Avenue, where the Salsa on St. Clair festival was underway.

No suspect or suspects had been arrested by the time of a late-night news conference, where Barredo confirmed both of the deceased victims were men.

Officers initially urged the public to avoid the area before later announcing the scene had been secured.

“There was some concern about an active shooter. That turned out not to be the case,” Barredo said. But the two gunmen involved in the shooting “indiscriminately put vast numbers of people in danger.”

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Missouri flooding leaves one dead, while rescuers helicopter more than 200 to safety at summer camp

A woman was found dead in Missouri on Saturday after heavy rainfall battered parts of the state the previous day, forcing numerous emergency rescues and evacuations, including at a summer camp with more than 200 children.

Several other states also faced the potential for severe thunderstorms and flash flooding as the slow moving storms moved southward.

The National Weather Service said the severe weather impacted a wide region stretching from the Ozark Mountains in southern Missouri eastward into much of the Ohio and Tennessee river valleys.

The service said the storms could bring damaging winds, heavy rainfall and scattered flash flooding to the multistate region, with some places seeing impacts into Sunday. In eastern Tennessee, flooding closed some roads and downed power lines, and authorities from Kentucky to West Virginia told people to be ready to seek higher ground.

Missouri’s Emergency Management Agency warned that while the storms move south and out of the state, further thunderstorms could still bring additional flash flooding, especially in areas that have already received 6 and 12 inches (15 and 30 centimeters) of rain.

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Mexican builder fatally shot by an ICE officer is mourned after making a life in the US

The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.

Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side.

It’s what he’d done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting has outraged Houston leaders and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Four Democratic members of Congress who represent the Houston area said at a vigil Saturday that they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.