AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Mar-a-Lago manager De Oliveira makes his first court appearance in Trump's classified documents case

MIAMI (AP) — The property manager of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate made his first court appearance on Monday facing charges in the classified documents case against the former president, but he did not enter a plea because he has not found a Florida-based attorney to represent him.

Carlos De Oliveira is accused of scheming with Trump to try to delete security footage sought by investigators probing the former president's hoarding of classified documents at his Palm Beach club. De Oliveira was added last week to the indictment with Trump and the ex-president's valet, Walt Nauta, and faces charges including conspiracy to obstruct justice and lying to investigators.

De Oliveira, wearing a blue suit and tie, answered questions from a magistrate judge during a brief hearing in Miami federal court. He was ordered to turn over his passport and sign an agreement to pay $100,000 if he doesn’t return to court. He was represented by Washington, D.C.-based attorney John Irving, but under court rules he needs local counsel to proceed with his arraignment, which was scheduled for Aug. 10 in Fort Pierce.

Irving told reporters after the hearing that he looks forward to seeing what potential evidence the Justice Department has. He declined to comment about whether De Oliveira has been asked to testify against Trump.

De Oliveira's court appearance comes as Trump braces for possible charges stemming from investigations into his efforts to cling to power after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Trump political committee has spent more than $40 million on lawyers' fees as his legal peril mounts

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump 's mounting legal woes are growing more expensive, leading his political operation to shell out tens of millions of dollars for attorneys' fees, request a large refund from a supportive super PAC and launch a new legal defense fund.

Since the beginning of this year, Save America, Trump's political action committee, has spent more than $40 million on legal fees for costs related to defending the former president, his aides and other allies, according to a person familiar with the spending who spoke on the condition of anonymity before Monday's campaign finance reporting deadline. The group also received a $12.2 million “refund” from Make America Great Again Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC that it had previously donated money to, records show. The legal spending figure was first reported by The Washington Post.

At the same time, Trump's allies are creating a new legal defense fund that will help pay the soaring legal fees as Trump faces dozens of criminal charges stemming from indictments in New York and Florida, with more expected as soon as this week. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, as it is called, is intended to raise money to defray costs for those “defending against legal actions arising from an individual or group’s participation in the political process,” according to a filing made last month with the IRS. The group will be run by Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Michael Glassner.

“The weaponized Department of Justice and the deranged Jack Smith have targeted innocent Americans associated with President Trump," said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. “In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden’s cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, a new legal defense fund will help pay for their legal fees." The fund was first reported by The New York Times.

Smith is the special counsel leading the federal investigations of Trump. His team has expressed interest in the payment of legal fees for Trump-aligned witnesses in the investigations and has sought information about it, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss ongoing criminal probes.

Phoenix has ended 31-day streak of highs at or above 110 degrees as rains ease a Southwest heat wave

PHOENIX (AP) — A record string of daily highs over 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) in Phoenix ended Monday as the dangerous heat wave that suffocated the Southwest throughout July receded slightly with cooling monsoon rains.

The historic heat began blasting the region in June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. Phoenix and its suburbs sweltered more and longer than most, with several records including the 31 consecutive days of 110 degrees Fahrenheit-plus (43.4 degrees Celsius) weather. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974.

The streak was finally broken Monday, when the high topped out at 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 Celsius) at 3:10 p.m.

“The high temperature for Phoenix today is 108 degrees,” Jessica Leffel, meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said at 5 p.m.

“The record streak of 31 straight days of 110+ degree temperatures has ended.,” the weather service said on social media. “The high temperature at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport reached 108 degrees this afternoon, which is only 2 degrees above normal.”

Here's how hot and extreme the summer has been, and it's only halfway over

At about summer's halfway point, the record-breaking heat and weather extremes are both unprecedented and unsurprising, hellish yet boring in some ways, scientists say.

Killer heat. Deadly floods. Smoke from wildfires that chokes.

And there’s no relief in sight.

Expect a hotter than normal August and September, American and European forecast centers predict.

“We are seeing unprecedented changes all over the world,” said NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt. “The heat waves that we’re seeing in the U.S. and in Europe, in China are demolishing records left, right and center. This is not a surprise.”

Idaho mom Lori Vallow Daybell sentenced in deaths of 2 children and her romantic rival

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho mother Lori Vallow Daybell has been sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in the murders of her two youngest children and a woman she saw as a romantic rival in a case that included bizarre claims that her son and daughter were zombies and that she was a goddess tasked with ushering in an apocalypse.

Vallow Daybell, 50, was found guilty in May of killing her two youngest children, 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, as well as conspiring to kill Tammy Daybell, her fifth husband’s previous wife. Vallow Daybell will serve three life sentences one after the other, the judge said.

The husband, Chad Daybell, is awaiting trial on the same murder charges. Vallow Daybell also faces two other cases in Arizona — one on a charge of conspiring with her brother to kill her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, and one of conspiring to kill her niece's ex-husband. Charles Vallow was shot and killed in 2019, but her niece's ex survived an attempt later that year. Vallow Daybell has not yet entered a plea on the Arizona charges.

At the Fremont County Courthouse in St. Anthony, Idaho, Judge Steven W. Boyce said the search for the missing children, the discovery of their bodies and the evidence photos shown in court left law enforcement and jurors traumatized, and he would never be able to get images of the slain children out of his head.

A parent killing their own children “is the most shocking thing really that I can imagine,” Boyce said.

Brain fog and other long COVID symptoms are the focus of new small treatment studies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Institutes of Health is beginning a handful of studies to test possible treatments for long COVID, an anxiously awaited step in U.S. efforts against the mysterious condition that afflicts millions.

Monday’s announcement from the NIH’s $1.15 billion RECOVER project comes amid frustration from patients who’ve struggled for months or even years with sometimes-disabling health problems — with no proven treatments and only a smattering of rigorous studies to test potential ones.

“This is a year or two late and smaller in scope than one would hope but nevertheless it’s a step in the right direction,” said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly of Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with NIH’s project but whose own research highlighted long COVID’s toll. Getting answers is critical, he added, because “there’s a lot of people out there exploiting patients’ vulnerability” with unproven therapies.

Scientists don’t yet know what causes long COVID, the catchall term for about 200 widely varying symptoms. Between 10% and 30% of people are estimated to have experienced some form of long COVID after recovering from a coronavirus infection, a risk that has dropped somewhat since early in the pandemic.

“If I get 10 people, I get 10 answers of what long COVID really is," U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said.

Pee-wee Herman actor and creator Paul Reubens dies from cancer at 70

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character — an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh — became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon, has died at 70.

Reubens, who’s character delighted fans in the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” and on the TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he kept private, his publicist said in a statement.

“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. “I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.”

Created for the stage, Pee-wee with his white chunky loafers and red bow tie would become a cultural constant in both adult and children's entertainment for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send the character into entertainment exile for years.

The staccato giggle that punctuated every sentence, catch phrases like “I know you are but what am I” and a tabletop dance to the Champs' song “Tequila” in a biker bar in “Pee-wee's Big Adventure” were often imitated by fans, to the joy of some and the annoyance of others.

Biden decides to keep Space Command in Colorado, rejecting move to Alabama

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has decided to keep U.S. Space Command headquarters in Colorado, overturning a last-ditch decision by the Trump administration to move it to Alabama. The choice ended months of thorny deliberations, but an Alabama lawmaker vowed to fight on.

U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Monday that Biden was convinced by the head of Space Command, Gen. James Dickinson, who argued that moving his headquarters now would jeopardize military readiness. Dickinson's view, however, was in contrast to Air Force leadership, who studied the issue at length and determined that relocating to Huntsville, Alabama, was the right move.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of Biden’s rationale for the decision.

In announcing the plans, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the decision was based on an “objective and deliberate process informed by data and analysis.” He said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin supported the president’s decision.

Reaction to the decision came fast and was sharply divided, as Colorado lawmakers praised it and Alabama officials slammed it as a political maneuver. “This fight is far from over,” warned Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.

IS claims responsibility for the bombing that killed 54 at a pro-Taliban election rally in Pakistan

KHAR, Pakistan (AP) — An Afghan branch of the Islamic State group on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 54 people at a pro-Taliban party's election rally, in one of the region's worst attacks in recent years.

Islamic State in Khorasan Province made the claim in a statement posted on its Amaq website. It said the attacker detonated an explosive vest, and that the bombing Sunday in the northwestern town of Bajur was part of the group's continuing war against forms of democracy it deems to be against Islam.

Hours earlier, hundreds of mourners in Bajur carried caskets draped in colorful cloths to burial sites following the previous day’s attack at the election rally for the Jamiat Ulema Islam party. Officials said the bombing killed 54 people, including at least five children, and wounded nearly 200.

The attack appeared to reflect divisions between Islamist groups, which have a strong presence in the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. The Jamiat Ulema Islam party has ties to the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban.

At least 1,000 people were crowded into a tent near a market for the rally ahead of fall elections, according to police.

US needs win or draw to avoid risk of elimination in group play for first time in Women's World Cup

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — The United States arrived at the Women's World Cup as the favorite to win an unprecedented third consecutive title. But after an underwhelming draw against the Netherlands, there's a real chance the Americans could be eliminated in group play for the first time in tournament history.

The U.S. plays Portugal in the third and final match of Group E play, and if Portugal pulls off an upset Tuesday at Eden Park in Auckland, the Americans could be in big trouble.

The United States needs to either win or draw against Portugal, one of eight teams playing in its first World Cup, to ensure the Americans continue to play in this tournament.

“I think we feel like we have to win everything all the time,” said American star Megan Rapinoe. “That’s the expectation for ourselves. That’s the expectation playing for U.S. national team. It’s just kind of like, ‘Why would you come into the World Cup if you don’t think that you should win it, and if you don’t think that you can win it?’”

The United States sits atop the group after a 3-0 victory over Vietnam in the tournament opener, and a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands last Thursday in Wellington. The Dutch are tied with the U.S. on points, but the Americans have the tiebreaker on goals scored.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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