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

The letter was included as part of a 50th birthday album compiled in 2003 for Epstein, a wealthy and well-connected financier who was once a friend of Trump's. The full House committee on Monday night released a copy of the entire album, which bore names of some other prominent figures such as former President Bill Clinton and attorney Alan Dershowitz in a “friends” section, and included other letters with sexually provocative language.

Trump has said he did not write the letter or create the drawing of a curvaceous woman that surrounds the letter, and he filed a $10 billion lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal for earlier reporting on his link to the letter.

“As I have said all along, it’s very clear President Trump did not draw this picture, and he did not sign it,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement posted on X. “President Trump’s legal team will continue to aggressively pursue litigation.”

White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich posted various pictures on X of Trump’s signature over the years and wrote, “it’s not his signature.”

New Chicago immigration campaign prompts confusion as city braces for federal intervention

CHICAGO (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security trumpeted the start of a new immigration operation Monday in Chicago, stirring up fresh confusion and anxiety as the city remained on alert for a federal intervention President Donald Trump has touted for days.

Blasting so-called sanctuary laws in Chicago and Illinois, the latest effort targets people without legal permission to live in the U.S. who have criminal records. Like other Trump administration plans, it was stamped with a splashy name, “Operation Midway Blitz,” and circulated on social media with the mugshots of 11 foreign-born men it said should be deported.

“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor (JB) Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” said a statement from DHS.

Pritzker, who has been locked in a back-and-forth with Trump for days, criticized the move. He and Mayor Brandon Johnson have defended the state and city's extensive sanctuary laws which bar coordination between local police and immigration agents. They’ve accused the Trump administration of using scare tactics, particularly with Latino residents in the nation’s third-largest city.

“Once again, this isn’t about fighting crime. That requires support and coordination — yet we’ve experienced nothing like that over the past several weeks,” Pritzker said in a statement. “Instead of taking steps to work with us on public safety, the Trump administration’s focused on scaring Illinoisians.”

Supreme Court lifts restrictions on LA immigration stops set after agents swept up US citizens

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for federal agents to conduct sweeping immigration operations for now in Los Angeles, the latest victory for President Donald Trump's administration at the high court.

The conservative majority lifted a restraining order from a judge who found that roving patrols were conducting indiscriminate stops in and around LA. The order had barred immigration agents from stopping people solely based on their race, language, job or location.

The court's 6-3 decision followed a pattern of at least temporarily allowing some of the Republican administration's harshest policies, while leaving room for the possibility of a different outcome after the legal case plays out fully. The net effect, meanwhile, has Trump pushing ahead in many of the areas he considers most critical.

The majority did not explain its reasoning, as is typical on the court's emergency docket. But Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the lower-court judge had gone too far in restricting how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents can carry out brief stops for questioning. "The prospect of such after-the-fact judicial second-guessing and contempt proceedings will inevitably chill lawful immigration enforcement efforts," he wrote in a concurrence.

In a stinging dissent joined by her two liberal colleagues, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the decision erodes constitutional freedoms.

Rupert Murdoch's family reaches deal on who will control media empire after his death

Rupert Murdoch’s family has reached a deal on control of the 94-year-old mogul’s media empire after his death, ensuring no change in direction at Fox News, the most popular network for President Donald Trump and conservatives.

The deal creates a trust establishing control of the Fox Corp. for Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s chosen heir who has been running Fox in recent years, along with his younger sisters, Grace and Chloe.

Lachlan Murdoch’s three older siblings, Prudence MacLeod, Elisabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch, give up any claims to control of Fox in exchange for stock currently valued at $3.3 billion, according to The New York Times, which first reported news of the deal.

The new trust will be in place until 2050, according to terms of the deal.

It ends a drama that has been like a real-life version of HBO’s “Succession,” only with huge financial implications and an impact on U.S. politics. Fox and its conservative opinion dominates news ratings, at points this summer more popular than the general broadcast networks, and is the go-to network for Trump and his team to spread news.

Attorney says detained Korean Hyundai workers had special skills for short-term jobs

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A lawyer for several workers detained at a Hyundai factory in Georgia says many of the South Koreans rounded up in the immigration raid are engineers and equipment installers brought in for the highly specialized work of getting an electric battery plant online.

Atlanta immigration attorney Charles Kuck, who represents four of the detained South Korean nationals, told The Associated Press on Monday that many were doing work that is authorized under the B-1 business visitor visa program. They had planned to be in the U.S. for just a couple of weeks and “never longer than 75 days,” he said.

“The vast majority of the individuals that were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that were South Korean were either there as engineers or were involved in after-sales service and installation,” Kuck said.

The raid Thursday at the battery factory under construction at Hyundai's sprawling auto plant west of Savannah resulted in the detainment of 475 workers, more than 300 them South Koreans. Some were shown being shackled with chains around their hands, ankles and waists in video released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

South Korea’s foreign minister was flying to the U.S. on Monday to secure his citizens' return on a charter flight to South Korea, where many people have expressed confusion, shock and a sense of betrayal.

Palestinian gunmen kill 6 people in attack on Jerusalem bus stop

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during the morning rush hour in Jerusalem on Monday, killing six people and wounding another 12, according to Israeli officials.

An Israeli soldier and civilians who were at the scene shot and killed the two attackers, said police, who later arrested a third person in connection with the shooting. Footage of the attack showed dozens of people fleeing from the bus stop at a busy intersection. The windshield of a bus was riddled with bullet holes and belongings were scattered across the street.

The war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, with a rise in attacks by Palestinian militants as well as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

Monday’s shooting — at a major intersection, with a road leading to Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem — was the deadliest in Israel since October 2024.

Later on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said two 14-year-old Palestinians had been shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin, where Israel has carried out several major military operations in recent years.

Freight train slams into a bus outside Mexico City and kills at least 10 people

ATLACOMULCO, Mexico (AP) — A freight train sheared a double-decker bus in half at a crossing northwest of Mexico City on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 55, authorities said.

The accident took place in an industrial area of warehouses and factories in the town of Atlacomulco, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of the Mexican capital.

The state of Mexico’s civil defense agency said on X that authorities were still working at the site of the accident, and the state prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation. The bus from the Herradura de Plata line was ripped apart by the collision.

Authorities said 10 people were killed and 55 were injured. Local media reports said the injured were taken to hospitals throughout the state.

The bus company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The train line, Canadian Pacific Kansas City of Mexico, confirmed the accident and sent its condolences to the families of the victims. The Calgary, Canada-based company said its personnel were on site and cooperating with authorities.

Stocks tick higher after Wall Street flirts with another record

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks drifted higher on Monday ahead of a week with several data reports that could dictate by how much or even whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in a week.

The S&P 500 added 0.2% and finished just below its record set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 114 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5% to its own all-time high.

AppLovin and Robinhood Markets helped lead the market after learning they will join the S&P 500 index later this month, along with Emcor Group. Many investment funds directly mimic the index or at least compare their performance against it, so a stock’s joining the list of the 500 largest companies can draw investors’ dollars immediately.

AppLovin climbed 11.6%, and Robinhood jumped 15.8% while Emcor slipped 0.6%. They will replace three companies that have shrunk enough in size to get demoted to S&P’s index of small stocks, the SmallCap 600. Those stocks, MarketAxess Holdings, Caesars Entertainment and Enphase Energy, ranged from a loss of 2.1% to a gain of 0.2%.

EchoStar jumped 19.9% after saying it agreed to sell spectrum licenses to Elon Musk’s SpaceX for $17 billion in cash and stock. SpaceX also agreed to pay for roughly $2 billion of interest payments on EchoStar debt through November 2027.

Howard Stern returns to SiriusXM radio show after trolling listeners

NEW YORK (AP) — Howard Stern, the popular and highly paid radio host, returned to SiriusXM's airwaves Monday after trolling listeners into thinking he had departed his long-running show.

Stern, 71, who evolved from his shock jock origins to become a respected interviewer, enlisted a seemingly flustered Andy Cohen at the top of “The Howard Stern Show” to pretend to be his successor. “This was supposed to be a cleaner hand off. I’m kind of winging it,” said Cohen.

Stern then came on the air and thanked the Bravo personality, who has his own SiriusXM show and podcast, for agreeing to do the bit. The stunt was the culmination of weeks of promos that promised a big reveal, following swirling speculation that Stern's show would be canceled. “The tabloids have spoken: Howard Stern fired, canceled,” one promo video said. “Is it really bye-bye Booey?” The speculation grew after Stern postponed his return from a summer break last week.

While he did return Monday, Stern did not announce that he had reached a new contract with SiriusXM. His current deal expires at the end of 2025.

“Here’s the truth: SiriusXM and my team have been talking about how we go forward in the future. They’ve approached me, they’ve sat down with me like they normally do, and they’re fantastic,” Stern said.

New Banksy mural of a judge beating a protester to be removed from outside London court

LONDON (AP) — A new mural by elusive street artist Banksy showing a judge beating an unarmed protester with a gavel will be removed from a wall outside one of London's most iconic courts, authorities said Monday.

The mural appeared Monday and depicts a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-splattered placard while a judge in a traditional wig and black gown beats him with a gavel. Banksy posted a photo of the work on Instagram, his usual method of claiming a work as authentic. It was captioned “Royal Courts Of Justice. London.”

Security officials outside the courthouse covered the artwork Monday with sheets of black plastic and two metal barriers, and it was being guarded by two officers and a security camera.

Because the Victorian gothic revival style building is 143 years old, the mural will be removed with consideration for its historical significance, according to HM Courts and Tribunals.

“The Royal Courts of Justice is a listed building and HMCTS are obliged to maintain its original character,” it said in a statement. Listed buildings are considered the country’s most significant historic buildings and sites and are protected by law.