AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT

Days of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East by Iran and the U.S., and both nations’ attempts to assert control over the Strait of Hormuz, threaten to push the region back to all-out war.

More than 30 people have been killed over “recent days,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said, without elaborating. Seven of the dead came from the attack on the barracks in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The U.S. first imposed the blockade in mid-April and then lifted it in mid-June, a day after signing the interim deal that set a 60-day period for negotiations over issues like Iran’s nuclear program, but talks have stalled as fighting over the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade passes during peacetime, has intensified.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the blockade.

World shares are mixed and oil prices climb as Iran threatens to block Middle East energy exports

TOKYO (AP) — World shares were mixed on Wednesday and oil prices climbed after Iran threatened to block Middle East energy exports now that the U.S. has resumed its blockade of Iranian ports.

Stock price gains overall were moderate given worries that the United States and Iran may return to an all-out war. Renewed attacks in the Middle East have raised the risks of further disruptions of transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing oil prices higher.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard threatened Wednesday to halt all energy exports from the Middle East over the U.S. blockade. U.S. President Donald Trump announced Monday that the blockade was resumed as an interim agreement on ending the war unraveled.

“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” said the statement by the Iranian side.

Brent crude, the international standard, rose 0.6% to $85.23 a barrel, while benchmark U.S. crude gained 0.7% to $79.89 a barrel.

Trump administration orders ICE to suspend most vehicle stops after 2 deadly shootings

BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday.

The policy change came after an ICE officer shot and killed a Colombian driver Monday in Maine and a week after one shot and killed a motorist in Houston, renewing criticism of the agency’s enforcement tactics that were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.

In Florida on Tuesday, a third man in roughly a week died during an encounter with immigration officers. This time, a 28-year-old man was killed after he was hit by a tractor trailer while running from immigration and other federal officers, authorities said.

The suspension of vehicle stops allows room for exceptions when executing a criminal warrant or working with partner agencies, according to a person who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive law enforcement operations. Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Maine Sen. Angus King, said the senator’s office was also told by the Department of Homeland Security that ICE was suspending stops.

Hundreds of people in Maine protested Tuesday over the fatal shooting of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian national.

Man fleeing immigration officers in Florida is struck and killed by tractor trailer, police say

A man running from an encounter with immigration and other federal agents in Florida was struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Tuesday, authorities said.

It was the third death in a week involving encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, following shootings in Texas and Maine.

The 28-year-old was among four occupants of a vehicle that stopped in the parking lot of a gas station and convenience store in the St. Augustine area before 7 a.m. During an encounter with agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations, the four fled on foot, with one darting across a busy road into the path of the semi, Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Dylan Bryan said in an emailed statement.

The driver of the semi stopped and tried to help the man, Bryan said.

It was at least the 10th death involving encounters with immigration agents since President Donald Trump launched his mass deportation campaign last year.

26 Meta employees sue, alleging AI-driven layoff picks hit workers on medical and parental leave

A group of 26 Meta employees has sued the company, claiming it used artificial intelligence systems to select people for layoffs, disproportionately targeting those on medical, parental or family leave.

They are among the 8,000 employees, or about 10% of its workforce, Meta said it would lay off in May. The lawsuit filed late Monday in federal court in Oakland, California, claims the company used internal AI systems, keystroke and activity-monitoring data, AI token-usage dashboards and algorithmically assisted performance rankings, among other methods, to determine who would be laid off.

Many of these scores and ratings “by design, cannot be accumulated by an employee who is on protected medical or family leave, or whose output is reduced by a disability,” the lawsuit says. Meta, according to the lawsuit, did not account for protected leave when taking employees' scores into account and “did not pause the system for the individualized, leave- and accommodation-neutral review that the law requires.”

As a result, people on protected medical or family leave were disproportionately selected for layoffs, the lawsuit says. Each of the 26 anonymous employees in the lawsuit took protected leave and requested or received a reasonable accommodation for disability. Though they have been notified of their layoffs, all 26 remain employed by Meta, with separations set to begin July 22.

Many of the employees in the lawsuit took pregnancy or parental leave, during which time they wouldn't have worked and thus had their measured output reduced. Others took medical leave — one disclosed a “serious health condition and disability” that was approved by Meta's own provider. But according to the lawsuit, he was “discouraged and deterred from taking that leave by a manager” who warned that doing so would result in his selection for the anticipated layoffs. Meta offered no accommodation for his disability, the lawsuit says.

Trump will speak on elections in primetime address after pushing debunked conspiracies

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address this week that he says will include a focus on elections, suggesting he could revisit long-debunked conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The speech comes as he's escalated calls for Republicans to pass tighter federal voting rules for November’s midterm elections.

The Republican president has been guarded about what he plans to say in the 9 p.m. Thursday speech, scheduled as he confronts a collapsing deal to end the war with Iran. He also faces numerous domestic issues, including recent deadly shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Asked for a preview of the speech on Tuesday, Trump offered scant detail but said he has “really big news.”

“It doesn’t get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country,” Trump said in the Oval Office. He refused to go further, saying he wanted to “save it” for the moment, though he also hinted he would be talking about a hodgepodge of issues.

“We’ll be discussing other things, too,” Trump said, without elaborating. “It’s going to be a very big announcement.”

Trump has used the power of the primetime presidential address — typically reserved for milestones — to deliver politically charged speeches before, including one in December when he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats. But Thursday's address seems poised to go even further, using the moment to amplify election lies before an audience of millions in an effort to boost Republican prospects before midterms that threaten to hobble Trump for the remainder of his term.

Darline Graham, sister of late Sen. Lindsey Graham, has been sworn in to finish his term

WASHINGTON (AP) — Darline Graham, the sister of the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, was sworn in to the Senate on Tuesday afternoon — filling the seat just three days after her brother’s death.

Graham was appointed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday to fill the remaining months of her brother’s current term and arrived in Washington just a day later to take the oath of office. Senators, staff and family members looked on in the packed chamber, many of them visibly emotional, as Graham was sworn in by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the most senior Republican senator.

A separate special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Lindsey Graham’s seat, as he had been seeking a fifth term this year.

Darline Graham, who will be the state’s first female senator, has not previously held public office. She has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She is married to Larry Nordone but will be known in the Senate as Darline Graham, her legal name.

She said on Monday that her older brother, who raised her after their parents died, had always been there for her. “And now, I will be there for him,” she said.

House passes bill to 'ditch the switch' and make daylight saving time permanent

WASHINGTON (AP) — There will be no turning back the clock if the House has its way.

The House passed a bill Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent. Proponents, including the White House, argued the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. The vote was 308-117.

Daylight saving time is that period between spring and fall when clocks in most parts of the United States are set one hour ahead of standard time. States could opt out if their respective legislatures act to do so before the bill's enactment. The Senate would also have to pass the bill before it could be signed into law, but it’s unclear if it will do so.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., said Americans are ready to “ditch the switch," saying that changing the clock twice a year creates unnecessary disruption. More important, he said, it would give families more daylight time in the evening to spend outdoors and support local businesses.

“In my home state of Florida where tourism is a cornerstone of our economy, having more predictable daylight hours is a practical improvement that benefits workers, businesses and visitors alike,” Bilirakis said.

British leader Starmer faces his last question session in Parliament before leaving office next week

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will answer questions from lawmakers in the House of Commons for the last time Wednesday before he leaves office next week.

At noon, Starmer will bid farewell to the boisterous weekly Prime Minister’s Questions sessions where he has traded barbs with opposition politicians and defended his government’s record. Then, on Monday, he will step down after just two years in office, handing over power to a new Labour Party leader, Andy Burnham.

Britain’s parliamentary democracy allows governing parties to change leaders, and thus prime ministers, without the need for a general election. The next national election does not have to be held until 2029.

Starmer was elected in a landslide in July 2024, but is quitting after two years in office marred by missteps and judgment errors that eroded his standing with his party and the public.

He struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living. And he was hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as U.K. ambassador to the United States.

Death toll from Bangkok bar fire rises to 32 as 2 more die in hospital

BANGKOK (AP) — Survivors and family members of victims of a deadly bar fire in Bangkok visited a nearby police station on Wednesday to seek compensation, gather belongings and share statements from the blaze.

The fire, which broke out on Sunday night, killed at least 32 people and left more than 70 injured, 15 of whom are still in critical condition, according to the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.

The cause of the fire at the Rong Beer Na Ladprao bar is still under investigation.

Most of the people who were killed were found trapped in windowless bathrooms, where they may have sought to escape the flames, police said.

Wiroon Supasingsiripreecha, chief of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, told reporters Wednesday that most of the victims died from smoke inhalation, while a few died from burn injuries.