By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Melania Trump on Tuesday invited students in grades K-12 to participate in a government-sponsored nationwide contest that is designed to encourage them to work together to use artificial intelligence tools to solve community issues.

Related Articles

Alexander Ramsey High’s class of ’75 finds time capsule, memories

‘Leave our kids alone’: Schools reopen in DC with parents on edge over Trump’s armed patrols

Twin Cities mom wants to help you have ‘The Talk’ with your kids

Judge strikes down Minnesota law banning religious tests for college credit program

New cellphone policies for many students this year. How have others worked?

“As someone who created an AI-powered audio book and championed online safety through the Take It Down Act, I’ve seen firsthand the promise of this powerful technology,” the first lady says in a short video announcing the Presidential AI Challenge. “Now, I pass the torch of innovation to you.”

“Just as America once led the world into the skies, we are poised to lead again,” she continued. “This time, in the age of AI.”

Every student from kindergarten through 12th grade is invited to “unleash their imagination and showcase the spirit of American innovation,” Trump said.

Students who sign up will complete a project using an artificial intelligence method or tool to address a community challenge.

Michael Kratsios, director of the White House science and technology office, said the possibilities for the projects are “endless” but the aim of the challenge is to get students to work together since they will use artificial intelligence in adulthood.

“We want to have America’s youth plugged in and working on and using AI tools,” he said Tuesday during an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends.”

Registration opens Tuesday on the website. An adult mentor or teacher must sponsor a team. Submissions are due by the end of December. Regional competitions will be held in the spring, followed by a White House event with the national winners, Kratsios said.

The contest was called for in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on advancing artificial intelligence education for American youth.

The first lady announced in May that audio version of her 2024 memoir, “Melania,” was “narrated entirely using artificial intelligence — in my own voice.”

She also highlighted a negative side to AI when she lobbied Congress to pass legislation imposing penalties for online sexual exploitation using imagery that is real or an AI-generated deepfake. President Trump signed the Take It Down Act into law in May and had the first lady sign it, too.

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB

BEIRUT (AP) — Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to invest in an economic zone in south Lebanon near the border with Israel that would create jobs for members of the militant Hezbollah group and its supporters once they lay down their weapons, President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East said Tuesday.

Related Articles

Australia accuses Iran of organizing antisemitic attacks and expels ambassador

Pregnancy has become a nightmare for many women in Nigeria’s conflict-hit north

Dozens wounded as Israel raids West Bank city where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered

Israeli military says strike on Gaza hospital was targeting a Hamas camera

Iran faces ‘snapback’ of sanctions over its nuclear program. Here’s what that means

Tom Barrack made his comments in Beirut after trips to Israel and Syria where he discussed with officials there the ongoing situation in Lebanon following this month’s decision by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. Hezbollah’s leader rejected the government’s plan, vowing to keep the weapons.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces could begin withdrawing from territory they hold in southern Lebanon after the Lebanese government’s “momentous decision” to disarm Hezbollah.

The U.S.-backed Lebanese army is preparing a plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament that should be ready by the end of August. The government is expected to discuss the army’s plan and approve it during a meeting scheduled for Sept. 2.

“We have to have money coming into the system. The money will come from the Gulf,” Barrack told reporters after meeting President Joseph Aoun. “Qatar and Saudi Arabia are partners and are willing to do that for the south (of Lebanon) if we’re asking a portion of the Lebanese community to give up their livelihood.”

“We have 40,000 people that are being paid by Iran to fight. What are you gonna do with them? Take their weapon and say ‘by the way, good luck planting olive trees’? It can’t happen. We have to help them,” Barrack said. He was referring to tens of thousands of Hezbollah members who have been funded since the early 1980s by Tehran.

“We, all of us, the Gulf, the U.S., the Lebanese are all gonna act together to create an economic forum that is gonna produce a livelihood,” Barrack said.

When asked why the U.S. doesn’t go to discuss the Hezbollah issue directly with Iran rather than traveling to Israel and Syria, Barrack said: “You think that’s not happening? Goodbye.” Barrack then ended his news conference and walked out of the room.

Speaking on the U.N. peacekeeping force that has been deployed in south Lebanon since Israel first invaded the country in 1978, Barrack said the U.S. would rather fund the Lebanese army than the force that is known as UNIFIL. Speaking about this week’s vote at the United Nations in New York, Barrack said the U.S. backs extending UNIFIL’s term for one year only.

Conflict escalated to war in September 2024, before November ceasefire

A low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza, when Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border in support of its Palestinian ally. The conflict escalated into war in September 2024 and left more than 4,000 people dead, and caused destruction worth $11 billion in Lebanon, according to the World Bank.

The war ended in November with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and since then Hezbollah says it has ended its presence along the border area. Israel has continued almost daily airstrikes that have killed dozens of Hezbollah members.

Amnesty International in a report released Tuesday said it had identified more than 10,000 buildings that were “heavily damaged or destroyed” in southern Lebanon between October 2024 and January this year.

Israeli forces remained in much of the border area for weeks after the ceasefire agreement went into effect and are still holding five strategic points.

Amnesty’s report alleged that Israeli forces may have violated international law by destroying civilian property in areas they were controlling with “manually laid explosives and bulldozers” after the active fighting had ended and there was no longer an “imperative military necessity.”

Barrack chides journalists before news conference, provoking ire

At the start of the joint news conference with U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, Barrack warned journalists at the presidential palace to be quiet, telling them to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.” He threatened to end the conference early otherwise.

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, left, speaks during a joint press conference with U.S. deputy special envoy for Middle East peace Morgan Ortagus, after their meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

“The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone,” said Barrack. He then asked: “Do you think this is economically beneficial for Morgan and I to be here putting up with this insanity?”

None of the journalists present responded to his comments but the Lebanese press syndicate issued a statement about the “inappropriate treatment” that the Lebanese journalists were subjected to and called on Barrack and the State Department to apologize. It added that if no apology were made, it could escalate by calling for boycotting Barrack’s visits and meeting.

The Presidential Palace also issued a statement regretting the comments made by “one of our guests” and greeted journalists who cover news at the palace, thanking them for their “hard work.”

Associated Press writer Abby Sewell contributed to this report.

By ROD McGUIRK

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Iran of organizing two antisemitic attacks in Australia and said the country was cutting off diplomatic relations with Tehran in response on Tuesday.

Related Articles

US envoy: Saudi Arabia, Qatar to invest in Lebanon economic zone for disarmed Hezbollah

Pregnancy has become a nightmare for many women in Nigeria’s conflict-hit north

Dozens wounded as Israel raids West Bank city where the Palestinian Authority is headquartered

Israeli military says strike on Gaza hospital was targeting a Hamas camera

Iran faces ‘snapback’ of sanctions over its nuclear program. Here’s what that means

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization, or ASIO, concluded that Iran had directed arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company in Sydney, in October 2024 and on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months later, Albanese said.

Shortly before the announcement, the Australian government told Iran’s Ambassador to Australia Ahmad Sadeghi that he will be expelled. It also withdrew Australian diplomats posted in Iran to a third country, Albanese said.

An alert to Australians in Iran noted the embassy’s closure and urged them to “strongly consider leaving as soon as possible, if it is safe to do so.”

“Foreigners in Iran, including Australians and dual Australian-Iranian nationals, are at a high risk of arbitrary detention or arrest,” the warning read.

Australia updated its warning to travelers to its highest level: “Do not travel” to Iran.

Iran’s government denied the allegations, while its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called Albanese a “weak politician.”

“Iran is paying the price for the Australian people’s support for Palestine,” Araghchi wrote on the social platform X. “Canberra should know better than to attempt to appease a regime led by war criminals.”

Last week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also branded Albanese a “weak politician who had betrayed Israel” after an Aug. 11 announcement by Albanese that his government’s recognition of a Palestinian state will be formalized at the United Nations General Assembly in September.

‘Dangerous acts of aggression’

Police have already arrested at least one suspect in the Sydney cafe fire investigation and two suspects directly accused of torching the Melbourne synagogue.

Fire crews and police at the scene of a fire at the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne, Australia, Dec. 6, 2024. (Con Chronis/AAP Image via AP)

Sayed Mohammed Moosawi, a 32-year-old Sydney-based former chapter president of the Nomads biker gang, has been charged with directing the fire bombings of the Sydney café as well as the nearby Curly Lewis Brewery. The brewery was apparently confused for the café and mistakenly targeted three days earlier for an antisemitic attack.

Giovanni Laulu, a 21-year-old man from Melbourne, was charged last month with being one of three masked arsonists who caused extensive damage to the synagogue in December.

A second alleged arsonist, a 20-year-old man also from Melbourne, is expected to appear in court Wednesday, a police statement said. He has not been publicly named.

“ASIO has now gathered enough credible intelligence to reach a deeply disturbing conclusion,” Albanese told reporters. “The Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. Iran has sought to disguise its involvement but ASIO assesses it was behind the attacks.

“These were extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression orchestrated by a foreign nation on Australian soil,” he said. “They were attempts to undermine social cohesion and sow discord in our community. It is totally unacceptable.”

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that Canberra would keep some diplomatic lines open to Tehran to advance Australia’s interests. She added that it was the first time Australia has expelled an ambassador since World War II.

Terrorist organization

Albanese said that Australia will legislate to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Australia’s law makes providing support to a listed terrorist organization a crime.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, right, and Director-General of ASIO Mike Burgess speak to the media during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)

The government has previously rejected calls to list the Revolutionary Guard under existing terrorism laws because it is a government entity.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has been accused of carrying out attacks abroad in the past, though it broadly denies any involvement. The Guard’s Quds, or Jerusalem, Force is its expeditionary arm and is accused by Western nations of using local militants and criminals in the past to target dissidents and Israelis abroad.

A spokesperson for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry welcomed the terrorist designation for the Revolutionary Guard, adding in a statement that the group was “outraged” that a foreign actor was behind the crimes.

“Foremost, these were attacks that deliberately targeted Jewish Australians, destroyed a sacred house of worship, caused millions of dollars of damage, and terrified our community,” the statement said.

Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Israel has arrested several people on charges they had been paid or encouraged by Iran to carry out vandalism and monitor potential targets there.

‘A matter of community cohesion’

Iran denied Australia’s allegations through its Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei, who tried to link it to the challenges Australia faced with Israel after announcing it would recognize a Palestinian state.

“It looks like that the action, which is against Iran, diplomacy and the relations between the two nations, is a compensation for the criticism that the Australians had against the Zionist regime,” Baghaei claimed.

Albanese previously resisted calls to expel Iran’s envoy to Canberra before, analysts said, including in 2024 when Sadeghi was summoned for meetings with foreign ministry officials over his social media posts.

Michael Shoebridge, a former Australian defense and security official and director of the think tank Strategic Analysis Australia, said he didn’t believe the move was prompted by Israel’s complaints.

“I don’t think that’s a matter of Australia-Israel relations, but a matter of community cohesion here in Australia,” he said.

Suspected foreign actors

There has been a steep rise in antisemitic incidents in Sydney and Melbourne since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023.

Australian authorities have previously said they suspect that foreign actors are paying local criminals-for-hire to carry out attacks in the country.

Neither ASIO director-general Mike Burgess nor Albanese explained what evidence there was of Iranian involvement.

Burgess said no Iranian diplomats in Australia were involved.

“This was directed by the IRGC through a series of overseas cut-out facilitators to coordinators that found their way to tasking Australians,” Burgess said.

While antisemitic incidents increased in Australian after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 2023, Iran was responsible for a transition in October last year when the violence more directly targeted people, businesses and places of worship, Burgess said.

“Iran started the first of those,” Burgess said.

Previous versions of this story incorrectly reported that Albanese accused Iran of directing an attack on a Melbourne mosque rather than a Melbourne synagogue, and incorrectly spelled the name of that synagogue. It was the Adass Israel Synagogue.

Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington, New Zealand; and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran contributed to this report.

By KIKI SIDERIS and ISABELLA O’MALLEY

Having air conditioning at home is a luxury that keeps people comfortable during the hottest months of the year, and it’s debated whether the AC should stay blasting or be turned off when people head to work during the day.

Related Articles

Firefighters and weather are stabilizing Oregon wildfire. Flames so far spare California wineries

To get that perfect ear of corn, weather has to cooperate. But climate change is making it dicier

Democrats demand Trump resume a major offshore wind project near Rhode Island

St. Paul company redeveloping Lakeside Club in Mahtomedi fined for asbestos violations

Green spaces are key to combating record heat in marginalized communities

Some swear that turning off the AC when they’re gone for a few hours is the most energy-efficient, costing-saving method. Others say it’s better to leave it running continuously, preventing the system from straining to rapidly cool the house down after the home has gotten warmer throughout the day.

Three experts interviewed by The Associated Press agreed that setting the thermostat a few degrees higher than normal while you’re away is generally the best way to balance energy efficiency against comfort and humidity.

While turning an AC unit off for several hours and turning it back on typically saves money and energy compared to continuously running it, that approach can lead to mold problems in humid environments as well as wear and tear that can cause more frequent repairs. The equation can also vary depending on other factors including comfort level, AC unit type and building insulation.

Air conditioning strategies differ in humid or dry climates

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, adjusting your thermostat by 7-10 degrees Fahrenheit for eight hours a day can save up to 10% a year on heating and cooling.

Experts say there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding what AC habits save the most energy and money.

“If you’re gone for like 15 minutes to go to the grocery store, you don’t get any gain” by turning off your AC said Elizabeth Hewitt, professor and urban planning expert at Stony Brook University.

But as a general rule, “if you’re going for your work day, say for eight hours or so, you’ll almost always save more energy and money by turning things off,” she said.

In some climates, however, turning off the AC might not be feasible, so residents can set back their AC a few degrees instead of blasting cold air all day.

In dry places like Arizona, you can let the home warm up more by raising the thermostat a few degrees higher. But in humid climates like Florida, air inside the home can become damp and harder to cool, and turning the AC off for long periods can increase the risk of mold since the system helps control indoor moisture.

Bumping up the thermostat by 1 degree Fahrenheit  yields about a 3% savings in cooling costs, said Patrick Phelan, mechanical engineering professor at Arizona State University.

Phelan also said leaving your AC off for hours and then turning it back on could lead to wear that results in more frequent repairs. That is because it can take AC systems 15 to 30 minutes after they are turned on to perform most efficiently.

How much energy and money you can save depends on the kind of home you live in, said Gregor Henze, an architectural engineering professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Homes built with heavy materials like concrete or brick hold in cool air longer, while older, draftier houses heat up faster. In less insulated homes, Henze said, it makes sense to adjust the thermostat even if you’re stepping out for just a few hours, because the indoor temperature can rise quickly.

Some AC units save more energy than others

Whether you have a window unit, a smart thermometer or central air could influence your savings.

Window units are generally less efficient because they’re installed in an open window, making it difficult to seal out hot air completely, said Hewitt. She added that spraying “cheap foam spray insulation in open windows or areas that are drafty is a really low-hanging fruit that doesn’t cost a lot of money and really helps retain the indoor temperature in your home.”

Phelan says smart thermostats are a handy tool to remove the mental burden of tinkering with your manual thermostat multiple times a day. Smart thermostats “learn” by monitoring the occupancy with a sensor and raise the temperature when no one is home to conserve energy and lower it when people return.

“If you’re going from just an ordinary manual thermostat to installing a smart one like a Nest, then you can expect something like 10% savings,” said Phelan.

Air conditioning for residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. consumes about 4-7% of the nation’s total energy consumption, according to a study Phelan co-authored. “That is a lot. And that’s not counting, say, cooling going to data centers, which is a different category entirely,” he said.

How to cool your home without air conditioning

Each expert said simple steps like blocking sunlight can go a long way in keeping homes cool.

Henze pointed to “time-honored strategies” such as opening windows at night when it’s cooler. In dry climates, that night air doesn’t add much moisture, but in humid regions it can bring in dampness the AC will later need to remove.

Hewitt added that closing your blinds can make a difference of several degrees.

Phelan also noted that some blinds are designed to reflect sunlight and said tinted window films are another option.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.