By MARK SHERMAN and JACK DURA, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked a lower-court ruling in a redistricting dispute in North Dakota that would gut a landmark federal civil rights law for millions of people.

The justices indicated in an unsigned order that they are likely to take up a federal appeals court ruling that would eliminate the most common path people and civil rights groups use to sue under a key provision of the 60-year-old Voting Rights Act.

The case could be argued as early as 2026 and decided by next summer.

Three conservative justices, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas, would have rejected the appeal.

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The court also has a separate redistricting case over a second majority Black congressional district in Louisiana. The justices heard arguments in March, but took the rare step of calling for a new round of arguments in their term that begins in October. They have yet to spell out what issues they want discussed.

In the North Dakota case, the Spirit Lake Tribe and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, with reservations 60 miles apart, argued that the state’s 2021 legislative map violated the act by diluting their voting strength and ability to elect their own candidates.

The case went to trial in 2023, and a federal judge later ordered the use of a map of the area, including the reservations that led to the election last year of three Native Americans, all Democrats, to the Republican-supermajority Legislature.

But in a 2-1 ruling issued in May, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only the Justice Department can bring such lawsuits under the law’s Section 2.

The 8th Circuit also had ruled in an Arkansas case in 2023 that private individuals can’t sue under the same provision.

More than 90 percent of Section 2 cases have been brought through private enforcement, UCLA law professor Richard Hasen wrote on the Election Law blog.

The 8th Circuit rulings conflict with decades of decisions by appellate courts that have affirmed the rights of private individuals to sue under Section 2.

The Supreme Court often will step in when appeals courts around the country come to different decisions on the same legal issue.

The 8th Circuit covers seven states: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. In the wake of the Arkansas decision, Minnesota and other states moved to shore up voting rights with state-level protections.

Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

By JOHN O’CONNOR and SARAH RAZA, Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture will move thousands of employees out of the nation’s capital in a reorganization the agency says will put them closer to customers while saving money, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Thursday.

Around 2,600 workers — more than half the Washington, D.C. workforce — will be moved to five hubs stretching from North Carolina to Utah, Rollins said. The union representing federal workers immediately criticized the plan as a ploy to cut federal jobs, pointing out that some 95% of the department’s employees already work outside Washington.

The move is part of President Donald Trump’s effort to make the federal government slimmer and more efficient, which received a Supreme Court boost this month.

“American agriculture feeds, clothes, and fuels this nation and the world, and it is long past time the department better serve the great and patriotic farmers, ranchers, and producers we are mandated to support,” Rollins said in a statement.

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The goal is to re-size the department so that costs don’t outstrip available finances, as well as eliminate layers of management and consolidate redundant functions, the statement said. The department expects the plan to take several months.

The five hubs are in Raleigh, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Fort Collins, Colorado; Indianapolis and Salt Lake City.

Although it’s important to be closer to farmers and ranchers, Chad Hart, a professor of agricultural economics at Iowa State University, said taking those employees out of Washington risks losing an important connection to Congress.

“You want that balance” to ensure effective farm policy, Hart said.

Much of the government savings could come from employees who choose not to relocate, Hart said. He added that the agricultural community is concerned about a “bumpy transition” reminiscent of similar action during Trump’s first term, when it took relocated Agriculture offices months to get up and running again.

Everett Kelley, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the labor union representing federal workers, had a sharper critique. He said about 85% of all federal employees already work outside the capital, but insisted Washington “is the center of our nation’s government for a reason.”

Workers at headquarters help coordinate between senior leaders and field offices, Kelley said, and they ensure the agency has a “seat at the table” when lawmakers and the White House make decisions that affect farmers nationwide.

“I’m concerned this reorganization is just the latest attempt to eliminate USDA workers and minimize their critical work,” the union leader said.

The Agriculture Department reported that its headcount grew by 8% over the past four years, with salaries increasing by 14.5%. The statement from Rollins said the 4,600 employees in and around Washington are “underutilized and redundant” and housed in underused buildings with billions of dollars in deferred maintenance.

In the Washington region, the department will vacate three buildings and examine the best use of three others. One building set to be abandoned has $1.3 billion in needed but delayed maintenance and has room for 6,000 employees while only housing 1,900.

Wages will fall too, Rollins promised. The capital region is among the nation’s costliest to live, and department employees there are paid a surcharge of 34% to keep ahead of the cost of living. The surcharges range from 17.1% in Salt Lake City to 30.5% in Fort Collins.

Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

BANGKOK (AP) — Armed clashes broke out Thursday between Thailand and Cambodia in long-disputed border areas, rapidly escalating months-long tensions.

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The fighting included gunfire exchanges and shelling and rocket fire, which Thai authorities said killed at least nine Thai civilians and injured 14 others in three provinces. Thailand responded with air strikes.

It was the second armed confrontation since a Cambodian soldier was shot dead in May and a major escalation that came hours after the two countries downgraded diplomatic relations following a land mine explosion that injured Thai soldiers.

Clashes are ongoing in at least six areas along the border, the Thai Defense Ministry said. The first clash Thursday morning happened in an area near the ancient Ta Muen Thom temple along the border of Surin and Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.

Here’s what to know about the dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

How the dispute began

The dispute flared in May after armed forces of Thailand and Cambodia briefly fired at each other in a relatively small, contested border area that each country claims as its own.

Both sides said they acted in self-defense. One Cambodian soldier was killed.

While the countries said afterwards they agreed to de-escalate the situation, Cambodian and Thai authorities continued to implement or threaten measures short of armed force, keeping tensions high.

Thailand added tight restrictions at the border with Cambodia that stopped almost all crossings except for students, medical patients and others with essential needs. On Thursday, Thai authorities announced they were sealing the border entirely.

Cambodia also banned Thai movies and TV shows, stopped the import of Thai fuel, fruits and vegetables and boycotted some of its neighbor’s international internet links and power supply.

Fighting sparks political turmoil in Thailand

Nationalist passions on both sides have inflamed the situation.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended from office July 1 to be investigated for possible ethics violations over her handling of the border dispute following a leaked phone call with a senior Cambodian leader.

In the June call, Paetongtarn referred to Cambodian former Prime Minister Hun Sen as “uncle” and criticized Thai military leadership, remarks framed by critics as disrespectful to national sovereignty.

Hun Sen was succeeded by his son Hun Manet in 2023 but remains influential as Senate president. He was a longtime friend of her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, a popular but divisive former prime minister, but they became estranged over the border dispute.

The leaked call sparked widespread outrage and protests. Paetongtarn’s Pheu Thai party-led coalition also weakened when its second-largest partner, the Bhumjaithai Party, withdrew support, citing her perceived softness toward Cambodia.

Paetongtarn has apologized and argued her comments were a negotiating tactic. Her ally, former Defense Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, was appointed acting prime minister.

Border claims cause periodic tensions

Border disputes are long-standing issues that have caused periodic tensions between the two neighbors. Thailand and Cambodia share more than 500 miles of land border.

The contesting claims stem largely from a 1907 map drawn under French colonial rule that was used to separate Cambodia from Thailand. Cambodia has been using the map as a reference to claim territory, while Thailand has argued the map is inaccurate.

The most prominent and violent conflicts have been around the 1,000-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded sovereignty over the temple area to Cambodia. The ruling became a major irritant in bilateral relations.

Cambodia went back to the court in 2011, following several clashes between its army and Thai forces that killed about 20 people and displaced thousands. The court reaffirmed the ruling in Cambodia’s favor in 2013.

Cambodia has again turned to the international court to resolve the border disputes but Thailand has rejected the court’s jurisdiction.

By RAÚL MENDOZA and ISABEL MATEOS

CINTALAPA, Mexico (AP) — With Mexican cattle again barred this month from entry to the United States over fears of spreading a flesh-eating parasite, ranchers and veterinarians in Mexico hundreds of miles from the border are fighting what has U.S. agricultural authorities so on edge.

In the southern state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, the New World screwworm fly’s rapid spread appears to have caught most ranchers off guard, despite memories of previous outbreaks in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mexico is building a plant with U.S. support in Chiapas to produce sterile flies, which have proven effective at stopping the spread, but it won’t be ready until next year. Meanwhile, the price of medicines used to treat livestock infected with the screwworm have soared in price.

That has led some to fall back on home remedies like applying gasoline or lime to open wounds to coax out the worms.

In addition to the cost of the medicine, treatment requires careful monitoring and usually involves multiple courses. Any open wound, even very small ones, are an invitation to the fly to lay its eggs.

Veterinarian Alfredo Chávez left Chiapas to study in 1989, so he says he missed seeing the effects of that outbreak, but now he’s seen cases multiply in his corner of the state over the past month.

He’s heard of dozens of cases in the area now and treated about a dozen himself. It’s not just cows either — sheep, pigs, cats and dogs are targets as well.

Armed with a pair of blue tweezers and an aerosol spray that helps draw the maggots out, Chávez moves from animal to animal. He puts maggots in plastic tubes as samples, which he provides to agricultural authorities.

But beyond providing the tubes and encouraging ranchers to report cases, he said that the government hasn’t provided much help.

“We’ve faced it alone,” he said Wednesday.

The U.S. had just gradually started to reopen the border to cattle imports this month after an earlier suspension in May, when the Trump administration said that it would close it again after an infected animal was found in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz. While prevalent in Central America, the concern is that the fly is moving north.

U.S. officials worry that if the fly reaches Texas, its maggots could cause large economic losses, something that happened decades ago.

Ranch caretaker Edi Valencia Santos said that Mexican government officials have come to his community to talk to people with livestock, but so far without resources. He has had five infected animals on the ranch.

Despite cattle in this region going to domestic consumption rather than to the U.S., the presence of the screwworm in Mexico has frozen cattle exports to the U.S. nationwide.

Valencia said that he remembers the small planes distributing sterile flies during those earlier outbreaks, so is optimistic they will eventually help, but for now the costs are piling up on ranchers.

“It’s a big, big problem in Chiapas,” he said.