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.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France will recognize Palestine as a state, amid snowballing global anger over people starving in Gaza.

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Macron said in a post on X that he will formalize the decision at the United Nations General Assembly in September. “The urgent thing today is that the war in Gaza stops and the civilian population is saved.″

The French president offered support for Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and frequently speaks out against antisemitism, but he has grown increasingly frustrated about Israel’s war in Gaza, especially in recent months.

France is the biggest and most powerful European country to recognize Palestine. More than 140 countries recognize a Palestinian state, including more than a dozen in Europe.

France has Europe’s largest Jewish population and the largest Muslim population in western Europe, and fighting in the Middle East often spills over into protests or other tensions in France.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no immediate comment.

France’s foreign minister is co-hosting a conference at the U.N. next week about a two-state solution. Last month, Macron expressed his “determination to recognize the state of Palestine,” and he has pushed for a broader movement toward a two-state solution, in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself.

Thursday’s announcement came soon after the U.S. cut short Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar, saying Hamas wasn’t showing good faith.

Momentum has been building against Israel in recent days. Earlier this week, France and more than two dozen mostly European countries condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid shipments into the territory and the killings of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach food.

The Palestinians seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel’s government and most of its political class have long been opposed to Palestinian statehood and now say that it would reward Hamas after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem shortly after the 1967 war and considers it part of its capital. In the West Bank, it has built scores of settlements, some resembling sprawling suburbs, that are now home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers with Israeli citizenship. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers.

NEW YORK (AP) — About 3.6 million hoses are under recall across the U.S. because hundreds have burst while being used, resulting in at least 29 injuries, including reports of temporarily impaired hearing.

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The recall covers a range of HydroTech-branded, 5/8-inch “Expandable Burst-Proof Hoses” that were sold at major retailers — including, Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and Target — for garden, lawn care, car washing and other uses between January 2021 and April 2025.

The company said the hoses can burst if the interior, plastic strain relief “breaks or becomes fully unthreaded.”

According to a Thursday notice from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the recalled hoses pose potential impact and hearing hazards because they can burst unexpectedly. Winston Products, which imported the hoses, has received at least 222 bursting reports to date — resulting in 29 injuries, “including one bone bruise, two sprains and five reports of temporarily impaired hearing from the sound of the hose bursting,” the CPSC notes.

Consumers in possession of the recalled hoses are urged to stop using them immediately. If the hoses were purchased at Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Home Depot or Walmart, Thursday’s recall notice adds, consumers can bring them into those stores to return the product for a full refund. Other impacted shoppers should contact Winston Products to initiate a claim online.

The hoses under recall were sold in various lengths and colors, but can be identified by date code markings and product names listed in Thursday’s notice. The recall only covers “HydroTech 5/8-inch Expandable Burst-Proof Hoses” made on or before August 31, 2024.

By MATT OTT

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern confirmed that they are in “advanced” merger talks that would create a single U.S railroad with service stretching from the East to the West Coast.

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The Associated Press reported last week that the companies were discussing a tie-up but neither company acknowledged that until Thursday morning.

The potential merger would combine the largest and smallest of the country’s six major freight railroads.

Independent railroad analyst Tony Hatch said that the disclosure by the railroads suggests that negotiations are further along than previously thought.

“What people will interpret out of that is that they have, one way or another, figured out what the benefits are,” Hatch said, adding that those benefits, such as efficiency, would be passed on to customers. That will be key for getting regulatory approval under the Surface Transportation Board’s enhanced competition clause.

There’s widespread debate over whether such a merger would be approved by the STB, which has established a high bar for consolidation in the crucial industry.

That’s largely because of the aftermath of an industry consolidation nearly 30 years ago that involved Union Pacific. Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific in 1996 and the tie-up led to an extended period of snarled traffic on U.S. rails. Three years later, Conrail was divvied up by Norfolk Southern and CSX, which led to more backups on rails in the East.

However, just two years ago, the STB approved the first major rail merger in more than two decades. In that deal, which was supported by big shippers, Canadian Pacific acquired Kansas City Southern for $31 billion to create the CPKC railroad.

Still, some of the reasoning behind the approval was that it involved two of the smallest major railroads, and Kansas City Southern was the only operator with direct lines into Mexico. The combined railroad, regulators reasoned, would benefit trade across North America.

The deal left only six major freight railroads, which could become an issue when regulators consider whether to approve any deal between Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

To be approved, any major rail merger must show it will enhance competition and serve the public interest under rules established in 2001, in the wake of that pair of mergers.

Hatch also said that big shippers like Amazon, Dow and U.S. Steel — who use massive amounts of freight capacity — will likely weigh in with regulators as the merger process develops. Those shippers will first have to determine if a merger would improve their ability to move equipment and products, or harm it.

“If the shippers want this this merger, they’ll make it clear,” Hatch said. “They really hold the cards.”

Jeff Windau, an industry analyst with Edward Jones, expects a protracted regulatory process as the STB tries to determine whether the merger will meet its standard of enhancing competition.

“While we believe there could be benefits to a transcontinental railroad, we do feel that the regulatory approval process would be long and challenging,” Windau said, noting that the last major railroad merger — between Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern — took 18 months to be completed.

Also Thursday, Union Pacific reported that its adjusted profit grew to $1.8 billion in the second quarter.

The Omaha, Nebraska company’s, per-share earnings rose rose to $3.03, beating Wall Street expectations and easily topping the $2.71 per-share profit it reported in the same period last year. Analysts were expecting profit of $2.91 per share for the recent quarter.

Operating revenue grew 2% over last year, to $6.2 billion, the company said.

Union Pacific shares fell 2% just at the opening bell Thursday, to $226.70 each. They had slumped to around $208 in early April, their lowest level of 2025, as President Donald Trump rolled out sweeping tariffs that threatened to upend global trade.