By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE and JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mayor Eric Adams set out Thursday to persuade skeptical voters to grant him a second term, hosting a kickoff event for his independent reelection bid after a corruption indictment, a controversial dismissal and a decision to drop out of a the Democratic primary.

Standing on the steps of City Hall, Adams sought to draw a contrast between himself and the likely Democratic candidate, Zohran Mamdani, casting the young liberal as a child of privilege with no real political achievements or realistic policies.

“This election is a choice between a candidate with a blue collar and one with a silver spoon,” Adams said. “A choice between dirty fingernails and manicured nails.”

New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a campaign launch rally at City Hall, Thursday, June. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Two days ago, progressive upstart Mamdani declared a stunning Democratic primary victory over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the presumed favorite despite a sexual harassment scandal that forced him from office four years ago.

Results will be finalized after the city’s ranked choice vote-counting resumes July 1, and the winner advances to November’s election against candidates including Republican Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime group.

Adams, 64, is a retired police captain who later became a state senator and Brooklyn’s borough president. He presents himself as a champion of working-class New York, public safety and an upbeat, self-believing attitude he calls “swagger” — the kind of drive that propelled a house-cleaner’s son to become the second Black mayor of the nation’s most populous metropolis.

A protester is detained by New York Police officers as New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a campaign launch rally at City Hall, Thursday, June. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Mamdani, 33, is the son of an award-winning filmmaker and an anthropology professor at Columbia University. He graduated from a private liberal arts college, worked as a foreclosure prevention counselor and had a side-hustle as a rapper before first being elected to the New York Assembly in 2020. Despite his short resume, the democratic socialist has picked up significant momentum with an energetic campaign centered on improving the cost of living.

Adams, still a registered Democrat, pulled out of the primary to run as an independent candidate in April, shortly after a federal judge dismissed the corruption case against him. Adams, who had struggled to raise money, argued the legal saga had sidelined him from the campaign trail.

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He has done little in the way of campaigning since then. But as the results in Tuesday’s primary were coming in, showing Mamdani with a commanding position, Adams underscored his own independent run with a post on social media that “the fight for New York’s future begins tonight.”

Adams has seemed to relish a general election matchup with Mamdani, whose relative political inexperience and criticisms of law enforcement could afford Adams a viable reelection lane.

Democratic nominees generally enjoy strong tailwinds in a city where about two-thirds of registered voters are Democrats. But New Yorkers elected an unaffiliated mayor as recently as 2009, when incumbent Mike Bloomberg won a third term after leaving the Republican Party.

The big question for Adams: whether he can overcome his shaky standing with voters.

He might woo moderate and business-focused Cuomo supporters uneasy about Mamdani. Though Cuomo himself is mulling an independent campaign that would put him on the general election ballot as well.

The Trump administration’s vaccine advisers are bringing up an old flu-shot debate: whether it’s time to wipe out the last small fraction of those vaccines that contain a controversial preservative called thimerosal.

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It’s a question seemingly laid to rest years ago, as studies showed no evidence that the preservative causes any health problems.

“This is really a nonissue,” said Dr. Sean O’Leary of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Here are some things to know about the substance.

What is thimerosal?

Thimerosal is a preservative used in certain vaccines since the 1930s, as well as in some other medical products.

It was mostly used in multi-dose vials of vaccine, to prevent bacterial contamination as the vessel was repeatedly punctured to withdraw a dose.

Why is thimerosal controversial?

Questions about thimerosal were raised in the late 1990s because it contains a form of mercury.

It’s not the same as the toxic type found in some seafood, called methylmercury. Instead, it’s a different type called ethylmercury that the body can excrete, O’Leary explained.

The amount of ethylmercury per vaccine dose was small and studies found no evidence of harm. Nor was it used in all vaccines. For example, vaccines for chickenpox, polio and measles, mumps and rubella never contained it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But as a precaution, the U.S. phased the preservative out of childhood vaccines. Since 2001, all vaccines routinely recommended for children age 6 and younger in the U.S. come in formulas that don’t contain thimerosal.

The exception is a small subset of flu shot formulas in multi-dose vials that could be used for adults or kids. The vast majority of children, however, get their flu vaccination from a single-dose shot instead, O’Leary said.

According to the CDC, 96% of all flu vaccines in the U.S. administered last fall and winter — and an even higher share of those used in federally funded programs — were thimerosal-free.

Why is thimerosal being debated again?

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a longtime antivaccine activist, and he has long contended there was a tie between thimerosal and autism.

On Thursday, his newly appointed vaccine advisers were set to hear a presentation from Lyn Redwood, a nurse practitioner who once ran the antivaccine group that Kennedy founded.

She will suggest that the remaining thimerosal-containing flu shots should be removed, according to meeting materials posted earlier this week. Among the claims were that they could be a risk to pregnant women.

A new CDC staff analysis prepared for the meeting again showed no link between the preservative and autism or any other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Some experts note that autism rates rose after thimerosal was removed from young children’s vaccines in the U.S.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

The International Ice Hockey Federation on Thursday released the schedule for the IIHF World Junior Championships being held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The 29-game tournament for the world’s best players 20 and under will be played mostly at Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul (Group A) and 3M Arena at Mariucci (Group B) on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Group A, comprising the U.S., Sweden, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany, will play its preliminary round games at the X. Group B (Canada, Czechia, Finland, Latvia and Denmark) will play preliminary contests at Mariucci. Each team in each group will play the others once and the top four will advance to the quarterfinals.

Semifinals and gold medal games will be played at Xcel Energy Center from Jan 4-5. Tickets for all games can be purchased at https://www.iihf.com/en/events/2026/wm20/static/64823/tickets.

SCHEDULE

At Xcel Energy Center

Dec. 26 — Sweden vs. Slovakia, noon; U.S. vs. Germany, 5 p.m.
Dec. 27 — Slovakia vs. Germany, 1 p.m.; U.S. vs. Switzerland, 5 p.m.
Dec. 28 — Sweden vs. Switzerland, 1 p.m.
Dec. 29 — Germany vs. Sweden, noon; Slovakia vs. U.S., 5 p.m.
Dec. 30 — Switzerland vs Germany, 1 p.m.
Dec. 31 — Switzerland vs. Slovakia, noon; U.S. vs. Sweden, 5 p.m.
Jan. 2-4 — Quarterfinals, TBD

At 3M Arena at Mariucci

Dec. 26 — Denmark vs. Finland, 2:30 p.m.; Czechia vs. Canada, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 27 — Latvia vs. Canada, 3:30 p.m.; Denmark vs. Czechia, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 28 — Finland vs. Latvia, 3:30 p.m.
Dec. 29 — Finland vs. Czechia, 2:30 p.m.; Canada vs. Denmark, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 30 — Latvia vs. Denmark, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 31 — Czechia vs. Latvia, 2:30 p.m.; Canada vs. Finland, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 2-4 — Quarterfinals, TBD

Semifinals

Jan. 4, 3:30 p.m. / 7:30 p.m., Xcel Energy Center

Final

Jan. 5, 7:30 p.m., Xcel Energy Center

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By BEN FINLEY, Associated Press

Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia have asked a federal judge in Maryland to order his return to that state when he is released from jail in Tennessee, an arrangement that would prevent likely attempts by immigration officials to quickly deport Abrego Garcia.

The Maryland construction worker became a flashpoint over President Donald Trump’s immigration policies after he was mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador in March. He’s been in jail in Tennessee since he was returned to the U.S. on June 7 to face federal charges of human smuggling.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes in Nashville has ruled that Abrego Garcia has a right to be released while awaiting trial. But she decided Wednesday to keep him in custody for at least a few more days over concerns that U.S. immigration officials would swiftly try to deport him again.

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Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Maryland, where his wife is suing the Trump administration over his March deportation, have offered up a possible solution. They’ve asked the federal judge overseeing the lawsuit to direct the government to bring him to Maryland while he awaits trial in Tennessee.

“If this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys wrote in their request to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt.

Abrego Garcia lived in Maryland, just outside Washington, with his American wife and children for more than a decade. His deportation violated a U.S. immigration judge’s order in 2019 that barred his expulsion to his native country. The judge had found that Abrego Garcia faced a credible threat from gangs who had terrorized him and his family.

The Trump administration described its violation of the immigration judge’s 2019 order as an administrative error. Trump and other officials doubled down on claims Abrego Garcia was in the MS-13 gang, an accusation that Abrego Garcia denies.

Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty on June 13 to smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify his mistaken expulsion to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Those charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee, during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers without luggage.

Holmes, the magistrate judge in Tennessee, wrote in a ruling on Sunday that federal prosecutors failed to show that Abrego Garcia was a flight risk or a danger to the community.

During a court hearing on Wednesday, Holmes set specific conditions for his release that included Abrego Garcia living with his brother, a U.S. citizen, in Maryland. But she held off on releasing him over concerns that prosecutors can’t prevent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from deporting him.

Holmes expressed doubts about her own power to require anything more than prosecutors using their best efforts to secure the cooperation of ICE.

“I have no reservations about my ability to direct the local U.S. Attorney’s office,” the judge said. “I don’t think I have any authority over ICE.”

Acting U.S. Attorney Rob McGuire told the judge he would do “the best I can” to secure the cooperation of ICE. But the prosecutor noted, “That’s a separate agency with separate leadership and separate directions. I will coordinate, but I can’t tell them what to do.”