By SAM McNEIL

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union officials on Monday were finalizing a major overhaul of its migration system, including streamlined deportations and increased detentions, after years of fierce debate on the issue has seen the rise of far-right political parties.

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Since a surge in asylum-seekers and other migrants to Europe a decade ago, public views on the issue have shifted. EU migration policies have hardened, and the number of asylum-seekers is down from record levels. Still, U.S. President Donald Trump in recent days issued sharp criticism of the 27-nation bloc’s migration policies as part of a national security strategy painting European allies as weak.

Ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to a “safe third country” concept and a list of safe countries of origin, Danish minister Rasmus Stoklund said. That means EU nations can deny residency and deport migrants because they either hail from a safe country or could apply for asylum in one outside the EU.

“We will be able to reject people that have no reason for asylum in Europe, and then it will be possible for us to make mechanisms and procedures that enable us to return them faster,” Stoklund said. “It should not be human smugglers that control the access to Europe.”

Ministers also agreed to the formation of a “solidarity pool” to share costs of hosting refugees among member nations. The pool is meant to collect 430 million euros ($489 million) to disburse to countries facing greater migratory pressure including Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Spain in southern Europe. Hungary and Poland have long opposed any obligation for countries to host migrants or pay for their upkeep.

“It is important to give the people also the feeling back that we have control over what is happening,” said Magnus Brunner, the EU’s commissioner for migration.

The European Council will now negotiate with the 720 lawmakers at the European Parliament to accept or modify the migration policy changes. Right and far-right parties are largely unified in supporting the changes.

Amnesty International EU advocate on migration Olivia Sundberg Diez likened the EU’s migration changes to the Trump administration’s crackdown. She called on European lawmakers to block the new measures that “will inflict deep harm on migrants and the communities that welcome them.”

French Green lawmaker Mélissa Camara called the changes “a renunciation of our fundamental values and human rights.”

In May, EU nations endorsed sweeping reforms to the bloc’s asylum system, with the European Commission issuing the new Pact on Migration and Asylum. The pact, among other things, called for increasing deportations and setting up “ return hubs,” a euphemism for deportation centers for rejected asylum-seekers.

The EU wouldn’t set up or manage such “return hubs,” which could be in Europe or elsewhere, but would create the legal framework to allow states to negotiate with non-EU countries willing to take rejected asylum-seekers.

Nations like Austria and Denmark likely will seek partners to host such costly and legally murky centers, said Camille Le Coz, director of the Migration Policy Institute Europe think tank, pointing to the deal the Netherlands struck in September with Uganda to host refugees.

Such centers differ from the existing but so far ineffective deal signed by Italy with Albania to offshore the asylum processing of migrants rescued at sea. At the time, the contentious plan was applauded by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as an “out-of-the-box” solution to manage irregular migration, but courts in Italy have repeatedly blocked it.

Mainstream political parties hope the pact on migration resolves the issues that have divided EU nations since well over 1 million migrants swept into Europe in 2015, most of them fleeing war in Syria and Iraq.

By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s push to expand control over independent federal agencies comes before a sympathetic Supreme Court that could overturn a 90-year-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.

Lawyers for the administration are defending President Donald Trump’s decision to fire Federal Trade Commission member Rebecca Slaughter without cause and calling on the court to jettison the unanimous 1935 decision in Humphrey’s Executor.

Arguments are taking place Monday.

The court’s six conservative justices already have signaled strong support for the administration’s position, over the objection of their three liberal colleagues, by allowing Slaughter and the board members of other agencies to be removed from their jobs even as their legal challenges continue.

Members of the National Labor Relations Board, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the Consumer Product Safety Commission also have been fired by Trump.

The only officials who have so far survived efforts to remove them are Lisa Cook, a Federal Reserve governor, and Shira Perlmutter, a copyright official with the Library of Congress. The court has suggested that it will view the Fed differently from other independent agencies, and Trump has said he wants her out because of allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook says she did nothing wrong.

A second question in the Slaughter case could affect Cook. Even if a firing turns out to be illegal, the court wants to decide whether judges have the power to reinstate someone.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote earlier this year that fired employees who win in court can likely get back pay, but not reinstatement.

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That might affect Cook’s ability to remain in her job. The justices have seemed wary about the economic uncertainty that might result if Trump can fire the leaders of the central bank. The court will hear separate arguments in January about whether Cook can remain in her job as her court challenge proceeds.

Chief Justice John Roberts has written a series of opinions dating back to 2010 that have steadily whittled away at laws restricting the president’s ability to fire people.

In 2020, Roberts wrote for the court that “the President’s removal power is the rule, not the exception” in a decision upholding Trump’s firing of the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau despite job protections similar to those upheld in Humphrey’s case.

In the 2024 immunity decision that spared Trump from being prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, Roberts included the power to fire among the president’s “conclusive and preclusive” powers that Congress lacks the authority to restrict.

The court also was dealing with an FTC member who was fired, by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, who preferred his own choice at an agency that would have a lot to say about the New Deal.

William Humphrey refused Roosevelt’s request for his resignation. After Humphrey died the next year, the person charged with administering his estate, Humphrey’s executor, sued for back pay.

The justices unanimously upheld the law establishing the FTC and limiting the president to removing a commissioner only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.”

ZURICH (AP) — FIFA says it will include three-minute hydration breaks in each half of every game at next year’s World Cup, not just those played in hot weather.

The referee will stop the game 22 minutes into each half for players to take drinks, regardless of the temperature, the host country — the United States, Canada or Mexico — or whether the stadium has a roof and air conditioning.

The change may also be a hit with broadcasters, since it makes the game schedule more predictable. FIFA said it was first announced when the governing body’s chief tournament officer for the 2026 World Cup, Manolo Zubiria, attended a meeting with broadcasters.

He indicated that referees may have some flexibility if there’s a stoppage shortly before the 22-minute mark for an injury.

“This will be addressed on the spot with the referee,” Zubiria said.

FIFA said the move is a “streamlined and simplified version” of an earlier practice of having breaks after 30 minutes over a certain temperature threshold, once set at 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) on the wet bulb global temperature system.

The change comes after heat and humidity affected players during some games at this year’s Club World Cup in the U.S.

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At that tournament, FIFA reacted by lowering the threshold for cooling or water breaks and also placing more water and towels around the edge of the field.

Heat has long been an issue at major soccer tournaments. Amid concerns ahead of the 2014 World Cup, a Brazilian court ordered FIFA to make its recommended breaks mandatory or face fines.

By PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Miami Heat player Terry Rozier is set to appear Monday in a federal court in Brooklyn on charges he helped gamblers placing bets on his performance in NBA games.

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The 31-year-old point guard will be formally arraigned in New York on federal wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges. He’ll also join five other co-defendants and their lawyers for a pretrial hearing later in the day on the case.

Rozier previously appeared before a federal judge in Orlando on Oct. 23, when prosecutors first announced the indictment. At the time, he was released with conditions.

One of his lawyers, Jim Trusty, denied the charges, saying the Ohio native was “not a gambler” and “looks forward to winning this fight.”

More than 30 people have been arrested in connection with the sprawling federal takedown of illegal gambling operations linked to professional sports, including several Mafia figures. Portland Trail Blazers coach and NBA Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups has pleaded not guilty in a separate scheme to fix high-stakes, Mafia-backed illegal poker games.

Prosecutors say Rozier conspired with friends to help them win bets on his performance in a March 2023 game when he played for the Charlotte Hornets.

They say he informed the bettors that he intended to leave the game against the New Orleans Pelicans early with a supposed injury, allowing gamblers to place wagers earning them tens of thousands of dollars.

Rozier played the first nine minutes and 36 seconds of the game before leaving, citing a foot issue. He did not play again that season.

The other NBA figure ensnared in the investigation is Damon Jones, who pleaded not guilty last month to charges he provided sports bettors with nonpublic information about injuries to stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis while serving as an unofficial assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2022-2023 season. Jones, a former NBA player, is also indicted along with Billups and others in the separate poker scheme.

Both Billups and Rozier have been placed on unpaid leave from their teams as their court cases play out.

Rozier has earned about $160 million over a 10-year NBA career. He was a first-round pick for the Boston Celtics in 2015 after starring at the University of Louisville. Charlotte traded him to the Heat last year.