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Trump promotes mythical version with AI memes despite challenges

In the real world, President Donald Trump is struggling to stop inflation, rout the Iranian government and restore American manufacturing with tariffs.

However, it's a different story in the fantastical vision that he shares with supporters on social media. Over Labor Day weekend, Trump and the White House unleashed an extraordinarily heavy torrent of memes that portrayed the president as singularly powerful.

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Families grieve in ruins of Iranian school where US strike killed dozens of children

The sun set over this southern Iranian city, and Heydar Sadeghi was where he can be found almost every evening: on a bench next to the shattered remains of his grandson's school. His face was soaked with tears.

A banner strung around the rubble showed the faces of children and teachers killed here by an American airstrike on Feb. 28, the first day of the war on Iran. Among them are Sadeghi's 11-year-old grandson Hami and the boy's mother, Neda Salehizadeh.

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Shelton ends Alcaraz's title reign in late-night marathon, to face Tiafoe in US Open semis

Ben Shelton had gone toe-to-toe with Carlos Alcaraz for five exhausting sets and finally at 3:33 a.m. Wednesday came the chance to end the U.S. Open champion's title reign.

Shelton fired an ace at 146 mph, a ball that Alcaraz couldn't have gotten back even with fresh legs.

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Oil rises past $100 a barrel after latest wave of Middle East attacks

The price of oil surpassed $100 a barrel for the first time in almost six weeks after attacks on oil facilities and ships in the Middle East threatened to debilitate an already weakened supply chain.

The most heavily traded contract for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $97.89 before jumping 2.4% to $100.29 early Wednesday.

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Renoir paintings are worth a fortune, but not when they're stolen

Two Renoir paintings stolen from a small French museum have yet to be recovered but if the thieves are hoping to cash in on the artwork, they would be hard-pressed to find a buyer.

Selling well-known, stolen art is impossible to do at an auction house or through other public channels without raising eyebrows. Even under the table, the value plummets. And unlike other eye-catching artifacts such as jewels, paintings can't be chopped up and sold for parts without losing their entire worth.

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Iran forging new ring of proxies to threaten US allies in Gulf, officials say

In July, Saudi Arabia and the United States bombed Iran-backed militias in Iraq after blaming them for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities that had been claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels, another Iranian ally.

Now, regional officials tell The Associated Press that the Houthis helped the Iraqi militias plan and execute the two-day swarm attack, showing a new level of coordination.

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Yemen rebels report fresh Saudi strikes as conflict deepens

Yemen's Houthi rebels reported dozens of Saudi airstrikes on Wednesday as daily attacks continued in a conflict that has reignited during the Middle East war, with hundreds of people killed in fighting near the Red Sea.

More than 40 attacks targeted several regions including the flashpoint areas of Taiz and Hodeida, the scene of fierce clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government, the rebels said.

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US destroys 5 Iranian crude oil tankers following attacks on US warship

The U.S. military said it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers on Tuesday in response to the latest attacks on its warships and Tehran hit back at American targets in Jordan, the latest burst of back-and-forth strikes that have lurched the sides back toward open hostilities in a more than 6-month-old war.

Following the American strikes, Iran launched missiles toward U.S. targets in Jordan, Iranian state-run media said. Jordan's military said its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles launched toward its territory and two others fell in places where no one lives. It said it has no reports of casualties. Jordan is a staunch U.S. ally that hosts American forces, making the kingdom's military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes. U.S. Central Command said it had no information to offer.

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Mbappé eyeing his first Ballon d'Or: 'It's a good year for this'

Kylian Mbappé believes this could be the year he wins the Ballon d'Or for the first time.

He's optimistic after winning his second consecutive World Cup Golden Boot with 10 goals, the most in 56 years. He also overtook Lionel Messi for the most all-time World Cup goals with 22. There were also 42 goals in 44 matches for Real Madrid, although the club finished last season without a major trophy.

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Zelensky says US envoys have 'very good' ideas to end Russia's war on Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that U.S. envoys on a visit to Kyiv presented some "very good, worthwhile ideas" for ending his country's war with Russia, adding that he hopes to meet with President Donald Trump within two weeks.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow is determined to accomplish its goals in Ukraine and indicated that Russia believes it is close to winning the war, more than four years after it invaded its neighbor. Ukrainian and Western observers say that's not true.

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