3:44 p.m. EDT AP Trending National News Summary

US ends legal fight against Titanic expedition. Battles over future dives are still possible

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The U.S. government has officially ended its legal fight against an upcoming dive to the Titanic shipwreck. That’s because the expedition will no longer enter the ship’s hull or take artifacts from the site. The U.S. has said doing so would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a memorial. The Georgia-based company RMS Titanic Inc. owns the Titanic’s salvage rights. It displays artifacts recovered from previous expeditions. The firm significantly scaled back its dive plans this year. Uncrewed submersibles will only take images of the wreck and debris field. The mission is scheduled for mid-July.

Now-banned NBA player Jontay Porter will be charged in betting case, court papers indicate

NEW YORK (AP) — Court papers indicate that former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter will be charged with a federal felony connected to the sports betting scandal that spurred the NBA to ban him for life. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn filed what’s known as a criminal information sheet Tuesday. The document doesn’t specify a court date or the charge or charges. But it does show the case is related to an existing prosecution of four gamblers charged with conspiring to cash in on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early.

Massive makos, Queen Bosses and a baby angel shark on Discovery ‘Shark Week,’ where women shine

NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine stepping into a life-sized whale carcass decoy and steering it into deep water. You’re looking — yes, looking — for a group of hungry sharks to spark a feeding frenzy. To attract them, you shoot out hundreds of gallons of synthetic blood and chum. Then watch them lose it. That’s what marine biologist Liv Dixon did for Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week,” one of several eye-popping moments during the 21 hours of new programing this year where scientists risk everything to understand the apex predators better. The week, hosted by John Cena, kicks off Sunday with Dixon’s hour-long “Belly of the Beast: Bigger & Bloodier.”

Jessica Campbell will be the first woman on an NHL bench as assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken

SEATTLE (AP) — Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday. Campbell has spent the past two seasons working as an assistant coach for Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley alongside head coach Dan Bylsma, who was hired in late May to take over the head job with the Kraken. Campbell was a decorated player in the NCAA, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and Canada’s women’s national team, with whom she won silver at the 2015 world championship.

Shohei Ohtani says he won’t participate in Home Run Derby during All-Star festivities

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won’t participate in the Home Run Derby on July 15 despite the Japanese superstar ranking second in the majors with 27 homers for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani has taken part in the Derby just once, exiting in the first round in 2021 at Coors Field in Denver. This year’s event is at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He says he’s in the middle of his rehab from an injured elbow ligament and subsequent surgery last fall that is keeping him from pitching this season. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says it’s not Ohtani’s responsibility alone to the carry the sport.

Freya the rescued lion cub is safe in South Africa, but many other lions there are bred to be shot

PAARL, South Africa (AP) — A 6-month-old lion cub named Freya who was rescued from the wildlife trade in Lebanon has been relocated to a sanctuary in South Africa. As she settles in at the Drakenstein Lion Park, animal welfare groups are again drawing attention to South Africa’s contradictory position when it comes to lions. South Africa has an admirable reputation for conservation but also a huge captive lion business, where the big cats are bred to be killed in “canned hunting” experiences or for the lion bone trade. Freya won’t have that fate because she’s at one of the country’s ethical sanctuaries.

Newborn white rhino Silverio takes his first giant steps in a Chilean zoo in a boost to his species

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Newborn white rhinoceros Silverio has taken his first giant steps in public at the Chilean zoo where he was born. His birth to his mother Hannah last week was the first for a white rhino in South America and is a boost for his nearly endangered species. The Buin Zoo in Santiago said Silverio’s birth was a “big achievement” for efforts to conserve rhinos. Fewer and fewer white rhinos are roaming the African plains and the species is threatened by poaching. Northern white rhinos have effectively gone extinct, and their close cousins, the southern white rhinos, are classified as “nearly endangered.” There are just over 10,000 southern white rhinos left in the world, and most are in zoos.

Missing nuts and bolts caused last year’s deadly construction elevator accident in Sweden

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A construction elevator that killed five people when it collapsed last year in Stockholm was missing the bolts that were supposed to hold its mast together. Authorities said Wednesday that the crash “was caused by omission to perform relevant safety inspections of the hoist assembly.” The Swedish Accident Investigation Authority said of the Dec. 12 accident that its probe had showed that five of the nut and bolt assemblies required to hold the mast sections together were missing. It has not yet been decided whether to press criminal charges. The public prosecutor’s office is still investigating the incident.

New Mexico denies film incentive application on ‘Rust’ movie after fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Producers of the western movie “Rust” may have to forgo a robust economic incentive as they try to sell the newly completed film to distributors. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that New Mexico’s tax agency recently denied the producers’ application for $1.6 million in economic incentives. An attorney for the company says that money was meant to help fulfill a financial settlement with the family of a cinematographer who was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin during rehearsal in 2021. Producers have until the end of July to appeal the decision. The state tax agency declined to comment, citing concerns about confidential information.

It’s considered the first American novel, but this 1789 book isn’t quite summer beach reading

NEW YORK (AP) — Critics have long debated which books qualify as a ‘Great American Novel.’ The discussion over the ‘First American Novel’ is relatively settled. Honors go to William Hill Brown’s ‘The Power of Sympathy,’ a 1789 publication centered on a doomed New England love affair. Brown’s book is in many ways characteristic of the era, whether its epistolary format, its Anglicized prose, its unidentified author, or its pious message. But “The Power of Sympathy” also includes themes that reflected the aspirations and anxieties of a young country and still resonate now.

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