AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT | National News

Students reported seeing a young, white man, pull into a campus library parking lot in Jacksonville, Florida, and begin putting on tactical gear Saturday, Edward Waters University President Zachary Faison Jr. said. They immediately flagged down a security officer who was on patrol to tell them what they saw.

The officer approached the car on foot when the driver — who would later be identified as the shooter at the store — sped off, hitting a curb and narrowly avoiding a brick column, Faison said. The campus officer, who the campus president called a hero, then called the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and shared the description of the vehicle.

Minutes later, the gunman made his way to a Dollar General Store down the road and killed Angela Michelle Carr, 52, an Uber driver who was shot in her car; store employee A.J. Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, who was shot as he entered the store in the predominantly Black New Town neighborhood.

“It’s not just on a whim that he chose to come to Florida’s first historically Black college or university,” said Faison, who expressed condolences to the families of the victims and confirmed none were part of the university.

Trump chief of staff Meadows says actions laid out in Georgia indictment were part of his job

ATLANTA (AP) — Mark Meadows testified in court Monday that actions detailed in a sweeping indictment that accuses him of participating in an illegal conspiracy to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss were all part of his job as White House chief of staff.

The extraordinary testimony — from a former top presidential aide who now faces charges alongside his old boss — came in the first courtroom skirmish in a case that’s likely to have many. Meadows’ claims were part of his argument that the case should be moved from a state court to federal court. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones did not immediately rule.

As Trump was consumed by claims of widespread election fraud in the weeks after his 2020 loss, Meadows said, it was difficult to focus on the things they needed to be doing to wind down the presidency. As a result, Meadows said, he took actions to determine whether the allegations were true, including actions prosecutors allege were improper.

Meadows said he didn’t believe he did anything that was “outside my scope as chief of staff.”

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who used Georgia’s racketeering law to bring the case, alleges that Trump, Meadows and 17 others participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to try to keep the Republican president in power illegally even after his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Willis’ team argued that Meadows’ actions were political in nature and not performed as part of his official duties.

Florida governor declares widespread state of emergency ahead of Idalia’s expected landfall

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida residents loaded up on sandbags and evacuated from homes in low-lying areas along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Idalia intensified Monday and forecasters predicted it would hit in days as a major hurricane with potentially life-threatening storm surges.

As the state prepared, Idalia thrashed Cuba with heavy rain, especially in the westernmost part of the island, where the tobacco-producing province of Pinar del Rio is still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian almost a year ago.

Authorities in the province issued a state of alert, and residents were evacuated to friends’ and relatives’ homes as authorities monitored the Cuyaguateje river for possible flooding. As much as 10 centimeters (4 inches) of rain fell in Cuba on Sunday, meteorological stations reported.

Idalia is expected to start affecting Florida with hurricane-force winds as soon as late Tuesday and arrive on the coast by Wednesday. It is the first storm to hit Florida this hurricane season and a potentially big blow to the state, which is also dealing with lingering damage from last year’s Hurricane Ian.

Idalia is also the latest in a summer of natural disasters, including wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Greece; the first tropical storm to hit California in 84 years, and devastating flooding in Vermont.

Florida prays Idalia won’t join long list of destructive storms with names starting with ‘I’

Floridians pray that when Idalia hits the Gulf Coast it won’t join the long list of destructive Atlantic Ocean storms whose names started with “I.”

Since 1955, 13 Atlantic storm names beginning with “I” have been retired, according to the National Weather Service. That happens when a storm’s death toll or destruction is so severe that using its name again would be insensitive, according to the World Meteorological Organization, which oversees storm naming.

Some letter has to be No. 1, and hurricane season often reaches its peak around the time that the pre-determined alphabetical storm-name list gets to the “I.”

After “I” storms, 10 names that begin with “F” have been retired, as have nine storms beginning with “C,” University of Miami hurricane expert Brian McNoldy said.

In addition to the 13 retired “I” names from Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, a handful of Pacific Ocean storms beginning with “I” have been retired since 1982.

Guatemala progressive’s presidential victory certified, but his party is suspended from operating

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemala’s top electoral tribunal declared progressive Bernardo Arévalo the winner of the country’s presidential elections on Monday, but the prospect of him taking office on Jan. 14 was uncertain after another government body suspended all activities by his Seed Movement party.

No authority has explained exactly what the suspension, confirmed to The Associated Press by the party’s lawyer, will mean for the president elect.

The moves come after one of the most tumultuous elections in the Central American nation’s recent history, which has put to test Guatemala’s democracy.

At a time that Guatemalans, hungry for change, have grown disillusioned with endemic corruption, Arévalo and other competitors of the country’s elite faced waves of judicial attacks in an attempt to knock them out of the race.

Arévalo faced former first lady Sandra Torres in the Aug. 20 runoff. According to the official count, the progressive candidate obtained 60.9% of the valid votes cast against 37.2% for the right-wing Torres.

Spanish soccer federation leaders ask president Rubiales to resign over his kiss of player

GENEVA (AP) — Leading officials within the Spanish Football Federation asked suspended president Luis Rubiales to resign on Monday because of his behavior at the Women’s World Cup, including kissing a player on the lips after Spain won the championship match.

The heads of the regional bodies that make up the federation (RFEF) made the request in a collective statement.

“After the latest developments and the unacceptable behavior that has caused great damage to the image of Spanish soccer, the presidents request that Luis Rubiales resign immediately as president of the RFEF,” the statement said.

Earlier Monday, the federation asked UEFA to suspend it from international competitions because of government interference related to Rubiales. However, in their statement, the heads of the regional bodies urged interim federation president Pedro Rocha to withdraw that request immediately.

The federation’s request for a suspension was widely seen as an attempt to silence some of Rubiales’ critics, including government ministers who have asked for his removal. Such a suspension would ban Spanish teams from competitions like the Champions League and could sway public opinion in favor of letting him keep his job.

Biden is ‘old,’ Trump is ‘corrupt’: AP-NORC poll has ominous signs for both in possible 2024 rematch

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is “old” and “confused,” and former President Donald Trump is “corrupt” and “dishonest.” Those are among the top terms Americans use when they’re asked to describe the Democrat in the White House and the Republican best positioned to face him in next year’s election.

Unflattering portraits of Biden and Trump emerge clearly in a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which asked an open-ended question about what comes to mind when people think of them.

For Biden, the largest share of U.S. adults — including both Democrats and Republicans — mentioned his age. At 80, Biden is just three years older than Trump, but many Americans expressed real concerns about his ability to continue as president.

Trump, meanwhile, has been indicted in four cases featuring 91 total criminal counts and elicits words such as “corrupt” and “crooked” (named by 15%), along with “bad” and other generally negative comments (11%). Not far behind are words like “liar” and “dishonest” (8%). Another 8% offered generally positive comments like “good,” though.

A deeper look doesn’t improve things much for Biden or Trump. And while many of the criticisms reflect a familiar partisan divide, the poll shows neither man is immune to criticism from within his own party.

The Ukraine war, propaganda-style, is coming to Russian movie screens. Will people watch?

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The movie centers around a renowned violinist from Belgium arriving in Kyiv to perform. The date is February 2022, and his trip is upended as Russia starts bombing Ukraine. The musician survives a series of “inhuman crimes and bloody provocations by Ukrainian nationalists,” and he wants to tell the world “what it was really like.”

“The Witness” — a state-sponsored drama that premiered in Russia on Aug. 17 — is the first feature film about the 18-month-old invasion. It depicts Ukrainian troops as violent neo-Nazis who torture and kill their own people. One even wears a T-shirt with Hitler on it; another is shown doing drugs. It also has the main character’s young son wondering: “Isn’t Ukraine Russia?”

It’s the narrative the Kremlin has been promoting since the first days of the war — all packaged up in a motion picture.

The release of “The Witness” comes after Russian authorities announced a plan to boost production of movies glorifying Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and is part of a growing number of propaganda films.

But in an era of instantaneous information and disinformation in wartime and other times, two questions present themselves: Are propaganda films actually effective? And are they any good?

Hawaii power utility takes responsibility for first fire on Maui, but faults county firefighters

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.

Hawaiian Electric Company released a statement Sunday night in response to Maui County’s lawsuit blaming the utility for failing to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Hawaiian Electric called that complaint “factually and legally irresponsible,” and said its power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for more than six hours when the second blaze started.

In its statement, the utility addressed the cause for the first time. It said the fire on the morning of Aug. 8 “appears to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds.” The Associated Press reported Saturday that bare electrical wire that could spark on contact and leaning poles on Maui were the possible cause.

But Hawaiian Electric appeared to blame Maui County for most of the devastation — the fact that the fire appeared to reignite that afternoon and tore through downtown Lahaina, killing at least 115 people and destroying 2,000 structures.

Richard Fried, a Honolulu attorney working as co-counsel on Maui County’s lawsuit, countered that if the power company’s lines hadn’t caused the initial fire, “this all would be moot.”

Mother of beleaguered Spanish soccer chief starts hunger strike as calls mount for his resignation

MADRID (AP) — The mother of the Spanish soccer federation president under fire for kissing a Women’s World Cup champion on the lips started a hunger strike Monday in defense of her son as calls grew for his resignation and prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation.

The leaders of the regional soccer bodies that make up the Spanish federation added their call for soccer chief Luis Rubiales’ resignation on Monday. FIFA, the world soccer body, had already provisionally suspended him for 90 days after he gave a defiant speech refusing to step down.

The scandal surrounding the kiss — and Rubiales’ refusal to accept Jenni Hermoso’s insistence that it was not consensual — has overshadowed the Spanish team’s 1-0 victory against England in the Women’s World Cup final. Spain’s national team players said last week they would not play any more games unless Rubiales resigns.

Rubiales also came under a storm of criticism for grabbing his crotch in a victory gesture while in the presidential box near Spain’s Queen Letizia and her teenage daughter, Princess Sofia.

Rubiales’ mother, Ángeles Béjar told the state news agency EFE she would remain on hunger strike “night and day” at a church in southern Spain until what she called the “inhumane hounding” of her son ends. Speaking outside the church in the southern town of Motril, Rubiales’ cousin, Vanessa Ruiz, joined his mother in calling on Hermoso to “tell the truth.”