The Associated Press

A heat dome is set to expand across much of the central United States, pushing temperatures above 100 degrees from Dallas to North Dakota. About 70 million people will face heat advisories. Forecasters say the heat will stretch from the desert southwest to the Gulf Coast and into the Midwest and Great Plains. Some areas, like the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, won't be hit by such severe weather. The elderly and children are especially at risk of heat-related illnesses. People are advised to seek air conditioning and stay hydrated. Relief might come to the central U.S. toward next weekend.

Back-to-back powerful earthquakes have slammed Venezuela, collapsing buildings in the capital of Caracas. The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake had a magnitude of 7.1 and its epicenter was west of the community of Morón, located along the country's Caribbean coast, about 168 kilometers west of Caracas. The quake had a depth of 22 kilometers. Minutes later, the USGS reported an even larger 7.5-magnitude earthquake. The second quake had a depth of 10 kilometers and its epicenter was 16 kilometers southwest of Morón. The quakes are among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century.

Trump’s immigration crackdown has met with fierce resistance in Democratic-led sanctuary cities, where police are forbidden from assisting and many locals view the masked federal agents as an invading force. That hasn’t been the case in Republican-led Florida, though, where about 350 state and local agencies have signed on to take part in the crackdown. Although Florida immigration arrests have more than tripled during Trump's second term, the surge has largely flown under the public’s radar, as many start as run-of-the-mill police traffic stops, the public seems more supportive of the initiative, and participating state and local agencies are roundly rejecting requests for arrest records and body camera video at the behest of the Department of Homeland Security.

Actor Anthony Head, known for his roles in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Ted Lasso," has died at 72. His family announced Friday that he passed away peacefully due to complications from pneumonia, surrounded by loved ones. Head first gained recognition in the 1980s on British TV as part of a romantic couple in Nescafe ads. He later achieved U.S. fame as Rupert Giles in the supernatural series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which aired from 1997 to 2003.

The White House is telling Congress that hostilities with Iran have "terminated" despite the continued presence of U.S. armed forces in the region. That message in a letter Friday from President Donald Trump effectively skirts a May 1 legal deadline to gain approval from members of Congress to continue the war with Iran. That deadline was already set to pass without action from Republican lawmakers who are deferring to the president. Trump also makes clear in the letter that the war may be far from over. The letter brings into stark relief the bold but legally questionable assertion of presidential power at the heart of Trump's war.

Republicans have scored another victory in the nationwide redistricting battle. The Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map on Wednesday intended to help the party gain four seats.

President Donald Trump was reported uninjured and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries, and one law-enforcement official said a shooter opened fire. The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall at the Washington Hilton as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. "Out of the way, sir!" someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be five to eight shots fired. The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump's speech — was immediately evacuated.It was not immediately clear what happened.

A lawyer says guards severely beat and pepper-sprayed detainees at a state-run immigration detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" in the Florida Everglades. A lawyer for two of the detainees says the beating happened after they complained about not having phone access on April 2. The lawyer says the guards taunted and then attacked the detainees. Guards punched one of her clients in the face and broke another detainee's wrist. Phone service was restored the next day without explanation. The allegations are detailed in a court filing accusing officials of not complying with a judge's order to provide proper phone access for legal calls.

President Donald Trump has shared a video of a deadly attack at a Florida gas station, using it to justify his mass deportation agenda. Rolbert Joachin, 40, is charged with killing a woman on April 2 in Fort Myers. Trump and the Department of Homeland Security said Joachin is from Haiti. Critics argue Trump unfairly paints immigrants as criminals. Joachin reportedly confessed and is set for arraignment on May 4. Trump blames President Biden for granting Joachin Temporary Protected Status. This status allows immigrants from troubled countries to stay temporarily in the U.S., a policy Trump has criticized.

Environmental groups have asked a federal appellate court panel to lift its temporary halt on closing an immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades. Known as "Alligator Alcatraz," the center remains open due to arguments by Florida and the Trump administration. They claimed the state hadn't gotten federal reimbursement, so it wasn't required to follow federal environmental law. On Tuesday, during a hearing in Miami, the judges questioned how much control the federal government had over the state-built facility. Florida was notified in late September of $608 million in federal funding approval. The environmental lawsuit was one of three federal challenges to the facility since it opened.