AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Mistrial is declared in Lindsay Clancy child killings case after jury deadlocks

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — A judge in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial declared a mistrial Friday after jurors failed to reach a verdict in a case that sharply divided many Americans over whether the Massachusetts woman should be criminally responsible for killing her three young children.

The trial generated intense interest for weeks, drawing attention to maternal mental health after childbirth.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, never disputed that she killed the children. But her attorney said she had a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her kids — the youngest just 8 months old — then tried to take her own life in 2023. Prosecutors said Clancy knew what she was doing.

Friday’s mistrial, on the seventh day of deliberations, leaves the case unresolved. In the end, the decision seemed to surprise no one in the courtroom. Neither Clancy nor her family showed emotion as the judge announced the trial was ending without a resolution.

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US issues sanctions on Turkish bank that it calls a ‘critical financial lifeline’ for Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration announced Friday that it has imposed sanctions on a Turkish financial institution as part of its latest effort to sever “critical financial lifelines” for the Iranian government.

The actions against Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi come after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week launched “Operation Economic Outcast, ” Washington’s new effort to isolate already heavily sanctioned Iran from its remaining trading partners to try to get it to capitulate to U.S. demands after more than six months of war.

The Treasury Department accused the Turkish bank and its entities of being established to enable Iran’s efforts to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where they could then be converted to cash and gold. It also said the institution “knowingly offered” banking services to Iranian financial entities, including those already sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for funneling Tehran’s oil sales.

Bessent, who had told The Associated Press earlier this week that another bank would face economic penalties, said financial institutions with ties to Iran will “continue to find out the hard way that we are serious about Operation Economic Outcast.”

“While we hope no more banks will need to be sanctioned, that ultimately depends on how quickly the international community comes to its senses and ceases support of the murderous Iranian regime,” he said in a press release Friday. “We know who you are, we know where you are, and we will continue to take action together with our allies and partners until we have buried the head of the Iranian snake.”

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Jordan’s alliance with the US makes the kingdom a target for Iranian strikes

Jordan, a staunch U.S. ally that hosts American forces in the Mideast, has paid a price for its relationship with Washington, which has made the kingdom’s military bases a target of repeat Iranian strikes.

Hundreds of drone and missile attacks have added to other strains on Jordan that include a slumping economy and volatility in the neighboring West Bank, where Israeli settlers have ramped up attacks on Palestinians.

Despite the risk of more strikes, Jordanian leaders say they are committed to maintaining the relationship after decades of courting deeper security ties with American officials and offering to be a reliable partner with the West in a region rocked by conflict. Analysts say the alliance offers Jordan a way to guard against Iran’s attempts to destabilize its neighbors.

King Abdullah II of Jordan seemed to acknowledge the need for such alliances last year, when he warned that destabilization fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and multiple Israeli military campaigns in the Middle East could trigger chaos far beyond the region.

“We are living through wave after wave of disruption, without pause,” he told European lawmakers. “There is no telling where the boundaries of this battleground will end. That, my friends, is a threat to people everywhere.”

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Hiring burst of 162,000 jobs in August puts the focus squarely back on inflation in the US

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. labor market bounced back in August as employers added a surprising 162,000 jobs, ending a summer of lackluster hiring with a bang.

The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.1%.

Hiring far exceeded the 65,000 jobs that forecasters had expected, according to a poll by FactSet. Labor Department revisions also looked good, adding 55,000 to June and July payrolls. Employers created 21,000 jobs in July; the Labor Department had originally reported that they’d cut 23,000.

Two months before the midterm elections, President Donald Trump welcomed the strong hiring report Friday. “Great jobs number just announced, breaking all estimates (except mine!) by double and triple – And you haven’t seen anything yet!” Trump wrote in a social media post.

But inflation has dominated conversations this year in business and households. Voters are increasingly frustrated by higher costs, particularly fuel prices that have hit record levels since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in late February.

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US diesel prices hit a record high, pushing up transportation costs for a long list of goods

CHICAGO (AP) — Diesel hit a record price in the U.S. on Friday, soaring to an average of $5.85 a gallon for the first time as the six-month war with Iran disrupts the world’s flow of fuel.

Because diesel is used for many freight and delivery networks, higher diesel prices mean higher transportation costs for a long list of everyday goods. Some businesses have already passed on costs to consumers in the form of added fees on online orders and packages in the mail. And shoppers may see more and more sticker shock trickle down to store shelves.

One of the most immediate strains is being felt in the grocery aisle, particularly with produce, meat and other perishable foods that need to be hauled in and restocked frequently — or even harvested using diesel-powered farm equipment. It can take time for all of those costs to trickle down.

Still, experts warn that price hikes could mount the longer diesel remains expensive. A range of other products are also transported by diesel trucks, trains and boats, including clothing, cosmetics and furniture.

This could add to Republicans’ political challenges ahead of November’s midterm elections, with many voters already sour on President Donald Trump’s management of the economy and fallout of the war he launched. AP-NORC polling this summer showed 2 out of 3 U.S. adults disapproved of how Trump is handling the economy.

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Trump administration scrubs data on gender-based bullying from school civil rights survey

The Trump administration this week quietly released an update to a major survey on civil rights in schools that was scrubbed of all data related to nonbinary students or bullying based on gender identity.

The numbers come from the Education Department’s Civil Rights Data Collection, a federal survey of nearly every public school in the nation. The release this week covers the 2023-2024 school year, when the survey included “nonbinary” as a gender category alongside male and female.

However, an Associated Press analysis shows that in every column for information related to gender identity, the numbers were replaced with a code indicating “Suppressed in Compliance with Executive Order.” That refers to an executive order that President Donald Trump signed on his inauguration day calling for the federal government to define sex as only male or female.

The government also suppressed the number of allegations of harassment or bullying on the basis of gender identity in schools, information about whether the districts had written policies prohibiting such harassment, and any links to those policies.

Those questions in the data collection are designed to capture the experiences of transgender and nonbinary students — whether they experience harassment, participate in sports or face overly harsh discipline, said Seth Galanter, a senior fellow at the Edley Center on Law and Democracy and a former attorney with the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights under the Biden and Obama administrations.

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ICE officer pleads not guilty to lying about shooting and is ordered released from custody

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was ordered released from federal custody Friday after pleading not guilty to lying to investigators about the circumstances that led to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minnesota immigration crackdown last winter.

The federal indictment accuses Christian Castro of falsely telling investigators that he was attacked with a broom and shovel before he opened fire, injuring Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

Castro was shackled at his wrists, waist and feet during a brief hearing in the federal court in McAllen after he turned himself into authorities Thursday evening. The judge ordered him released on a $75,000 unsecured bond and with a GPS ankle monitor.

It’s the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year’s massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.

The allegations in the federal indictment mirror those brought by Minnesota officials, who have separately charged Castro with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the nonfatal shooting of Sosa-Celis.

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Watchdog report: Ex-Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer oversaw hostile work environment, misused funds

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer oversaw a “toxic, intimidating and humiliating” work environment and engaged in numerous violations of department policy, according to a new report from the department’s Office of Inspector General.

The report alleges that Chavez-DeRemer “engaged in an inappropriate relationship” with a member of her security detail and repeatedly directed staff to perform personal tasks on government time. It also accuses her of inappropriately combining personal and official travel, violating the department’s alcohol policies, and failing to report gifts through proper channels.

Based on interviews with dozens of current and former labor department staffers and a review of more than 500 documents, images and videos, the report includes several striking allegations.

During a personal trip to Oregon, it reports, Chavez-DeRemer allegedly stopped at a strip club featuring partially nude dancers and directed her limousine driver to come inside and give money to a performer, despite his hesitation. She then “took additional money from her purse and asked the agent to drop the bills one by one onto the partially nude woman,” despite his protests.

Chavez-DeRemer, who resigned earlier this year, could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Stocks fall after a surprisingly strong jobs report raises prospects of an interest rate hike

U.S. stocks fell and Treasury yields rose Friday after the government reported that employers unexpectedly added 162,000 jobs last month, a development that could increase chances that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates later this month.

The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, though it managed to eke out a modest gain for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite gave back 0.3%.

Wall Street expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates before the year ends in an effort to cool inflation, which has been running hot due to rising oil prices amid the U.S. war with Iran and remains well above 3%. The Fed has a stated goal of cooling inflation to a target of 2%.

The surprise increase in hiring last month could give the central bank’s policymakers leeway to raise the Fed’s benchmark short-term interest rate to fight inflation at their next policy meeting in less than two weeks.

“Today’s jobs report does lean toward the Fed increasing rates,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group, noting, however, that a rate hike is “not a foregone conclusion.”

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WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to retire in December after transformative and tumultuous tenure

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is retiring at the end the year, bringing to a close her seven-plus years at the helm of the league and a stewardship that has been transformative and at times tumultuous.

Engelbert is the second-longest tenured WNBA president or commissioner, and she helped negotiate a lucrative collective bargaining agreement this past spring that resulted in the league’s first set of million-dollar player salaries.

“Cathy has presided over the WNBA through the most significant period of growth in the league’s 30-year history,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Friday when announcing Engelbert’s decision. “We are grateful for Cathy’s leadership and unwavering commitment to the advancement of women’s basketball.”

Engelbert, who turns 62 in November, told The Associated Press that she has been thinking about retiring for months.

“When I first came to the league I intended to do this for 3 1/2 years,” she said in a phone interview. “The 7 1/2 years exceeded that time. This is a really good time given the financial transformation journey we’ve been on. Getting the collective bargaining agreement done, getting a long-term media rights deal done, getting expansion done.”