By JOSEF FEDERMAN (Associated Press)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s parliament on Monday approved the first major law in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the country’s justice system, triggering a new burst of mass protests and drawing accusations that he was pushing the country toward authoritarian rule.

The vote, passed unanimously by Netanyahu’s governing coalition after the opposition stormed out of the hall, deepened the fissures that have tested the delicate social ties that bind the country, rattled the cohesion of its powerful military and repeatedly drew concern from Israel’s closest ally, the United States.

It came just hours after Netanyahu was released from the hospital, where he had a pacemaker implanted, adding another dizzying twist to an already dramatic series of events.

As Netanyahu’s allies celebrated their victory and vowed to press ahead with more changes, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and opponents said they would challenge the new law in the Supreme Court.

“It’s a sad day,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said after the vote. “This is not a victory for the coalition. This is the destruction of Israeli democracy.”

The overhaul calls for sweeping changes aimed at curbing the powers of the judiciary, from limiting the Supreme Court’s ability to challenge parliamentary decisions to changing the way judges are selected.

Netanyahu and his allies say the changes strengthen democracy by limiting the authority of unelected judges and giving elected officials more powers over decision-making.

But protesters see the overhaul as a power grab fueled by personal and political grievances of Netanyahu — who is on trial for corruption charges — and his partners.

His allies, who include ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties, have called for increased West Bank settlement construction, annexation of the occupied territory, perpetuating military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, and limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ people and Palestinians.

The White House, which has repeatedly urged Netanyahu to pause his overhaul plan until he has a broad consensus, expressed regret. “It is unfortunate that the vote today took place with the slimmest possible majority,” it said.

Under the Israeli system, the prime minister governs through a majority coalition in parliament — in effect giving him control over the executive and legislative branches of government.

As a result, the Supreme Court plays a critical oversight role. Critics say that by seeking to weaken the judiciary, Netanyahu and his allies are trying to erode the country’s checks and balances and consolidate power over the third, independent branch of government.

In a televised address Monday night, Netanyahu rejected such criticism. “Today we did a necessary democratic act, an act that is intended to return a measure of balance between the branches of government,” he said.

He vowed to seek renewed dialogue with the political opposition and called for national unity. “Let us reach agreements,” he said. “I extend my hand in a call for peace and mutual respect between us.”

As he spoke, Israel’s Channel 13 TV showed a split screen with a police water cannon spraying crowds of protesters.

In Monday’s vote, lawmakers approved a measure that prevents judges from striking down government decisions on the basis they are “unreasonable.”

The government’s critics say removing the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption and improper appointments of unqualified cronies to important positions. The Supreme Court, for instance, this year struck down Netanyahu’s appointment of a key ally for interior and finance minister as unreasonable because of past convictions for bribery and tax cheating.

With the opposition out of the hall, the measure passed by a 64-0 margin.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the plan, said parliament had taken the “first step in an important historic process.”

“This is just the beginning,” added National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Opposition lawmakers chanted “shame” and “government of destruction” before leaving the chamber.

The chant was a reference to the upcoming Jewish day of mourning, the Ninth of Av, which marks the destruction of two ancient Temples in Jerusalem. According to Jewish tradition, the Roman Empire succeeded in destroying the Second Temple because of Jewish infighting.

The grassroots protest movement, which has regularly drawn tens of thousands of people into the streets for the past seven months, condemned Monday’s vote by Netanyahu’s “government of extremists” and vowed to press ahead.

“No one can predict the extent of damage and social upheaval that will follow the passage of the legislation,” it said.

Thousands of people, many waving blue-and-white Israeli flags, gathered outside the Knesset, or parliament, and the Supreme Court, and jammed Jerusalem’s main highway. Walls and fences were plastered with stickers reading “we won’t serve a dictator,” “democracy or rebellion” and “save Israel from Netanyahu.”

Police tried to clear the crowds with water cannons spraying skunk-scented water. Many protesters put plugs in their noses or held up sprigs of rosemary plucked from nearby bushes to try to control the stench.

“This puts us on the way to dictatorship,” said protester Danny Kimmel, a 55-year-old program manager. “You don’t do this to people who are protesting. It’s their right.”

Thousands of people also demonstrated in central Tel Aviv – the epicenter of months of anti-government protests. Scuffles took place between police and protesters, with at least eight people arrested and protesters lighting bonfires. Police said they arrested a driver who hit a group of protesters in central Israel, injuring three people

The overhaul has exposed deep divisions in Israeli society — much of it along religious, ethnic and class lines.

While protesters represent a cross section of society, they come largely from the country’s secular middle class, while Netanyahu’s supporters tend to be poorer, more religious and live in West Bank settlements or outlying rural areas.

Many of his supporters are working-class Mizrahi Jews, with roots in Middle Eastern countries, and have expressed hostility toward what they say is an elitist class of Ashkenazi, or European, Jews.

Israel’s Palestinian Arab minority has largely stayed away from the protests, with many saying they do not feel like they have a stake.

The protests have largely avoided Israel’s 56-year occupation of lands the Palestinians seek for their hoped-for-independent state, fearing the issue might alienate supporters. Critics accuse the protesters of harboring a significant blind spot.

Further ratcheting up the pressure on Netanyahu, thousands of military reservists have declared their refusal to serve under a government they see as setting the country on a path to dictatorship — prompting fears that the military’s preparedness could be compromised.

In his address, Netanyahu urged reservists to continue to serve and “leave army service out of the political debate.”

Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank, said Monday’s vote had exposed long-running weaknesses in Israel’s system of government.

“The immediate outcome will be to escalate internal divisions within Israeli society and undermine Israeli security,” he said. Increased uncertainty, he added, “will also have a negative economic impact.”

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Associated Press writers Ilan Ben Zion, Sam McNeil and Julia Frankel contributed to this report.

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Wildfires raging across Algeria have killed 25 people, including 10 soldiers trying to get the flames under control in the face of high winds and scorching summer temperatures, government ministries said Monday.

At least 1,500 people were evacuated, the Interior Ministry said, without providing details.

The Interior Ministry announced 15 deaths and 24 injuries. In addition, the Defense Ministry later announced 10 soldiers were killed and 25 injured as they fought fires in the resort area of Beni Ksila east of the capital Algiers.

It wasn’t immediately clear over what period of time the casualties happened, but the fires have been burning for several days.

Wildfires, some spread by strong winds, moved across forests and agricultural areas in 16 regions causing 97 blazes in the north African country. The largest and deadliest fires ravaged parts of Bejaia and Jijel — in the Kabyle region east of Algiers — and Bouira, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Algiers, the Interior Ministry said.

Operations to tamp down the fires included some 7,500 firefighters and 350 trucks on the ground as well as air support.

Algeria is no stranger to summer wildfires.

At least 37 people were killed last August after wildfires blazed near Algeria’s northern border with Tunisia.

A year earlier, authorities said dozens were killed in blazes — including soldiers called in to help fight the fires in the mountainous Kabyle region that is dotted with villages.

Strong winds and successive heat waves have fueled vicious fires in Greece and elsewhere around the Mediterranean this summer.

By KIM TONG-HYUNG (Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into its eastern sea, South Korea’s military said Tuesday, adding to a recent streak in weapons testing that is apparently in protest of the U.S. sending major naval assets to South Korea in a show of force.

In its third round of launches since last week, North Korea fired the missiles just before midnight from an area near its capital, Pyongyang, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. It said both missiles traveled around 400 kilometers (248 miles) before landing in waters off the Korean Peninsula’s eastern coast.

Its statement called North Korea’s missile launches a “grave provocation” that threatens regional peace and stability. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government lodged a protest to North Korea over the launches, which is usually conveyed through its embassy in Beijing. He said Tokyo was doing its utmost for surveillance while stepping up trilateral security cooperation with Washington and Seoul. No damage has been reported related to the missiles, which, according to Japan’s Defense Ministry, fell outside the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The launches came hours after South Korea’s navy said a nuclear-propelled U.S. submarine — the USS Annapolis — arrived at a port on Jeju Island. That underscored the allies’ efforts to boost the visibility of U.S. strategic assets in the region to intimidate the North.

Last week, the USS Kentucky became the first U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to come to South Korea since the 1980s. North Korea reacted to its arrival by test-firing ballistic and cruise missiles last week in apparent demonstrations that it could make nuclear strikes on South Korea and deployed U.S. naval vessels.

Also on Monday, the American-led U.N. Command said it has started “a conversation” with North Korea about a U.S. soldier who ran into the North last week across one of the world’s most heavily fortified borders.

Andrew Harrison, a British lieutenant general who is deputy commander at the U.N. Command, which oversees implementation of the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, declined to comment about the state of the inquiry to North Korea or say what the command knows about Pvt. Travis King’s condition.

“I am in life an optimist, and I remain optimistic,” Harrison said during a news conference in Seoul.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said North Korea had only “acknowledged” receiving the U.N. message last week and had not provided any information or commented further since then.

“There have been no new contacts since last week,” Miller said, adding that North Korea also had not responded to messages sent by U.S. civilian or military officials.

North Korea has remained publicly silent about King, who crossed the border during a tour of Panmunjom while he was supposed to be heading to Fort Bliss, Texas, following his release from prison in South Korea on an assault conviction.

The U.S. still has not been able to ascertain King’s condition, a senior administration official said Monday in Washington. Asked if U.S. officials had a better understanding of whether King intended to defect, the official said they still had “no indication about what was going on in his mind that day.” The official was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Analysts say North Korea may wait weeks or even months to provide meaningful information about King to maximize leverage and add urgency to U.S. efforts to secure his release. Some say North Korea may try to wrest concessions from Washington, such as tying his release to the United States cutting back its military activities with South Korea.

King’s crossing came at a time of high tensions in the Korean Peninsula, where the pace of both North Korea’s weapons demonstrations and the United States’ combined military exercises have intensified in a tit-for-tat cycle.

In between the ballistic and cruise missile launches last week, North Korea’s defense minister also issued a veiled threat, saying the Kentucky’s docking in South Korea could be grounds for the North to use a nuclear weapon against it. North Korea has used similar rhetoric before, but the statement underscored how strained relations are now. Farhan Haq, U.N.’s deputy spokesperson, said the U.N. is concerned about the rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “The DPRK’s continued launches of missiles using ballistic missile technology are clear violations of relevant Security Council resolutions, and, of course, we reiterate the call for de-escalation and for full implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions,” he said, invoking the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The United States and South Korea have expanded their combined military exercises and increased regional deployments of U.S. aircraft and ships, including bombers, aircraft carriers and submarines to counter the nuclear threats posed by North Korea, which has test-fired around 100 missiles since the start of 2022.

The Annapolis, whose main mission is destroying enemy ships and submarines, is powered by a nuclear reactor but is armed with conventional weapons. The sub mainly docked at Jeju to load supplies, but Jang Do Young, a spokesperson for South Korea’s navy, said the U.S. and South Korean militaries were discussing whether to arrange training involving the vessel.

The Koreas are still technically at war since a peace treaty was never signed.

Their armistice becomes 70 years old Thursday, an anniversary South Korea will mark with solemn ceremonies honoring the dead that will involve invited foreign war veterans.

North Korea, which celebrates the date as victory day for the “great Fatherland Liberation War,” plans huge festivities that will likely include a military parade in the capital, Pyongyang, where leader Kim Jong Un may showcase his nuclear-capable missiles designed to target regional rivals and the United States.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Monday that a Chinese delegation led by Li Hongzhong, vice chairman of the standing committee of the country’s National People’s Congress, would attend the celebrations.

Visits by foreign guests to North Korea have been extremely rare since the start of the pandemic, which prompted the North to seal its borders to protect its poor healthcare system. North Korea since last year has been gradually reopening trade with China in an apparent effort to salvage a crippled economy damaged further by the pandemic-related border controls.

___

Associated Press writers Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Matthew Lee and Aamer Madhani in Washington, and Edith M. Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

By ANDREW SELIGMAN, MIKE HOUSEHOLDER and LARRY LAGE (Associated Press)

CHICAGO (AP) — The hazing scandal at Northwestern University has widened to include a volleyball player who on Monday became the first female athlete to sue the university over allegations she was retaliated against for reporting mistreatment and a new lawsuit by former Northwestern quarterback Lloyd Yates.

“This shows that it isn’t just men,” said Parker Stinar, one of her attorneys. “It isn’t just football players.”

The private school in Evanston, Illinois, is facing multiple lawsuits, including the one on behalf of Yates, which alleges hazing by teammates that includes sexual abuse. The 52-page complaint also says coaches made racially charged comments to players of color.

“This is the first in a series of lawsuits,” said civil rights attorney Ben Crump, adding he plans on filing more than 30 over the coming weeks involving athletes from “a variety of athletic programs and even mascots.”

He said it’s “too early to tell” if the cases will be combined into a class-action lawsuit. “We’re still trying to look at different legal aspects,” he said.

The scandal at the Big Ten school centers on a problem that seems to extend far beyond sports, even if it is sports that often gets the headlines. While major college sports have become multimillion-dollar programs, ritualistic hazing appears to remain a problematic tradition within them.

Speaking at a Monday news conference, Crump said Yates’ case is the first with a named plaintiff and includes comments from other named players.

“It’s a real big deal when these young people have the courage to take a stand and refuse to be victims anymore, refuse to have their voices silenced,” Crump said.

Crump called this college sports’ “Me Too” moment.

“I want justice for all the victims of this horrific hazing,” Yates said. “I want closure for myself and hundreds of other Northwestern football players who suffered in silence. Too often, many of us have blamed ourselves for things that were beyond our control. Lastly, I want protection for future players.”

Former football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired after a university investigation found allegations of hazing by 11 current or former players, including “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature,” school President Michael Schill said. One previous lawsuit accuses Fitzgerald of enabling a culture of racism, including forcing players of color to cut their hair and behave differently to be more in line with the “Wildcat Way.”

The volleyball player, identified in Monday’s lawsuit as Jane Doe, says she was physically harmed to the point of requiring medical attention during a hazing incident in early 2021.

According to the lawsuit, Jane Doe contracted COVID-19 in February of that year, despite following the team’s COVID guidelines. Despite this, she says, Northwestern volleyball coach Shane Davis and an assistant coach informed her she would need to undergo a “punishment” for violating the guidelines. A day later, on March 2, 2021, the coaches permitted the volleyball team’s captains to pick the punishment: She was forced to run “suicides” in the gym while diving to the floor each time she reached a line on the court. As she did this, the suit says, volleyball coaching staff, team members and trainers watched.

Campus police were made aware of the incident, as was the athletic department, the lawsuit says. Jane Doe says she was isolated from the team and Davis forced her to write an apology letter to trainers. The lawsuit also says the player met with athletic director Derrick Gragg to discuss the culture of the volleyball program but he “did nothing in response” to her concerns.

Davis did not immediately respond Monday morning to messages seeking comment.

The school announced in December 2021 that it had signed Davis to a multi-year contract extension. A year later, in December 2022, the player medically retired from the sport.

Northwestern spokesperson Jon Yates confirmed the unnamed student made a hazing allegation in March 2021. Jon Yates said after suspending the coaching staff during an investigation, which confirmed hazing took place, two volleyball games were canceled and mandatory anti-hazing training was implemented.

“Although this incident predated President Schill’s and Athletic Director Gragg’s tenure at the University, each is taking it seriously,” Jon Yates said. “Dr. Gragg met with the student at her request last year, and as President Schill wrote in a message to the Northwestern community, the University is working to ensure we have in place appropriate accountability for our athletic department.”

The lawsuit was submitted in Cook County, Illinois, by the Chicago-based Salvi Law Firm and names as defendants Davis and Gragg as well as the university, its current and former presidents and the board of trustees. The suit also names Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner James J. Phillips, who was Northwestern’s athletic director until 2021. Phillips, who has been named as a defendant in two other lawsuits, has said he never “condoned or tolerated inappropriate conduct” against athletes while he was Northwestern’s athletics director.

The complaint filed by Lloyd Yates says most of the hazing was led by a group of players known as the “Shrek Squad.” But he expressed sympathy for them, saying they were also “victims” of a culture that normalized the behavior. That is why they are not named in the lawsuit or listed as defendants, Crump said.

The complaint says longtime assistant coach Matt MacPherson witnessed some of the hazing and an unidentified strength and conditioning coach was subjected to a sexually-charged act of hazing by Wildcats players in front of the entire team and coaching staff in fall 2015 or spring 2016. Jon Yates said the school is “reviewing” the allegations against MacPherson.

Players of color were made to “feel inferior.” The complaint describes one instance in which a white coach allegedly told a Black player wearing new headphones in the snack area, “You stole them beats didn’t you?” It says the coach then walked away and laughed.

Fitzgerald, who led Northwestern for 17 seasons and was a star linebacker for the Wildcats, has maintained he had no knowledge of hazing. Fitzgerald said after being fired that he was working with his agent, Bryan Harlan and his lawyer, Dan Webb, to “protect my rights in accordance with the law.”

Webb said in a statement Monday the complaint does not list Fitzgerald as a defendant. He said Fitzgerald had “no knowledge whatsoever of any form of hazing” and “implemented and followed” protocols to ensure it would not happen while repeatedly emphasizing it was forbidden.

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Householder reported from Detroit, and Lage reported from Allen Park, Michigan.

The top job for NCAA wrestling officials is back in the McCormick family.

Mike McCormick, an area dentist and Poquoson High wrestling assistant coach, was named recently as the NCAA national coordinator of officials. McCormick succeeds Tim Shiels, who is retiring after an eight-year stint in which he followed Patrick McCormick, Mike’s dad and the head of NCAA officials for almost three decades.

“I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I kind of feel like I’ve been prepping for this job my entire life,” said McCormick, who was a three-time state champion as a wrestler at Poquoson and went on to twice earn All-ACC honors for Virginia.

McCormick has officiated wrestling for more than 30 years and has worked 25 NCAA championship tournaments. He said his duties as coordinator will include planning education for all NCAA officials, organizing conference officiating coordinators and choosing NCAA Tournament officials for all three divisions.

“It’s lot more work than officiating,” he said.

That work will take him away occasionally from his duties as Eric Decker’s assistant coach at Poquoson High. Decker, who has a large staff at Poquoson — which has won four Class 2 state titles during his tenure — is thrilled for McCormick.

“I can’t think of a better person to do it,” said Decker, who wrestled collegiately for Old Dominion. “He’ll still be involved with us — he won’t be able to stay away from the wrestling room.

“But he’ll be even more influential in wrestling and, being from this town with its long and successful wrestling history, it’s great for Poquoson.”

McCormick has assisted at Poquoson for 12 years. His sons, Patrick and Cole, won multiple individual state championships for the Islanders.

“I am honored to be named the new coordinator and excited to navigate this journey,” McCormick said. “I am very passionate about wrestling and officiating, and hope to make a meaningful contribution in this great sport.”

COLLEGE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Virginia Peninsula Community College named Mariah Parker its new women’s basketball coach.

It’s her first time heading a college program, and she’s excited about the quality of play in the area, which she thinks will make the Gators competitive from the start.

“I’ve seen Virginia basketball in my AAU coaching. … There’s so much talent in this area,” she said in a VPCC release.

Providing an opportunity for women to play beyond high school near home also attracted her. “I had to do it,” she said. “I think there is so much interest.”

At an on-campus event July 12, eight potential players showed up to learn about the college, meet the coach and enroll for the fall semester.

“She has great tenacity and drive,” Chris Moore, VPCC’s athletics director and men’s basketball coach, said in the release. “I think she’s going to be an incredible hire for us. She’s somebody that can really, really relate to the young ladies.”

Her priority is finalizing the 2023-24 schedule, then building the foundation for a successful program by stressing teamwork and togetherness.

Most recently, Parker spent two seasons as the girls coach at Voyager Academy High in Durham, North Carolina. Her team was ranked in the top 10 in the state’s IA East category and hosted and won a state playoff game for the first time in school history. She was the conference Coach of the Year.

Parker replaces Keith Stagg, who had been the coach since 2018. The Gators went 3-7 in the 2022-23 season. Parker’s husband, Dominic, is an assistant men’s basketball coach at Christopher Newport.

Brooks signs contract extension with Hokies

Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks signed a three-year contract extension through March 2029 after taking the Hokies to their first ACC Tournament title and Final Four last season.

Highlights of the contract include a six-year deal totaling $6.4 million, as well as other enhancements made to support staff salaries, the assistant coach salary pool, postseason bonuses and operating budget.

Brooks, a former James Madison player and coach who enters his eighth season at Tech in 2023-24, owns a 155-74 record with the Hokies, including a 62-56 mark in ACC play. The Hokies were 31-5 last season.

“Kenny Brooks and his staff’s commitment to Virginia Tech and women’s basketball exemplifies hard work, determination and dedication to excellence and sets the standard for what college sports should be regarding academics, character and performance,” athletic director Whit Babcock said in a release.

ACADEMIC HONORS

ODU basketball, lacrosse athletes recognized

P.J. Gill of Old Dominion was named to the 2022-23 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court, which honors athletes who excelled in academics.

Gill graduated with a degree in leadership in May after playing for two seasons. He was a team captain last season and saw action in six games, starting against Marshall on Senior Night.

The Honors Court includes juniors, seniors and graduate students who finished the year with a grade-point average of 3.2 or better.

Twenty-six ODU women’s lacrosse athletes were named to the American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. All of them maintained a 3.0 GPA or better in the fall.

HORSE RACING

‘Front Run,’ ‘Sassy’ race to key triumphs

Front Run the Fed and Sassy Beast gained key victories in weekend races at Colonial Downs at New Kent County.

Front Run the Fed, trained by Calo Caramori, won the $150,000 Van Clief Stakes with David Cabrera as the jockey.Sassy Beast, owned by Angel Rodriguez, won the $150,000 Andy Guest Stakes.

Though Old Dominion linebacker Jason Henderson was named the Sun Belt Conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, the Monarchs shouldn’t lack motivation.

ODU was predicted to finish last among the Sun Belt’s seven football teams in coaches’ balloting released Monday, the eve of the conference’s media day in New Orleans.

Henderson, who led the nation with 186 tackles last season, gained his latest honor after a record-setting 2022.Coastal Carolina redshirt senior quarterback Grayson McCall, the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year in 2020, ’21 and ’22, was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. His injury-related absence late last year contributed heavily to Coastal’s fade.

Old Dominion received 17 poll points, the fewest among the conference’s 14 teams, after going 3-9, 2-6 in the Sun Belt.

James Madison was named the East Division favorite with 78 points, edging Appalachian State (75), Coastal Carolina (71) and Marshall (68). Georgia State (31) and ODU rounded out the East voting.

Reigning conference champion Troy led the West Division balloting with 92 points, followed by South Alabama (85), the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (64), Southern Mississippi (62), Texas State (36), Arkansas State (33) and Louisiana Monroe (20).

𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗.@ODUFootball junior linebacker @JasonH_42, who led the nation in tackles in 2022, dubbed the @SunBeltFB Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. ☀️🏈

📰 » https://t.co/4Nc2Lce7wn pic.twitter.com/jhDNjAzUTD

— Sun Belt (@SunBelt) July 24, 2023

Henderson was ODU’s only preseason first-team selection. He was joined on the first team by three JMU players: offensive lineman Nick Kidwell, defensive lineman James Carpenter and punter Ryan Hanson.

ODU punter Ethan Duane was chosen to the second team, as was JMU linebacker Taurus Jones, from Portsmouth’s Norcom High.

The Monarchs’ only Sun Belt victories in 2022 were over Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina, and they lost their last six league games. JMU (8-3, 6-2) rolled past the Chanticleers (9-4, 6-2) 47-7 in a regular-season finale to finish atop the division last year and celebrated with “Kings of the East” merchandise, though the Dukes weren’t allowed to go to the conference championship game or a bowl because they were beginning their transition from FCS to FBS. JMU was picked just sixth in the East last season.

ALL-SUN BELT PRESEASON AWARDS

First-team offense:

QB: Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina.

RB: La’Damian Webb, South Alabama; Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss.

OL: Isaiah Helms, App State; Khalil Crowder, Georgia Southern; Travis Glover, Georgia State; Nick Kidwell, James Madison; Logan Osburn, Marshall.

TE: Neal Johnson, Louisiana.

WR: Jared Brown, Coastal Carolina; Sam Pinckney, Coastal Carolina; Khaleb Hood, Georgia Southern.

First-team defense:

DL: James Carpenter, James Madison; Owen Porter, Marshall; TJ Jackson, Troy; Richard Jibunor, Troy.

LB: JT Killen, Coastal Carolina; Marques Watson-Trent, Georgia Southern; Eli Neal, Marshall; Jason Henderson, Old Dominion.

DB: Micah Abraham, Marshall; Yam Banks, South Alabama; Jay Stanley, Southern Miss; Reddy Steward, Troy.

First-team special teams:

K: Dominic Zvada, Arkansas State.

P: Ryan Hanson, James Madison.

Return specialist: Milan Tucker, App State.

All-purpose: Frank Gore Jr., Southern Miss.

Second-team offense:

QB: Carter Bradley, South Alabama.

RB: Rasheen Ali, Marshall; Kimani Vidal, Troy.

OL: Damion Daley, App State; Will McDonald, Coastal Carolina; AJ Gillie, Louisiana; Ethan Driskell, Marshall; Daniel King, Troy.

TE: Jjay Mcafee, Georgia Southern.

WR: Tyrone Howell, ULM; Caullin Lacy, South Alabama; Devin Voisin, South Alabama.

Second-team defense

DL: Javon Denis, Georgia State; Wy’Kevious Thomas, South Alabama; Jalen Williams, Southern Miss; Jordan Revels, Texas State; Javon Solomon, Troy.

LB: Jontrey Hunter, Georgia State; Jordan Veneziale, Georgia State; Taurus Jones, James Madison.

DB: Bryquice Brown, Georgia State; Keith Gallmon Jr., South Alabama; Jaden Voisin, South Alabama; Dell Pettus, Troy.

Second-team special teams:

K: Diego Guajardo, South Alabama.

P: Ethan Duane, Old Dominion.

RS: Matthew McDoom, Coastal Carolina.

AP: Kimani Vidal, Troy.

By PAUL J. WEBER and VALERIE GONZALEZ (Associated Press)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department on Monday sued Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over a newly installed floating barrier on the Rio Grande that is the Republican’s latest aggressive tactic to try to stop migrants from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge in Austin to force Texas to remove a roughly 1,000-foot (305-meter) line of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys that the Biden administration says raises humanitarian and environmental concerns. The suit claims that Texas unlawfully installed the barrier without permission between the border cities of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico.

The buoys are the latest escalation of Texas’ border security operation that also includes razor-wire fencing, arresting migrants on trespassing charges and sending busloads of asylum-seekers to Democratic-led cities in other states. Critics have long questioned the effectiveness of the two-year operation, known as Operation Lone Star. A state trooper’s account this month that some of the measures injured migrants has put the mission under intensifying new scrutiny.

In anticipation of the lawsuit, Abbott sent President Joe Biden a letter earlier Monday that defended Texas’ right to install the barrier. He accused Biden of putting migrants at risk by not doing more to deter them from making the journey to the U.S.

“Texas will see you in court, Mr. President,” Abbott wrote.

The Biden administration has said illegal border crossings have declined significantly since new immigration restrictions took effect in May. In June, the first full month since the new polices took effect, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said migrant encounters were down 30% from the month prior and were at the lowest levels since Biden’s first full month in office.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Abbott’s policies as a whole have made it difficult for U.S. Border Patrol agents to access Rio Grande.

“Those are unlawful actions that are not helpful and is undermining what the president has put forward and is trying to do,” she said.

In a letter last week, the Justice Department gave Texas until Monday to commit to removing the barrier or face a lawsuit. The letter said the buoy wall “poses a risk to navigation, as well as public safety, in the Rio Grande River, and it presents humanitarian concerns.”

The state deployed the buoys without notifying the International Boundary and Water Commission or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Mexico’s secretary of state asked the federal government to intervene, saying the barrier violates international treaties.

The lawsuit is not the first time the Biden administration has sued Texas overs it actions on the border.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2021 accused the state of usurping and even interfering with the federal government’s responsibility to enforce immigration laws after Abbott empowered state troopers orders to stop vehicles carrying migrants on the basis that they could increase the spread of COVID-19.

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Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas.