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Caitlin Kaisergraduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with both an undergraduate and graduate degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences before starting her career as a digital meteorologist withweather.com.

Details are emerging about the armed man who allegedly breached a secure perimeter at PresidentDonald Trump's Mar-a-Lago property before being fatally shot by law enforcement officials on Sunday, Feb. 22.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office identified the man as Austin Tucker Martin, 21, from North Carolina. Martin was reported missing within the last few days, Reuters reported.

Martin was allegedly seen near the property's north gate at about 1:30 a.m. and was stopped by a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy and two Secret Service agents. The president was in Washington during the incident and not at his Florida club.

Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw alleged that Martin was carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, and the officials ordered him to drop the items. Martin put the gas can down, but the sheriff said he "raised the shotgun to a shooting position" and authorities fired their weapons at him in response.

As more information is released, here's what we know about Martin.

Have officials identified the man?

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed Martin was killed on Feb. 22. Before confirming his identity, authorities described him as a White male in his early 20s.

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Bradshaw told reporters that law enforcement officials were not aware of Martin before the incident.

The sheriff also said he couldn't confirm how many shots were fired because the case is still under active investigation, with the FBI taking lead. No law enforcement officials were injured in the shooting, but Martin was pronounced dead at the scene.

What else have authorities said?

Authorities asked people who live in the area to look at any security footage they may have from around their homes and report anything suspicious to the FBI or local officials.

Trump has not addressed the incident publicly. In aposton social media, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Secret Service "acted quickly and decisively to neutralize a crazy person."

She also slammed Democrats for the ongoingpartial government shutdown,during which the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, has faced a lapse in funding.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Mar-a-Lago shooting. What we know about Austin Tucker Martin

With a series of resignations in his cabinet linked to anotherbatch of documentsrelated toJeffrey Epsteinbeing released,UK Prime Minister Keir Starmeris under fire, even though he never knew the convicted sex offender, experts say.

"His position is extremely fragile,"Brendan O'Leary, Political Science Chair at the University of Pennsylvania, told USA TODAY about Starmer, who won in a landslide victory in 2024 that ended 14 years of Conservative party rule. "The Prime Minister is definitely looking over his shoulder."

Although Starmer is not named in any of the Epstein files, his political struggles are connected to Peter Mandelson, a friend of Epstein, as the ambassador to the United States. Mandelson was fired as ambassador in September 2025 after further details of his relationship with Epstein emerged.

More details of Mandelson's ties to the disgraced late financier became public when thelatest round of documentsfrom the Justice Department revealed Mandelson corresponded with Epstein after the financier became a registered sex offender in 2009.

Mandelson also resigned from the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Britain's parliament, this month and faces a potential investigation into misconduct in public office, O'Leary added.

Starmer has apologized to Epstein's victims for believing Mandelson's "lies."

"What Mandelson did, which was extraordinary, to give Epstein information about the UK's intended support for the Euro during a key moment during the currency crisis," O'Leary said. "And, obviously, while we won't ever know what the extent could have been, that would've been considered sensitive information that could have been exploited by Epstein."

Just a week after the Jan. 30 Epstein document dump, two of Starmer's aides also resigned: Communications chief Tim Allan and Morgan McSweeney, Starmer's top aide, who said he took responsibility for advising on Mandelson's appointment to Britain's top diplomatic role.

"The decision to appoint Peter Mandelson was wrong. He has damaged our party, our country and trust in politics itself," McSweeney said in a Feb. 8 statement. "While I did not oversee the due diligence and vetting process, I believe that process must now be fundamentally overhauled."

The departures, especially McSweeney, whom Starmer "had relied on as a vigorous enforcer of discipline in the party," put the prime minister's position deservedly under intense scrutiny, O'Leary said.

"I don't think Starmer is a dishonest person, but I think he made a grave error in judgment because he trusted the advice of McSweeney regarding Mandelson," O'Leary said. "It's quite possible more information may come out, and, if that's the case, it could be bad news for Starmer."

Sharing secretive info:UK trade info leaks, not sex, may have led to former Prince Andrew arrest

Starmer is tanking in the polls, too

The public has been unkind to Starmer as well.

AnIpsos poll in late Januaryrevealed that only 20% liked Starmer, who vowed to stabilize the country's economy and improve public services. His net favorability score was -50, matching the lowest Ipsos has found for a Labour leader since it started tracking the stat in 2007.

Additionally, Starmer's "lead of satisfaction ratings, as opposed to favorability, has been the worst Ipsos has ever recorded for a Prime Minister,"Kieran Pedley, Ipsos' UK director of Politics, told USA TODAY from London. "And we've been measuring that lead of satisfaction similar to our presidential approval ratings since the late 1970s, since the days of Margaret Thatcher."

Pedley said Starmer was elected on a mandate of change as the public was intensely dissatisfied with public services, the cost of living, and immigration issues. The pace of change has been deemed too slow by some polls, Pedley said.

"Keir Starmer's position as Prime Minister is vulnerable," Pedley added. "I certainly feel there's a sense of political danger."

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AJanuary YouGov pollalso showed Starmer's decline in popularity is widespread, with only 18% of Brits viewing him positively.

Starmer on Feb. 10 vowed never to walk away from his job despite the pressure from some Labour Party leaders, includingAnas Sarwar, who leads Starmer's Labour Party in Scotland and who has called on Starmer to resign.

Starmer will likely remain in place, saidLaura Beers, a political science professor at American University who specializes in British politics.

And since the Labour Party holds the majority in Parliament, Starmer is unlikely to be pushed out of office. She believes that despite the heavy criticism, Starmer will weather any storms, for now.

"If (Starmer) was going to go, he would've been gone by now," said Beers, who is currently in the United Kingdom. "It's hard to see this reach that point given that it hasn't already happened where Starmer resigns."

Upcoming elections could determine Starmer's fate

A glimpse into Starmer's future could be determined by a series ofupcoming local elections in May,where it's anticipated his Labour Party will suffer big losses.

Nearly 5,000 voters will decide on seats across 136 local councils, following the UK government's recent reversal to delay the elections after an appeal by the rival Reform Party.

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage said the government's decision was a victory for Reform UK.

"We took this Labour government to court and won," Farage said in aFeb. 16 post on X.

Beers noted that a popular UK politician, Andy Burnham, the current mayor of Greater Manchester, was recentlyblockedfrom running in a special election that could have seen him return to parliament and become a potential challenger to Starmer.

Pedley, Ipsos' UK politics director, said in head-to-head polling, "the public is evenly split" between Starmer and Farage on who they would prefer as prime minister, as opposed to other alternatives in the Labour Party.

"There's no obvious slam dunk of a successor, and part of the reason why it's still not clear who would definitely replace him," Pedley said.

"There's nothing in the polling that's showing there is someone in the wings waiting to take over for him," Pedley said. "So, it's not guaranteed Starmer gets deposed or replaced, although it's still difficult times ahead for him."

Beers agrees.

"There is no viable successor if Starmer steps down or is forced out, and the Labour Party knows that," Beers said. "There's literally 0% chance of an election over this. In fact, I would be shocked if Starmer didn't weather this storm."

However, O'Leary is less optimistic about Starmer's future.

"He has survived by the skin of his teeth, but his rendezvous with destiny will be these upcoming elections," O'Leary said. "And if Labour (Party) does extraordinarily badly, and that's what it looks like right now, it's extremely difficult to see how he survives."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Epstein files controversy snares UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Mikayla Blakes scored 35 points and Justine Pissott came up with a big defensive play late to help No. 5 Vanderbilt edge 16th-ranked Kentucky 81-79 on Sunday.

Kentucky Vanderbilt Basketball

Trailing by one, Kentucky's Clara Strack had the ball with 4 seconds left and made a move to the basket from the wing when Pissott deflected it out of Strack's hand. Blakes gained possession and then was fouled with less than a second left. She hit the first of two free throws and then the Wildcats couldn't get off a shot.

Aubrey Galvan, who finished with 20 points, hit the go-ahead jumper with 7.9 seconds left to lift Vanderbilt (25-3, 11-3 SEC). Pissott finished with eight points, including two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. One of those 3's tied the game with 2:21 left.

The victory ties Vanderbilt with No 4 Texas for second place in the SEC with two games left in regular-season play.

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Strack led the Wildcats (20-8, 7-7) in scoring, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds. Amelia Hassett added 15 points, hitting five 3-pointers.

Up next

Kentucky: At Auburn on Thursday.

Vanderbilt: Hosts No. 25 Alabama on Thursday.

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PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- After hanging around on the porch for much of the past year, Jacob Bridgeman stormed through the front door Sunday, earning his first career PGA Tour victory by holding on for a one-shot win in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

Bridgeman played it safe, shooting 1-over-par 72 in the final round to finish 18-under 266 at the finale of the season-opening West Coast Swing. After holding a seven-shot lead at one point early in his final round he needed a 5-foot putt at 18 to make the win official.

Rory McIlroy (67) closed with birdies on the final two holes to finish tied for second with Kurt Kitayama (64) at 17 under, while Australia's Adam Scott (63) finished fourth at 16 under. Scott, the tournament winner in 2005 and 2020 who entered on a sponsor's exemption, had two rounds of 8-under 63.

South Africa's Aldrich Potgieter (68) was alone in fifth at 15 under and Jake Knapp (66) was sixth at 13 under.

During an emotional week, as the tournament returned to the Los Angeles-area neighborhood that was devastated by a wildfire last January, Bridgeman fought back tears on the 18th green when his breakthrough was complete.

Content to play it safe after starting the day with a six-shot lead, Bridgeman was even par through 15 holes after two birdies and two bogeys. His bogey at No. 16, dropped him to 18 under and allowed Kitayama to pull within a stroke.

Nine strokes back at the start of the day, Kitayama's charge included four birdies over his first five holes of the final round. He had four more birdies on the back nine to deliver his first top-five finish since winning the 3M Open in July.

It was almost one year to the date when Bridgeman started to show that his first trophy was near. He was runner-up at Cognizant Classic last February and delivered four top-five finishes in just over four months.

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The run continued this season with a fourth-place finish at the Sony Open at Hawaii and a tie for eighth at Pebble Beach last week. After never holding an overnight lead since joining the PGA Tour, he was in the top spot all four days this weekend, including a tie for first after each of the first two rounds.

Playing in the final round with Rory McIlroy, Bridgeman held his own against the world's No. 2 player. McIlroy was merely even par on the front nine, before collecting four birdies after the turn. McIlroy made it interesting with a long birdie putt from the fringe at the final hole.

Bridgeman, a South Carolina native and Clemson alum, who reached 21-under par early in his round, finished off the victory with a pars at 17 and 18.

An infrequent visitor to the West Coast until joining the PGA Tour, Bridgeman not only earned a hefty payday, he did it while playing on the legendary Riviera layout for the first time.

For the third consecutive week, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (65) turned a poor start into a solid finish. He finished 11 under for the weekend and in a tie for 12th after scrambling to make the cut on the number.

"I think after Thursday I did some pretty good stuff," Scheffler said. "... I think I was in dead last after Thursday, battled just to make the cut and think I had two solid (rounds) over the weekend."

Collin Morikawa (65), who ended a victory drought of over two years last week at Pebble Beach, was in a group of five, along with Tommy Fleetwood and Xander Schauffele, that finished tied for seventh place at 12 under.

In the middle of a rough round, Max Greyserman had a hole-in-one at No. 12 after he was 4 over on the day to that point. He finished in a tie for 24th place at 7 under.

--Doug Padilla, Field Level Media

North Carolina's Henri Veesaar went frombarely practicing or working outdue to a nagging lower-body injury to playing nearly a full allotment of minutes in his return to action at Syracuse.

North Carolina Syracuse Basketball

"It feels great, it feels much better than it did before," the 7-footer said after posting 19 points and three blocksin Saturday's 77-64 road win.

The16th-rankedTar Heels desperately need things to stay that way, too.

The junior had missed two straight games alongside freshman star Caleb Wilson, who isout indefinitely with a hand fractureand due to be re-evaluated next week. The uncertainty surrounding both had threatened to throw a season coming off the high ofa last-second win against rival Duketwo weeks ago into disarray.

Veesaar's return was a stabilizing step with No. 21 Louisville set to visit Chapel Hill on Monday night.

"It's easier because he's a guy that can consistently score in the paint," UNC coach Hubert Davis said. "He can shoot from 3. He can pass. And there's a lot of (defensive) attention on him.

Veesaar saw 25:58 of game action, "a little bit more than I wanted to play him," Davis added. "But he kept saying he felt good. It was nice to have him back in the lineup."

Veesaar entered as the team's No. 2 scorer (16.4) and rebounder (9.0), forming a potent frontcourt tandem with Wilson as the leader in both categories and a high-end NBA prospect. But things had gone awry for the Tar Heels since the Duke thriller, first with Wilson suffering his injury in the first half of a Feb. 10 loss at Miami.

Then Veesaar suddenly popped up with an illness as well as what was described only as an injury to a "lower extremity." He missed last weekend's home win against a Pittsburgh team near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

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He recovered from the illness but was still outfor Tuesday's loss at N.C. State, with UNC falling by 24 for its most lopsided loss in the longtime rivalry since 1962.

"I feel like it was just kind of something that was kind of nagging, and then just building on that," Veesaar said. "After Miami, it kind of flared up in that game and I was able to get through that game. But then it felt like we needed to take a little bit of time off for me to get back to the form I need to play at, and just be able to go 100%."

His first running drills came Wednesday. He did more individual work Thursday. Then Davis said Friday that Veesaar would go through a limited team practice, though he called him questionable for the Orange.

Davis wanted to see how Veesaar responded overnight, then again during warmups. Veesaar ultimately started as he had for his previous 24 games, finishing 9 for 13 from the field with a 3-pointer and three rebounds while being within range of his typical 31-minute average.

"I felt good, it didn't hurt at all," he said. "So just being able to do that kind of gave me confidence to play today."

AP freelancer Mark Frank in Syracuse, New York, contributed to this report.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign uphere. AP college basketball:https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-pollandhttps://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

By Phil Stewart and Laura Gottesdiener

Vehicle fires and roadblocks following security operation in Mexico

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A new U.S.-military-led task force specializing in intelligence collection on drug cartels played a role in the Mexican military raid on Sunday that killed the Mexican drug lord known as 'El Mencho,' a U.S. defense official told Reuters.

The Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, which ‌involves multiple U.S. government agencies, was formally launched last month with the goal of mapping out networks of drug cartel members on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico ‌border, U.S. officials said.

The U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details on any information that the U.S.-military-led task force may have offered Mexican authorities. The official stressed the raid itself ​was a Mexican military operation.

A former U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity without referring specifically to the task force, said the U.S. compiled a detailed target package for El Mencho and provided it to the Mexican government for its operation.

This detailed dossier included information provided by U.S. law enforcement, U.S. intelligence, the former official said.

The former official added El Mencho was very high, if not at the top, of a list of U.S. targets in Mexico.

Mexican authorities killed drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as 'El Mencho,' during an operation designed to capture him in the western state of ‌Jalisco. The operation set off a wave of violence, with torched ⁠cars and gunmen blocking highways in more than half a dozen states.

Mexico's defense ministry said U.S. authorities had provided "complementary information," but offered no details. A Mexican government source familiar with the operation said the Mexican government designed and executed it, and that no U.S. military personnel were physically involved.

An ⁠ex-police officer, Oseguera, 60, was the shadowy leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), an international criminal enterprise widely viewed as one of Mexico's most powerful. He managed to evade arrest for years despite a $15 million bounty from the U.S. for information leading to his arrest or capture.

The kingpin's killing notches a major victory for Mexico's war on drug cartels that are responsible for smuggling billions of ​dollars ​in cocaine and fentanyl into the U.S.

President Donald Trump's administration has waged a pressure campaign on Mexican President ​Claudia Sheinbaum's government to ramp up its crackdown on drug trafficking, including ‌U.S. threats to intervene directly in Mexico.

U.S. MAPPING OUT CARTELS

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There is little information publicly available about the U.S. Joint Interagency Task Force-Counter Cartel, or JITF-CC. Its website says its goal is to "identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border."

U.S. Brigadier General Maurizio Calabrese, who leads the task force, spoke to Reuters this month about how the U.S. military is channeling its experience battling groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State to map out cartel networks.

"The cartels operate differently than al Qaeda or ISIS, different motivations, which makes it even more important for us to identify entire networks so that we can disrupt and dismantle (them)," Calabrese told Reuters, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Calabrese noted that estimates vary ‌widely but said there were possibly a few hundred core cartel members "at the top."

"But then you have ​anywhere from 200,000 to 250,000 independent contractors that will help you move these drugs," Calabrese said.

Jack Riley, a former ​senior official at the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Trump's designation of Mexican cartels as ​terrorist organizations last year unlocked new kinds of U.S. military assistance.

He said that could be helpful when it comes to U.S. military intelligence, surveillance ‌and reconnaissance resources.

"Our surveillance capabilities are going to be probably unlimited, and ​that will really help with real-time stuff," Riley ​told Reuters.

"But these guys are extremely astute at being able to cover their tracks, cover who's in charge and where those people are."

A second U.S. defense official, speaking to Reuters ahead of the Mexican operation, said the new task force fit into a broader U.S. strategy to combat drug trafficking that has seen the U.S. military take ​increasing operational control of the border with Mexico.

It also includes now-regular ‌U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats in Caribbean and Pacific waters, the legality of which has been challenged by Democratic lawmakers and legal experts.

"The whole idea ​of creating an interagency effort is to not have stray voltage, is to bring it all together, synchronize it," the second official said of the task ​force.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart in Washington and Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, Mexico; Editing by David Gregorio)