Border Patrol arrests father of sailor on long USS Lincoln deployment, facts about drug prices

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In the news today: Border Patrol arrests the father of a sailor on record-long deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln; Trump is taking credit for a fall in drug prices, but there’s more to the story; and a rare look inside the elite Ukrainian drone unit bringing the war to Moscow’s doorstep. Also, why researchers are launching Fat Marmot Week.

When Luis Manuel Aviles was arrested by immigration authorities, his son Joshua Aviles was entering his ninth month on the USS Abraham Lincoln with the Navy — a vessel that set a U.S. military record for uninterrupted time at sea, stirring concerns about supply shortages and deteriorating mental health among soldiers. Read more.

What to know:

Luis Manuel Aviles, 48, was arrested after leaving his house to take his car to the mechanic, according to his wife, Argelia Aviles. She said her husband, a handyman in Key West, Florida, has a permit to work in the United States. Originally from Nicaragua, he has lived in the U.S. for 19 years.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Border Patrol agents arrested Luis Aviles on Saturday in Key West and that he will remain in ICE custody while the government seeks to deport him. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” the department said Sunday.

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Takeaways from AP’s review of military families detained under Trump’s immigration crackdown

Drug prices have declined sharply, and Trump is taking credit. The reason behind the drop is complex

President Donald Trump has been taking credit for new federal data that shows U.S. prescription drug prices fell 0.8% in July and are down 3.1% from a year ago, the steepest year-over-year drop since 1963. Read more.

Why this matters:

The plunging prices, the White House said, resulted from the Republican president’s “most favored nation” drug deals with pharmaceutical firms and the TrumpRx website. The real picture is more complicated, said drug pricing experts, who noted that other factors, including a law from Democratic President Joe Biden’s time in office that allowed Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, are potentially more significant contributors to the latest consumer price index figures. Also at play, they said, are generic and biosimilar products that have come onto the market, offering competition that drives down the price of expensive brand-name and biologic drugs.

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Elite Ukrainian drone unit brings the war to Moscow’s doorstep

A team of AP journalists got a rare glimpse into a rapidly expanding part of Ukraine’s war effort: Long-range drones designed to carry the war deep inside Russia, striking military, industrial and logistical sites far from the front line. Read more.

Why this matters:

Kyiv has stepped up its attacks on Russia this year, with long-range missiles and swarms of drones targeting military industries and energy facilities. It has also increasingly pummeled giant Wildberries depots, burning billions of dollars’ worth of merchandise belonging to the Russian online retail giant. Those attacks have brought the war home to the Russian public, and forced Russia’s military to stretch air defenses over a larger area, disrupted airports, sparked fuel shortages and undermined morale in Russia.

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WATCH

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Open-air spa: Visitors immerse themselves in black mud

Just like Fat Bear Week, an online contest to vote for Alaskan brown bears plumped up for winter, Fat Marmot Week — beginning today — is mostly just for fun, but it also has a serious side: Scientists need to drum up donations for their long-running research into the rodents to keep it going through federal funding cuts. The study in Colorado was launched in 1962, making it one of the world’s longest-running studies of individual mammals.

This is our flagship newsletter Morning Wire. You can subscribe here and we’ll email it to you daily.