内容摘要：The Storm Prediction Center said a lesser potential for severe weather extended as far south as parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

The Storm Prediction Center said a lesser potential for severe weather extended as far south as parts of Texas and Oklahoma.

Later Thursday, he crawled out of the water, where curious seals bobbed in the waves, and onto a boat to warm up and refuel.He began his endeavor just after the New England Aquarium confirmed the first white shark sighting of the season, earlier this week off the coast of Nantucket.

Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh gestures to where he will begin his swim around Martha’s Vineyard island, which is expected to take 12 days, near the Edgartown Lighthouse, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Edgartown, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh gestures to where he will begin his swim around Martha’s Vineyard island, which is expected to take 12 days, near the Edgartown Lighthouse, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Edgartown, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)“It’s going to test me not only physically, but also mentally,” he said, while scoping out wind conditions by the starting line earlier this week. “I mean every single day I’m going to be speaking about sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks. Then, ultimately, I’ve got to get in the water afterwards and do the swim. I suppose you can imagine what I’ll be thinking about.”

Pugh said the swim will be among the most difficult he’s undertaken, which says a lot for someone who has swum near glaciers and volcanoes, and among hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. No one has ever swum around the island of Martha’s Vineyard before.But Pugh, who often swims to raise awareness for environmental causes — and has been named the United Nations Patron of the Oceans for several years — said no swim is without risk and that drastic measures are needed to get his message across: Around 274,000 sharks are killed globally each day — a rate of 100 million every year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A shopper walks past items featuring the Jaws movie at Neptune’s Sea Chest gift shop, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Vineyard Haven, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard Island. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

A shopper walks past items featuring the Jaws movie at Neptune’s Sea Chest gift shop, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Vineyard Haven, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard Island. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)Syria’s transitional government is urged to take “bold steps” toward Trump administration expectations, Kelley said, including

, quickly removing foreign militant fighters from the Syrian military, ensuring foreign extremists such as Palestinian militias can’t operate from Syria, and cooperating in preventing the resurgence of the Islamic State group.Syria’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Riyad Khaddour, praised Trump’s “courageous decision” to lift sanctions as well as his

. Khaddour also touted actions by the European Union, U.K., Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates “to support Syria as it moves forward with confidence and hope.”“The new Syria” is seeking to become “a state of peace and partnership, not a battleground for conflicts or a platform for foreign ambitions,” he said.