AP Top News at 5:38 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under intense pressure from President Donald Trump's own supporters, his administration now says it will push a court to unseal secret documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's case in an effort to put to rest for good a political crisis largely of its own making. But even if those records become public, it's far from certain they will appease critics enraged over the administration's unfulfilled promises of full transparency about evidence against the wealthy financier. Meanwhile, the administration remains dogged by questions about its refusal to release other records in its possession after stoking conspiracy theories and pledging to uncover government secrets of the “deep state.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday signed into law new regulations for a type of cryptocurrency, a major milestone for an industry that has spent heavily to strengthen its legitimacy and political might. The GENIUS Act sets initial guardrails and consumer protections for stablecoins, which are tied to assets like the U.S. dollar to reduce price volatility compared with other forms of cryptocurrency. It passed both the House and Senate with wide bipartisan margins. The new law is meant to bolster consumer confidence in the crypto industry, which has quickly become a major power player in Washington thanks to massive campaign donations and spending on lobbying.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Friday blast at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility killed three members of its arson and explosives unit, marking one of the department's worst losses of life from a single incident, the sheriff said. All three were veteran deputies. The department hasn’t said what they were doing at the time of the blast or what caused it. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the arson and explosives team undergoes in-depth training and responds to more than 1,000 calls a year. The deputies had served 19, 22 and 33 years in the department, Luna said.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela released 10 jailed Americans on Friday in exchange for getting home scores of migrants deported by the United States to El Salvador months ago under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, officials said. The arrangement represents a diplomatic achievement for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, helps President Donald Trump in his goal of bringing home Americans jailed abroad and lands El Salvador a swap that its president had proposed months ago. “Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement in which he thanked El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Top church leaders visited Gaza on Friday after its only Catholic church was struck by an Israeli shell the day before, an attack that killed three people and wounded 10, including a priest who had developed a close friendship with the late Pope Francis. The strike drew condemnation from the pope and U.S. President Donald Trump, and prompted statements of regret from Israel, which said it was an accident. Since ending a ceasefire in March, Israel has regularly launched far deadlier strikes across Gaza against what it says are Hamas militants, frequently killing women and children.

JARAMANA, Syria (AP) — A Syrian Druze woman living in the United Arab Emirates frantically tried to keep in touch with her family in her hometown in southern Syria as clashes raged there over the past days. Her mother, father and sister sent videos of their neighbors fleeing as fighters moved in. The explosions from shelling were non-stop, hitting near their house. Her family took shelter in the basement. When she reached them later in a video call, they said her father was missing. He had gone out during a lull to check the situation and never returned. “Now I only pray.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department will release $1.3 billion in previously withheld grant money for after-school programs, days after 10 Republican senators sent a letter imploring the Trump administration to allow frozen education money to be sent to states. President Donald Trump’s administration on July 1 withheld more than $6 billion in federal grants for after-school and summer programs, adult literacy and English language instruction, part of a review to ensure spending aligned with the White House’s priorities. In a letter sent Wednesday, Republican senators said the withheld money supported programs that had longstanding bipartisan support and were critical to local communities.

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, authorities said on Friday, in a move he described as "a supreme humiliation." The development came as federal police conducted searches at his home and his party’s headquarters in Brasília, in compliance with a Supreme Court order. The order prohibits Bolsonaro to leave the house at night, communicate with foreign ambassadors and diplomats or approach embassies. The former president is also barred from using social media or contacting other individuals under investigation by the Supreme Court, including his son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, a Brazilian lawmaker who currently lives in the United States and is known for his close ties to U.S.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — When U.S. President Donald Trump met five African leaders in Washington this month, his lack of familiarity with the continent was on display. He praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai’s English — Liberia’s official language — and gestured at another leader to wrap up remarks. But the bigger takeaway was Trump’s pledge to transform U.S.-Africa relations: a shift from aid to trade, even as the region reels from his steep tariffs and sweeping aid cuts. African leaders offered minerals from manganese to uranium and possibly lithium. Senegal’s president even sought to leverage Trump’s love of golf by inviting him to build a course.

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street closed its third winning week in the last four with a quiet finish on Friday. The S&P 500 edged down by a whisper, less than 0.1%, after setting its all-time high the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to add its own record. Norfolk Southern chugged 2.5% higher after an AP source said it’s talking with Union Pacific about a merger to create the largest railroad in North America, one that would connect the East and West coasts. Any such deal, though, would likely face tough scrutiny from U.S.