From front page news to powerful moments you may have missed, this gallery showcases today's top photos, chosen by Associated Press photo editors.
Activists fighting child abuse stage a protest near the home of a former Catholic priest suspected of sexually assaulting dozens of children, in Etrechy, outside Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, Placards read from the left, 'Delfosse the church knew' and 'Delfosse, at the courthouse'. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Oil tankers from the Rmeilan oil fields are backed up along a road after being stopped by local residents during ongoing protests against higher fuel prices near Tal Tamr in northeastern Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Russian Orthodox believers lineup to venerate the relics of Saint Grand Price Dmitry Donskoy and Saint Spyridon of Trimythous at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A man inspects damage to his apartment after a Russian missile exploded near his home in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
A Rohingya woman looks out from a blanket used as a wall at a temporary shelter where refugees live following government notices ordering the removal of unauthorized structures in Jammu, India, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Devotees immerse an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at Hooghly River during Ganesh Chaturthi, in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Italian senators attend a debate in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, after the vote on the Nuclear Energy Bill was postponed a week. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Israeli settlers gather to celebrate the inauguration of a newly built synagogue at the occupied West Bank outpost of Homesh, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Tents are lined up in the Al-Firdaws camp for displaced Yemenis in Ras Imran, on the western outskirts of Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Palestinian civil defense crews carry a body from the rubble of a collapsed building that housed displaced Palestinians and was heavily damaged during the Israel-Hamas war, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Mohamed, a Senegalese immigrant, pauses as he walks through the parking lot of Touba Tedoungal African Restaurant, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Lockland, Ohio, which has for decades been home to a small population of West Africans. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Activists fighting child abuse stage a protest near the home of a former Catholic priest suspected of sexually assaulting dozens of children, in Etrechy, outside Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, Placards read from the left, 'Delfosse the church knew' and 'Delfosse, at the courthouse'. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Oil tankers from the Rmeilan oil fields are backed up along a road after being stopped by local residents during ongoing protests against higher fuel prices near Tal Tamr in northeastern Syria, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)
Russian Orthodox believers lineup to venerate the relics of Saint Grand Price Dmitry Donskoy and Saint Spyridon of Trimythous at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
A man inspects damage to his apartment after a Russian missile exploded near his home in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Dan Bashakov)
A Rohingya woman looks out from a blanket used as a wall at a temporary shelter where refugees live following government notices ordering the removal of unauthorized structures in Jammu, India, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.(AP Photo/Channi Anand)
Devotees immerse an idol of elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at Hooghly River during Ganesh Chaturthi, in Kolkata, India, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
Italian senators attend a debate in Rome, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, after the vote on the Nuclear Energy Bill was postponed a week. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Israeli settlers gather to celebrate the inauguration of a newly built synagogue at the occupied West Bank outpost of Homesh, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Tents are lined up in the Al-Firdaws camp for displaced Yemenis in Ras Imran, on the western outskirts of Aden, Yemen, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdulnasser Alseddik)
President Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Gastonia Municipal Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Gastonia, N.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Palestinian civil defense crews carry a body from the rubble of a collapsed building that housed displaced Palestinians and was heavily damaged during the Israel-Hamas war, in Gaza City, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Mohamed, a Senegalese immigrant, pauses as he walks through the parking lot of Touba Tedoungal African Restaurant, Friday, July 31, 2026, in Lockland, Ohio, which has for decades been home to a small population of West Africans. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top official at the Kennedy Center said Thursday that he closed the iconic performing arts center temporarily due to “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration" of the aging building.
Matt Floca, the Kennedy Center's executive director and chief operating officer, said in a federal court filing that the building will be closed for at least seven days to "assess existing safety risks in those portions of the main building exhibiting severe structural deterioration.”
The temporary closure, which occurred without notice Wednesday, is separate from a vote Tuesday by the Kennedy Center's board to close the performing arts center indefinitely for repairs. It was based on an inspection of the roof terrace canopy and a partial ceiling collapse earlier this month, Floca said. The closure may be extended after evaluation next week, he said.
The announcement of the closure came in response to a court case filed by a Democratic congresswoman who is a trustee and sought an emergency court hearing to prevent what she called the building's “unlawful closing.”
Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat and an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center board, has led efforts to block President Donald Trump’s name from being added to the building. Beatty had a verbal confrontation with the Republican president Tuesday during a virtual board meeting.
The Trump-aligned board, chaired by the president, voted to close the center after a federal judge blocked the institution from returning Trump’s name to the building.
Trump, who was named the Kennedy Center’s chairman last year by loyalists on the board, said Wednesday that his efforts to restore the aging building deserve recognition, “because frankly, if we don’t do that, it’s going to close. It’ll end up being ripped down. It’s in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape.”
Congress has allocated $257 million to cover the repairs, but Trump said they only would happen if the board was permitted to move forward with plans to add his name to the building.
Fencing is installed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Laura Bligh of Vienna, Va., holds a protest sign outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, and board member of the Kennedy Center, attends an event with fellow Democrats to denounce the economic policies of President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
A tarp covers portions of the sign at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Barricades are installed in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)