The U.S. team is led by Vice President JD Vance and includes Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. They are meeting with Iranian negotiators led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

On the eve of talks, Tehran said it closed the Strait of Hormuz again over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Lebanon. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to impose American tolls in the strait if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days. The interim agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days in the waterway that is vital for the world’s supply of oil, natural gas and related goods like fertilizer.

Here is the latest:

U.S. energy secretary says ships still pass through the strait

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says 67 ships went through the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours, similar to traffic before the war began in terms of oil and oil products.

Iran’s joint military command on Saturday said it had closed the strait over Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. The U.S. disputed that announcement.

Wright also told Fox News that Iran has not yet “demined” the strait’s central shipping channel, but the U.S. has opened a separate channel to the south and has been escorting ships through it.

Wright acknowledged that some commercial shippers still have safety concerns.

Israel's military stands by for renewal of combat

Israel’s military issued a statement around the time that direct talks began. Its chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, was speaking from southern Lebanon. He said “the ceasefire that has been declared is fragile, and we must maintain a high level of readiness for the renewal of combat operations.”

He said the military continues to defend against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its efforts to rebuild.

Previous talks between Vance and Iranian officials lasted nearly a day

The last time that Vance met directly with senior Iranian officials for such talks was in early April, days after a ceasefire took effect in the war. Those talks in Pakistan's capital of Islamabad ended after 21 hours without reaching an agreement. Again, Vance was meeting with lead negotiator Qalibaf.

It's now after 4 p.m. in Switzerland.

Direct U.S.-Iran talks have begun in Switzerland

Both Iran and the White House say four-way talks have begun in Switzerland. Vance is meeting with Iranian officials.

Trump hopes to get the agreement signed last week back on track. Israel's ongoing military campaign in Lebanon against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group threatens progress on implementation.

Iran says its main focus in these talks is the situation in Lebanon. Israel says it must defend itself from Hezbollah. But the U.S. side wants to get Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program, which has long been at the heart of tensions.

Trump warns Iran about Hezbollah

Trump has warned in a post on social media that Iran needs to stop Hezbollah from “causing trouble.”

"If they don’t, we’ll hit Iran very hard again, just like we did last week, only harder!!!” Trump wrote from Camp David, where he is spending the weekend.

Vance says that the Mideast is at a turning point

The U.S. vice president spoke as officials were gathering for the start of the U.S.-Iran talks on Sunday.

“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said in brief comments ahead of the talks, dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit.”

“Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen,” Vance added.

It was not clear if the Iranians were present during Vance's remarks.

Israel says it killed 2 militants in Gaza involved in Hamas’ financial arm

The Israeli military says it killed two militants who were involved in helping transfer up to half a billion dollars to Hamas. The military says the two — Hussein Qadra and Mohammed Farra, who worked with Hamas and the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad — were killed in a strike last week.

It said on Sunday that the men oversaw a network of couriers and money exchange spots in both Gaza and Turkey that funneled money towards Hamas militants and infrastructure.

Both men were killed on Wednesday and buried on Thursday, according to their families. Farra’s family said his father, mother and sister were killed in an Israeli strike earlier in the war.

The conflict in Gaza is not part of the U.S-Iran talks underway in Switzerland.

Pakistani team meets separately with US, Iranian delegations

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has separately met with JD Vance and with the Iranian delegation at the Bürgenstock Resort near Lucerne in Switzerland where the high-level talks are taking place.

Islamabad says Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, accompanied Sharif at the meetings. It did not provide further details.

Sharif has repeatedly said Munir played a key role in brokering the memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran.

A video released by Sharif’s office shows him warmly embracing Qalibaf, Iran's parliament speaker, and Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, as Munir looks on.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog is also at the scene of the talks

Rafael Grossi, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency — met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering at the picturesque mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne on Sunday morning.

The agency had monitored the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between the U.S. and Iran under the Obama administration.

Trump in 2018 withdrew the U.S. from that agreement.

Talks in Switzerland will focus on the Israel-Hezbollah war, Iran says

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei says Tehran will mainly focus during the talks on Sunday on the ongoing fighting in Lebanon.

Tehran insists that the deal’s implementation start with a cessation of all fighting — including between Israel and Hezbollah.

Baghaei said the U.S. “has been unable or unwilling” to hold Israel to the ceasefire.

Iran will meet in the morning with Pakistani and Qatari mediators, and in the afternoon, there will be a four-way meeting including the U.S. negotiating team. There is currently only one day of negotiations planned, Baghaei told the state news agency.

“The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” Baghaei also said Sunday.

Iran’s president has said that Iran will maintain its right to a nuclear program.

“What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, according to state media.

A temporary lull in Israeli strikes in Lebanon

As the U.S.-Iran talks were to kick off in Switzerland, a ceasefire appears to be holding in Lebanon, a lull that came after another day of heavy fighting.

Since the ceasefire, Israeli strikes on Friday and Saturday killed 97 people, including eight women and four children, Lebanese officials said. Five Israeli soldiers were also killed.

Israel says it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure on Saturday, including a tunnel network in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Tebnit.

But by Sunday morning, residents in southern Lebanon reported a lull in Israeli strikes. There also were no reports of Hezbollah fire from the Israeli side.

Israel’s military has received instructions to uphold the ceasefire, and said it is only acting defensively, according to an Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military guidelines.

—Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel

Pakistani mediators also in place in Switzerland

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir are also in Switzerland for the high-level U.S.-Iran talks, the prime minister's office said without providing further details.

The technical-level talks at Bürgenstock Resort near the Swiss city of Lucerne are being held after Sharif dispatched his special envoy, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, to Tehran to persuade Iranian authorities to send a delegation to Switzerland. The meeting was originally scheduled for Friday but was delayed because of concerns raised by Iran.

Naqvi later informed Islamabad that Iran was willing to attend the talks. Pakistan subsequently conveyed the development to Washington.

Strait of Hormuz is once again a challenge

The strait has emerged as a key focus, with Iran’s joint military command saying on Saturday that it was closed again because of the U.S. “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon where Israeli forces are battling the militant Hezbollah group.

The U.S. disputed Iran’s announcement, with the U.S. Central Command saying that traffic continues to flow and that 55 merchant ships transited on Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.

Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed last week. The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in U.S. Congress asking whether the war was worth it.

The interim deal signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but the time can be extended.

That starts with Wyndham Clark, who went into the final round with a six-shot lead. No one has ever lost a 54-hole lead that large in U.S. Open history, and the last time anyone failed to win this major with a five-shot lead happened 107 years ago.

The other winner might be the USGA.

The toughest test in golf became too tough the last two U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills, the Long Island course where the the turf can go from soft to dry in a New York minute because of wind and sun and the sandy soil on which it was built.

It was so out of control in 2004 that no one broke par on the final day. The next time in 2018, some of the greens became borderline unplayable late in the afternoon and caused more chaos. That remains the last U.S. Open with a winning score over par.

This week has gone according to plan. John Bodenhamer, the chief competitions officer for the USGA, had wanted to go easy at the start and allow a natural progression of being tougher.

Clark, who won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023, didn't make it look that way. He has set a Shinnecock scoring record after each round with extraordinary golf, from making long putts to a sublime short game and one majestic 3-wood to make the only eagle all week at the par-5 16th.

He was at 7-under 203.

Throw out that performance, and only four other players were at 1-under par, with four others behind them at even par.

All that was left was 18 holes to determine if Clark could hold on to become the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014, or if Scottie Scheffler could stage a rally on his 30th birthday to win the career Grand Slam.

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Starmer has publicly vowed to stay in office, but pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues conclude that his time is up. Expectation is growing that he will announce a timetable for his resignation as soon as Monday. That’s the day Burnham will be sworn in as a lawmaker in the House of Commons after winning a special election last week.

Business Secretary Peter Kyle said Sunday that Starmer is “making time to reflect on the political realities, challenges and opportunities that he finds himself in.”

“I know he is a prime minister who always puts his country first,” Kyle told the BBC, though he said that reports that Starmer will resign are “speculation.”

Starmer is spending the weekend at Chequers, the country mansion used by prime ministers, with his family. He gave no public hint about his decision, but sent a Father's Day message on social media.

“Being a dad is my greatest joy. Today, I’m thinking about my dad, and the father I am to my children because of him,” he wrote on X.

U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in even before an announcement, linking Starmer's potential exit to two of his recurring bugbears: immigration and renewable energy.

“Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! President DJT,” Trump posted on his Truth Social network.

If Starmer quits, he will be the sixth prime minister to leave office in the past 10 years, an extraordinary rate of churn for the United Kingdom.

Discontent with the prime minister has been building for months, with Labour lawmakers desperate to reverse the government’s decline in popularity since Starmer led the center-left party to a landslide election victory in July 2024.

He has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and has been hamstrung by repeated missteps, including his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as the U.K. ambassador to the United States.

Labour is losing liberal voters to the growing Green Party and facing a rising Reform UK, the Nigel Farage -led anti-immigration party that consistently leads in nationwide opinion polls.

Burnham, until this week the popular mayor of Greater Manchester, decisively won the seat of Makerfield in northwestern England in a special election held Thursday. He took almost 55% of the 45,510 votes cast, over 9,000 more than the Reform UK runner-up.

Now that Burnham is becoming a lawmaker, he’s in a position to challenge Starmer for leadership of the Labour Party. Burnham’s acceptance speech left no doubt that he wants to lead both the party and the country.

“Everyone knows that politics isn’t working,” he said. “Everyone can feel that the country isn’t where it should be. Tonight could, just could, be the turning point.”

It’s unclear whether Burnham would face a coronation or a challenge, if Starmer steps aside. Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary last month to protest Starmer’s leadership, has said that he will run in a contest if there is one.

Starmer congratulated Burnham on Friday, but insisted that he would fight any attempt to oust him.

“I will run, I will stand,” if there is a Labour leadership contest, Starmer said. “I’ve said repeatedly I’m not going to walk away from that.”

But Charlie Falconer, a senior Labour member of the House of Lords, said Saturday that Starmer has “absolutely no authority” left.

“There should be an agreed transition process in which Andy and Keir cooperate as to when the handover should take place,” he told the BBC.

Vance is holding talks with parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, at a Swiss mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne. Mediators from Pakistan and Qatar were also in the room for the direct engagement.

The U.S. side is looking to get Iran locked into negotiations over its nuclear program amid concerns it may be used for military purposes, which Iran denies. Vance also wants to push Tehran to commit to keeping open the Strait of Hormuz, the critical waterway that about a fifth of the world oil passes.

But the on-again, off-again conflict in Lebanon, between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants, continues to threaten to derail the effort for the U.S. to win concessions from Tehran on its nuclear program and keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

“The question before us now is how much more can we accomplish together? Can we turn over a new leaf?” Vance said in brief comments as the talks, dubbed the “Lake Lucerne Summit,” got underway.

“Can we change relations in the Middle East permanently, or do we go back to doing things the old way, which is not our preference, but is certainly very much something that can happen.”

Iran’s main focus during negotiations on Sunday would be the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Iran’s state news agency ahead of the meeting with Vance.

The interim agreement was signed last week, and now top American and Iranian negotiators are in a 60-day sprint to reach an agreement on the technical details that hold massive implications for the world economy and global security.

Yet only days after signing the agreement, it is being stress-tested after fighting escalated in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah — and by the subsequent announcement by Iran’s military that it had again closed the vital waterway that transits one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas. A renewed ceasefire in Lebanon, brokered on Saturday, appeared to be holding up.

Separate meetings kick off first

Vance first sat down for talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, who has served as a key intermediary between Washington and Tehran throughout the conflict.

“What’s up, man! Good to see you,” Vance said as he warmly greeted Munir, who serves as Pakistan's army chief.

Sharif met separately with Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who is leading Tehran's delegation, and Araghchi.

Mediators from Qatar were also on hand at the mountainside resort near Lake Lucerne.

Rafael Grossi, chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, met with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis on the sidelines of the gathering. The agency had monitored the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between the U.S. and Iran under the Democratic Obama administration. Trump, a Republican, withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018.

Iranian officials were to hold their own meetings with Pakistani and Qatari mediators before a planned four-way meeting that would include the U.S. negotiating team.

Iran is cautiously approaching the negotiations given its previous experience with the U.S. negotiations on the nuclear issue, which twice in the past year have been interrupted by massive military strikes against the country. “The implementation of any document is more important than its signing,” Baghaei said Sunday.

Iran’s president added that Iran will maintain its right to a nuclear program.

“What is certain is that we will never back down from the right to enrich uranium, and the other side is also forced to accept it,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Sunday, according to Iran’s state media.

A delayed meeting is now back on

Vance had originally been slated to be on the ground at the Bürgenstock resort near Lucerne on Friday, but his departure from the United States was delayed after fighting escalated in Lebanon and Iranian officials canceled plans to attend the talks.

U.S. Central Command disputed Iran’s claim that it had once again shuttered the strait and said U.S. forces continued to monitor the situation to ensure traffic continues to flow through the waterway. Vance has said that millions of barrels of oil have moved through the strait in recent days.

Vance departed the U.S. just after Iranian state TV said Iran’s negotiators had arrived in Switzerland.

The vice president was joined by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, for Sunday's talks. Witkoff and Kushner were on the ground in Switzerland ahead of Vance to begin sifting through the technical details of the nuclear talks.

Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, arrived at Emmen Air Base outside Lucerne just before 6 a.m. local time, according to his office.

While Vance said he planned to be in Switzerland for just “a day or two,” leaving much of the detailed negotiations to be spearheaded by Witkoff and Kushner, his role in the talks has heightened scrutiny of the vice president at a time when he’s actively considering a 2028 presidential campaign.

The deal has stirred much controversy

Trump and Vance have come under searing criticism from parts of their own party for the deal, with Republican hard-liners unfavorably likening it to a nuclear agreement signed by the Obama administration that Trump and the GOP have insisted did nothing to actually terminate Iran’s nuclear program.

The agreement signed by Trump and Iranian President Pezeshkian immediately allows Tehran to sell its oil freely and paves the way for Iran to tap into billions of dollars in assets that are currently frozen. It also calls for Iran to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, believed to be buried under nuclear sites that were targeted in U.S. strikes last summer.

The agreement says commercial vessels can pass through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days without a charge, but does not preclude future fees imposed by Iran. Trump made his own threat on Saturday to levy U.S. tolls on the strait if there is no deal with Iran in 60 days, insisting in a social media post that the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.”

The Trump administration has been working to reassure global markets that the Iran war has been merely a blip on oil prices, as Americans have complained the conflict resulted in hiking gasoline prices ahead of peak summer travel months. After the White House announced the deal a week ago, oil futures dropped almost 8% — and markets are expected to closely track the progress of talks when they open for trading on Sunday evening.

Further complicating matters, neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a signatory to the deal between the U.S. and Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep his forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

___

Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Responders arrived at around 5 p.m. on June 20 on East Gunn Road east of Cook Court, for a reported injury crash.

Preliminary investigation indicates the 77-year-old woman was driving a 2016 Volvo XC70 traveling eastbound on East Gunn Road, when she approached a curve and attempted to pass other vehicles at a high rate of speed.

Authorities say as the woman moved around traffic she swerved to avoid a bicyclist traveling westbound on East Gunn Road when she lost control of her vehicle, left the roadway and struck a tree.

According to police the women was trapped inside the vehicle and had to be extricated by emergency responders.

The woman was transported to Henry Ford Rochester Hospital, where she remains in critical condition.

A 12-year-old female passenger from Bruce Township was not injured in the crash.

Investigators do not believe alcohol or drugs were factors in the incident.

The crash remains under investigation.

Their choice is between businessman and lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella and Iván Cepeda, a lawmaker and heir to the political movement of outgoing President Gustavo Petro, the nation’s first leftist leader. The two defeated nine other contenders in a May 31 vote.

Both are pitching strategies that they say will prevent the South American country from experiencing the nonstop merciless violence, such as car bombs, kidnappings, disappearances and forced displacements that Colombians lived with in previous decades.

De la Espriella is proposing a heavy-handed approach that has earned him the endorsement of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Cepeda is promising to continue Petro’s efforts, including attempts at establishing dialogue with multiple illegal armed groups even though those efforts have largely failed.

The two candidates also are offering differing solutions for the country’s struggling health system, ballooning public debt and entrenched corruption.

“Right now, what worries me is the polarization that exists between us: there are two very extreme sides, and the violence is concerning,” John Manrique, a lawyer in the capital, Bogota, said as he walked his dog.

“What I hope is that people accept who won,” he added. “Let’s accept it, regardless of the side, and try to reach a social consensus. … Let’s not go out and fight.”

In the first round, Cepeda earned 41% of the vote, while de la Espriella garnered 44%, according to official results. Petro, without evidence, sowed doubts in the results after Cepeda, who had consistently lead polls ahead of the May vote, did not win outright and even finished behind de la Espriella.

Petro reiterated his allegations on Sunday. “We must protect the vote, undoubtedly,” he said shortly before polls opened.

His movement will provide details about “all the accounts and funds that were transacted from abroad,” Petro added. Actors, whom he did not identify, “tried to enslave the people of Colombia by taking away their freedom to decide.”

More than 41 million people are eligible to vote. Polls will remain open until 4 p.m. local time.

Fighting between rebel groups plagues the nation

The election comes 10 years after Colombia signed a historic peace pact with guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that had offered hope to break the nation’s vicious cycle of fighting between rebel groups and the government.

But violence has since roared back, particularly as most rebel groups abandoned their ideologically driven fight for the financial benefits of drug trafficking.

Last year, authorities recorded 14,780 homicides, the most since at least 2015 and driven by clashes among illegal armed groups. Among those killed was conservative presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe. Extortions have also soared, reaching 13,417 cases in 2025, more than double the number tallied in 2015.

De la Espriella, a political newcomer nicknamed “The Tiger,” has promised to fiercely go after criminals and build 10 mega-prisons, emulating the policies of El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele that have lowered homicide rates but have fueled accusations of human rights abuses.

Cepeda wants to carry on Petro's fraught signature plan to achieve “total peace” by negotiating pacts with guerrillas and criminal gangs. The heavily criticized strategy that Petro kicked off in 2022 took until Thursday to see the first armed group — one with about 100 members — give up its weapons and begin a resettlement process that will lead to their reintegration into civilian life. Colombia's illegal groups have more than 27,000 members.

Yamile Guevara, a retired teacher in Bogota, said Petro's plans need more time to bear results as he could not reasonably be expected to make lasting changes in a conflict that has gone on for six decades. She also criticized what she described as voters' perennial distrust of Colombia's left over its long-held association with rebel groups.

“The left has always been viewed negatively; it has been harsh, and many people have died,” Guevara, a Cepeda supporter, said. “So, one wonders what’s wrong with people who have forgotten history … how can they not think carefully about which candidate they are going to elect?”

The lead-up to the runoff has seen an increase in verbal attacks between the candidates as well as accusations of fraud, vote-buying and intimidation.

Cepeda filed a complaint with the Colombian Attorney General’s Office and the International Criminal Court against de la Espriella, accusing him of having ties to paramilitary groups. De la Espriella has denied the accusation.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Bowlero Lanes & Lounge in Royal Oak
• Country Lanes in Farmington Hills
• Imperial Lanes in Clinton Township
• Plaza Lanes in Plymouth
• Premier Lanes in New Baltimore

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

Soon, fans were swapping theories online, photographers were staking out vantage points and residents found themselves fielding questions about a wedding that never was. Or at least, a wedding that seems yet to happen.

The rumors, so far, have proved unfounded. But they offered a glimpse into life in Watch Hill, the Rhode Island beach community in the town of Westerly, close to the Connecticut border, where Swift has owned a home for more than a decade and where curiosity about the singer has become woven into everyday life.

Rumors take hold

From the nearby lighthouse, visitors craned for a better view of Swift’s mansion, a sprawling white home perched atop a rocky bluff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Security cameras dotted the property, and a guard called out to visitors who strayed too close.

Wedding planner Nicole Simeral, dressed in black, stood outside the small white chapel across from the massive yellow Ocean House hotel — Swift's neighbor on the beach — waving along cars and buses that slowed and directing traffic to keep moving.

She watched visitors speculate about a wedding she said she knew wasn’t Swift's. She's working a different wedding every weekend in June in that spot. Still, the questions kept coming.

“Is Taylor Swift getting married here? Many, many, many have asked,” Simeral said.

She said there had been “a lot of chitter chatter” as people tried to connect sightings of people who know Swift in local shops to impending nuptials. But she doubted Watch Hill would be practical for a wedding of that scale because of its limited luxury lodging.

The Watch Hill rumors also dovetailed with separate online speculation that Swift and her fiance, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, were planning a celebration at Madison Square Garden, though no details about the pair’s wedding have been released, despite multiple requests for comment to Swift’s spokesperson.

The tent itself, Simeral said, was hardly unusual. “Next weekend, there’ll be another tent just like this.”

For two summers, Westerly Police Department community service officer Nick Quaratella has stood at the entrance to a public path leading to the beach beside Swift’s estate, answering questions from beachgoers and keeping traffic moving.

“They come to the beach, but then they also ask if she’s here or not,” Quaratella said.

He said he can't help but joke around with some fans.

“I’ll say, ‘Oh, did you hear that she moved?’” he said. “And they’ll say, ‘No.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson moved in.’ And they’ll go, ‘Oh, really?’ and then they’ll walk away.”

“That's pretty funny,” he concluded.

Over the years, he’s seen plenty of unusual reactions. His coworker once spotted a fan on their knees, bowing toward the entrance gate near the property. Visitors have shouted “I love you, Taylor!” from the roadside. One woman convinced her granddaughter he was Swift’s security guard and posed for a photo with him.

Quaratella has fielded a few questions about the supposed wedding, but not as many as he expected.

“At this point, it’s part of my job,” he said. “It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. I have no problem with it. It makes the day go by.”

Living with Taylor Swift

Down near a strip of beach boutiques, lifelong resident Lauren Nigrelli said the frenzy surrounding the star has eased since Swift first moved into the neighborhood in 2013. Back then, Nigrelli recalled, fans would drive around in circles by her shop playing Swift’s songs.

“Things have definitely calmed down since then,” she said.

Today, Swift’s presence remains a fixture among local businesses in what she described as a “quaint New England coastal community.” Nigrelli, a Realtor who owns the boutiques Tide and Tide Kids, said she began selling apparel emblazoned with “Holiday House,” the nickname associated with Swift’s mansion, after children began coming into the store asking for it. On Saturday, she was also selling a Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce wedding sticker book.

“I think every shop has something related to her,” Nigrelli said.

On the beach below the mansion, Audrey and John Curtis, a married couple from Connecticut who have been vacationing in Westerly for years, settled into beach chairs and debated the wedding rumors.

“We were just looking up at her house,” Audrey Curtis said, pointing toward the mansion. “She’s not getting married here now, though.”

Curtis said she had heard various theories, including speculation that a wedding might be held at Ocean House. But as she thought through the logistics, she became skeptical.

“Then I was thinking about, ‘How would everybody get here?’” she said. “In New York, you’ve got JFK, you’ve got LaGuardia, and she’s got two penthouses in New York that she combined, so I figured they could obviously have more people there.”

Her husband wasn’t so sure.

“They could lie and say it’s happening there, but it’s happening here,” John Curtis said. “When important people do things, they don’t want people to know.”

Astronomical summer began at 4:24 a.m. Sunday with the summer solstice, marking the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The season’s arrival comes with a fitting forecast across Southeast Michigan — sunshine, comfortable temperatures and plenty of opportunities for families to celebrate Father’s Day outdoors before rain arrives later tonight.

For many families, Father’s Day begins with church services, brunches and morning gatherings. Weather conditions will cooperate nicely through the first half of the day, except areas of patchy dense fog north of M-59. The morning’s sunshine will give way to increasing clouds and temperatures climbing through the 60s.

By brunch time, readings will be approaching 70 degrees under a mix of sunshine and clouds. Light winds and comfortable humidity levels should make for ideal conditions on restaurant patios, golf courses and parks.

The afternoon remains favorable for Father’s Day cookouts, backyard gatherings and family outings.

Temperatures will reach the mid to upper 70s across Metro Detroit, several degrees below average for the first day of summer. While clouds continue increasing throughout the afternoon, most locations stay dry until evening.

The biggest forecast concern arrives after sunset.

Showers begin developing Sunday evening before becoming more widespread overnight. A few thunderstorms are also possible. The steadiest rainfall is expected between roughly 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., especially south of Interstate 69.

Rainfall totals of one-half inch to one inch are expected across much of southern Lower Michigan, with isolated amounts approaching 1.5 inches possible closer to the Ohio border. Localized ponding on roads and brief urban flooding may occur where heavier downpours develop.

For families planning Father’s Day dinners outdoors, conditions should remain largely cooperative through early evening, but having an indoor backup plan is recommended for celebrations lasting later into the night.

Monday

The rain continues into Monday morning before gradually tapering off and ending around midday.

That timing is especially important as hundreds of thousands of people prepare for the Ford Fireworks, one of the region’s signature summer traditions.

Many spectators will begin claiming viewing spots Monday morning along the Detroit River in both Downtown Detroit and Downtown Windsor. Early birds may encounter cloudy skies, damp pavement and lingering showers.

By afternoon, conditions steadily improve as the rain exits and skies begin to brighten. Temperatures will climb into the middle 70s with a northeast breeze.

By the time the fireworks begin shortly after 10 p.m., weather conditions are expected to be dry and cool.

Temperatures should fall from around 70 degrees at 8 p.m. to the middle 60s by showtime. Skies are expected to become mostly clear, providing excellent viewing opportunities from both sides of the river.

Spectators may want a light jacket or hoodie, as temperatures will likely fall into the lower 60s by 11 p.m.

The overall message for the start of summer: enjoy Father’s Day plans during the daylight hours, prepare for night rain, and look forward to improving conditions for Monday night’s Ford Fireworks celebration.

Share your weather and holiday photos with Local 4 at MIPics.

About a third of France is under the heat red alert Sunday and temperatures are expected to reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Sunday in some areas, in a country where air-conditioning isn't widespread. The forecast for Monday is even hotter.

The Eiffel Tower and other Paris venues set up misting stations to cool crowds, among a raft of measures announced by national and local authorities to minimize risks. Tourists in Rome sought relief in fountains. Spain's Basque Country canceled some sports and cultural events.

More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said this month. More above-average temperatures are expected this summer, which can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

Human-caused climate change is tied to increasing extreme weather events and U.N. climate agency projections say the next five years should shatter more heat records. A rapid study found that human-caused climate change was responsible for killing about 1,500 people in an unusually early European heat wave last month.

In this latest European hot spell, French media reported that four children drowned Saturday.

Solstice parties draw large crowds in extreme heat

France’s annual Music Day on Sunday is of particular concern. The nationwide summer solstice celebration involves thousands of concerts in village squares, rave venues and Paris clubs, bringing communities together and increasingly drawing British and other international visitors.

The French government banned public drinking in ’’red alert″ zones, and ordered organizers of music day events to limit alcohol use to “preserve emergency services and allow medics to concentrate on taking care of the most vulnerable.”

Some French trains were canceled, and the national rail authority dispatched thousands of extra staff to deal with potential problems as the heat threatened rails and electrical cables.

Authorities are notably worried about people living in the baking streets, and elderly people in nursing homes or isolated in their homes. About 15,000 older people died in France in a 2003 heat wave that became a national reckoning.

The government announced reinforced wildfire readiness and ordered tightened surveillance of water supplies to France’s many nuclear reactors, and ordered 845 schools to close Monday.

Spain, Italy, Germany swelter as tourists seek relief

Spain kicked off the summer with large parts of the country on alert due to temperatures expected to hover around 40 C (104 F) — even in the interior of Basque Country, a northern region that typically experiences cooler temperatures.

Authorities have suspended outdoor sports and cultural activities in the region. The heat wave is expected to scorch Spain at least through Wednesday.

In Italy, authorities expanded heat warnings — referred to locally as “red flags” — to eight cities Sunday in northern and central parts of the country. Temperatures there are mostly in the upper 30s C (high 90s to low 100s F).

At one farm outside Milan, owners set up fans and sprinklers to keep cows cool. In Rome, tourists dunked their arms and occasionally their faces into the city’s famed fountain pools.

Thunderstorms also threatened several regions.

In Germany, temperatures are soaring into the mid 30s C (from 91 F to 97 F). A 23-year-old man drowned Saturday in a lake near Rheinstetten in the southwestern region of Baden-Württemberg, the German news agency dpa reported. Three other people are missing after swimming in the Rhine River, which has strong currents, a police spokeswoman told dpa.

Britain’s weather office issued an “extreme heat” warning for much of southern England and parts of Wales on Monday and Tuesday, saying temperatures could exceed 35 C (95 F). The current record for a June day is 35.6 C (96 F), reached in 1976.

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is convening a new government heat crisis meeting Sunday, and ordered government ministers to plan for better adapting France to heat waves in the future — including “via air conditioning, if necessary.”

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Associated Press writers Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, Greece, Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland, Jill Lawless in London and Teresa Medrano in Madrid contributed to this report.

His decision to join Inter Miami in 2023 has already been good for all parties, raising the profile of soccer in the United States, delivering titles for his club and writing a new chapter in his storied career.

But Argentina could be the biggest winner of all, with Messi arriving at what might be his last World Cup with his powers still at stratospheric levels aged 38.

“Leo will be the best for as long as he wants; he has been doing it every single match for the last 20 years,” said Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.

Thierry Henry described him as “on the moon” after his hat trick in Argentina’s opening game against Algeria.

“Leo is just different. It’s just a different topic,” Henry told Fox Sports.

Messi scored his first hat trick at a World Cup and also moved level on 16 goals with Miroslav Klose as the leading scorer in tournament history.

“I tried to prepare myself in the best possible way to feel good physically, to feel useful, and to be able to help the group,” Messi said.

That's an understatement.

Despite saying the last World Cup was likely his last, Messi is once again at the heart of the Argentina team, its biggest creative and attacking threat. At this stage of his career, that was far from guaranteed.

“We should be used to this, but if you ever needed any more confirmation that when it comes to Argentina, Messi is the system, he is the tactic, he’s the formation, he’s the identity and he is the heart,” Fox analyst Alexi Lalas said after the 3-0 win against Algeria. “It was something to behold.”

Messi has not lost his rhythm after US move

Messi left behind the intensity of European soccer to join Inter Miami in 2023, delivering a massive boost for Major League Soccer.

He said he wanted to “live football in another way" and while that included changes to his home life in the U.S., there was also a step down in the level of competition compared to Europe's top leagues.

But at a time when top players are warning of burnout because of soccer's increasingly congested calendar, Messi appears to be benefiting from making the move. He has played fewer games in the U.S. than at the height of his Barcelona career when he could play in excess of 50 a season. His performance at the start of this World Cup shows he hasn't lost his sharpness even if he is not regularly facing the world’s top defenders in MLS.

“I love to play, to compete. And no matter where it is, today I find myself at another World Cup, which brings extra happiness, but I prepare myself just as I have done throughout my entire career,” he said.

Many people already rated the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner as the greatest soccer player of all time. But even past his peak years, he has hit new heights on the sport's biggest stage.

His long-awaited World Cup triumph in 2022 came after his move away from Barcelona, where he was winning Champions League titles and setting scoring records, but repeatedly fell short with Argentina in international tournaments.

He was at Paris Saint-Germain when, as a 35-year-old and playing in his fifth World Cup, he finally managed to win the one trophy that had eluded him. Again, Argentina may have been the beneficiary of its icon taking a step down at club level.

While PSG hoped Messi's arrival could deliver the Champions League, the domestic competition in France is not regarded as highly as Spain's. Messi no longer faced such intense soccer on a weekly basis.

He went on to produce his finest form at a World Cup in 2022, scoring seven goals, including two in the final as Argentina beat France in a penalty shootout. He managed just one goal at the previous edition in Russia.

Messi is an inspiration for his teammates

He is back again four years later and looks like he is in the mood for more.

His Inter Miami teammate Rodrigo De Paul has spoken of the extra training both players had put in to ensure they were in peak condition for the tournament.

“We killed ourselves to, physically, arrive in the best way,” De Paul said.

Messi, meanwhile, has taken inspiration from Rafa Nadal after watching the Netflix docuseries on the tennis great's drive to stay at the top of his game.

“I am very similar in that sense. I always want to feel good. As long as I can and I am well, I will be there,” Messi said.

For his teammates, he is simply the biggest inspiration.

“What Leo transmits is spectacular, it is hard to explain,” said Scaloni. “His teammates view him both as a God and as a kid from the neighborhood.

“Honestly, you just run out of words. Beyond the goals he scores, it is what he transmits—both to his teammates and to the fans. We will miss him.”

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AP sports writer Debora Rey contributed to this report from Dallas.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Gov. Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head o Crimea, said that overnight Ukrainian strikes killed four people and wounded 28 others. He did not specify the target of the attack.

He later wrote on social media that local gas stations would halt all sales to non-state companies and individuals for an undefined period.

“Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” Aksyonov said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and to only trust official sources of information.”

Ukrainian forces have repeatedly targeted fuel supplies to Crimea in recent weeks, triggering the worst energy crisis in the region since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement Sunday that a Crimean oil depot, as well as an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” against Russia’s energy infrastructure.

“Russia understands only strength, and our long-range strength is certainly working for peace,” he wrote.

Russian officials in Krasnodar reported earlier Sunday that a drone strike sparked a fire at a Black Sea oil terminal in the village of Chushka. They said that Ukrainian attacks struck a ferry, killing one person.

Motorists struggle to find fuel

The Crimean peninsula has had periodic fuel shortages from Ukrainian strikes before, but the current crisis is the worst since its 2014 annexation.

At the end of May, authorities restricted the sale of gas to 20 liters (5 1/3 gallons) per vehicle owner per week, using prepaid coupons. Those were snapped up immediately following their release on an official messaging app channel, and motorists lined up for hours, waiting to refuel.

Social networks have been abuzz with requests and advice on where to find fuel, and authorities launched a hotline for tourists in the area who have found themselves trapped.

Some motorists bring their own gas from Krasnodar and elsewhere via the Kerch bridge, but they are restricted to carrying 100 liters (about 26 1/2 gallons) per vehicle. Some speculators are selling gas at double the market price.

In a rare public acknowledgment, the Kremlin has recognized the scope of the problem and promised to address the issue quickly.

However, Ukraine’s successes have highlighted its ability to inflict painful damage on Russia and change the course of the conflict while Moscow’s advances recently have ground to a near halt. On June 11, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reached its 1,569th day, surpassing the duration of World War I.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

The Michigan Department of Treasury reports roughly 95 percent of returns filed on time have been processed.

Since the filing season opened January 26, more than 5.12 million individual income tax returns have been processed and more than $3.43 billion in refunds issued with an average refund of $901.

That means about five percent of filers — an estimated 250,000 people — are still waiting for their refunds.

Previous coverage --> Waiting on a Michigan tax refund? Here’s why it may be stuck in ‘pending review’

New system, new headaches

The source of many delays traces back to November, when the Treasury retired its 40-year-old mainframe and switched to GenTax, a tax processing platform made by Fast Enterprises.

Melissa “Missy” Snyder, division administrator in the Individual Income Tax Division, says the overhaul was long overdue, but that doesn’t mean it came without growing pains.

“We came off a mainframe system that was 40 years old,” Snyder said. “When you transition from something that’s four decades old, there’s a lot that comes with it — not just the technology. There’s training, there’s learning curves, there are interfaces with other groups like IRS files that we get.”

Snyder compared the transition to upgrading from an outdated device to the latest smartphone.

“The best analogy I can give is we went from a flip phone to an iPhone 15,” she said.

Why returns are getting flagged

Treasury officials say the new system is significantly more sophisticated than its predecessor and that’s part of why so many returns are being held up.

The upgraded platform performs detailed, line-by-line evaluation of returns, flagging discrepancies the old mainframe may have missed. Missing data fields, mismatched information or math that doesn’t add up can all trigger a manual review.

“So, the delays that people are experiencing are related to either incomplete, incorrect or information that just doesn’t make sense,” Snyder said. “It might be complete on the form, but the math isn’t math-ing as we’re trying to work through the returns.”

The new system also introduced stronger fraud protections, something Snyder says was a driving reason for the upgrade.

“One of the major changes that we made with this technology update is a lot of support to prevent fraud,” she said. “We have to be conscious of people’s identities being stolen, tax preparer credentials being stolen. When the initial return doesn’t pass that eye test, if you will, we will stop and we will ask for more information.”

David Yesh, a retired Navy Reserve officer from the Detroit area, filed his Michigan return electronically on March 18. Weeks passed with no refund and no explanation.

“I filed my return and it was accepted 64 days ago,” Yesh said during a mid-May interview. “I don’t know, 30 or so days ago I called to find out where it was. Couldn’t talk to a live person, but I got a message that my return was still under review — with no explanation about what it was being under review for.”

Yesh said he was told his return would be completed by May 13. When that date came and went, the automated message remained unchanged.

“On May 13, I called, I got the same message,” he said. “May 14, I call, same message saying that my review will be completed by May 13.”

Yesh, who says he’s been filing Michigan taxes for 50 years, including three years while stationed in Japan, called the lack of communication the most frustrating part.

“If the state made an error, they need to own up to it, communicate what the problem is and what’s being done to fix it,” he said. “If it is just a problem with my return, then be able to communicate with me and let me know what error you found or what information you need to resolve that error.”

State lawmakers taking notice

Yesh isn’t alone. State Rep. Erin Byrnes, D-Dearborn, says her office has fielded complaints from roughly 15 constituents in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights who are still waiting on refunds, it’s a number she calls unprecedented.

“By the time we got to about five, the alarm bells started to ring,” Byrnes said. “Then it became 10, and then it got up to 15. We’ve been talking with other offices throughout this time period and we’re far from the only office. A lot of state reps are seeing this issue.”

Byrnes says she understands the real-world financial impact of delayed refunds.

“You’re banking on it — quite literally,” she said. “Months later, you’re still left waiting and you don’t really have any answers, and that’s not acceptable. We know that folks are being squeezed financially right now on a variety of fronts.”

Byrnes says her office has been in contact with Treasury but describes the process as challenging.

“We definitely need more communication from the Treasury Department, and we need to get a handle on this software system,” she said. “We know that other states are using the same software, and we’re trying to figure out why Michigan is struggling so much.”

27,000 erroneous letters sent

Compounding the confusion: Treasury acknowledged sending approximately 27,000 incorrect notices to taxpayers.

Snyder says the letters incorrectly suggested taxes were owed when they weren’t which stemmed from the result of a data-pull error during processing.

“The payments themselves were correct,” Snyder said. “They were accounted for on the financials, but when the letter was generated to the taxpayers, it pulled in the wrong data element. The letters themselves were wrong.”

Bob Doyle, president and CEO of the Michigan Association of CPAs, says the erroneous letters created a ripple effect for tax professionals across the state.

“There was these erroneous notices that were sent out to taxpayers,” Doyle said. “Of course, the first thing they’re going to do is call their CPA. That’s definitely how we’ve gotten involved in ensuring Treasury understands the issues.”

Doyle says the Michigan Association of CPAs has since been working closely with Treasury to address ongoing issues — and is already looking ahead.

“Meeting more regularly is what we’ve started to do,” he said. “We’re working on how we can better use language in letters that explains the situation better. We’ll continue to ensure that the next deadlines coming up are smoother for our members.”

Overloaded phone lines — repeat callers to blame?

For taxpayers trying to get answers by phone, the frustration is real. But Treasury says part of the problem is a small group of repeat callers tying up the lines.

In April, Treasury found that just 65 people accounted for 11,000 calls to its phone line — with some individuals getting through 14 or 15 times.

“When you start breaking that number down, it blocks everybody else,” Snyder said. “They’re constantly eating up a phone line.”

A new phone system is expected to go live in July, Snyder said.

In the meantime, Treasury recommends taxpayers check the status of their return through the e-service portal at michigan.gov, where they can also view any letters sent to them, send a message and request a callback.

To get to the e-service portal, click here.

Leo, who has clashed with the Trump administration over its migrant crackdown, urged young people in particular to learn about Cabrini’s life and service, once again confirming history’s first U.S. pope as the heir to Pope Francis in prioritizing the plight of migrants.

Leo prayed before Cabrini's tomb in a basilica named for her in her birthplace in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, near Milan, and presided over an evening prayer service. The visit to northern Italy is part of Leo’s summertime grand tour of Italy to visit key cities to get to know his flock.

Cabrini, the patron saint of migrants, is well known to many Americans for her work caring for Italian immigrants in the United States at the turn of the last century. Her work went beyond the U.S., however, as she crisscrossed the globe building schools, hospitals and orphanages for those who had nothing.

After she died in 1917, as a naturalized U.S. citizen in Leo’s native Chicago, Cabrini was beatified and then canonized in 1946 as the first American saint.

Leo asks what Francis would do

In praising Cabrini on Saturday, Leo said she was inspired by her faith to help those migrants who had left everything behind to try to find a better life.

“What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?” he said.

“Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her?” Leo said. “And what would a pope like Francis — who, as the son of Italian immigrants, made service to migrants one of the key priorities of his pontificate — ask of her?”

“I therefore take this opportunity to make an appeal, especially to young people: get to know St. Frances Cabrini!” Leo said, urging them to read her writings, travel journals and notes from retreats.

A July 4 with migrants

Leo has embraced the Catholic Church’s Gospel-mandated call to “welcome the stranger” in his ministry to migrants. Last week, Leo spent two days in Spain’s Canary Islands, a major destination for migrants leaving West Africa, where he called for welcoming and integrating those fleeing hardship and conflict.

Leo’s next Italy day trip is on July 4, when he heads to Lampedusa, the Sicilian island that is a major destination for migrants fleeing North Africa for Italy.

Leo's clash with the Trump administration over migration has given added symbolic significance to his decision to spend July 4 — U.S. Independence Day — in Lampedusa, which was where Francis chose to make his first trip outside Rome as pope, in 2013.

A prayer at the tomb of St. Augustine

Leo arrived in Cabrini's hometown after first stopping in nearby Pavia to pray at the tomb of St. Augustine, the fifth-century inspiration of his religious order. There, he encouraged Italians to rediscover their lagging Catholic faith.

Like many once-Christian strongholds in Europe, Italy has seen its churches empty in recent years amid secularizing trends, with fewer and fewer Italians getting married in the church or going to Mass regularly.

“At a time when many people seem to have lost their spiritual appetite or, for various reasons, no longer find the Christian faith appealing for their lives, we are called first and foremost to proclaim the Gospel,” Leo said.

He pointed to Augustine as a source of inspiration for today’s faithful.

Augustine was born in 354 in what is today Algeria, but he lived for five years in and around Milan, where he converted to Christianity. He later became a bishop, developed a rule for monastic life and wrote some of the most important works of Western thought, including “Confessions” and “The City of God.”

“His thought, the story of his conversion, and his spirituality remind us of the value and primacy of interiority,” of finding meaning inside oneself, Leo said.

Leo proclaimed himself a “son of St. Augustine” on the night of his election and has cited Augustine prolifically in his first year, making clear that the saint is the guiding inspiration of his pontificate.

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Nicole Winfield reported from Rome.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Buxton tied Houston’s Yordan Alvarez for the American League homer lead and made the score 12-0. It was the center fielder’s third career grand slam.

The Twins already led 6-0 after batting around and scoring four runs in the fourth. They topped that in the fifth, sending 14 men to the plate. Brooks Lee, Victor Caratini, Luke Keaschall and Ryan Kriedler each had two hits in the inning, with Kriedler’s triple driving in the final two runs to make it 16-0.

Zac Gallen started for Arizona but left after giving up the first three hits of the inning. He was charged with nine runs and 12 hits in four-plus innings, both career highs.

“We came out, we just continued to put pressure on," Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “I mean, the (fourth) inning, we put the ball in play. We didn’t hit a lot of balls hard to start it, and we found some holes, and then we just continued to build on it. Really proud of our group for doing that.”

Lee started the fifth with a triple, added a double later, has four hits for the game and finished 4 for 6, a home run short of a cycle.

“I just felt like once Gallen came out, we still had our foot on the pedal,” Lee said. “It was awesome.”

As for the would-be cycle, Diamondbacks position player Ildemaro Vargas was pitching in the ninth and retired Lee on a popup to short.

“I thought to myself, like, `If it doesn’t happen, doesn’t happen. But I’m going to swing hard,” Lee said.

Yilber Díaz relieved Gallen and gave up seven hits, including Buxton’s home run, and seven runs. He threw 44 pitches and recorded two outs. Philip Abner relieved and got the final out of the inning.

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MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar posted the news of his latest addition on his Instagram account Saturday.

“We are again overjoyed to experience this wonderful day in our lives together. Thank you for being born safely,” read a message from Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko Tanaka. They also thanked supporters.

The post showed an image of a baby's hands and feet in a blue blanket suggesting that Ohtani has a son to go with his daughter who was born in April 2025. Tucked in the baby's arms was a tiny stuffed version of Ohtani's beloved dog, Decoy, who also got his own photo at the bottom of the post.

The news that Ohtani was about to have a second child came out of nowhere Friday. He wasn't in the Dodgers' lineup, which was posted much later than usual, after the team said he was “away from the team on paternity.”

The absence of the two-way star did not last long. Ohtani was back in the lineup in the leadoff spot for Saturday's game against the Orioles. He went 1 for4 at the plate with a home run to leadoff the ninth inning as the Dodgers' late rally fell short in a 3-2 defeat.

Ohtani also remains in line to make his next start from the mound Wednesday at Minnesota, manager Dave Roberts said.

“I’m assuming the baby is healthy, mom is healthy,” said Roberts, who had not yet had a chance to catch up with Ohtani a few hours before Saturday's game.

The famously private Ohtani has never publicly revealed his daughter's name and has carefully avoided showing her face in the rare family photos he posts to his social media.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

“We can’t let the occasion get too big,” head coach Darren Bazeley said. “It’s about us winning a game of football.”

The All Whites enter Sunday’s match against No. 29 Egypt with a chance to move out of the group stage for the first time in their World Cup history. For a nation ranked No. 82, fourth lowest in this year’s expanded 48‑team format, simply getting here for the first time since 2010 might have been enough.

But now, New Zealand has given itself a chance.

“Putting ourselves in such a great position – like this opportunity to create history – we know how good we can be,” midfielder Ben Old said. “It’s just a really exciting moment to be in.”

New Zealand’s presence in this tournament is tied directly to the expanded field. The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) earned its first-ever automatic berth, and the All Whites claimed it through a three‑step qualifying process that concluded with a 3–0 win over No. 151 New Caledonia.

No. 25 Australia, once the region’s powerhouse, left for the Asian Football Confederation in 2006 in search of stronger competition and a clearer route to the World Cup. Its departure left New Zealand as the dominant team in a confederation where the next‑highest‑ranked team is New Caledonia.

That imbalance is why region matters so much. FIFA allocates its 48 places unevenly.

“It’s not something for us to be scared about,” Bazeley said. “If we’re going to win a World Cup, we have to play against top teams and top players and perform well.”

Larger confederations tend to get more representation across the board. UEFA, for example, gets 16 slots. OFC is granted just one ticket.

In some regions, strong teams miss out entirely. In fact, 17 of FIFA’s 48 top-ranked teams did not qualify this year. Denmark, ranked No. 20, missed this tournament out of UEFA, and No. 14 Italy has missed three straight. If World Cup qualifying was based simply on ranking, No. 48 Venezuela would be the last team in. It is the only team to never qualify out of CONMEBOL, which is granted six automatic berths.

Qualifying often depends heavily on geography rather than global standing.

New Zealand knows its region cannot sharpen it. So it schedules friendlies against higher‑ranked opponents, a strategy that seemingly paid off in the opener in the All Whites’ 2-2 draw against No. 22 Iran.

Midfielder Elijah Just scored both goals Monday, matching New Zealand’s total goal output in each of its previous World Cup appearances in 1982 and 2010. With two group matches left, New Zealand can break its single‑tournament scoring record and chase its first‑ever World Cup win.

“We’re always used to being the underdogs,” Old said. “We’re not afraid to play any of these teams.”

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Drew Renner is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

LaShara Peake-Lewis reached out to Local 4 for help and now Progressive tells her they are clearing her balance.

For months, Peake-Lewis opened up her Progressive app to see a nearly $500 bill due. The double bill covered a car she drove and one she didn’t, she says. That all changed on Friday when she got a phone call.

“Who was it from and what did they tell you?” Local 4 asked Peake-Lewis.

“Progressive,” Peake-Lewis said. “After going through this since Dec. 31, they called me and they said they were going to resolve the issue … they zeroed it all out.”

“So, now, when you log in, does it say zero for your balance?” Local 4 asked.

“It’s cleared,” Peake-Lewis said.

That all happened this week after Local 4 reached out to Progressive about her situation, but Peake-Lewis says the issue dates back to the end of last year when she turned in her old lease.

“I gave Progressive a call and it was an ‘add and delete’ - I told them I was turning in my lease and picking up my other lease and they put it on my insurance, took the other one off, supposedly, and I drove off with my car,” Peake-Lewis said.

LaShara had been leasing a Ford Explorer, but was trading it in for a new lease, a Bronco.

She had done this process in the past and assumed everything was fine. That’s until Feb. 16 came.

“I got a notification that I was getting two bills and two payments were coming out of my account,” Peake-Lewis said. “So, when I looked at it, two premiums were coming out.”

She says one premium was for the old Explorer she was no longer leasing and the other was for the Bronco.

She called Progressive.

“They were like, ‘Oh, they didn’t cancel it or they didn’t take it off your policy,’” she said.

She asked the insurance company what could be done.

They told her to stop the auto-pay, so she did. Then, they canceled the policy entirely and restarted her with a brand new policy for the Bronco, she said.

“I went through - signed all the paperwork, 20 forms and all that and I said, ‘Ok, so, am I good? Are we good with the new one? There’s nothing owed on the last one? We’re good, that’s taken care of?’ She said, ‘you’re good,’” Peake-Lewis said.

March 25 came around and she says she received the same notification.

She called and they said she hadn’t turned a form, despite her having filled out the paperwork she’d been given.

She says she then signed that extra form and expected all to finally be fine.

“Then, I get a final bill from a collection agency on June 1,” she said. “Wait a minute? This was a mistake that started out with Progressive - why am I being held responsible for a mistake that Progressive made? So, I got fed up and called you.”

She’s grateful it’s resolved now, but she says it’s been a hassle she didn’t need.

“Money is tight in this day and age – inflation is high. Everything cost more and every dime literally counts and it was very stressful,” she said.

Progressive tells Local 4 they have come to a resolution with Peake-Lewis, but can’t give details about specific policy holders.

The result was his first career cycle in the major leagues on a night when his Philadelphia Phillies teammate Kyle Schwarber hit three home runs – two in the same inning – in a 15-3 win over the New York Mets.

Harper had been struggling, with one hit in his last seven games. He opted to change bats to a 35-ounce model that he has had for a while but never used in a game. And he got in the batting cage early.

“I was trying to hit homers,” Harper said. “Just trying to have some fun.”

Sure enough, he hit a home run in his first at-bat, a solo shot off Mets starter Freddy Peralta. Then, he had a double and a single in the Phillies’ eight-run third inning. In the fifth, he sprinted out of the box on a liner into left-center field. Trea Turner and Schwarber scored ahead of him and Harper slid into third while the throw went home.

Harper had just the 11th cycle in Phillies history and the first since Weston Wilson on Aug. 15, 2024. The triple was only the eighth Harper has hit in eight seasons in Philadelphia.

“I got close a couple of times,” Harper said. “But being able to do that and having that moment was really, really cool.”

Harper, who finished 4 for 5 with three RBIs and two runs, is the second player this season — and this week — to hit for the cycle, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, who accomplished the feat Monday night in a 5-4 win over Colorado.

The Phillies' third-inning offensive outburst was powered by Schwarber, who became the 67th player in major league history to hit two home runs in an inning. He’s the second this season, joining Houston’s Yordan Alvarez on June 12, and the fourth in Phillies history with Trea Turner (Aug. 19, 2023), Von Hayes (June 11, 1985) and Andy Seminick (June 2, 1949) also accomplishing the feat.

“That was cool,” Schwarber said. “First time I’ve done it in my career. I think it was a pretty cool overall night in general.”

Schwarber led off the third with a solo home run off Peralta that traveled 456 feet into the second deck in right field. He added a three-run homer off Cionel Perez into nearly the same spot, flying 457 feet.

Schwarber hit his major league-leading 28th homer of the season in the seventh inning off Tobias Myers, a two-run shot just inside the foul pole in right. He finished 4 for 5 with six RBIs and four runs scored.

The Phillies are just the second team in MLB history to have a player hit for the cycle and at least three homers in the same game, joining Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees on June 3, 1932.

“We were wondering that in the dugout,” Harper said. “We didn’t think there was going to be two guys that did it. But to have those two names up against ours is pretty cool. It’s a pretty awesome moment.”

—

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Trump said his predecessors had let the pool turn an algae-stained green and that he'd line it with “American flag blue” so it better reflected the Washington Monument. But after the new pool was unveiled, its blue tinge quickly became a familiar green. Workers treated it with chemicals to kill the algae, but then the painted blue lining on the bottom began to peel.

On Friday night, Trump posted about the pool.

“We’ve had some real problems with Vandalism at the beautiful Reflecting Pool," he posted on his social media site Friday night. "Just like three days ago, they destroyed the grass outside of the Pool, they’ve also done everything possible to hurt the inside surface that was just installed.”

He offered no details to substantiate his claim.

Agencies responsible for law enforcement and upkeep on the National Mall — the U.S. Park Police, National Park Service and Interior Department — did not respond to requests for comment. Trump on Saturday followed up by posting that Park Police “have arrested multiple individuals for vandalizing our Nations magnificent Reflecting Poll," correcting his spelling to “Pool” later.

He went on: "Who would do such a thing? These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail!”

Trump later acknowledged in a post that the Reflecting Pool will need to be repaired, yet again, to restore it to "an equal level of Beauty” as before. “We met with contractors today, will probably be forced to release and drain much of the water in order to do the necessary repairs, but will have them done as quickly as possible,” he wrote.

One man arrested was David Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Maryland, who owned a company that made composite used to build watercraft. He said he stopped by the pool during his 64-mile bike ride Friday to see what was going on.

Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, told The Associated Press that he reached into the pool because he wanted to examine the peeling new coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.

But, Hearn said, he was then detained by National Guard troops and Park Police for five hours before being released Friday night.

“I'm a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”

The Washington Post first reported Hearn's arrest, and he said he has a date to appear in court next month and is looking for legal help.

Even if someone pulled ribbons of paint from the side of the pool, it would not explain the clouds of algae in green water and swaths of loose blue paint detached from the bottom.

Trump insisted something nefarious has been going on at the scene. “No different than the chemicals that were used on the National Mall, they used something similar in the Reflecting Pool to try to destroy and demean our beautiful work,” he posted Friday evening.

That was an apparent reference to the discovery of large numbers etched in discolored grass on the National Mall the week before: “86 47.” Authorities said the numbers could have been meant as a threat to Trump, the 47th president. The number 86 can be slang for “getting rid of.” They are investigating.

Trump's claims came after days of negative attention to the state of the pool, which has drawn television cameras and curious onlookers.

Tonight we’ll see spotty showers, maybe hear a few rumbles of thunder, but we’ll be dry by midnight.

Clouds will decrease overnight with lows falling to the low and mid 50s.

Winds turn light tonight, shifting to the south tomorrow around 5 mph. Afternoon highs tomorrow will be in the mid to upper 70s.

We’ll start Father’s Day, and the first day of Summer, with some sunshine, but you’ll notice clouds increase throughout the day. We look to stay dry through most of the day, so any plans you have to go to church or grill out for lunch, etc. will be good to go. Most of us will be ok to be outdoors into the evening as well.

As a strong low pressure system moves eastward into the Ohio Valley, rain will move into the Great Lakes region. Scattered rain will be possible in the evening hours before widespread rain arrives by sunset.

Rain will continue, especially for those closer to I-94 and southward, overnight into Monday morning.

We look to dry out Monday morning, giving way to dry conditions for the Ford Fireworks. After reaching the mid 70s in the afternoon, temperatures Monday evening will fall through the 60s, so you may want to bring a jacket.

Tuesday will be sunny and warm with highs near 80°.

The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat watch at the Grand Canyon for midday Monday through Tuesday, forecasting temperatures that could reach or exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius) at the low-elevation Phantom Ranch.

People are “strongly advised” to avoid hiking in the middle of the day, the National Park Service said this week in a statement following a “recent influx of heat-related incidents.”

An extreme heat watch was in effect June 16 when two hikers, ages 67 and 68, were found dead on the North Kaibab Trail, which the NPS describes as the most difficult of the major inner canyon trails. The service said they appeared to have succumbed to symptoms of heat-related illness.

A third person, 72, died June 12 along the South Kaibab Trail after becoming ill from the heat, NPS said.

About 90 miles (145 kilometers) to the south, Oak Creek Canyon visitors and residents were evacuated late Friday as a wildfire burned hundreds of acres just north of Sedona.

Much of the Western U.S. from the Rockies to the Pacific Coast saw above-average temperatures Saturday and with even hotter weather anticipated for early next week. Officials also warned that the prolonged dry, hot weather and relatively low humidity increased the risk of fire danger.

Extreme heat increases risk of hiking at the Grand Canyon

Park and weather officials alike emphasize to visitors that hiking conditions can be deceiving. Temperatures at the rim of the Grand Canyon are often 20 to 25 degrees cooler than what hikers will experience at the bottom.

“It's just a hot place at the bottom of the Grand Canyon,” said Justin Johndrow, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Flagstaff. Johndrow warned that the region is approaching the hottest period of the year before rain monsoon season later in the summer offers some relief.

Hikers may have cooler temperatures and an easier time going downhill to start the descending trails, but they face an intense climb of thousands of feet in elevation and much hotter bottom-of-the-canyon temperatures to get back up. Those conditions can cause heat illness symptoms to sneak up on visitors.

“That’s very strenuous even on a mild day,” Johndrow said of the hike back up to the rim. “Throw in temperatures of 105 to 110 degrees, and that causes some pretty bad problems.”

Wildfire near Oak Creek Canyon posed risk to public safety

A federal interagency team and at least a dozen local agencies were working to combat the blaze, which was burning nearly 300 acres (12 hectares) of very steep and rough terrain near Oak Creek Canyon, said Dick Fleishman, fire information officer with the Southwest area complex incident management team.

The fire was concentrated in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain wilderness area about 7 miles (11 kilometers) north of Sedona, but it started to creep into the Coconino National Forest. Firefighters were working to contain the burn, to prevent it from moving toward Oak Creek Canyon, where residents and visitors were evacuated, or Sedona, and to prepare for the possibility that it does.

Fleishman said the steep slope, the nearby property at risk, the heat from the fire and the risk of post-fire flooding caused by rainwater rushing down the slope were among the reasons the Pocket Fire is particularly concerning.

“This fire ramped up in complexity quickly,” he said. “We want to try and keep it as small a footprint as possible.”

About 30 miles (50 kilometers) of the adjacent state highway was closed in both directions.

The Coconino National Forest issued a formal closure Saturday afternoon for all campgrounds, picnic sites and trailheads in the area.

“For June 20,” said Fleishman, who drove through the area, “I've never seen it that quiet.”

Oak Creek Canyon attracts millions of visitors each year.

Yes, if the U.S. Open plays out Sunday like it did in the third round, then the race for second place will be a nailbiter.

Three players whose names will drive Google searches galore for casual golf fans — Tom Kim, Sam Stevens and Sahith Theegala — found themselves tied with a bigger name, Scottie Scheffler, in a four-way logjam for second with 18 holes to play at Shinnecock.

They all finished Saturday trailing leader Wyndham Clark by six shots.

"As you can see, it’s kind of a jumbled leaderboard," Kim said, “except for where the leader is.”

For the record, a six-shot rally would be one less than the biggest final-round comeback in U.S. Open history. That belongs to Arnold Palmer, back in 1960 at Cherry Hills.

Even if they had resumes approaching Palmer's, the odds would be stacked against these three dreamers. Turns out, they don't.

Kim, Stevens and Theegala have a total of one top-5 finish in majors between them. All in their 20s and looking for a breakthrough, they have a total of 39 starts in majors between them, dating to 2020.

They will play in groups ahead of Scheffler, whose early round of 69 left him in that jumble at 1-under 209 and gave him the last, and featured, tee time with Clark on Sunday.

The other three know they have quite a hill to climb. If Clark falters or Shinnecock Hills rises up — now less likely with the wind expected to calm down — then Scheffler figures to be the best bet to scoop up the trophy and wrap up the career Grand Slam.

“So much of it kind of depends on what Wyndham does,” Stevens said. “I could play a great round tomorrow and shoot 3- or 4-under and still lose by seven.”

But, stranger things have happened.

“There's a disaster waiting to happen on every hole,” Theegala said. “So you just have to be patient.”

A quick look at the group in second place:

Sahith Theegala

At Pepperdine, became only the fifth player in the last 30 years to win the three biggest awards for college players: The Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus Awards.

But Theegala became a bigger name when he appeared on the Netflix series “Full Swing,” which takes an inside look at players on the PGA Tour. He was still living at home when he made it to the tour, and things like doing his laundry felt new.

Theegala's best major finish was ninth place at the 2023 Masters. His lone win on tour was at 2023 at the Fortinet Championship.

Quotable: “There’s a lot of danger involved in pushing it a little bit, but you do have opportunities to kind of make a push at the end there.”

Tom Kim

Kim became a lightning rod for his fiery appearances at the Presidents Cup in 2022 and 2024. There was friction because of the fist-pumping antics he pulled and some difference of opinion over who, if anyone, crossed the line when he teamed with Si Woo Kim in a match against Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

Kim also made a splash when he waded into a swamp looking for an errant tee shot at the 2023 PGA at Oak Hill. He came out a muddy mess and had to dip into a stream to clean up — a viral moment that he explained by saying: "I mean it’s a major championship. I’m fighting for every single stroke I have.”

Kim finished in a tie for second at the 2023 British Open, though he shot a 67 to pull into that tie and was still six shots behind winner Brian Harman in a major as lopsided as this one is shaping up to be.

Quotable: “I think you’ve just got to look at it as you’ve got to kind of do your own thing. You can’t really force a lot of things out here. You’ve got to keep staying patient, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

Sam Stevens

A father of four, Stevens is the third generation of a golf family with deep roots in Kansas and across the Midwest.

His grandfather, Johnny “Slim” Stevens, made more than two dozen starts on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and played in the 1969 U,S. Open. His father, Charlie, played college golf at Oklahoma, had a brief stop on the Korn Ferry Tour and won the Kansas Amateur in 2010.

He has made more than $10 million on the PGA Tour but has yet to post his first win. Asked earlier in the week about his surge at Shinnecock, he said a good conversation with his wife, Kelsey, helped him rediscocver his perspective.

“I’m only 29,” he said, “so I probably don’t need to be bitter about things quite yet.”

Quotable: “You don’t normally shoot a low number trying to shoot a low number. You kind of shoot a low number just because it happens.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Despite the tensions and challenges surrounding Iran's participation in the World Cup, early Saturday morning finds the mood inside the four-star hotel relaxed, even jubilant. Several dozen fans mingle and bond over their shared excitement to see the squad's players before they depart for their second group-stage match.

“I wanted to come down to support Iranian soccer, and cheer for them when they exited the building and make them happy,” says Lucas Zarrabi, 13. The teen, who attended Monday's 2-2 draw with New Zealand and has a ticket for Sunday's match against Belgium, is one of several fans from Los Angeles who made the drive to stay with the team. Others flew in from San Jose, California, and even Miami, turning up at the hotel not quite 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the border crossing.

Showing up is important, some said, because of what they describe as unfair conditions imposed on the team. After the outbreak of war, the Iranian team was forced to move its base camp from Tucson, Arizona, to Tijuana. Eleven team officials and staff members did not receive U.S. visas. The U.S. has also denied Iran’s requests to arrive two days before matches — and mandated that the team must leave immediately after the game.

“Every little technicality is making it difficult for the team,” says Abbas Eftekhari, who was born in Iran and has lived in the U.S. for more than 40 years. “I think this is going to drain them psychologically and also physically.”

Iran's soccer federation has been vocal about the obstacles, saying it would lodge a complaint with FIFA.

“Football shouldn’t lose its power to politics,” Hedayat Mombeini, secretary-general of the Iran Football Federation, said Friday. He added that the restrictions “are certainly having a negative effect on us, but we are trying to overcome these problems with our Iranian pride.”

Since the team landed on June 7, Ali Eslami has visited the hotel gates nearly every day.

“It’s the best pleasure for me. I wished them the best luck, I told them it’s hard but they’re doing excellent things,” said Eslami, who splits his time between Southern California and Tijuana.

He was there again Friday, waiting for the players to return from afternoon training just blocks away at the Estadio Caliente, home to the Liga MX's Xolos.

“I have been in America for 50 years — this has been the most emotional thing, to see the team that I have not seen in 50 years,” he said.

Some Iran fans fear reprisal from fellow members of the diaspora for supporting the team, insisting they were in Tijuana for the love of soccer and the players, not politics. Eftekhari worries that the mood at Iran’s first match, where fans and protesters clashed, impacted the players.

“As soon as they see that their countrymen have slogans against them, it also has a negative psychological effect on them. But, that’s how things are at this time,” Eftekhari says.

Just over 24 hours until Sunday's noon kickoff, it's not just Iranian fans contributing to the atmosphere. A group of flight attendants from China staying at the hotel embrace the excitement, donning jester hats and waving scarves with red, white and green. And soccer fans from Tijuana are eager to show some local hospitality. Iran has diplomatic ties with Mexico, unlike the U.S., and had sought to move its group stage matches to the country where it has an embassy.

“We love the Mexican people very much and for us, the best situation is for our games to be held in Mexico,” Abolfazl Pasandideh, the Iranian ambassador to Mexico, said at the time.

Leonardo Ramirez Lopez, a 10-year-old soccer fanatic from Tijuana, clutches his autograph album in hopes he’ll get more signatures.

“It’s a new team that I don’t have experience with how they play,” he says. But Iran is already his third-favorite team, behind Colombia and Argentina.

After more than two hours of waiting, several dozen fans break into cheers as players finally file through the lobby. The squad smiles and waves, stopping for a few autographs. As each player leaves, he kisses a Quran, pressing his forehead against it before boarding the bus to Tijuana's airport.

“Iran, Iran! Whoop, whoop!” fans cry, breaking into song.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

All the while, Clark couldn't help but notice thousands of fans leaving the course Saturday evening and the grandstands no longer full.

Perhaps they were trying to catch the train. Or maybe they sensed this U.S. Open was over.

Even with a bogey on the final hole that gave Clark an even-par 70, he left Shinnecock Hills with a six-shot lead going into Sunday.

Riding shotgun with him will be Scheffler, who finally got on track by making three straight birdies, shooting 32 on the back nine and at least keeping alive hope of a career Grand Slam.

But it’s a big mountain to climb.

No one has ever lost more than a five-shot lead in 125 previous editions of the U.S. Open. Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters is the only player to lose a six-shot lead in any major.

“It’s all in Wyndham’s hands, really,” said Xander Schauffele, who faded with a pair of double bogeys on the back nine. “If he plays a really solid round of golf tomorrow — if he shoots even par or 1 over or 2 over — he’s going to win the golf tournaments. That’s how I think it’s going to pan out.”

It was an astonishing performance, starting with three par saves around the turn as Scheffler was sending the gallery into a frenzy with his timely run that led to a 69. It was one of only two rounds under par as Shinnecock — even without the raging wind from the morning — showed some bite.

But it was subdued at the end.

“It was kind of unfortunate that we're finishing in the dark and people weren't really out there,” Clark said, alluding to the decision for the leaders to tee off at 3:45 p.m. “Because there were some obviously key, big moments, and it did kind of get a little flat. ... ”I'm still excited to be where I'm at.”

He was at 7-under 203, the lowest 54-hole score ever at Shinnecock Hills.

Clark now has one more round to add another U.S. Open title to the one he captured at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023. At his side will be Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, trying to turn Sunday into a most magical day.

At stake for Scheffler is a chance — a long shot at that — to get the final leg of the career Grand Slam — on Father’s Day, which also happens to be his 30th birthday.

“I think it’s appropriate to understand what’s at stake," Scheffler said, aware as anyone of what's in front of him. "We want to be in these positions. This is why we practice and play, to have the opportunity to win golf tournaments, and that’s what tomorrow is.”

Scheffler has won all four of his majors from in front. Now he's chasing on a course that demands precision and a lot of patience. And the player he's chasing has expanded his lead each day — two shots on Thursday, four shots on Friday and now at six shots.

Clark, in position to be the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion in 12 years, still doesn't think he has played his best golf.

From thick rough right of the 18th fairway, his wedge went right and some 60 feet away from the pin. “Gosh, I’ve hit some terrible shots today. This is ridiculous," Clark said to his caddie.

He was leading by seven shots at the time, though he did put himself in some tough spots — 75 feet away on the downwind ninth, over the back of the green and down the slope on the 10th, a bunker on the scary par-3 11th.

He took them all on, particularly behind the 10th green when he made the bold play to bump it into the hill to let it trickle down to 5 feet, instead of a safer flop to avoid the ball rolling back to him.

And when he got in trouble on the 13th after trying to drive the green, he made a 15-foot putt for par. It was like that all day. And the lead kept growing, even with that short miss at the end.

“The only way that you catch somebody like Wyndham is the golf course starts to win against him,” Keith Mitchell said after his third successive round at 70. He joined Clark as the only player at par or better three straight rounds, and Mitchell was eight shots behind.

Clark went from scrambling to soaring with one shot. He was 275 yards away on the 604-yard 16th hole, with helping wind that made it a perfect 5-wood — except he didn't have one in his bag. His caddie suggested taking a little off a 3-wood, and he played a high cut to perfection, getting a nice bounce short of the green as the ball rolled out to 4 feet.

It was the only eagle on the 16th hole all week.

“Really one of the shots of the tournament,” Clark said.

Scheffler, who fell nine shots behind with a pair of bogeys at the start, shot 32 on the back nine by chipping in from 65 feet on the 14th for the start of his three straight birdies. His one big lament was missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

“Scottie is the best player in the world, and he’s going to play probably really good. He always does,” Clark said. “But it’s nice to have a six-shot lead on him.”

Scheffler moved into the last group when Shinnecock Hills did a number on everyone else.

Sam Stevens, who closed within two shots of Clark on the front, started the back nine with three straight bogeys and closed with six straight pars for a 72. Tom Kim dropped two shots at the wrong time and shot 72. Sahith Theegala had one birdie, one bogey and 16 pars for a 70. That usually works at any U.S. Open, particularly this one.

All of them were at 1-under 209, leaving only five players under par.

Rory McIlroy was there, but only briefly. He made three straight birdies, including a putter from off the sixth green from 66 feet, and at one point only had one player between him and Clark. But just like the previous round, he lost ground with a series of mistakes and shot 73 to fall 10 behind. He left Shinnecock without speaking.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

“Not bad, not bad,” Russell said afterward with a smile. “I hit that one pretty good.”

Imagine what he might be able to do when he's all grown up.

The 17-year-old Russell and 21-year-old Koivun were paired together in the third round, a grouping that was being referred to during TV coverage as the future of golf.

Already so accomplished before they are even professionals — Russell hasn't even started college yet — both players understand why such expectations have been placed on them.

“I mean, I’m trying not to think about that,” Koivun said. “Just taking it one day at a time and let my golf game do the talking, but those are great compliments.”

Both players shot 4-over 74, dropping to 7 over for the tournament. Those scores weren't too bad on a difficult day at windy Shinnecock Hills for any golfer, let alone two that were playing on the weekend for the first time in a major championship.

It's expected to be the first of many times for both.

Koivun is about to turn pro after a dominant college career in which he led Auburn to two national championships in three seasons, becoming the first freshman since Justin Thomas in 2012 to win the Haskins Award, given to the nation's top collegiate golfer. He won the Southeastern Conference individual title all three years and has been the world's top-ranked amateur.

Russell is now the next big thing. The left-hander is ranked No. 1 in the American Junior Golf Association and No. 7 among all amateurs in the world. He is headed to Florida State and will be a teammate with Charlie Woods, Tiger Woods' son, who carried Russell's bag when he earned his spot in the U.S. Open through a 36-hole qualifier.

“He’s been been in the game for a while and he’s just such a good player,” Koivun said.

The players who didn't know each other well before this weekend will be paired again Sunday. Russell, who played with 54-year-old Padraig Harrington in the first two rounds, took advantage of a chance to be with someone closer to his age Saturday to get some advice about school.

Like Koivun, he tried to downplay the “future of golf” hype around them.

“I don’t know, that’s kind of crazy,” Russell said. "I mean, I think the main thing is just keep enjoying it, because if you’re not enjoying it, you may not have much of a future in it. So, I think we just keep doing what we’re doing, and see where it takes us.

“Golf is a very difficult sport," he added. "One day you have it and the next day it’s gone, so I think you just have to kind of block it out and just keep doing what you’re doing, and hopefully one day that’s true.”

Still, he could tell there was an interest in them, even though they were out early in the morning, long before anyone near the top of the leaderboard.

“At the beginning, we had some good crowds out there,” Russell said. “I think if we might have played a little better, they might have stuck around a little longer, but it was cool.”

Koivun and Russell were two of the five amateurs who made the cut, a group that was led by 21-year-old Ryder Cowan. Cowan, who will be a senior at Oklahoma, was tied for 11th after 36 holes.

So perhaps the future of golf goes beyond Koivun and Russell.

“Yeah, I mean, amateur golf is in a great spot right now,” Koivun said. “The college kids are definitely showing off, showing off how good they are, and for five of us to make it through, it’s quite impressive.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Chipping in from 65 feet on the 14th hole began a stretch of three consecutive birdies Saturday for Scheffler, who went into the third round outside the top 10 at the U.S. Open. Slightly more subdued fist pumps followed, as did a bogey after landing his tee shot in the bunker on No. 17.

By the time his eventful back nine was over, Scheffler shot a 69 tie for second place at 1 under for the tournament. He was six strokes behind leader Wyndham Clark going into Sunday.

“We’ve been battling hard for a few days, and I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament,” Scheffler said. “It was nice to steal a couple there on the back nine when I really needed them as the tournament was kind of slipping away from me.”

Milestone day for Scheffler

Only Arnold Palmer in 1960 and Johnny Miller in 1973 have won the U.S. Open when trailing by six or more strokes going into the final round. The opportunity to pull off the third such comeback after 54 holes just happens to land on Scheffler’s 30th birthday and Father's Day, not long after he and wife Meredith Scudder welcomed their second child in April.

“We want to be in these positions,” Scheffler said. “This is why we practice and play: to have the opportunity to win golf tournaments, and that’s what (this) is. I have an opportunity to go out there and have a great round and give myself a chance to win the tournament.”

Scheffler dug himself a hole

After an opening 72 in the gusting wind, Scheffler has been playing catch-up since. While shooting 68 on Friday got him into the mix, he still went into the weekend outside the top 10 with a lot of players between him and the top of the leaderboard.

Scheffler fell two more shots back of Clark by bogeying the first two holes Saturday. His tee shot went way left into the hay and his next one into the bunker on No. 1, then he was short right into the sand and missed a 6-foot putt on No. 2.

After parring Nos. 3 and 4, he faltered on the easiest place on the course at 5, two-putting on a hole more than half the field made birdie or better.

“I got off to a tough start,” Scheffler said. “Just did my best to try and stay patient.”

Back nine had ups and downs

His first birdie of the third round didn't come until the 10th hole, hitting a flop shot he said he has only made a few of that caliber in his career. The birdie on No. 14 he felt gave him some momentum, and the emotional celebration showed how he felt.

Scheffler found his groove to birdie No. 15 and then had to wait several minutes to tee off on 16 because of people moving around in his line of sight. Caddie Ted Scott ran down the fairway to clear the path.

“Ted finally, I think, got tired of trying to holler,” Scheffler said. “He just got a little impatient and ran up there and got them out of the way.”

Scheffler was not thrown off his rhythm, and his second shot took a perfect bounce to within just over 13 feet of the cup. Even missing that eagle putt, he was able to move another shot closer.

Being slightly off target on a par putt on the 17th hole and a birdie attempt on the 18th prevented him from being in sole possession of second place but didn't take away from his overall satisfaction.

“You can hit a lot of good shots and end up in some spots where you’re going to be frustrated with the result, but I think that’s part of the U.S. Open test,” Scheffler said. “Proud of how we played on the back nine."

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

A wave of protests over the last five weeks has called for Paz to step down over austerity measures imposed by the government, including the cancellation of fuel subsidies, and other issues. The demonstrations have unleashed violent confrontations between dynamite-wielding demonstrators and riot police, leading to at least 365 arrests and 37 injuries, according to authorities.

At least 17 people have died, most of them linked to a lack of medical care caused by transportation disruptions, according to Bolivia’s ombudsman’s office and human rights organizations.

Barricades erected on key roads have effectively isolated the city of La Paz, triggering fuel and food shortages, paralyzing transportation and preventing patients from reaching hospitals — causing at least seven deaths for lack of medical attention, the government says.

“This is not a state of emergency to restrict people’s lives. It is a state of emergency to give people back their freedom,” the president said in a televised address to the nation.

As businesses closed over the course of the protests, supermarket shelves emptied and hospitals ran out of oxygen, calls from some sectors of society escalated for Paz to restore order through force.

On Friday night, Paz signed an agreement with one of the labor unions, whose leaders called for the blockades to be lifted. But other protesters have demanded that Paz resign and refused to negotiate.

Paz said that the state of emergency is intended to guarantee fuel supplies, which have become increasingly scarce as roadblocks have left tanker trucks stranded.

The decree prohibits “blocking streets, avenues, roads and highways in ways that affect transportation and supplies,” and orders the armed forces to temporarily support the police “in restoring order, reopening roads and protecting the population.” The state of emergency doesn't limit due process rights or constitutional guarantees and allows people to continue their daily activities, according to the decree.

The state of emergency will last 90 days, but could be lifted earlier if “violence and threats against the population come to an end,” the government said in a statement.

Paz came to power in November, ending almost 20 years of uninterrupted rule by Bolivia’s Movement Toward Socialism party, or MAS, which delivered the country's worst economic crisis in a generation. A centrist who triumphed over more conservative candidates, Paz promised to resolve chronic fuel shortages and replenish the central bank's almost-empty coffers, while protecting the social welfare that represented a pillar of MAS' popularity.

But his austerity measures, most significantly the elimination of long-standing fuel subsidies, have exacerbated biting inflation. His government fixed fuel shortages, but with poor-quality gasoline that damaged thousands of vehicles. Reforms to encourage foreign investment and stimulate economic growth have stalled in Congress.

The highland Indigenous and rural workers' groups — who long supported MAS but helped vault Paz to power last year — have led the protests, accusing his government of neglecting their needs since entering office.

He faces rising pressure from both Bolivia's hard-right, which dominates Congress, and long-ruling left. Former President Evo Morales has supported the protests and demanded a new election from his hideout in the coca-growing tropics, where he is evading an arrest warrant on charges related to statutory rape.

The Trump administration has backed Paz, who repaired relations with the U.S. after years of anti-Western hostility in Bolivia under Morales.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Paz to inform him last week that Washington was “ramping up emergency assistance and logistics operations support” to help alleviate shortages caused by the blockades.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth denounced the protests as “attempts to overthrow the legitimate government,” and issued a stark warning to those who he said were “profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere.”

“The United States is watching,” he wrote on X.

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Isabel Debre reported from Buenos Aires.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

The Sooners' offense is producing at a level higher than any team to play in the College World Series since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field 15 years ago.

When it looked as though OU's pitching could implode after being nothing short of magnificent the last week, Cord Rager settled in after a rocky first inning and combined with two relievers to shut down North Carolina the rest of the way in a 9-3 victory in Game 1 of the CWS finals Saturday.

“I’m just going to stay out of their way,” Johnson said. “I don’t know any other way to do it. You think we’re going to go out and hit tonight and take 100 groundballs somewhere? We’re not going to do that. I can promise you that. Just stay out of their way.”

Deiten Lachance homered twice off North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro early and the Sooners (42-22) used a four-run fourth inning to pull away for their ninth straight win. Rager, Gavyn Jones and LJ Mercurius allowed only two runners to reach second base after the Tar Heels (53-12-1) struck for three runs in the first.

Oklahoma won national titles in baseball in 1951 and 1994 and will go for its third on Sunday. North Carolina, looking for its first, will try to force a deciding Game 3 on Monday.

“North Carolina’s a really good team,” Johnson said, “and we picked a fight today. They’ll be ready for us tomorrow.”

OU ended DeCaro's uncharacteristic bad day in the fourth inning. The Sooners scored all four runs that inning with two outs starting when Kyle Branch broke a 3-all tie with a two-run single. Branch came home on Jason Walk's base hit and Camden Johnson singled off Walker McDuffie to make it 7-3.

DeCaro (11-3), who came in with a 2.31 ERA, was charged with all seven runs after having not allowed more than three in any of his previous starts.

“I think they just really punished the mistakes,” DeCaro said. “I feel like for the most part I made some pitches, and then whenever I did leave a ball over the plate, especially with two strikes, they capitalized.”

Lachance homered for a 2-0 lead in the first inning and again in the third to tie it at 3. The 6-foot-5, 231-pound Canadian known as “Big Maple” has hit all 18 of his homers in the last 32 games, including six in the last eight.

“I’m just trying to catch barrel at the plate right now and just help the team, just pass the baton,” Lachance said. “That’s a big thing for us.”

Oklahoma has hit 45 of its 93 home runs in the last 17 games. OU has connected 28 times in 11 NCAA Tournament games, and its 10 homers in four CWS games are the most by a team since the event moved to Charles Schwab Field in 2011. The Sooners are batting .331 and averaging better than eight runs per game in the CWS.

“Their approach is to get an ‘A’ swing off. That's clear,” Carolina coach Scott Forbes said. “They’re not afraid to strike out.”

Rager (7-3), who threw 15 2/3 shutout innings over his previous three outings, steadied himself in the second inning and lasted through the fifth.

“After the first inning, I stopped playing for myself,” Rager said. “I just started playing for the guys around me, for the team. I really had to try to really be a pitcher today because I didn’t have my best stuff.”

Carolina's Carter French made the defensive play of the CWS in the third when Walk sent a drive to deep right. As French went back to make the play, his glove got lodged under the padding running across the top of the fence. His glove was a bit crumpled as the ball landed in it. He held onto it and displayed it to the umpire.

“The great thing about baseball when you’re playing in a weekend series is you move on quickly,” Forbes said. “That’s what our team will do. They just beat us today.”

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This version corrects the spelling of Oklahoma pitcher Gavyn Jones' first name.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Here are this year’s finalists:

• AnnMarie & Co. Boutique in Garden City
• BB’s Belleville Boutique
• Freckles & Grit in Trenton
• The Peacock Room in Detroit
• VITRINE at The Baker House in Plymouth

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

“The city and county have opened spaces for families seeking relief from the smoke, and we will continue working around the clock and doing everything possible to put this fire out completely," Bass said in a news release announcing the emergency declaration.

The fire at a privately owned cold-storage warehouse in the city's Boyle Heights neighborhood started Wednesday, prompting shelter-in-place orders in the area because of the risk of hazardous air. Residents were told to close all windows, doors and vents, turn off air conditioning and bring people and pets to an inside room.

Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Jaime Moore said in a news conference that they have taken care of the hazardous materials portion of the blaze and now they are working on the biohazard challenges.

“We have 85 million pounds of frozen food inside of this facility and the way the building has been laid out, it’s very difficult for us to get in there because there’s zero visibility inside,” Moore said. “Our firefighters are not able to just go in there and start moving pallets.”

The mayor's declaration asks for recovery help under the California Disaster Assistance Act. She also asked the state to expedite access to resources and other relief programs.

Bass said their chief concern is for the health and safety of the people impacted by the fire, so they are trying to secure the help needed to move the toxic materials away from the area and dispose of them in a way that will avert a major environmental disaster.

“So this is about prevention,” she said. “This is about protecting your public health.”

Coach Julian Nagelsmann needed a spark and substituted in three fresh players, one of whom was Deniz Undav. That decision paid off big time.

Undav scored twice as Germany defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday and clinched a spot in the knockout phase at the World Cup.

“It’s important that everyone sees that even the players from the bench can decide games,” said Undav, who also scored in Germany’s 7-1 opening match rout of Curacao. “Now we have a really important signal to the team. I think that’s very important in a game like this.”

Four minutes into stoppage time, Undav received a pass from Felix Nmecha in front of the net and rifled it past Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana to give the Germans a comeback win. It was the German national team’s 11th straight win, a streak dating to September 2025.

Undav’s first goal of the match came after Nadiem Amiri sent in a long ball – that striker Kai Havertz let pass him by – onto the boot of Undav, who slammed it into the back of the net in the 68th minute. Both Amiri and Undav had subbed on eight minutes earlier.

“Deniz is nobody who needs to be prepared,” Nagelsmann said. “He can jump in right away.”

Four-time champion Germany has come back from disappointing group stage exits in 2018 and 2022, while Ivory Coast is still searching for its first knockout stage appearance and could still qualify. The last time Germany got past the group stage it won the tournament in 2014.

“Think we showed great character today,” Undav said. “We want to achieve the most.”

Ivory Coast captain Franck Kessie opened the scoring in the 30th minute after midfielder Yan Diomande sent in a cross to forward Amad Diallo. His shot was blocked by Germany’s Nathaniel Brown, but the ball bounced back to Kessie, who slotted it in the wide-open left corner of the net.

Germany had two goals waved off in a frustrating first half. The first was in the 21st minute when Fofana batted the ball into his own net, but Germany midfielder Aleksander Pavlovic made illegal contact with Fofana on the play.

The second came in the 38th minute on a foul, as Jamal Musiala was called for contact on the build-up to what would’ve been a Havertz goal.

After a court fight to get into Canada, Elye Wahi, the Ivory Coast striker under investigation for alleged betting-related offenses while playing in France for Nice, did not play.

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Lexie Linderman is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Yan birdied the par-5 18th to cap her second straight bogey-free round at Blythefield Country Club. Winless on the LPGA Tour, the 30-year-old American had a 14-under 202 total.

“I just tried to enjoy it,” Yan said. “I knew I was going to be a little bit nervous not having really been in this position before, but I have been kind of in the later tee times and there have been times where I haven’t handled it very well. So, just trying to figure out what really works for me.”

Lottie Woad of England was second. She also birdied the 18th in a 68.

“I think just trying to get off to a good start,” Woad said about the final round. “Try and get back ahead and push early and just keep putting the pressure on is what we’re going to try to do.”

Cassie Porter of Australia was two shots behind after a 69.

“The back nine the greens started to firm up,” Porter said.

In Gee Chun had a 65 to get to 10 under. Wei-Ling Hsu (68) and first-round leader Yan Liu (70) also were 10 under.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

U.S. President Donald Trump, in response, unleashed a new threat to impose American tolls in the crucial waterway if a final deal with Iran isn’t reached in 60 days, saying the money would be for “services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East.” The agreement calls for toll-free travel for 60 days.

The announcements indicated a rough start to the technical-level talks that key mediator Pakistan said will begin Sunday, with Qatari mediators also participating.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance left for Switzerland on Saturday evening, just as Iranian state TV posted video showing Iran's negotiators arriving there. They are led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and include Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and central bank and oil officials, among others. The deal calls for billions of dollars of Iran’s assets to be unfrozen.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir also left for Switzerland late Saturday.

Talks were meant to start Friday, but the Iranians canceled plans to attend because of escalating fighting in Lebanon. Negotiators for the U.S. and Qatar, with help from Iran, worked out an agreement between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group to tamp down hostilities, according to U.S. and regional officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Vance told reporters he would be in Switzerland “for a day or two” but was optimistic about making progress in talks about Iran's nuclear program and on a ceasefire in southern Lebanon. He earlier confirmed that top negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were already in Switzerland.

But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told state TV that negotiations toward a final agreement will begin once key commitments are upheld. If they are not, “the memorandum of understanding as a whole will be jeopardized.”

The strait once again becomes a challenge

The strait has emerged again as a focus. Iran’s joint military command said it was closed because of the U.S. “clear breach of its commitments” by failing to end the war. The interim deal is meant to stop fighting on all fronts, including Lebanon.

The U.S. disputed Iran's announcement.

“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz. Traffic continues to flow, and U.S. forces are monitoring the situation to ensure this remains the case,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command. The military said that 55 merchant ships transited Saturday with more than 17 million barrels of oil.

The global economy braced for more uncertainty.

Ships began transiting after the interim U.S.-Iran agreement was signed earlier in the week, a milestone that left plenty of questions unanswered. The U.S. lifted its blockade of Iran’s ports and now allows Tehran to sell its oil freely — terms that have left some in U.S. Congress asking whether the war was worth it.

The interim deal signed by Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian gives negotiators 60 days to reach a nuclear agreement, but the issue is intricate and the time can be extended.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon kill at least 16

Earlier Saturday, as mediators tried to get the parties to Switzerland, a Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Iran informed the militant group that Tehran won't reopen the strait until Israel announces publicly that it will comply with a “comprehensive ceasefire” in Lebanon and an end to military operations there. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly.

The official said that Hezbollah would commit to a ceasefire if Israel does.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, later said that the military had received “updated directives from the political echelon to cease fire.” The official said that the military is operating in a defensive manner in Lebanon, which includes the right to respond to Hezbollah attacks.

The official also said that five Israeli soldiers had been killed in the past 48 hours in southern Lebanon.

Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are signatories to the deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed at least 16 people, including two children. Seven people were trapped under rubble after strikes hit the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.

An Israeli military official said that Hezbollah fired more than 50 projectiles at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel's army said that it struck dozens of Hezbollah targets and militants.

The death toll in the latest Israel-Hezbollah war has surpassed 4,000, Lebanon’s health ministry later announced.

Hezbollah and Israel went to war two days after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.

A new round of U.S.-backed talks between the Lebanese government, and Israel is expected in Washington next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until any threat to Israel is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon.

Fighting continues near the Israel-Lebanon border

The dead in Lebanon included parents and two children in Barish village. In Arab Salim village, a body was pulled from a destroyed house, and in Doueir and Kfar Rumman villages, drone strikes killed a person on a motorcycle and a Lebanese soldier. Nine people were killed in strikes in Qannarit, Sohmor and Shehour villages.

Israeli jets flew low over the coastal city of Tyre.

“Our entire lives would change if there’s a ceasefire,” said one resident, Hussein Khoshman.

Some residents of northern Israel doubted the fighting would stop.

“I don’t believe in a ceasefire because it doesn’t exist,” said Miriam Hod in Metula.

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Mroue reported from Beirut, Ahmed from Islamabad and Kim from Washington. Abby Sewell in Beirut, Samy Magdy in Cairo, Konstantin Toropin in Washington, Josef Federman in Jerusalem, and Jamey Keaten in Zurich, Switzerland, contributed to this report.

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A previous version of this story corrected the spelling of the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s last name to Baghaei, not Bagahei.

The remarks deepen the spat that began this week with the Republican president’s interview with an Italian broadcaster, during which Trump claimed Meloni “begged” for the photo during the G7 meeting in France. Meloni has called that “completely fabricated.” The dustup led Italy’s foreign minister to cancel a planned trip to the United States as Meloni’s government lined up in her defense.

“Italian Prime Minister Gigiorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G-7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on his social media platform while spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat. He misspelled her first name in the initial post, which he later corrected.

He continued: “She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America, a Country that truly loves and protects Italy, when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a Nuclear Weapon (But so did NATO, for that matter!).”

Meloni soon responded, saying in a statement to Trump that “these constant, unprovoked attacks are senseless.”

“As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it, nor does it depend on my relationship with you. My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest, and that is exactly what I have always done,” Meloni said in a post on Instagram. She added that "in any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”

The rift between the two powerful leaders comes as Trump’s relationship with Europe had long been fraying, mainly over the U.S. administration’s trade policy toward the continent, the president’s continued threats to take control of Greenland — a self-governing territory of Denmark — and Trump’s decision to strike Iran.

At the just-concluded G7 summit in Évian-les-Bains, France, Trump took a warmer tone toward other European leaders in the coalition, as they aligned behind his interim agreement to end the war in Iran. But tensions again were expected to be on full display as Trump travels to Turkey for the annual NATO summit next month.

Trump's initial comments were aired Friday on the La7 network. A correspondent had asked the president about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and made the claim about the photo. Trump said he was not obliged to take the picture with her but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, but not the original English audio.

In his post, Trump also complained that Meloni would not allow the U.S. to use Italy’s landing strips or runways during the Iran war even though the U.S. is a leader in defense spending among NATO allies. That is a long-standing complaint about the military alliance and one that Trump is raising again before his White House meeting Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

Italy, a key logistics hub for the U.S., declined in March to allow American bombers headed for the Middle East to use a base in Sicily without parliamentary approval. It was a decision reflecting constitutional constraints and strong domestic opposition to the war. Meloni has insisted that any use of Italian bases for offensive operations would require parliamentary backing.

Trump vented his frustration about Meloni and on Saturday claimed that she “wants to be friends again” in light of the initial deal between the U.S. and Iran to end the war.

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Associated Press writer Silvia Stellacci in Rome contributed to this report.

Karmelo Anthony, 19, was convicted of murder on June 10 in the death of Austin Metcalf, 17, and sentenced to 35 years in prison. A jury rejected Anthony’s claims of self-defense. The videos were included in a batch of evidence released by the Collin County court following the conclusion of the trial.

The surveillance video shows the track and bleachers on a rainy day. Suddenly a figure wearing a gray sweatshirt is seen popping up from behind a yellow tent and then running down the steps. The video has no sound.

He got to the bottom of the bleachers, tripped and fell on the ground, and then kept running along the edge of the fencing that separates the bleachers from the running track. He stopped briefly, turned to look at what appeared to be someone chasing him, and then kept running.

After making his way part way around the track, he was joined by an unidentified person. They stopped to talk and then hugged. They started walking again and were joined by another person. After talking more, Anthony walked toward the fence where he appeared to meet up with a police officer.

The officer put him in handcuffs and walked him toward the police cruiser. Anthony obeyed the officer's commands and then started crying.

“He put his hands on me,” Anthony said in a broken voice. “I told him not to. He put his hands on me.”

The officers escorted him to the police cruiser and placed him inside.

What do they all have in common? Pink, of course.

Of all the colors of the rainbow at the World Cup taking place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, pink is the star on soccer's biggest stage. Dozens of players are wearing pink boots that stand out against the green grass of the pitch after multiple shoe companies produced them ahead of this tournament with an eye on performance as well as visibility.

“Athletes associate this color with confidence and standing out, and that resonates," Nike Director of Global Footwear Odinga Nimako said.

Nimako pointed to Nike's silver, yellow and blue boots at the 1998 World Cup changing how people saw boots in the sport. Before that, black and white was the standard.

This time, Nike, Adidas, Puma, Skechers and New Balance all came out with pink boots.

Mbappé and Vinícius have the Nike swoosh on his feet, as does Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Norway's Erling Haaland. Reyna, England's Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, Canada's Jonathan David, Spain's Lamine Yamal and France's Ousmane Dembélé wear Adidas.

Whenever Neymar Jr. plays for Brazil, he's expected to be in Puma pink like American Weston McKennie. U.S. teammate Timothy Weah is among those in New Balance. Kane and Sweden's Anthony Elanga are sporting Skechers at the World Cup.

Skechers Director of Technical Performance Alex Bardini said the inspiration came from the company's headquarters in southern California.

“The colorways reflect the breathtaking palette of an L.A. sunset: warm shades of pink and purple melting into white, with subtle tinges of orange,” Bardini said.

From Los Angeles and Vancouver to Guadalajara, Houston, Miami and Boston, long before the World Cup is decided, pink has become a clear winner. When Sweden put up five on Tunisia in Monterrey, Mexico, three came from players in pink boots: two by Yasin Ayari and another in the 84th minute by Mattias Svanberg.

Pink itself does not make players perform any better, but shoe company executives consider it a mindset. Bardini said comfort and performance are at the core of what Skechers does, and Nimako said Nike wants players to feel more aerodynamic.

“That feeling is holistic,” Nimako said. "It’s the engineering, yes, but it’s also how the entire product comes together. When an athlete puts on a Mercurial and it looks fast, feels locked in, and weighs next to nothing, that perception reinforces performance. Everything works together.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Dustin Johnson led by that much eight years ago and that didn't end well.

But it's really not about Clark as much as it is everyone else, and the reminder to fight to the end.

Geoff Ogilvy can speak from the experience of 20 years ago at Winged Foot, where he played the last 12 holes with four bogeys and no birdies and won at 5-over 285. He is the last U.S. Open champion to have never broken par in any of the four rounds.

But what he recalls is a conversation the morning of the final round with World Golf Hall of Famer Judy Rankin, a relative by marriage. She told him: “Everyone wakes up Monday morning, looks at the newspaper and is surprised by the score that won the U.S. Open.”

“I know that more from watching than playing,” Rankin said Saturday morning from her home in Midland, Texas, where she was quick to point out that “it's blowing here, too.” She devoted the second half of her career to broadcasting.

“I just said, ‘Save ever shot.’ I'm telling you, you never know at the U.S. Open what's going to happen,” she said. “It's a different kind of experience.”

No need to look back any further than last year, when J.J. Spaun began the final round at Oakmont with five bogeys in six holes. He birdied the last two to win.

“I just remember telling him to try to the bitter end if you're in it, because you'll be surprised,” Rankin said.

“It's so true,” said Andy North, a two-time U.S. Open champion working television this week at Shinnecock Hills. “You look at the scores the next day and everyone is ticked but the winner.”

Here's how the weekend unfolded in the previous U.S. Opens at Shinnecock Hills:

2018

Johnson had just returned to No. 1 in the world and looked the part. He opened with 69-67, the only player under par going into the weekend and with a four-shot lead.

But then the USGA didn't account for how dry and windy the course became, and pin positions late in the day made it a brute. Putts were rolling 50 feet by the hole and over the green. No one from the final 22 groups matched par. Johnson shot 77 and was still tied for the lead.

Brooks Koepka, five shots behind going into the weekend, emerged the winner with a 68 on a course the USGA soaked overnight.

2004

Phil Mickelson and Shigeki Maruyama shared the 36-hole lead at 6-under 134. Retief Goosen had one of only three rounds under par on Saturday to take the lead. In the final round in which the greens baked out — particularly the par-3 seventh green — no one broke par.

Goosen was scrambling the whole way around, but he showed his U.S. Open mettle that day when he one-putted the final six greens. This still looked like Mickelson's to win until he three-putted from 5 feet on the 17th hole.

Maruyama, meanwhile, went 74-76 on the weekend and tied for fourth.

1995

For the second straight time at Shinnecock Hills, Greg Norman had the the 36-hole lead by two shots. As usual, someone else ended up holding the trophy.

Corey Pavin, six shots behind going into the weekend, cut the deficit in half on Saturday. He fell four shots behind after a bogey on the third hole. That was his last bogey of the round. Norman and Tom Lehman slowly came back to the field. Pavin saved par with a 5-foot putt on the 17th. And then he hit the famous 4-wood into the 18th that secured the win.

Norman had nine straight pars in the middle of his round — U.S. Open golf — until two straight bogeys early on the back nine cost him the lead, and a bogey on the 17th put him behind. He needed birdie on the 18th to force a playoff. He made bogey.

1986

This was the year of Norman's famous “Saturday slam” when he had the 54-hole lead at all four majors (and only won the British Open).

He was up by three shots over Lee Trevino and Denis Watson going into the weekend, four shots clear over a group that included Raymond Floyd and Tom Watson. In a final round of good scoring, 10 players had at least a share of the lead. Floyd didn't pull ahead until a birdie on the 13th hole.

Floyd was bogey-free for a 66 to win by two shots.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The turnout that packed downtown was enough to leave their coach — the captain of the team's last Cup winner 20 years earlier — at a loss for words.

“I’m in shock,” Rod Brind'Amour said in the gap between the end of the parade and the start of the rally that concluded the day's festivities in North Carolina's capital. “It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m just kinda speechless."

The Hurricanes brought their Stanley Cup celebration to downtown Raleigh on Saturday, drawing a crowd that police estimated at 150,000, according to city public information officer Julia Milstead. That represented nearly a third of Raleigh's population (506,306) according to U.S. Census estimates for July 2025.

By comparison, the Hurricanes held a parade around the Lenovo Center arena grounds — then known as the RBC Center — that drew about 30,000 fans in 2006 after beating the Edmonton Oilers in 2006 for their first Cup title. Then came a smaller, second parade downtown that drew about 8,000, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh.

This time, players riding double-decker buses were greeted by what Brind'Amour called “wave on wave” of fans. They were screaming, chanting, waving flags and wearing Carolina jerseys, still buzzing from the franchise beating the Vegas Golden Knights last weekend.

“I was trying to explain to the fellas what I knew was going to happen,” said captain Jordan Staal, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. “And my expectations were so high because I know these Caniacs, I know what they're all about, and I was still blown away. I couldn't even describe how amazing that was.”

The team took the rally stage with Staal hoisting the Stanley Cup skyward before a roaring crowd, while Jordan Martinook and Andrei Svechnikov were among a line of Hurricanes players who kept intermittently cranking the “Storm Warning” siren that is a pregame tradition for the team to take the ice.

The Hurricanes even got some business done, with general manager Eric Tulsky calling reserve forward Nicolas Deslauriers to the podium to sign a two-year $1.75 million deal. The trade-deadline acquisition was set to become an unrestricted free agent, one of the few bits of roster uncertainty for a team that has the core of its roster locked up to long-term deals.

Otherwise, it was a daylong party.

Carly Goodman, 35, of Raleigh, was hard to miss in the front row behind barricades in front of the stage where the parade would end with a rally. She sported a red Sebastian Aho jersey, waved a large Hurricanes flag and was blinged out with a silver “Stanley Cup” chain necklace.

She was drinking from a “beer skate,” the novelty mug shaped like a Hurricanes skate that sold out immediately during the Game 1 of the second-round series against Philadelphia. She got up at 5 a.m. — “Let my dogs out, they were mad to get up,” she said — and made sure to head straight downtown hours in advance to ensure a prime spot.

“It’s been something special ever since 2006,” Goodman said. “Raleigh’s a small market. We’ve got college sports, but this is epic. It’s a team that everybody can get behind. It breaks down all the barriers. Everyone just comes together and smiles, no matter if you’re a Duke fan, Carolina fan, whatever — it doesn’t matter.”

It was a longer trek for Scott Stiles, 60, and his son, Joey, 24. They weren’t about to miss the celebration even though they live in Concord, a city outside of Charlotte known for its ties to NASCAR and other motorsports. So they hopped in the car around 3 a.m. to make the 2 1/2-hour drive, arriving more than five hours before the parade was scheduled to start and finding fans like Goodman already waiting closer to the City Plaza stage.

The duo — Scott in a Svechnikov jersey, Joey wearing a Seth Jarvis one — had chairs plopped in the middle of Fayetteville Street straight back from the stage, their spot marked by a giant Hurricanes flag.

“When’s the next time they’re going to win a Cup?” Scott said, pausing as a “Let’s go Canes!” chant wrapped up. “They might win it again next year, who knows? But we wanted to be a part of it.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Brian Brobbey and Cody Gakpo scored two goals apiece to power Netherlands to the 5-1 win.

Brobbey’s goals came in the first half, helping the Netherlands get off to a great start and roll to the big win after playing Japan to a 2-2 draw Sunday.

The victory gives Netherlands a group-leading four points. Sweden has three points, with Japan and Tunisia scheduled to play later Saturday.

“It could be that the way we played builds confidence,” Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman said. “Now we’ve got a slightly better piece of mind with the four points. You can build on what happened now and that’s really good.”

Gakpo, who also had an assist, extended the lead to 3-0 just after halftime, scoring in the 47th minute off a cross from Denzel Dumfries. He matched Brobbey when he scored on a right-footed shot from the left box in the 54th minute.

“Today there was more variation in attacking play, more players in different positions, movement and all those things,” Gakpo said. “So it was maybe more difficult for the defenders to really mark us and we became free in in the box. I think that was the little thing maybe we missed in the last game.”

Sweden couldn’t build on its strong performance in a 5-1 walloping of Tunisia in its first match. The loss to the Dutch was its biggest World Cup defeat since losing 7-1 to Brazil in 1950.

Sweden coach Graham Potter said the defeat was less about what his team did and more about just how good Netherlands played Saturday. He then named a laundry list of all the stars on the Dutch squad before continuing.

'So it’s not that we’re gonna expect that everything’s going to be easy for us," he said. “It’s not that, of course. They’re a top team and they were better than us today. We have to congratulate them, but I think we’ll learn a lot from the game.”

The Dutch gameplan to play out wide to open up Sweden and cross to Brobbey worked perfectly early. He put the Netherlands on top in the fifth minute when Gakpo crossed into the middle of the box and Brobbey one-timed it with his right foot before tumbling forward to the grass.

His second goal came when he took a cross from Dumfries while sliding and just got his right foot on the ball, scoring inside the far post in the 17th minute.

Koeman credited Brobbey's success with getting in better shape after he had struggled in the past with the rigors of playing a full game.

“He’s fitter, he’s sharper and he’s developing really well,” he said.

Anthony Elanga’s left-footed goal cut the lead to 4-1 in the 59th minute and allowed Sweden to avoid the shutout.

Sweden had plenty of chances to score before that, but Netherlands’ goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was brilliant in the first half with four saves.

Sweden appeared to have cut the lead to 2-1 on a header by Gustaf Lagerbielke in the 44th minute, but he was ruled offside. Lagerbielke is a baron from a noble family in Sweden. His father and grandfather are counts.

But he wasn’t the only royalty in the stadium Saturday as the Netherlands had two very special guests cheering them on with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima watching from a luxury suite.

“The King was very happy,” Koeman said.

The crowd of 68,777 was largely made up of fans of the Netherlands, many of whom made their Oranje Fanwalk 2 1/2 miles from Rice University to Houston Stadium on Saturday morning.

Crysencio Summerville, who assisted on Gakpo's second goal, tacked on a goal for Netherlands in the 89th minute and celebrated with NBA star Steph Curry's “night night” gesture.

Summerville was kicked in the head late in the match and had received stitches, but Koeman said he should be ready for the next match.

“I think things are OK-ish,” he said. “He’s got a bit of a headache.”

Sweden finishes group play Thursday night against Japan at Dallas Stadium, and Netherlands meets Tunisia that night in Kansas City.

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Despite an October ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas, the enclave has seen near-daily Israeli attacks that have killed over 1,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The first strike on Saturday hit an apartment in Gaza City around 2 a.m., according to the ministry. At the site, an Associated Press reporter saw rubble and chunks of concrete stained with blood.

The bodies of two sisters, 4-year-old Zina and 14-year-old Lana, were sent to Shifa Hospital's morgue, where they lay in white hospital bags, surrounded by family members.

“I was sitting at home. The rocket fell on us without a warning,” said their cousin, Mohammad Safadi, whose forehead was wounded. He said his wife was also hurt.

“This ceasefire the occupation and the negotiation team speak of … is this really a ceasefire? We are civilians. I never held a weapon,” Safadi said.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

On Saturday evening, three Israeli strikes killed four people and wounded at least a dozen others.

The first hit a house in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp without warning, killing three people, including Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. Al Jazeera confirmed Wishah's death.

Wishah’s brother Mohamed, who was a correspondent for Al Jazeera, was killed in an Israeli strike in April.

Another strike on Saturday targeted a group of people in the sprawling tent camp of Muwasi in southern Gaza, killing one and wounding eight others, according to Nasser hospital, where the casualties were taken.

A third strike in Gaza City targeted a group of people and wounded at least four, according to Shifa hospital.

The Israeli military in a statement said it killed the Al Jazeera cameraman in a “precise strike.” It asserted that he had been part of Hamas' military wing and had posed a threat to troops in the area.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage on Oct. 7, 2023. Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed 73,018 Palestinians, including those slain since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records that are generally considered reliable by United Nations agencies and independent experts. It does not distinguish between civilians and militants but says women and children make up around half of all fatalities.

The critics argued that by allowing smaller teams to the expanded field, the number of weak matchups would increase, as would the chances of lopsided results.

But as the biggest World Cup ever progresses, those fears have not fully materialized.

Through the first 24 games, the goal differential was unchanged compared to the tournament in Qatar in 2022, suggesting the larger field did not create more one-sided competition.

Germany did rout newcomer Curacao 7-1, Qatar was trounced 6-0 by Canada, and Haiti was eliminated after two matches. But some of the less-traditional nations were able to hold their ground early on.

Cape Verde, the fifth-lowest ranked team entering the World Cup and one of the smallest nations to ever make it to the tournament, pulled off one of the biggest surprises in World Cup history by holding European champions Spain to a 0-0 draw.

Congo, whose only other World Cup participation was in 1974 as Zaire, was unfazed while facing Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, holding one of the tournament favorites to a 1-1 draw.

What are the reasons for the overall competitiveness?

Coaches, players and analysts say global soccer has become increasingly competitive, with more players joining the top leagues and more top coaches being hired by smaller nations. There is also wider availability of tactical knowledge and physical conditioning methods, allowing less-traditional teams to better compete against the traditional powerhouses.

"It’s very tough to win. It surprised me how even things are. They had talked about having 48 teams, but not counting Germany, which did have a big gap with many goals scored, all other matches were very complicated,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said. “It’s not easy to win. Really, believe me. The teams have been improving, until recently we didn’t know much about Cape Verde, and there it is. Morocco played a tremendous match against Brazil."

While the number of goals scored after the first 24 matches increased from 57 in Qatar four years ago to 75 now, the goal differential this year was 35, exactly the same after the same number of games in Qatar.

Cape Verde was ranked 67th when it came up with the upset by playing second-ranked Spain to a draw.

“This game showed us that the World Cup is a tournament with a lot of equality. It’s very complicated,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “These teams have their limitations, but they do what they do well. The team we faced was clearly inferior to ours, but it did what it had to do very well and defended very well. In every match you have to be fully focused and extremely precise to be able to overcome your rivals.”

Curacao, the third-lowest ranked team at the start of the tournament at No. 82, held Germany to a 1-1 draw until late in the first half before the European powerhouse took over for good.

Haiti, ranked 83rd and back in the World Cup after five decades, lost 1-0 to Scotland in a decent performance in its opener, but then was no rival for five-time champion Brazil, conceding three first-half goals before improving to hold its ground in the second half of a 3-0 loss.

Qatar, 56th in the world coming in, conceded six goals against co-host Canada, but it was coming off a 1-1 draw against 19th-ranked Switzerland.

New Zealand was the lowest-ranked team at the start of the tournament at No. 85. It drew 1-1 with 20th-ranked Iran.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin was criticized last Sunday by soccer governing bodies in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean for allegedly saying the expanded tournament created uninteresting matches.

“We have a huge number of matches that are completely uninteresting,” he said, according to Zurnal 24, while adding the expansion allows small countries to participate and experience the tournament’s excitement.

The associations of Cape Verde, Congo, Curaçao, Haiti, Jordan and Uzbekistan issued a joint statement they said was in solidarity with the federations of Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

“Football does not belong to a select group of nations. Its strength comes from its universality,” the statement said. “For many countries, participation in the FIFA World Cup is not only a sporting achievement. It is a moment that inspires a generation, accelerates football development and creates memories that last a lifetime.”

The excitement for the underdog teams can, of course, be short-lived as previous dark horses have seen following surprising debuts in the World Cup. But some of them have hope, and that can be enough to carry a team.

“When you are organized and together, you are able to compete," said new Tunisia coach Hervé Renard, admitting that Cape Verde was giving his team hope for a good result against Japan on Saturday. "We have to follow this example and not be scared of defeat.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

The twin-motor Cessna 421 carrying Claude Guillemot and a flight instructor crashed Friday evening near La Baule airport on the Atlantic coast, Mayor Franck Louvrier said in a statement. Both were licensed and experienced pilots. The instructor also was killed, the mayor said. An investigation is underway.

Ubisoft confirmed Guillemot's death but did not comment further.

The plane crashed in a field just before landing at La Baule-Escoublac Airport, an airport official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named.

Guillemot and four brothers founded Ubisoft in 1986. In addition to the popular Assassin's Creed franchise, Ubisoft’s games also include Just Dance, and the Rayman and Tom Clancy game franchises.

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Associated Press writer Jeremias Gonzales in La Baule, France contributed.

The Americans advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup without their injured star forward, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday for their second straight victory in the expanded 48-team tournament. The U.S. then won Group D when Paraguay beat Turkey 1-0 late Friday in Santa Clara, California.

“C.P. is a fantastic player — the quality and the leadership that he gives us,” said Folarin Balogun, who scored two goals in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay on June 12. “We didn’t have him today, but I think you saw we’re still capable to go out there and get a result and put up a performance.”

As the Group D winner, the U.S. will play a round-of-32 match on July 1 in Santa Clara, California, against a third-place group finisher.

Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan and has 33 goals in 87 international appearances, missed Friday’s match because of a calf injury.

Playing without a talent like Pulisic could have derailed previous American World Cup teams. But much has changed since the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, when it advanced by being one of the best third-place teams. The Americans lost to eventual champion Brazil in the round of 16.

The U.S. has won consecutive games at a World Cup for the first time since 1930. The Americans have scored six goals, one off their record for a World Cup, and received contributions throughout their roster.

Alex Freeman, the youngest player on the team at 21 and the son of former NFL wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute off a set piece. Freeman headed in a deflected shot by Sergiño Dest for his first career World Cup goal. The goal was confirmed after a video review.

“(He) is doing a fantastic job,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said of Freeman. “The evolution is massive. He’s so humble. He wants to learn. He always listens. He’s a player that you really enjoy being with him. Not only coaching, but being with him.”

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after a run down the left sideline by Balogun.

He directed a centering pass toward striker Ricardo Pepi, who started in place of Pulisic. The ball never reached Pepi, deflecting off Australia defender Cameron Burgess and into the Socceroos’ net for an own-goal.

“I want to be dangerous, I want to create opportunities,” Balogun said. “It might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it's like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum.”

The Americans did not score after halftime, but the way they so thoroughly dominated Australia in the opening 45 minutes left an impression on Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.

“It did not surprise us because their quality is clear,” Popovic said. “Their power is clear. Their athleticism is clear. They are not surprising in what they did.”

Expectations will only increase for the U.S. as momentum builds around the team. The Americans' start to the tournament has not changed Pochettino's perception of his squad and its potential.

“I think it’s much better when you show good performances and win the games,” Pochettino said. “I think that makes it easier, everything. But, at the same time, it’s (important) to keep believing.”

The U.S. learned it can get out of the group stage without Pulisic. And it has the roster to make a deep run.

“We know how vital Christian is to the team and how much he can contribute in the game,” Freeman said. “For us it was, we have Ricardo Pepi, who came in and had an amazing game. I think that just shows how (good) our roster is.”

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This story has been corrected to show that the Turkey v. Paraguay game ended late Friday local time in California.

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His first hole Saturday did not feature the same good fortune, and by the time his third round was over, Wu could only shake his head and chuckle at himself. Teeing off and playing in swirling winds, Wu five-putted No. 1 at Shinnecock Hills for a quadruple bogey on the way to a 12-over 82.

“It was just kind of laughable,” Wu said afterward. "You kind of just have to laugh it off because you’re still trying, but you get to a point where you can’t really get too frustrated. It’s a great place, a great test of golf. It’s still a great place to play on Saturday.”

Flags around the conspicuously difficult eastern Long Island course were whipping around pretty good by the time Wu and playing partner Jacob Bridgeman (who shot a 4-over 74) finished their round in the early afternoon. It was worse at 9 a.m. when they got started.

Wu said the wind was blowing around 23-24 mph and gusting to 35 mph, contributing to his opening drive going just 224 yards. The adventure really got going when he made it to the green and kept knocking the ball here, there and everywhere but the hole until tapping it in.

“I thought I hit a pretty good first putt and then just kind of played tic-tac-toe there,” Wu said. “I was just like, ‘What’s going on right now?’”

Wu wrote an 8 in his scorecard and made the best of the bad conditions. He birdied the 10th hole and lamented not having a better first two rounds, which would have allowed him to begin later when the wind died down a bit.

“It was tough,” Wu said. “I honestly think if you played in the first probably five groups of the day, if somebody shoots 2 over, that’s an unreal round. Some of the holes were just kind of impossible.”

A month shy of his 30th birthday, Wu was just glad to be playing the weekend. Former U.S. Open champions Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and J.J. Spaun were among the accomplished players who missed the cut.

Even at the bottom of the leaderboard at 16 over, Wu took an optimistic approach hours after a forgettable experience, knowing he'll have another early tee final round Sunday that he's aiming to enjoy with his dad, Kevin, who introduced him to the sport.

“You just control what you can control,” Wu said. "Just looking forward to spending Father’s Day with my dad tomorrow and having another walk around here. It’s an awesome place to play a U.S. Open, my first time on Long Island, a historic place like this. Whoever wins this week, it’s a true U.S. Open champion.”

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Here are this year’s finalists:

• Brooks Books in Wyandotte
• Calliope Bookshelf in Washington Township
• John K. King Used & Rare Books in Detroit
• Road Less Traveled Books in Farmington
• Sidetrack Bookshop in Royal Oak

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

With a quick and creative offensive attack producing goals in front of stadium-shaking home crowds, the Americans have already won their group and booked their place in the knockout round. A final group stage match against Turkey in Los Angeles awaits before the pressure ramps up again.

The question now is just how far can they go? The optimism and expectations of a deep run in the tournament are rising quickly.

The American players seem eager to embrace what might have seemed inconceivable for a big nation with a relatively shallow pedigree in international soccer.

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous to say that we want to win it,” U.S. defender Chris Richards said after Friday's 2-0 win over Australia. “We want to lift a trophy by the end of this.”

Few would have predicted this kind of quick success, said striker Folarin Balogun, who scored twice in the opener against Paraguay.

“You know, (if) someone said before the tournament ‘Two games and you’re through to the knockouts,’ I think we all would have took it,” Balogun said. “We’re delighted.”

Argentine coach leads the American resurgence

The first two matches saw the U.S. attack Paraguay and Australia with an energy, skill and creativity on offense rarely seen by the Americans in the World Cup.

The U.S. has won consecutive World Cup matches for the first time since 1930. And the six goals in the first two matches are one short of the team record for a World Cup.

The architect is coach Mauricio Pochettino, an Argentine who was best known for his European club stints with Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-German. He had never coached a national team until he was hired by the U.S. in 2024 with an eye on this year's World Cup.

As a co-host, the U.S. was an automatic qualifier for the tournament, allowing Pochettino more time to experiment and craft the lineup he wanted. He was blunt earlier this month when he said the U.S. does not have any players that rank among the top 100 in the world.

But the lineup he has put on the field the first two matches has been rock solid and maybe even better than expected. The players credit him with instilling a tougher, more resilient mindset.

Pochettino said after the win over Australia, he could feel the fan support reverberating throughout the stadium in Seattle.

“Today, even if I'm not American, after the game I was emotional," Pochettino said. “It was an amazing and perfect connection between the energy from the stands and the team. This makes us feel very proud.”

Questions remain about U.S. star player Pulisic

Because the U.S. has already won its group, Pochettino could experiment with his lineup for the match with Turkey on June 25. And it could provide extra rest for star midfielder Christian Pulisic, who missed the match with Australia because of a calf injury.

Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan, is considered the United States' best player, but his absence also allowed the U.S. to show off some depth in the lineup.

With Pulisic out, Pochettino started striker Ricardo Pepi, and Pepi combined with Balogun on the run that created the first goal of the match in the 11th minute.

“We know how vital Christian is to the team and how much he can contribute in the game,” said Alex Freeman, who scored the second goal against Australia. “For us it was, we have Ricardo Pepi, who came in and had an amazing game. I think that just shows how (good) our roster is.”

Still, the U.S. will want Pulisic's steady hand and creative playmaking as they get deeper in the tournament.

He has scored 33 goals in 87 international appearances, including the game winner against Iran in the 2022 World Cup that sent the U.S. to the round of 16.

History of home nations

The U.S. will enjoy the home support for as far as they can go in the tournament. It can be considerable.

The U.S. is co-host of the tournament with Canada and Mexico. Since 1930, the host nation has won the World Cup six times, most recently France in 1998.

When Mexico hosted in 1970 and 1986, it reached the quarterfinals both times. In 2002, co-host South Korea reached the semifinals. Host Russia reached the quarterfinals in 2018.

The U.S. finished third in the inaugural World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. Its best finish in the modern era of soccer was the quarterfinals in 2002.

When the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, the underdog Americans played in front of huge crowds and slugged their way through the group stage before being eliminated by Brazil.

Back then, just reaching the knockout round was the goal and a huge achievement for a group of players that punched above their weight.

The expectations this time are for much more, and growing with every goal in the back of the net.

“I think people can see what we’re capable of as a team,” Pepi said.

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The fashion powerhouse has shown menswear in its stately Milan palazzo the last two seasons, drawing an A-list crowd Friday evening that also included “Crazy Rich Asians” star Henry Golding, “Avengers” actor Tom Hiddleston, U.S. actor Scott Eastwood.

Outside, eager fans braved a heatwave to glimpse of arriving celebrities and were rewarded as Thai actor Nichakoon Khajornborirak, nicknamed Meen, and Korean actor Kim Woo-bin each took a moment to turn and wave as the crowd snapped photos. Domingo took a slide on his way inside, as he circled back to his car to grab his hand fan.

“I was not going to leave that fan in that car. Then my heel just slid, and I was safe. But I got the fan, which was the most important thing,” Domingo said after the evening show, which followed a very hot and humid early summer day in Milan.

From Brooklyn to the Hamptons

Daytime suits from Ralph Lauren’s luxury Purple line quickly morphed into tuxedo shirts and stiff bow ties under trailing patchwork denim coats that showed signs of distress. Looks were finished with berets worn askew, aviator glasses and pocket watch chains.

“Today I saw it felt like 1920s-inspired,” Domingo said, stopping to listen to Nat King Cole play in the background. “It’s evocative of what we saw today. A mixture of old and new.”

On the more casual side, colorful madras plaids held together the sportier Polo collection of layered knitwear, rugby shirts and light puffers more adapted to a mountain festival or night-time beach party than a Milan heatwave. Some looks were straight out of the “Preppy Handbook,” with pink and green happily colliding. Cheekily, the coveted Polo Bear motif on knitwear wore outfits matching the runway.

“I saw beautiful cravats and vests mixed in with like workwear, all the things I love about Ralph, bringing things from day to night, from the street, from urban communities to East Hampton,” Domingo added. “It was a great mix. Getting a car from Brooklyn and going to East Hampton, you feel like you fit right in.”

From Purple to Polo, timeless accessories

Formal and casual looks gradually converged throughout the collection, without regard for occasion. Runway casting was similarly age- and race-inclusive.

Silk scarves accenting suits became colorful bandanas on casual looks. Ties became belts and were sewn together to make bags, suggesting a reusability on trend with up-cycling. Footwear ranged from leather fisherman’s sandals to velvet slippers and espadrilles to rain-resistant duck boots. For bags, men can choose from Ralph Lauren-branded canvas totes or luxury snakeskin portfolios and bags.

Eastwood said he had his eye on a snakeskin bag. “This is just a classy brand that’s timeless,’’ said Eastwood, adding that his father, actor and director Clint Eastwood, and brand founder Ralph Lauren go way back.

Golding said Ralph Lauren had long supported him in his career, and that “the Purple label is just my go-to for anything refined.”

Thanks in part to this program, Gail Gibson was able to buy her first home two years ago.

“It helped me with the down payment and it was a lot that I couldn’t afford,” Gibson said.

The grandmother now lives at 7 mile and Algonac on the city’s east side.

She says when her rent was about to go up, she started thinking about home ownership.

“I had to get a lender and meet the requirements. I had to take a first-time homeowner class and I had to have fairly decent credit,” Gibson said.

The Detroit Homebuyers Fair helps people get mortgage-ready and gets them familiar with down-payment assistance programs.

“The services include pulling credit counseling, helping them with a mortgage and taking the fear out,” said Dina Harris, the CEO and founder of National Faith Homebuyers Program.

From banks to lenders, to realtors and housing counselors, the goal is to help Detroiters build generational wealth.

“It changes their mindset, it strengthens who they are and gives them a solid foundation,” Harris said.

“It’s a good feeling to own your home, it’s a really good feeling,” Gibson added.

His family confirmed his death in a statement to People, saying he “passed away peacefully today surrounded by his family.” No location or cause of death was provided.

Burrows spent his career behind the camera specializing in situation comedies. Few viewers recognized him or knew his name, other than to see it flash quickly on the screen in the opening credits. But they knew his work.

Burrows got his start in television relatively late at age 35 in 1974, directing episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” and “Laverne & Shirley.”

He cocreated “Cheers,” directing 243 of the 273 episodes, as well as all 246 episodes of “Will and Grace.”

He also helmed multiple episodes of such hits as “Frasier,” “Friends” and “Mike & Molly” and the pilots of “Two and a Half Men” and “The Big Bang Theory.”

Sweet spot of script, performance and chemistry

“When I direct a television show, I try to reach that sweet spot where the best script meets the best performance and the best chemistry between performers,” Burrows wrote in his 2022 memoir “Directed by James Burrows.” “Hitting that exact moment, where these factors land in combination, results in the sweetest and most enduring laugh.”

His family said, “Burrows understood that great comedy was never simply about laughter. It was about humanity, connection, and truth. That understanding became the foundation of a career that forever changed television.

“But beyond his remarkable achievements, Burrows will be remembered for something even greater: his kindness, generosity, and unwavering belief in the people around him. He possessed a rare ability to make everyone better and was known for remembering every person he met by name, making colleagues at every level feel seen, valued, and appreciated,” the family statement said.

The majority of Burrows' shows aired on NBC, whose “Must See TV” slogan promoted its Thursday night lineup in the early 1990s that included “Friends” and “Frasier.”

“Jimmy Burrows was the man behind the curtain. He knew how to make us laugh, what buttons to push and was the absolute master of getting the most out of every joke,” NBC said in a statement. “His loss to the television comedy world is immeasurable. Every time you have a smile on your face watching ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show,’ ’Taxi, ‘Cheers,’ ‘Will & Grace,’ ‘Friends’ and countless others, think of Jimmy and know he made all our lives funnier.”

Following in his father's path

Born James Edward Burrows on Dec. 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, he moved to New York when he was 5 years old. He spent five years in the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus until his voice started to change. He attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art.

His father was writer, director and producer Abe Burrows, whose Broadway hits included “Guys and Dolls” and “Can-Can.” The elder Burrows also mentored Larry Gelbart, future creator and producer of the TV show “MASH.”

The younger Burrows spent hours of his youth in theaters and studios watching his father work, dining with him at such famed New York haunts as Sardi’s and Gallagher’s and meeting celebrities who attended his father’s New Year’s Eve parties.

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College, Burrows attended the graduate program of the Yale School of Drama, where his classmates included actor-comedian Robert Klein, playwright John Guare and film director John Badham.

At Yale, he was required to take directing classes and he got hooked.

Burrows’ first sitcom experience was as Burl Ives’ dialogue coach on “O.K. Crackerby!” which was directed by his father and ran for one season on ABC in 1965.

From there, he was an assistant on “The Patty Duke Show.” He moved back to New York and worked for Broadway producers Lee Guber, Frank Ford and Shelly Gross. He first met actor Moore while working on the Broadway production of “Holly Golightly,” an adaptation of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” that was directed by his father.

Burrows eventually worked as a stage manager for various road productions, where he met such actors as Hugh O’Brien, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Julie Harris.

Catching a break with Mary Tyler Moore

By 1974, after working in dinner theater and summer stock, he turned on his television and saw Moore’s eponymous TV show. He wrote her a letter asking if there was any opening “small or smaller” at her production company that he could fill, according to his memoir.

Moore’s husband and business partner, Grant Tinker, invited Burrows to Los Angeles to direct an episode of the comedy. He apprenticed for MTM Enterprises, which had four sitcoms on the air at the same time.

Burrows cited his theater background for learning how to give actors direction and block out scenes. He’s credited for being one of the first sitcom directors to increase the typical multicamera television shoot from three to four cameras.

The common thread between Burrows’ shows were the bonds between friends and unrelated families, whether it was the motley crew of regulars meeting at the bar in “Cheers” or the drivers working toward a better life in “Taxi” or the 20-somethings sharing the same apartment building in “Friends.”

“The best sitcoms transcend the screen and reach out and grab the audience by the throat and by the heart,” Burrows wrote in his memoir.

Actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman worked with Burrows over 16 seasons between “Taxi” and “Cheers.”

“He was the very best at his craft. His positive spirit, boundless energy, and tireless work defined what it takes to run a show and keep people laughing,” they said in a statement. “He will always be in our hearts.”

Burrows relished discovering new acting talent while directing more than 75 pilots that were picked up as series.

“Having directed over a thousand shows means that almost any night you can turn on your television or go online and find a show that I directed. I’m very proud of that,” he wrote in his memoir.

In 2019, Burrows was an executive producer on live productions of “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons” with famous actors re-creating episodes of those 1970s comedies.

“Jimmy was the greatest comedic television director in the history of the medium,” his agent Rick Rosen said in a statement. “He directed the most iconic, defining shows of generations. Always a gentleman, it was an absolute honor to represent him.”

Burrows was married in 1997 to Debbie Easton, whom he met when she worked as a hairstylist on “Frasier.” Daughters Kat Schatzow, Ellie Gluck and Maggie Burrows, who followed her father into directing, are from his first marriage to Linda Solomon, who died in 2004. His stepdaughter Paris is from his wife’s previous marriage. He has a sister, Laurie Burrows Grad, and seven grandchildren.

Investigative judge Juan Carlos Peinado issued the ruling, arguing that Begoña Gómez represented a flight risk. In addition to surrendering her passport, she must also appear before a court every two weeks. A trial date hasn't been set.

The decision touched off a heated political confrontation, with calls from the opposition for Sanchez's Socialist government to resign.

Gómez is accused of using her position to influence government contracts given to a group of technology companies. The judge also accused her of the misuse of public funds in the hiring of a consultant, and the inappropriate use of software while she was a professor at a public university.

Gómez has denied any wrongdoing. Sánchez has called the case against her part of a smear campaign by conservative political opponents to topple his left-wing government, which has been in power since 2018.

Peinado said that a businessman who allegedly benefited from the government contracts and the consultant that worked for Gómez will also stand trial.

Sánchez, a critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, is facing legal trouble on multiple fronts before a general election due by next year.

Earlier this week, a former Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, appeared before a different judge in connection with his alleged role in a government airline bailout and to explain the discovery of high-end jewelry during a police raid on his office. He denies wrongdoing.

Government officials sharply criticized Saturday's decision as politically motivated, while the Socialist Party called it “an absolute scandal for democracy.”

“Begoña Gómez is innocent,” the party said. “For two years now, she has been the target of a political and judicial witch hunt. Today’s development is just the latest escalation.”

But Spain’s conservative opposition went on the attack, urging the government to call an early election.

“Lawmakers and the architects of our constitution could never have imagined that the threats to our democracy could originate from the Spanish government itself,” said Miguel Tellado, secretary-general of the main opposition People’s Party.

“Now we see how the government attacks judges, prosecutors and the media while attempting to silence opposition parties,” he said. “This is unthinkable in any modern democracy.”

The two-year investigation into Gómez was launched following accusations by the pressure group Manos Limpias, or Clean Hands, which has pursued multiple legal cases, many linked to conservative causes.

___

Derek Gatopoulos contributed to this report from Athens, Greece.

The camp gave kids a chance to learn from someone who has played at the next level — a reminder that anything is possible.

Participant Daaron Tocco said the motivation to play college football someday is already there.

“Oh yeah. A lot,” Tocco said when asked about the work it takes to play at the next level.

That goal starts on the practice field — with reps, grit and the everyday hard work that builds a player.

Underwood says he attended camps like this one growing up, so hosting one himself feels surreal — a true full-circle moment.

“It’s a blessing for me to be out here, you know giving back to the community,” Underwood said. “I played in the area at Belleville High School. Just giving back and showing love to the kids, that’s a blessing for me.”

Throughout the day, kids ran drills, snapped photos with Underwood and asked the kind of questions that show they’re dreaming big.

“Honestly just being here it’s… I’m just grateful to be here,” said participant Kevin Alcox.

More than a football camp

Parents watching from the sideline say the event is about more than football — it’s a way for kids to connect, make friends and build confidence.

“My son’s done another one of these camps and he noticed when he looked on his phone there was a text message from a kid he met at another camp and said, ‘Hey, are you going to be here?’” said parent Meilan Han.

Events like this build bonds — friendships that start on the field and last long after the final whistle.

Neighbors told Local 4 “more than 150 people” flooded their quiet street and cars blocked streets and driveways. They also described public intoxication and lewd behavior in front of families and children.

Birmingham Police told Local 4 they were called multiple times Saturday to a home on Westchester Way, south of Maple. The backyard pool was rented out to the owner’s friend.

Update: Birmingham pool party homeowner breaks silence, apologizes for neighborhood disruption

The rental appears to have originally been intended for about 40 guests at a cost of roughly $180 per hour. But as the afternoon progressed, police said the crowd grew far beyond that.

Police Chief Scott Grewe said officers first responded around 4 p.m. At that time, there were approximately 50 to 60 people at the home, and no laws were being violated.

Over the next several hours, however, the gathering continued to expand. Police received several calls between about 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and officers returned to the home “four or five times.”

By the evening, police estimated the crowd had grown to a couple of hundred people.

Local 4 spoke with nearly a dozen residents, all of whom requested anonymity. Several said the neighborhood became gridlocked, with partygoers parking in private driveways, using the church parking lot across Maple and driving over lawns.

“People were parking in people’s driveways and in the church parking lot,” one neighbor said.

A few other neighbors were upset with the police response, saying, “Our entire neighborhood got taken over. They should be ashamed.”

Some neighbors said children were outside as they witnessed what they described as public intoxication and sexually explicit behavior.

Two neighbors recalled seeing women dancing on cars and partially exposing themselves as they “walked wearing a thong.”

“She kinda went to adjust herself and ... that’s an image you can’t get out of your head. There’s kids around here,” they said.

Another couple said they witnessed two women engaging in a sexual act.

Police said resources were stretched at the time because officers were also handling a serious injury crash on Woodward Avenue.

But around 8 p.m., officers said they determined the party had gotten out of hand as noise complaints continued. They said they shut the party down. The crowd had reportedly dispersed by approximately 9:30 p.m.

Police told Local 4 they issued parking tickets and cited both the host and the homeowner for noise violations. Police also arrested one visitor from outside Birmingham for driving with a suspended license. Investigators are also looking into a hit-and-run involving a parked vehicle that occurred during the evening.

“I have no opinion on short-term rentals, but to me it was a safety issue,” one neighbor said, who was upset with the response from police.

Police said they have addressed neighbors’ concerns immediately and plan to remain in communication with residents. Police added that the city plans to review what happened.

“This is the first of its kind in Birmingham as it relates to a pool being used, but it’s just like the short-term rentals and the concerns with those,” Grewe said.

Local 4 visited Birmingham City Hall and left messages with both the city manager and deputy city manager seeking comment. Our requests have not yet been fulfilled.

The homeowner later told Local 4 that he had allowed a friend to host the event and said he was unaware of any illegal activity:

“I’m aware that some of my neighbors are upset about a pool party this past Saturday at my home. While my neighbors may be annoyed, I am not aware of any illegal activity and from what I understand, the noise level at the party was within the appropriate levels. I will address things with my neighbors privately to ensure we are aligned on expectations for our community. Unfortunately, some of the responses I’ve received from neighbors have been condescending and with perceived racial undertones. This will not be tolerated. Nor will the apparent doxing that has taken place on Internet forums such as Facebook, where my name, my daughter’s name, my address, my telephone number and the school my children attend were publicized - as well as encouragement to contact news forums such as WDIV. This is textbook harassment. I have informed the Birmingham police of this behavior and intend to pursue all legal remedies available.”

The Birmingham City Commission and Planning Board are scheduled to hold a joint meeting Monday at 7 p.m. at the Department of Public Services facility located at 851 S. Eton Road. Short-term rentals are on the agenda, and police said the Westchester Way incident will likely be discussed.

Related --> Birmingham city officials approve tougher rules for short-term rentals

Neighbors told Local 4 they have spoken with roughly 50 residents who are concerned about short-term rentals and say anger has only intensified since Saturday’s incident.

Previous short-term rental incident in Birmingham

On April 11, a party at an Airbnb on East Lincoln in Birmingham ended in gunfire. Police said the gathering had been advertised on social media. Witnesses reported hearing an argument followed by multiple gunshots, and shell casings were recovered at the scene. Video from nearby homes showed several people fleeing.

Officers located one person with a handgun who had run from the house, and several others were detained for questioning.

Three men — Larry Hunter, Jaelin Johnson and Malik Jerome Albert Parker — were later charged with assault with intent to murder.

The city of Birmingham is investigating a pool rental associated with a party that took place on Saturday, June 13, 2026, in the 300 block of Westchester Way. Following a review of this emerging type of residential rental activity, city officials determined that renting a private residential pool to a third party violates zoning regulations governing single-family residential properties. Multiple citations are being issued to both the property owner and the individual who rented the pool and hosted the event. The conduct and behavior associated with the party were unacceptable and will not be tolerated in Birmingham neighborhoods.

Here are this year’s finalists:

• 734 Beauty Lounge in Van Buren Township
• Lux Looks Salon in Canton Township
• Mood Beauty Bar By Heather in Chesterfield Township
• One Salon in Novi
• You Aesthetic Spa in Troy

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

A body was pulled from the rubble hours after the attack, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. He said that the bombs slammed into the low-rise building in Kharkiv's Kholodnohirskiy district in the early hours. The head of the regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that at least nine people were wounded, five of whom were hospitalized.

Elsewhere in Kharkiv, a Russian drone struck a civilian vehicle on Friday evening, killing a man and wounding the woman who was driving the car, Syniehubov said.

Later on Saturday, Russia again launched guided bombs at Ukraine, striking the outskirts of the northern city of Sumy, according to local administration head Oleh Hryhorov. The attacks killed a male civilian and damaged at least 20 private houses, Hryhorov reported on Telegram.

Russian strikes on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least four people and wounded six others, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov. Guided aerial bombs were used in the attacks.

Moscow didn't immediately acknowledge or comment on the attacks.

Ukraine's air force said that it shot down 92 of 99 Russian drones launched overnight and that seven struck targets in three locations.

Meanwhile, Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on an oil refinery in Tyumen in Western Siberia, Gov. Alexander Moor said Saturday. He said that there was no damage to the refinery and staff members were evacuated.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages.

In one of the biggest drone attacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukraine on Thursday struck a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week, sending huge plumes of black smoke over the capital and disrupting hundreds of flights.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces shot down 177 Ukrainian drones during the night. It didn't say how many reached their targets. Two drones were shot down on approach to Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

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Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainians believed the order “was meant for the Ukrainian People and our army,” Zelenskyy wrote in a social media post explaining the gesture. “Today, I sent the Order back to the President of Poland. I believe the future will confirm the respect Ukrainians deserve.”

The message published on X is accompanied by photos of the Polish order and a postal receipt that it was about to be mailed to the Polish presidential office.

President Karol Nawrocki decided to strip Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle over the Ukrainian leader’s decision to name a military unit after a Ukrainian paramilitary organization accused of massacring Poles during WWII.

Former Polish President Andrzej Duda bestowed the award on Zelenskyy in 2023 for services to security, resilience and the defense of human rights.

Zelenskyy issued a decree on May 26 naming a unit of Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or UPA, which operated during the 1940s and 1950s and has been accused in Poland of mass killings.

“For the majority of Polish society, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army remains above all a formation responsible for cruel crimes against the citizens of the Polish Republic during World War II,” Nawrocki said in a 13-minute address on social media.

Zelenskyy's move reopened old wounds in Poland

The Ukrainian decree was met with widespread criticism in Poland, which has hosted millions of Ukrainian refugees and is a key supporter of Kyiv as it battled Russia's four-year invasion. However, Nawrocki is a nationalist politician who has exploited anti-Ukrainian sentiment for electoral gain. Ukrainians in Poland have been facing increasing prejudice despite their contribution to the economy.

The decision to revoke the honor did not mean Poland’s support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia would decrease, Nawrocki said.

Ukraine is grateful to Poland for its support, and would stay open to resolve historical differences with Poland, Zelenskyy wrote Saturday in his post. “I am proud of our people and of EVERY Ukrainian warrior.”

Ukrainian Presidential Office chief Kyrylo Budanov wrote on Telegram that Nawrocki's decision was “an unfriendly act toward our people” and “a gift to the Moscow aggressor, which will certainly use it against both of our countries.”

Four Ukrainian officials including Budanov said they would return state honors that Poland had issued them.

Some in Ukraine criticized the decision to return the Polish honors.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine’s former prime minister, wrote on X that one “harmful and incorrect decision by the current president of Poland cannot be corrected by other incorrect decisions of ours.”

Calls to resolve differences

Poland is scheduled to host a major event on Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction next week, which Zelenskyy was expected to attend.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political rival of Nawrocki, urged the two leaders to “tone down emotions, not stoke tensions.”

“The front line runs elsewhere,” Tusk wrote on social media Friday night, adding that the row between Poland and Ukraine “delights Putin and shocks our allies.”

Zelenskyy’s May decree said the designation was meant to restore military traditions and recognize the unit’s performance in defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence.

The UPA fought for Ukrainian independence against both Nazi Germany and Soviet forces. But it has been accused of killing tens of thousands of Poles, mostly in the Nazi-occupied regions of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. In 2016, the Polish Parliament recognized the crimes committed by UPA as genocide.

Ukrainians say armed formations on both sides, including the UPA and Polish underground forces, were involved in attacks and reprisals that led to large-scale civilian casualties among Poles and Ukrainians.

Poland and Ukraine had recently made progress on the issue of exhumation of Polish victims. A December meeting between the two presidents in Warsaw had signaled progress on historical reconciliation.

___

Yurchuk reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writer Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana created the backdrop with a video image of a rocky coastline at sunset, as models walked among columns evoking a Mediterranean terrace in swimwear and silk pajamas.

The collection kicked into high gear as the sun rose, with laser-cut suits, tunics and loose trousers designed to stay cool in the heat while transitioning from the workweek city to a weekend seaside getaway. The standout accessory was an oversized travel bag in leather, suede and raffia.

Short shorts showed off muscular legs, while loose-knit tops did the same for torsos. Suit jackets featured unusual upright lapels and unexpected details on the back, including back panels that could unbutton for added ventilation.

The brand’s craftsmanship was most evident in woven leather jackets, echoed in woven footwear.

The design duo incorporated its signature embellishments, including rhinestones on denim and more delicate coral beading on suits, shirts and trousers. The collection also featured religious-inspired motifs, including cross necklaces resembling rosaries and icon-style prints on T-shirts.

To close, the runway teemed with models in a sea of all-white looks, crisp and distinctly summer.

Front-row guests included Polish soccer great Robert Lewandowski, two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard, Italian actor Michele Morrone of Netflix’s “365 Days” and K-pop singer Soobin.

Such is life in a world teeming with cell phone cameras and viral video. Such is life in professional golf, a sport built on managing failure and harnessing emotions — and where success one week, or one year, doesn’t always carry over to the next.

Clark’s spot at the top of the U.S. Open leaderboard after his second round at Shinnecock on Friday brought up expected reminders of his emotion-filled journey through a sport — a life, really — that Clark himself acknowledged nobody truly ever masters.

“I was on top of the world in my game, at least when I won the U.S. Open, and then had some good years,” the 32-year-old said. “Then, next thing you know, I’m apologizing for breaking a locker."

Much as tennis great John McEnroe will always have “You cannot be serious!” alongside the seven grand slam singles titles he won in another of sports' biggest pressure cookers, Clark will always have the broken locker at Oakmont. He will always have the underhanded fling of the driver that smashed an advertising board and snapped off the clubhead at the PGA Championship, a few months before the locker debacle.

Because of that, he’ll probably also always have his share of detractors and critics — people watching for his next burst of brilliance on the golf course, but also waiting for the next big blowup.

“I’m fierce, competitive, love the game, respect the game, and I just had a bad moment,” Clark said. “Hopefully, I can win those people back.”

His breakthrough three years ago at LA Country Club was tinged with tears and stories of the personal growth Clark had to make to reach that point.

Much of it had to do with the emotional residue left from his mom’s death in 2013 — a family tragedy that he conceded had left him spiraling.

“I didn’t show any emotion off the course," Clark explained after his victory that day. “But when I was on the golf course, I couldn’t have been angrier.”

The easy way for the armchair psychologists (and sports pundits) to explain things after that win was to conclude that Clark’s victory proved he had harnessed the emotion, turned the page and beaten back all the demons.

It’s never that simple.

“For any of us, this is a process,” Clark’s sports psychologist, Julie Elion, wrote in her new book ’Mastering Your Mental Game.” “Golfers don’t reach the top and then stay there forever.”

Clark followed the U.S. Open win with 18 months of good golf, including a win at Pebble Beach. Last year was something different — he only had two top-10 finishes, did not make the FedEx Cup playoffs and was nowhere to be seen at the Ryder Cup.

“Mastering our mental game in golf or reaching a state of growth or self-improvement in life isn’t always a permanent condition,” Elion wrote. “It takes more work over more years, and there are frequently hills and valleys.”

At Shinnecock, where Clark will head into the weekend at 7-under par, four shots ahead of Xander Schauffele and three others, he finds himself back on the rise again. He recently took to social media to tell the world he had a new girlfriend, Emily Tanner, who held hands with him as they exited the 18th green after Friday’s round of 1-under 69.

Four weeks ago, Clark won the Byron Nelson for his first victory in 28 months.

“I kind of looked at it objectively and took a bird’s-eye view on it and said, ‘OK, I’m not hitting it good off the tee, I’m not putting as good as I was,’” he explained about his turnaround. “And I said, ‘All right, I’ve got to attack that.’”

He hired a swing coach, Pat Coyner at Cherry Hills, near where Clark grew up outside of Denver.

He's been hitting his driver straighter of late. His iron game has improved dramatically (up 110 spots in the analytic-driven stat: strokes gained on approach shots). He found a new putter, which has helped him dial in dramatically over the past four weeks, during which he also finished third at the Memorial and played in the final group last Sunday at the Canadian Open.

Never more did it look in sync than Friday on No. 18, where he sank a 35-footer to finish the day in red numbers.

Now, a chance for another breakthrough. With a win, he would celebrate again. But he knows as well as anyone that it wouldn't mean the work — both on and off the course — is behind him.

“I just think with the mental game there’s ebbs and flows,” Clark said. “If you think of it as climbing Everest, sometimes you go up, sometimes you have to go down to go back up. I think that’s kind of what happens both on the golf course and off the golf course. Right now I’m trending back up, which is nice.”

___

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Bad Brad’s BBQ
• Twisted Street BBQ in Chesterfield Township
• Uncle Honeys BBQ in Wyandotte
• Union Woodshop in Clarkston
• Woodpile BBQ Shack

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

But in his first press conference Wednesday, new chair Kevin Warsh began to reverse some of those steps. Warsh, like many economists, thinks the financial markets have become too dependent on Fed guidance, and that such direction is more effective in financial crises or economic downturns.

Warsh quickly made changes: The Fed's statement on its interest-rate decision was slashed to 132 words, from 341 in April. And Warsh pointedly noted that the statement excluded any hints, or “forward guidance,” about what the Fed's next moves might be.

In short, Warsh rapidly delivered on a promise to slash the Fed's communications, particularly the guidance it gives to financial markets about its next interest-rate moves. Yet such an approach carries the risk of more violent swings in stock and bond prices, analysts say, and ultimately could lead to higher interest rates for consumers and businesses.

“Forward guidance in general has served to suppress volatility and anchor market expectations,” said George Pearkes, global macro strategist at Bespoke Investment Group. “And that has led to lower borrowing rates, relative to alternatives.”

Still, the impact on consumers is likely to be modest, Pearkes added, with mortgage rates perhaps a quarter-point higher than they would be otherwise.

Financial markets see-sawed, then fell Wednesday after the statement and news conference. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which strongly influences mortgage rates, jumped Wednesday to 4.49% from 4.43%, though it fell back in Thursday trading. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, was 4.16% Thursday, up sharply from 4.05% before the Fed's meeting. The broad S&P 500 stock index dropped 1.2% Wednesday.

Warsh may be headed back to 1990s

Such swings could be a sign of things to come. Previous chairs have signaled the Fed's next moves clearly enough that financial markets have largely anticipated the central bank's actions. But Warsh has frequently cited as a model former chair Alan Greenspan, whose circumspect comments often kept investors guessing.

Greenspan, who served as chair from 1987 to 2005, did usher in the statement the Fed now issues after each meeting announcing its decision. The first statement was issued Feb. 4, 1994, and said the Fed would increase its key rate for the first time in five years. The move caught investors off-guard and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2.4% that day.

The paring back of Fed communications is part of a larger package of potential reforms to the central bank's operations that Warsh signaled Wednesday. He announced that the Fed will set up five task forces to examine the Fed's communications, its balance sheet, how it analyzes and gathers economic data, the impact of AI on productivity and jobs, and the frameworks it uses to analyze inflation.

Warsh said the communications task force would consider changes to the quarterly economic projections the Fed issues as well as look at other recent innovations, including press conferences. Former chair Ben Bernanke was the first to hold them, though he did so only after every other Fed meeting. Warsh's predecessor, Jerome Powell, shifted to holding them after every meeting.

Such steps are a sharp contrast with the 1990s, when Greenspan never explained a Fed decision, on the record, to reporters. Warsh could ultimately dial back some of the Fed's increased transparency.

“This is a big change in how the Fed has conducted itself since the (2008-2009) global financial crisis,” Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, said. "Since then there has been a one-way train to greater communication, more transparency, and more forward guidance. Warsh has now put that train in reverse.”

Fed chairs have seen benefits to forward guidance

Previous Fed chairs, starting with Bernanke, have seen a clear benefit to more communication: It helps guide the markets in the direction the Fed wants. Fed officials control a short-term interest rate, but the rates that affect the economy — such as the yield on the 10-year Treasury — are heavily influenced by investors' expectations for inflation and economic growth. By telegraphing their next moves, policymakers can cause those longer-term rates to change even before the Fed adjusts its own benchmark rate.

Yet Warsh's view is that financial markets have become too dependent on Fed guidance. Instead, he wants investors to gauge where the Fed may move next by examining economic data and making their own judgments, which the Fed can then consider as part of their assessments of where the economy is headed.

“Financial market prices are probably the most important source of information to guide central bankers,” Warsh said at Wednesday's news conference.

Guidance can help with unexpected events

David Andolfatto, an economics professor at the University of Miami and former economist at the St. Louis Fed, said he agreed with Warsh that forward guidance has flaws. It can be easily upended by unexpected events, he said, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine or the Iran war.

But the chair should set out guidelines for how the Fed will react to unexpected events, Andolfatto said, or to challenges such as the persistent inflation it is grappling with now, yet Warsh so far hasn't done so.

“I’m with him on dispensing with forward guidance, but you have to replace it with a contingency plan,” Andolfatto said. “It's not enough to say, trust me, we'll keep inflation at target.”

Ironically, Warsh's decision to drop forward guidance may empower the other 18 members of the Fed's rate-setting committee, Pearkes said. Those officials — six members of the Fed's governing board, plus the presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks — frequently give public speeches, and their remarks will get even more attention as financial markets seek clues about what the Fed may do next.

A big challenge to Warsh's approach will come if there is a sharp financial downturn or economic crisis, as occurred during the COVID pandemic. In those circumstances, economists said, forward guidance can play an important role calming markets.

“Whether it will stand the test of time and he will behave this way for five years is a very different question, but one that we're going to have to wait for events to unfold to get an answer to," Pearkes said.

More than 680 people have gotten sick since the state's first outbreak began on June 20, 2025.

Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.

Measles popped up in healthcare settings, big-box stores and restaurants, and youth sporting events. In February, an exposure at a state high school wrestling championship sparked at least 46 cases among attendees.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. It causes a tell-tale rash, high fevers, strong cough, ear infections and diarrhea.

While most recover, some — including young babies, pregnant people and those with weak immune systems — are at higher risk of developing dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness or even dying. Even healthy people can develop issues years down the road, including a rare but fatal degenerative brain disease that manifests about a decade after infection.

The measles vaccine is safe and 97% protective after two doses.

Though Utah's spread has slowed in recent weeks, state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen sees little opportunity to rest. She's worried the start of school and arrival of colder weather in the fall will cause measles to surge again.

“It's still here, it's still transmitting," she said. “We just need those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really big again."

Utah sees the impacts of dropping vaccination rates

The worst spread has been in the southwestern part of the state, where 265 people have fallen ill with the vaccine-preventable disease since last summer. Overall, measles infections hit 22 of the state’s 29 counties.

In the state's rural northeast, the conditions were also ripe for measles to spread. Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties — collectively dubbed the “tricounty” health region — has seen the second-largest decline in childhood vaccination rates in the state.

More than 16% of the region's kindergarteners were missing their measles vaccines in the last school year, according to state data. Statewide, 12.8% were missing their vaccine, putting the state far short of the 95% vaccination rate needed to prevent measles outbreaks.

The TriCounty Health Department logged 74 cases of measles this spring, after people who got sick at the youth wrestling tournament spread the virus in school and later within their households.

The frontier region had seen a rise in vaccine hesitancy for some time, said Sydnee Lyons, the health department's public information officer.

Despite the large number of cases, local and state health officials consider TriCounty's measles response a success.

Health officials focused efforts on mitigating the inevitable spread. Unvaccinated students were excluded from in-person school and people who were sick were told to isolate themselves. And their appeal to care for one's neighbors led to more people coming in to get vaccinated, officials said.

TriCounty’s infectious disease specialist Cyndie Mattinson recalled a parent who told a school nurse she didn't want to talk to the health department because “she was worried that we would be angry with her and be judgmental because her children were unvaccinated.”

The nurse vouched for the health department staff, and told the mom to let her know if she felt judged. Mattinson ultimately had a great conversation with the mother.

“The perceptions were changed that we weren’t out there to police, we were there to be a help and a resource to the community," Mattinson said.

Health experts will meet to decide on US measles status

Utah's lengthy battle with measles will likely affect whether the U.S. can keep its measles-free designation. Public health officials consider measles to be eliminated from a country when it shows it stopped continuous spread within local communities for at least a year.

The national measles case count was 2,104 as of June 18, nearly surpassing last year's record total.

Utah has fought measles for a year, but it's not clear if the earliest clusters are connected with the major outbreak on the Utah-Arizona state line, which was detected in August, Nolen said.

But since then, most of the state's measles cases have come from within Utah, not from other parts of the country.

International health experts will gather in November to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles elimination status. Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.

In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared patients and lobby for better public health policy.

Dr. Ellie Brownstein, president-elect of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Salt Lake City, spent the height of the outbreak opposing a bill that would have made school vaccine waivers easier to get. It failed, but she says there hasn't been a clear cultural reckoning over measles' resurgence.

“I don't know that we get it to end," Brownstein said. “I don't know that we're going to get this genie back in the box because there's enough people out there to spread it.”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Congress, which never authorized the war against Iran yet never fully objected to it, now must grapple with the consequences of President Donald Trump's nearly four-month conflict: the lives lost, the billions spent and the national security fallout that has reordered the political dynamics in the Middle East.

Ask senators what they think about the deal Trump struck to end the war, and they do not search too far for words.

“Pathetic. Failure. Inevitable conclusion of a combination of never making the case to the American people, flawed strategic vision, lack of grasp of the regional dynamics,” said Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“How many ways, can I say, bad, bad, bad?”

Yet Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a past chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said that because of the president’s actions, “We are safer today.”

“You can criticize — Oh, he didn’t totally win,” Johnson said. “Well, that was always going to be very difficult.”

As Trump moves on to the next phase, it is left to the Congress to pick up the pieces: explaining the war to voters back home, restocking the military arsenal that has run low from bombing runs and trying to ensure the fragile ceasefire holds as the United States seeks to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and work toward an uneasy peace.

More money for the Pentagon

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the rounds on Capitol Hill this past week as lawmakers consider Defense Department funding as part of the Republican majority's next big budget package.

The White House has asked for a remarkable $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon this year, on top of the extra money that Republicans delivered as part of the Trump’s tax cuts package last year.

Republicans are mulling a sizable $350 billion plus-up for Hegseth on par with the White House's budget request that the GOP could pass on its own, through the reconciliation process that allows majority rule over potential objections from Democrats.

Senators, meanwhile, are seeking to set some guardrails on Hegseth with a provision to block a portion of his travel fund until the Pentagon delivers various reports. One such report is on an investigation into the strike on an elementary school in Iran that killed more than 165 people, a flashpoint at the start of the war.

Officials have said they believe the U.S. was responsible for the strike and that it was based on faulty intelligence.

Questions swirl over what's next in Iran

Lawmakers are still processing what just happened after Trump swiftly signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran and opened a window of 60-day talks toward ending Tehran's nuclear program.

“I understand the president’s trying to find a peaceful solution to this," said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., who serves on the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees. “I commend him for that. But we’ve got a lot of questions.”

Senators are particularly concerned about the tentative deal's provision for a potential $300 billion fund for the “reconstruction and economic development” of Iran.

To many skeptical Republicans, that money sounds similar to the planeloads-of-cash narrative they used against the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, which offered a slim fraction of that amount, some $1.7 billion overall. To this day, Trump tells an exaggerated story of how that payment to Iran, for U.S. military equipment it never received, was made.

“The only concerns I have are the money and the conditions,” said Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

“If we send a trainload, a shipload, it’s gonna age as well as that,” he said.

Circumspect over what was gained and lost

Over and again Congress tried and failed to exert its authority under the war powers act to halt the U.S. military action in Iran.

The House ultimately passed a war powers resolution that sought to force an end to the war after a small number of Republicans joined the Democratic measure last month. The Senate has voted nine times, including this past week, but failed to reach the majority needed.

At the same time, Congress did not affirmatively authorize the war with a use of force resolution, as has been done in certain other conflicts, including the Iraq War.

“I’m glad that the conflict has finally ended and hope the ceasefire holds,” said a statement from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But Shaheen said the country must be clear-eyed about what has come about.

Not one of the president’s objectives has been achieved, she said, and Iran won significant concessions.

“The American people are paying the price with higher costs in every aspect of life and tens of billions in tax dollars spent,” she said.

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said it's hard to see what leverage the U.S. gained to force Iran to a better negotiation.

“You want to be able to give the benefit of the doubt," she said.

But Murkowski said, “I think we’re in a place where there is a deal that has been signed, but it doesn’t appear to me that it puts us in that much of a different position than prior to the beginning of the war."

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Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to the report.

Ilan Goldfajn, head of the Inter-American Development Bank, met privately with the pope on Friday and asserted the potential of rare earth mining, saying it could be a boon to Latin America provided there are safeguards and value is added locally.

It’s probably not an easy sell. The Vatican for years has taken a firm stand against multinational mining corporations, especially in Latin America and in favor of the Indigenous peoples, whose lands and livelihoods are often ravaged when mining projects come to town.

Goldfajn’s visit, which followed one earlier this year by mining executives, suggests that he recognizes the weight of the pope’s words in the majority-Catholic region, and a desire to sensitize him to the possibility of a better way of doing business. Whether Leo can be swayed is another matter, given his own experience in the region and criticism of the often corrupt deals mining companies ink with governments in the developing world.

Countries have identified dozens of minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, as critical because they are essential for new technologies. The 17 rare earth elements are a subset of them. They’re used in a wide range of products, including smartphones, semiconductors, electric vehicles and jet engines.

“It’s a unique opportunity for the region, but you need to do it in the right way with the standards, the labor conditions, with the environmental conditions, the governance,” Goldfajn said in an interview in Rome on June 18, one day before his meeting.

“We have exactly the tools to do that,” he added, noting the IADB has a roughly $4 billion pipeline of critical mineral projects in the region, mostly in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, and three-quarters of that amount with private companies. He had just delivered a presentation on rare earth minerals at a finance conference, with an eye on potential European investors.

A pope who knows Peru

Mining has a checkered, centuries-long history in Latin America, from forced labor and displacement of Indigenous peoples to deforestation, poisoning of waterways and deadly dam collapses. Foreign companies withdrew much of the wealth from the earth without enriching local populations. In colonial times, silver and gold made its way across the ocean to adorn Catholic churches.

Leo, who spent two decades working as a missionary in Peru, would be intimately familiar with the plight of Indigenous peoples in mining areas and the environmental impact of extraction industries on the land. He ministered in Chulucanas, in the archdiocese of Piura, which has huge copper mining projects, and in Trujillo, known for its gold deposits. His final Peruvian posting, Chiclayo, is a big logistical hub for northern Peru’s extraction industries.

“He must have seen both sides: the promise, the future, but also the challenges,” Goldfajn said of Leo’s time in Peru. He noted that Leo held a private audience with a group of top mining executives in January, which he heard from them had been “very constructive.”

But two months later, the Vatican launched a campaign to encourage divestment from mining companies. At a Vatican news conference, top officials held up an ecumenical Christian network, known as the Church and Mining Network, that is active in particular in Latin America. The campaign seeks to encourage local churches to review their investment strategies and divest where needed, and to share information especially with Indigenous groups about the types of extraction occurring on their lands.

Leo is expected to visit Peru in November, including places where he ministered. In each of the three sub-Saharan countries he visited during his April trip to Africa — Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea — he blasted the "colonization” of Africa’s minerals by mining companies.

It makes sense for people like Goldfajn to try to engage Leo, even if the pope alone won't move investment decisions, Bryan Harris, managing partner at Sabio, a Latin America-focused strategic advisory firm, wrote in an email.

“The decades he spent in Peru give him personal credibility and his messaging on mining sets the tone for how dioceses and parishes across the continent will engage with mining companies and projects,” said Harris, who consults for international mining companies in the region. “These groups are often the basis of local opposition movements to mining, so the Pope has considerable sway on whether relations are confrontational or conciliatory.”

Harris noted that processing of rare earths can be extremely dirty, involving heavy chemical use that can contaminate water resources without close monitoring of companies' sustainability commitments and enforcement by federal regulators.

Mining as colonization in modern day

Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, singled out the toll of mining in his 2015 environmental encyclical “Praised Be,” noting the pollution of underground water systems as a result of runoff, the mercury pollution in gold mining or sulfur dioxide pollution in copper mining.

Francis said it was “essential” for Indigenous communities to be the principal dialogue partners when large projects affecting their land are being considered.

The Vatican didn’t provide any readout of Leo's private audience with Goldfajn. In a separate audience Friday, Leo met with participants in a conference at the Vatican’s environmental educational center named for Francis’ 2015 encyclical. He denounced the profit-at-all cost mentality of those who seek to plunder the earth “at the expense of the most vulnerable and enhances the risk of dehumanization."

There are 75 million tons (82.7 million U.S. tons) of rare earth oxides around the world, more than half in China, and with Brazil home to the second-largest reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s most recent estimate.

He’s intent on becoming the best. He already may be there.

The 24-year-old is hitting unprecedented velocities for a starter in MLB's pitch-tracking era that began in 2008. Over the last month, he's dominated unlike any pitcher in the last century.

Misiorowski has allowed just one earned run over his last eight starts heading into his Friday matchup with the Atlanta Braves. He says he can’t come up with a specific moment or decision that sparked this surge.

“It’s more that it finally clicked,” said Misiorowski, who is 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA and 131 strikeouts to lead the majors in the latter two categories. “Everything started settling in and feeling good.”

The fact Misiorowski used the word “finally” to describe an emergence in his first full major league season underscores his exacting standards.

Misiorowski's rise has Brewers manager Pat Murphy comparing him to Forrest Gump, which prompted a social media post by the pitcher his own face over the Tom Hanks movie character’s body.

“It’s for sure meant to be a compliment for a guy who didn’t put in limits on himself and his naiveté,” Murphy said. “It was a factor in a positive way, where he went out and achieved whatever he set his mind to, and didn’t let the outside forces, weren’t even aware of the outside forces, and didn’t let anything hold him back.”

Misiorowski was selected to the All-Star Game last season after only five starts. He struggled late last year before producing a 1.50 postseason ERA during Milwaukee’s run to the NL Championship Series. Now he’s a Cy Young Award favorite.

Misiorowski is more than just a hard thrower

The eye-popping numbers most associated with Misiorowski come from the radar gun. He reached 104.5 mph — the fastest velocity by any starter in the pitch tracking era — and got to 100 mph on a record 58 pitches during the Brewers’ 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

He's thrown 460 pitches at least 100 mph this season, already surpassing the record for a starter set by Cincinnati's Hunter Greene with 337 such pitches in 2022.

But his most impressive statistics have more to do with results than velocity.

According to MLB.com, Misiorowski’s 0.17 ERA since May 1 is the best in an eight-start stretch for any pitcher since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. Against Philadelphia, he became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a shutout while striking out 15 and allowing no more than one baserunner.

Opponents are batting just .140 against Misiorowski this season. SportRadar says no starting pitcher has allowed an opponent batting average of .166 or below over a full non-pandemic season since at least 1910. Boston’s Pedro Martinez had batters hitting .167 against him in 2000. Opponents hit .168 against Cleveland’s Luis Tiant in 1968.

Misiorowski’s development into a complete pitcher should come as no surprise, considering who he grew up watching.

The pitchers Miz admires most aren't necessarily smoke throwers

The list of pitchers he admired growing up includes Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. While Sale is a hard thrower and Kershaw also had outstanding velocity early in his career, Wainwright and Greinke succeeded without overpowering fastballs.

They had one thing in common.

“Every game, you felt like they could trust them to get a win,” Misiorowski said. “That was the big thing. You looked at those guys and they were going out there and going to perform for seven or eight innings to secure the team a win.”

His appreciation for baseball history includes a baseball card collection he says numbers in the thousands, though he probably owns even more Pokemon cards.

“Since I was a kid, my dad got me into it,” Misiorowski said of his baseball card collection. “It’s huge right now. I think I need to downsize it a little bit, but it’s fun.”

His enthusiasm shows on the mound and in his work ethic. He devoted the offseason to upgrading his leg strength to withstand the rigors of a full season and results are showing in his improved endurance and command.

“He could rest on his laurels. ‘Hey, I was an All-Star in my first year. I pitched in the playoffs. I pitched well. I can do it. I’m fine. I’ll be all right,’“ Murphy said. “Or you can say, ‘I’m going home. I’m going to get stronger. I’m going to do whatever I can do to come back and dominate.’ That’s what he’s done.”

He's stabilizing an injury-riddled rotation

Misiorowski’s growth has helped the Brewers overcome numerous pitching injuries to build a comfortable NL Central lead. With Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) leading the rotation, the Brewers rank fourth in the majors in ERA.

Over his last eight starts, Misiorowski has struck out 80 while allowing nine walks and 14 hits over 54 1/3 innings.

The low walk totals are notable after Misiorowski battled control issues as a rookie. He walked 31 batters in 66 innings last year, but now constantly gets ahead of hitters.

“He’s winning the 0-0 and the 1-1 (counts) a lot,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “When he doesn’t, it stands out to be like, ‘Oh, God, he didn’t win the 0-0. He didn’t win the 1-1.’ Like that’s weird, for him to go to a two-ball count.”

Once hitters fall behind in the count, they have little chance.

After facing him for the first time last month, New York Yankees slugger and three-time MVP Aaron Judge noted that “he’s almost basically releasing it in the catcher’s glove” due to the extension Misiorowski gets with his 6-foot-7 frame.

MLB Network analyst and two-time All-Star pitcher Ryan Dempster says Misiorowski reminds him of 6-10 Hall of Fame lefty Randy Johnson in that regard because their hands seem right in front of the plate to the batter when they let go of the ball.

“You can tell yourself to swing, but your brain doesn’t quite compute until it’s out of the hand,” Dempster said. “By the time it’s out of his hand, it’s already on you. I haven’t seen a fastball like this since Kerry Wood.”

Wood’s career was derailed by injuries, leading to worries of hard throwers being susceptible to blowing out pitching arms. Dempster notes Misiorowski is playing in an era with lower pitch counts. Misiorowski also produces elite velocity without overthrowing.

“He sure is repeating his delivery, and when you repeat your delivery, you tend to stay healthy,” Dempster said. “Guys who don’t repeat deliveries and get out of whack and something’s a little off, they struggle with that. I really think he will stay healthy, just me personally.”

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This story was first published on Jun. 18, 2026. It was updated on Jun. 20, 2026 to clarify that Misiorowski only allowed one earned run over an eight-start stretch referenced in the fourth paragraph.

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AP freelance writers Jack Albright and Rich Rovito contributed to this report.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly cancelled a planned trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump’s claims “serious and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy. The Foreign Ministry later announced that the business and scientific forum Tajani was to attend in Miami had also been called off.

Meloni for her part posted a video calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated" and expressing astonishment that he would invent such things about an ally.

“Italy and I do not beg,” she said pointedly.

Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting during the just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump were filmed speaking at several moments, including alone on a small sofa.

According to La7, Trump said Meloni had “begged” him for a photo-op. Trump said he wasn’t obliged to do it but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, not the original English audio.

Meloni is astonished and defiant

Trump's posturing underscored how his alliance with Meloni — long seen as one of his closest friends in Europe — has frayed over his war in Iran, his tariffs against Europe and his complaints when anyone disagrees with him.

He turned on Meloni in April after she refused to support his war in Iran and stood up for Pope Leo XIV when Trump lashed out at the pontiff.

But Meloni's strong response on Friday suggested she no longer fears Trump's verbal attacks — attacks that could actually play in her favor in a country where public opinion of the American president has chilled, said Lorenzo Castellani, a political scientist at Rome's Luiss Guido Carli University.

“In some ways this was a favor to Giorgia Meloni, in the sense that she was accused until a few months ago of being a sort of Trump's vassal in Europe,” he said.

In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s claims because “certain things deserve an immediate response."

“Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

It was an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian daily Corriere della Sera in April in which he criticized Meloni's refusal to back the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn't respond publicly at the time. By Friday, it appeared she had had enough of his boasts and broadsides.

“I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States — toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more accommodating," Meloni said Friday. "But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg.”

The White House did not return an immediate request for comment on Meloni’s remarks.

Meloni had initially sought to build on longstanding strong U.S.-Italian ties when Trump began his second mandate, and had positioned herself as a “bridge” between Washington and the European Union. She was the lone EU head of state to attend his inauguration.

But relations have frayed over the U.S. war in Iran, which Meloni has said was illegal, and Trump’s position on Ukraine, which Italy strongly supports. Trump's tariffs and strong U.S. support of Israel over its war in Gaza have been other points of contention.

Italian officials close ranks around Meloni

By Friday afternoon, solidarity for Meloni had poured in from across the government and political spectrum, and included a call from President Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s respected head of state.

“Whoever attacks @GiorgiaMeloni attacks all of us,” posted Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.

Justice Minister Carlo Nordio referenced the sacrifice of American troops in World War II in underlining the harm to U.S.-Italy relations caused by Trump.

“The thousands of crosses marking the graves of American soldiers who died to free us from Nazi-Fascist dictatorship did not deserve such a painful blow to our fraternal ties,” Nordio said on X.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said he didn't believe Meloni would ever beg someone for a photo, “not even under threat.”

A ‘fantastic’ friendship frays

Meloni and Trump had gotten off to a strong start, and the two leaders are ideologically aligned on many issues. As the head of a far-right party, Meloni backs curbing migration and promoting traditional values.

Weeks before Trump’s 2025 inauguration, Meloni met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat, a visit that she said went “beyond expectations.” It was, she said at the time, “an opportunity to confirm a relationship that promises to be very solid.’’

In the months after, Trump had praised her repeatedly, as “fantastic,” “incredible,” beautiful and a friend.

But stark differences emerged over Ukraine. More recently, Meloni sharply warned against U.S. threats to take Greenland by force, saying she didn’t believe Washington would go so far and that regardless Italy would never support such a move.

Meloni also received support from an unlikely ally in Europe: Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was on Friday asked about the back and forth on the sidelines of a European Council meeting.

“About Meloni, first and foremost, all my solidarity," he told reporters. “Secondly, I not only say this publicly in a response to your question, but also in private during the European Council meeting I offered her all my solidarity against this attack that is not political or personal … I really don´t know how to qualify it.”

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Associated Press writer Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, contributed to this report.

According to a petition filed by Nessel’s office, the AG received a “volume of complaints” from consumers in recent years about inflated prices at the BP station.

It’s located at the corner of Middlebelt and Wick Roads in Romulus, across the street from the airport rental car return lots. It’s operated by William Bazzi of M-Twelve Fuels, LLC.

“With the price of everything already squeezing families, the last thing Michiganders and our visitors who are rushing to return a rental car need is to be taken advantage of at the pump,” Nessel said. “Allegations of marking up prices, here by as much as 72% over the average, call for a vigorous investigation.”

Prices far above competitors

On Tuesday morning, the BP was charging $5.89 per gallon for cash and $5.99 for credit.

By comparison, a Sheetz down the road was at $3.48, a Marathon at $3.99, and nearby Shell and Mobil stations were at $4.07.

Nessel’s office received more than 16 complaints about the station in 2025 and 2026.

An investigator from the Michigan Department of Attorney General purchased fuel from the station back in April for $5.24 per gallon, while data from GasBuddy showed nearby stations charging between $3.79 and $3.99 per gallon.

The department has continued comparing the station’s rates to competitors in recent weeks, reporting a “gross disparity ranging from 22% to 72% more than its competitors for similar gasoline.”

Drivers frustrated

Many drivers say they already know to avoid the station. David Church of Romulus put it plainly.

“He’s always got the gas prices really, really, really high. It’s just absolutely ridiculous,” Church said.

Lavonne Fuller of Redford said she doesn’t even stop for gas there.

“I never get gas from here. I just come to the shop,” Fuller said.

Church has a direct message for the owner.

“Lower the prices. You know, just because you are by the airport doesn’t mean you have to skyrocket the price,” he said.

Prices dropped after station employee confronted

Local 4 visited the station on Tuesday to speak with owner William Bazzi, but was immediately kicked out after being told the owner wasn’t there.

About an hour later, prices dropped — from nearly $6 per gallon to $5.14 for cash.

This is also not the gas station’s first run-in with state investigators.

The Attorney General launched a similar investigation into the same location in 2023, when the station was believed to be under different ownership.

In April, Local 4 also followed up on complaints from frustrated drivers.

The court granted Nessel’s request to investigate, and the Attorney General’s office is in the process of issuing Civil Investigative Subpoenas related to the matter.

If you believe a gas station is price gouging, you can file a complaint with the AG’s office here.

Remeious Washington, 48, of Detroit, was killed at the intersection of 8 Mile Road and Schoenherr Road at approximately 1:58 a.m. on June 18.

His family said he was just six minutes from home.

Chase begins with ski masks, suspicious driving

Police say officers on routine patrol attempted to pull over a silver Dodge Ram near Fairfield and Georgiana streets after spotting multiple occupants wearing ski masks while driving through neighborhoods.

When the Dodge reached the intersection of 8 Mile and Schoenherr, the driver t-boned Washington’s vehicle as he was in the process of moving over.

Suspects flee on foot; four juveniles arrested

After the crash, five juveniles jumped out of the truck and took off. Four were then arrested.

Investigators believe the group is responsible for at least 15 vehicle-related crimes that were reported throughout Warren within the last 48 hours.

Washington was transported to a local hospital by the Detroit Fire Department, where he was later pronounced dead.

The crash remains under active investigation by the Warren Police Department Detective Bureau and the Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit.

‘He was the heartbeat of all of us’

Washington’s sisters, Shay Washington and Khadijah Caldwell, described a man who was the anchor of their family — a dog dad, an uncle to all their kids and the one who always kept everyone together.

“He was the muscle. The strong. You know, the heartbeat of all of us,” Caldwell said.

“He was just lovable, happy. Every time you saw him, he had a smile,” Shay Washington said.

The family says Washington was minutes from his front door when he was killed.

“He was a victim. A victim that was following the law. Six minutes away from home,” Caldwell said.

Beyond their grief, the family is pressing Warren Police with questions about why the chase continued into a busy intersection.

They are also frustrated by how long it took officers to render aid to Washington after the crash.

“How long was the chase going to go? When was some backup going to say, ‘OK, let’s fall back because we are coming into a busy intersection where there could be innocent lives at stake?’” Caldwell said.

The family says responsibility lies with both the juveniles in the truck and the officers who pursued them.

“We want these kids to be where they’re supposed to be. We want these parents to be responsible for their children, but we also want the people that’s supposed to protect us to protect us,” Caldwell said.

Warren Police have not announced charges or the ages of the juvenile suspects. This story will be updated as information becomes available.

Update: Birmingham police admit pool party should have been shut down earlier after citations issued

Birmingham Police told Local 4 they were called multiple times Saturday to a home on Westchester Way, south of Maple. The backyard pool was rented out to the owner’s friend.

Police Chief Scott Grewe said officers first responded around 4 p.m. and found about 50 to 60 people there, but said no laws were being violated at the time.

Previous coverage --> Birmingham neighbors outraged after rented pool prompts police response, renews short-term rental debate

Neighbors, however, said the gathering quickly escalated and the neighborhood became gridlocked as more people arrived. At a joint meeting of the Birmingham City Commission and Planning Board Monday evening, residents said they called police only to be told there was nothing officers could do.

Police said the crowd continued to grow through the evening — reaching what officers estimated was a couple of hundred people — and officers returned to the home “four or five times” between about 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. before shutting the party down around 8 p.m. Police said the crowd dispersed by about 9:30 p.m.

Alicia Birach, who lives near a separate Airbnb where police said a party ended in gunfire in April, said the latest incident underscores what she views as a gap between enforcement agencies.

“I think in that meeting they just conceded that what was happening was illegal, but there was a disconnect between police and code enforcement and that’s on the city to connect those pieces,” she said.

Police told Local 4 they issued parking tickets and cited both the host and homeowner for noise violations. One visitor from outside Birmingham was arrested on suspicion of driving with a suspended license, and investigators are reviewing a reported hit-and-run involving a parked vehicle.

The homeowner, in a statement provided to Local 4, said he allowed a friend to host the event and was not aware of illegal activity. He also alleged some neighbor complaints carried “perceived racial undertones” and said his family was being harassed online through doxxing, adding he had notified police and intended to pursue legal action.

Mayor Clinton Baller said the city is reviewing the police response. Birmingham officials have been weighing additional regulation of rental properties, including a possible ban on short-term rentals in residential areas.

The city of Birmingham is investigating a pool rental associated with a party that took place on Saturday, June 13, 2026, in the 300 block of Westchester Way. Following a review of this emerging type of residential rental activity, city officials determined that renting a private residential pool to a third party violates zoning regulations governing single-family residential properties. Multiple citations are being issued to both the property owner and the individual who rented the pool and hosted the event. The conduct and behavior associated with the party were unacceptable and will not be tolerated in Birmingham neighborhoods.

Birmingham Police Department

Carrying a cross, people stood at a distance as the small coffin was lowered into the ground by masked and gloved health workers, and a Catholic priest prayed over her body.

“It’s a feeling of sadness because we have lost one of our own, a daughter of the church,” said Father Innocent Ndogo.

“As we have always said, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.”

Ituri, the region at the center of the current outbreak, has reported more than 90% of the cases. The response has been complicated by residents clashing with healthcare professionals over disrupted burials and the response to the outbreak, which has been militarized at times.

The impersonal nature of safe burial practices and the severity of the epidemic were evident on Friday as only healthcare workers in protective gear were allowed to handle the coffin and the burial.

Bundibugyo, the type of Ebola in this outbreak, has no approved treatment or vaccine, and even some health workers have said they don’t have the masks, gloves and other gear to protect themselves.

During a visit to Bunia on Friday, Congolese Health Minister Roger Kamba said that there were now 933 confirmed cases and 245 deaths from the current outbreak. Kamba also stated that all health centers will be free in Ituri and that healthcare workers bonuses will be doubled.

There are 35,000 suspected potential contacts, Africa’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday.

Despite the rapid spread of the current outbreak, it is still not nearly as deadly as a 2014 outbreak of Ebola that killed more than 11,000.

With no approved vaccines or treatments, the Bundibugyo strain was not tested for in the early days. This lack of testing is one of the reasons the outbreak has spread to such an extent. The more common Zaire virus, for which there is a vaccine, was responsible for most of Congo’s past 16 outbreaks of the disease.

Alex Lock, a communications officer at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, asked people to resist feeling indifferent.

“She was a baby. She had her whole life ahead of her. Unfortunately, she was taken by the disease, a disease that, as you know, is transmitted from one person to another,” Lock said.

Although the outbreak is concentrated in Ituri, cases have also been recorded in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces and have spread across the border to Uganda, where 19 confirmed cases have been reported and two people have died.

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McMakin reported from Dakar, Senegal.

The win assured the United States would win Group D and eliminated Turkey from any chance of advancing to the knockout round with its second straight loss. Paraguay will face Australia in the final match of the group stage next Thursday with second place in the group on the line. Paraguay will need to win to finish second.

“It’s unforgettable,” Galarza said. “This is the most beautiful stage in the world, playing amongst the best. I’m so proud. I hope that Paraguay is happy.”

Paraguay was short-handed after Miguel Almiron was issued a red card late in the first half for violating a new rule banning players from covering their mouth during a confrontation.

But goalkeeper Orlando Gill made several key saves to preserve the lead in a game when Turkey 32-7 edge in shot attempts at goal.

“It was very hard,” midfielder Andres Cubas said. “These games are very tough, especially one man down. We have to highlight the great group effort and commitment we showed as a team to keep fighting and do this until the end.”

Paraguay bounced back from a 4-1 loss in the opener against the U.S. team thanks in part to a lineup change made by Gustavo Alfaro. Galarza, who plays for Atlanta United of the MLS, was put into the starting lineup after sitting out the opener and rewarded his coach when he sent a left-footed shot from about 25 yards into the net just 1:05 into the game.

Turkey nearly got the equalizer later in the first half but Mert Muldur's header off a free kick hit the cross bar and goal post.

Muldur was in the middle of the confrontation in stoppage time in the first half that led to Galarza's ejection.

Almiron and Mulder exchanged words following a foul near midfield. Almiron covered his mouth while saying something to Mulder, who immediately appealed to referee Ivan Barton for punishment.

Barton went to video review and quickly ruled that Almiron would be given a red card and ejected under a new rule put in place for this year’s World Cup.

Turkey dominated possession for a second straight match but once again it wasn't enough as the Turks followed up the 2-0 loss to Australia with another defeat that assures they will have a short stay in their first World Cup appearance in 24 years.

Turkey qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2002 and had high hopes after reaching the quarterfinals of the European championships two years ago but was unable to advance despite entering the tournament as a favorite to advance from the group.

Turkish midfielder Arda Guler called his team’s performance at the World Cup “embarrassing.” The 62 shots in two games for the Turks are the most in any two-game span without scoring as far as records go back to 1966, according to Opta Stats.

“We should have scored some goals,” Guler said. “We should have won these games so apologies to the Turkish people.”

Orlando Gill made a save on a tricky deflection on a shot by Merih Demiral early in the second half and again on a long range attempt from Abdulkerim Bardakci midway through the half to preserve the lead. Gill then stopped Can Uzun from in close late in the half and Deniz Gul sent the rebound wide.

Merih Demiral's header late in stoppage time went wide, ending Turkey's last hope.

“I’m sad,” Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella. “I’m sad but I’m also very proud of my players. They gave absolutely everything right up until the final whistle. That’s what football is like. ... We came very close to equalizing but you also need to accept situations like this.”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

Vinícius Júnior scored and assisted on one of Cunha's two goals as five-time champion Brazil eliminated Haiti from the World Cup with a 3-0 victory on Friday night.

“To be at a World Cup, to imagine that, it can be so wonderful,” Cunha said. “It’s a dream fulfilled.”

Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, became the first team guaranteed not to reach the knockout round of the expanded 48-team tournament. Meanwhile, the Seleção got the decisive performance they needed.

“It was what I expected from this match,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Ancelotti also said Neymar is expected to return from a right calf injury and play for Brazil next week against Scotland in its final group match. Neymar, Brazil’s career scoring leader with 79 goals, missed the first two games.

Brazil got plenty of scoring punch from Cunha on Friday.

The Manchester United standout got the start and showed with every surf-and-slide goal celebration why he should have been in the starting lineup in Brazil's listless 1-1 draw against Morocco. Ancelotti made the surprising decision in the opener to instead insert Cunha as a late substitute.

Cunha thrilled the Brazilian fans who made up the bulk of the 68,324 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field when he tapped in a rebound for his first career World Cup goal. He then sent a left-footed strike into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead in the first half against the overmatched Haitians.

Brazil forward Raphinha, who was subbed out with an injury in the first half, had an early goal disallowed on an offside call that only temporarily muted the yellow-clad Seleção fans in an otherwise festive atmosphere at the home of the two-time Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles — whose cheerleaders did their part to rally the crowd.

Haitian fans danced and sang “Grenadye Alaso” (“Grenadiers to the Attack”), the traditional battle cry of the national team. Brazilians chanted back with reminders that their country is a five-time World Cup champion and the home of the king of soccer: “A thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals! Only Pelé, only Pelé!”

Cunha added to the frivolity in Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian immigrants, when he flashed his familiar surfing celebration.

Vinícius, whose 32nd-minute goal helped Brazil earn the draw against Morocco, helped Brazil get on the board when his shot was stopped by goalkeeper Johny Placide and Cunha was there to slam home the rebound to make it 1-0. Cunha extended both arms as if trying to catch some tasty waves and was mobbed his teammates.

Vinícius slid a pass through the defense to find Cunha and he powered one high into the net that Placide never had a chance to stop to make it 2-0. Cunha slid on his stomach on the Kentucky bluegrass and mimicked a swimming motion that all but put Haiti in the drink — and validated the Brazilians’ fans decision not to tempt fate and dress the Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in team gear.

Vinícius closed the half with a goal and that was enough to keep Brazil — seeking its first World Cup title since 2002 — happy before it closes Group C play with Neymar expected in the lineup against Scotland on Wednesday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

“He’s a very important player; he’s my idol,” Vinícius said. “He always gave me tons of support. And we just hope he can play the next game and help us win the World Cup.”

Brazil kept pace with Morocco atop the group, with Scotland one point behind.

“Our first game was totally different because we had the pressure of being our first one,” Vinícius said. “Everyone was feeling lighter today and the field was also in a better condition, so we were able to do our soccer.”

For Haiti, just making the World Cup for the first time in 52 years was a satisfying accomplishment.

“What was positive was that we didn’t give up,” coach Sébastien Migné said. “The morale was there for the second half. They showed that they deserved to be here at the World Cup. Unfortunately, today we played against Brazil. There was too much of a gap.”

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Associated Press writer Luis Andres Henao contributed to this report.

___

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

Temperatures through the weekend will run slightly below normal, with highs mainly in the 70s and overnight lows dipping into the 50s.

While scattered showers will occasionally interrupt outdoor plans, there will also be plenty of dry hours for festivals, cookouts, and family gatherings.

For those heading out Friday evening for Juneteenth celebrations, conditions look pleasant overall.

Temperatures will gradually fall through the 70s and into the 60s after sunset. West winds around 10 to 20 mph will ease during the evening, and most communities will remain dry.

A few isolated showers could develop, mainly over the Thumb, but widespread rain is not expected.

By late Friday night, clouds will increase, and a few scattered showers may develop overnight and into daybreak Saturday.

Overnight lows will settle into the lower and mid 50s, making it a cool night by mid-June standards.

Saturday

Saturday will bring a chance of rain, but most of the day will be dry.

Scattered showers are expected to develop at times, especially from late morning through the afternoon.

An isolated thunderstorm cannot be ruled out, particularly across the Saginaw Valley and Thumb, where atmospheric moisture and instability will be slightly higher.

High temperatures will reach the mid and upper 70s. West winds of 5 to 15 mph will add to the comfortable feel.

Outdoor events should be able to continue, but anyone spending extended time outdoors may want to keep rain gear nearby and have a backup indoor option.

The good news is that rainfall amounts look generally light for most locations, with many communities receiving little more than brief interruptions.

Sunday

The pattern remains favorable for outdoor plans through much of Father’s Day, which is Sunday, with the better chance for widespread rain arriving after many celebrations have concluded.

Father’s Day morning should begin dry with temperatures in the 50s and 60s. Clouds will gradually increase through the day, but much of Southeast Michigan is expected to remain rain-free through the afternoon.

High temperatures will climb into the mid and upper 70s, with light winds creating comfortable conditions for golf outings, backyard cookouts, restaurant patios, parks, and family gatherings.

Rain chances increase Sunday evening and overnight, especially south of I-94 and closer to the Ohio border.

Showers become more likely after sunset, and a few communities could pick up meaningful rainfall before daybreak Monday.

Monday

Attention then turns to Monday and the Ford Fireworks along the Detroit River.

Showers may linger early Monday morning, but forecast trends suggest conditions will improve through the afternoon and evening as the system moves away.

Skies should gradually clear, and temperatures are expected to reach the lower to mid 70s.

For the hundreds of thousands expected to line the Detroit River in Downtown Detroit and Windsor, conditions during the fireworks display shortly after 10 p.m. appear favorable.

Temperatures will likely fall into the lower 60s by showtime, with light winds and generally dry weather expected.

Those planning to attend should consider bringing a light jacket or sweatshirt.

After several cool nights, riverfront locations may feel noticeably chillier than in recent weeks, especially when sitting outdoors for several hours waiting for the show to begin.

Through the workweek

Looking ahead, temperatures will run a few degrees cooler than normal for much of next week.

Additional opportunities for showers and thunderstorms may return by the middle of the week, but no prolonged periods of heavy rain or extreme heat are expected.

For now, Southeast Michigan residents can look forward to a weekend featuring comfortable temperatures, manageable rain chances, and plenty of opportunities to enjoy time outdoors.

Share your weather photos with Local 4 at MIPics.

In a letter to supporters, University of Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel said the athletic department is exploring new sponsorship opportunities amid significant financial changes in college athletics.

The proposed initiatives could include jersey patches, on-field and on-court logos, in-game sponsorships, and digital scoreboard advertising.

Manuel said any advertising would be introduced carefully and in a way that respects the traditions of Michigan athletics.

“We will work to ensure that any advertising is implemented strategically, tastefully, and in a manner consistent with the values of the University of Michigan,” Manuel wrote.

Michigan Stadium’s commercial-free legacy

For decades, Michigan Stadium, known as The Big House, has largely avoided the commercialization seen at many other college and professional sports venues.

Currently, visible branding inside the stadium is limited primarily to the Big Ten Conference logo, field-goal net sponsorships, and existing partnerships with Nike, Jordan Brand, and Gatorade.

Changing college sports landscape drives new revenue push

Manuel said the changing landscape of college sports, particularly the growth of name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities for athletes, requires schools to identify new revenue sources to remain competitive.

“To consistently compete for championships across all 29 of our varsity sports, we must look at new, innovative revenue streams,” Manuel wrote.

The athletic department’s corporate sponsorship arm, Michigan Sports Properties, and its marketing partner, Learfield, are currently discussing potential agreements through a new “Leaders and Best Champion Partner Program.”

According to Manuel, revenue generated through the program would be invested directly into student-athlete scholarships, NIL opportunities, facility improvements, and efforts to retain coaches.

Sponsorship push follows string of championships

The announcement comes as universities nationwide continue to adapt to major changes in college athletics, including athlete compensation, revenue-sharing models, and increased competition for top recruits.

Manuel pointed to the Michigan Wolverines’ recent athletic success as evidence of the program’s commitment to remaining among the nation’s elite.

He cited the football team’s 2023 national championship, the men’s basketball national championship this year, and seven Big Ten championships during the 2025-26 academic year.

While acknowledging that expanded sponsorships would mark a significant shift, Manuel emphasized that preserving the game-day experience remains a priority.

“We will preserve the look, feel, and soul of the Michigan Stadium experience that makes Saturdays in Ann Arbor so special,” Manuel wrote.

The university has not announced when any new advertising elements could be implemented.

In a statement released on Facebook on Friday (June 19), the homeowner (who wants to remain anonymous) acknowledged that guests leaving the June 13 gathering caused significant traffic congestion and inconvenienced nearby residents.

“Regardless of how the event began, I understand that many neighbors were inconvenienced, and for that I am genuinely sorry,” the homeowner said. “I value this community and want to be a good neighbor.”

The homeowner said future events would include additional planning, oversight, and crowd-management measures to prevent similar issues.

Police response, citations follow large gathering

The statement comes days after the Birmingham Police Department said officers responded multiple times to a party in the 300 block of Westchester Way that eventually grew to several hundred attendees.

Police previously said the gathering involved a private residential pool rented to a third party, which city officials contend violates zoning regulations for single-family residential properties.

Authorities issued citations for noise and parking violations and later acknowledged the event should have been shut down sooner.

Homeowner disputes rental platform claims

The homeowner disputed reports that the gathering was connected to a short-term rental platform.

“The event was not an Airbnb rental, Swimply rental, or other short-term rental arrangement,” the statement said. “It was a pool party that I let someone host.”

While acknowledging attendance exceeded expectations, the homeowner said the event remained peaceful.

“There were no fights, no acts of violence, and no significant disturbances among attendees,” the statement said. “The overwhelming majority of those present came to enjoy themselves responsibly and respectfully.”

Homeowner questions citation timing, permit issue

The homeowner also questioned the timing of citations issued after the event.

According to the statement, security personnel remained in contact with law enforcement throughout the evening and were repeatedly advised that the gathering did not violate applicable noise restrictions.

“As a result, I was surprised and disappointed when citations were issued two days later, after the event had become the subject of significant public attention and media coverage,” the homeowner said.

The statement further raised concerns about the city revisiting a home improvement permit issue dating back to 2024.

The homeowner said the matter had not previously appeared unresolved and questioned why it resurfaced shortly after the party generated widespread attention.

“I intend to work cooperatively with the City to understand and address any outstanding administrative requirements,” the statement said.

Racist comments, doxxing condemned

The homeowner also addressed social media reaction to the event, saying some criticism crossed into racist and dehumanizing language.

“Criticism of the event is fair,” the statement said. “Neighbors are entitled to their opinions, and I respect their right to express concerns. However, some comments have gone beyond criticism and have included racist language and dehumanizing descriptions of attendees.”

The statement also condemned the online sharing of personal information about family members, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, saying such actions create safety concerns.

The homeowner said individuals had also attempted to record activity in private areas of the property shielded from public view.

“Regardless of one’s views about the event, targeting family members and publishing personal information crosses a line,” the statement said.

Viral video moment draws response

One viral video from the party showed a woman dancing on top of a vehicle, prompting online criticism.

The homeowner acknowledged the incident reflected poor judgment but urged people to show grace.

“Many people have made mistakes or exercised poor judgment at one point or another,” the statement said. “Most are fortunate enough not to have those moments recorded, shared widely online, and broadcast across multiple news outlets.”

The homeowner said accountability and fairness should both be part of the ongoing conversation surrounding the event.

“I remain committed to addressing legitimate concerns about the event while also standing up for my family and ensuring that we are treated fairly throughout this process,” the statement said.

Birmingham officials continue to review the incident as discussions about short-term rental regulations and enforcement procedures remain ongoing. Police have said they are evaluating their response to the gathering and reviewing policies to prevent similar situations in the future.

The 30-year-old lefty issued a leadoff walk in the seventh to Cal Raleigh before Julio Rodríguez flied out. Naylor then lined a double up the right-center alley for Seattle's first hit.

Boston led 5-0 after scoring four runs in the top of the seventh.

Suarez retired the first 10 batters he faced before walking Raleigh in the fourth. Suarez followed by striking out Rodríguez and getting Naylor to line out to second base.

Suarez is in his first season with Boston after spending his first eight with Philadelphia. He went 12-8 in each of his last two seasons with the Phillies.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Police said they received a tip around 7:20 p.m. Friday (June 19) that the child may live at a home near where he was captured on camera in the 500 block of Elm Street.

Officers said they had previously visited the home three times during repeated neighborhood canvassing.

Police said the parents initially denied that the child in the video was theirs.

After officers presented new information, police said the parents acknowledged the child had wandered away from the home without their knowledge and returned on his own.

Officials said they told officers they feared getting in trouble.

Officers visually confirmed the child, an 18-month-old boy, was safe and verified he was wearing the same clothing seen in the Ring camera images.

Police said they are continuing their investigation with the family.

“We thank the community and the media for sharing this story, which resulted in its closure,” Holly police said in a Facebook statement. “We also thank our law enforcement partners at the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office for the immediate response of a K9, drone, and ultimately the helicopter to search ponds and wooded areas.”

Search sparked after Ring camera alert

The search began Friday morning after a homeowner received an alert from a Ring camera system at approximately 11:54 a.m. showing what appeared to be a young child walking through a driveway.

Holly police Chief Jerry Narsh said the homeowner immediately contacted police after seeing the child near a roadway.

“The image he saw was startling,” Narsh said earlier Friday. “It appeared to be a two to 3-year-old child in his driveway, walking toward what can be a busy road on Elm Street.”

Police said there had been no reports of a missing child in Holly or the surrounding area.

Officers canvassed the neighborhood, knocked on doors, reviewed camera footage, and worked with residents who joined the search after the images spread online.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office assisted with a K-9 team, a drone, and a helicopter equipped with thermal-imaging technology.

Authorities also checked nearby ponds and wooded areas. The helicopter search ended without finding the child.

Community response helps close case

Police thanked residents and media outlets who shared the child’s image and helped raise awareness of the search.

Officials had urged anyone who recognized the child or had information to call the Holly Police Department dispatch center rather than posting tips online.

“Nothing is more pressing or terrifying for both a parent or law enforcement than a lost child,” Narsh said during the search.

Police said the child’s safety was the top priority and praised the officers and community members who helped find him.

The investigation remains ongoing.

It was a night relatives said was supposed to be a family Juneteenth celebration that he was helping to plan.

Washington’s sisters, Shachetra Washington and Khadijah Caldwell, said they’re still trying to process the loss of their brother, who they described as the heart of their family.

“He’s supposed to be here, and it’s just unreal. I still feel like I’m waiting on him to get here,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said Washington was known for taking care of others, calling himself selfless when it came to those he cared about.

“He would want to do something, and he’d say, ‘Come go to this concert with me, you didn’t have to have anything,’” Caldwell said. ”He bought the ticket already. That’s how he was.”

Washington was killed just before 2 a.m. Thursday (June 18) at 8 Mile Road and Schoenherr Road, when a fleeing vehicle involved in a police pursuit ran a red light and t-boned his car as he pulled over for sirens, according to Warren police.

Investigators have said five juveniles were in the vehicle.

Four were arrested after running from the crash, and police believe the group is connected to at least 15 vehicle-related crimes reported in Warren in the two days before the crash.

Washington’s family said the youngest in the vehicle was 11 years old.

“I have a 9-year-old son. So for an 11-year-old to be in that car, they could’ve lost their lives,” Caldwell said.

As loved ones remembered Washington as a son, brother, and uncle, Shachetra Washington said she’ll miss his smile and the way he greeted people.

“His favorite saying was ‘Hello world,’ so we’re just going to miss everything about him,” Washington said.

Washington and Caldwell said three of the juveniles who were arrested were arraigned Friday and are expected back in court next week.

Police have not announced an arrest of the fifth juvenile.

Juneteenth traces its origins to June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people were free under the Emancipation Proclamation.

The proclamation had been issued more than two years earlier by President Abraham Lincoln, but many enslaved people in Confederate-controlled states had not been informed of their freedom.

More than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas learned of their emancipation that day, an event that has since become known as Juneteenth.

The holiday gained renewed prominence during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and saw another surge in national recognition in recent years.

In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

Detroit communities gather to celebrate

Across Detroit, residents gathered on June 19, 2026, to celebrate Black culture, history, and community.

At Hart Plaza, the Hart of Detroit Festival featured live music, food vendors, art installations, and community engagement activities throughout the day.

The festival began at noon and continued into the night, featuring performances by artists including Fetty Wap, Detroit rapper Kash Doll, Tone Tone, and gospel singer Kierra Sheard.

Meanwhile, at historic Hamtramck Stadium, visitors celebrated the legacy of Black baseball through a community event highlighting the Negro Leagues.

The festivities culminated with the inaugural Negro Leagues Prep Star Classic, featuring two teams composed of some of the top minority high school baseball players from across Metro Detroit.

Hamtramck Stadium is one of only a handful of surviving Negro League ballparks in the United States.

The stadium served as home to the Detroit Stars and Detroit Wolves during the 1930s and remains an important historical landmark.

Tigers honor Black baseball history at Comerica Park

The Detroit Tigers also incorporated Juneteenth celebrations into their game against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park as part of the team’s “Black in Baseball” weekend.

More: Detroit Tigers kick off Black in Baseball Weekend with Black Diamond Dinner, HBCU showcase, Nelly concert

Located on a sprawling campus on Chicago’s South Side, the center honoring the nation's first Black president has been designed to inspire people to make the change they want to see in their own communities. It's the kind of contemplation that also comes as Americans gather for Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.

The holiday marks June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, at the end of the Civil War with an order declaring the state's enslaved people to be free with “absolute equality.” By then, 2 1/2 years had passed since the Emancipation Proclamation declared the freedom of enslaved people in the South.

“Juneteenth represents not just a commemoration of the end of slavery but it’s also part of the ongoing struggle for absolute equality and that ideal in American life,” said W. Caleb McDaniel, a Rice University professor and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Sweet Taste of Liberty.”

Obama's presidential center in Chicago

The grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center includes days of events following Thursday’s star-studded dedication ceremony. In addition to greeting visitors Friday as the center opened to the public for the first time, the couple also read to children gathered there.

Tyrone Sturgis, 62, said it had been a beautiful experience to see all of the people from different walks of life explore the new presidential center on Friday.

“For this center to open on Juneteenth, on the South Side of Chicago, it’s extraordinary, it’s awesome,” he said.

The center's public opening arrives as a symbolic convergence of legacy and liberation. The nation is deeply divided politically and grappling with renewed questions about the arc of racial progress as the Supreme Court hollowed out the Voting Rights Act, endangering Black political representation in Congress.

The nearly 20-acre (8-hectare) campus includes a museum featuring a life-sized replica of the Oval Office, a garden designed by Michelle Obama complete with lettuce and strawberry plants, a professional-grade basketball court, a picnic area with grills and a new branch of the Chicago Public Library. Visitors can experience high-tech and hands-on exhibits spanning the campaigns, key moments of Obama’s presidency and life at the White House.

The spaces are designed to bring people together on a campus expected to draw as many as 1 million visitors annually, but the center also aims to encourage personal reflection. Louise Bernard, the museum’s director, has said they’re “inviting people to bring change home, however change may be defined, both small or large.”

The history of Juneteenth

This is the fifth year since Juneteenth was designated as a federal holiday by former President Joe Biden, who served as Obama's vice president. But the celebrations, which began in Texas and then spread across the country, have a rich and long history in Black America, with the day often spent gathering for picnics and cookouts.

The holiday — a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” — marks the day when U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in the Texas port city with the declaration of freedom in General Order No. 3.

As the third year of the Civil War neared, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the freedom of “all persons held as slaves” in the still rebellious states of the Confederacy. Though, for many, it did not mean immediate freedom but a promise of liberation, to be secured with a Union victory.

“It really required the force of arms and the success of U.S. armies to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation,” McDaniel said.

About six months after Granger's arrival in Galveston, the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery nationwide was ratified.

Celebrations across the nation this year

Juneteenth’s birthplace was celebrated with a daylong gathering at a Galveston park with music and fireworks, a worship service in a historic Black church and a parade that included brass bands and brought out families who braved temperatures in the 80s. Those in attendance were invited to join a community picnic after the parade ended.

In nearby Houston there was a lineup of musical artists and a domino tournament at Emancipation Park, established in 1872 by a group of formerly enslaved men.

Hundreds of other cities across the U.S. announced events over the long weekend, including a parade in Atlanta, a bike ride in Los Angeles and a festival on Martha’s Vineyard. People also gathered for community projects to mark the day, including a group of schoolchildren in Vermont.

Several cities across the U.S. hosted walks named for Opal Lee, the Texas woman who pushed for years to make Juneteenth a federal holiday. Participants walked 2 1/2 miles to symbolize the 2 1/2 years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to be enforced in Texas. Lee, known as the “grandmother of Juneteenth,” turns 100 this year.

Reflecting on a continuing struggle

Black Texans embraced the date of Granger’s arrival as one to celebrate, even as the Ku Klux Klan was established in Texas by 1868. By the 1880s, “it was difficult to find a significant community in Texas where it wasn’t being marked by African Americans,” McDaniel said.

“They made it a community celebration, they made it a celebration of not only freedom but also a demonstration of community empowerment and institution-building,” he added.

Corey D.B. Walker, dean of Wake Forest University’s divinity school, said the holiday offers a way to recognize the nation’s “complex history” and what it means to be a U.S. citizen, especially during efforts by President Donald Trump's administration to undermine the retelling of Black history.

“I think it really reminds people the importance of understanding a fuller, more robust portrait of our nation’s history and the many contributions of many individuals who have contributed to America’s experiment with democracy,” Walker said.

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Associated Press writer Claire Savage contributed to this report.

The charismatic Frenchman, who was hired to save Tunisia after its 5-1 loss to Sweden in its opening match, said his side must earn at least a point against Japan to have any chance of qualifying for the knockout stage for the first time in its seven World Cup appearances.

World Cup newcomer Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw against European champion Spain – the tournament’s biggest upset so far – “gives us hope,” Renard said.

“When you are organized and together, you are able to compete. We have to follow this example and not be scared of defeat,” said Renard, who is at his third World Cup as coach after leading Morocco in 2018 and Saudi Arabia in 2022.

Japan is ranked 17th in the world by FIFA, 37 spots higher than Tunisia. The Samurai Blue have not lost since falling 2-0 to the U.S. in a friendly on Sep. 9, 2025.

Renard, 57, was hired to replace Sabri Lamouch after the loss to Sweden last Sunday. He has had only a few days to get to know the squad and prepare for the match Saturday in Monterrey.

“I’ve met with an open-minded group,” Renard said. “They want their revenge. We know that we must go above and beyond against this Japanese team.”

Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu, who is the longest serving coach in the country’s history, expects a different Tunisia team from the one that lost to Sweden.

“Renard will bring out the best in the players,” Moriyasu said. (Renard) is definitely firing up the players. I’m sure that comes through in their team talks, so we are prepared to face an entirely different team.”

Renard is known for his fiery team talks, most notably in 2022 when his viral halftime speech preceded Saudi Arabia’s unexpected 2-1 comeback victory over eventual champions Argentina.

After previous successes throughout his career, such as winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015, some began referring to Renard as the “wizard.” But Renard wouldn’t promise any magic.

“I am no wizard,” he said. “The coach is not the key; the key is the players.”

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Maya Koluder-Ramirez and Ethan Wilcox are students in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

A 72-year-old man became ill from the heat on June 12 while hiking the South Kaibab Trail and died before rescue crews could reach him. Four days later, a 67-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman also appeared to suffer from heat-related illnesses while hiking the North Kaibab Trail and died before help arrived, the U.S. National Park Service said in a statement.

Despite a rapid response and aerial support, all three hikers were dead by the time first responders reached them, the park service said.

The Grand Canyon has seen an uptick in heat-related illnesses in recent weeks and urged inner canyon hikers to stay off trails between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., park officials said.

The bodies were taken to the Coconino County Medical Examiner office and investigations of the deaths are ongoing, the National Park Service said.

In a court filing Friday, Kennedy Center lawyers said the institution plans to “maintain an operational model” after the July 5 date when it was initially scheduled to shutter for renovations. Under that status, the Kennedy Center's public spaces will still be accessible but the stages may largely be silent.

“The Court’s order did not affirmatively require the Board to reschedule programming that had previously been cancelled or to seek new programming,” the lawyers wrote in the filing.

The Kennedy Center has been forced to reassess its plans after a May ruling from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper upended many notable moves imposed by a board dominated by President Donald Trump's allies. Cooper said Trump's name was illegally added to the building and ordered it taken down. He blocked the closure and gave the institution's leadership — along with Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who filed the lawsuit — until Friday to provide a status update.

The venue said its management would present the board with several renovation options to consider for a vote. The options would include a complete closure or a partial closure that would allow “some continued public access and limited programming in spaces unaffected” by the work. A third option would “consider a highly limited series of phased closures to address only the Center’s most serious infrastructure needs while scheduling and maintaining a full slate of programming.”

Kennedy Center lawyers said the recommendations have not been finalized and a vote would happen in mid-July.

Beatty's lawyers, meanwhile, argued the Kennedy Center hasn't fully complied with Cooper's order. While Trump's name has been removed from the building, they took issue with a tarp that was put in place to cover the areas where the letters had been installed. There appears to be no immediate effort to remove the tarp.

They also argued that without making an effort to return to some form of programming, the Kennedy Center would effectively be closing the institution despite Cooper's ruling.

“Having gutted staff and programming, Defendants believe they can sit back and allow their pre-planned shutdown to commence,” Beatty's lawyers wrote in the filing.

Douglass won the final in 23.59 seconds, bettering the mark of 23.61 set by Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden in July 2023. Sjostrom previously owned the seven fastest times in history.

“Wow, that’s crazy. I think I’m still in shock,” Douglass told NBC Sports in an on-deck interview. “That’s a lot faster than I ever thought I would go tonight or ever.”

Gretchen Walsh was second in 23.78, making her the fourth-fastest performer ever.

Anna Moesch was third in 24.30 at the Indiana University Natatorium.

Douglass had already won the 200 individual medley and 200 breaststroke at the meet, while Walsh had won the 100 free.

Douglass, a 24-year-old from Pelham, New York, is a five-time Olympic medalist. She earned silver in the 50 free at the 2024 world championships, but didn't compete in the event at the 2024 Paris Games.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

It wasn't his best putt, just another birdie for a 1-under 69, and it summed up his week.

Clark doesn't feel he is playing his best, but he's four shots ahead going into the weekend with the lowest 36-hole score — 7-under 133 — for a U.S. Open at fearsome Shinnecock Hills.

“Hopefully, I can bring my A-game on the weekend,” Clark said.

His four-shot lead was the largest at a U.S. Open through 36 holes since Dustin Johnson led by four at Shinnecock Hills the last time it was here in 2018. That didn't end well for Johnson when the USGA lost control of the frightening greens on Saturday.

What now?

The USGA promised it wouldn't let the course get away like it did in the third round in 2018 and the final round in 2004, when the average score on the last day was 78.7 and no one broke par. Shinnecock began to bake under a warm sun late Friday afternoon, with more of the same — and stronger wind — in the forecast.

“The golf course can change pretty quickly, and so a lot of that depends on do they want to water the greens, how fast they want to get them, where is the wind direction coming from, can they get them much quicker,” said Scottie Scheffler, who kept the career Grand Slam in play.

Scheffler ended his drought of 10 straight U.S. rounds without breaking par with a steady diet of fairways and greens for a 68, leaving him seven shots behind.

“We'll see what they want to do,” Scheffler said. “My job is to out there and play it.”

Clark is getting the job done. He returned Friday morning and made two pars to complete a 64, the lowest start to a U.S. Open at Shinnecock. Then he delivered two birdie putts in the 30-foot range along the back nine to pull further ahead.

“I really felt like I could be in double digits (under par),” Clark said. “But you know, the great thing about that is I didn’t feel like I had my best, and I still am leading as of right now."

Xander Schauffele, with the best U.S. Open record of anyone without a U.S. Open title over the last 10 years, had a 66 to finish at 137 along with Matt Fitzpatrick, a former U.S. Open champion who birdied two of his last three holes to salvage a 70.

They were joined at 137 in the afternoon, when the course began to dry, by Sam Stevens (69) and Tom Kim (67).

Rory McIlroy was closing on Clark until starting the back nine with three straight bogeys, and erasing a pair of birdies by chipping from the back of 15th green into a bunker and making double bogey. He shot 71 and joined Scheffler in the group at even-par 140.

So much depends on Clark. Maybe more depends on Shinnecock.

“If there’s a course where you feel like you still have a chance if you’re seven back going into the weekend like I am, it’s definitely this one,” McIlroy said.

It's a better chance than Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, the two biggest stars from LIV Golf who missed the cut. DeChambeau left early from his third straight major. Rahm, a runner-up at the PGA Championship last month, went 21 holes without a bogey. But he shot 41 on the back nine for a 78 to match his highest U.S. Open score, last shot at Shinnecock Hills in 2018.

The most remarkable day belonged to Joaquin Niemann. He made a 9 on No. 6 — his 15th and final hole of the fog-delayed first round that was halted by darkness — only for it to become an 11 when the USGA penalized two shots for bad behavior.

Niemann hit two drives off the property, chopped his way up the fairway and finally lost it by heaving his club. The USGA deemed it serious enough to skip the warning and go straight to the harsh two-shot penalty, giving him a 78.

Niemann headed out for his second round, made five birdies in six holes and shot 65 to make it to the weekend at 3-over 143. It was the first time in 97 years at the U.S. Open someone made 10 or worse in a U.S. Open and still make the cut.

“All the frustration that came inside me and had my club in my hand, and I couldn’t resist to throw it away,” Niemann said. “There was no people, obviously. No one there. I’m not proud of it, but yeah, sometimes all the expectation of trying to play well and things doesn’t go your way, you get frustrated. And that was me there.”

Collin Morikawa also shot 65 to match Niemann for the low score Friday, and was five behind. Justin Thomas and Sam Burns each shot 68 and were another shot back.

Clark was on a heater coming into Shinnecock Hills, winning The CJ Cup Byron Nelson with a 60 in the final round, contending in the Memorial and the Canadian Open the last two weeks. Frustration peaked a year ago at Oakmont and in the months that followed. Now, he appears to be more comfortable with each day.

“Momentum is a huge thing in golf, and I feel like I have it right now,” Clark said.

Schauffele has seven top 10s in his nine U.S. Open appearances, a Californian who keeps his cool even amid a tough test.

“It’s a brutal week,” Schauffele said. “Everyone watching at home wants to see guys shooting in the 80s and doing crazy things. I get it. You know, it’s once a year you get to see some carnage, and it’s at a U.S. Open. Try to embrace it as much as you can.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

The Obamas, joined by former “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton, also read “Where the Wild Things Are" to 25 school children at the Chicago Public Library branch inside the center. When the former president read Maurice Sendak's line about being “king of all the wild things,” Michelle Obama interjected with, “Although there were no kings,” to applause.

Later, awed guests shook hands with the Obamas against the backdrop of a colorful, 38-foot-tall painting depicting a map of Chicago stretching to the ceiling, inspired by Carl Sandburg’s 1914 poem about the city: “stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders.”

“It was perfect. It was great,” said 18-year-old Houefa Agassounon from Chicago after the surprise visit from the Obamas. “I was literally crying. I asked for a hug and everything.”

She wrote a letter to the Obama Foundation last year, asking if she could be there when it opened. She said meeting the Obamas was a bonus.

“This is just the greatest thing of my 18 years of life,” she said.

The Juneteenth opening followed a star-studded dedication ceremony where the Obamas gave rousing speeches to an audience including three former presidents, their former first ladies, and a host of politicians, A-list celebrities, musicians, athletes and others. Thousands more joined the livestream from a nearby park.

A weekend of events is planned for the sprawling campus on Chicago's South Side near where the Obamas lived and began his political career. It is adjacent to the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in the lakefront park, and not far from the University of Chicago.

Tickets for the general public are sold out through the end of November. But those lucky enough to score them for the first day got the unexpected thrill of meeting the Obamas themselves.

The campus includes a towering museum that covers the political and personal realms of the nation’s first Black president and first lady, while public spaces include a branch of the Chicago Public Library, a playground and athletic center, basketball courts and a picnic area with grills.

The tower’s design is meant to depict four hands coming together in solidarity. Wrapped around one side are 5-foot tall concrete capital letters, an excerpt of Obama’s 2015 speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march. It begins, “You are America.”

Two ugly three-putts led to a pair of double bogeys early in Friday's round for DeChambeau and he never recovered. He shot 5-over 75 to finish at 145 and lead an all-star cast of former U.S. Open champions who fell short of the cut line, which landed at 144.

DeChambeau, the 2020 and ‘24 champion, failed to make the top 60 and has now missed the weekend at all three majors this year. He joined 2017 and ’18 winner Brooks Koepka, 2021 winner Jon Rahm and defending champion J.J. Spaun on the sideline for the weekend where Wyndham Clark, the 2023 champ, will start with a four-shot lead at 7 under.

Koepka shot 77 to miss by six and snap the longest active streak of 11 straight made cuts at the U.S. Open.

Rahm also spent some time on the leaderboard Thursday and looked like a good bet for the weekend when he made the turn Friday. A string of four straight bogeys and a double on the back nine sent him packing with a 78 that left him two shots short of the cut.

Spaun shot 7-over 77 in the first round and not even his eagle on the par-5 fifth toward the end of the day kept him from being a bit player in the threesome featuring Scottie Scheffler, who shot 68 to head into the weekend at 140. Spaun missed by four.

As always, the cut produced its distinct brand of drama as the sun began to set on Shinnecock.

A lot of it revolved around Dylan Wu. After he made a bogey on the par-5 16th, the cut line jumped from 3 to 4 over. He was sitting in the rough off the 18th fairway with these possibilities: make par to make the cut at 4 over; make birdie to push the number back to 3 over, costing 12 other players spots for the weekend; or make bogey and miss the cut himself.

He lashed the shot over the green and finished a delicate up and down with a 7-foot putt, meaning he'll be one of the 72 players with tee times Saturday.

Other notables:

— Harris English couldn't cash in for birdie from 35 feet on No. 9 and missed his first cut in 11 appearances at the Open.

— Chris Gotterup needed a 6-footer on 18 to make it on the number.

— Jacob Bridgeman locked down a two-putt par from 70 feet on No. 18 to make it on the number.

Nobody went through more of a roller coaster than Patrick Reed, who finished his round on the front nine. He made double bogey on No. 4 to fall to 6 over, but answered with an eagle on the par-5 fifth to get back on the number. He bogeyed No. 8 and needed a birdie from 50 feet on his last hole, which barely came up short.

It marked only the second missed weekend in 12 U.S. Opens for the 2018 Masters champion, who is eligible to return to the PGA Tour in August after moving to LIV Golf in 2022.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Update: 18-month-old Holly boy found safe after Ring camera alert leads to police search

Police were asking for the public’s help identifying the toddler captured on a homeowner’s Ring camera after an extensive search failed to determine the child’s identity or whereabouts.

The child, believed to be between two and three years old, was spotted walking alone on Friday (June 19) shortly before noon in the 500 block of Elm Street, according to Holly Police Chief Jerry Narsh.

At approximately 11:54 a.m., a homeowner received a notification from a Ring camera showing the child walking through a driveway toward what Narsh described as a busy roadway.

“The image he (the homeowner) saw was startling,” Narsh said. “It appeared to be a two to 3-year-old child in his driveway, walking toward what can be a busy road on Elm Street.”

The homeowner immediately contacted police, launching a large-scale search effort involving local officers, residents, and multiple resources from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.

“There is nothing more pressing or terrifying for both a parent or law enforcement than a lost child,” Narsh said. “In this case, we don’t know if the child is lost.”

Police emphasized that no reports of a missing child have been filed in Holly or the surrounding area.

Search effort expands

Officers canvassed the neighborhood, knocked on doors, and spoke with residents, but were unable to identify the child or locate anyone searching for a missing toddler.

Community members also joined the effort after the child’s image was shared on social media.

As the search expanded, authorities requested assistance from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, which deployed K-9 teams and a drone to cover the area.

Because several ponds and lakes are located nearby, searchers also checked bodies of water on foot.

Officials also requested a sheriff’s office helicopter equipped with thermal imaging technology to further ensure the child’s safety. The aerial search concluded without locating the child.

“The helicopter has responded and has left with negative results,” Narsh said.

Few clues in image

Investigators reviewed the available image but say it provides few clues.

“We can’t tell what’s in the child’s hand or even if the child has shoes on,” Narsh said. “It’s hard to tell in the image.”

Officials said they are hopeful the child may have briefly wandered away from home and returned safely without a parent or guardian realizing it.

“We’re kind of hoping that perhaps this child knew how to get out of a home and get back in, and the parents were none the wiser,” Narsh said.

Despite that possibility, police said they will continue searching until they can verify the child’s identity and well-being.

“Our officers have a pretty good working knowledge of their community. They don’t recognize this child,” Narsh said. “Certainly no one in the area does.”

How to help

The Holly Police Department has posted an image of the child on its social media pages and is urging anyone with information to contact authorities directly rather than posting tips online.

“We will update the public from that page, but we ask that people do not post tips to the page,” Narsh said. “Rather, call our dispatch center.”

Tips should be directed to dispatch at 248-858-4911.

“They are the most precious commodity that we have in our lives as our children,” Narsh said. “Certainly, our law enforcement officers are going to put everything into this until we have some answers.”

Authorities remain focused on determining the child’s identity and confirming the child’s safety.

“At this point, we are still actively searching, trying to locate the child or at least the identity of the child to determine their health and well-being,” Narsh said.

Watch the full presser below

Here are this year’s finalists:

• Andino’s Barbershop in St. Clair Shores
• Bennies Barbershop in Trenton
• Chivalry Barber Co. in Royal Oak
• The Garage Cuts and Coffee in Plymouth
• Walter T’s Grooming Company in Waterford Township

We received more than 16,700 nominations across our 80 Vote 4 The Best categories this year. Each category was then narrowed down to five finalists.

Click here to view the full list of finalists.

Now that nominations are over, voting on finalists can begin. Voting is open from June 22 through July 20, and you can vote for each category once per day during that time.

Click here to vote for finalists in all 80 categories.

Yan had a bogey-free afternoon round to get to 10 under in breezy conditions at Blythefield Country Club. The 30-year-old American is winless on the LPGA Tour.

“I feel like I struck it pretty well the last two rounds,” Yan said. “And I putted well, so that kind of adds up to birdies.”

Lottie Woad of England and Cassie Porter of Australia were a stroke back. Woad shot 66, and Porter had a 68.

“Definitely challenging,” Woad said. “Wasn’t as windy as yesterday, but definitely still there. So I think the pins were maybe a little more tricky so just had to play smart to a few of them.”

First-round leader Yan Liu of China was 8 under with Minji Kang of South Korea. Liu had a 70, and Kang shot 68.

Two-time winner Brooke Henderson was 5 under, following an opening 73 with a 66. Defending champion Carlota Ciganda was 3 under after a 69.

Second-ranked Jeeno Thitikul missed the cut, shooting 74-70.

University of Oregon star Kiara Romero also dropped out with rounds of 72 and 73. She's the No. 1 amateur in the world and was the low amateur at the U.S. Women’s Open, where she tied for sixth.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

This Father’s Day weekend marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Martinus Wilson, who was only 20 when he was shot and killed in Detroit.

The case remains unsolved.

Graham, 44, described his son as “very smart, articulate,” and an artist who loved music and “would help anybody.”

He said Wilson was ambushed while giving coworkers a ride home from work.

Detroit police said the shooting happened around 3 a.m. June 15, 2016, on Rohns Street on Detroit’s east side, when two suspects approached their parked car and opened fire. Wilson and his friend, Nathan Mosby, were killed, and another person was injured, police said.

Grief, persistence, and faith

The years since his son’s killing have been defined by stages of anger and grief, but also by determination and persistence to keep his son’s memory from fading.

“We are still spreading the love, we haven’t given up hope on getting justice with Martinus, but we’re utilizing other ways to let his legacy live on,” Graham said.

When asked how he has managed to hold onto hope, Graham said he relies heavily on his faith.

“As we have approached the 10-year mark, we just kind of dug ourselves in the peace,” he said. “Let us focus on making sure his legacy lives on, and due diligence will be served.”

Graham said what he misses most is his son’s ability to brighten a room. “I miss the smile, the smile, he would just light us up,” he said. “You could never stay down around Martinus; he’d lift you up.”

Father’s Day hit especially hard the year his son died. But Graham said the holiday now helps him send a message he wants other families to hear:

“Continue to spread the love to your children and embrace them while they’re here,” Graham said. “We’re here today, we could be gone tomorrow.”

Graham said he wants his son to know his family has not stopped and will not stop working to find the person(s) who took his son’s life.

“We would never give up,” he said. “We will not stop till we get justice for you, and we will not let your passing be in vain. Your legacy will live on.”

Martinus Wilson’s legacy

Graham said he hopes his son’s legacy is rooted in simply spreading kindness to others.

“Spreading the love, utilizing your heart to touch others and showing people that you care,” Graham said. “That’s all it takes… and you never know how impactful that may be moving on in that person’s life.”

Anyone with information on who killed Martinus Wilson is asked to call Detroit Police or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.

You can also submit a tip online here.

Graham is also scheduled to speak Saturday, June 20, at a Father’s Day brunch for fathers who have lost children to homicide, called “When Fathers Weep.” It is hosted at the Helen Moore Community Center in Detroit.

Click here for more information.

Graham and his wife have also created the Martinus Way Foundation.

Through the nonprofit, Patrice Wilson-Graham and her partners are committed to giving back.

Click here to learn more about The Martinus Way Foundation.

Both trains were traveling south to London St. Pancras station when they collided outside the town of Bedford around 5:15 p.m., according to information on rail tracking websites. Emergency services deployed a number of resources to the scene including an air ambulance and hazardous incident team from the East of England Ambulance Service.

“We know that a number of people have been injured and one person has very sadly died,’’ police said in a statement. “A major incident has been declared, and officers are continuing to respond at the scene alongside colleagues from Bedfordshire Police and the local Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services.''

The East of England Ambulance Service later said that 11 people had very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured and 56 had minor injuries.

Eddie Dempsey, the general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, said the fatality was a train driver.

Peter Knapp, a passenger, said he was in the rear train when the collision occurred without any warning.

“There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke," Knapp said. “People were crying, screaming. People were so scared and confused.”

“I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs," he added. "And then I managed to get out of the train and because I’m quite thin I was able to squeeze out through the gap in the doors.”

Photos and videos posted on social media showed dozens of people, some with bandages but many who appeared uninjured, standing and sitting among emergency vehicles parked on a road that runs parallel to the train tracks.

The RMT union, which represents many railway workers, said it was monitoring the situation and expressed its concern over reports of “serious injuries” sustained by both train staff and passengers.

East Midlands Railway said in a statement that the 4:40 p.m. train from Corby to St. Pancras had been involved in the collision with the 3:50 p.m. train from Nottingham to the same station. The company said it had canceled all trains to and from St. Pancras for the rest of Friday and it was unable to confirm the schedule for Saturday.

The 176 measures aim to further decentralize Cuba’s state-run economy, which has been left gasping by a tightened embargo under President Donald Trump. Under the island’s current economic model, the government largely determines what is produced, who produces it, the prices at which goods are sold and how the country’s resources are allocated.

The plan includes more space for private businesses, imports and exports without state intermediation, free hiring of personnel, authorization for private banks and investment by Cubans abroad. It even permits fast-food chains to establish themselves on the island.

“Elements that for decades were listed as pillars of the revolutionary economy, such as the state monopoly on foreign trade and the centralization of productive forces, have been dismantled,” said Luis Carlos Battista, a Cuban-American political scientist and lawyer who is a doctoral candidate at the University of Salamanca.

Cuban leaders like former President Raúl Castro – who still wields significant power on the island – have sought to push forward more limited reforms of Cuba's economy in the past, but efforts have run into bureaucratic hurdles. In passing the reform, Cuban authorities cautioned that implementation could be slow, and noted measures will not be viable if the U.S. does not lift the energy and financial embargo on the island.

Since January, Cuba has been under a harsh energy and financial embargo imposed by the U.S., effectively blocking Cuba off from fuel, it's main energy source, and deepening the crisis had already been deteriorating for the past five years. Blackouts have lasted up to 20 hours a day and have restricted access to health services, transportation and education.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that they are maintaining a policy of maximum pressure to change the island's political and economic system, which has endured for six decades despite U.S. pressure. They have not ruled out the use of military force.

Castro grandson says Cuba not even ‘slightly’ a threat to U.S.

In an i nterview published Friday, in the United Arab Emirates-based The National, Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, grandson of the revolutionary leader, reiterated that Cuba “doesn't even slightly represent a threat” to the U.S.

Rodriguez Castro said in the video interview that Cuba's government was seeking a “very Cuban” economic model.

“Our country must seek a path to economic development where we must inevitably diversify our economy, diversify the way we do business and diversify the way we do investments,” he said.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said that the proposed measures were based on an analysis of the Vietnamese and Chinese models, communist countries with market economies.

What is likely to pose a significant barrier are U.S. sanctions on Cuba, said Lee Schlenker, a research associate at the Quincy Institute in Washington.

“With these new measures, along with others that are likely on the table, they will only have a true effect if complemented with the gradual lifting of U.S. prohibitions and sanctions more broadly,” he said.

Without sanctions being lifted, Schlenker and other analysts said many of the presented measures will be inapplicable, especially due to the limitations and prohibitions imposed on potential investors, who are penalized in the U.S. financial system if they do business with Cuba.

Beyond that, there are a number of other obstacles that could stymie significant reforms, ranging from mistrust from potential investors to what Battista, the Cuban-American analyst called “slow and inefficient” bureaucracy.

Despite these obstacles, the Cuban government faces a short window for obtaining results, said Paolo Spadoni, associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University in Georgia.

“If Cuban leaders hope to survive this unprecedented crisis and the pressure from the United States, they must move quickly with the implementation of reform and the achievement of tangible results,” Spadoni said.

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Follow AP’s Latin America and Caribbean coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america-and-caribbean

“Every single year we get hundreds of phone calls from our residents calling for noise complaints,” Dale Dwojakowski, the city’s assistant city manager, said on Friday. “Their house is literally shaking.”

The city has launched an initiative called “Safe Celebrations Start Local,” which supports state legislation in Lansing that would give cities greater local authority to establish fireworks regulations.

Current state law, adopted back in 2011, allows fireworks to be lit 11 days a year, including between 11 a.m. and 11:45 p.m. from June 29 through July 4, and precludes cities from setting their own regulations.

Dwojakowski says it’s not about banning fireworks, but things have gotten out of hand.

Complaints have ranged from people lighting fireworks late at night, shooting them at others, and scaring veterans who have PTSD.

“They launch fireworks pretty much throughout the entire summer, which becomes troublesome not only for the noise complaints every single night, but then how do you even police it when we have calls every single day, every single night,” Dwojakowski said. “We had well over 1,200 calls to police alone, and a lot of those indicated that they were a war veteran suffering from PTSD, and their house was literally shaking.”

Sterling Heights has been in contact with the area’s six state reps and three state senators about this. Potential changes could include:

• Reducing the number of state-mandated days when consumer fireworks are permitted.
• Establishing local setback requirements for safer use.
• Setting reasonable limits on allowable times.
• Creating additional safety measures that reflect local community needs.

“If there’s a rural community and people want to light off fireworks, you know, that city should be able to say, that’s fine with us, we have no problem with it,” Dwojakowski said. “But in Sterling Heights, we’re not a rural community. We’re a city of almost 140,000 people packed into 36 square miles.”

“We’re just asking for some common sense,” Dwojakowski added, “Let the local municipalities have a voice in what fireworks looks like in their city. That’s all we’re asking for.”

“Hey, buddy,” North Carolina's Forbes said, beaming and extending his hand to the Oklahoma coach.

“You thought we were going to fight?” Johnson said, turning to reporters.

The college baseball lifers have known each other for decades, since they spent long days and nights scouting the same talent showcases and engaging in recruiting battles during long runs as assistants.

“I always thought if we met up together," Forbes told Johnson, “we'd be hunting.”

Oh, they're hunting together all right.

North Carolina will be looking for its first national title in baseball and Oklahoma for its third when the schools square off in Game 1 of the best-of-three series at Charles Schwab Field on Saturday. The start of the game was moved up five hours to 3 p.m. EDT because of a forecast calling for storms at night.

The Tar Heels and Sooners have taken different routes to reach the same destination.

North Carolina (53-12-1) has lost consecutive games just once, in early March, and has been ranked no lower than No. 4 by D1Baseball.com the last two months.

Oklahoma (41-22) was ranked as high as No. 8 and then lost six of nine series in Southeastern Conference play. The Sooners finished 11th in the SEC and were unranked when they entered the national tournament off losses in seven of nine games.

“I think the SEC just offers a great preparation, period, for this type of tournament,” OU's Trey Gambill said. “There’s no breaks. Just like in this tournament, you’re not playing any bad teams. You’re not playing any mediocre teams. You’re playing the best of the best. So the SEC just prepared us for always being ready to put our best out there.”

Both teams went 3-0 in CWS bracket play. The Tar Heels have won five straight, and the Sooners are on a season-best eight-game streak.

The Game 1 pitching matchup pits North Carolina ace Jason DeCaro (11-2) against 6-foot-6, 237-pound left-hander Cord Rager (6-3), one of three freshman starters for the Sooners. DeCaro went 6 2/3 innings and struck out nine in Carolina's 6-2 win over Mississippi last Friday. Rager walked none and struck out eight in seven innings of a 9-0 win over Alabama last Saturday.

SEC streak on line

Oklahoma will be going for the Southeastern Conference's seventh straight national title and 18th overall, which would tie the Pac-12 for most.

The SEC is assured of having the champion, runner-up or both for the 20th time since 2000. The Sooners are the 10th different SEC team to reach the finals over that span.

ACC's first finals since 2015

North Carolina is the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to make the CWS finals since Virginia in 2015.

The Tar Heels are trying to become the third ACC program to win a national title in baseball. Wake Forest won the first in 1955 and Virginia the second in 2015.

North Carolina (2006-07, 2026) and Virginia (2014-15) are the only ACC programs to play in the finals since the best-of-three format started in 2003.

Power surge

DeCaro will face a Sooners team that's averaging 10.4 runs per game with 22 homers during their eight-game win streak. They've gone deep eight times in the CWS, including five in an 11-4 win over Georgia on Wednesday. OU has 45 homers in its 20 games since May 1 after hitting 46 homers in its first 43.

“What Jason’s going to do is what he’s been doing,” Forbes said. “We don’t care what the offense has been, what they’re doing, how hot they are. He’s going to go right after them with his stuff. You start being tentative, you start getting negative counts, then that offense gets even better.”

Call him K-den

North Carolina is 28-0 when Caden Glauber pitches. The freshman leads the Tar Heels with 106 strikeouts and 13.76 per nine innings, and he has allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings over three CWS games.

Another freshman reliever, lefty Jackson Rose, pitched 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief in a 12-7 win over West Virginia and has a 2.15 ERA over 50 2/3 innings this season.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

The new aircraft eschews the Kennedy-era robin’s egg blue exterior of the old plane for a bolder look, with the underbelly of the plane painted navy blue with a red stripe above it. The plane's left side, where the president boards, features the presidential seal, while the tail of the aircraft has a massive American flag on it.

“This plane was transformed into a flying White House at a level of luxury that nobody has ever seen before,” Trump said from inside the massive Joint Base Andrews hangar, as a couple hundred assembled Air Force personnel looked on. He spoke after stepping off the new plane in a dramatic flourish, as his signature tune “God Bless the USA” played.

He confirmed that he would be taking the new jet to the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, next month and indicated he would be returning to China “at some point,” presumably a reference to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that China is hosting in November. His return from the Group of 7 summit in France this week was the last planned trip aboard the old Air Force One, he said.

“Now, when we land at airports in London and in Germany and different places, nobody tops this one, and that’s the way we have to have it for our country,” Trump said, noting that the colors and the design were to “my taste, I will say."

He added that the new Air Force One will do a flyover during the July 4 celebrations next month.

The gift from Qatar is serving as a “bridge” aircraft to carry the president until the new planes ordered directly from Boeing arrive. That is currently slated for 2028.

The administration formally accepted a luxury Boeing 747 jet from Qatar last year to be used as the presidential airplane, despite questions about the ethics and legality of accepting such an expensive gift from a foreign government. Trump has insisted in the past that he would not fly around in the Qatari jet once he leaves office and said it would instead be donated to a future presidential library.

Trump on Friday said the U.S. was in a “little bit of a logjam” as they awaited the delivery of the new jets directly from Boeing, which had originally been scheduled for 2024 but have been delayed. He recalled asking the emir of Qatar for use of one of their planes.

"See, a normal president wouldn’t do this. A normal president wants to stay away from aircraft," Trump said Friday. “But our country has to be represented properly.”

The Air Force said in a news release Friday that any plane deemed Air Force One “must meet rigorous security requirements” and that the Qatari plane “was modified under a disciplined engineering approach that prioritized these exact core capabilities above all else.” The Air Force also said “much of the previous head of state interior layout” of the plane was kept intact.

The Air Force has said in the past that security modifications to the jet would cost less than $400 million.

Trump's efforts to reimagine the presidential airplane date back to his first administration, when he directed that an incoming fleet of new jets would adopt a color scheme that was nearly identical to that of his personal airplane. Then-President Joe Biden reversed the decision in March 2023 as an Air Force review suggested that the darker colors could increase costs and delay delivery of the new jets, but once Trump returned to office, he returned to his desired colors for the plane.

Other government jets that carry other top administration officials will also use the similar red, white and navy color scheme, the Air Force said earlier this year.

An Air Force spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive plans, told The Associated Press that the two current planes, known as VC-25As, will not be retiring. Instead, they will remain in the fleet until the new Boeing planes, referred to as VC-25Bs, come into service, the spokesperson said.

It is unclear how the older jets will be used but the spokesperson said that both the Qatari jet as well as the VC-25As will be available for use and “the Presidential Airlift Group will select the appropriate aircraft for each mission based on operational requirements.”

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This story has been updated to correct the name of the air base to Joint Base Andrews, not Andrews Air Force Base, its former name.

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Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report from Washington.

The tragedy is now fueling a larger conversation about cyclist safety, road design, and the growing popularity of e-bikes.

What happened

The incident occurred on Thursday (June 18) on Woodward Avenue near College Avenue in Ferndale, just before 1 p.m.

According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, the Ferndale man was riding on the east side of Woodward Avenue when a Road Commission truck, also traveling north, attempted to turn into a private driveway.

The truck crossed into the path of the e-bike, and authorities say the rider attempted to take evasive action when he saw the truck, causing him and the bike to slide underneath the vehicle, where he was run over.

The man died at the scene.

The driver of the truck, a 44-year-old from Waterford Township, was uninjured, remained at the scene, and cooperated with investigators.

Authorities said drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash.

The crash was captured on surveillance video at a restaurant across the street.

“You don’t see a bike until it turned and then there was the bike and the person laying on the ground,” said Eric Lees, co-owner of Little Ghost.

So far, the victim’s name has not been released. The incident remains under investigation.

Road design raises red flags

The stretch of Woodward Avenue where the crash occurred has drawn scrutiny from cyclists and community members who say the corridor’s design makes it difficult for drivers to spot riders.

The area features dedicated bike lanes, a sidewalk just a few feet away, multiple traffic lanes, on-street parking, and dozens of driveways, all converging on a busy urban stretch.

On social media, one person wrote that the design “has them weaving around parked cars, making them very hard for drivers to see.”

Another described the corridor as having “a video game feel with real life consequences.”

What Michigan law says about e-bikes

Understanding where e-bikes can legally operate is a key part of the safety conversation, and Michigan law offers some guidance, though gaps remain.

Under state law, e-bikes are permitted anywhere bicycles are allowed, and sidewalk riding is generally permitted unless restricted by local ordinance.

Riders under 18 must wear helmets, and riders must be at least 14 years old to operate a Class 3 e-bike, the fastest category, which can reach up to 28 mph.

Class 3 e-bikes are not permitted on nonmotorized state trails.

E-bikes add a new layer of safety concerns

The crash comes as e-bikes surge in popularity across the country, and safety advocates say that surge is creating new challenges for both riders and drivers.

AAA launched its new “E-Ride Ready” campaign this month to help parents and riders better understand the risks associated with fast-moving e-bikes and e-scooters.

The campaign encourages families to know their device’s speed and capabilities, require the proper fitting of helmets rated for the e-ride’s top speed, understand where e-rides can legally and safely operate, and practice safe riding habits around traffic and pedestrians.

“They are much faster than regular bikes, and they might not be able to stop as fast. So again, it’s really important that drivers focus on the task of driving and being on the lookout, especially when they are turning or reversing,” said Adrienne Woodland, a spokesperson for AAA.

The League of Michigan Bicyclists echoed that message, framing safety as a two-way street.

“It is, unfortunately, a solemn but good reminder of how important safety is. It is a shared responsibility and goes both ways for cyclists and drivers,” said Gina Apone of the League of Michigan Bicyclists.

The league offers a one-hour online class to educate drivers on best practices for sharing the road with people on bicycles.

“The responsibility goes two ways for cyclists and drivers. If cyclists want to protect themselves, make sure you are visible with proper gear, wear a helmet, and never assume people in cars can see you,” Apone said.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump praised both Evette and state Attorney General Alan Wilson, writing: “Both have had amazing careers, and have been with me from the beginning. They are MAGA and America First all the way!”

The move represents a hedging of Trump's bets in a primary season where he has seen some of his endorsed candidates fall short, rare defeats that have stirred doubts about his clout as he approaches the back half of his second term.

Trump previously gave Evette his “Complete and Total Endorsement." He also said “A BIG added plus” for her campaign is that Henry McMaster Jr. — the son of the current governor, a close ally — may be Evette’s running mate. But the 38-year-old lawyer later said he would not be considered for the post.

On social media Friday, Evette posted: “I was proud to come in first as President @realDonaldTrump's endorsed candidate for Governor on June 9th. Looking forward to doing it again on June 23rd.”

Wilson said in a social media post Friday, “I am honored to have the endorsement of President Donald J. Trump.” Swiftly thereafter, Wilson issued a news release which in part enumerated the legal briefs he's filed in support of Trump's policies on issues including restricting birthright citizenship, on which the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled.

Moments after Trump's double-endorsement post, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said on social media that he was backing Wilson, who he predicted “will lead with humility, courage, and an optimistic vision for our state.”

A person familiar with Scott’s thinking but not authorized to discuss it publicly told The Associated Press that the senator had been making calls for Wilson, helping fundraise and encouraging Trump to back his candidacy.

Evette has called Trump’s endorsement a “golden ticket” for Republicans seeking office in South Carolina, but the results have been a mixed bag in other races for governor. The Republican president’s choices in Iowa and Georgia lost this month.

Has Trump double-barreled a primary endorsement before?

Just before a 2022 U.S. Senate primary in Missouri between former Gov. Eric Greitens and Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Trump just endorsed “ERIC," presumably meaning either candidate, both of whom claimed the endorsement. Schmitt won the nomination and the office.

Arizona's primary is not until next month but Trump has been endorsing Republican candidates for governor for the past two years. In late 2024, Trump said that he was endorsing housing developer Karrin Taylor Robson. His choice angered some of his biggest allies in the state, who are suspicious of Robson's long-standing ties to the party's business establishment. Then in April 2025, Trump said he was backing U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs — in addition to Robson.

How are Trump-endorsed governor candidates doing this year?

It has been a bit of a jumble when it comes to Trump's 2026 primary picks so far.

Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, in Ohio, and U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, in Alabama, secured backing from Trump early in their campaigns for governor, and they went on to dominate their primaries. Like Evette, former state Sen. Mike Mazzei got Trump's backing in his bid for Oklahoma governor in a crowded field without a clear front-runner, and advanced to an Aug. 25 runoff.

But Trump's chosen gubernatorial candidates have failed in other contests. Aided by more than $100 million — mostly from his personal fortune — billionaire healthcare tycoon Rick Jackson battled his way to the Republican nomination in Georgia over Trump's pick, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, endorsed by Trump the same day as Evette, failed in his Iowa governor bid, losing to businessman Zach Lahn.

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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

For some families, access to hot, nutritious meals becomes harder when cafeterias close.

That’s why community partners are working to eliminate barriers to food access by offering free breakfast and lunch to kids during breaks.

One of those sites is in Inkster at Demeko’s Kitchen & Grill, where organizers are spreading the word about a summer meals program called Eat Up and Meet Up.

“We give them a full meal,” said Lillie Powell of Demeko’s Kitchen & Grill.

Powell said serving the community has been her family’s mission for more than five decades.

“That’s all I know is giving back,” Powell said.

This summer, Powell and her team are giving back in a new way.

They are making sure children have free, nutritious meals while they’re away from school.

“We’re doing very good. A couple of days, we had like over 45 kids. And this is our first week,” Powell said.

Demeko’s Kitchen & Grill is partnering with the nonprofit Help for Homelessness & Beyond Ohio-Michigan to host Eat Up and Meet Up.

The program provides free breakfast and lunch for children 18 and under, Monday through Friday, through Aug. 11.

“A lot of times, they don’t get the opportunity to have food. The only food that they get is at school,” said Roxy Frazier-Hives, founder of Help for Homelessness & Beyond Ohio-Michigan. “So, some kids, breakfast and lunch is generally what they’re getting, and then when school is out, they don’t have anything.”

Organizers say kids can stop by Demeko’s for:

• Breakfast: 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
• Lunch: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Children can also stay between mealtimes for activities such as arts and crafts and games.

“When they are here with me, I know that they are safe. I know that they are not getting into trouble,” Frazier-Hives said. “I’m teaching them new things; they didn’t know anything about hopscotch and jump rope.”

When we stopped by the site on Friday, a representative from the state arrived to present Demeko’s with a special award recognizing its community work.

“We just want to tell you how much the State of Michigan appreciates all the work that you do,” Christonna Campbell said.

Powell and Frazier-Hives believe the summer initiative will be successful with continued support from community members, not only to help feed children, but to keep them active and engaged.

“We don’t have a basketball rim,” Frazier-Hives said. “So, anybody that has a basketball rim that we can get for the summer, yes, please.”

Organizers say donations of items such as board games, books, basketballs, and crayons would be helpful this summer.

For more information, contact Roxy Frazier-Hives at 614-589-0193.

There are Eat Up and Meet Up sites across Michigan.

Click here to find a location near you.

Every Brazilian fan — in Philadelphia to watch their team play Haiti on Friday at the World Cup — who stopped for a snapshot or a selfie with the 9-foot-11, 1,300-pound beast left the statue dressed in only his bronze trunks and boots.

No taking chances of getting hit by the Rocky curse.

Yes, the Rocky statue, long a symbol of resilience, heart and the unbreakable bond between Rocky and the people of Philadelphia, has taken a few more hits of late (even in retirement).

Visiting American sports fans have long learned the hard way that dressing the statue with colorful jerseys, scarfs, hats, anything found in your local Rally House, has only meant that team would suffer a knockout blow at the home of the local Philly team.

Scoff all you want.

The bad fortune stretched to soccer when Ecuador fans took over the Rocky steps and sang and danced and waved flags and ... dressed Rocky in a team jersey and tied the country's flag around the fictional fighter's neck.

It didn't go well.

Amad Diallo scored in the 90th minute to lift Ivory Coast to a 1-0 victory over Ecuador in its first World Cup appearance in a dozen years.

And there ain't gonna be no rematch.

Brazil fans noticed the outcome and one of their fan groups, the Green and Yellow Movement, urged visitors to keep their clothing to themselves.

"ANTENCAO TORCEDOR!" the Instagram post warned.

Everyone is paying attention.

The translated text read: “It's totally forbidden to put a Brazil shirt on the Rocky statue in Philly!!!!!”

Even Visit PA cheekily got in on the fun and tried to warn foreigners that — just like Ivan Drago learned the hard way — Rocky was not to be messed with.

“Countless football teams (as in American Football, not Fútbol — same curse, different sport) have all dressed the Rocky Statue in their colors and gone on to lose,” the Instagram post said. “Ecuador dressed Rocky last weekend Coincidence? Sadly, history says no.

“Philadelphia can't wait to host you! (but Rocky does not need your kit)”

Brazilian fans paid heed to the warning Thursday, and scores of fans simply took the spot in front of the statue and raised their arms in triumph just as Rocky did after so many fights, and many, many movies.

Hundreds of Brazilian fans swarmed the Rocky steps late in the day and left the statue bare. Rocky was roped off as if inside the ring and four “Rocky protectors” stood at each corner to keep enthusiastic fans at bay.

“This is a moment in Brazil,” said Lorival Guerreiro, who traveled from Limeira, Brazil. “They promote this place to celebrate before the game. The Brazilians come here to celebrate our team."

When the bronze statue was left on the steps after filming the “Rocky” movies, the museum fought to have it removed. It was eventually relocated to South Philadelphia before returning to the bottom of the steps in 2006. The statue was a huge hit and became a point of pilgrimage for people around the world.

According to the Philadelphia Visitor Center, about 4 million people visit the steps each year — rivaling the nearby Liberty Bell in annual foot traffic. The pop culture icon was recently moved to the top of the steps.

Roberto De Freitas, a native of Porto Alegre who now lives in Florida and is attending his third World Cup, climbed the steps for a photoshoot with perhaps Philadelphia's most famous landmark. He was dressed in Brazil's colors — down to the green sneakers — and was set to attend Friday's game.

He hoped five-time World Cup champion Brazil would take a page from Rocky's corner and win some more.

“We have five titles,” De Freitas said. “We are trying to get that sixth one.”

De Freitas had not yet heard of the Rocky curse but had no plans to tempt fate once he learned of the potential consequences.

“That's what they said,” he asked with a laugh. “I'm for sure not going to do it.”

For the record, De Freitas said “Rocky” was his favorite of all the movies in the series.

The Rocky Shop at the base of the steps was loaded with tourists who snaked their way through fighter T-shirts and plush offerings of Mr. T's character, Clubber Lang. Peruvian sports journalist Jampool Cuadros Estrada tried on a Rocky robe as a cameraman followed him around the store for their latest World Cup report.

Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian-born immigrants, has a bit of a recent connection with the South American country. The Philadelphia Eagles opened their Super Bowl championship season with a win over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil in 2024.

Facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002, Brazil was outplayed early and needed Vinícius Júnior’s 32nd-minute goal to get a 1-1 draw with Morocco on Saturday.

Brazil now needs to beware Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974 and is a noted heavy underdog — just like Rocky.

“Brazil has the pressure. Haiti has the freedom,” Haitian singer Wyclef Jean wrote on social media. “And sometimes freedom is the most dangerous thing on the pitch. I can't wait!!!!”

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup

U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich found that the public interest in the material outweighed whatever privacy rights Biden had, but she effectively put her ruling on hold for up to three weeks so Biden could appeal.

The recordings were obtained by special counsel Robert Hur in the course of his investigation into whether Biden improperly retained classified documents while a senator and vice president. Republicans in Congress demanded them after Hur declined to file charges against the then-president.

Biden's Democratic administration refused to turn over the recordings and transcripts from 2016 and 2017, leading congressional Republicans to hold his attorney general, Merrick Garland, in contempt.

President Donald Trump's Justice Department authorized the release of the materials. That led Biden last month to sue to seek to block the release to a staffer at the conservative Heritage Foundation who had formally requested the records.

Biden objected to the release as an invasion of privacy, saying the recordings included him discussing sensitive personal matters such as the death of his older son, Beau Biden. But Friedrich found that the administration redacted that material.

The judge wrote that the materials “contain no mention of highly sensitive topics like illness or death, nor do they mention any non-public persons, including members of Biden's family.”

Representatives for Biden did not immediately comment but asked Friedrich to bar release of the material while they appeal her decision. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Friedrich was nominated by Trump, a Republican, in 2017.

Hur’s yearlong investigation led to a 345-page report that questioned the effects of Biden’s age and his mental competence but recommended no criminal charges against the then-81-year-old. Hur said he found insufficient evidence to prosecute a case in court successfully.

The transcripts of five hours of Biden interviews with federal prosecutors was released that same year. While Biden was adamant that he treated classified information seriously, the transcript shows that he was at times fuzzy about dates and details and he said he was unfamiliar with the paper trail for some of the sensitive documents he handled.