Livano Comenencia tied it at 1-1 with his left-footed shot through traffic from the center of the box in the 21st minute to give Curaçao its first goal in the tournament and send fans of the tiny Caribbean nation into a frenzy.

It was all Germany after that with the four-time champions regaining the lead on Nico Schlotterbeck’s header off Nathaniel Brown’s corner kick in the 38th minute.

The margin of victory comes well short of the World Cup record of nine goals which has happened three times, with the last one coming when Hungary beat El Salvador 10-1 in 1982.

Havertz connected on a penalty shot into the left goal in first half stoppage time to make it 3-1. Germany was awarded the penalty shot after Felix Nmecha was tripped in the box by Riechedly Bazoer.

Germany wasted no time after halftime to extend the lead with Jamal Musiala scoring on a right-footed shot across the goalkeeper’s area in the 47th minute.

Brown scored in the 68th minute to push the advantage to 5-1 and Deniz Undav added a goal in the 78th.

Havertz's second goal came in the 88th minute.

It was a strong start for Germany against underdog Curaçao as the team seeks redemption after failing to get out of the group stage in Russia and Qatar following its 2014 title.

Nmecha one timed it with his right foot into the near post just inside the upper box with an assist from Florian Wirtz in the sixth minute to make it 1-0.

The crowd of 68,021 was overwhelming rooting for Germany but there was a spirited contingent of people cheering on Curaçao as it became the smallest country to ever appear in the tournament.

It was the first match of the tournament at Houston Stadium, normally called NRG Stadium where the NFL’s Houston Texans play.

Manuel Neuer, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who came out of international retirement for the tournament, had one save in his first appearance for Germany in almost two years.

The match featured the largest age gap between coaches in World Cup history with Curaçao's 78-year-old coach Dick Advocaat becoming the oldest ever in the tournament against 38-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, who is the youngest coach in this year’s tournament.

Germany faces Ivory Coast in its next match in Toronto on Saturday and Curaçao meets Ecuador Saturday in Kansas City.

___

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

A violent standoff extended into the evening after a series of incidents — including a car set ablaze and a bank's windows smashed — along the route of an afternoon march that drew an estimated 20,000 people, including some 600 so-called “Black Bloc” militants, according to figures from Geneva police spokesman Alexandre Brahier.

The demonstration, which had been previously organized by a hodgepodge of activist groups after weeks of negotiations with local authorities, was otherwise peaceful — with environmentalists, women's rights advocates, supporters of Palestinians and foes of imperialism, fascism and capitalism.

Early on during the march, firefighters extinguished a Tesla that was set ablaze next to the central bus stop and a phalanx of riot police cordoned off a secure area as a crowd congregated nearby.

A handful of demonstrators ripped down wooden barriers that were previously erected to protect a Banque du Leman and smashed its windows.

Several groups of dozens of youths wearing black hoodies, masks and goggles were mixed in among the other marchers — including behind an anti-Trump banner. Two with their faces totally covered refused to speak with The Associated Press and silently waved off questions before the protest began.

Some protesters fired flares toward officers or tore up chunks of asphalt and chucked them toward police in shields and riot gear.

The clashes continued even after police ordered the demonstrators to disperse.

The vast majority of marchers at the front were advocates of women's rights, many wearing purple T-shirts and holding up banners and posters that decried the “patriarchy,” a lack of women in executive positions and inequality in pay and executive jobs in the workplace.

Other marchers held signs that showed sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, carried slogans like “Antisemitic never; anti-Zionist always” and criticized Trump — often with expletives — among other sharply worded messages.

Organizers of the protest printed a handbook for demonstrators that included a map of the security perimeter, tips on how to gear up for the march, and advice on how to behave if detained by police.

Travel restrictions and limited border crossings during the summit

Swiss and French authorities have deployed thousands of police to provide security for the three-day summit starting Monday in the resort town of Evian-les-Bains, France. The leaders are set to discuss wars in Ukraine,Iran and the Middle East, and economic issues like global inequality and access to critical minerals.

Ahead of the gathering, authorities in Geneva blocked off roads, banned unauthorized gatherings and pledged financial support for businesses who could be hit by unrest.

Scores of businesses and shops in downtown Geneva boarded up their storefronts with wooden panels as a precaution, leery of upheaval that left a trail of damage in the city during a similar summit in Evian in 2003. Only seven of the 35 roadway border crossings will remain open.

The show of activism began a day earlier: a flotilla of around 20 boats appeared on Lake Geneva off the coast of Evian on Saturday, displaying anti-G7 and pro-Palestinian banners. Swiss media reports said some 20 protesters had been detained on Friday evening.

Resident Robin Hedz lamented the “mess” and expressed bafflement about the “wood-wall everywhere,” while acknowledging the memories of the trail of damaged property over 20 years ago.

The G7 brings together Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, though leaders of several other countries including India, Kenya and Ukraine were expected to join for discussions.

France has announced the deployment of more than 13,000 police and gendarmerie officers to ensure security in the summit area. Over 800 French border control officers will be active, up from about 60 normally.

Trump is the focus of protests

Protests are nothing new around such elite gatherings. This time, activists expressed frustration with Trump’s leadership on issues as diverse as tariffs, the war in Iran, climate, and even his past ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The G7 summit takes place as the United States and Iran appear close to a deal to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz.

“We are very afraid of the policy and the politics of Mr. Trump and also of the other leaders of the G7, because they are fighting, making war all over the place," said Francoise Nyffeler, spokesperson for the NoG7 coalition behind the demonstration on Sunday.

"The planet is in danger and we are very scared about it and we want to protest and say that the people of the world are against their policies,” she added.

___

Associated Press journalists Oleg Cetinic, Kwiyeon Ha, Baz Ratner and Florent Bajrami in Geneva and Samuel Petrequin in London contributed to this report.

Iran warned a military response was coming. Trump reacted on social media: “We are very close to a Deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon" and “Let’s not blow it!"

Trump later told Fox News he still expected an agreement with Iran to be signed in the coming hours and planned to ask Tehran not to respond to Israel’s strikes.

The emerging deal is a disappointment to Israel's government, which has been sidelined in negotiations led by Pakistan and others. The last time Israel struck Beirut's suburbs a week ago, it set off the most serious escalation of fighting between Iran and Israel since the tenuous ceasefire took hold April 7.

Trump has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop hitting Lebanon hard while a deal is near, but the prime minister has defied him.

Trump told Fox News he had asked Netanyahu what he was doing, using an expletive.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged “maximum restraint at this crucial moment.”

Trump says ‘this important process’ shouldn't be disrupted

Netanyahu's office said the strikes were in response to Hezbollah attacks on northern Israel. Israel’s military said Hezbollah launched three projectiles. There was no immediate comment from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

Israel's military later said it was preparing for potential incoming fire in the coming hours.

Trump described the attack on northern Israel as “very small and meaningless, nobody was hurt, injured, or killed, and should not disrupt this important process."

An Associated Press photographer at the scene in Beirut said a five-story apartment building with shops on the ground floor was struck. Residents of the southern suburbs, many of whom had returned home after weeks of relative calm, could be seen fleeing.

Israel's military later reported a projectile coming from Lebanon.

Hezbollah fired missiles into Israel on March 2, two days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran, sparking war in the Middle East. Israeli troops have since pushed their invasion of Lebanon deeper than at any point in over a quarter century.

Iran wants a ceasefire deal to include the fighting in Lebanon. It’s unclear whether that would mean Israeli forces' withdrawal. Most of Hezbollah's attacks in recent weeks have targeted Israeli troops inside Lebanon.

Mediators push a deal while Iran vows ‘strong response’

“A strong response is coming,” said Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission and is close to top leaders.

And Iran’s parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a lead negotiator for Tehran, warned the U.S. after Israel's strikes that “if you lack the will and ability to fulfill your commitments, speaking of continuing the path is not possible."

Qatari mediators traveled to Tehran on Sunday to finalize the agreement, according to two regional officials who spoke before Israel's strikes in Beirut.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, expressed cautious optimism that the U.S. and Iran were finally approaching a deal that could halt hostilities that have killed thousands of people and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure has thrown world markets into disarray.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday the deal would be signed Sunday, while Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said it could happen in the coming days. Trump has said the strait would open immediately.

The deal is expected to be signed electronically, without an in-person ceremony.

Iran's government warned that any division at home over the deal weakens its negotiating position.

In comments carried by state media, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged national unity and called it a “disgrace” when someone stands before parliament and calls anyone who negotiates a traitor.

Iranians must recognize that no war lasts forever, spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told the state-run IRNA news agency.

Nuclear and other issues would be addressed later

The deal does not solve the thorniest issues between the U.S. and Iran, including Iran’s nuclear program or its billions of dollars in frozen funds, but offers a 60-day framework for technical discussions on those issues, according to Pakistani and regional officials familiar with the ongoing negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Under the deal being discussed, U.S. and Israel appear to have fallen short of their original goals of destroying Iran’s missile and nuclear programs and ending its support for armed proxies in the region.

Iran’s nuclear program and highly enriched uranium have long been at the center of tensions with the U.S. and Israel. Trump on social media asserted Saturday that “when all is calm,” the U.S. would go in and “downblend and destroy” the enriched uranium in Iran or in the U.S.

Iran has 440.9 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium that is enriched up to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is peaceful and has not publicly committed to giving up the enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under three nuclear sites that were badly damaged by U.S. strikes last year.

Critics in Trump’s Republican Party, struggling with an unpopular war ahead of the midterm elections, have criticized the emerging deal. Some said it did not improve on the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that Trump withdrew the U.S. from during his first term and which he still describes as “bad.”

___

Frankel reported from Jerusalem, Magdy from Cairo, Sewell from Beirut and Weissert from Washington. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

McConnell, 84, was the longest serving Senate leader in history before stepping aside from that role while finishing his final term, which ends in January.

“Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care," spokesperson David Popp said in a statement without elaboration. It was not immediately clear whether the Kentucky lawmaker was in Washington, his home state or elsewhere.

McConnell's health has been a subject of scrutiny for years.

He fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon in December 2024. He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance.

McConnell had polio in his early childhood and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs. In addition to his 2023 fall, he also tripped and fell in 2019 at his home in Kentucky. He had surgery for a fractured shoulder.

McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, serving as both majority and minority leader during that period.

He remains active in the Senate, showing up for work when the chamber is in session, and recent chairing public hearings and grilling officials from his perch as the chairman for the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense. He has intermittently used a wheelchair to navigate the Capitol and routinely has his security detail, as a former congressional leader, at his side.

AI giant Anthropic said Friday it has taken its latest artificial intelligence models, known as Fable 5 and Mythos 5, offline to comply with a directive from the Trump administration to prevent their use by foreign nationals.

The export controls mark the U.S. government’s most significant step to date to restrict access to the most advanced AI models. Anthropic released Fable widely this week. That model is a limited version of the even more advanced Mythos, to which the company has tightly limited access due to cybersecurity fears.

“The situation we’re in collectively right now with Mythos and Fable is something that can happen with overreliance on certain models” Carney said. “Nobody has done anything wrong in the situation. But we will have done something wrong if we just accept this, don’t take the lesson, don’t build out and diversify.”

Carney made the comments in Ireland ahead of the G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France. He said artificial intelligence will be one of the major discussions on Monday night.

Anthropic, based in San Francisco, California, has said the new Mythos model it announced on April 7 is so “strikingly capable” that it is limiting its use to select customers because of its ability to surpass human cybersecurity experts in finding and exploiting computer vulnerabilities.

“You’ll hear me say this over and over again. It is never a good idea to have one option,” Carney said.

Carney said he spent 45 minutes talking with French President Emmanuel Macron about artificial intelligence on Friday night. He said there “will not be a mission accomplished banner” that comes out of the summit because the issues are complex.

Carney linked the U.S. AI curbs to Canada’s push to diversify trade and technology. More than 70% of Canada’s exports go to the U.S. and Carney has set a goal for Canada to double its non-U.S. exports in the next decade. Trump’s trade war is causing a chill in investment.

Carney doesn’t have a bilateral meeting scheduled with Trump at the G7 despite the free trade agreement between U.S., Canada and Mexico being up for renewal. He said USMCA discussions will be held at the summit among Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for U.S. trade, Janice Charette, Canada’s chief negotiator, and U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

“The right way to do it at this stage, will be between the principal negotiators, which is going to happen in Evian,” he said.

Carney visited his family’s ancestral village of Aghagower, Ireland earlier Sunday. Carney’s grandfather, Robert Carney, and grandmother, Nora Moran, were both from the town in County Mayo, and immigrated to Canada in the 1920s.

Owen Morgan was with his 17-month-old son, Malachy Morgan -- who was wearing Montreal Canadiens jersey -- and said people in Mayo county are very proud of Carney.

“People are very impressed,” Morgan said. “He’s very much standing up for Canadians, and I think that’s very much admired.”

According to 4Warn Meteorologist Bryan Schuerman, a few Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were issued for part of Metro Detroit as this line of thunderstorms moved through.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Southeastern Washtenaw and Wayne Counties until 1:00 PM, then a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Monroe County until 1:45 PM Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Both Severe Thunderstorm Warnings were for damaging wind gusts above 60 MPH, and hail to 1″ in diameter, over parts of these warnings.

According to Exact Track 4D Radar, when the Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Monroe County was issued, very large hail was potentially being detected. The official Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued by the National Weather Service for hail to 1″, or quarter size in diameter.

The National Weather Service did confirm hail in South Rockwood, Monroe County, MI around 12:45 PM on Sunday afternoon as the line of thunderstorms moved through the county.

Exact Track 4D Radar shows the hail core in black on the image that aligns with the report of hail from the National Weather Service.

As of 1:30 PM on Sunday, no other damage reports were relayed from the severe thunderstorms that occurred.

4Warn Meteorologist Bryan Schuerman says that rain showers will continue into mid Sunday afternoon before we start to dry things out.

If you have pictures of any damage, or hail reports, please send them to 4Warn Meteorologist Bryan Schuerman at bschuerman@wdiv.com, or send your pictures via the 4Warn Weather App.

Stay with WDIV Local 4 News, we’ll keep you ahead of the storms.

Putin’s call with Trump lasted just under an hour, according to Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, who briefed reporters afterward.

On Ukraine, Ushakov said Trump emphasized the need to end hostilities and stated his readiness to influence European allies and Kyiv toward that goal, including at the upcoming G7 summit.

Trump also said that recent strikes on civilian targets in Russia complicate a settlement — though the White House has not confirmed that, nor commented on the call — and said that ending the war quickly could open the door to “a truly new quality of U.S.-Russian relations,” Ushakov quoted him as saying.

Putin, for his part, argued that attacks on Russian civilian infrastructure by Kyiv would not change Ukraine’s position on the battlefield, and said that if Zelenskyy wants a meeting with him, “let him come to Moscow,” according to Ushakov.

U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Russia soon, Ushakov said.

The leaders also discussed Iran, where Trump said a U.S. agreement with Tehran was close and that he hoped the results of the talks could be made public today, Ushakov said.

Zelenskyy said in a statement on Telegram Sunday that he had a “wonderful conversation” with Trump.

Beyond congratulating Trump on his birthday, the Ukrainian president said he thanked the U.S. president for supporting Ukraine.

He said they discussed “what could help bring peace closer now,” without providing details. Zelenskyy also informed Trump about how Ukraine’s position along the eastern front line has improved and strengthened.

“We agreed to discuss more during our meeting at the G7 summit,” he said.

The calls came as Trump prepared to mark his birthday with a UFC fight on the White House lawn Sunday evening, an event without precedent in American history. Once it concludes, Trump is set to fly overnight to France for the G7 summit, where Ukraine is expected to be a major topic of discussion Tuesday and Zelenskyy is due to join the gathering.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has long frustrated Trump, who as a candidate claimed he could end the conflict within 24 hours of taking office. He has since stopped making such claims and tends to pivot away from the topic when pressed. He has also grown increasingly vexed by the war between Israel and Iran, which has driven up gas prices, rattled financial markets and stoked concerns about inflation.

The diplomatic exchanges came against the backdrop of continued fighting. Ukrainian drone attacks killed one person and wounded nine others overnight in a residential building in the regional capital of Russia’s Oryol region, Gov. Andrei Klychkov said Sunday. Another drone attack killed one person Sunday in Russia's Bryansk region, local authorities said.

A separate drone strike hit fuel storage facilities in Russia’s Yaroslavl region, around 440 miles from the Ukrainian border, sparking fires. Zelenskyy said the strike had hit “an oil facility that was important for the reserve of the aggressor state.”

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian oil and gas infrastructure in recent months, arguing the sector funds Moscow’s invasion.

Separately, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday that the U.K. is investigating a sanctioned tanker, the Smyrtos, suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet” of vessels used to evade sanctions tied to the war.

British forces boarded and detained the vessel in the English Channel, in what the Defense Ministry called the first U.K.-led operation of its kind, carried out in coordination with French authorities.

“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer said.

___

AP writer Will Waissert contributed to this report from Washington.

The election system used throughout the political battleground state relies on a QR code printed on ballots to tally the votes. Legislators passed a law two years ago barring the use of that barcode for the official vote count beyond July 1 of this year, but no replacement method of tabulating votes was ever implemented.

One of the instructions Republican Gov. Brian Kemp laid out for lawmakers when he called the special session is to “address issues created” by that law. Meanwhile, the secretary of state's office and the State Election Board have further muddied the waters by issuing conflicting guidance for county election officials about how votes should be cast and counted.

If the issues are not resolved soon, there is likely to be confusion and possibly litigation over the state's elections after July 1. A special election to fill a U.S. House seat is scheduled for that month.

How did we get here?

Georgia's current election system was first used statewide during the 2020 primary. After the general election that year, when Republican President Donald Trump narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump and his supporters claimed without evidence that the machines had deleted or switched votes.

Trump's backers continued to complain about the touchscreen voting machines, with some loyalists espousing wild conspiracy theories. Election integrity advocates also criticized the machines, saying they are vulnerable to hacking and that voters cannot be sure their selections are accurately reflected because people can't read QR codes.

Republican lawmakers in 2024 tried to address those concerns by passing a law banning barcodes for the “official tabulation count” after July 1, 2026. But in the two years since, neither the secretary of state's office nor the General Assembly has taken action to comply. Now, the deadline is fast approaching and a major midterm election looms.

Trump singled out those machines, which are used in at least some counties in more than a dozen states, in his first executive order on elections shortly after he took office for his second term in January 2025. That order has been blocked by multiple courts and is not being enforced.

The governor steps in

Last month, Kemp announced a special legislative session, scheduled to start Wednesday, to draw new congressional maps for the 2028 elections and to address the QR code issue.

It's possible that lawmakers could extend the deadline in the law to allow the QR codes to be used for now and give themselves some breathing room to come up with a new system before elections in 2028. But in the waning hours of the regular legislative session earlier this year, they rejected a proposal that would have done that.

Even if lawmakers agree on a solution, it might be tough to implement before a special election to fill the remainder of the term of U.S. Rep. David Scott, who died in April. The special election is set for July 28, with early voting beginning July 6.

Secretary of state offers guidance to election offices

The secretary of state's office last week issued guidance to election officials in the six counties included in that congressional district. The office says it's preliminary and subject to change based on any developments from the special session.

The ballots will be run through the scanners, which will read the QR code to generate the election night vote count. Then, before county certification, electronic images created by the scanners for each ballot will be uploaded to a server, where optical character recognition software will be used to tally the votes using the human-readable text. The results of that second process will be the official tabulation count.

The secretary of state's guidance expressly says counties must continue to use the current election system, including the touchscreen voting machines, and that there is nothing in the law that authorizes the use of hand-marked paper ballots for in-person voting.

Conflict with the election board

The State Election Board weighed in two days later with conflicting guidance. Board members argued the plan proposed by the secretary of state is not authorized by law.

The board passed a resolution instructing counties on what to do if the special legislative session does not result in an extension of the deadline for using QR codes. The resolution directs counties to use their emergency backup, which calls for hand-marked paper ballots with scanners used to count voters' selections.

When asked about the conflicting guidance during the election board meeting, Elizabeth Young, a lawyer with the state attorney general's office, said that while the guidance is not binding, "obviously it would cause confusion for elections superintendents if they are getting differing instructions from two agencies, both of which have some authority over what they’re doing.”

The election board has been controlled by a Trump-aligned majority and is often at odds with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who is a frequent Trump target.

Local election officials are in the middle

Henry County in Atlanta's suburbs is one of the counties where voters will go to the polls for next month's special election. Axiver Harris, interim elections director, said the county is aware of the conflicting guidance and is awaiting further clarification from the state.

“Given the uncertainty surrounding the guidance currently available, we believe it is wise to wait for further direction to ensure that any decisions made are consistent with state requirements and election administration best practices,” he wrote in an email.

Marcye Scott, who is running in the special election to serve the remainder of her late father's term, said she is not sure most voters are even aware of the issue and is focusing her attention elsewhere.

“My goal is to get people to the polls, get my people to the polls and get them to vote for me,” she said.

But Carlos Moore, another of the six candidates running in the special election, said he is worried about legal challenges if a new method of vote-counting is implemented without enough time. He hopes lawmakers extend the deadline to allow the use of the QR codes for now.

“I would ask that legislators do the right thing, leave well enough alone for the special election," he said. “Otherwise, it’s almost certain there will be challenges in court.”

Viewers must make an account and subscribe to DAZN on the website.

Doors open at 1:00 p.m. with the first fight scheduled on the Wynn Network for 2:00 p.m., leading into the DAZN telecast beginning at 5:00 p.m.

The fights on Wynn Network are highlighted by local Detroit prospects Jasmine Hampton and Lance Smith along with Flint heavyweight Sardius Simmons.

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The card is presented by Salita Promotions, with tickets available now at Ticketmaster.com.

Outside Madison Square Garden, a crowd watching on a big screen roared as the Knicks rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat the Spurs in San Antonio in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Soon after, tens of thousands of people filled the streets and the rowdiest among them were clashing with police, smashing windshields, scaling scaffolding, light poles and a statue, climbing into and atop school buses in Times Square and trying to hitch a ride on a moving fire truck.

Around 2 a.m., a 17-year-old was shot near 42nd Street and Broadway, police said. Bystander video captured the sound of at least seven shots and showed people crouching and running for cover. Police took the victim to the hospital because an ambulance could not get through the crowds, police said. A gun was recovered and three people were taken into custody.

Four people were stabbed or slashed and one of the school buses, which was being used for World Cup transportation, was lit on fire and engulfed in flames, police said. Other buses and five police cars were also damaged, police said.

In all, 63 people were arrested, with charges including assault on a police officer, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.

Knicks owner James Dolan, speaking in San Antonio after the game, urged fans to stay calm.

“We need to tell everybody in New York that we know that they’re celebrating, we want them to have a great time," said Dolan, interrupting guard Josh Hart’s news conference. “Please be safe. Don’t get hurt, don’t hurt anybody.”

The city will officially celebrate the Knicks on Thursday with a parade and City Hall ceremony.

As the clock ticked to the final buzzer on Saturday night, anxiety that had dominated the game's first three quarters gave way to euphoria. An orange-and-blue-tinted fever dream that started with the Knicks' first playoff game two months ago ended in the third title in their 80-year history.

Fireworks boomed over Brooklyn and Central Park. Fans flocked to Times Square and ran through the streets. Outside the Garden, they sang the team's anthem: “Go New York, Go New York, Go!”

Police officers and ambulance workers shouted “Let’s go Knicks” over loudspeakers in Brooklyn. Strangers shook hands and hugged. In the Lincoln Tunnel, where people were riding buses back from the World Cup at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, drivers honked their horns in celebration.

“I’m so overwhelmed. I’m so happy,” said Mathieu Ogno, of Long Island, who fought back tears as he soaked in the victory at a team-sanctioned watch party at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Ogno wore the jersey of Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, whose 45 points propelled the Knicks to victory and him to the NBA Finals MVP. Brunson’s gritty determination and chip-on-his-shoulder style have made him a fan favorite, embodying New York's working-class ethos.

The Knicks' championship — 19,392 days since their last — capped an extraordinary postseason for a franchise that hadn't been to the NBA Finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999. Since April 23, the team has won 15 of 16 games, with its lone loss coming Monday in Game 3.

Their last title, in 1973, was also won on the road in a Game 5. Their first, in 1970, was won at home in a Game 7 thriller. Neither was celebrated with a parade.

“I’m happy to see my Knicks finally make it over the hump,” said Shawn Muoneke, 26. “I’ve seen them knock on the door. They were knocking on the door the past few years. But they finally made it over the hump, and I’m so happy to see it and I’m so happy I’m in the city to experience it.”

Muoneke, born a year after the Knicks’ last trip to the NBA Finals, started rooting for them when he was 10. He drove from Maryland to be in the city for Game 5 at the team's Central Park watch party.

“I saw the ups, the downs and I watched the team come back up, and I was so happy to see them finally reach the highest echelon of stardom as a team,” Muoneke said.

After the Knicks' win, he said, the vibes in the city "are the highest they’ve ever been.”

President Donald Trump, a longtime Knicks fan who attended Game 3 at the Garden with Dolan, congratulated the team in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“What a year it has been but, even more so, what incredible playoff wins we have all witnessed, especially the last four - Maybe the greatest in the history of basketball,” Trump wrote.

With Brunson's clutch performance, he added, “a superstar was born.”

After several dozen arrests throughout the playoffs and violence after Games 3 and 4 in New York that left officers injured and a teen in a coma, police girded for unrest as Saturday bled into Sunday.

“As we celebrate, be responsible, look out for one another, stay safe, be smart, and make this a night that reflects the very best of our city,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on social media. “Let’s go Knicks.”

__

Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed reporting.

The incident happened around 5 p.m. on June 13.

According to police shots were fired on the 12500 block of Payton.

Preliminary investigations say that a repass was taking place when a vehicle drove by a fired shots into the crowd.

Police say individuals in the crowd shot back.

Two men were struck in the incident and taken to a local hospital, police say.

According to authorities one of the men were listed as in temporary serious condition, the other has been listed as stable condition.

Anyone with information can contact the Detroit police department’s 9th precinct at 313-596-5940 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP

Yellow helmet still on, Hamilton pumped his fists and took a running leap into the arms of his fellow crimson-clad crew members after parking his Ferrari in the No. 1 spot on winner's row following his masterful race at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix on Sunday.

It had been a throwback, vintage Hamilton win. A victory that showed the seven-time champion, whose last title came in 2020, may just be back to his best at age 41.

Hamilton thanked and thanked again his teammates, the engineers back in Italy, his family and his fans in an emotional celebration for the driver who once dominated the sport but hadn’t won a race in nearly two years.

“I watched Ferrari have all this success when I was younger and wondered what it would be like to win in this car. I’m forever grateful and hopefully the first of many," Hamilton said from the winner's podium while thousands cheered.

His record-extending victory No. 106 may have also ignited a title fight with a Mercedes that looked untouchable following a rulebook overhaul this year and had won all six previous races.

“They are all special in their own way, but this one is something else,” Hamilton said about the importance of a victory that ended a run of 40 races without a win, 30 of which had come since his move from Mercedes to Ferrari at the end of 2024. His last win had come at the Belgian GP in July of that year.

“It’s all starting to come together and I’m just happy in my life," said Hamilton, who looks like a different driver from the despondent racer who struggled with Ferrari last campaign and never even reached the podium in a grand prix.

Hamilton admitted that during his troublesome first year with Ferrari he reached a point when he thought “maybe it is true that you get to a certain point you lose it.

“But you don’t. It takes perseverance to tap into that inner self… now I feel great racing with 19 year olds.”

To sweeten the day for Ferrari, Hamilton was already cruising to victory when Kimi Antonelli, the F1 points leader, came to a stop on the track with just four laps to go when his Mercedes suffered an electrical shutdown.

That ended the young Italian's incredible run of five straight wins.

Antonelli still leads with 156 points after seven races, but Hamilton has closed the gap and has 115. George Russell guided his Mercedes to a second-place finish and now has 106 points.

It was Hamilton’s seventh win at this track, a record at Montmelo, and his first here since 2021.

He was building toward this long-awaited victory with runner-up finishes at Canada and Monaco. He said he had set the “foundation” with Ferrari before he qualified second ahead of Antonelli for the Barcelona race.

“Thank you so much to help me achieve this dream,” Hamilton said on team radio after crossing the finish line more than 19 seconds ahead of Russell. “Thank you for everyone pushing so hard at home, thanks to my family, and to my fans who continue to remind me who I am. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

Ferrari outfoxes Mercedes with pitstop strategy

Hamilton took advantage of fresher tires and a superior pitstop strategy by Ferrari to overtake the pole-sitting Russell.

Ferrari opted for a three-stop race to give Hamilton fresher tires on a track that is known to be hard on rubber, especially with track temperatures at 50 Celsius (122 F). The quicker wheels had him slip ahead of Russell, who, like Antonelli, was on a two-stop plan, when a bit of luck sealed it for Hamilton.

A stoppage by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin brought out a virtual safety car, and Ferrari called in Hamilton for his final stop while his rivals couldn’t push the pace, and he emerged in the lead with a fresh set of tires.

Seeing Hamilton slip away, Russell was left to protect his position from Antonelli. They had jousted earlier in the race, before Antonelli eventually swept past.

Moments later, it all unraveled for Antonelli when he stopped and his shot at 18 points vanished.

Russell said his team will need to solve their mechanical issues, after he also had a late breakdown in Canada. He also had some nice words for Hamilton, his former teammate.

“It was a big bold move to join Ferrari and to see it paying off now is great to see, he is going to be a real threat,” Russell said.

Defending F1 champion Lando Norris was third in his McLaren, making it the first all-British podium since 1968.

Max Verstappen for Red Bull in fourth. Oscar Piastri, who won here last year, was fifth in the other McLaren.

Isack Hadjar of Red Bull was sixth, followed by Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto of Alpine. Liam Lawson and Avrid Lindblad rounded out the top 10.

Hamilton's teammate, Charles Leclerc, had to retire late when his Ferrari failed due to a hydraulic problem.

Alonso had a dismal day in what he said is likely his last race in northeastern Spain. The 44-year-old former champion started from the pitlane following an engine change after bottoming out in qualifying and then broke down in the race. Aston Martin’s other car, driven by Lance Stroll, retired early because of a gearbox issue.

This is the last race near Barcelona for two years. It will return in 2028 as it alternates on the F1 calendar with the Belgian GP at least through 2032.

___

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Police say the incident happened at around 10 p.m. on June 13.

According to authorities the man was found in the backyard of a home in the 13900 block of Arlington.

The incident is under investigation.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Detroit police department homicide section at 313-596-2260 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP

The ship’s crew also ignored eight shows of force by military aircraft that included fired flares and flyovers, as well as two final warnings before being fired upon Wednesday, according to the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Earlier in the week, the U.S. military said an American aircraft fired “precision munitions” into the engine room of the Palau-flagged vessel M/T Settebello. The incident in the Gulf of Oman killed three Indian sailors, Indian officials said.

The U.S. official described the vessel as a shadow fleet ship that has been used to illegally transfer Iranian oil and evade sanctions and was seen trying to break the blockade multiple times. The official noted that U.S. forces communicated with the ship dozens of times over two weeks before the day when the ship was disabled.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command said the military gave the crew 15 minutes to get out of the engine room before the shots were fired that disabled the ship.

“After being in place for more than 60 days, it should be clear by now that U.S. forces will strictly enforce the blockade,” the statement added.

India’s foreign ministry said New Delhi has lodged a “strong protest” with the United States.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told his Indian counterpart on Friday “that all commercial vessels should immediately comply with orders from U.S. forces as they seek to uphold peace and security in the Strait,” according to a summary of the call released by the State Department on Saturday.

Click here for the latest forecast from our 4Warn Weather team.

Here’s a list of the alerts by county.

Wayne County

• A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect until 1:45 p.m.
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Washtenaw County

• A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect until 1 p.m.

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• A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect until 1:45 p.m.

Livingston County

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Sanilac County

• No active weather alerts.

“Disclosure Day” opened largely as expected, collecting $92.9 million worldwide over its first weekend. That was good enough to give the 79-year-old Spielberg, who conceived the film's story, his best opening weekend for an original movie, not accounting to inflation.

Of course, Spielberg is the father of the modern blockbuster. But “Disclosure Day,” released by Universal Pictures, is his first summer movie in 10 years. And it opened in a much different movie world than once greeted “Jaws” or “Jurassic Park.” Its closest competition was the indie horror hit “Obsession,” directed by a YouTuber-turned-filmmaker, Curry Barker, more than 50 years Spielberg’s junior.

“It played very, very evenly across all of the U.S. and Canada,” said Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal. “It did not come across as a coastal big-market movie. It resonated with everybody.”

While a much-watched NBA finals game might have been expected to depress ticket sales, at least in New York, Orr said there was no noticeable dip in the city's box office numbers Saturday night.

After Gen Z propelled moviegoing for the last several weeks, a slightly older audience drove interest in “Disclosure Day.” Some 41% of moviegoers were aged 45 and up.

“What's encouraging is that we had this big an opening with that audience demographic and with the fact that it's an original film,” said Orr. “So if we're opening this well, and we think we're going to have great word-of-mouth, and we have an older audience that doesn't necessarily rush out on opening weekend, all of that points to a great run through the summer.”

“Disclosure Day” returns Spielberg to the subject of alien life. Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor and Colman Domingo star in a chase to reveal government evidence of UFO encounters. It cost $115 million to make.

While a good start, “Disclosure Day” — like most original movies — will depend on strong legs to be successful. Reviews (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have been strong, though audience response wasn't overwhelming. The movie landed a “B” CinemaScore.

“It's off to a solid start,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak. “Let's see how it plays in the coming weeks. If it holds like some of these other films have, like 'Project Hail Mary,' 'Michael,' ‘Obsession,' it will be in good shape. Staying power has been the bread and butter of this year and this summer.”

Meanwhile, the “Obsession” sensation continues. Though it originally opened with $17.2 million, the Focus Features release has exceeded that for four consecutive weekends. It did so again this weekend, collecting $19 million in ticket sales to bring its North American haul to $188.3 million and its worldwide total to $286.5 million.

Having cost less than $1 million to make, “Obsession” ranks among the most profitable releases in recent memory. Focus acquired it for $15 million.

Last weekend’s top film, “Scary Movie,” slid to third place with $14.5 million. The Paramount Pictures release, the sixth entry in the horror spoof franchise, dropped steeply from its opening weekend, down 73%. But with a modest production budget of $30 million, the Miramax-produced sequel is already a considerable success. Its two-week domestic total is $88.6 million.

A24’s “Backrooms” added $11.3 million domestically in its third weekend. It's rapidly grossed $262.3 million globally.

In its second weekend, Amazon MGM’s “Masters of the Universe” fell fast following a disappointing launch. Its box office dropped 71% with $8.7 million. Its two-week domestic total stands at $46.7 million

Next weekend, The Walt Disney Co.'s “Toy Story 5” opens with big expectations at the box office.

Top 10 movies by domestic box office

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:

1. “Disclosure Day,” $44 million.

2. “Obsession,” $19 million.

3. “Scary Movie,” $14.5 million.

4. “Backrooms,” $11.3 million.

5. “Masters of the Universe,” $8.7 million.

6. “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” $4.7 million.

7. “Michael,” $4.1 million.

8. “The Furious,” $2.8 million.

9. “Stop! That! Train!” $2 million.

10. “The Amazing Digital Circus: The Last Act,” $1.8 million.

In the end, he clearly was the right choice.

Brown is now a five-time NBA champion coach — four of those rings won as an assistant, the fifth coming as head coach of the Knicks. He joins only Red Holzman on the list of those who won titles as coach of the Knicks, and fittingly, he did it on June 13.

There's a banner in Madison Square Garden that says “Holzman 613” to commemorate his win total with the franchise. Brown won this title on 6/13.

“I’m pretty good at trying to control what I can control,” Brown said. “I had zero control over who else was interviewing, who was denied permission. I had zero control over that. I just did the best I could in the interview process. I went about my business and waited until it was either going to progress or end. ... I was pretty nonchalant about it as time went on. I just let it unfold the way it unfolded.”

Brown speaks fondly of his days with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, a place his family still calls home — and the place where the Knicks captured this title after topping the Spurs in five games. He raves about his years coaching with Steve Kerr in Golden State as well.

Brown was an assistant on the 2003 Spurs title team, then was with the Warriors for three more title runs. He was the NBA's coach of the year while with Cleveland in 2009; the Cavaliers wound up firing him. He was the NBA's coach of the year again while with Sacramento in 2023; the Kings wound up firing him, too.

But in New York, he's a legend for life now.

“Mike was invaluable to this run,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “He understands what it is to be a champion. He understands how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. We’re so grateful, so thankful to have him at the top. He kept us even so many times. He’s brought the best out of us, as people first. I’m so happy for him. He’s the reason why we’re here. He’s the reason why we’re here, and we’ve got love for him.”

Brown kept the mood light throughout the postseason push, didn't blink when the Knicks were down 2-1 in Round 1 to Atlanta after a pair of one-point losses, and always seemed to be the calm in the eye of the storm. Social media was blowing up with how Brown wasn't the right coach for the job when the Knicks trailed the Hawks.

New York went 15-1 from there. And a 53-year wait between titles is now over.

“I am so tired. I mean, I’m gassed,” Brown said. “You know, this stuff is harder than what you think.”

Maybe so, but he makes it look easy.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Detroit police say the hit-and-run happened on June 13 around 10 p.m. on West 7-mile Road and Wormer.

The man in his 40s was transported by Emergency Medical Services to a local hospital, say police.

According to authorities the man was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Roberto Vannacci 's “National Future” party is injecting uncertainty into the conservative bloc that has underpinned Meloni’s government, exposing tensions ahead of the 2027 general election.

Meloni's party has its roots in fascism and she campaigned as an EU-skeptic, prompting analysts to speculate she would be a hard-line nationalist if elected. Instead, she has been a pragmatic conservative leader with a more moderate, pro-European approach, which also ensured a period of unusually long stability for Italy.

In early September, if still in office, Meloni will become the longest-serving head of government in the 80-year history of the Italian Republic, surpassing the late Silvio Berlusconi.

A rival carving out space to her right could test her ability to hold that tack, analysts say. The question is no longer whether Vannacci will influence the vote, but whether Meloni can contain, co-opt or outmaneuver her challenger.

Vannacci calls his party the ‘real right’

“With us, Italy will once again be the home of Italians,” Vannacci said at his party’s founding assembly on Sunday. “Everyone must feel safe in their own home.”

One day earlier, he proudly described his core lawmakers as the “dirty dozen,” stressing his outsider role.

Vannacci, 57, emerged politically with his 2023 self-published book “Il mondo al contrario” (The World Upside Down), which drew controversy for harsh attacks on LGBTQ+ people, migrants and minorities.

He entered politics a year later with Matteo Salvini ’s anti-migration League, winning more than 530,000 preferences in European Parliament elections. He left the League in February to launch his Futuro Nazionale, a break Salvini called a “betrayal.”

Since then, Vannacci has consolidated support. The party says it has surpassed 100,000 members and now has eight deputies, including defectors from the League and centrist Forza Italia, underscoring unease within Meloni’s coalition.

He rejects the traditional “far-right” label, calling his movement the “real right,” and has accused Meloni of failing to turn shared priorities into policies. He's for now ruling out a possible alliance.

Vannacci platform centers on hard-line positions on security and migration, including calls for the “remigration” of foreigners he considers not integrated; opposition to EU policies such as the Green Deal; and criticism of Western sanctions on Russia.

Vannacci’s rise comes as far-right and nationalist parties gain ground across Europe, reshaping the political landscape and focusing on polarizing issues like migration and security.

A potential wild card

Analysts say Vannacci's rise in Italy reflects a political and cultural shift.

“He is commanding a sort of political raid for hard-right votes within the main parties of the coalition,” said Massimiliano Panarari, politics professor at University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. “Meloni’s strategy was to have no one to her right. Now she does.”

Panarari described Vannacci as “an entrepreneur of fear,” whose rhetoric pushes themes that Meloni can no longer openly embrace in government, like openly anti-gay and anti-feminist positions.

Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst and polling expert at YouTrend, said the development introduces “something new — an opposition from the right to the current government.”

“Now there is a force outside the majority that challenges it on popular issues like migration, security and culture wars,” he noted.

That shift carries electoral weight. Polls give Vannacci's party single-digit support, but that's a potentially decisive share when time comes for coalition building, given Italy’s main center-right and center-left blocs are so closely matched.

“They could be the difference between finishing ahead or behind,” Pregliasco said, describing Vannacci as a potential wild card.

Meloni has a tough choice to make

For Meloni, the dilemma is strategic.

“In terms of political debate, he introduces instability on the right,” Pregliasco said. “She and her allies must decide whether to absorb him into the coalition — but that would create problems.”

Addressing parliament earlier this week, Meloni accused Vannacci-aligned lawmakers of undermining the government and favoring the left, while her Brothers of Italy party and centrist allies have ruled out electoral agreements.

For now, Meloni has avoided direct confrontation, a strategy seen as both calculation and a bet that Vannacci’s momentum may fade.

“The issue is what to do with this loose cannon of Vannacci, which could drag the right back toward the far right,” Panarari said.

“I’m not sure it would benefit Meloni to shift further right before general elections. Her approach will likely be marked by ambiguity and ambivalence, as long as possible."

This week, the hard realities of the office have threatened to overshadow the ostentatious UFC mixed martial arts extravaganza, where combatants sealed inside a wire-mesh octagon try to punch, kick, chop and pummel each other into submission.

Trump has found himself boxed into an unpopular and costly war he helped start in Iran. An agreement to end the conflict could be close, but the crucial details are still to be negotiated. Meanwhile, about a mile from Trump's birthday bash, crews pried the president's name off the Kennedy Center after a judge ruled naming it after Trump had gone too far.

Regardless, the president will walk out of the White House and be surrounded by Cabinet leaders, top administration officials, Republican lawmakers and 4,000-plus spectators screaming themselves hoarse in a temporary arena under “ The Claw,” a spaceship-like metal arch fitted with lighting, sound equipment and large screens. Thousands more will be watching on big screens from the nearby Ellipse.

“This event is a one of one event, incredible event. I love it,” said UFC chief Dana White, a close friend of the president, during a Friday night hype session at the Lincoln Memorial where pairs of fighters shoved and scuffled for the cameras under the stoic gaze of Honest Abe’s marble likeness.

The president has sought to tie Sunday’s event — which features seven fights running past midnight — to larger, months-long celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

But it is much more geared toward feting himself, so much so that the G7 summit for leaders of industrialized nations pushed back their get-together so that the president could attend his cage-match party and then fly straight to France for the meetings.

The weather, though, could put a major damper on things. Strong thunderstorms and heavy lightning disrupted Friday's Lincoln Memorial event, and the forecast for Sunday evening also looks threatening.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing about the weather,” White declared on Friday, before conceding that he'll prefer to hold future UFC events inside arenas only.

A dramatic departure from how the last president marked his 80th

When Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, turned 80 in November 2022, he celebrated with a private family brunch at the White House, laying bare just how much and how quickly things have changed.

Asked about the contrast, White House spokesperson Allison Schuster said that the fight “will be one of the most entertaining nights in American history" and said that the timing was appropriate. “Having this spectacle take place at the people’s house on Flag Day during our nations’ semiquincentennial anniversary is a fitting tribute,” Schuster said in a statement.

When he turned 80, Biden was the oldest president in U.S. history, and was months away from launching a reelection bid that he would ultimately abandon after a disastrous debate against Trump and mutiny among Democrats concerned he was too old to handle a second term.

Trump has now supplanted Biden as the oldest person to be elected U.S. president. He’s constitutionally barred from running again, yet constantly toys with the notion publicly. That’s despite polls showing rising public skepticism about Trump’s mental and physical health — recalling concerns Biden faced as he turned 80.

A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted in April found that less than half of U.S. adults think Trump has the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively as president.

The White House countered with a lengthy statement from Trump's former White House physician, Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, saying Trump's “stamina, focus, and strength are exceptional and on display every day. Claims to the contrary are pure fiction.” Jackson added that polling concerns were “being propagated by the same biased, liberal, Trump-hating press that completely ignored the absolute cognitive and physical disaster that was President Biden.”

Trump has nonetheless undergone four publicly announced physical examinations this term alone, with White House physician Dr. Sean Barbabella recently declaring him in “excellent health.”

‘Bread and circuses’ — Trump-style

The UFC event is an apt metaphor for Trump's pugilistic political style. He is as big a fan of cage-match-style politics as he is of cage-fighting itself.

But Trump has also long been a master of political misdirection, purposely presenting people with something other than his presidency to focus on when things aren’t going well.

With the war in Iran grinding on despite weeks of assurances from Trump that its end is nigh, gas prices staying high, renewed concerns about inflation and plummeting job approval ratings for Trump — a White House birthday party unlike anything America has ever seen is definitely a diversion.

“This is all distraction,” said Mike Fontaine, a classics professor at Cornell University, who likened it to the gladiatorial games of Imperial Rome, when combatants brutalized each other for public entertainment meant to bolster rulers’ popularity and quell potential unrest.

“This is a classic strategy," Fontaine said. “In ancient Rome, the phrase would be, ‘bread and circuses.’”

Trump says the UFC is paying for the event and while its full costs haven't been divulged, the National Park Service said in a court filing that $60-plus million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have gone into it, while seven government agencies have “allocated significant resources and manpower.”

UFC also announced on Friday that it was adding as an official partner for the event World Liberty Financial to create a special $250,000 athlete bonus pool for Sunday night’s winners. The cryptocurrency company is co-owned by the Trump family, founded with the president’s special diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff and run by his son, Zach. The arrangement further blurs lines between the Trump family's financial interests and the events and construction projects the president has prioritized and used government resources to pull off.

Still, Fontaine said that when it comes to a personal flair for pageantry, the president’s second-term tendency to lean into “hardcore masculinity and brute fighting” is marrying the UFC's blood sport with Trump's trademark humor and enduring sense of showmanship.

“President Trump has a once-in-a-generation talent for this stuff,” he said.

The New York Knicks will be feted with a championship parade through the streets of Manhattan on Thursday after a postseason in which they successfully rallied from six double-digit deficits to win games in the playoffs, including all four of their victories in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

It continued the unprecedented run of NBA parity, with eight different franchises winning championships in the last eight seasons — Toronto in 2019, the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, Milwaukee in 2021, Golden State in 2022, Denver in 2023, Boston in 2024, Oklahoma City last year and now New York.

“To me, it just really speaks to the state of NBA basketball and the state of the future of the game," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "And now with this draft class coming in this year — again, not just the first pick, but a draft that’s considered the deepest in many years — there's so much talent everywhere. ... So, it’s a really bright future ahead for the league.”

It is, but every team is now chasing the Knicks. They had all the answers.

For 29 other franchises, at least on some levels, there seems to only be questions.

— Will Milwaukee really trade Giannis Antetokounmpo after 13 seasons, 10 All-Star selections, two Most Valuable Player awards and an NBA championship in 2021?

— Will LeBron James come back to the NBA for a 24th season? If so, will it be with the Los Angeles Lakers for a ninth year or will he look for a presumably final chapter elsewhere?

— What will Washington do with the No. 1 pick in the draft later this month?

— And who will coach in Chicago, Dallas and Portland?

Those are just some of the major issues facing teams around the league as summer gets underway. It's going to be hard for the Knicks to repeat, because it's hard for any team to repeat — as the Thunder found out this season.

“The history of the NBA is littered with teams that were not able to find ultimate success again,” Thunder general manager Sam Presti said. "I think there have only been three teams that have repeated since we’ve been in Oklahoma City, and the reasons for that are many, probably too many to list. But the fact is that it helps illustrate how rare and how special it is when you do have a chance to win at the highest level in this league or in professional sports in general.

"However, NBA history is also built on the backs of those teams that saw their losses as a continued quest for improvement and progress. Most importantly, they saw it as what competition boils down to, what it’s all about at any level of sports."

The Giannis question

Antetokounmpo, the biggest star in Milwaukee, will be eligible this fall for an extension that could be worth up to $275 million.

But the Bucks don't have a roster that's a championship contender. If they trade Antetokounmpo, they can essentially start over with what would be a slew of players and draft picks. If they keep him, there's no guarantee he'll be happy — because it seems like he's primarily interested now in trying to win more titles.

“I just think before the draft is a natural time, right, because if Giannis does play somewhere else we're going to get a lot of assets. ... You've got to get it right,” Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in May, when the team introduced new coach Taylor Jenkins — who was told that Antetokounmpo may or may not be with the franchise when next season starts.

The draft is next week. And logic would suggest that the Bucks — if they are going to trade Antetokounmpo — may do so at least a few days before the draft, so they have some specific idea of who to target with the capital that they'll get as part of whatever deal might go down.

Miami has been mentioned in the Giannis sweepstakes for months, and the Heat are involved in talks with the Bucks again.

LeBron watch

James has never gone into a summer with this much freedom.

He could stay with the Lakers. He could pick another spot. He could retire. He could demand a max salary. He could take less money to help a team out. Or he could just continue posting videos of chip-ins on Instagram; yes, James has the golf bug.

“When the time comes, you guys will know what I decide to do,” James said when the Lakers were eliminated this spring by Oklahoma City in a 4-0 sweep.

The Lakers have a lot of other decisions, including how to handle an extension for Austin Reaves. But getting some sense from James about his plans will surely go a long way toward having other moves fall into place.

The Spurs

Victor Wembanyama is eligible for a four-year extension that would top $250 million, and there's obviously no reason San Antonio wouldn't want to commit to keep the game's most fascinating player around. The extension would start in 2027-28.

There are some other roster spots to address, but the starters are under contract.

It will be interesting to watch how free agents view San Antonio as a destination, especially since the Spurs will go into next season as one of the favorites — if not the biggest one — for the 2027 NBA title.

“Competitiveness, that’s what makes you better,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “That’s what pushes you to continue to improve in the dark, long hours when nobody is around. We improved a whole lot this year. We have ... more motivation to continue to get better.”

Other top issues

— The NBA still hasn't revealed what, if anything, will come from an investigation by outside counsel into whether a $28 million endorsement contract between Kawhi Leonard and a California-based sustainability services company allowed the Los Angeles Clippers to circumvent league salary cap rules.

— Portland hasn't said who will coach next season, with interim coach Tiago Splitter still in the mix. Chicago and Dallas still have openings. It would seem advantageous to have coaches in place by the draft.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Athletes and older adults have long used smoothies and shakes blended with whey protein concentrate – a powdered byproduct of cheese-making – to build or maintain muscle. More recently, food companies have sprinkled it into everything from breakfast cereals, Pop-Tarts and potato chips to bagels, tortillas and Starbucks drinks to meet growing consumer demand.

The average U.S. supermarket now has 38,708 products advertising their protein content, according to NielsenIQ, a market research company. But the eagerness to appeal to ingredient-focused shoppers is causing shortages of food-grade whey protein and pushing prices to new records.

“Demand is very firm and seemingly outpacing supply for right now,” said Kathleen Wolfley, vice president of Ever.Ag Insights, a data provider and consulting company for the agriculture industry.

Wholesale prices for whey protein began rising in 2024, and the pace accelerated last year and so far this year, Wolfley said.

Whey protein concentrate with 80% protein – the type often used by food makers and supplement companies as a booster – is trading on the dairy commodities market at more than $13 per pound in the U.S., up 250% from a year ago, according to Ever.Ag. Whey protein isolate, a more refined vesion that contains at least 90% protein, is 150% more expensive than last year, the company said.

That's raising prices for consumers. U.S. prices for whey protein concentrate powder have increased by around 15% over the past year, while more premium whey isolate powder has seen steeper gains, according to Datasembly, a price-tracking company.

It’s a similar story in Europe. In late May, 80% whey protein concentrate hit a new record average of 26,450 euros ($30,518) per metric ton, a price more than double from less than a year earlier, according to DCA Market Intelligence, a Netherlands-based commodity pricing firm.

Here’s what’s happening with whey protein and when strained supplies might be alleviated.

Curds and whey

Milk contains two proteins: casein and whey. During the cheese-making process, the casein – which forms solid curds – is separated from the liquid whey, which is dried to form a powder. Every pound of cheese yields nine pounds of whey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

U.S. milk consumption has fallen for decades as Americans shifted to beverages like sodas. But the appetite for cheese remained strong, Wolfley said. A nation of cheese-eaters generated a lot of whey protein, and some of the excess used to be exported to China and other countries.

The domestic hunger for high-protein snacks and meals is now keeping more whey protein in the U.S. for use as a food additive or a nutritional supplement. U.S. exports of 80% whey protein concentrate and whey protein isolate to China fell 47% from January through April compared to the same four-month period a year ago, according to Vesper, an Amsterdam-based company that tracks commodity prices.

“There simply isn’t enough product for the U.S. customer, and exports have therefore been paused as much as possible,” said Jasper Endlich, a Vesper dairy analyst.

China is seeking more whey protein from Europe, which also is seeing shortages thanks to reduced U.S. exports, Endlich said.

Whey and weight loss

Use of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs is one of the factors that has supercharged demand for whey protein concentrate, Wolfley said.

Obesity drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound are designed to suppress the appetites of people taking them. The foods they do eat need to be nutritionally dense, experts say. GLP-1 users often are advised to consume enough protein to help them feel full for longer and to retain muscle mass as they lose weight.

Around 6% of obese and diabetic patients in the U.S. and 2% of obese and diabetic patients worldwide were using GLP-1 drugs last year, according to an estimate by the investment bank Morgan Stanley. Some estimates have put GLP-1 use as high as 12% of the U.S. adult population, since not everyone on GLP-1 drugs is obese or diabetic.

Food and nutrition companies are creating added-protein products to attract those consumers as well as people who think drinking protein shakes to replace meals will help them lose weight.

Pricey protein

Tight supplies and higher costs have caused some manufacturers to increase the prices consumers pay for protein powder or protein-enriched products.

Now Foods, an Illinois-based maker of health foods and nutritional supplements, said tubs of whey protein powder are consistently the biggest seller in its sports nutrition category. But after two years of paying more for raw ingredients, the company raised the price of its own whey protein products earlier this year.

Bryan Morin, the sports brand manager at Now, said the company doesn't anticipate further price increases on whey protein powder this year. It's trying to absorb some of its increased costs by cutting back on discounts. It's also considering expanding its portfolio to include products made with milk protein concentrate, a powder that contains less whey and is cheaper.

“From our perspective, broader market dynamics continue to indicate a tight and evolving protein landscape,” Morin said.

More on the whey

Wolfley, at Ever.Ag, said manufacturers are investing in whey protein production, which should eventually improve supplies. But the relief won't be immediate.

Glanbia, an Irish nutrition company, said in November that it planned to increase its whey protein isolate production in New Mexico, but the additional capacity won't be in place until 2027. In February, Canadian dairy company Agropur said it intended to increase whey protein manufacturing at plants in Quebec, Nova Scotia, South Dakota and Wisconsin by 2029.

In the meantime, higher prices could cause some consumers to stop buying whey protein powders, especially at a time when groceries are getting more expensive overall, Wolfley said. Reduced retail demand might reduce shortages at the wholesale level.

“The supply-demand dynamics could start to improve, but I don’t know if that’s a tomorrow dynamic or within a year. Some of these things are going to take time,” Wolfley said.

Israel says it is targeting Hamas and other militants who pose a threat, and in response to ceasefire violations, including occasional attacks.

Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire, according to the health ministry. Five Israeli soldiers have been killed since the truce.

The number of deaths since the beginning of the war is now 73,001, according to the health ministry's tally. Over 173,200 people have been wounded since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023, following the Hamas-led attack into Israel. That attack killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.

The health ministry, part of the Hamas-led government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally 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.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas.

Stalled ceasefire

The U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal reached in October ended full-scale military operations and led to the return of all the remaining hostages. But other elements of the deal have stalled as Hamas has refused to disarm and Israeli troops have advanced in Gaza, rather than withdrawn. Both sides accuse the other of violating the agreement but say it is still in effect.

Progress on all other issues — including reconstruction, Israeli troop withdrawals and the establishment of a new Palestinian government — is being held up by the deadlock over disarming Hamas, the top diplomat overseeing the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza, Nickolay Mladenov, has said.

The war displaced most of the Palestinian population of over 2 million, left large parts of the territory in rubble and created widespread shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies as the border crossings with Gaza — all but one controlled by Israel — slammed shut.

At least eight more Palestinians killed in the weekend

An Israeli strike on Sunday afternoon in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp killed at least four people and wounded others, according to health officials at the Shifa hospital, where the casualties were taken. An Israeli military official, who spoke anonymously in line with military guidelines, said the military “struck terrorists” in the area, without elaborating.

A 13-year-old boy was among five Palestinians killed in Gaza on Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday, according to Palestinian health officials. In response to the Saturday night strike that killed two of the five, the Israeli military claimed that it was striking Hamas militants.

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Magdy reported from Cairo.

The populist Swiss People's Party, which has the most seats in parliament, has stirred up and fostered anti-migration sentiment over the years, notably about an influx of workers from the neighboring European Union.

Some have dubbed the proposal a “Swiss Brexit” because it could jeopardize Switzerland’s deep ties to the European Union anchored by deals that foster economic growth, cultural ties and cross-border travel, among other things. Switzerland is not one of the EU’s 27 member states, but it is all but surrounded by four of them

Recent polling from the gfs.bern agency suggested that it could be a close contest.

Preliminary results shared by the federal government showed that nearly 55% of voters rejected the proposal, with nationwide turnout almost 59%. Results were still pending from many of Switzerland’s 26 cantons.

Right-wing party says Swiss way of life strained by growing population

The number of people living in Switzerland has soared by nearly one-quarter over the last generation, and foreigners today make up nearly one-third of the population.

Critics say the boom in migration has brought foreign labor and skills to sectors such as healthcare, finance, pharmaceuticals, and technology.

The right-wing party put forward the “sustainability initiative” measure, saying Swiss infrastructure, housing, social programs, natural resources and way of life have been strained by the spike in demographic growth.

The federal government, Parliament and EconomieSuisse, a major business association, oppose the idea.

In Geneva, Switzerland's second-largest city and a hub of U.N. institutions and humanitarian groups, early results showed about two-thirds of voters in the region opposed the measure.

Maria Lalu, a former diplomatic mission worker from the Philippines who arrived in Switzerland in the early 1980s, said she supported the proposal. “I have nothing against immigration. I also am a stranger,” she said after casting her vote, adding that she wants immigration to be more orderly.

Schoolteacher Natascha Robert said she voted against the bid, expressing concern that approval could hurt Switzerland's relationship with the EU. She also said Switzerland's growing diversity is an asset.

“I think people always have something to bring us," she said outside a polling station in the central Paquis neighborhood, emphasizing that she was born in Switzerland to two Swiss parents. “Does that mean that we have more foreigners, I feel less Swiss? Really, not.”

International migration is a controversial issue across Europe

Swiss democracy gives voters a direct say in policymaking through referendums typically held four times a year. Most ballots are cast through the mail, and in-person voting ended at noon local time on Sunday.

A “yes” vote would require the Swiss government to take action to cap the population by 2050.

If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government would be forced to restrict asylum, family reunification and residency permits, and may have to scrap Switzerland’s EU deal on the free movement of people.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has reported that Switzerland had a foreign-born population of 32% as of 2024, behind only Luxembourg and Australia among the group's 38 member countries.

International migration has long been a sensitive issue in Europe, as nations grapple with an aging population and increasing anti-foreigner sentiment. While that sentiment in other European countries centers on migrants from the developing world, most foreigners in Switzerland are Europeans.

Since Switzerland and the EU eased restrictions on citizens living and working across their borders in 2002, the Swiss population has grown by 23%, to 9.1 million as of the end of last year. Economic output has also increased, up 24% over the same period, government data show.

Swiss voters have repeatedly tackled the immigration issue over the last half-century. Only one such referendum — “Against mass immigration” in 2014 — narrowly passed, after campaigners stoked fears about overpopulation and rising numbers of Muslims in the country.

While many countries have limits on immigration, none has ever voted to limit its population, Swiss experts say.

A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that Omar Artan will still be entitled to payment despite not officiating any games at the near six-week long event. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

They said the fee would be determined after the tournament concludes next month.

Artan is one of soccer's top officials and was named Africa's best male referee in 2025. But the Somali national was denied entry after arriving at Miami International Airport from Istanbul last week.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Artan was “inadmissible due to vetting concerns”.

He had originally been issued a visa to travel to the U.S., according to the Somalia Embassy in Kenya, which processed it, and was due to meet up with other World Cup referees at their training base in Miami.

FIFA said it was not involved in the immigration processes and that the host government ultimately determines who is granted entry. As a result it said Artan would not be able to train and officiate at the World Cup.

The 34-year-old Artan was given a hero's welcome when he returned to Somalia earlier this week and vowed to attend the next edition of the World Cup — mainly staged in Morocco, Portugal and Spain - in 2030. He was also appointed to officiate one of European soccer's showcase games, the UEFA Super Cup in August.

“Football is made to connect people and UEFA wants to show its respect to Omar and his outstanding officiating skills,” UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said in a statement.

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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

Goalkeeper Patrick Beach made eight saves for the Socceroos in their group opener as FIFA President Gianni Infantino looked on. Australia was playing in its sixth straight World Cup and seventh overall.

Turkey reached the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup but then missed five straight tournaments before qualifying this year by beating Kosovo in a playoff.

Irankunda broke through for the Socceroos in the 27th minute with a low shot while pursued by three defenders. It came less than a minute after the first-half hydration break.

Irankunda celebrated by punching the corner flag in a tribute to Australian soccer legend Tim Cahill. The 20-year-old who plays for Watford is the Socceroo's youngest-ever goal scorer at a World Cup.

Minutes later Beach stopped Abdulkerim Bardakcı's blast from distance. Beach started in goal for the Socceroos rather than experienced counterpart Matthew Ryan in a surprise decision from coach Tony Popovic.

Irankunda said the Socceroos took issue with comments Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu made a day before the match, proclaiming that his side had “more qualities and a more talented team.”

“Yeah, it was extra motivation,” Irankunda said. “Obviously we don't like people to talk bad about us because we're a great team. People underestimate us.”

Kenan Yildiz, a 21-year-old who plays for Juventus, was not in the starting lineup but subbed in for Turkey at half-time.

Turkey had a dangerous free kick in the 57th minute, but Arda Güler's attempt was saved by Beach. Güler, a talented 21-year-old attacking midfielder who plays for Real Madrid, was not yet born the last time Turkey played in the World Cup.

Connor Metcalfe capitalized on Ismail Yüksek's turnover in the 75th minute to double the Socceroos' lead. The Socceroos fell to France in the opener in Qatar but then beat Tunisia and Denmark in their group before getting knocked out by eventual champion Argentina in the round of 16.

Turkey maintained 72% of possession during the match and outshot the Socceroos 30-9, but couldn't manage to score.

“I respect Australia very much. I was expecting that they would play in this way,” said Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella, who took the team to the quarterfinals of the European championships in 2024. “This is football. As for the critics, nobody has underestimated Australia, actually.”

It is the third World Cup appearance for the Turks, who reached the tournament for the first time in 1954.

The teams are in Group D with the United States and Paraguay. The Americans downed Paraguay 4-1 in their group opener on Friday in Los Angeles.

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

The Republican candidates are competing Tuesday for the chance to take on Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in one of the most closely watched campaigns in the November midterm elections. Collins has positioned himself as a stalwart ally of Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement, and the president said in his announcement early Sunday on social media that the trucking company owner and second-term congressman “has been with me from the very beginning” and is a ”true friend, fighter, and WARRIOR."

Dooley, a political newcomer, is backed by outgoing Gov. Brian Kemp, who has clashed with Trump in the past. “I don’t know Derek Dooley, and neither does anyone else, but he seems like a nice person,” Trump wrote, while noting that Dooley did not vote in 2016 or 2020, when Trump was on the ballot. Dooley has acknowledged going nearly two decades without voting but says he did vote for Trump in 2024.

Trump also complained that Dooley — accurately — said Trump lost Georgia in 2020, refusing to back the president's lie that the election was stolen from him.

Collins led Dooley in the May 19 primary but neither surpassed 40%, leaving many Republican votes up for grabs. Trump’s endorsement has proved powerful as he shapes a party identity that is increasingly indistinguishable from his own.

“Everybody knows that I do best with the MAGA base,” Collins said on primary night. “It’s because they know I’ve always been with President Trump.”

Still, the president’s choice puts him at odds with more traditional Republicans, including Kemp. The endorsement is reminiscent of Trump’s decision to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton before his victory over U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in the state’s recent primary runoff.

Dooley maintains confidence despite Trump's decision

Dooley responded to Trump's decision by saying Georgia voters want “a political outsider” rather than “typical D.C. politicians like Mike Collins.” In an X post, Dooley expressed confidence that he would win.

Collins has embraced Trump since his first campaign for Congress in 2022, and he has echoed the president’s false claims that his 2020 defeat to Democrat Joe Biden was fraudulent. Collins sponsored the Laken Riley Act, a 2025 law that requires immigrants be detained when charged with certain crimes. Republicans believe the issue damages Ossoff because he initially voted against the measure before supporting it after Trump returned to the White House.

Dooley — and Kemp as his top surrogate — argue that a first-time candidate has a better shot to defeat Ossoff, the only Democratic senator facing voters in a state Trump carried in 2024.

Kemp was the top choice of Senate Republican leaders looking for an Ossoff challenger. Kemp recruited Dooley, a childhood friend, to run instead.

Trump's uneasy relationship with Kemp

Trump’s choice to back Collins, and his insistence on bringing up the 2020 election again, puts the spotlight again on the president's uneasy relationship with Kemp. The governor resisted pressure from Trump not to certify Biden’s presidential electors before the Electoral College convened in December of the election year.

Trump repeatedly criticized at Kemp in the years after and backed a primary challenger, former Sen. David Perdue, against Kemp in 2022. Kemp trounced Perdue and coasted in the general election. By 2024, he and Trump managed a detente as Trump worked to return Georgia to the GOP presidential column.

But behind the scenes, it has been clear that the alliance was fragile and circumstantial. Kemp’s decision to recruit Dooley for the Senate in the first place, with an emphasis on the need for a political outsider, has itself been a subtle rejection of Trump’s domination of the party.

In his many campaign stops alongside Dooley, Kemp has reminded voters that Republicans have not won a Senate election in Georgia since 2016 — when Trump was first elected. Each time, the GOP nominee has fully embraced Trump.

Kemp and Dooley are scheduled to campaign again together Monday.

The governor points to a trio of first-term Republican senators — Montana’s Tim Sheehy, Pennsylvania’s Dave McCormick and Ohio’s Bernie Moreno — who defeated Democratic incumbents in 2024 running as outsiders who still aligned with the president.

Trump's primary track record

Dooley’s argument is matched against Trump’s winning streak inside the party. In a matter of weeks, Trump has celebrated victories over Republicans who did not pass his test of loyalty.

Cornyn lost to Paxton, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky lost to Ed Gallrein, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana failed to make a runoff and several Indiana state senators were defeated by challengers. But Trump was unable to lift U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra to victory in Iowa’s primary for governor.

Dooley has told voters he will “work with President Trump but fight for you.” He also emphasizes that Republicans have not won a U.S. Senate race in Georgia since 2016.

Collins walks no such tightrope, and he still insists that he can have wider appeal in the fall.

“You don’t beat Jon Ossoff by having no record,” he said. “You win by having a record of results.”

He grabbed it and lifted it skyward with a yell.

“I want to say something to New York,” Dolan shouted. “Hey New York! I'm sorry it took so long! But here we are, and hopefully it won't take that long again!”

The New York Knicks are champions of the NBA for the first time since 1973, beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games for this title. The clincher came Saturday night in a 94-90 victory, the Knicks' fourth comeback win of the series.

Some will say it’s the first “major” professional sports championship for New York in more than 14 years; that would be true when counting only Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NHL and the NBA, though it would be wrong to ignore the New York Liberty’s run to the 2024 WNBA title and New York City FC winning the MLS Cup in 2021.

But as far as the teams that have been part of the city’s fabric for generations and generations, yes, this 14-year drought is finally over. The New York Giants won the Super Bowl in 2012, capping the 2011 season.

The Yankees — the most decorated team in U.S. major pro sports history — haven’t won a World Series since 2009. The Mets haven’t brought a World Series title to New York since 1986. The Rangers last hoisted that trophy in 1994, the Islanders in 1983. The New York Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1969.

None of that matters, at least not right now. The Knicks — who won 13 consecutive games at one point in this playoff run and rallied from 29 points down to win Game 4 of the finals at MSG — are the toast of the town.

“Of course I've never seen anything like it, because it'd never happened before,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said of the Game 4 comeback in an interview on NBA TV on Saturday. “But it's been amazing."

The Amazin' Knicks, indeed.

A third title, finally

It took them 80 years — the Knicks won the first game in NBA history in 1946, three years before what was then the Basketball Association of America started being known as the National Basketball Association — but the franchise has now become the ninth that can say it has at least three championships.

Boston has 18, the Los Angeles Lakers have 17, Golden State has seven, Chicago has six, San Antonio has five, and Philadelphia, Detroit and Miami all have three.

Welcome to the club, New York.

“I enjoy watching these guys," Knicks legend Larry Johnson said. "The Garden is back. ... It’s back like when we played and made our little run. The city is behind us.”

It's a franchise that has gone through 24 different coaches and more than 400 players since what was, until now, the most recent championship season. Some of the game’s biggest superstars called Madison Square Garden home and couldn’t end the title drought, names like Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston, Bernard King and Carmelo Anthony.

The Knicks lost a Game 7 in the 1994 finals to Hakeem Olajuwon and Houston, then made a miracle run to the 1999 finals in a shortened season only to lose to San Antonio in five games — the first of what became five championships for Gregg Popovich and the Spurs.

“We didn’t get it done. ... I always say the third time is the charm,” former Knicks guard John Starks said.

Starks was right. It took the Knicks 27 years to get back to the finals, had the Spurs again standing in their way, and to fully flip the script, it was New York prevailing in five games.

MSG, a banner is coming

And finally, the world's most famous arena — which has raised banners for Billy Joel, Elton John and Harry Styles more recently than it had hoisted one for the Knicks — will be adding to the collection swaying from the rafters. If it follows form from the others, the banner will only have the Knicks logo, then 2025-26 World Champions beneath that.

A simple message. Getting to the place where the Knicks could say those words again, that wasn't so simple.

“There are a couple of franchises that are pretty iconic just because of the history that they have, the location that they’re in, sometimes even the building that they’re in,” said Knicks coach Mike Brown, who won this title in his first season with the club. "New York is definitely one of the few that you could say that to in all three facets.

“Everybody goes through their ups and downs. I don’t really think much about the tough times that they had, because everybody has tough times, including individuals. You just want to try the best you can to be a part of whatever you can to bring joy to the city, to the organization. At the end of the day, the chips are going to fall how they fall. I feel blessed, fortunate, lucky, to be a part of what is going on now.”

It is, to put it mildly, an interesting organization. Dolan — who rarely speaks publicly — isn't afraid of clashes, even including ones with former Knicks greats like Charles Oakley, who was at road games in this title run but has remained away from MSG for years. Leon Rose, the team's president, typically doesn't make himself available to reporters either. There is an absolute mystique around the team and how it operates.

It has not always worked. Over a 25-year stretch that ended with the 2021-22 season — not that long ago — the Knicks had the worst record in the NBA. In the four years since, starting with the acquisition of Jalen Brunson from Dallas, the Knicks have the NBA's fifth-best record.

And now, Brunson — the finals MVP — is the best player on the best team in the world.

“It means the world to me,” Brunson said.

Start spreadin' the news ...

And this year, as Frank Sinatra said, the Knicks are king of the hill, top of the heap. Some in the fan base grumbled when the Knicks declined to hang an NBA Cup championship banner after beating San Antonio for the in-season tournament title earlier this season. Turns out, the Knicks were just waiting for something better.

So, the 53-year wait is over. It was a very different league, and a very different game, in 1973.

There were 17 teams in the NBA that season, barely half of the 30 that there are now. Teams called places Buffalo, Baltimore, Kansas City-Omaha and Seattle home then; the league has expanded many times since, adding 13 teams in nine different states, plus Canada and the District of Columbia.

The top salary in the league then was about $380,000, or roughly $2.9 million in today’s dollars. There was no 3-point line then, no multi-billion-dollar television deal, no international players.

The Knicks flew home on a United Airlines flight from the 1973 title clincher in Inglewood, California, and officials at Kennedy Airport expected what was then called a “rabid” crowd of fans present to greet the plane. They braced for “hundreds” of people that day.

This celebration might be a little bigger.

“To have the fans that we have in New York City and be able to bring home a championship after all these years is absolutely amazing,” Brown said. “It’s a surreal feeling.”

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno in New York contributed.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

Three babies between 2 and 5 months became ill in April and May in California, Pennsylvania and Washington after consuming Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Powdered infant formula, which is also sold on Nara.com, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

They were hospitalized and treated with the FDA-approved treatment for infant botulism, the agency said.

Infant botulism is a rare but serious illness that occurs in babies under age 1, whose gut microbiomes are immature. It is caused when infants consume bacteria with spores that produce a toxin in the gut.

Symptoms include constipation, poor feeding, drooping eyelids, weak muscle tone, difficulty swallowing and breathing problems, among others.

Babies who develop those symptoms need immediate medical attention. The sole treatment is BabyBIG, an IV medication made from blood plasma of people immunized against botulism.

Nara Organics Whole Milk Organic Infant Formula makes up less than 1% of all infant formula sold in the United States, and the outbreak does not create shortage concerns for parents and caregivers, the FDA said.

People who have the formula are urged to stop using it immediately, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said in a statement. The formula is manufactured in Europe but sold only in the U.S., it added.

The CDC recommended that anyone with an opened can take a picture, record the lot number and use-by date and watch their infants for symptoms.

“Label it ‘DO NOT USE’ and keep it stored in a safe place away from other items you feed your baby for at least a month,” the CDC said. “If no symptoms appear after a month, throw the leftover formula away.”

Against the backdrop of a 3-month-old war with Iran that’s been broadly unpopular with Americans and has rattled global oil markets and with inflation spiked to the highest level since April 2023, the White House — long known as the people’s house and a symbol of American democracy — opened its backyard Sunday night to stage a bruising UFC card on the South Lawn.

More than $60 million and tens of thousands of hours of labor have been poured into building the arena, according to a court filing from the National Park Service, which oversees the South Lawn.

UFC is staging seven fights with all male fighters under the Freedom 250 banner to celebrate Trump’s 80th birthday and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.

The fight card headlined by two title fights on Paramount+ is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. Eastern.

It’s the pinnacle of the relationship between UFC CEO Dana White and Trump that has yielded personal, political and financial dividends for both parties in a relationship that goes back 25 years. White's first card as UFC president came in 2001 at an event held at Trump Taj Mahal.

Trump has attended four UFC cards as sitting president, walking to the cage amid rock music and patriotic chants from fans much like the fighters themselves. White introduced Trump at two Republican National Conventions. White also attended the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April that was cut short by a shooting.

In a card that has been panned by fans online as underwhelming, Alex Pereira of Brazil will meet Ciryl Gane of France for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Spanish-Georgian lightweight champion Ilia Topuria then takes on interim champ Justin Gaethje, one of just two Americans who currently hold even a share of the UFC’s 11 championship belts.

There are five other fights on the main card that include former title-fight participants Michael Chandler and Derrick Lewis and former 135-pound champion Sean O’Malley.

White said the show will go on rain or shine. Strong thunderstorms and heavy lightning disrupted Friday’s Lincoln Memorial promotional event, and the forecast for Sunday evening also looks threatening.

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AP MMA: https://apnews.com/hub/mixed-martial-arts

Royal Marine commandos rappelled from helicopters onto the vessel, the Smyrtos, in the English Channel, in what the country’s Defense Ministry called “the first U.K.-led operation of its kind.”

The vessel will be held and monitored off the south coast of England for investigation, according to the Defense Ministry. The operation was carried out “in close coordination” with French authorities, who have previously intercepted a number of vessels linked to the “shadow fleet.”

“This operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fueling Putin’s war in Ukraine that they cannot hide,” Starmer said.

Russia is believed to be using a fleet of hundreds of ships to evade sanctions over its war against Ukraine.

Sailing under a Cameroon flag, the Smyrtos left the Russian Baltic port of Ust-Luga on June 5 destined for Port Said, Egypt, according to the MarineTraffic website.

U.K. authorities said that such operations were “directly bearing down on the resources sustaining Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and reducing its capacity to threaten security across Europe and beyond."

Ukraine President Voldymyr Zelenskyy thanked Starmer and the British people for their “principled resolve.”

“It was Russia’s hubris, fueled by high oil and gas revenues, that paved the way for this war, and every decision by partners that deprives Russia of money also limits the war itself," Zelenskyy said on X.

“Europe urgently needs to take legislative steps to enable not only the detention of tankers and restrictions on oil shipments, but also the confiscation of the oil they carry.”

SUNDAY NIGHT: Mainly clear skies. Cool temperatures. Low: 51.

MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies. Remaining cool. High: 75.

MONDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Low: 54.

TUESDAY: Partly cloudy skies, a chance of showers and thunderstorms. High: 77.

After plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures to start the weekend, we bring colder changes into the forecast with a few thunderstorm chances looking ahead into the end of the weekend on Sunday.

The cloud cover moved in overnight last night and early on Sunday morning, and while we are tracking a few thunderstorms to start the day, we will dry things out, looking ahead into the afternoon and evening hours. High temperatures running into the middle 70s by Sunday afternoon.

High-pressure will be back into the region, looking ahead into the start of next week, which means we will keep plenty of sunshine in the forecast. High temperatures remaining in the mid 70s by Monday afternoon.

Chances for showers and thunderstorms, returned to the forecast, looking ahead into the middle of next week. But I don’t think any of the days that we have thunderstorms into the forecast. Looking ahead into the middle of next week will be complete washouts.

High temperatures will gradually get warmer looking ahead into the middle of next week as well. Expect temperatures to warm into the middle to upper 70s on Tuesday and then hold into the upper 70s from Wednesday and then next Thursday.

Drier weather moves back into the forecast looking ahead into the end of next week and start of next weekend. Expect mostly sunny skies both Friday and Saturday. High temperatures remaining into the upper 70s through the end of next week.

Now the question is whether Carolina will close the deal and win the Stanley Cup.

That answer could come Sunday night when the Hurricanes take a 3-2 series lead into their game at Vegas, facing a Golden Knights team that held the Cup aloft just three years ago.

Should the Hurricanes prevail, it will be their second Cup and first since winning it all 20 years ago when current coach Rod Brind'Amour captained that club.

He has kept the Hurricanes competitive, but as well as they played in the regular season, they couldn't get out of the East. They lost in the conference final two of the past three years before finally breaking through this year with a five-game series victory over Montreal.

Now Carolina is 60 minutes from potentially winning it all, but the Hurricanes do have some margin for error. They can lose and still win the Cup on home ice Wednesday in a winner-take-all Game 7.

Vegas coach John Tortorella boldly pronounced after Thursday's 4-2 loss in Game 5 that he was leaving his clothes at his North Carolina team hotel in anticipation of a return trip.

It might not have been Mark Messier's guarantee before the Rangers defeated the Devils in the 1994 Eastern final, but should the Golden Knights win the title, Torts' declaration will be up there in Las Vegas lore with team owner Bill Foley's “Cup in six” pledge that came to fruition in 2023.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The verdict was read just after 11 a.m. on June 11. Burke visibly fought back tears as the verdict was delivered.

The families of the two men killed left the courtroom visibly upset.

The crash

On Sept. 30, 2024, Burke was driving his patrol vehicle at approximately 114 mph, without emergency lights or sirens activated, when his cruiser slammed into a Dodge Durango that was turning left onto Prospect Avenue in Warren.

Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis died as a result of the collision.

Burke faced four charges: two counts of manslaughter with a motor vehicle, one count of moving violation causing serious impairment of body function, and one count of willful neglect of duty.

After seven days of testimony and evidence, the jury returned not guilty verdicts on all four counts.

The case

The trial centered entirely on one question: Did Burke’s high-speed driving constitute criminal gross negligence, or was the crash an unavoidable accident caused by an impaired driver?

Prosecutors argued Burke operated his vehicle with gross negligence, telling jurors the crash did not have to happen.

Defense attorneys countered that Hayden was heavily intoxicated and made an improper, unexpected left turn directly in front of the cruiser.

Curtis argued that Burke acted entirely within his training.

Family Reaction

The verdict drew an immediate and emotional response from the families of the two men who died.

“That’s B***s***. That’s B***s***,” one person said as the verdict was read.

Theresa Ford, Hayden’s mother, said the outcome felt deeply unjust.

“We have no justice because my son is gone. His best friend gone, and the officer has been at home enjoying his family, and it’s not bringing my son back or his friend,” Ford said.

Cedric Hayden Sr. also questioned whether the full picture emerged at trial.

“We didn’t get a fair trial. They didn’t show all the evidence they should’ve shown. I don’t think they even tried to show the evidence,” Hayden said.

Burke’s family calls verdict long overdue

Burke’s father, Jim Burke, said his son and the family endured nearly two years of hardship since the charges were filed, and that the jury’s swift return sent a clear message.

“To get not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, that quick sends a huge message of how outrageous this case was,” Jim Burke said.

He credited the jury, not the prosecutor’s office, with protecting the residents of Macomb County.

“The prosecutor’s office was not protecting the people of this county; those 12 wonderful people were protecting the residents of this county, and we are eternally grateful for them,” Jim Burke said.

Jim Burke described his son as a decorated officer with a “heart of gold,” saying he is relieved James will not be separated from his fiancée and daughter.

Civil suits still pending

The acquittal does not end the legal battle. Figer Law has filed two separate $100 million wrongful death lawsuits in Macomb County Circuit Court against the City of Warren and the officers involved, one on behalf of Cedric Hayden Jr.’s family and one on behalf of Dejuan Pettis’s family.

Attorney James Harrington, who represents the families in the civil case, said a very different legal fight is ahead.

“So there will be round two, and this time, I’ll be there. I’ll be there with the family, and we will be able to put on the real evidence,” Harrington said.

The civil case is currently in the discovery phase, with depositions underway.

The burden of proof in a civil case differs significantly from a criminal trial, requiring only a preponderance of the evidence rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Prosecutor respects verdict

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido issued a statement following the verdict.

“We respect the jury’s verdict and thank the jurors for their service.

Our office pursued this case based on the evidence and presented the facts for the jury’s consideration.

While the jury reached a different conclusion than the prosecution advocated, we remain committed to seeking justice on behalf of victims and their families.

We are mindful of the profound loss suffered in this case and extend our continued thoughts and support to those affected.”

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido

Of course, Brunson parted with more money than any of those fans.

Brunson is now an NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP in large part because of what he did against the San Antonio Spurs in the finals — though, really, his biggest contribution to this title run likely came in 2024, when he left as much as $113 million on the bargaining table to allow the Knicks the financial flexibility they needed to finish building a championship roster.

It was considered an unprecedented move.

It paid off.

Brunson had 45 points — including 13 straight down the stretch — to lead the Knicks to a 94-90, title-clinching win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night, one that sealed a 4-1 win.

“I knew it was achievable,” Brunson said.

It was a storybook finish to a story like none other; not only did Brunson make the Knicks champions, he made his dad one as well. Rick Brunson played for the Knicks, and now is an assistant coach on his kid’s team.

“I have all of his trophies,” Rick Brunson said. “He has not one trophy at his house. I’m going to get his MVP trophy, too.”

A Big Apple legend for life

Brunson now has a seat at the table of sports kings of New York, alongside the likes of Derek Jeter, Eli Manning, Mark Messier and others. Deliver a championship to the Big Apple and you get celebrated for life. Brunson doesn’t seek attention — in fact, he genuinely seems to dislike it — but such is the risk one takes when he leads a storied franchise to its first title in more than half a century.

There was no doubt Jalen Brunson would win finals MVP. Knicks coach Mike Brown doesn't understand why he wasn't among the top vote-getters for the regular-season MVP as well.

“I hope you guys will listen to me: He's a top-three MVP candidate,” Brown said, holding his grandson on his lap in the championship celebration. “Everybody kind of mentions his name in passing. They don't do it seriously enough. ... He is a fricking 1-A. He is a MVP candidate and I hope tonight you guys recognize what this man is about.

“He is him.”

There are countless reasons why the Knicks have turned their fortunes around over the last four seasons, but the list starts with Brunson. New York had four winning seasons in a 21-year span before Brunson arrived; the Knicks have had four winning seasons in the four years that he’s worn the franchise’s colors. They’ve now won eight playoff series with Brunson in the lineup; they won seven series, total, from 1998 through 2022.

He’s a bona fide superstar as well, with three consecutive All-Star selections and three consecutive seasons in which he’s averaged at least 26 points. The only other players to do that in each of the last three years — be an All-Star and average 26 points in every one — are Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

They’ve all been NBA champions, too. So, now, is Brunson.

“He’s a tremendous player that’s skilled, picks his spots, knows his angles, shoots contested shots without being sped up,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said earlier in the finals. “He’s a phenomenal player.”

Another title won in Texas

Texas has been good to Brunson when it comes to titles. Villanova's 2016 championship was won in Houston, and the 2018 championship came in San Antonio — at the Alamodome, just a few minutes away from the arena that the Spurs call home.

Oddly, Texas wasn't always that good to Brunson as a pro — which is how he ended up in New York.

Brunson joined the Knicks in 2022 after leaving Dallas, which didn't offer him a contract anywhere near what the Villanova guard felt he deserved.

And then, two years later, Brunson took far less than he'd earned.

In 2024, Brunson signed a four-year extension with New York that could be worth $156.5 million if he accepts his option for the 2028-29 season. If Brunson waited until 2025 for his extension, he would have been eligible for a five-year, $269 million deal.

Brown said, if he was in that position, he wouldn't have taken the discount deal.

“He set the bar before he even stepped on the floor,” Brown said.

Brunson will almost certainly recoup some if not all of that money in his next extension, one that could top $300 million — possibly by a lot. But by passing up the much larger guarantee then, he provided the Knicks with the ability to make other moves that are paying off now.

And among the ones that followed his June 2024 decision: The Knicks brought in starters Mikal Bridges (a former Villanova teammate) and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Could all that have happened if Brunson didn’t accept the smaller extension? Maybe, but unlikely.

“I think he’s still underrated in the league, and he keeps proving people wrong, game by game, series by series, playoff appearance by playoff appearance,” said Knicks forward Josh Hart — one of the ‘Nova Knicks,’ the moniker given to the trio of himself, Brunson and Bridges, all NCAA champions at Villanova who have now become NBA champions in New York. “As a friend, as a teammate, it’s funny because you know he’s one of the best players in the league, and you’re happy that he’s starting to get some recognition.”

He’s getting more than some recognition. He’s getting a ring.

“Just thankful that this opportunity presented itself,” Brunson said, “and we were able to get it done.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

The Wemby era of the NBA is fully underway, with the 7-foot-4 French star unanimously winning the Defensive Player of the Year award this season, finishing third in the Most Valuable Player balloting and making first-team All-NBA for the first of what could be many, many times if all goes according to his plan.

But the ultimate moment has escaped his grasp for the second time in three years. In 2024, he tearfully watched the U.S. celebrate winning Olympic gold at the Paris Olympics — and now, he relived that moment by seeing the New York Knicks celebrating their first championship in 53 years by winning Game 5 of the NBA Finals in San Antonio on Saturday night.

“This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment,” the 22-year-old Wembanyama said. “I can’t tell you exactly what the lesson is, but we’re learning from that, for sure. I’m learning more than any other time in my life before.”

His numbers in the finals: 26 points, 11.2 rebounds. 3.6 blocks per game. They were good, just not good enough.

And his series, fairly or unfairly, will also be remembered for some mistakes: The turnover that led to Jalen Brunson’s go-ahead free throw in New York’s Game 2 win (a game where Wembanyama missed a jump shot to win at the buzzer); and missing a pair of crucial free throws with 1:47 left in Game 4, the one where the Spurs wasted a 29-point lead and lost by one in what became the biggest collapse in finals history. The Spurs wasted double-digit leads in all four losses, including a 16-point cushion in what became the season finale.

“The margin of error is very thin,” Wembanyama said. “Our domination stints are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes, are punished so hard that we can’t have ups and downs like this. ... The ups are OK. The downs are the reason we lost.”

It's only Year 3 for Wemby. It's not like every star wins right away.

It took Michael Jordan seven seasons to win his first championship. LeBron James needed nine years. Jerry West needed 12 years for his one and only title. John Stockton and Karl Malone never got one. Charles Barkley, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony didn’t get one, either.

“He’s definitely the future of this league, man,” Knicks legend Larry Johnson said during the series when asked about Wembanyama. “He’s a heck of a ballplayer.”

Wembanyama knows the history, knows that it took some of the greatest to ever touch a ball several years to win a title.

Doesn't mean he likes it.

“It’s painful. It’s painful,” Wembanyama said. “But I’m not running away from that. I’m using it to fuel me. ... I’m not satisfied with not winning. But as I said, this is the biggest lesson of my life. As a team, there’s no better experience than what we just lived.”

His numbers are like almost nothing the game has ever seen before. There have been four seasons in NBA history where someone had 150 blocks, 150 assists and 100 3-pointers. Chet Holmgren did it for Oklahoma City in 2023-24, and the other three instances are all from Wembanyama — who has hit those totals in each of his first three seasons.

“I think for a lot of people, this team seems to be ahead of schedule,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Saturday on NBA TV. “I don’t think they feel that way. I’m amazed at Victor. Not just his play on the floor, but he’s such a curious young man. He’s a pleasure to talk to. He’s very worldly. I mean, he’s got amazing interests off the floor. He’s really dedicated to his craft and he’s got such a bright future ahead of him.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba

For the first time in 53 years, New York rules the NBA. Brunson scored 45 points, including 13 straight for New York in the fourth quarter, and the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night.

The Knicks won the series 4-1, rallying from double-digit deficits in all four of those victories. The deficit was 16 on Saturday night. Brunson and the Knicks were never fazed.

“I have no words,” Brunson, the NBA Finals MVP, said during the on-court celebration. “It's everything I ever dreamed of.”

Brunson, fittingly, closed with a flourish. He set a Knicks record for points in a finals game; it had been 38 by Willis Reed against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3 of the 1970 series. It now belongs to the left-handed point guard who changed the franchise’s fortunes when he arrived four years ago.

“It's surreal,” Knicks coach Mike Brown, who was hired a year ago — making him the franchise's 24th coach since the franchise's last championship in 1973. “I still can't believe it's happened.”

Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — the other two parts of the “Nova Knicks” trio that also includes Brunson, three players who were NCAA champions at Villanova and teamed up in New York to try to do the same — combined to score 27 points. Bridges had 14, Hart 13.

“I don't know what I'm feeling,” Brunson said. “I'm in awe. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it.”

Dylan Harper scored 25 for the Spurs, who got 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots from Victor Wembanyama.

“This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment,” Wembanyama said. “I can't tell exactly what the lesson is, but we're learning.”

The Knicks improved to 4-0 in closeout opportunities this season, winning them all on the road. It didn't feel like the road, though — not with thousands of New York faithful having made the trip to Texas to see a moment 53 years in the making.

And back home, on the streets of the Big Apple, celebrations broke out everywhere. Fireworks lit up the night sky, people honked horns on jampacked streets and firefighters — from their trucks — slapped high-fives with delirious fans.

“HISTORY,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote on social media, then added that the Knicks' championship parade will be Thursday.

New York got to the brink of this title by rallying from 29 points down in Game 4 to win 107-106 on OG Anunoby's tip-in with 1.2 seconds left on Wednesday night. It was the largest comeback in NBA Finals history and the biggest comeback in any game this season, regular season or playoffs.

By comparison, then, a 16-point rally in this one seemed easy. And San Antonio had to shuffle off into the offseason, listening to Knicks fans celebrating in their building.

“We weren’t ready to win an NBA championship,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “The better team won. We did a lot of good things, and we didn’t finish the job. That’s what it is.”

The game followed the same script in the opening minutes as all the others in the series, with the Spurs taking a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then frittering most of it away in the second quarter.

The Spurs became the first team in the play-by-play era, which started in the 1996-97 season, to lead five finals games by 10 points or more in first quarters.

The Knicks simply could not make a shot, missing on 16 of their first 18 tries and each of their first 11 two-point attempts. There even was a point in the second quarter when Wembanyama had more blocked shots (five) than the Knicks had made shots (four). San Antonio’s lead was as many as 10 in the first quarter, as many as 16 in the second.

Of course, none of it mattered much. As always, the Knicks came back.

A 22-9 run in the second quarter got New York within three, before Devin Vassell scored just before the halftime buzzer to give San Antonio a 42-37 edge at the break.

And that capped an opening 24 minutes of either offensive ineptitude or defensive prowess, depending on perspective. The 79 combined points in the first half were the lowest in a finals game since Game 7 of Lakers-Celtics in 2010, and the combined 31.8% field goals shooting by the Knicks and Spurs was the lowest in the first half of a finals game in the play-by-play era.

Brunson won NCAA crowns twice with Villanova — both in Texas, the 2016 one in Houston and the 2018 one in San Antonio, just a few miles away from the arena that the Spurs call home.

A Texas three-step of titles, and this one was surely the sweetest of all.

“It's why I came to New York,” Brunson said.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

No surprise there. Imagining Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong brainstorming with U.S. President Gerald Ford and other leaders would have been unthinkable.

China was in turmoil, nowhere close to becoming the economic giant it is now. Mao had also helped defeat France and U.S. forces in Vietnam, by militarily supporting Ho Chi Minh's communists that took power. So Mao would have been the odd man out had he been at the inaugural Rambouillet summit of six nations, growing into the G7 when Canada joined the following year.

But as U.S. President Donald Trump and his G7 counterparts gather again in France from Monday, China’s exclusion from the informal club's summits also looks odd, given its now immense sway over the world's economic well-being and affairs.

Put simply: Without China, does the G7 make sense?

Here's a closer look:

By the numbers, China would be a shoo-in

If determined only by economic success, China would already be in the club.

Its economy, swollen by decades of growth since Mao's death in 1976, now dwarfs those of G7 nations Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada — leaving only the United States to catch. By this measure, a G7 summit without China is arguably like a soccer World Cup without 5-time winner Brazil.

From being “only a tiny, benign, panda bear” in 1975, ”China has become a great global dragon," says John Kirton, a University of Toronto specialist on the G7.

“So many understandably ask: Would the G7 and the global community be better off if China became a member of the G7 club? A plausible answer is ‘Yes.’”

But it's only for democracies

A year ago, Trump mused about possibly expanding the club to include China, saying “ it’s not a bad idea " when a journalist asked him.

But an unwritten G7 rule has always been that it's only for democracies.

“We are each responsible for the government of an open, democratic society, dedicated to individual liberty and social advancement,” the founding leaders declared in Rambouillet in 1975.

China wouldn’t have cleared that bar then, during Mao’s rule that claimed many millions of lives through famine and revolutionary upheaval.

Nor, under President Xi Jinping, would China do so now. By multiple measures, including the annual Freedom in the World study the World Press Freedom Index or the Canadian Fraser Institute's ranking of economic freedom, China lags far behind G7 nations for civil liberties.

China a priority subject for the G7

China’s clout impacts all G7 countries, in myriad ways. It sells far more goods than it buys, announcing a record trade surplus of almost $1.2 trillion in 2025, which is a source of friction with other industrial powers. It controls supplies of crucial rare minerals. Its technological advances and growing military strength are giving rivals cold sweats. And it is the world’s biggest emitter of climate-warming pollution.

All this means that China will be an elephant in the room at the Monday-to-Wednesday summit in the Alpine spa town of Evian-les-Bains.

As host, French President Emmanuel Macron has carved out time for the leaders to talk about how to rebalance trade with China, amid fears that soaring Chinese exports of cars and other products could wreck G7 industries.

The chemistry between Trump and other G7 leaders has been bad of late — over the Iran war and other bones of contention — but China could be an issue that unites them, said Cédric Dupont, who specializes in international politics at the Geneva Graduate Institute.

“They agree on the same thing, you know: China is a problem,” he said.

Beijing looking on warily

China's Communist Party-led government has in the past criticized the G7's exclusiveness and painted it as a relic of the Cold War when the world was more divided along ideological lines.

But in a statement to The Associated Press ahead of the Evian gathering, the Chinese Foreign Ministry took a more nuanced view, saying “the G7 should serve as a catalyst for solidarity and cooperation rather than an amplifier of division and confrontation.”

Beijing-based analyst Wang Zichen says that “Beijing is wary of the G7 because it sees the group as structurally aligned with U.S.-led Western power, and increasingly as a venue where China is discussed as a challenge or threat.”

But Chinese leaders cannot ignore it.

“China recognizes that the G7 still represents a very significant concentration of economic, technological, military and financial power," said Wang.

China seen as a threat to G7 cohesion

Analysts say that admitting China into the club could wreck its cohesion, not only because Beijing’s authoritarian system of government, interests and its positions on Russia, Iran and other major issues don’t align with those of G7 democracies but also because its presence could test their long-standing alliances.

“China inside would indeed be a Trojan horse,” said Kirton. With a Chinese leader at the table, “individual members might be tempted to break G7 ranks to secure special favors from him on the economic, critical minerals, digital technology and other issues they address.”

Chris Alden, an international relations expert at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said that adding China “would make it very difficult for it to function.”

Russia's example is also a barrier to China

The G7's last expansion — accepting Russia as a member in 1998 — didn't end well.

The club froze out Russian President Vladimir Putin when he seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, foreshadowing the full-scale war now raging since 2022.

Trump said last year that excluding Russia “was a very big mistake.”

But Kirton said the experience convinced other leaders "that they should never take a chance on a less than fully democratic power becoming a full member of their fully democratic club again.”

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Associated Press writers Ken Moritsugu and E. Eduardo Castillo in Beijing and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.

So far the sport's biggest stage has brought him — and the Scots — a lot more luck.

John McGinn deflected a shot off an opposing defender and past goalkeeper Johny Placide in the 28th minute, and Scotland defeated Haiti 1-0 in Group C of the World Cup on Saturday.

“When it went into the back of the net, you could feel the Scotland fans,” McGinn said.

Scotland, making its first appearance in the tournament since 1998, earned its first World Cup victory since 1990, when it beat Sweden 2-1.

“We came here to get three points. We did and now we move on,” Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson said.

Getting those crucial points did a lot more than that.

Group favorites Brazil and Morocco played to a 1-1 draw earlier in the day, putting Scotland at the top of the group standings.

“We obviously have a little less pressure than everyone put on us in this game," Clarke said. “They deserve to be the team that finally got in under their belt in the World Cup.”

Haiti, whose only other World Cup appearance was in West Germany in 1974, is still in search of its first World Cup point. The Grenadiers had multiple chances in the second half but couldn't quite equalize.

"We’re playing at an extremely high level. But you can get punished with one oversight,” Haiti coach Sébastien Migné said.

McGinn’s goal came off a rebound from Che Adams’ miss in the box that bounced off Placide and into open space. McGinn’s shot ricocheted off a defender from 13 yards out.

Scotland’s Tartan Army supporters were out in mass, creating a wave of red inside a filled in Gillette Stadium, located about 30 miles outside Boston.

Scotland came close to a goal in the 17th minute when captain Scott McTominay got loose and fired a shot that clipped the top of the post.

Haiti had its best opportunities in the second half. In the 74th minute, Ruben Providence sent a cross in to Wilson Isidor, but the forward came up empty on his attempt to direct the ball in.

Then in the 84th, Frantzdy Pierrot, who moved from Haiti to Boston at the age of 11, hit a header that went a wide of the left side.

Scotland stays in town to play Morocco at Gillette Stadium on Friday. Haiti will next face Brazil on Friday in Philadelphia.

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

Alabama Republican Party leaders are scheduled to meet Sunday in a closed-door hearing to determine if he has lived in the state long enough to lead it. Tuberville’s former primary opponent, Ken McFeeters, filed a challenge arguing that Tuberville does not meet the Alabama Constitution’s seven-year residency requirement.

“Does he live in Alabama? No,” McFeeters said. “He doesn’t live here.”

Tuberville, who easily defeated McFeeters in last month's primary and has been endorsed by President Donald Trump, has called the challenge a joke and said he meets the requirement to serve.

“We’re happy to put the residency issue to bed," campaign chairman Jordan Doufexis said earlier this month. He added that “it’s time to provide the facts and move on.”

Property tax records show Tuberville and his wife own a beach home in Florida valued at $5.6 million. His campaign has said his residence is a home in Auburn. The 1,551-square-foot property has an appraised value of about $291,780.

The Auburn home was purchased by his wife and son in 2017. The senator’s name was later added to the property, and the son’s name removed. Both the Auburn and Florida homes appear to have recently been put in a revocable trust.

Tuberville released heavily redacted Alabama income tax returns from 2018 to 2024 as evidence he meets the seven-year residency requirement. The returns list a redacted Auburn address and indicate the Tubervilles moved to the state in August 2018.

Voting records show Tuberville voted in Florida in November 2018. He registered to vote in Alabama on March 28, 2019, about two weeks before announcing his run for Senate.

McFeeters said Tuberville’s Senate travel records also show frequent travel to the Florida Panhandle, which he said buttresses the idea that he resides in the location.

Tuberville was head football coach at Auburn University from 1999 to 2008. He then coached at Texas Tech and the University of Cincinnati. He went to work for ESPN after retiring from coaching. In a 2017 promotional video for ESPN, he talked about moving to Florida after retiring from coaching.

The residency requirement in the Alabama Constitution is awkwardly worded, which could muddy any legal dispute. It says the governor and lieutenant governor “shall have been citizens of the United States ten years and resident citizens of this state at least seven years next before the date of their election.”

Party officials have said the Sunday hearing will not be public. Alabama Republican Party Chairman Scott Stadthagen plans to announce the decision after the hearing.

Tuberville won the Republican gubernatorial primary overwhelmingly, capturing 85% of the vote to McFeeters’ 9%.

McFeeters said he does not expect the hearing will be a serious look at the issue. But he believes the issue is not going away if the party keeps Tuberville on the ballot.

Tuberville faced similar accusations when he ran for Senate in 2020. He was up against Jeff Sessions, who was running for the same seat that he held before he became Trump's first attorney general. Sessions aired a television advertisement describing Tuberville as a “Florida Man.”

Tuberville won 61% of the vote, compared with 39% for Sessions, in a Republican primary runoff, and went on to defeat Doug Jones, the Democratic incumbent.

Tuberville and Jones are now on track for a rematch in the governor's race in November.

The complex says they are now ordering two new elevators.

Local 4 first published a story about the same complex’s elevator issues in late May.

“They can’t get up to take their medicine, refresh their oxygen, they can’t even get upstairs - so they are calling their families saying, ‘please come and get me,’” a resident at St. George’s Tower in Clinton Township said.

This resident, who is the same person Local 4 spoke to in May, asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

Residents reached out to Local 4 again because both elevators were out again. As of Friday, management says things seem to be working, but residents say this is a monthslong merry-go-round that never stays fixed.

They also say the stakes are serious: missed appointments and missed medication.

“There’s the fear of getting stuck in the elevator,” a resident said. “Like I said, the ride down was like this ‘boom, boom, boom.’ I am going, ‘No!’ So, I said a prayer on the way down, I really did.”

Residents say the elevator problems started last fall. Sometimes one works and the other is down. But, many times, both are down.

“The families, they are just up in arms. They are going, ‘I just moved my mother in here and she’s got to live like this,’”

Local 4 pressed the apartment complex on this again.

“This week, the second elevator at St. George’s Tower experienced an unexpected outage lasting approximately two days,” the complex said. “We immediately contacted our elevator service provider, who restored service as quickly and safely as possible, and we coordinated closely with emergency services and the fire marshal to ensure residents maintained access to emergency services. We understand the frustration and inconvenience this situation has caused our residents. Two new elevators have been ordered and will be installed as soon as possible to remedy the situation.”

“They are ready for their appointments, going to jump on the elevator, but couldn’t,” the resident said.

Many say it’s impacting morale – and leaving people without the things they need.

“Poor little old man, was so upset that he could not get upstairs. He had a walker, oxygen, and people, not mentioning any names, just told him, ‘you may need to find another place to live, just leave.’ Now, is that giving him a feeling of security?” the resident said.

On Sunday, the island nation of 150,000 people will become the smallest country ever to compete at the World Cup.

Coach Dick Advocaat has done his best to keep his players focused and relaxed as they navigate this unprecedented experience.

“Just be yourself, and don’t be nervous,” defender Shurandy Sambo said Advocaat told them, just before the team left its Florida base camp for Houston. “Of course everybody is excited, but just be yourself, show yourself, because this is the biggest stage.”

The Curaçao players have worked hard to ensure they are prepared for their debut. Germany, making its 21st appearance in the World Cup, is a heavy favorite.

“We’ve watched a lot of clips of Germany. How they play, what they can do,” Sambo said.

Advocaat said there is more pressure on teams like Germany that are considered favorites and that his team has “everything to win and nothing to lose.”

He's confident that Curaçao is ready for the challenge of facing Germany, which he referred to as a towering contender.

“We are a minor, very small country compared to Germany and we’re going to make life very difficult for them,” he said. “We’re going to be a very unpleasant team to play.”

Curaçao’s squad is representing a country that rarely has a chance to have moments as big as this on international sports stages.

Due to its strong Dutch ties, Curaçao is not recognized in the Olympics as its own nation, and despite its impressive per-capita production of professional baseball athletes, Curaçao players represent the Netherlands at the World Baseball Classic.

“We are not here to just be here,” midfielder Ar’jany Martha said. “We want to show ourselves and get good results.”

Despite the country’s small population, Curaçao will have plenty of supporters to cheer them on as they make history. Sambo said his own family will be attending, as will 21 families of other players.

“I (would describe us) as one big family,” defender Livano Comenencia said. “If you see us on the bus or outside the bus, in the hotel, we are always with music, always happy. Everybody is around each other.”

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Gracie Fisher is a student in the University of Georgia’s Carmical Sports Media Institute.

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AP Sports Writer Kristie Rieken contributed to this story.

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

Facing pressure to win its first World Cup title since 2002, five-time champion Brazil was outplayed early and needed Vinícius Júnior's 32nd-minute goal to gain a 1-1 draw against Morocco on Saturday in a pulsating, high-profile group match.

“We started on a really bad note,” Vinícius said through a translator. “For certain, we got to hold on to the ball. We have to move better.”

A semifinalist four years ago, Morocco had 12 shots in the first 30 minutes and went ahead on Ismael Saibari's 21st-minute goal, a chip over goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

“The team was a bit anxious at the beginning. Nerves were all over the place,” Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said through a translator. “A very imbalanced team.”

Brazil evened the score 11 minutes later. Vinícius exchanged passes with Bruno Guimarães on the left flank, took a few touches to cut around Neil El Aynaoui and rifled a right-footed shot past the outstretched arm of Yassine Bounou for his 10th international goal.

“We are satisfied with the draw,” Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said. "We are not euphoric.”

Fans in Brazil's canary yellow dominated the crowd of 80,663 at MetLife Stadium — only about five sections near the south goal had fans in Morocco's red.

Seleção supporters expected the flowing, entertaining play of Pelé’s era and were subdued before Vinícius evened the score with his spectacular angled effort.

Brazil extended its unbeaten streak in World Cup openers to 21, including 17 wins, since a 1934 loss to Spain. No. 6 Brazil and seventh-ranked Morocco are the only top 10 teams to meet in the first round of the expanded 48-nation World Cup tournament.

“We cannot lose heart,” Ancelotti said. “You don’t win a World Cup based on your first match.”

Brazil plays Haiti on Friday in Philadelphia, then closes Group C against Scotland in Miami Gardens, Florida. Morocco faces Scotland in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Friday, then meets Haiti in Atlanta.

Brazil star Neymar, recovering from a torn right calf, didn’t dress for the game.

One hour before the match, an Uber from Times Square to the stadium, site of next month's final, was $126.95 — up from $83.95 for advance booking for the same time Sunday.

Ancelotti, the Italian who became Brazil's first foreign World Cup coach, wore a three-piece suit with a necktie on a sunny afternoon with a 88-degree Fahrenheit (31-degree Celsius) temperature for the 6 p.m. start.

Morocco went ahead after Lucas Paquetá lost control of a short pass from Roger Ibañez and knocked it off Bilal El Khannouss. It bounced to Noussair Mazraoui, who sent the ball to Brahim Díaz in the center circle.

His through pass split Gabriel Magalhães and Marquinho, and Saibari ran onto the ball at the top of the arc. Alisson was slow to come off his line as Saibari scored his 10th international goal.

Morocco nearly went back ahead in the ninth of 10 minutes of stoppage time. Alisson spilled Aynaoui's long-range shot, which was headed wide, then while on the grass leaned back toward the goal and used his right hand to block Ayoube Amaimouni's follow-up effort.

“We still have to improve,” Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi said. “We have to keep the positive things. We’re going to learn from the mistakes, for sure.”

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

The San Francisco 49ers announced Smith's death on Saturday night. The team did not disclose a cause of death.

“We are devastated by the sudden and tragic passing of Aldon Smith,” the 49ers said in a statement. “Aldon’s undeniable talent and sheer dominance on the field were on display from the moment he joined our organization, having recorded one of the best rookie seasons the National Football League has seen. Beyond his excellence as a player, Aldon will be remembered for his infectious smile that lit up every room he walked into.”

Smith was drafted by the 49ers with the seventh overall pick out of Missouri in 2011 and made an immediate impact on the team, helping San Francisco snap a playoff drought and reach the NFC title game his first three seasons with one trip to a Super Bowl.

He had 14 sacks as a rookie when he finished second to Von Miller in voting for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year and had a franchise-record 19 1/2 sacks in 2012 when he was named a first-team All-Pro.

His 33 1/2 sacks in his first two seasons are the most in NFL history. He kept that pace up with 4 1/2 sacks in the first three games in 2013 before the off-field issues started with an arrest for DUI and a stint in rehab for substance abuse that sidelined him for five games.

He was also arrested on a weapons charge that season but returned to the field.

“I’m getting there,” he said after his stint in 2013 on the non-football injury list. "Every day’s just a step closer to getting to where I want to be I’ve gotten a lot of support, from my family, friends, organization, teammates and everything. And it really says a lot that people care about me outside the field and they care about me as a person.”

Smith had 3 1/2 sacks in the playoffs that season but was suspended for the first nine games in 2014 and never made it back to his early level of performance because of suspensions and injuries.

San Francisco then released him in August 2015 after another drunken driving charge — his fifth arrest in three years. He signed with Oakland just before the start of the 2015 season and had 3 1/2 sacks in nine games before being suspended again.

“Aldon proudly wore the Silver and Black, was respected by his teammates and will be missed dearly,” the Raiders said in a statement.

Smith applied for reinstatement to the NFL in 2016, but was not allowed back initially. The Raiders released him in 2018 following a domestic violence arrest. A plea agreement was reached in that case.

He eventually was reinstated in 2020 and played 16 games for Dallas that season and had five sacks.

He signed with Seattle the next season but was arrested again for battery and was released in training camp. He served a six-month jail sentence for DUI in 2023 and never played again in the NFL.

Smith finished his career with 52 1/2 sacks in 75 games.

In college he was a first-team All-Big 12 selection and the recipient of Missouri’s Defensive Lineman of the Year Award in 2010.

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More AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

The news conference Friday night featured the fighters who are preparing to face off Sunday in the Octagon built outside the White House. But it was also a chance to see the UFC fans who have thronged to Washington and endured lightning, humidity and bugs for the spectacle.

Tracy Philbeck and his son Levi drove from Charlotte, North Carolina, with a group of friends to support their favorite fighter, American Justin Gaethje, in the upcoming lightweight title bout against Georgian Ilia Topuria.

"You will hear an eagle screaming when Justin Gaethje wins,” the elder Philbeck chuckled.

David Halstead journeyed from Albany, in Western Australia, to watch the sport he has loved for a decade. Halstead said Trump, who regularly attends the fights, “put UFC on the map."

The UFC has said it spent $60 million on this weekend's festivities, and Republican president has billed it as “the greatest show on earth.”

Not everyone agrees.

The Public Integrity Project described the event as a “private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain” in a lawsuit the watchdog group filed to try to stop it from happening on federal land. A federal judge ruled on Friday that the White House was allowed to go ahead.

Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults consider themselves mixed martial arts fans, according to Ipsos Sports polling conducted in February and March. That polling suggests MMA fans skew male and nonwhite. They are more likely to identify as Republicans than Democrats.

“One misconception is that everyone who watches UFC is a Trump supporter, but that’s not the case," said Ricardo Rodriguez, 24, explaining he loves the physicality of the sport. “People also expect a knock out every time," he said.

Ellie Louizes, who practices Muay Thai, or Thai kickboxing, and jiu-jitsu martial arts, drove from Daytona Beach, Florida, with her boyfriend, Jacob Purvis.

Female fans of MMA are the minority. But Louizes said she knows a lot of women who get into watching the sport through their male partners. She said “female fighters are often way more aggressive” than the men.

Fans brushed off the criticism about White House as host

The fans at the Lincoln Memorial brushed off criticism about the bouts being held at the White House.

Holding fights at the “People's House,” Tracy Philbeck said, "goes back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt.”

Roosevelt regularly held sparring sessions at the White House, though they were not formal public prizefights. He was an enthusiastic amateur boxer who had boxed at Harvard and continued the sport throughout much of his life.

Boxing fans also make up a large part of the UFC's fan base.

At a UFC-sponsored community event this week at the District of Columbia's Midtown Youth Academy, the boxing gym's executive director was helping out with a visit from UFC fighter Randy Brown, who sparred with more than a dozen local teenagers and preteens.

Gloria Lee said meeting the fighter was a big deal for kids at her gym. “It's just been a thrilling week, and I was about to fall out when he came in the door!” she said.

Asked about her personal UFC fandom, Lee said she had not watched it much. But by the end of Brown's visit, she got into the ring with the professional fighter and threw some slugs of her own.

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Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report.

Tonight temperatures will be in the upper 50s to low 60s with a southwest wind at 10-15 mph.

Clouds increase throughout the evening with scattered rain late tonight. Thunderstorms will be possible. The chance for rain will linger into Sunday.

We’ll be cooler for the second half of the weekend as winds shift to the northwest. Winds will be around 10-15 mph with gusts in the mid 20s.

Highs on Sunday will be much cooler than what we have been experiencing, only reaching the lower 70s.

We turn slightly warmer Monday with highs around 75° under mostly sunny skies.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday will all carry the chance to see more rain with afternoon temperatures in the mid to upper 70s.

Friday, Juneteenth, looks beautiful. Southeast Michigan will see plenty of sun with highs near 80°.

Skubal didn't win back-to-back AL Cy Young Awards on fuzzy feelings or nostalgia. The fiery left-hander is all business, and his time away from the mound didn't soften him at all.

“I don’t want to play into that narrative of trying to be back,” Skubal said Saturday following his first start since April 29. "I need to be better, plain and simple. ‘Just happy to be there,’ that’s a loser mentality to me. I need to go out there and pitch and compete and give my team a chance to win and I didn’t do that.”

Skubal showed some rust while pitching 4 2/3 innings as the Tigers again failed to get any timely hits (they stranded 11 runners) i n a 3-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The left-hander had a loose body removed from his elbow in an i nnovative surgical procedure on May 6 that accelerated his return.

While Skubal wasn't dominant, that hardly mattered to the Tigers. They were just happy to have No. 29 back on the mound and delivering pitches with his familiar high-leg delivery.

“He didn’t execute at the level that we’re used to,” said Detroit manager A.J. Hinch. “But man, it was nice to see him out there.”

Skubal was lifted after 80 pitches by Hinch, who noted it was a “weird start” given the Guardians' lineup changed dramatically in the early innings when Cleveland lost outfielders Angel Martinez (bruised foot) and Chase DeLauter (bruised ribs) to injuries.

Skubal allowed five hits, struck out four and made one big mistake when he elevated a two-strike pitch to Daniel Schneemann, who connected for a two-run homer in the third inning.

“If I want one pitch back, it’s the one to Schneemann,” Skubal said.

Skubal was ahead 0-2 in the count when he missed with a high fastball that Schneeman, a left-handed hitter who had never faced Detroit's ace, drove 417 feet to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.

“It was bad. Really bad,” Skubal said. "On 0-2, I’m going up and away and I kind of miss. It’s not in enough and it’s not up enough. If I’m going to miss, it needs to be more in and more up. It’s a good swing on it, but the execution on it was pretty poor.”

Skubal's velocity was fine, as his fastball registered in the mid-90s (mph). His breaking pitches had their usual spin, and for the most part he was pleased with his outing.

“My process was really good today,” he said. "Every pitch I was bought-in on. At the end of the day, that’s all I can really control, is me trying to go out there and execute every pitch and sometimes things just don’t fall your way.

"Credit to those guys, too. They had some really good at-bats, and they were in on some pitches, and fouled off some pitches and took some really good pitches, too. You kind of give credit where credit is due. At the same time, I’ve got to be better to give our team a chance to win. I just didn’t do that today.”

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

Cleveland star third baseman José Ramírez broke a bone in his left hand on a swing Saturday and will be sidelined for an indefinite period, a massive blow to the two-time defending AL Central champions.

Ramírez sustained a fractured left hamate bone leading off the fifth inning in the Guardians' 3-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. The team didn't update the condition of the 33-year-old until after the game, when manager Stephen Vogt confirmed the break.

Vogt said Ramírez underwent imaging tests that revealed the fracture.

“He had a similar injury I think to his right hand a few years ago,” Vogt said. "He tried to go back out. He knew the position we were in, grabbed his glove and said ‘Maybe I can still play defense,’ but he couldn’t squeeze his glove. Hosey wanted to get back out there to help us win that game. He just couldn’t.”

A seven-time All-Star, Ramírez is the face of Cleveland's franchise and the Guardians' most indispensable player. Losing him for any time is crippling.

Surgery will likely take place in the next few days, and the Guardians, who moved back into first place, will then have to do their best to survive without their best player. They have options at third base, but none of them is close to being in Ramírez's class.

Ramírez, who is a switch-hitter, suffered a fracture to his right hamate bone in 2019 — the only time he has been on the injured list in his career — but was only out a month following surgery after being expected to miss as much as seven weeks.

He's been struggling at the plate so this season, and entered Saturday's game batting just .238 with 10 homers and 33 RBIs. Ramírez, who has finished in the Top 4 in MVP voting five times, is a career .274 hitter. He holds virtually every major team record.

Ramírez wasn't the only injury Saturday as the Guardians lost outfielders Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez in the first two innings.

DeLauter suffered a bruised right rib cage colliding with the outfield wall Martinez sustained a bruise when he fouled a ball off his foot.

When Ramírez left the game, the Guardians were without the top three hitters in their batting order. Vogt was forced to reshuffle his lineup and put Rhys Hoskins, who began the game at first base, in left field. Hoskins had not played there since 2018, when he was with Philadelphia.

It's not known if DeLauter and Martinez will join Ramírez on the injured list.

“We’re working through the logistics and what the next steps are so we’ll know more tomorrow or the next day," Vogt said. "These things can get complicated.”

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch, who has spent the season navigating through a litany of injuries, empathized with Cleveland's situation.

“It was one after another for those guys,” Hinch said. "If there’s any team that understands having injuries at a weird time, it’s us. I didn’t see anything with Ramírez to have him come out of the game, so when Stephen (Vogt) was on the field I had no idea what it was about and they were moving their players all around.

"Obviously health is a premium. Sounds like they’ve got a lot to sort out over there.”

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

James M. McDonald, a former federal prosecutor in the office he had been picked to run, served as a financial regulator during Trump’s first term and worked in the White House counsel’s office in President George W. Bush’s administration.

A partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, McDonald is part of the legal team handling Trump’s pending appeal of felony convictions in New York related to hush money payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels as the Republican ran for president in 2016.

Trump said Saturday he would name McDonald to the role of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, one of the most influential positions in the Justice Department. He would replace Jay Clayton, whom Trump put forward this week as his pick for the director of national intelligence.

McDonald’s perch as U.S. attorney would give him oversight of arguably the most prestigious of the Justice Department’s prosecution offices, with a vast portfolio ranging from terrorism and espionage cases to security fraud and public corruption.

McDonald was also part of the legal team that last month secured a favorable outcome for Indian billionaire Gautam Adani when the Trump administration Justice Department dropped a fraud and conspiracy case that had been brought under the Biden administration.

McDonald has also served as director of enforcement at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission during Trump's first term in office and was deputy associate counsel in the White House under Bush.

“I am confident that Jamie will deliver strong results for our Country,” Trump posted Saturday about McDonald on the Truth Social platform.

Nicholas Biase, spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, said it "welcomes the President’s choice to lead the SDNY. Mr. McDonald is widely respected.”

Trump's announcement on Clayton came as pressure increased from Congress to name a permanent replacement for Tulsi Gabbard, who announced her resignation as national intelligence director last month. Trump faced intense pushback over his decision to name Bill Pulte, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, as acting director.

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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.

Ohtani hit a leadoff homer for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in his return to the starting lineup after being sidelined by inflammation in his left knee. He also walked three times and scored twice in a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

“I felt good waking up in the morning, I feel good now, so I’m pretty confident that I’ll be able to stay healthy and should be good to go tomorrow as well,” Ohtani said through a translator.

The two-way star connected on a 1-0 fastball from White Sox right-hander Sean Burke for his 14th homer. The 409-foot drive to right in the first inning had an exit velocity of 109.6 mph.

It was Ohtani's fifth leadoff homer of the season and No. 29 for his career.

“Obviously he’s the best player in the world, so anytime you can get the best player in a world back in your lineup, he’s definitely going to help and he showed it immediately,” teammate Mookie Betts said.

The 31-year-old Ohtani was back at designated hitter after he rested during Friday’s 8-2 loss in the series opener at Chicago. The knee inflammation popped up Thursday night at Pittsburgh, prompting Ohtani to leave an 8-6 win over the Pirates in the seventh.

“We took him out of the game the other night just for precautionary,” manager Dave Roberts said before Saturday's win. “Yesterday, treated it up, today he feels great. All the confidence that he can go out there and hit, feel good, not regress at all.”

Ohtani, who had surgery on his left knee in September 2019, wasn't sure exactly what caused the inflammation.

“It’s actually hard to pinpoint at what moment this happened,” he said. “All I can really know for sure is that I think my mechanics wasn’t quite great in terms of my pitching side. So I believe that had something to do with this.”

Ohtani is scheduled to take the mound again on Wednesday against Tampa Bay. The 6-foot-4 right-hander tested his knee for his throwing motion by playing catch in the outfield before Saturday's victory.

“It wasn’t 100 percent today, but I, you know, with the next three, four days, I feel pretty confident with enough recovery that I should be able to make the next start,” he said.

Ohtani is batting .305 with 41 RBIs and 50 runs scored in 68 games for the NL West leaders. On the mound, the reigning NL MVP is 6-2 with a 1.06 ERA in 11 starts.

Roberts also said Justin Wrobleski is expected to make his next scheduled start Tuesday against the Rays. The left-hander left in the fifth inning on Thursday night because of a left hamstring contusion.

“Yesterday I talked to him and he is a little sore, which is understandable, but he’ll be ready to go on Tuesday,” Roberts said.

Roberts, 54, is going to miss Sunday's series finale against the White Sox. Bench coach Danny Lehmann will run the team while Roberts attends his daughter's college graduation.

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

Yamamoto sailed into the ninth inning with a no-hit bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Tristan Peters hit a leadoff homer for the Chicago White Sox. The Japanese right-hander had to settle for a dominant performance in a 7-1 victory on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Yamamoto also carried a no-hitter into the ninth at Baltimore on Sept. 6. He surrendered a solo homer to Jackson Holliday with two out, and Los Angeles went on to a frustrating 4-3 loss.

This time, Alex Vesia closed it out for the Dodgers. But Yamamoto was left to wonder about another close call.

“What I did, I didn't make it, complete it, because of the ninth inning, the no-hitter,” Yamamoto said through a translator. “But how I was pitching, I was pretty satisfied.”

Yamamoto, who was the World Series MVP when the Dodgers won their second consecutive championship, improved to 4-0 with a sparkling 0.94 in his last four starts. He has surrendered 14 hits and struck out 24 in 28 2/3 innings during his win streak.

If he keeps pitching like he has been, there might be more no-hit opportunities on the horizon.

“He can attack the plate on both sides from ball to strike probably better than anybody I’ve ever seen,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said.

Yamamoto retired his last 22 batters while pitching eight innings in a 9-2 win against the Angels in his previous start. Then he retired his first 23 batters against Chicago.

The streak — and Yamamoto's bid for a perfect game — ended when shortstop Mookie Betts mishandled Chase Meidroth's two-out grounder in the eighth inning for an error.

“I’m not making any excuses. I should have made the play,” Betts said.

Jacob Gonzalez bounced to second for the final out in the eighth, but Peters hit a drive to right on a 96.6 mph fastball from Yamamoto. It was Peters' third homer of the season.

Yamamoto departed after Edgar Quero flied to center for the first out in the ninth. He was saluted with a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 37,832 as he made his way off the field.

“One of the best outings we’ve seen from an opponent this year,” White Sox manager Will Venable said. “The stuff was outstanding. Lived on the edges. We didn’t have a ton to hit.”

Yamamoto struck out seven. He threw a season-high 109 pitches, 74 for strikes.

Before the ninth inning, Chase Meidroth had the best chance for a hit for the White Sox. He had a liner hook just foul before he struck out swinging for the final out of the fifth.

There was a short delay before the bottom of the sixth while the grounds crew worked on the area around the pitching rubber on the mound. But Yamamoto had no issues when the game resumed, striking out Gonzalez on a full-count cutter before Peters bounced to first and Quero fouled out to left.

“He was in the zone. He kept it out of the middle. I mean, kept them off balance,” Betts said. “I mean that's just Yoshi being Yoshi, you know. I’m glad he’s on our team.”

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

Matt Floca, executive director and chief operating officer of the performing arts venue, told a federal court Saturday that the institution had complied with an order to remove Trump's name from the facade. In a filing, Floca said the board of trustees and the center had removed “all physical signage on the Kennedy Center building and grounds, including the front portico, that purports to rename the Kennedy Center after President Trump.”

But for onlookers who have gathered on the plaza in front of the center over the past day hoping to witness a dramatic moment symbolizing the limits of Trump’s power, it was virtually impossible to see whether the signage was gone. A tarp hung over the scaffolding constructed for workers to perform that task. It was unclear when the tarp might be removed to reveal the original lettering that had endured for decades: “The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.”

A reporter was able to peer through a slight opening in the tarp, which was pulled tightly against the wall, and saw that the letters for Trump’s name were no longer affixed to the building.

By the end, the Kennedy Center's leadership had dug in against a federal judge's order to erase Trump's name from the building. Two courts rejected the institution's last-minute request to retain Trump's name pending an appeal. After severe thunderstorms raked Washington on Friday evening, the Kennedy Center sought one more extension before complying with a noon Saturday deadline.

Those who pushed for the scrubbing of Trump's name were in a celebratory mood. Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex officio member of the board who sued to remove references to the president from the building and the center's operations, was spotted in the plaza late Friday and Saturday morning. She posted a video to social media that purported to show her performing the “Trump dance” in one of the Kennedy Center's great halls.

“Today’s victory is the beginning of returning the Kennedy Center to the American people," Beatty said in a statement. “The rule of law prevailed, and that is worth celebrating.”

Leo Bartholomaus, a recent graduate of Syracuse University who lives in Virginia, said he was walking by the Kennedy Center on Friday afternoon after visiting the National Mall to see events related to this weekend's UFC match at the White House. He said he was not happy that Trump added his name to the building.

“My grandmother had a big love of the arts,” he said. “I've been here to see ‘The Lion King.’ I wasn't a fan of Donald Trump putting his name on it. I thought it was better as the Kennedy Center."

Closing an unusual chapter

The removal of Trump's name closes one of the more unusual chapters in the history of the Kennedy Center, which began construction in 1964 and was dedicated to the memory of the slain president, Democrat John F. Kennedy. At what is typically one of the few relatively nonpartisan spaces in Washington, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his second term.

Though he rarely discussed the Kennedy Center during his 2024 campaign, Trump moved quickly to oust the institution's leadership when he returned to office in January 2025 and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. His name was quickly added to the building.

While the removal of his name marks a setback for Trump, he is moving forward with plans to reshape the physical landscape of the nation's capital in ways that have few modern parallels.

He demolished the East Wing of the White House and is building a controversial ballroom in its place. He remodeled the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and plans extensive renovations of a golf course in East Potomac Park, moves that could significantly reduce the public's access to running and biking paths. He is also moving forward with a triumphal arch that will sit near Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River in Virginia.

Indeed as Trump's name was being removed from the Kennedy Center, the South Lawn of the White House has been transformed into a venue for a UFC match intended to celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence but also coinciding with Trump's birthday on Sunday.

Questions linger about the Kennedy Center's future

Back at the Kennedy Center, there are many questions about the institution's future. The same May court decision that ordered Trump's name to be removed from the building also blocked a planned two-year closure for renovations that was set to begin next month.

The Kennedy Center's calendar for the weeks ahead include performances of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” and “Bluey's Big Play.” Comedian Bill Maher is to be awarded the Mark Twain Award for American Humor during a ceremony on June 28.

But little is scheduled for the stages beyond that and, after substantially reducing staff, it is unclear how quickly the Kennedy Center could build out a robust performance list. Trump, angered by the court's order to remove his name, has said he would turn the Kennedy Center over to Congress and has suggested it might simply shutter because of public safety concerns.

In its unsuccessful appeal on Friday seeking a pause on the order removing Trump's name, the Kennedy Center's leadership argued, in terms that seemed similar to the president's speech patterns, that the lower court was interfering with needed renovations.

“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”

The institution also suggested that the president's name could return to the building if the Kennedy Center later wins its appeal.

If the court denied the venue's request for a pause, the Kennedy Center argued it would “be forced to squander time and money — by both removing the signage and then potentially returning it after appeal.”

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Associated Press journalist Emily Wang contributed to this report.

Skubal (3-3) threw 80 pitches in his first start since April 29. The left-hander had a loose body removed from his elbow during an innovative surgical procedure on May 6, allowing Skubal to come back earlier than expected.

The win came at a steep price for the Guardians as star third baseman José Ramírez suffered a broken bone in his left hand. Ramírez fractured his hamate bone on a swing in the fifth inning. He’ll be out for an indefinite period.

He gave up Schneemann's shot in the third inning and four other hits before being pulled after 4 2/3 innings. Although he wasn't as sharp as usual, Skubal's presence alone was a huge lift for the Tigers, who have been decimated by injuries all season.

Joey Cantillo (5-3) allowed one run in five innings and the Guardians won despite losing Ramírez and outfielders Chase DeLauter and Angel Martinez to injuries in the first two innings.

Ramírez broke his right hamate bone in 2019 and went on the injured list for the only time in his career. He missed just one month after being expected to miss 5-to-7 weeks.

Cleveland's bullpen combined for four shutout innings with Cade Smith getting the last four outs for his MLB-leading 23rd save. The Tigers stranded runners at second and third to end the game.

DeLauter suffered a bruised right rib cage when he collided with the outfield wall in the first. Martinez fouled Skubal's first pitch off his left foot. The team said X-rays were negative and Martinez has a bruise.

Schneemann, who replaced DeLauter, followed a double by Ramírez in the third by connecting on a 0-2 pitch for his fifth homer, a 417-foot drive that made it 3-1.

Up n

ext

Tigers RHP Casey Mize (2-3, 2.27ERA) returns from a stint on the injured list to start against Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (9-3, 3.32), 4-0 in his last five starts.

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

And oh, what a miss by the mighty Swiss.

One TV headline back home at French language public broadcaster RTS blared: “QATARSTROPHE.”

Boualem Khoukhi scored the equalizing goal on a header in the fourth minute of injury time to give Qatar its first-ever point at the World Cup in front of 67,966 spectators at Levi's Stadium.

“Every draw feels like a loss,” Switzerland midfielder Granit Xhaka said. “We're looking at ourselves. This performance was not good enough today to win.”

Several of the Qatari players fell to the ground in celebration of the late goal as others ran to each other to embrace.

“I was very proud about today ... our mentality, the discipline they showed today,” Qatar coach Julen Lopetegui said. “We needed to have our plan we needed to fulfill. We were a little bit lucky sometimes, but you need to believe and to want to have this belief and bit of luck in life and in football.”

Breel Embolo scored for Switzerland from the penalty spot in the first half just over a week after being cleared to enter the U.S. following a visa delay, but the Swiss failed to capitalize on multiple other scoring chances.

Switzerland midfielder Denis Zakaria was asked by RTS if the result was a devastating scenario.

“Clearly," he said. "We didn’t play the kind of match we needed to. We had so many chances and we missed so many in front of goal. Today we paid dearly.”

In the 13th minute, Embolo was fouled by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada, who received a yellow card on the play. Abunada lay face down and appeared motionless for a couple of minutes before he began to move his legs and was able to stand up again.

When Embolo calmly sent his penalty into the upper left corner in the 17th minute, it sent the red-clad Swiss fans into a dancing frenzy in the stands.

The 29-year-old forward applied for an urgent visa at the United States embassy in Bern on June 3, one day after he was denied boarding the team’s flight to travel for his third World Cup because of a 2018 criminal conviction that was only finalized in April.

Switzerland dominated the possession game on an unseasonably warm June afternoon — with sprinklers running during a first-half break.

There were thousands of empty seats scattered throughout Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. Brazil and Colombia drew 70,971 two years ago in a group match at Copa America. The stadium in Santa Clara staged the Super Bowl only four months ago.

Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a save in the second minute after Edmilson Junior got through the defense for a one-on-one. Kobel corralled the ball again in the 90th on a close-range attempt by Ahmed Alaaeldin.

Switzerland is hoping to advance further than its round-of-16 showing four years ago before losing 6-1 to Portugal — when Goncalo Ramos delivered an improbable hat trick playing in place of benched star Cristiano Ronaldo. The loss prompted Switzerland midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri to apologize the the fans.

The Swiss used consistency and experience to go unbeaten through qualifying against Sweden, Kosovo and Slovenia. Coach Murat Yakin's team produced four wins and two draws to secure its sixth straight World Cup appearance and hasn't missed one since 2002, but the team has never gotten beyond the quarterfinals.

Qatar had to qualify through a playoff in November — beating the United Arab Emirates and Oman — after missing an opportunity from its group stage in Asian qualifying.

The Gulf State country became the first host nation to lose all of its group matches four years ago. Qatar lost to Senegal, Ecuador and the Netherlands in the 2022 tournament, scoring its lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Senegal.

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AP Sports Writer Graham Dunbar in Geneva contributed to this report.

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

Double major winner Nelly Korda and Olivia Cowan will need another big showing in Sunday fourballs if they want a chance to catch them. They made only one birdie, had bogey on both par 5s at Midland Country Club and shot 76 to fall six shots behind.

Korda and Cowan were tied for 13th. It will be only the second time this year on the LPGA that Korda is not in the final group.

Kim and Choi, the South Korean duo who are both among the top 20 in the women's world ranking, were at 10-under 200.

“The wind was obviously very strong today so that was a big factor that was different than the first round,” Kim said. They also shot 69 in foursomes in the opening round.

Gina Kim and LPGA rookie Yana Wilson managed a birdie on the par-3 closing hole, which was playing downwind to a front pin over the water. That gave them a 70 and left them one shot back.

Alison Lee and Lilia Vu, former teammates at UCLA, had the lead until they made a triple bogey on the 16th hole when Vu hit the tee shot out-of-bounds. They had to settle for a 69 and were in third place at 8-under 202.

“It’s a pretty meaty hole. I’ve been kind of leaking my drives out right so just wanted to make sure I had a draw but it was a pulled draw instead,” Vu said.

Juli Inkster, who at 66 became the oldest player in LPGA history to make the cut in an official event, teamed with Angel Yin for a 70. They were tied for 20th.

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

Trump said the Strait of Hormuz would open immediately after the signing.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a deal was expected to be finalized within 24 hours. Each side was expected to sign electronically. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the signing ceremony was scheduled for Sunday but did not provide details.

Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei in statements carried by state media said the signing “will not happen tomorrow," but “the likelihood of finalizing the memorandum of understanding in the coming days is high."

A tenuous ceasefire has been in place since April 7. Trump has asserted multiple times in recent weeks the countries were on the cusp of a deal.

Iran has long expressed wariness in negotiations, pointing out that previous talks with the U.S. last year and early this year ended with attacks by the U.S. and Israel.

Trump to discuss demining the strait at G7 summit

Trump was expected to discuss demining the Strait of Hormuz during the Group of Seven summit that starts Monday.

A senior U.S. official, who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said Trump planned to meet on the G7 sidelines with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and United Arab Emirates to discuss efforts to wind down the war.

G7 members Britain and France have expressed interest in assisting with demining once the conflict is paused.

It was not clear how many mines are in the strait that Iran has effectively controlled since shortly after the war began, virtually shutting down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf. The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports in response.

The nuclear issue remains elusive

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said the memorandum of understanding under discussion was focused on ending the war and "at this stage, it has been decided that there will be no discussion of the nuclear issue.”

Iran's nuclear program and highly enriched uranium have long been at the center of tensions with the U.S. and Israel and an international source of concern.

Trump on social media asserted that “when all is calm,” the U.S. would go in and “downblend and destroy” the enriched uranium in Iran or in the U.S.

The apparent breakthrough in negotiations came after Iran exchanged fire with the U.S. and Israel earlier in the week, threatening to rupture the ceasefire and push the Middle East back into full-scale war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X on Friday that an agreement “has never been closer.” Trump on Thursday claimed significant progress in negotiations, hours after he threatened to seize Iran’s oil industry.

Iran's former supreme leader will be buried in July

Iran’s state-run television said funeral ceremonies for former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the war’s opening attack, will take place in July.

The funeral, burial and farewell events for Khamenei will occur between July 4 and 9 during Muharram, a traditional period of mourning in the Shiite Muslim calendar.

Khamenei is succeeded by his son, Mojtaba, who is considered less compromising and has not been seen publicly since the war began.

Funeral ceremonies are expected to begin in Tehran and move to Qom, a stronghold of many senior Shiite clerics, then to Mashhad, Khamenei's birthplace. He’ll be buried there at the Imam Reza Shrine, considered the holiest place among Shiite devotees.

Khamenei remolded the Islamic Republic following the death in 1989 of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the fiery, charismatic ideologue who led the overthrow of the shah and installed rule by Shiite Muslim clerics.

Khamenei ruled far longer than Khomeini. He greatly expanded the Shiite clerical class and built the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard into the most important body underpinning his rule. The Guard became a military and business behemoth, the country’s most elite force and head of its ballistic missile arsenal — a key target for Israel and the U.S. in the war.

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Magdy reported from Cairo and Madhani from Washington. Associated Press writer Michelle L. Price in Washington contributed.

Daphy Michel, 31, died March 2. She was found at a bus shelter in Pittsburgh. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office found her cause of death to be hypothermia and ruled the manner a homicide, “indicating the death was caused by the actions of another individual” and should not be interpreted as a declaration of criminal guilt, the office said in a statement. The office released its findings Friday.

Michel was a native of Haiti who was seeking asylum in the U.S. after arriving at the southern border in 2022, said Joseph Patrick Murphy, her family's attorney. She was granted humanitarian parole based on urgent humanitarian need, but she did not live to see a hearing scheduled for two weeks after she died, he said.

The medical examiner's office said Michel was a vulnerable adult “suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier” at the time of her release on Feb. 27, the office said.

She was arrested last summer for yelling at imaginary people due to her psychiatric challenges, Murphy said. She spent six months in Washington County Jail, where she underwent multiple psychiatric examinations as she awaited her first hearing, he said.

A magistrate said he could not hold her for trial for threatening imaginary people, Murphy said. Afterward, ICE arrested her in her cell, put an ankle monitor on her and took her 25 miles (40 kilometers) away to Pittsburgh, where she sat at a bus shelter for days in winter, he said.

“She was in September clothes and it was February, and the weather overwhelmed her and she went into hypothermia,” Murphy said.

The medical examiner's finding of homicide is different from a criminal charge, meaning “somebody did or failed to do something that brought about her demise,” Murphy said. He said he expects Michel's family to file a lawsuit against ICE in connection with her death.

In an email, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Lauren Bis said, “ICE had NOTHING to do with this woman’s death. She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her."

She called Michel “an illegal alien from Haiti” who was placed in removal proceedings after her arrest.

Michel had all her belongings and a fully charged phone when she was released, with public transportation available, Bis said. ICE learned the day after Michel died that her ankle monitor “had been tampered with," but county medical examiner staff “refused to cooperate or even talk with” ICE officials, she said.

ICE called the U.S. Marshals Service, who retrieved the ankle monitor but were refused information about Michel's condition, Bis said. ICE learned of her death via news media, she said.

In a statement, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato called Michel's death “a tragedy and appears that with a little humanity, it could have been completely avoidable.”

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, said her death was preventable and that “she deserved care, shelter, language access, and medical support.”

ICE is no longer reporting the deaths of detainees within 30 days of their release from custody, ending a 2021 Biden-era policy. Health experts say the change will reflect fewer deaths than actually occur without addressing issues in medical care.

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Dura reported from Bismarck, North Dakota.

It will certainly take something special to eclipse it as the goal of the tournament, even only three days in.

Deep into added time at Los Angeles Stadium and with virtually the last kick of the game, Gio Reyna capped a spectacular 4-1 win for the United States against Paraguay on Friday with an exquisite finish to a wonderful team move.

This was Pochettino-ball at its finest.

“This might be one of the best back-to-front team goals this country and this team has ever put together," Fox TV analyst Stu Holden said.

It might've been even better than that.

Done in 70 seconds

With the clock on 96 minutes and 10 seconds, the U.S. just had to see out time and ensure a Paraguay team that had already pulled one goal back in the second half didn't spark a late rally.

Over the course of the next 70 seconds, Mauricio Pochettino's team put together a 26-pass move from left to right, through defense and attack and left Paraguay's players chasing shadows. Not one Paraguayan got a foot on the ball. Then it was over to Reyna, who went on for a cameo as an 82nd-minute substitute for the outstanding Malik Tillman.

Receiving a pass from Alexander Freeman outside the box, Reyna took one touch to control the ball and another to carry it into the area. Then, with the outside of his right boot and with a touch of curl, he swept the shot past Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill into the far corner to send the U.S. supporters wild one last time.

And they weren't the only ones going crazy. As Reyna wheeled away in celebration, hands covering his ears, he was mobbed by teammates, substitutes and even Pochettino, who raced across the field to join in the moment.

“There’s not a whole lot of words to describe the feeling,” U.S. captain Tim Ream said after the team's biggest ever World Cup win.

Just like watching Brazil

Such was the U.S. control of the ball that it brought back memories of what many believe to be the greatest ever team goal in the World Cup when Brazil's Carlos Alberto finished off a multi-pass move against Italy in the 1970 final.

That game also finished 4-1 and Carlos Alberto's strike, like Reyna's, came late, in the 86th minute.

A nine-pass move ended with Pele laying the ball off to Carlos Alberto, who drove a low shot into the corner.

The stakes were much higher for Brazil, but for the U.S. it was an opening statement performance against a Paraguay team that had one of the best defensive records among the South American teams during qualification. Pochettino's team already has more goals than the U.S. managed in the entire 2022 tournament where it scored just three and was eliminated at the round of 16.

“Congratulations to Team USA on their Big Win, 4-1, over a very good Paraguay team,” President Donald Trump wrote Saturday on his social media site. “Keep it going!”

A taste of what's to come

The U.S. Men's National Team went big when it hired Pochettino, the former Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Tottenham coach in 2024.

There was a run to the Gold Cup final last year and he has not been shy about his ambitions at the World Cup.

“Why not us?” has become something of a motto going into the tournament.

With extended time to work with the players ahead of the opening game, Pochettino believes the full potential of the team will be seen.

“When you only have few days, you know, to reunite and to play, you only select players, but you cannot coach players,” he said Friday. “Only in this type of tournament like the Gold Cup or now the World Cup, because you have preparation, two, three, four weeks, I think that is the only moment that we can coach.”

Reyna's goal was a perfect example of Pochettino's insistence of concentrating on the team over individuals.

“One thing we need to praise is the collective effort,” the coach added.

Reyna erases pain of 2022

It was a triumphant return for Reyna after controversy in Qatar four years ago for alleged lack of hustle, which nearly got him sent home from that World Cup by then-coach Gregg Berhalter.

Pochettino made the bold call to include Reyna in his squad even though he made just four league starts last season for Borussia Mönchengladbach and none after Dec. 19.

Reyna also took the opportunity to announce that his wife was pregnant by putting the ball under his shirt and sucking his thumb.

“Celebration was for the little one on the way," he later posted on Instagram.

The US has had great goals in the past

Fans will debate whether this was the greatest goal by the USMNT.

In 1989 Paul Caligiuri struck a long-range volley against Trinidad and Tobago that qualified the U.S. for the World Cup for the first time since 1950.

In 1994, the last time America hosted the tournament, Eric Wynalda's free kick against Switzerland earned the U.S. its first point in the World Cup since 1950.

There was also Benny Feilhaber's volley that won the Gold Cup in 2007.

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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

“It was just kind of normal,” said Ricky, a 17-year-old recent graduate in Superior, Wisconsin. “Kids were vaping in class, in the bathrooms, wherever.”

Nationally, nearly 6% of middle and high school students — amounting to 1.63 million kids — reported using electronic cigarettes in 2024, federal figures show. Although that is down from previous years, e-cigarettes remain the most commonly used tobacco products among teens, and nearly 9 out of 10 of kids choose flavored products.

Some doctors are concerned that youth vaping rates may rise again. The Food and Drug Administration recently announced its first authorization of fruit-flavored vapes intended for adults interested in quitting or cutting back on more harmful traditional cigarettes. The policy shift came after months of appeals to President Donald Trump from the vaping industry. An FDA memo released this week said these fruit-flavored e-cigarettes are not significantly better at helping smokers quit than tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes.

“I understand the goal of giving adult smokers a less harmful off-ramp, but fruit and sweet flavors are precisely what draw young people in,” said Dr. Scott Hadland at Mass General Brigham for Children and Harvard Medical School. “I worry this could erode the hard-won progress that brought teen vaping to its lowest level in roughly a decade.”

Experts say there are ways parents can counteract the allure of e-cigarettes, teach kids about the dangers of vaping and help them quit.

Vaping poses many dangers to kids

Dr. Devika Rao sees lots of kids with respiratory problems caused by vaping, including coughing, worsening asthma, bronchitis and more severe types of lung disease.

Studies show teens who vape report higher rates of wheezing, shortness of breath and a reduced ability to tolerate exercise. Gaby Cuadra of Miami, who vaped for nine years starting at age 15, remembers how it hurt her high school track and field performance.

“As the years kept going on and I would keep vaping, the distances that I used to be able to run, I, like, couldn’t do them anymore,” said Cuandra, 25. “I would run out of breath.”

While an e-cigarette's aerosol doesn't contain most of the 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, most vapes “emit numerous potentially toxic substances,” according to a comprehensive 2018 consensus report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Researchers said the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes are not yet clear.

One of the biggest dangers of vaping is nicotine addiction, which can disrupt the developing brain and affect attention, learning and mood.

“The addiction factor cannot be overstated enough,” said Rao at Children's Health in Dallas. “Adolescent brains are primed for addiction.”

How to talk to your child about vaping

Start by asking questions, experts advise. You can raise the issue by, for example, pointing out a new vape shop.

“Start open-ended conversations,” Rao said.

Ask what your child knows about vaping and its harms, whether they've seen e-cigarettes and if their friends are using them.

Even if your kid is already vaping, Rao said, take a deep breath and don’t yell. Be nonjudgmental.

Consider what your child may see on social media, where some influencers call nicotine a “hack” for stress relief. Some studies show that many people misinterpret the curbing of nicotine withdrawal symptoms as stress or anxiety relief and that quitting reduces stress. A 2025 study in the journal Tobacco Control said vaping may be linked to adverse mental health outcomes and that those who quit “experience fewer urges to vape, reduced anxiety, and stabilized mood.”

Teens’ decisions are often based on their peers and what’s cool, said Anthony Alberg of the University of South Carolina, a member of the expert committee that produced the National Academies vaping report. Tell your teen they don’t have to succumb to peer pressure and that their friends should want to be friends whether they vape or not.

Younger children, Alberg said, may be more likely to listen to arguments about health effects, such as comparing vaping to “putting poison in your system.”

Arming kids with information is better than simply trying to limit access to vapes, experts said, since age restrictions often don’t keep them out of kids’ hands.

“Most teens get e-cigarettes from friends, older peers or online sellers rather than buying them in a store,” Hadland said.

A teen’s journey through vaping and quitting

When Ricky first tried e-cigarettes, he used an older cousin’s vape. Later, an older friend bought e-cigarettes for him and his friends. He particularly liked the flavors blue raspberry, strawberry, watermelon and kiwi.

In the early days, he thought vaping helped him with his ADHD.

“What I didn’t realize is that because I was addicted to nicotine, when I didn’t have it, I’d be anxious and really couldn’t focus,” he said. "Instead of being something that helped me, it just made things worse.”

Vaping also sapped his stamina, made it harder to sleep, worsened his asthma and compromised his performance as a football player and wrestler.

Eventually, he got into trouble with his school and parents for vaping and selling vapes to others. He began meeting with a school social worker and joined the American Lung Association’s Not On Tobacco program, which helps teens to quit.

The first couple of weeks were extremely difficult. But eventually, he stopped thinking about vaping as much. He quit for good in 2022.

Like Ricky, most middle and high school students who vape want to quit, researchers have found.

Parents can help them by first seeing their doctor, who can connect them with counseling or free text-message quit programs for young people.

For kids who vape heavily, Hadland said doctors may consider medications like Chantix or nicotine replacement therapy as part of a supervised quitting plan.

Cuandra quit after giving up e-cigarettes for Lent, assisted by a free program developed by Truth Initiative and Mayo Clinic called EX, which provides text message support, advice and encouragement.

“The best thing I ever did for myself was quit vaping,” said Cuandra, who has shared her story on social media.

Since Ricky gave up vaping, he’s also shared what he learned. Usually, he asks his peers what triggers their vaping and how they can avoid those situations, as he did.

“I tell them, like, ‘I’m not here to judge you,’” he said. “'I’m here to help you.'”

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Israel's military appears to be trying to make as many gains as possible in case a U.S.-Iran agreement is reached to end the war in the region, which is likely to include Lebanon.

The departure from the army barracks in Kfar Tebnit came as the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for about 20 locations, including the southern city of Nabatiyeh and nearby villages.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported airstrikes on Saturday on different villages near Nabatiyeh, including one that killed two people in Deir al-Zahrani. It added that Nabatiyeh was subjected to artillery shelling on Saturday.

A senior Lebanese military official told The Associated Press that the Lebanese army moved its forces from the Kfar Tebnit barracks following an incursion by Israeli forces into the area. The official, who did not elaborate, spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israeli troops were likely trying to capture the strategic Ali Taher hill on the edge of Kfar Tebnit that overlooks large parts of Nabatiyeh and some of the roads that link the city with nearby villages.

Israeli troops held the Ali Taher hill for 18 years until they withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000.

Hezbollah said in statements that its fighters carried out several attacks on Saturday including a morning one that targeted Israeli troops on the edge of Kfar Tibnit with two drones.

Hezbollah has been using fiber-optic drones since the start of the latest war inflicting casualties among Israeli troops.

In late May, Israeli troops captured a nearby strategic mountain topped with the Crusader-built Beaufort Castle in the deepest incursion into the country since 2000.

The Lebanese army said that later Saturday an Israeli drone targeted a soldier who was traveling near a hospital in Nabatiyeh, but missed. Later, however, another drone struck the soldier as he traveled on the road linking Nabatiyeh with the nearby village of Kfar Rumman, seriously wounding him.

The push on the edge of Kfar Tebnit came a day after Pakistan’s prime minister said that the United States and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators are working with both sides to finalize a deal.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV on Friday that both sides were working toward signing an initial agreement declaring an end to the war “on all fronts, including Lebanon.”

Senior Hezbollah official Hussein Haj Hassan told Al Jazeera TV that they have been informed by Iranian officials that Lebanon will be part of a future ceasefire deal between the U.S. and Iran.

Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer, supplying the group with different types of weapons over the past four decades as well as billions of dollars.

Attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a ceasefire that went into effect on April 17 and was renewed several times but remains a ceasefire in name only.

Israel continues to occupy large swaths of southern Lebanon while battling Hezbollah fighters, causing civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure. Hezbollah, which is not part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon, has launched frequent rocket and drone attacks.

The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel two days after the U.S. and Israel began their attacks on Iran.

More than 3,700 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest fighting, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Also, 30 Israeli soldiers and a defense contractor have been killed in or near southern Lebanon, and two civilians have been killed in northern Israel, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Of course, that won’t stop orange-and-blue-blooded Knicks fans from teeming into the area near the team’s Manhattan arena to watch on bar TVs and big screens as their team — playing 1,580 miles (2,545 kilometers) away in San Antonio — looks to clinch its first title in 53 years.

After a rift with the city over security measures for Game 4, the Knicks are again holding a watch party outside Madison Square Garden. Up to 3,000 fans can attend, the team said. Advanced registration is required and all fans in attendance will be screened by police. Other watch parties are being held at Radio City Music Hall and Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Registration for both filled up quickly.

Tickets for the Radio City event, sold on the Knicks website for a $10 donation to their Garden of Dreams charity, were going for hundreds of dollars on the secondary. The Garden and Wollman Rink events are free.

For Game 4 at the Garden on Wednesday, the Knicks were granted a permit for a watch party for up to 1,000 people, but team owner James Dolan declined to hold one as he lashed out at Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the police department for keeping in place a security perimeter, metal detectors and other restrictions after President Donald Trump‘s visit to Game 3 on Monday.

Those restrictions remain in effect for Game 5.

All postseason, Knicks fans have flocked to the Garden by the thousands, making playoff pilgrimages to a place known as the “Mecca of Basketball” to cheer, commune and revel in a remarkable feat: 14 wins in 15 games since April 23, and a 3-1 lead over the Spurs in the best-of-seven series.

On Saturday, Knicks fever collides with the New York City area’s first World Cup game in 32 years. The match at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey kicks off about three hours before the Knicks game, but traffic and transit restrictions extend to Manhattan, and soccer fans returning to the city by train will be arriving at Penn Station — right underneath the Garden.

Complicating matters: a concert at the Garden that is expected to bring another 15,000 to 20,000 people to the area and prevents a watch party inside the arena and a scorching heatwave that has city officials advising people to stay indoors. On Sunday, the city is hosting another big event, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The concert, by the Australian pop band 5 Seconds of Summer, follows the Knicks’ 4.5 seconds of delirium Wednesday night at the Garden — a magical sequence in which OG Anunoby tipped in a Jalen Brunson miss to complete a historic 29-point comeback and put them a game from the third title in team history.

Wild scenes outside the Garden

Outside, it was pandemonium.

Fans in blue Brunson and orange Karl-Anthony Towns jerseys ran through the streets. Subway cars erupted in cheers as fans peeped the winning shot on their cellphones, their feeds interrupted at times by spotty underground reception.

Just beyond the Garden’s police-prescribed security perimeter, crowds swelled to about 10,000 people, the NYPD said. Thousands more were taking in the game and its see-it-to-believe-it ending at watch parties at nearby Bryant Park and Wollman Rink in Central Park.

But as the game progressed, the police department said in a statement, “the crowds became increasingly destructive, and there were many incidents of incredibly reckless and dangerous behavior.”

People fought in the streets and set off fireworks. They climbed scaffolding and traffic lights and smashed the windshields of four police vehicles. Some people tried to physically flip over a taxi or jump on top of moving trucks and other vehicles, police said. One group broke into a tractor trailer, took items from inside and threw them at police officers.

At least 10 officers were hurt in the mayhem, police said. One was hit in the head with a glass bottle.

In all, 56 people were taken into police custody during and after Game 4. Of them, 15 were arrested and 41 were released with criminal court summonses.

Other Knicks-related crimes remain unsolved.

On Wednesday, about two blocks from the Garden, a 17-year-old boy was beaten into a coma by people who had been arguing with him about the Knicks after their Game 4 comeback win, the NYPD said. Later, at the Spurs hotel five blocks from the arena, someone hurled an egg at star Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, but missed.

After the Spurs won Game 3 on Monday, a 39-year-old Spurs fan had his Tim Duncan jersey ripped from his body while walking back to his hotel near Times Square, the NYPD said.

New York declares Gridlock Alert

With the confluence of events on the pitch, court and stage, the city has declared a Gridlock Alert for Saturday, with severe traffic congestion expected in midtown Manhattan. Street closures and limited access to parts of Penn Station will be in effect for each of the eight World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium.

Starting at noon, two streets adjacent to the Garden — 32nd and 33rd — will be closed to vehicle traffic and used as queues for people waiting for trains from Penn Station to the World Cup. They will reopen three hours after the match ends.

The city is also barring truck deliveries from 30th Street to 60th Street from noon to 11 p.m., closing streets around the Lincoln Tunnel to New Jersey and converting some streets to bus-only corridors, including 42nd Street, which traverses Times Square. Of late, the tourist haven has been co-opted as yet another place for New York fans to cheer.

If the Knicks win Game 5, the next stop for their roving faithful will be a celebratory parade in Lower Manhattan, through a skyscraper-filled stretch of the city known as the Canyon of Heroes.

If not, the Knicks and their fans will be back at the Garden on Tuesday for Game 6.

The company behind the popular chatbot, ChatGPT, said it will respond to the inquiry “constructively” and that it already has in place measures to protect its customers.

“AI is a new and powerful technology, and we work every day to safely bring its benefits to people in a responsible way," an emailed statement from a spokesperson said. “We take the concerns raised by state attorneys general seriously.”

OpenAI has drawn criticism for ChatGPT allegedly offering encouraging words to users thinking of killing themselves or engaging criminal acts. It also has come under scrutiny for how its uses health data and other personal information of its customers.

On Thursday, the company was sued by a Canadian blaming the chatbot for her daughter's decision to hang herself. Earlier in June, the Florida attorney general sued the company after two separate shootings where alleged gunmen were reported to have asked ChatGPT questions while planning their crimes.

OpenAI said in a statement that its models repeatedly encouraged the individuals to seek real-world support, including from mental health professionals. The company also said it has cooperated with law enforcement in both shooting cases.

The new probe comes just a few day after it filed documents with U.S. security regulators for a highly anticipated initial public offering of stock. Artificial intelligence rival SpaceX celebrated its own IPO on Friday. The rocket maker founded by Elon Musk also runs an AI business responsible for a rival chatbot called Grok.

How governments should respond to the potential for good and possible dangerous of AI is becoming a big political issue.

Regulators Europe opened investigations into Musk's Grok over antisemitic content and sexualized material, include deepfake nudes. And another chatbot company preparing an IPO, Anthropic, was directed by the Trump administration Friday to shut down two of its online models to users abroad for national security reasons.

The OpenAI subpoena was earlier reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The Associated Press sent emails to a dozen state attorneys general Saturday asking for details of the probe but has not received any responses.

In its statement, OpenAI highlighted measures it has taken to keep children using its chatbot safe.

“Today’s ChatGPT includes a more protective experience for minors and people experiencing difficult situations, with safeguards that direct them to real-world resources and trusted human contacts," the statement read in part. “We believe kids should be treated like kids, which is why we built age prediction, released parental tools to guide their children’s use of AI, and disallowed advertising that targets kids.”

A petition by the initiative, named “Remigration and Reconquest,” gathered the 50,000 signatures needed to trigger parliamentary discussion, pushing the once-fringe concept of “remigration” into the political mainstream. No date has been scheduled yet for a vote.

The proposal, promoted by right-wing groups, calls for sweeping measures targeting foreigners, including coercive returns, incentives to leave Italy and broader policies critics say could extend to legal residents.

Several thousand demonstrators from around Italy gathered for the anti-migration march, singing the national anthem. On several occasions, many of them raised their arms in the fascist salute, shouting “Duce! Duce!," a reference to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.

A rival, pro-migration demonstration saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets in another part of Rome Saturday evening. That march was attended by various left-wing groups and trade unions, with some demonstrators waving Palestinian flags.

Thousands of police were deployed to ensure the two rival groups would remain apart. No violence was reported.

The debate on migration represents a delicate balancing act for Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition. While the anti-migration League has backed opening discussion, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and centrist allies have been more cautious about endorsing a proposal linked to extremist circles, amid concerns over legal risks and internal divisions.

Critics, including opposition parties and legal experts, argue the proposal would violate constitutional and international anti-discrimination principles by targeting people based on ethnic background, including naturalized citizens and their descendants.

The controversy comes even as Meloni’s government pursues a parallel policy of expanding legal migration, having approved a multiyear plan to admit hundreds of thousands of non-EU workers to address labor shortages in key economic sectors.

The demonstrations in Rome a day after a new set of European Union rules came into effect governing how each of the bloc's 27 member states will deal with irregular migration and asylum seekers.

The European Migration and Asylum Pact is the culmination of years of grueling negotiations that overhauled the previous system, which was widely considered a failure and gave far-right parties a potent issue to win votes.

The Pentagon on Monday added several non-state-owned Chinese companies, including electric vehicle maker BYD, tech giants Alibaba and Baidu to its list that seeks to identify Chinese companies it deems to have ties to the Chinese military, preventing them from landing U.S. defense contracts.

By adding these firms to the list, “the U.S. side has ignored the consensus reached during the meeting between the heads of state of the two countries in Beijing,” a Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said Saturday in a statement.

The U.S. has “disregarded the overall interests of bilateral economic and trade relations, continuously generalized the concept of national security, and abused state power to unjustifiably suppress Chinese enterprises,” the spokesperson added.

BYD, Alibaba and Baidu said earlier there’s no basis to include them in the list.

Trump in mid-May visited Beijing in a much-anticipated summit with Xi. The two leaders agreed to boost economic ties between the countries, including China's purchase of more U.S. agricultural products and Boeing jets, and the setting up separate boards of trade and investment.

Harden was arrested at 3:41 a.m. and booked just before 5 a.m., then posted $100 bond and was released from police custody, according to charging documents, which said he had a handgun in plain view that was not in a holster.

His arraignment is scheduled for June 22, according to the clerk’s office website. Harden is listed as a Houston resident in court documents.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers are aware of the arrest of James Harden this morning and are in the process of gathering additional information,” the team said in a statement. “We are in contact with James and his representation and will continue to monitor developments as they become available. At this time, we will have no further comment.”

A message sent to Harden’s representatives from The Associated Press seeking comment was not immediately returned.

Harden, 36, just finished his 17th NBA season and has the right to exercise a $42.3 million option to return to the Cavaliers next season. He indicated when Cleveland’s playoff run ended with a loss to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals that he would like to remain with the club, which would suggest he’s willing to forgo the option in favor of a longer contract with the Cavaliers.

Harden is an 11-time All-Star and an eight-time All-NBA selection who earned MVP honors in the 2017-18 season while playing for the Houston Rockets.

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report.

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

A half-dozen Canadians have done it since the NHL started sending players to the Olympics, but at this moment, more Americans have walked on the moon than accomplished what Morrow did. He is the only one.

That will soon change, no matter how the Cup final ends. After the U.S. won gold at the Olympics for the first time in 46 years, Carolina's Jaccob Slavin is one victory away from joining Morrow, unless Vegas wins Games 6 and 7 to put Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin in that exclusive club.

“I’ve had my 46 years,” Morrow told The Associated Press by phone Friday. “I’m always one that likes to see new people win the Cup, guys get a chance to do something that they’ll remember the rest of their lives. And for whoever does it this year, yes, I think it’s great.”

Morrow won the Stanley Cup four times in a row as part of that Islanders dynasty. Eichel is the only U.S. player in the final with a Cup ring, and he had a major part in the Golden Knights' championship run in 2023.

After helping the U.S. win gold in Milan in February, Eichel says there are similarities and differences to those journeys.

“One’s nine, 10 months; one’s two weeks,” Eichel said. “One of them is winner-take-all of just one game at a time. These are seven-game series, so it’s different in that sense. I think from an emotional standpoint and a mentality, I think there’s a lot of similarities: just the investment in winning and the feeling in the room and everything that comes with it.”

The single-elimination element is a good way of thinking of playoff hockey, Eichel said, though Hanifin pointed out that it is drastically different preparing for a game at a time at the Olympics than enduring the ups and downs of a postseason.

“When you’re playing seven-game series, you can kind of build over time and if you hit a little bit of a setback or some adversity, you can kind of learn from it and build and come back better,” Hanifin said. “Whereas Olympics, when you get into those medal rounds, it’s a one-and-done situation, so it’s different in that regard.”

If the Hurricanes win, it would be some measure of retribution for Seth Jarvis, who played for Canada in the final and lost to the U.S. in overtime on Jack Hughes' winning goal.

When Carolina had him, Slavin and bronze medalist Sebastian Aho pose for a photo with their medals in their Olympic jerseys, Jarvis in a behind-the-scenes video quipped about reliving his nightmares and brought up the stuffed animal versions of an Olympic mascot that IOC officials gave to a group of players after losing the biggest game of their lives.

Before the start of the final, Jarvis acknowledged the events are two separate things.

“Obviously, losing in the gold medal is going to suck forever,” Jarvis said. “But now I get a chance to be a winner and win something big here with a group of guys that I’ve been grinding with for five years, been through the ups and downs of it and people that I just really care about.”

Two more losses would put Jarvis back in the same spot, albeit without another stuffie. One more defeat by the Golden Knights would mean losing twice in a final this year for Mitch Marner, Shea Theodore and Mark Stone.

Before the series began, Slavin was working hard to keep his brain from drifting to the possibility.

“It crosses my mind,” Slavin said. “But we’ve got to go out and do a job first, so not trying to give it too much thought.”

In the nearly five decades since Morrow completed the Olympic gold-Stanley Cup double, the entire situation has changed. The NHL has participated in the Olympics six times since 1998, so players are already professionals.

Morrow at age 23 went less than a week and a half between beating the Soviet Union in the “Miracle on Ice” in Lake Placid, New York, visiting the White House, having his first practice with the Islanders and making his NHL debut.

“I was trying to earn a living,” Morrow said. “I had to kind of really change focus quickly into trying to earn a job with the New York Islanders, and it wasn’t a sure thing for me when I first came to them right after the Olympics. Am I going to be able to play in the league? Those were questions that I was facing in trying to make a living. And these guys certainly didn’t have that facing them after the Olympics.”

They just had to get back to doing their job, which was a challenge in itself. Vegas and Carolina each finished atop its division and got through three rounds of the playoffs.

That gave Eichel, Hanifin and Slavin an opportunity to join Morrow, Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan from Detroit in 2002, Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith from Chicago 2010, and Drew Doughty from Los Angeles in 2014 in the history books.

“For myself, it’s been a pretty surreal year: Winning gold was awesome, and then having the chance to play for a Stanley Cup is awesome,” Slavin said. “I take it as a blessing and just thankful for it.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Saturday that a deal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East is closer than ever before and expected to be finalized within 24 hours. Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the agreement, followed by technical-level talks next week.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the deal was “scheduled to get signed tomorrow,” and that the Strait of Hormuz would open immediately. But Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said no signing would occur Sunday and left the possibility open for the coming days.

Previous declarations of an imminent breakthrough failed to materialize.

Iran exchanged fire with the U.S. and Israel earlier in the week, threatening to push the region back into a full-scale war. The war launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28 has rattled the region and virtually shut down oil and natural gas shipments from the Persian Gulf. A fragile ceasefire has been in place since April 7.

Here's what to know:

A 60-day period would address Iran's nuclear program

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday the terms of dealing with Iran’s nuclear program would be finalized in the 60 days after the initial agreement is signed and that the parties could decide to extend that period.

The U.S. and Israel fear Iran’s nuclear program could lead to an atomic weapon — a main reason their leaders cited for going to war. Tehran has insisted its nuclear efforts are for peaceful purposes.

A senior U.S. administration official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said Friday that the emerging agreement would begin the process of destroying or removing Tehran’s highly enriched uranium.

The official said the 60-day period after both sides sign the deal would be used to work out technical details for removing the uranium. The official did not say who the U.S. envisions taking charge of removing the uranium, which is believed to be entombed under three nuclear sites battered by U.S. strikes last year.

The deal may include addressing reopening the Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. official said the emerging agreement includes provisions for reopening the strait.

Araghchi said Iran wants a deal that allows Tehran to charge ships “for services rendered” when they transit the strait. Iran imposed a toll system during the war, which the U.S. and other nations have said violates international law.

Transit through the strait, a vital shipping lane for oil and natural gas, has disrupted global energy supplies, driven up fuel prices and made food and other basics like fertilizer more expensive well beyond the region.

The agreement would include Iranian sanctions relief

Three regional officials said the emerging deal was expected to include the phased lifting of sanctions on Iran and the release of frozen Iranian assets. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.

They said they expect a signing ceremony for the agreement in the coming days after officials in Washington and Tehran approve it.

What will happen to Lebanon remains unclear

Iran has insisted that any deal must also include a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Friday that Israel could still act independently toward Iran and that the country would not pull out of the zones it is occupying in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, nor would it withdraw from the northern refugee camps of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Fighting continued in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

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Weissert reported from Washington and Mednick from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Aamer Madhani in Washington and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

The preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Massachusetts also orders a pause on any additional changes, writing that the plaintiffs have shown that these efforts are meant “to rewrite the Nation’s history with a white-out pen.”

“History cannot be faithfully told while excluding the experiences of communities whose contributions, struggles, and achievements form an important part of our Nation’s story,” the judge wrote.

The Trump administration must also provide a status report every week describing the progress they’ve made with these changes, the judge wrote.

“Under the guise of promoting American dignity, this Administration seeks to share a limited history by ordering the removal of all signs, displays, and interpretive exhibits at National Parks that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths,” Kelley wrote.

The order comes in response to a February lawsuit filed by conservation and historical organizations over National Park Service policies that the groups say have forced park service staff to remove or censor dozens of exhibits that share factually accurate and relevant U.S. history and scientific knowledge, including about slavery and climate change.

Many of the changes were at Philadelphia’s Independence National Historical Park, where the administration removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president. Other changes included removing a sign at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument in Arizona describing basalt bubbles because it had an image of a visitor holding a Pride flag while films on labor history were removed from the Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts.

President Donald Trump signed the executive order “restoring truth and sanity to American history” at the nation’s museums, parks and landmarks last year. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum later directed removal of “improper partisan ideology” from museums, monuments, landmarks and other public exhibits under federal control.

An email seeking comment from the Interior Department was sent Saturday.

Alan Spears, senior director for cultural resources for the National Parks Conservation Association, one of the organizations that brought the lawsuit, said the ruling will help protect national parks from the administration's effort “to erase history and science at these one-of-a-kind places.”

“National parks belong to the American people and censorship of any kind goes against the values these places represent,” he said.

Bill Wade, executive director for the Association of National Park Rangers, another organization that brought the lawsuit, said this is especially good news for National Parks employees who “have prided themselves for being able to provide truthful, accurate and unbiased information."

The new requirement, also under consideration in California, attempts to thwart the latest technique for producing untraceable “ghost guns” that have turned up in crimes. But there are questions about whether the technology can work and concerns about its effect on personal privacy and constitutional rights.

About one-third of U.S. states already have taken steps to ban or regulate build-it-yourself firearms that lack serial numbers and evade the background checks required to purchase guns from federally licensed dealers. What makes the new effort unique is that it targets the equipment used to produce the firearms, not the people who make them.

The blocking technology being pushed in two of the nation's most populous states has the potential to set industry standards for 3D printers. It also could serve as a model for other Democratic-led states wanting to add to their gun regulations, which often already ban certain semiautomatic weapons and allow firearms to be temporarily confiscated from people deemed to pose a threat to themselves or others.

More privately made guns are being used in crimes

Three-dimensional printers have become increasingly common over the past couple of decades.

Since 2012, the number of 3D printers worldwide has grown from an estimated 30,000 to over 3 million while the industry's value has multiplied from around $2 billion to $26 billion annually, said Bill Decker, executive chairman of the Association of 3D Printing. Though high-end printers cost thousands of dollars, some 3D printers now can be bought for as little as several hundred dollars.

The devices can make toys, prosthetic limbs and even airplane parts. They also can make firearms — or the pieces necessary to assemble them — using digital designs available online. Homemade guns that lack serial numbers often are called “ghost guns," because they are hard for law enforcement officers to trace.

Firearms made with 3D printers are increasingly being used in crimes, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report released last year. The number of privately made guns recovered in crimes and submitted to federal authorities rose from about 1,600 in 2017 to nearly 27,500 in 2023, though the report didn't specify how many came from 3D printers.

In a high-profile New York case, police say a 3D-printed gun likely was used to kill UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in 2024.

How 3D printers could refuse to make gun parts

A New York law signed last month and a bill in the California Legislature both would direct panels of experts to come up with standards for firearm blueprint detection algorithms. The technology would analyze every design submitted for 3D printing, compare it to a digital library of firearm parts, and reject those that are similar.

Though the study process would start now, the mandate that 3D printers come equipped with firearm blocking technology wouldn't begin until 2029 — or later, in New York's case, if the study group determines it's not yet feasible.

The concept is a bit like a smartphone app that identifies trees or flowers from an uploaded photo, said Solomon Diamond, an associate engineering professor at Dartmouth College who was among several experts at a recent online seminar about the legislation.

For 3D printers, one possible method could use a geometric analysis of shapes, dimensions and other structural features to reject print projects that closely resemble firearm parts.

"Geometric search is mature, it’s deployed, it is ready to be applied to this problem,” said Julian Chultarsky, a technical account manager at Physna, a Columbus, Ohio-based company that develops such technology.

Could 3D printers block both too little and too much?

The Association of 3D Printing supports the legislation in New York and California, but “it's not going to work,” Decker said. "It’s more of a political statement than anything else.”

Criminals still will come up with ways to make guns from 3D printers, either by altering their designs or taking their printing projects elsewhere, Decker said.

The more aggressive the technology becomes, the more likely that it also blocks unintended items, said Rory Mir, director of open access and technology community engagement at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group. Some harmless pipes might look like gun parts, or an S-shaped wall hanger might resemble an auto sear trigger used to modify a semiautomatic weapon into a machine gun.

“These sort of censorship algorithms don’t work, and they wind up capturing and blocking a lot of lawful speech," Mir said.

If print instructions are submitted for a cloud-based artificial intelligence search, it also risks the privacy of people's artistic and proprietary creations, Mir said.

Does the right to bear arms extend to making them?

Gun safety advocates say 3D printers have created a new pathway for people who cannot legally purchase firearms — like children or convicted felons — to nonetheless obtain them. Eleven states already generally prohibit 3D-printed guns, and six additional states require them to receive serial numbers, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

Blocking the actual 3D printing of firearms could make it harder for people to ignore such laws.

“3D printing really is the new frontier of the fight against ghost guns,” said Samuel Levy, director of policy advocacy at Everytown for Gun Safety.

The National Rifle Association might partly agree with that assertion, though it disagrees with the policy.

“Despite desperate fear-mongering campaigns, homemade firearms are nothing new — they are a proud, time-honored American tradition dating back to the founding of our Republic," John Commerford, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. He added that "these measures only restrict responsible Americans — who do follow the law — from participating in constitutionally protected activities.”

Trump, who is trying to make progress on finalizing an Iran war deal in the coming days, is expected to have a busy schedule of one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the summit in the French lakeside town of Evian-les-Bains, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.

The Republican president is expected to discuss with U.S. allies plans to remove mines from the Strait of Hormuz as confidence grows for a deal, one official said.

Britain and France, both G7 members, have expressed interest in assisting with demining the critical waterway once the conflict is paused.

Trump also plans individual meetings on the sidelines of the summit, which opens Monday, with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and United Arab Emirates to discuss efforts to wind down the Iran war.

Macron's office said the French president will host Trump for a dinner Wednesday to mark the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, at the Palace of Versailles, “a historic symbol of Franco-American friendship.”

The palace was the residence of French kings from the time of Louis XIV to Louis XVI. It regularly hosts heads of state and foreign dignitaries.

Macron hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla there in 2021 for the palace’s 400th anniversary, with a dinner in the Hall of Mirrors, one of the features of the 2,300 rooms in the palace.

In 2017, before his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin deteriorated because of the war in Ukraine, the then newly elected Macron hosted the Russian president at Versailles.

Trump and Macron will meet after the U.S. leader arrives in France on Monday afternoon. Trump will depart Washington after celebrating his 80th birthday with a primetime mixed martial arts show on the White House lawn Sunday.

Trump also plans separate talks with India's prime minister, officials said. India, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt are attending the summit at Macron's invitation because they are not G7 members.

Leaders of the G7 countries, which also include Canada, Germany, Italy and Japan, are meeting to discuss economic growth and development, strengthening supply chains for critical minerals, illegal immigration and artificial intelligence, among other issues.

The wars in Ukraine and Iran are also expected to be front and center. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will also be at the summit. A formal meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy is not currently scheduled, officials told reporters, though they could meet on the sidelines.

Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are likely to discuss progress toward a trade deal between their countries when they meet, officials said.

The U.S. and India signed a joint framework agreement earlier this year and negotiations continue. One of the officials told reporters a deal is possible, but unlikely to be settled on at the summit.

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Petrequin reported from London.

Drone debris sparked a fire at a sea terminal, local Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said. He did not give details, but Russian news outlets reported that a Black Sea export terminal transporting terminal crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied gas in the village of Volna was damaged.

Ukraine’s General Staff did not comment on the Krasnodar strike Saturday, but said that its forces had hit an oil preparation and pumping station overnight in Russia’s Volgograd region, as well as Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine's Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The attack comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s forces had struck several military and energy infrastructure sites deep inside Russia, including a military factory that he said supplied components for Russian drones and missiles.

He said Wednesday that Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingo long-range missiles had hit the facility in Cheboksary, in the Chuvashiya region, more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) from the front line.

At the moment, he’s not scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, who will be in Evian-les-Bains for the Group of Seven summit, according to a senior U.S. administration official who briefed reporters on planning for the summit. The official spoke on the condition anonymity on ground rules set by the White House.

Trump and Zelenskyy last met in December, when the Ukrainian leader visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and the resulting global energy disruptions have overshadowed the conflict in Ukraine and pulled much of Trump’s attention away from the conflict in Europe that he vowed to quickly bring to an end during his 2024 White House run.

More than four years since the start of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, the more than 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line has remained largely static as swarms of drones hinder advances. As a result, both sides have increasingly relied on long-range strikes.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to strengthen air defenses after Ukrainian attacks set ablaze an oil terminal in St. Petersburg and also hit a nearby naval base, casting a cloud over a showcase economic forum in his hometown.

Elsewhere, Russian attacks injured nine people in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, setting fire to a local marketplace, regional authorities said.

Russia attacked three districts of the region more than 20 times with drones and aerial bombs, according to regional head Oleksandr Hanzha in a Telegram post on Saturday. Six were hospitalized including a man in critical condition, he added.

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AP writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.

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

The shooting occurred on Thursday (June 11) around 7:11 p.m. in the 9000 block of Somerset Avenue near I-94.

ShotSpotter detects more than 30 rounds

Detroit police said officers were alerted by a ShotSpotter notification that detected more than 30 rounds fired in the area.

Shortly afterward, officers received reports of a person shot and responded to the scene.

Detroit Deputy Chief Arnold Williams said investigators determined the 16-year-old boy suffered two gunshot wounds.

The teen was transported to a Metro Detroit hospital, where he underwent surgery.

Police said his injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Two girls, 12 and 13, were also injured but were not struck by gunfire.

Williams said one girl was hurt by flying glass, while the other suffered scrapes as people scrambled for safety after the shooting began.

Both girls were listed in stable condition and are expected to recover.

Argument escalated into gunfire

Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from an argument that escalated when someone retrieved a firearm and opened fire.

“We believe it started with an argument,” Williams said. “That verbal argument led to someone retrieving a weapon and firing shots.”

Police are actively searching for a person of interest but have not released a description.

Williams said investigators do not believe the individual poses an ongoing threat to the general public.

Children, families outside as shots rang out

The shooting unfolded on a warm summer evening as children and families were outside in the neighborhood, raising concerns among residents.

Williams condemned the violence and urged people to find alternatives to resolving disputes with firearms.

“There is no reason to resort to a gun to try to end a dispute or confrontation,” Williams said. “What we’re doing right now, we have one child in the hospital because of it.”

The investigation remains ongoing.

Watch the full press conference below

The anti-racism rally came after nights of fiery violence in parts of Northern Ireland following the arrest of a 30-year-old man from Sudan on charges of attempted murder in a stabbing that left a man partly blind.

Protests turned violent when groups of masked men set fire to several homes they believed to house immigrants, torched a bus and pelted police with bricks, bottles and firebombs. More than two dozen people were left homeless and 12 police officers were injured in what officials called “thuggery.”

“All it takes is for one person who’s not white and local to commit a crime and that fire of racism is rekindled," Elaine Crory told the crowd gathered outside Belfast City Hall.

Peaceful demonstrators carried signs saying, “The problem is evil & violence not race,” “Your racism is not patriotism” and “Protect people not prejudice.”

Newlyweds Cara Bell and Matthew Richardson said it was a happy coincidence to emerge from getting married in City Hall and joining the peaceful demonstration after the ugly violence they witnessed earlier in the week.

“It’s important to note that things like today really show that this is not the general feeling of people in Belfast,” Bell said, noting it was "a week where you’ve seen the worst of humanity and the best of humanity in Belfast.”

Despite calls for calm by officials and the family of the victim, far-right and anti-immigrant figures were blamed for whipping up protests in several place across the U.K. earlier in the week.

Disorder in Glasgow, Scotland, targeted minorities and terrified worshippers at a mosque went into lockdown, police said.

On Saturday, an anti-racism group rallied thousands to reclaim Glasgow streets and “stand up to the far right.”

The group was met by a much smaller contingent of mostly men who appeared to make Nazi salutes and shouted anti-Muslim chants.

The anti-racism group shouted, “Nazi scum off our streets.”

Katie’s Kerstetter, looking at dozens of people warming up at MLK High School in Detroit.

Her husband, MSP Motor Carrier Officer Daniel Kerstetter, was killed in 2024 in a traffic crash.

Saturday’s event was about building bridges between law enforcement and the public they’re sworn to protect.

“We need to be there and show up and we need the community to support us as well,” said Colonel James Grady, the director of MSP.

“The cause is all about bringing people together,” added a young dad. “There’s too much division out there so we want to bring the community together and do it in a way that’s special.”

Officer Kerstetter was passionate about the link between moving your body and a better mindset.

“Even when he came after a long shift you could find him in our garage working out with our boys, doing something with their daddy,” Katie said.

“It’s important to have a greater and deeper meaning and getting everyone out here because at home you don’t realize what’s going on and how they’re affected,” said a neighbor.

Katie says this is only the beginning for the Officer Daniel Kerstetter Foundation.

“Danny would be so proud,” Katie said between tears. “I’ve told everybody it’s not about money it’s about showing up, people have driven from so far, bringing their kids. That means more to me than money. Money helps, but that means more to me than anything.”

“When I walked out for the ninth, my whole body shivered and the adrenaline really kicked in,” he said.

Misiorowski threw a 104.5 mph pitch, the fastest by a starting pitcher since tracking began, and struck out 15 with no walks in a one-hitter that led the Milwaukee Brewers over the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 on Friday night.

“That was as good as it gets,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “To pitch a game like that against an offense like that with all those All-Stars over there, it was an incredible performance.”

Misiorowski had never pitched past the seventh inning in 27 previous big league starts.

As he strode to the mound for the ninth inning, the capacity crowd of 40,205 rose in unison. Misiorowski retired Gabriel Rincones Jr. and J.T. Realmuto on groundouts, then struck out Justin Crawford with a 103.1 mph pitch that ended the game.

Misiorowski raised his hands in the air and turned to embrace catcher William Contreras.

“There was no chance I was going to throw anything other than a heater right there. I was amped up,” Misiorowski said.

He struck out Kyle Schwarber leading off the game with his fifth pitch, a 104.5 mph offering at the low, outsider corner that was tipped into Contreras' mitt.

Misiorowski (8-2) threw four pitches of 104 mph or higher, all faster than the previous high for a starter of 103.7 mph he set at Colorado on June 7. The fastest pitch overall since tracking began in 2008 was 105.8 mph by Cincinnati reliever Aroldis Chapman in September 2010.

Misiorowski reached 100 mph with a record 58 pitches, one more than he threw against St. Louis on May 25. He tossed 74 of 95 pitches for strikes and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.34 in just the eighth complete game and fifth individual shutout in the majors this year.

He has a 0.17 ERA in his last eight starts and the 15 strikeouts were the most by any pitcher this season. Milwaukee had not had a complete game since Brandon Woodruff on Sept. 11, 2023, against Miami.

Misiorowski started the game with four straight strikeouts and fanned eight of his first nine batters.

“You pretty much better be ready to hit the fastball. You don’t see guys like this often,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said before the game. “We see more guys throw 100 mph or up in that range, but you don’t see guys that are consistent like him. If you can’t hit a fastball, you’re in big trouble.”

Misiorowski faced the minimum 27 batters. Schwarber singled on a slider on the first pitch of the fourth and, after Bryce Harper struck out, Trea Turner grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“It was a backdoor slider that I located well, but maybe slightly off,” Misiorowski said of the pitch to Schwarber. "I was trying to jump out ahead of him. He made good contact and poked it through. End of the story.”

Murphy said Misiorowski has continued to mature.

“His work between starts is consistent,” Murphy said. “He’s worked hard in the weight room. He’s worked hard building a routine. This guy loves the ball in his hand.”

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

The 24-year-old right-hander struck out Kyle Schwarber leading off the game with his fifth pitch, a 104.5 mph offering at the low, outside corner that was tipped into the mitt of catcher William Contreras.

Misiorowski (8-2) threw four pitches of 104 mph or higher, all faster than the previous high for a starter of 103.7 mph he set at Colorado on June 7. The fastest pitch overall since tracking began in 2008 was 105.8 mph by Cincinnati reliever Aroldis Chapman in September 2010.

Misiorowski reached 100 mph with a record 58 pitches, one more than he threw against St. Louis on May 25. He tossed 74 of 95 pitches for strikes and lowered his major league-leading ERA to 1.34.

He faced the minimum 27 batters. Schwarber singled on a slider on the first pitch of the fourth and, after Bryce Harper struck out, Trea Turner grounded into an inning-ending double play.

With the capacity crowd of 40,205 at American Family Field on its feet, Misiorowski struck out Justin Crawford to finish the game and raised his hands in the air in his first professional complete game. It was just the eighth complete game and fifth individual shutout in the major leagues this year.

Contreras put Milwaukee ahead in the first with a two-out RBI double off opener Tanner Banks (0-4) and Andrew Painter threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the second.

Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer in the fifth off Painter and Jackson Chourio added a run-scoring single in the sixth.

Philadelphia placed outfielder Adolis García on the 60-day injured list with a right lat tear and recalled outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr. from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. García left in the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game at Toronto after making consecutive throws to home plate on sacrifice flies. The team also placed outfielder Steward Berroa on the paternity list.

Milwaukee put right-hander Coleman Crow on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain and recalled right-hander Craig Yoho from Triple-A Nashville.

Up next

Aaron Nola (3-4, 5.86 ERA) gets the start for the Phillies on Saturday against the Brewers' Shane Drohan (3-1, 3.11 ERA).

___

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

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

Elon Musk becomes the world's first trillionaire

The world’s richest man has become its first trillionaire.

Shares in Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX soared 25% after opening for trading Friday, an auspicious start for history’s biggest initial public offering and enough to push the net worth of its founder and CEO over the trillion dollar mark.

That price gave the company a market value of $2.21 trillion. Musk, who also is a major shareholder and CEO of Tesla, is now worth an estimated $1.1 trillion, according to Forbes.

Inflation hits 3-year high

Rising gas prices pushed inflation to its highest level in three years last month, a headache for the Federal Reserve and a potential political challenge for the Trump administration as midterm elections near.

Consumer prices rose 4.2% in May from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 3.8% in April and the third straight increase. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.5% last month, after big gains of 0.6% in April and 0.9% in March.

Outside energy costs, price increases were not as dramatic, a sign that inflation hasn’t yet spread throughout the economy. Should the Iran war end and oil and gas prices decline, headline inflation could begin to cool. Gas prices have fallen this month.

US producer prices spike in May at fastest pace in more than 3 years

U.S. producer prices climbed last month at the fastest pace since November 2022, fueled by a surge in energy prices after the start of the Iran war.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which captures inflation before it reaches consumers — jumped 6.5% from May 2025. It rose 1.1% from April, as it did the previous month. Wholesale gasoline prices surged by more than 23% from April to May, and nearly 70% from a year earlier.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core wholesale prices rose 0.4% from April and 4.9% from May 2025.

Social Security’s retirement trust fund faces funding shortfall one year earlier than expected

Social Security’s retirement trust fund is projected to face a funding shortfall in 2032, a year earlier than last year’s projections, according to an annual report released Tuesday, while Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund will be unable to pay full benefits in 2033, which is unchanged from last year’s estimate.

Rising healthcare costs and government spending have contributed to a projected depletion date that is less than 10 years from now.

The looming challenge for the programs is a partial funding gap, not a collapse. Even after trust fund depletion, the system will continue issuing benefits, albeit at reduced amounts.

Last year, Medicare’s hospital insurance trust fund go-broke date was pushed to 2033 from 2036 the year before that, according to the report from the programs’ trustees.

Meanwhile, Social Security’s combined trust funds — which cover old age and disability recipients — will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034, unchanged from the 2025 report. After that, incoming revenue would cover about 83% of scheduled benefits.

May home sales surge to fastest pace this year

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes accelerated last month to their fastest pace since December, a sharp turnaround in demand after a lackluster start to the spring homebuying season.

Existing home sales rose 3.2% in May from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.17 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Sales also rose 3.2% compared with May last year.

Home sales increased from a year earlier in the Midwest, South and West, but fell in the Northeast, NAR said.

The latest sales figure topped the roughly 4.07 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4 million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2 million.

Average US long-term mortgage rate rises to just below high for the year

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked up this week to just below its high for the year, the latest sign that borrowing costs on home loans remain elevated relative to where they were before the war with Iran started.

The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.52% from 6.48% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the increase, the average rate remains below 6.84%, where it was a year ago.

Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, often sought by borrowers refinancing a home loan, also rose this week. That average rate climbed to 5.84% from 5.79% last week. A year ago, it was at 5.97%, Freddie Mac said.

When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power.

Unemployment claims climb modestly

U.S. applications for jobless aid rose modestly last week, but remain at a historically low level despite economic headwinds brought on by the war in Iran.

The number of Americans filing for unemployment aid for the week ending June 6 rose by 4,000 to 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s the most since early February, before the U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran, but still considered a healthy level. It’s also more than the 216,000 new applications forecast by analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.

Wall Street drifts as oil declines

U.S. stocks rose this week as oil prices continued to retreat.

The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average both rose. The Nasdaq composite was lower.

Stocks got a lift from a dip for the price of Brent crude oil, deepening its loss for the week. Oil prices have come down since President Donald Trump on Thursday called off his threat to launch strikes on Iran and said a potential deal with Iran may be imminent.

Several fighters on this Sunday’s championship fight card from Grand Rapids participated in a media workout and boxing clinic for youth members of the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee of Western Michigan on June 12 at PK Boxing Gym.

The special 5 p.m. presentation live on DAZN from GLC Live at 20 Monroe coincides with New York’s Puerto Rican Day Parade and features multiple matchups between Puerto Rican and Mexican fighters in celebration of one of boxing’s greatest rivalries.

In the main event, Puerto Rico’s Jonathan “Bomba” González (29-4-1, 14 KOs) defends his WBA Interim Flyweight World Championship against unbeaten Mexican contender Abraham “Hammer” Perez (14-0 7KOs) in what oddsmakers have set as a near-50/50 fight.

ABRAHAM “HAMMER” PEREZ:

“For this camp I trained in Albuquerque, and the only real adjustment we made for this opponent was bringing in some southpaws to spar.

“Nothing prepares you for a fight quite like fighting for your life. I was in a coma for four days on life support with organ failure after drowning (referring to a 2024 near-fatal training incident). They told me I could have woken up brain-dead or lost my legs. The only reason I fully recovered is because I was in peak athletic shape.

“That experience completely shifted my mindset. I want fans watching me on Sunday to realize that anything is possible.”

In the co-feature, Puerto Rican undefeated contender Joshua “JJ” Pagan (15-0 5KOs) puts his WBO NABO Lightweight title on the line against Mexican challenger Rodolfo Bustamante Salazar (22-1-1 12 KOs).

Members of the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee Of Western Michigan will walk out González and Pagan for their respective bouts to celebrate the occasion and Grand Rapids’ large and vibrant Puerto Rican community.

JOSHUA “JJ” PAGÁN:

“After a long camp down in Florida, there is absolutely nothing like the feeling of coming back home.

“Having those kids right there in the gym with me during the clinic from the Puerto Rican Cultural Committee of Western Michigan was incredible. It reminded me exactly who I do this for. I love this community, and fighting in front of my family, friends, and those kids in my hometown is everything to me.

“On Sunday, I’m going out there to finish the job. This weekend, I’m not just defending my belt, I’m defending my city.”

RODOLFO BUSTAMANTE SALAZAR:

“We started camp out in Mexico focusing heavily on strength and conditioning, then wrapped things up in California.

“I leave the strategy entirely up to my coaches. They prepared me to go a hard ten rounds, and if the knockout is there, we’re taking it.

“On Sunday, I want to show the fans my elegant style and give them a class performance. I prepared myself the best I can, and I’m ready to give everyone a great show.”

Also working out and guiding the local youth on Friday was Troy “Transformer” Isley (15-0, 5 KOs), who will put his unbeaten record on the line against hard-hitting Leonardo Di Stefano (17-7, 14 KOs).

TROY ISLEY:

“Camp went amazing, the weight is right where it needs to be, and I am just excited to get out there Sunday and put on a show.

“As far as a prediction, I’m going to spend the first two rounds testing his gas tank and slowly breaking him down mentally and physically. Once round three hits, I’m picking up the pace. I see a beautiful, methodical breakdown that ends in a stoppage by the sixth round at the latest.”

Electric vehicles. Brain implants. Underground tunnels. A social media platform once called Twitter. And a rocket maker that blasted off its trading from Wall Street this week.

Over time, more and more of these ventures have found themselves under the same roof. Musk merged SpaceX — which went public on Friday — with his artificial intelligence company xAI just earlier this year. But he still holds the CEO role at several corporations today, in addition to other various executive titles or ownership stakes.

Here's a look at Musk's vast business empire.

SpaceX

Musk is CEO of SpaceX, which he founded in 2002. The company has grown far beyond rockets. It owns satellite communications service Starlink, a big source of cash for the company that generated $4.4 billion in operating income last year. SpaceX also houses social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, which Musk bought for $44 billion in 2022 and parked it under xAI, the maker of the Grok chatbot.

Both xAI and X are money losers (the AI business lost $6.4 billion in operations last year). Nonetheless, SpaceX — which lost $2.6 billion overall from operations last year — was able to whip up enough market hype to debut with the biggest initial public offering in history on Friday, closing at just below $161 per share, or a total market value of $2.1 trillion.

Some think that price tag significantly overvalues the company. SpaceX has promised it will become a leader in AI and one day help make human life multiplanetary — with lofty, and at times sci-fi sounding, goals that range from putting data centers in space to colonizing Mars. But the bulk of that hinges on unproven technology and massive capital needs.

Tesla

Musk is also CEO of Tesla, a role he has held at the electric car maker since 2008.

Tesla has struggled with rising competition in the EV space. Last year, the company lost its crown as the world’s largest EV maker to China’s BYD. Sales were also bruised during boycotts over Musk’s politics. Those numbers have since rebounded some, but Musk has repeatedly shrugged off troubles — emphasizing that Tesla’s future lies less in car sales than getting people to take rides in them as self-driving taxis.

Beyond the road, Tesla has been upping production of robots for homes and businesses. And it's also been in the solar energy business for about a decade with it purchase of SolarCity, which was founded by Musk and two of his cousins. Tesla went public in 2010, and went on to join the trillion dollar club on the S&P 500. Its market cap currently stands around $1.5 trillion.

Neuralink

Musk has also the CEO title at Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company he co-founded in 2016.

Neuralink is one of many groups working to connect the human nervous system to machines. It's launched clinical trials for people who have spinal cord injuries, ALS and other conditions. The company (and sometimes Musk himself ) has announced a handful of brain implants over recent years. In January, Neuralink said it had 21 trial participants worldwide.

The Boring Company

Musk also founded The Boring Company, a decade-old tunnel digging and underground transportation business.

The Boring Company is behind projects like the “Vegas Loop” — a network of underground, Tesla-hailing tunnels that first opened around around the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2021. It's promised to deliver a network of high speed transit — with plans to also make tunnels in Dubai and Nashville. Still, pushback has piled up along the way. The company has been accused of breaking multiple safety and environmental requirements in Las Vegas, where its full route is still unfinished, and other criticism from some local officials in Nashville.

Paypal and other previous endeavors

Musk made his initial fortune by creating two companies, Zip2 and PayPal ( once X.com ). Those then-startups were sold to new owners decades ago — but netted him about $200 million at sale, which Musk used to later start SpaceX and invest in Tesla.

SpaceX is now worth $2.1 trillion after its stock launched 19.2% higher in its debut on Wall Street. Whether or not you believe it deserves to be worth more than Exxon Mobil, Bank of America and Coca-Cola combined, the collective market does. And if SpaceX maintains that big a value, it will join some high-profile stock indexes.

Many of these indexes don't care about how realistic a company's growth plans are or who its CEO is. They're simply trying to show how slices of the market, or the whole thing, are performing. And if SpaceX is big enough to meet the qualifications to join those indexes, whether it's in a few weeks or a year, it will gain entry.

That matters for investors and their 401(k) accounts because they're depending more than ever on funds that simply mimic these indexes. It's a lower-cost way to invest, allowing savers to keep more of their investments. Partly because of that, such index funds have usually proven to be better performers than funds that try to pick and choose individual stocks.

Just one in five actively managed U.S. stock funds survived and beat their average index peer over the last decade, at 21%, according to Morningstar's data through 2025. Such disparities in performance meant investors had more money invested in U.S. index funds than actively managed ones beginning in 2024, and the gap has only grown since then.

Here's a look at what's going on:

What indexes are

They're things the investment industry has created to answer the question: What is the market doing? It's otherwise tough to answer quickly when the U.S. market has thousands of stocks moving in different directions at any moment.

The S&P 500 is perhaps the most famous and influential index. It tracks 500 of the biggest U.S. stocks, and trillions of dollars in investments are either directly mimicking it or at least benchmarking themselves against it.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is well known because it's been around since the 19th century, but it tracks only 30 big stocks so Wall Street pays it little attention.

Companies want to be in indexes

Because index funds are the way so many investors put money into the stock market, companies want to be part of indexes. Stocks can see a big jump in their prices after S&P Dow Jones Indices, Nasdaq, FTSE Russell or other companies announce they'll be joining their indexes.

The investment industry has created funds, including both traditional mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, to track almost every kind of index. More than 1,000 index funds were available at the end of last year, according to the Investment Company Institute. Of them, 185 tracked the S&P 500.

SpaceX could soon be in indexes

Nasdaq changed its rules to allow some huge companies to join its Nasdaq 100 index after just 15 trading days. That's a break from the past, where it would wait until each December to add new members in an annual reconstitution to make sure it includes the 100 largest non-financial companies on the Nasdaq.

Some popular funds track the Nasdaq 100 index, including the QQQ exchange-traded fund from Invesco that has roughly $477 billion in total investments. That means QQQ holders could soon own shares of SpaceX, without doing anything on their own.

Other AI giants could as well

Anthropic and OpenAI are two other huge AI-related companies looking to sell their own stocks soon on a U.S. exchange for the first time. Their IPOs could potentially make each worth close to $1 trillion.

It used to be that companies would have an IPO long before they got that big. But SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI swelled to tremendous sizes thanks to dollars from private investors, including pension funds, companies and rich investors, away from the public market.

That's forcing the reconsideration for the investment industry about how quickly to add companies to indexes that they say track the biggest companies.

Not every index is making changes to fast-track big IPOs

The company behind the S&P 500 is not making changes to allow SpaceX and other “mega” IPOs faster entry into the index. For it, a stock needs to trade on an eligible exchange for at least 12 months before it can join the index.

Not only that, S&P Dow Jones Indices also requires companies to have made a profit in its most recent quarter and over the sum of its last four quarters.

SpaceX lost $4.9 billion last year and another $4.3 billion through the first three months of 2026. It acknowledges that it “may not achieve profitability in the future.” Over the long term, a stock’s price tends to track with how much profit the company is making.

Not everyone is happy about SpaceX's IPO entry to indexes

Officials from pension funds for firefighters, teachers and other workers in California and New York sent a letter to SpaceX last month decrying its corporate governance, including how much power Musk will hold over the company through his ownership of a special class of stock with more voting power.

They said they could become owners of SpaceX stock because they hold index funds.

If Musk is able to control so much of the voting power on the board of directors, it would make him tremendously powerful atop SpaceX, “essentially making him unfireable without his own consent,” the CEO of California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the New York state comptroller and the New York City comptroller wrote in their letter.

If an investor doesn’t like certain companies in the index

Index funds track indexes. And if a stock is in an index, the index fund will buy it, even if investors may not like it.

Tesla has remained in the S&P 500 even though critics called it overvalued for years, for example, and Musk's electric-vehicle company has grown to become one of Wall Street's 10 biggest companies.

Some indexes say they will not include companies that have poor corporate governance standards or other narrowed criteria, but investors need to look for them.

The S&P 500 ESG index famously kicked Tesla out in 2022, for example.

The posture is an escalation from a year ago, when Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer was widely criticized within his party for a spring vote with Republicans to keep the government open. Since then, Democrats have forced government shutdowns, slowed Trump’s nominations and now blocked the bipartisan intelligence law as they seek leverage in a Republican-led Congress.

The risky strategy has consequences when government programs go dark, and Democrats have little to show for it so far in terms of policy victories. Republicans say it is a grave threat to national security to let the surveillance law, which aims to prevent terrorist attacks, expire just as millions of people are entering the United States for World Cup games and as celebrations for the nation’s 250th anniversary get underway.

But the hardball approach has helped unite Democrats inside and outside of the Capitol as they say they have no other choice — and that the blame should fall on Trump for how he is governing.

“I don’t deny that this is dangerous,” Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday about Democrats allowing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expire starting Saturday. “But this didn’t have to happen.”

Democrats’ growing confidence also comes at a time when Republicans are often sparring with Trump, who has made clear he has little interest in compromise with lawmakers in either party. Democrats are blocking renewal of the law, known as FISA, in protest of Trump’s appointment of federal housing regulator and loyalist Bill Pulte to temporarily lead the nation’s intelligence agencies. The choice also rankled Republicans, who said Pulte lacks the required experience for the job.

Lawmakers in both parties urged Trump all week to pull the appointment, and on Thursday he nominated a permanent replacement for the job just after lawmakers left Washington for the weekend. But the Senate confirmation process will take time, and Trump has not budged on Pulte’s appointment as an interim director.

With no change, Democrats “are going to use every tool we have to fight back,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.

The standoff over FISA has won Senate Democrats some respect with base voters revolted a year ago. Schumer and the caucus have “shifted to more of a fight posture,” says Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who served as an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Republicans say blocking FISA is a dangerous strategy

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Democrats have been playing “fast and loose” with national security for the past year. He pointed to the 43-day government shutdown last fall and a monthslong delay in funding for Trump’s immigration enforcement operations.

“How did we get to the point where one party has completely abdicated any responsibility for our nation’s security?” Thune asked.

Democrats argue that Pulte, with little national security background, is a greater threat. They note that as a federal housing regulator, he has pushed for investigations of high-profile political figures whom Trump considers political foes.

“It’s not a close call,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. “We cannot extend these capabilities if the president is making clear that he’s going to use them not to protect the nation, but to protect himself politically.”

Democrats fight for more leverage

Strategist Payne says he believes Democrats have gained a bit of leverage since the shutdown in the fall.

Democrats did not get the extension in health care subsidies they demanded because a small group of moderate Democrats voted with Republicans to end the impasse. They did not achieve the changes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol that they sought when they delayed passage of funding for those agencies for months. But the White House did agree to negotiate, even if those talks ultimately failed.

Democrats also have grown more unified. While moderates ended the fall shutdown, the party stayed together in blocking the immigration funding and the surveillance authority.

“They’ve showed Republicans they are not going to fold,” Payne said.

Still, it may not be enough for some in the party base or to win Democrats a majority in November's midterm elections.

Andrew O’Neill, national advocacy director for the Democratic resistance group Indivisible, said he was concerned to see some Democrats praise Jay Clayton, Trump’s permanent pick for the intelligence job.

Republicans are rushing to confirm Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, before Tulsi Gabbard leaves the job and Pulte takes over as interim director on June 19.

It is unclear, so far, if Democrats will support Clayton or allow Republicans to speed up the process and confirm him quickly.

O’Neill said he is glad Democrats blocked FISA over Pulte’s appointment, but activists are wary.

“It’s a mixed bag,” O’Neill said of the past year. “The frustration is it took so long.”

Republicans navigate Democrats and Trump

Caught in the middle are Senate Republicans, who had to spend months to fund border enforcement agencies and are now navigating the dispute over FISA, even after lawmakers reached a bipartisan compromise.

Republicans are also trying to work with Trump, who derailed the intelligence legislation when he announced Pulte’s appointment as senators were on the verge of passing that deal.

Trump has weakened Republicans' position — and his own support in the Senate — by backing primary challenges to incumbent senators. Republican Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana both lost in primaries to Trump-backed opponents last month and have joined Democrats in criticizing Pulte.

Senate Democrats say hope their strategy gives them enough leverage to win more Republican allies.

Being in the minority is “a difficult dynamic for us,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt. “But I’m seeing the Republicans start to move a little bit.”

The 35-year-old suffered serious leg and arm injuries in the attack at 11:15 a.m. off Coogee Beach, a police statement said.

“I saw the shark come out of the water and just the size of it shocked me,” lifeguard Charlie Verco told Sydney’s The Sunday Telegraph newspaper. He was in the area on his 5.5-meter (18-foot) paddleboard and was the first rescuer to the scene.

“I kept paddling towards her and the shark took her underwater and I was going, ‘What do I do now?’ A couple of seconds later, she popped up again,” Verco said.

He said the woman was too weak to climb onto the board, but he managed to grab her by an arm and they headed toward the beach. Other bystanders reached the pair and helped them back to shore.

An off-duty hospital doctor Ian Ferguson was spending the morning at the beach with his young family when he said he heard screaming and saw a “big cloud of blood in the water.”

Ferguson and others applied tourniquets to her wounds after she reached the beach. She had a 30-centimeter (12-inch) wide bite on her thigh, the flesh had been removed and bone was exposed, Ferguson told the newspaper. She had a similar wound to her arm, he said.

The victim was taken to a rugby field near the beach, from where she was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Police described her condition as critical.

The woman, who was not identified, was swimming with two friends 30 meters (100 feet) from the beach when she was attacked, ambulance official Michael Corlis said.

She was attacked by a 3.5-meter (11-foot) white shark, lifeguard Tony Waller said.

Three spearfishing divers have been killed by sharks off the Australian coast since May 16, bringing the total of fatalities in the nation this year to four. In January, a 12-year-old boy died in a hospital days after he was mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor.

Australia has averaged between two and three fatal shark attacks a year since 2000, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database, a partnership of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Flinders University and the New South Wales state government.

Last year, Australia recorded five fatal shark attacks. Attacks in Australia have become more common over the decades as the population has grown and activities such as surfing and scuba diving have gained in popularity.

Girard is under contract through the 2027-28 campaign and becomes the franchise’s seventh player signed.

She is also the second addition during Phase 3 of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Expansion Player Distribution Process, following defender Sydney Bard.

The signing marks a homecoming for Girard, who spent three seasons in the PWHL with the New York Sirens and Boston Fleet.

Girard also played in the league’s first two games at Little Caesars Arena in March 2024 and March 2025.

Originally selected by Boston in the ninth round, 51st overall, of the inaugural PWHL Draft, Girard began the 2024-25 season with the Fleet before being traded to New York early in the campaign.

The 27-year-old has recorded 17 points (12 goals, 5 assists) in 63 career games.

That includes a career-best eight-point season in 2025-26, which featured seven goals, including the league’s first hat trick of the season in New York’s opener on Nov. 22, 2025.

Girard’s path to Detroit

Girard developed in Detroit’s Honeybaked youth hockey program and played collegiately at Lindenwood University and Quinnipiac University before turning professional with the Connecticut Whale of the Premier Hockey Federation.

She was selected first overall in the 2021 PHF Draft and earned Rookie of the Year honors.

With PWHL Detroit, Girard reunites with former New York Sirens assistant coach Josh Sciba.

Girard also joins former Boston Fleet teammates Sydney Bard and Hannah Bilka, both of whom are signed to two-year contracts.

Building Detroit’s roster foundation

Detroit has added defender Cayla Barnes and forwards Britta Curl-Salemme and Jesse Compher on three-year deals, as well as forward Daryl Watts on a four-year contract.

At the conclusion of Phase 3, each expansion team may have up to eight players.

Teams can protect up to six players total under league rules.

The Phase 3 signing window ran through Friday (June 12) at 3 p.m. ET, with protection ending at 5 p.m. ahead of Phase 4.

TeSlaa, who turned heads with multiple highlight-reel catches during organized team activities, said his acrobatic catching ability traces back to a daily routine with his father.

“Me and my dad would do this routine,” TeSlaa said. “Every single day, we had like a 30-minute to an hour routine of me just catching different balls.”

The drills included stationary catches, off-angle throws, and one-handed repetitions designed to simulate difficult in-game situations.

“I think that really just contributed, like all those repetitions of me just getting catches off balance,” TeSlaa said. “It led to me being able to do it in big moments like that.”

Learning from Lions’ elite receiver room

TeSlaa also praised the Lions’ wide receiver room, which includes veteran Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, calling it a “blessing” to learn from established playmakers.

“Just to be able to be in his shadow now and be able to learn from him and obviously J-Mo, it’s just an incredible room to be a part of,” he said.

As a rookie last season, TeSlaa said adjusting to the NFL required time and patience as he learned the playbook and built trust within the offense.

“Just being around all these guys that I knew, but they didn’t know me, I was just trying to find my role,” TeSlaa said.

Timing, trust key to historic touchdown rate

TeSlaa finished his rookie season with 16 receptions and six touchdowns, a high touchdown rate he credited to timing and trust with Goff.

“Everything just comes down to timing and trust,” TeSlaa said. “If I can be where I’m supposed to be when he thinks I’m going to be there, that’s the biggest thing to JG.”

TeSlaa added that he has his sights set on an expanded role heading into the upcoming season.

“I have bigger goals than that this upcoming season,” TeSlaa said.

Eyes on a higher standard in Detroit

TeSlaa also reflected on the team’s expectations under coach Dan Campbell following a disappointing finish last season.

“Everyone in the room knows that our standard is better than what we put on film last year,” TeSlaa said.

He said offseason practices have focused on detail and installing new offensive concepts while building momentum toward training camp.

TeSlaa also addressed his viral rookie dinner story, recalling a restaurant bill that briefly appeared to reach $41,000 before being reduced significantly.

“We were very relieved,” TeSlaa said.

The wide receiver also touched on his nickname, “Vanillatron,” a nod to former Lions star Megatron (Calvin Johnson), and said he fully embraces the comparison.

“I’ll take that, and I’ll run with it for sure,” TeSlaa said.

Ford sponsorship

TeSlaa joked about his name drawing attention, while clarifying he has no ties to Tesla and instead embraces a sponsorship with Ford.

TeSlaa, whose last name is often associated with the electric vehicle company Tesla, addressed the recurring question.

“The first thing that everyone asks me is like, ‘Do you drive a Tesla?’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t drive a Tesla,’” TeSlaa said.

He added that he has not had any connection with the company and questioned the need for additional marketing given its visibility.

“I don’t know how much marketing they do outside of, everyone knows who Elon Musk is,” TeSlaa said. “Everyone knows what a Tesla is.”

TeSlaa said he was more excited about a sponsorship opportunity with Ford, which has ties to the Lions organization.

“I’m a Ford guy,” TeSlaa said. “They never reached out, but I was excited when Ford did.”

TeSlaa said the partnership was meaningful because of Ford’s connection to the team and the city of Detroit.

“Obviously, to be sponsored by the company that owns my team was pretty cool,” TeSlaa said.

Click here to watch the full interview.

Two sisters were arrested after allegedly stabbing a restaurant worker on Detroit’s east side over a wrong food order.

Brianna and Kierianna Long were charged with assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and assault with a dangerous weapon.

Police said the stabbing happened in the 17100 block of E Warren Avenue on May 30, just after 6 p.m.

Prosecutors allege that after the sisters received the wrong food order from a worker, they argued with the worker, went behind the counter and began assaulting the worker.

Brianna and Kierianna allegedly chased the worker throughout the restaurant while throwing things at the worker. While the worker threw things back at Brianna and Kierianna, prosecutors said they picked up a knife that was thrown at them and used the knife to stab the worker in the stomach.

Prosecutors also said hot grease was attempted to be thrown at the worker, and one of the sisters allegedly told the worker, “I’m going to kill you,” during the alleged assault.

The worker was taken to a local hospital and had to undergo surgery, officials said.

Brianna and Kierianna allegedly drove away from the scene, but were later taken into custody.

Brianna, who was 9 months pregnant when the alleged stabbing happened, gave birth four days before her arraignment.

During the arraignment, Brianna’s defense attorney claimed the worker told the sisters that they “don’t give a f---” about the wrong food order and threw things at Brianna and her sister first.

Brianna pleaded with the judge during the arraignment hearing, stating that she was innocent and that she had a 4-day-old baby at home.

The judge expressed serious concern that a food order error led to an alleged violent assault, resulting in him setting their bonds high.

Brianna was given a $25,000 cash bond. Kierianna was given a $100,000 cash bond, but will be back in court on June 10 for a bond redetermination hearing. If bond is posted, they are required to wear a GPS tether.

Missed trash pickups, delayed collections, and unanswered phone calls have plagued Priority Waste customers in Southeast Michigan for more than a year.

“When you boil it all down, you got to have drivers, you got to have trucks, and customers need a container to put their waste in, too, and when all that breaks down, they got to be able to get ahold of us,” Aaron Johnson said.

Acknowledging the problem

Johnson did not mince words about the state of the company’s service.

“I know service is not as good as it’s supposed to be,” Johnson said.

The newly appointed CEO says the issues stem from a driver shortage, an aging fleet, and a backlog of residents still waiting for new trash bins.

At one point, the company had more than 10,000 overdue cart requests.

“We had over 10,000 out-of-date cart requests the past few days; we’ve dwindled that down to 4,000,” Johnson said.

Hiring drivers, adding trucks

Johnson says Priority Waste has moved quickly to address the staffing and equipment shortfalls.

The company has hired 41 drivers in the past three weeks, with some still in training.

On the equipment side, the company has made significant investments to boost its fleet.

“We bought 198 rental trucks, two weeks ago, we put in a purchase of 91 brand new automated side-loading trucks,” Johnson said.

Those trucks are trickling in as the company works through its backlog.

Johnson also noted that Priority Waste has paid off all outstanding vendor debts, allowing the company to obtain the parts and supplies needed to keep its existing trucks on the road.

Cities push back

For some municipalities, the fixes have not come fast enough.

St. Clair Shores Mayor Kip Walby says his residents have lost patience with the service provider.

“At the end of the day, core service is garbage pickup, and they were just falling short,” Walby said.

The frustration, he says, goes beyond inconvenience.

“They’re upset. The summer is busy, they’ve got compost out there that smells, they have garbage they’re concerned about, rodents, etc.,” Walby said.

St. Clair Shores has since hired Express Waste to take over its trash collection service.

Westland is also taking action. Mayor Kevin Coleman says the city is withholding $100,000 from a future payment to Priority Waste over missed pickups, delayed collections, and what he called “unacceptable service disruption.”

‘I accept full responsibility’

Johnson says he understands the frustration, especially for residents who called the company and could not get through to anyone.

Priority Waste has brought on an outside team based in Troy to help manage overflow calls.

When asked what his message is to frustrated residents and municipal leaders, Johnson did not hesitate.

“I accept full responsibility. We put ourselves in this situation, and we’ll put ourselves out, that’s why I’m here,” Johnson said.

A snapshot of the real estate market shows buyers are moving despite home sales dipping 3.6% year-over-year.

However, RE/MAX Southeastern Michigan reports home sales jumped 15 percent month-over-month, calling it an encouraging sign.

The data shows the bigger question isn’t whether people are buying.

It’s where they’re going.

The answer might surprise you.

Hidden gems drawing buyers west

Realtor Eric Meldrum of Tru Living Group tracks housing market trends closely, and the communities topping his list aren’t the usual suspects.

Forget Birmingham.

Forget Royal Oak.

The suburbs quietly attracting buyers are Northville, South Lyon, Plymouth, Rochester Hills and Dexter based on new construction data.

“There’s a lot of new construction happening, and I think people from the Metro Detroit area are certainly people coming from in and around, you know, out of state,” Meldrum said. “They’re looking for new construction just from affordability and what they actually want.”

Meldrum says older homes dominate the core of Metro Detroit, pushing buyers to look north and west for space, newer builds and the lifestyle amenities that come with growing communities.

Growth by the numbers

In Lyon Township, there’s a lot of new construction going on that includes kind of the western parts of Novi, Northville and South Lyon and they’ve grown over 60% over the last decade in population, Meldrum said.

“They went from 14,000 to 27,000 people and it’s slated for the next decade that they’re going to double and go to about 45,000,” he said.

For buyers wondering whether they’ve already missed the window, Meldrum has a reassuring take.

“I don’t think it’s ever really too late,” he said. “People have still been moving to Royal Oak, like I said, in Birmingham for a long time. Those continue to be popular areas as well.”

What buyers can expect to pay

Price points vary depending on the property.

In the South Lyon area, single-family homes run around $450,000. New construction, however, commands a premium — typically between $500,000 and $800,000.

For families drawn by bigger lots and more acreage, Meldrum says the western suburbs are a natural fit, especially for those relocating from other states.

“When you’re moving in from out of state, you’re used to that coming from a place; maybe you have some acreage,” Meldrum said. “Where you’re going to find that is typically in South Lyon, kind of the western part of Metro Detroit and the outskirts of Ann Arbor.”

South Lyon: Small-town charm, big growth

South Lyon, the city with small-town charm, is home to roughly 12,000 residents.

New subdivisions are luring buyers from across the country, including Bob O’Connell, who recently traded upstate New York for a brand-new home in the city.

“We were looking for something with a neighborhood feel,” O’Connell said. “We didn’t really want be kind of the only house on a busy street.”

O’Connell and his family have only been in their new home about six weeks, but he’s already sold on the area.

“It’s really nice,” he said. “People are very friendly. There’s a lot of things around here. The parks are beautiful. A lot of lakes.”

Residents also appreciate the duality of having proximity to bigger cities while living a slower pace of life.

“We’re a very small-town feel, and you feel like you’re kind of in the country, but 20 minutes one way is Novi, 10 minutes the other way is Brighton,” said Amanda Fanson, a longtime South Lyon resident. “You’re very close to Ann Arbor, so you get the big city or you get all the conveniences you need that are very, very close by, but you get to live in kind of that more country and small community.”

Fanson has called South Lyon home for roughly 15 years and says the last eight years in particular have brought rapid change.

“It is sad to see the farms and the orchards, right, that are getting built up,” she said. “That does make me a bit sad.”

Still, she’s proud to see her community on the radar.

“It’s like, oh no, our special little gem,” Fanson said. “But also it feels a little bit selfish because it is so wonderful here. So, I get it, I get wanting to preserve what we have.”

Her husband, Paul Fanson, who is newer to the community, says downtown South Lyon is what hooked him.

“I really like the downtown,” he said. “The sort of like very classic Midwestern downtown with a lot of kind of interesting little shops and restaurants. That’s always been kind of the special part for me.”

Northville: Where authenticity meets charm

Northville earns its spot on the list for similar reasons.

Vicky Stearns, who visits regularly and lived there briefly, says the city has held onto something rare: a downtown that feels timeless.

“I love the feel here when I come here,” Stearns said. “When we hang out, we have a good time. I feel like I’m on vacation.”

For Stearns, Northville would be a natural next step.

“If I come from downriver, this would be one of the first places I would think about,” she said.

Schools, seniors, luxury condos

Growing communities bring growing pains and school districts are no exception.

South Lyon Community Schools Superintendent Steve Archibald says the district is cautiously optimistic about what the new housing surge could mean for enrollment.

“Like many districts, we have experienced a modest decline in enrollment in recent years, largely due to lower birth rates,” said Archibald in a released statement. “However, we are optimistic that new housing developments will attract young families and help stabilize enrollment moving forward.”

Archibald also pointed to a significant community investment in education.

Voters approved a $350 million capital improvement bond in November, which will fund projects including the renovation and expansion of the district’s Early Childhood Center.

“It is truly an exciting time for SLCS,” he said.

But it’s not just families driving demand.

Meldrum says an emerging trend is reshaping the market in these communities — luxury condominiums built for buyers looking to downsize.

“There’s not a lot of ranch-style condos or luxury homes that people that have been living in their 3,000-square-foot, nice homes can migrate to,” Meldrum said. “So, developers are now starting to develop luxury condominiums that are ranch-style side-by-side units and it’s going very well for them.”

The initial six industrial powers that huddled at the Château de Rambouillet for three days of brainstorming about fixes for the global economy became the G7 the following year when Canada joined the elite club.

During and after the Cold War, the G7 became a powerful tool of influence, enabling Western allies and Japan to hammer out common positions not only on economic issues but also their foreign policy and security priorities.

The combined economic, industrial, military, and diplomatic strength of G7 nations ensures the summits they hold annually, rotating hosting duties, are always major news events.

The next G7 summit is in France next week.

As part of its coverage, The Associated Press is republishing extracts of the story that AP correspondent Arthur L. Gavshon wrote on the first day of the inaugural summit in 1975, hosted by French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing and also including the leaders of West Germany, the U.K., Italy and Japan, as well as Ford.

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By ARTHUR L. GAVSHON

President Ford called on leaders of five other major industrial nations Saturday to set themselves the task of transforming the world’s economic slump into prosperity by 1977.

Addressing the opening session of an economic summit meeting amid the splendor of the 14th-century Chateau de Rambouillet, Ford “categorically rejected the view” that expansion in the industrial world is impossible at pre-recession rates, an aide told newsmen.

He added that Ford said America’s economic recovery has been stronger than anticipated and forecast a growth rate of between 6 and 7 percent through 1976.

The first meeting with leaders of France, Britain, West Germany, Japan, and Italy began shortly after the President arrived at the historic chateau, 30 miles south of Paris.

The free-flowing talks broke nearly three hours later for dinner, and the host, French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, told newsmen: “I am optimistic. I think we can arrive at something concrete.”

A French spokesman said the leaders were reaching “a remarkable convergence of views.” British officials indicated a consensus was emerging that the worst of the economic downturn might already be over.

Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger struck the same positive note, saying the meeting “went very well.”

The dinner was remarkably simple in comparison with the usual fare for a state occasion in France and was in line with the low-key approach favored by the French.

Stuffed chicken was the main course, with wines that were good but not spectacular.

In other developments at the six-nation talks:

— Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki who reported his country has been hurt by a decline in world trade, began pressing immediately for a freer flow of international commerce.

— British Prime Minister Harold Wilson disclosed through aides he wants his fellow leaders to back up a plan for a new and strengthened world code to check the spread of nuclear know-how, equipment, and weapons.

— Ford will join Giscard d’Estaing and Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro Sunday morning for services at the Roman Catholic church in Poigny la Forêt, a 10-minute drive from the chateau.

The setting was priceless furniture and statuary trucked from the Louvre for the occasion, but the mood at the start of the summit was that of a relayed businessmen’s weekend seminar.

“It’s just a beautiful place here,” said Ford as President Valery Giscard d’Estaing of France led the participants from six nations into the pink and gray hall of marble at the chateau where Louis XVI passed idle hours and Napoleon his last night in France before banishment to St. Helena.

“The facilities are really gorgeous,” Ford said to Giscard d’Estaing. “It’s very comfortable.”

“I hope you feel as positive about all this afterwards,” Giscard d’Estaing shot back with a laugh. Then he called out “Helmut, oh Helmut,” as West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt entered the room.

The relayed mood also was apparent in the dress of the leaders. Giscard d’Estaing wore a greenish tweed weekend suit, and Schmidt had on a light gray one. Ford was the most formally dressed of the leaders in a dark blue suit with a vest and white shirt.

The group, 18 in all including the finance and foreign ministers of participating nations, was spread out nine on each side of a 30‑foot long table. Giscard d’Estaing and Ford faced each other across the chestnut-colored upholstery covering the table, as did Harold Wilson of Britain and Aldo Moro of Italy, and Takeo Miki of Japan and Schmidt.

Each of the participants had earphones on which to follow proceedings. There were five closed-in interpreters’ booths at one end of the smallish room, and a bust of King Francois I of France, who died at the chateau, at the other end.

The leaders do not expect to reach firm decisions at the three-day seminar but to define directions their individual governments can take in fighting inflation, unemployment and declining world trade.

Presidential press spokesman Ron Nessen said during Ford’s flight across the Atlantic that the summit may result in an improved performance in the American economy.

“The President has always thought of it in practical terms – what it means to the American consumer,” Nessen said.

Each of the visiting leaders was assigned an apartment in the chateau, home of French kings and rulers from the 14th century. Moving men had worked until the early hours Saturday uncrating furniture and paintings brought from the Louvre to spruce up the rooms.

More than 3,000 armed French police were deployed around the wooded grounds and gardens of the palace.

Ford was given the top room of the Francois I tower, which a French spokesman described as “the most comfortable apartment in the chateau.” It has a Spanish-made bed with a working fireplace at the foot and a direct telephone linking Ford to the White House.

Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Britain was given an apartment done in mahogany and satin overlooking the garden ponds; Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki was down the hall in an apartment with heavy beams and Louis XVI furniture; Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany was in an apartment furnished in Directoire style, and Premier Aldo Moro of Italy had rooms furnished in Empire style.

With the idea of achieving general economic growth – and a cutback of the 15 million jobless in Western countries – the six nations intend to try to align their policies on such big issues as:

— The old French-American dispute over reform of the world monetary system. The French dislike the present floating exchange rates and want to return to a more rigid system while the United States and Britain would as soon leave the system flexible.

— The formulation of a common energy policy. Ford can count on majority backing for his view that the economic and political future of the industrial democracies cannot be left to the mercy of the oil producers. New sources of supply and new conservation programs should be jointly and quickly developed.

— The general world economic outlook and ways of tackling the inflation which is undermining political stability many places.

— Relationships between the older industrialized nations of the West, the newly rich producers of oil and other scarce raw materials, and the poorest developing lands.

The remains of the girls, who were students at Utumishi Girls Academy, were placed in white coffins adorned with flowers and topped with their portraits. The coffins were lined up in front of their families, schoolmates, community members and local leaders, who called for justice.

The nine accused girls, who were students at the school, remain in police custody, with interrogations revealing that the May 28 blaze was started by lighting a mattress at the dormitory’s exit using a matchstick and paraffin. No motive has been revealed so far.

During the memorial service, hundreds of students from Utumishi Girls Academy sang a somber hymn declaring that all shall be well. One of the presiding officials reminisced about being a victim of Kenya’s deadliest school fire in 2001, when 67 boys died in a dormitory blaze in Machakos County in eastern Kenya.

Mourners called for accountability and justice as dozens of schools have closed in recent days because of student unrest. The Kenya Red Cross said that it had responded to 37 school fires since the beginning of the year.

School fires are common in Kenya, with some linked to arson attacks by students protesting disciplinary measures or scheduled examinations, while others are caused by electrical faults.

Congested dormitories, a lack of emergency exits and insufficient firefighting equipment have often contributed to loss of life and extensive damage.

Last month, Kenya's Education Ministry suspended the principal of Utumishi Girls Academy for failing to comply with school fire safety regulations. The ministry also said that it had closed more than 300 schools following a 2024 fire tragedy that killed 21 boys in central Kenya.

During the Friday memorial service attended by Kenyan first lady Rachel Ruto, the presiding bishop questioned how much longer Kenyan children and families would continue to suffer from school fires.

The school captain, Abigael Wanjiku, eulogized the girls as “friends, study partners, teammates and companions.”

“The pain of losing them is one that we will carry for a long time,” she said.

A mother representing the parents broke down in tears during her speech as she called for accountability and justice, while reassuring the surviving students that ensuring their safety remained a priority.

The world’s biggest soccer tournament finally returned to the U.S. on Friday night after a generation of anticipation.

With this phenomenal match, the Americans also look like they've arrived.

Balogun scored twice in the Americans' three-goal barrage before halftime, and the U.S. opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with its biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their Southern California fans with an aggressive attack while streaking to a 3-0 lead — the team's largest in any World Cup game.

“It meant everything for us,” Pulisic said. “A half like that, for it to go as it did, and have the fans excited about our performance, it felt amazing.”

Gio Reyna ripped another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time in their tournament history dating to 1930.

This production, this confidence, this dominance — it was nothing like the vast majority of the Americans' previous performances on the international stage over the years and decades.

They've won exactly one knockout-round game in the World Cup. They've almost always struggled to score in the biggest events, most recently managing only three goals combined in their four matches at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

In this pressure-packed home opener, the Americans were a team transformed while playing in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s more creative system in front of a passionate, star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492. Led by the elite talent and coach-inspired fearlessness of Balogun, Pulisic and Weston McKennie up front, the U.S. finally had its breakthrough performance at SoFi Stadium.

“It’s difficult to compare with the past,” said Pochettino, who took over in late 2024. “I don’t know what happened in the past. I think we need to talk about today, because it was a great match. It was amazing for our fans to see, to watch this type of game, and today, I am so proud and we are so proud. I think we are winning a lot of fans, adding fans for the sport here in America.”

Not everything went perfectly: Pulisic was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter at halftime for precautionary reasons. Pochettino said Pulisic was kicked in the back of his left calf during a training session this week, and felt some subsequent tightness during the match.

“Staying positive,” Pulisic said. “I don’t think it’s anything.”

Maurício scored in the second half for Paraguay, but La Albirroja fell too far behind early in their first World Cup match in 16 years.

“The U.S. won this match very clearly and fairly,” Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said through an interpreter. “They dominated tactically, technically and physically as well. ... This team is a complex challenge because they have answers to everything you throw at them.”

After the U.S. went ahead on an early own-goal created by Pulisic's playmaking, Balogun scored in the 31st minute and again in the fifth minute of first-half injury time.

The New York-born, London-raised striker made his World Cup debut with the first multigoal performance from a U.S. player in the tournament since 1930. Balogun chose to represent the U.S. three years ago instead of staying in the English system, where he likely would have struggled to make the Three Lions' roster — and the 24-year-old Monaco professional has swiftly provided the top-level striker play historically lacking on U.S. rosters.

“Poch has said many times, ‘Why not us?’” Balogun said. “We have to believe. You can’t do anything if you don’t believe in yourself.”

Pulisic created the first two U.S. goals with exceptional runs down the left side. In the seventh minute, the AC Milan standout cleverly split two defenders and passed to McKennie, whose centering touch hit Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla’s outstretched foot and went in, setting off pandemonium in the stands.

The Americans gradually amplified their attack centered around Pulisic’s runs — and three minutes after an apparent goal from Balogun was erased by an offside call, Pulisic again drove the left side and got a deflected pass to the trailing Balogun, who banged it home.

Malik Tillman then made a perfectly weighted pass in injury time to Balogun, who sidled through the Paraguay defense and beautifully found the top shelf.

The Americans were less cohesive without Pulisic in the second half, but Reyna still added the finishing touch by gliding into the box and toe-flicking home his first World Cup goal. The moment was sweet for Reyna, who barely played at the Qatar World Cup amid a messy family dispute with former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter.

Dozens of American celebrities and cultural icons turned out for the match 10 miles south of Hollywood, including Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

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

A judge earlier in the afternoon rejected a request to pause a court-ordered deadline of Friday to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the Kennedy Center's operations. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.

Scaffolding was erected around a section of the building that includes Trump's name but the Kennedy Center sought a short extension to complete the work. Shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of storms that had swept through the Washington area Friday, causing a delay. Some of the thunderstorms included lightning.

In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”

Dozens of people spent hours on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to have Trump's name removed from the building, was spotted at one point on the plaza as well.

After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.

In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.

The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.

“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”

Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.

A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.

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Associated Press journalists Anna Johnson, Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

The 24-year-old striker scored two goals as the Americans opened with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night in front of a rabid and star-studded red, white and blue-clad sold-out crowd of 70,492 at SoFi Stadium.

“I visualized my debut in the World Cup scoring, but the reality did surpass that,” Balogun said. “A very dreamy night.”

With retired England captain David Beckham looking on, Balogun became the first U.S. player to score multiple goals in a World Cup game since 1930. Back then, Bert Patenaude scored all three goals in a 3-0 U.S. win over Paraguay, the first hat trick in World Cup history.

“The kid’s insane,” teammate Christian Pulisic said. “He’s lethal right now. We’re really lucky to have him.”

Balogun was born in the New York City borough of Brooklyn to Nigerian parents. A month later, he moved to England, where he grew up in London. He joined Arsenal's academy at age 8. He represented England at the youth level and also played for the U.S. under-18 team.

England's roster is traditionally filled with stars. Nigeria failed to qualify for this World Cup. So Balogun is making himself an American household name during this summer of soccer.

“Everyone will look at the goals,” Pulisic said, “but the way he’s fighting against these center backs, holding up the ball, getting fouls, I really like it.”

Balogun committed to play for the U.S. three years ago.

“I've always said the fans gave me so much motivation and showed me so much support. The most important thing has always been to be able to repay that,” he said. “I just want to continue to show the fans I made the right decision.”

Among the crowd were Balogun's relatives, with extended family watching around the U.S. and in London.

“I was able to spot them out in the crowd, but it was tough because so many fans were wearing red and white,” he said. “I had to sort a lot of tickets, but I’m happy to do it because this is a once in a lifetime occasion and I want everyone to experience it.”

The U.S. took a 1-0 lead on an own goal by Damian Bobadilla.

Balogun extended the lead to 2-0 when Christian Pulisic played the ball into the box to set up Balogun with his 21st career assist. That tied Pulisic for fourth most in U.S. history.

Minutes earlier, Balogun nearly had another goal, but it was called back when the U.S. was offside.

Undeterred, Balogun scored again just before halftime, putting the ball in the upper left corner for a 3-0 lead.

“I’ve not been able to take it all in,” he said.

Balogun was heading back to the team hotel to rest.

“To be honest, I think I’ll just watch some Netflix,” he said, smiling.

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

Only this time, the sport was soccer.

The U.S. team's home opener in the World Cup on Friday brought more than 70,000 passionate soccer enthusiasts to the massive stadium near Los Angeles, where they saw the U.S. beat Paraguay 4-1. They had, in many cases, paid thousands of dollars to see their team play on the biggest global stage for a sport that has long been eclipsed in the United States — a sport many say is finally having its moment.

Many fans said they grew up playing soccer in recreational leagues as young children, and well into high school and college. Nakisha Gutierrez, a 37-year-old occupational therapist from Los Angeles, and her sister both played the sport. Their Argentine father raised them on soccer, and the next generation is now taking it up, too, she said.

“It's in the family blood,” said Gutierrez, her cheeks painted with sparkling red-and-blue stars. “It is the American culture — it's starting to be.”

The World Cup is played every four years, and fans around the world track their national teams, hoping they'll have a strong enough showing to qualify for it. In many countries — like Friday's opponent, Paraguay — just making it to the tournament can prompt street parties, fireworks and national holidays. In the United States, though, the response is often a bit more muted. Soccer has long been overshadowed by football, basketball and “America's pastime” of baseball.

But soccer's popularity has risen in the United States since the country last hosted the World Cup in 1994. Major League Soccer was launched two years later, and soccer has become especially popular among young athletes.

There was palpable joy in the air for U.S. fans watching the match as Folarin Balogun scored an electric two goals in the first half of the game, and star player Christian Pulisic made a shot that led to a Paraguay own goal. But the stadium was aroar when Gio Reyna sealed Paraguay’s fate with a late fourth goal during added time.

Samuel Esquivel, 9, said he was screaming when the match ended.

“That was probably, like, the second best goal,” he said of Reyna's shot. He started playing soccer last year and said he already wants to win a World Cup.

His father Roman Esquivel said they came from a family that played football, basketball, and baseball. But Esquivel's daughter and son both fell in love with soccer, and their enthusiasm for the game has spread to him as well.

“It's the most beautiful sport in the world,” he said. “There's a reason why the whole world plays soccer.”

Interest has also been buoyed by immigrants from countries where, as Gutierrez puts it, “soccer is life.”

Ava Cupit, 14, traveled with her family from Franklin, Tennessee, to cheer on the U.S. team, dressed up as the Statue of Liberty. Her great-grandfather was from Spain and helped bring soccer to their small town, where he built fields and promoted the sport.

“He made us all fall in love with it, and our whole family loves soccer,” Ava’s mother Rachel Cupit said. “The people who’ve married in, they’ve just become a part of it too.”

In the massive stadium in Inglewood, California, usually home to football games, seats were a sea of red and white. Fans wore glitter, Stars-and-Stripes high-tops, overalls, robes and the team's hallmark jerseys. Some dressed as that ultimate symbol of American patriotism, Uncle Sam, with long white beards and top hats. A few wore George Washington costumes.

They came to show their support for their team, and to show that Americans, like the rest of the world, can be passionate about soccer, too. Many were trying to attend all of the U.S. team's group round matches. One spectator said he came from Texas after seeing the U.S. team previously face off in international matches before large crowds backing their opponents.

Self-proclaimed soccer “addict” Jose Contreras said he grew up playing the sport with his uncle in Mexico because it was cheap and accessible. He flew from Georgia to support the U.S. in its opening match, even though there are games he could attend in Atlanta, closer to home.

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” Contreras said.

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

After entering the ring, Apollo switches into an Uncle Sam costume. “I want YOU!” he roars as he points to Rocky Balboa, the far less flamboyant palooka he's chosen for this bicentennial bout in Philadelphia.

Then the two boxers pound the daylights out of each other.

It's as accurate a representation of the American bicentennial vibe as has ever been put on film — plenty of fireworks, but not much thought about how 200 years of independence led to this.

I was 13 years old in 1976. Kids my age — the tail end of the Baby Boom, or the vanguard of Generation X — grew up skeptical of the government. We had outlasted the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, with the occasional moment of joy — the moon landing, say — to break the gloom. The state of the union was intact, even if many Americans were still on edge.

My family lived in Newport News, Virginia, not far from the Historic Triangle of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg. So there was plenty of buzz surrounding the bicentennial. President Gerald Ford and his wife, Betty, took a carriage ride through Colonial Williamsburg, foreign leaders came to visit, and the living museum regularly staged reenactments of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Ford and plenty of other dignitaries went to New York for what the president called “the greatest Fourth of July any of us will ever see.” Operation Sail was a floating parade of 16 tall ships and more than 100 smaller vessels from around the world — including, even, the Soviet Union. It was a boon for the beleaguered Big Apple, proving that “New Yorkers could get along, even during difficult times,” according to the Gotham Center for New York History.

All aboard the Freedom Train

For history buffs who couldn't make the trip east, there was the American Freedom Train, a 26-car behemoth that toured all 48 contiguous states. It displayed two centuries of artifacts like George Washington's copy of the Constitution, the original Louisiana Purchase, Judy Garland's dress from “The Wizard of Oz” and a moon rock. Merle Haggard even released a song about it.

I had a nifty 3D poster of the Freedom Train on my bedroom wall. A different poster captured everyone's eye later in 1976 — one featuring “Charlie's Angels” star Farrah Fawcett-Majors.

It's patriotic in its own way. There's Farrah, sporting big hair, a blinding white smile and a red swimsuit, posed in front of a red, white and blue blanket. The color scheme may not have been intentional, but it might as well be titled “All-American Girl" for its presentation of what much of society saw as one.

There were plenty of more deliberate anniversary collectibles out there. A quick search of eBay in 2026 digs up hundreds of collectible plates, glasses, beer mugs and bumper stickers. The government unleashed special quarters, stamps and license plates. And of course Madison Avenue jumped in, selling bicentennial cereal, candy, beer and soda. You could get a different 7-Up can for each of the 50 states.

Even the creator of the Pet Rock — the preposterous 1975 phenomenon that was, yes, a rock in a box — tried to get in on the act. That fad, alas, had run its course, and the Bicentennial Pet Rock flopped. You'd have been better off buying a Pez dispenser with the head of Paul Revere or Betsy Ross.

Broadcast television — remember, we only had three networks — was more subdued. For kids, ABC's beloved “Schoolhouse Rock!” spun off “America Rock.” But while that cartoon did include some history, it's best remembered for the mournful civics lesson “I'm Just a Bill.”

More prominent was CBS News' "Bicentennial Minute." Starting July 4, 1974, barely a month before President Richard Nixon resigned, it ran every night in prime time, presenting the news from 200 years earlier. It was so unavoidable that sitcoms like “All in the Family” referred to it; “Saturday Night Live,” which debuted in 1975, paid tribute with a “Bisexual Minute.”

Still, all three networks pulled out the stops on July 4, 1976. Walter Cronkite led the pack with 16 hours of coverage on CBS, while “Bob Hope's Bicentennial Star-Spangled Spectacular” ("the show that took 200 years to produce") on NBC celebrated with Sammy Davis Jr., Captain & Tennille and Donny and Marie Osmond.

The bad news bearers

Certainly, not everyone was in the mood to celebrate. Richard Pryor released an influential album whose title was “Bicentennial,” followed by an ethnic slur. The title track is a monologue from a 200-year-old slave; it ends with “I ain’t gonna never forget it.” In the same album's ”Bicentennial Prayer," Pryor proclaims, "We are celebrating 200 years of white folks kickin' ass.”

Popular music wasn't in a particularly patriotic mood either. Elton John's 1975 hit “Philadelphia Freedom” became a de facto anthem of sorts, even though it's barely about Philadelphia and is more about individual independence.

Indeed, the prevailing pop attitude was: Let's forget about this mess we've left behind and go to the disco. So the Billboard singles charts were topped by the likes of Johnnie Taylor's “Disco Lady,” The Sylvers' “Boogie Fever,” The Bee Gees' “You Should Be Dancing” and KC and the Sunshine Band's “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty.”

On the album charts, California's hippie culture was shaking off its hangover with haunted LPs like the Eagles' “Hotel California” and Jackson Browne's “The Pretender.” Something else was breaking loose in New York, though, with aggressive debuts from the Ramones and Blondie. The Ramones' logo included an eagle holding an olive branch and a baseball bat, and their repertoire included the future stadium anthem “Blitzkrieg Bop.” What could be more American?

Speaking of America's pastime, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the year's funniest movie, “The Bad News Bears.” It's baseball the way it was meant to be played — by a bunch of foul-mouthed juvenile delinquents coached by a surly, alcoholic has-been embodied by Walter Matthau. Double 50-year-old spoiler alert: Like Rocky, the Bears don't win in the end. But they do have fun.

The same can't be said for the characters in most of 1976's dramatic films. Hollywood did its best to get a patriotic movie — the World War II epic “Midway” — in theaters in June, but it quickly fizzled. The top box office draw on July 4th was “The Omen,” about an angelic-looking boy who turns out to be the Antichrist.

More prestigious films continued to wrestle with the paranoia of the Nixon era. “All the President's Men” dramatized The Washington Post's investigation of the Watergate scandal. In “Taxi Driver,” a Vietnam War veteran plots to assassinate a presidential contender. In “Network,” a TV anchorman urges his viewers to open their windows and scream, “I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!”

All three are undisputed classics. All three were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. All three lost to “Rocky.”

Tren de Aragua has been labeled by the United States as a terrorist organization. Guerrero Flores was charged in a New York federal court with racketeering conspiracy and other crimes, including lending support to terrorists in crimes that stretched more than a decade, authorities announced in December.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the strike occurred earlier in the week on a Tren de Aragua compound in Venezuela.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at the time that the gang is responsible for countless acts of violence, extortion and drug trafficking in North America, South America and Europe. Trump nominated Clayton on Thursday to be director of national intelligence.

The U.S. State Department had offered rewards of up to $5 million for information leading to Guerrero Flores’ arrest.

In a post on his social media site, Trump wrote, “Tren de Aragua terrorists no longer have safe haven in Venezuela or anywhere else and, under my leadership, we will find these vicious murderers and drug lords anytime, anyplace, and send them to the depths of hell where they belong.” Trump's post referred to Guerrero Flores by his alias, “Niño Guerrero.”

The post also included unclassified video, shot from above, of a small building with a green roof exploding.

Hegseth said, “The operation underscores the shared U.S. and Venezuelan commitment to take the fight to narco-terrorists and deny them any safe haven in our hemisphere.”

Venezuela's government released a statement confirmed its participation in the operation and revealed it took place in the southeastern state of Bolivar.

“During the operation, clashes occurred with members of criminal groups, resulting in the death of Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, alias ‘Niño Guerrero,’ the leader of one of these criminal organizations,” according to the statement.

The mineral-rich state, which borders Brazil and Guyana, is home to large illegal mining operations long controlled by gangs and other actors who mine with the consent — and to the benefit — of officials and the military.

Trump has taken a series of extraordinary actions against the gang, including a series of strikes on small boats his administration has accused of smuggling drugs to America. At least 207 people have been killed in boat strikes by the U.S. military in the eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea since the Trump administration began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” in early September.

Trump and administration officials have consistently blamed Tren de Aragua for being at the root of the violence and illicit drug dealing that plague some U.S. cities. The president spent months repeating the claim — contradicted by a declassified U.S. intelligence assessment — that Tren de Aragua had operated under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s control. The U.S. whisked Maduro out of Venezuela to face U.S. drug charges in January.

Tren de Aragua originated more than a decade ago at an infamously lawless prison with hardened criminals in Venezuela’s central state of Aragua. The gang has expanded in recent years as millions of Venezuelans migrated to other Latin American countries or the U.S. in search of better living conditions.

Guerrero Flores returned to the prison in Aragua for murder and other convictions in 2013, when Venezuela’s crisis began as corruption, mismanagement and a drop in crude prices wrecked the oil-dependent economy. Guerrero Flores and a few other inmates saw a profitable opportunity as the government neglected prisons.

They assumed control and administration of the prison, establishing a system that controlled the entire inmate population through force and extortion. Over time, they transformed the facility into a sort of city that included a zoo, baseball field, casino and restaurants. Guerrero Flores had his own lavish suite.

The size of the gang is unclear. Countries with large populations of Venezuelan migrants, including Peru and Colombia, have accused the group of being behind a spree of violence in the region. Still, unlike other criminal organizations from Colombia, Central America and Brazil, Tren de Aragua has no large-scale involvement in smuggling cocaine across international borders, according to InSight Crime, a think tank that tracks crime across Latin America.

In Venezuela, gang leaders have long been known to participate in various illegal activities, including gold mining and drug trafficking.

The legal mining of gold and other minerals is a component of the Trump administration's phased plan to turn the crisis-wrecked country around. In March, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told reporters during a visit to Venezuela that the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez was giving security assurances to mining companies interested in investing in the South American country.

Trump campaigned for a second term promising to crack down on immigration and crime. While polls show his favorability ratings have sagged on his handling of the economy, immigration remains Trump’s strongest issue, according to the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

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Associated Press writer Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed.

A slow start and an early deficit turned into a rousing celebration once late substitute Cyle Larin scored in the 78th minute for a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday in Canada’s tournament debut on home soil.

Playing in the shadow of Toronto’s iconic CN Tower, and with hockey star Connor McDavid and actors Ryan Reynolds and Mike Myers in the stands, Larin converted Promise David’s pass a mere two minutes after entering the game.

“The crowd, I think, willed us into the game as (the players) could feel that energy in the second half tilting more and more,” said Marsch, who took particular delight upon learning Myers, who portrayed international man of mystery Austin Powers in the movies, was on among those on hand.

“Oh, sweet,” Marsch said.

It was an even better feeling for Larin, who normally starts but had to bide his time watching on the bench until late in the second half.

“It was amazing feeling, just to score a goal on home soil, where I’m from, and just to celebrate with the fans, amazing atmosphere,” said Larin, who plays for second-division English club Southampton and is from Toronto’s suburb of Brampton.

The goal was only the second in World Cup play scored by Canada after the team lost all three of its games at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and again four years ago at Qatar.

Injury fill-in Jovo Lukic headed in a corner kick in the 21st minute for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is making its second World Cup appearance. The team previous played at the 2014 tournament in Brazil but failed to advance out of group play.

Starting in place of Edin Dzeko (shoulder) and Haris Tabakovic (undisclosed), Lukic was in an ideal position to cap a set piece with captain Sead Kolasinac flicking along a header off Ivan Basic’s corner kick. The goal was Lukic’s first in international play and coming in the 27-year-old attacker’s fourth international appearance.

Despite giving up the lead, the small Balkan nation of about 3 million people keeps coming up big on the international stage — including eliminating four-time champion Italy in the European playoffs.

Bosnia coach Sergej Barbarez couldn’t help but feel relief in how his team persevered amid such a tough environment.

“This is huge pressure and it’s a huge compliment for my team to have not succumbed to that pressure and I’m very satisfied with that aspect of the game, too,” Barbarez said through a translator.

Though a large majority of the 43,000 fans filling the temporarily expanded Toronto Stadium along the shores of Lake Ontario were Canadians, a small but vibrant group of Bosnian fans in blue also stood out in the upper deck of the stands.

The Bosnians now head west, with games against Switzerland on June 18 in Los Angeles and Qatar on June 24 in Seattle.

Canada also heads west, to Vancouver, for its final two group games, against Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

Marsch’s challenge is to get his team off to a better start.

“I told them after the match that if we play like that second half the whole match, we win, right?” he said.

“We’ve got to find a way to have a bit more confidence and a bit self-belief,” he added. “The good part was is in a difficult moment we responded.”

Before Larin’s goal, Canada’s best scoring chance came in the 54th minute when captain Stephen Eustaquio fed the ball to Richie Laryea in front of a wide-open net. The ball deflected off Kolasinac’s foot and hit the crossbar.

Canada was playing without Alphonso Davies (hamstring), who scored the nation’s first World Cup goal four years ago in Qatar.

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

The suspect, 45-year-old Victor Mata Villarreal, already was being sought by authorities when he began firing at police and bystanders in Midland on Friday before barricading himself in an abandoned veterinary clinic, where he was eventually found dead, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Police have provided limited details about how the shooting unfolded. Police arrived in the area after receiving reports of an active shooter, and Mata Villarreal started firing at officers, said Midland Police Chief Greg Snow. Several officers were pinned down behind their patrol cars and had to be rescued by an armored vehicle, Snow said, but no officers were shot.

Police then got everyone out of the area. “We moved to deny more targets for this active shooter,” Snow said.

A few hours after the shooting began, authorities used robot and drone footage from inside the building to confirm the shooter was dead, Midland Mayor Lori Blong. Police did not say how he died.

A spokesperson for the city identified a man killed in the shooting as Ed Scott, a father and husband who worked in solid waste for Midland. He also did a lot of work with local and regional softball organizations, according to the city.

Friends mourning his death described him in social media posts as a softball umpire and volleyball official who was known for his kindness and jokes.

Mata Villarreal, of nearby Odessa, was wanted for attempted capital murder of a peace officer after firing multiple times at a Midland police officer on Wednesday, the state’s public safety agency said.

The officer, who wasn't injured, fired back after initially trying to pull over Mata Villarreal, who drove away, investigators said. His vehicle was found empty a short distance away, they said. Police have not said why the officer tried to stop Mata Villarreal.

Friday’s standoff happened about a half-mile (1 kilometer) from where the shots were fired at the police officer Wednesday.

Police have not said why Mata Villarreal began shooting on Friday or provided any details about the victims, including who they were, how they were shot or the conditions of those still hospitalized.

Midland Memorial Hospital said four people who were brought there underwent surgery and that five had been treated and released.

Calls to numbers listed for some relatives of Mata Villarreal in Texas went unanswered Friday or appeared to be lines that had been disconnected.

Mata Villarreal had several previous encounters with law enforcement, including some arrests, records show.

He was convicted on a 2009 charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm in San Angelo, according to Texas criminal history records.

He was charged in 2003 and 2004 for unlawfully carrying a weapon and unlawful possession of a prohibited weapon, but both cases appear to have been dismissed as part of a plea. He also pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge in 2008 that was later dismissed.

As police responded to Friday's shooting, dozens of squad cars and law enforcement vehicles descended along what’s normally a busy roadway lined with hotels and auto businesses a few miles west of Midland’s downtown.

Andrea Mendias said she heard what sounded like a small explosion at the closed veterinary clinic next to the auto body shop where she works and saw a number of heavily armed police officers rush into the parking lot. Some appeared to go inside the building.

Mendias said she earlier heard what sounded like at least 40 gunshots.

Video from Mendias showed officers pouring out of the back of an armored police vehicle and police deploying robots into the area.

The city with about 140,000 residents sits in the heart of the state’s oil and gas region and was near the site of a deadly shooting rampage in 2019.

In that shooting, a gunman who had been fired from his oil services job killed seven people and wounded two dozen others while firing at random as he drove around the Odessa and Midland areas. The two cities are more than 300 miles (482 kilometers) west of Dallas.

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Associated Press reporters Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia and Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.

He became the eighth player to hit a grand slam and a multi-run homer in an inning and the first since Angels slugger Kendrys Morales did it against Texas in 2012, according to Sportradar.

The left-handed Alvarez drove in two runs with an opposite-field homer early in the inning and cleared the bases with a two-out shot to center, giving him six RBIs in Houston's nine-run inning.

With his two-homer inning, Alvarez moved into a tie with Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead at 24.

The 28-year-old designated hitter, who is from Cuba, was the AL rookie of the year in 2019 with Houston. The three-time All-Star was the AL Championship Series MVP in 2021 and led the Astros with six RBIs the next year when they won the World Series.

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

Overnight calls for open windows with a cool low of 62 and no chance of rain.

Saturday

Saturday gets a little sticky as the dew points creep up throughout the day.

Breezy and humid with a high in the upper 80s.

Saturday night, the chance for spotty showers increases, but most of the rain will fall Sunday morning.

Sunday

Hoping to dry things out a bit in the afternoon as cooler air returns. Highs on Sunday struggle to reach the low to mid-70s.

A cooler-than-normal workweek, with highs staying in the 70s.

Find the latest forecast from the 4Warn Weather team here

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The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has closed the westbound I-94 ramps to and from Middlebelt and Merriman roads while crews repair the road surface.

The closures are expected to remain in place through Monday morning (June 15), though officials said the ramps could reopen sooner if work is completed ahead of schedule.

Despite the construction, access to DTW remains available via southbound I-275 to Eureka Road.

With increased traffic and potential delays, travel experts recommend arriving at the airport 90 minutes to two hours before a domestic flight.

Drivers may want to allow an additional 30 minutes due to ongoing road work near the airport.

Passengers are also encouraged to check in for their flights before leaving home, verify flight information, and have identification and boarding passes readily available when arriving at security checkpoints.

Wearing shoes and clothing that are easy to remove can also help speed up the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening process.

In addition to the work near the airport, eastbound I-96 is closed from the Southfield Freeway to Schaefer Highway as MDOT crews demolish the Hubbell Bridge deck.

That closure is also expected to remain in place until Monday morning.

Transportation officials advise motorists to check for updated traffic conditions before traveling and to allow extra time to reach their destinations throughout the weekend.