# These are Iran's top political and spiritual leaders

June 18th, 2025, 07:08 PM

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After assassinating several top Iranian military officials and nuclear scientists, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei could be next, and that it may topple Tehran's entire leadership.

Swipe through for a look at Iran's top leaders.


# Florida Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champions, numbers to know

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 10:00 AM

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The Florida Panthers are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in their rematch final. They needed just six games this time after a seven-game thriller a year ago.

Here are the numbers to know about the repeat:

3 — Teams that have won consecutive titles since the NHL salary cap era began in 2005. The Panthers join the Tampa Bay Lightning (2020-21) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016-17).

19 — Teams in league history that have won the Cup two or more times in a row.

5 — Championships by teams based in the U.S. Sun Belt over the past six years. Four of those belong to the state of Florida, and the Lightning like the Panthers made three consecutive trips to the final.

32 — Years since a Canadian team last won the Cup (1993 Montreal Canadiens). Edmonton became the eighth Canadian team to lose in the final since.

13 — First-period goals the Panthers scored to the Oilers' four, a plus-9 differential that is tied for the widest margin in a final (Pittsburgh outscored the Minnesota North Stars by the same margin in 1991).

4 — Goaltenders since 1981-82 to win the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie during the regular season and also earn two Stanley Cup rings, with Sergei Bobrovsky joining Hall of Famers Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek and Martin Brodeur.

15 — Goals scored by Sam Bennett in the playoffs, leading all players. Bennett is a pending unrestricted free agent.

14 — Years between Stanley Cup titles for Brad Marchand, who last won it with the Boston Bruins in 2011. Only Chris Chelios (16 years, 1986-2002) and Mark Recchi (15 years, 1991-2006) had longer gaps.

5 — Losses in the final over the past six years for Corey Perry, who would have had the longest gap between titles had Edmonton won (18 years, Anaheim in 2007).

2 — Teams in NHL history to have three players with five or more goals in the final, with Bennett, Marchand and Sam Reinhart putting the Panthers in the same category as the 1955 Red Wings (Alex Delvecchio, Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay).


# US Open champion JJ Spaun to get back to work at Travelers

By Doug Ferguson
June 18th, 2025, 08:04 PM

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CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — This isn't the first time J.J. Spaun has come to the Travelers Championship after a life-changing moment. Two years ago, his daughter Violet was born on a Monday and he didn't show up to the TPC River Highlands until the night before the opening round.

He might be even more wiped now. That's what winning a U.S. Open can do.

"Violet's birthday is Thursday," Spaun said while reminiscing. But then he stopped and his eyes widened slightly. "Tomorrow. I don't even know what day it is."

It's been quite the whirlwind, and the U.S. Open champion wouldn't trade it.

The Los Angeles Dodgers — the team script is on his yardage book — are trying to arrange for him to throw out the first pitch. Shortstop Mookie Betts, who played the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with Spaun a few years back, congratulated him. Text messages came in from U.S. Open champions Curtis Strange and Hale Irwin.

Spaun slept three hours early Monday before it was off to New York, where he had a full day of media on Tuesday and then was driven to the TPC River Highlands. He slept eight hours, about as much as the previous two nights combined.

"It's been pretty hectic but also very fun," Spaun said Wednesday. "It's been nice to be given the opportunity to express my feelings, my emotions. A lot of people want to hear from me. I was really grateful to have the opportunity to tell everyone about it. So I enjoyed it."

And now it's back to work, which should be a fun time for the 72-man field, at least those who had to slog through 5 1/2-inch rough soaked by rain at Oakmont for a grueling week.

The Travelers Championship, the last of the $20 million signature events, is a happier occasion where the scoring is easier, even though the TPC River Highlands can still punish bad shots.

The rough is still plenty thick, just not quite as dense as it was at Oakmont. And players are not hitting into putting surfaces where the golf ball never seems to stop rolling.

Still, it's a welcome relief.

"It's more just kind of getting back into the swing of things of, 'All right, actually I have a 7-iron in my hand, but I don't have to be quite as careful,' I guess," Jordan Spieth said. "It's no gimme golf course, especially if we're going to see windy conditions.

"The short answer is, yeah, it's kind of nice," he said. "It would be hard to play something like that (Oakmont) every single week. But at the same time, you get a lot of risk-reward on the back nine here, which can yield 3-, 4-, 5 under rounds, but you can also get in big-time trouble."

For Spaun, it's moving forward just four days after his dynamic finish. He was in a five-way tie for the lead on the back nine and pulled ahead with a driver onto the 17th green for a two-putt birdie and a 65-foot birdie putt for a magical finish in his two-shot victory.

"I definitely need to keep the hunger there," Spaun said. "I think I will have the hunger just because I want to continue to prove myself, but not prove myself to anybody other than myself. I feel like my biggest barrier throughout my entire career is just trying not to be so hard on myself and not ruining any sort of confidence that I've built from all these experiences on my journey as a golfer.

"As long as I keep that up, I think I'll continue to play well," he said. "And obviously winning the U.S. Open is going to be a huge boost to that inner ego, I guess you could say, to keep that self-belief alive and burning."

Scottie Scheffler had no trouble last year when he went from winning the Masters to winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town. Rory McIlroy won the British Open in 2014, had two weeks off and then won a World Golf Championship at Firestone and a PGA Championship in consecutive weeks.

"I think after winning a major championship, like the first time you come back out to the course is a bit of a circus sometimes just with all the people," Scheffler said. "J.J. just achieved a lifetime goal and dream of his. It's definitely different coming to the golf course, for sure. There's a lot more people, a lot more stuff to sign, a lot of stuff that goes on.

"It's all good things. It's all stuff that's fun."

Keegan Bradley won his first major in 2011 as a PGA Tour rookie, had a week off and then missed the cut in his next two tournaments.

"I remember coming home and going out to dinner with my friends and walking into the restaurant. I could feel that people knew who I was. I had never felt that," Bradley said. "The thing I told J.J. was I hope he really enjoys this."


# Berliners swim in the Spree River to protest 100-year ban

By Kirsten Grieshaber
June 17th, 2025, 05:55 PM

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BERLIN (AP) — A century after the city of Berlin banned swimming in the Spree River because it was so polluted it could make people sick, there's a push by swimmers to get back into the water.

Around 200 people jumped into the slow-moving, greenish water Tuesday to show that it's not only clean enough, but also lots of fun to splash and swim in the Mitte neighborhood along the world-famous Museum Island.

A group calling itself Fluss Bad Berlin, or River Pool Berlin, has been lobbying for years to open the meandering river for swimmers again.

"For 100 years now, people have not been allowed to swim in the inner-city Spree and we no longer think this is justified, because we can show that the water quality is usually good enough to go swimming during the season," said Jan Edler, who is on the board of Fluss Bad Berlin and helped organize Tuesday's swim-in.

To circumvent the ban, the group registered their collective swim event as an official protest.

Standing on a little staircase that leads down to the Spree canal, which flows around the southern side of the island, Edler stressed that "we want the people to use the Spree for recreation again."

He pointed to the fact that the river has been cleaned up thoroughly, and that the water quality has improved in the last decade and is constantly being monitored.

Even city officials in the central Mitte district of Berlin say they'd be interested in introducing river swimming again in 2026.

"There are still many things that need to be clarified, but I am optimistic that it can succeed," district city councilor Ephraim Gothe told German news agency dpa recently.

Supporters of lifting the swimming ban also point at Paris, where the Seine River was opened up for swimmers for the Olympic Games last year and will be opened this summer for Parisians. Swimming there had been banned since 1923.

In Vienna, too, water lovers can splash into the Danube River canal, in the Swiss city of Basel they can bathe in the Rhine, and in Amsterdam there are some designated areas where people can plunge into the canals.

Only in Berlin, swimming has been continuously prohibited in the Spree since May 1925, when the German capital closed all traditional river pools because the water was deemed too toxic. Some of those pools weren't only used for recreational swimming, but were a place for poor people to wash themselves if they didn't have bathrooms at home.

These days, the water is clean on most days, except when there's heavy rain, which leads to some water pollution.

Allowing swimmers to dive into the river would also mean loosening the historical monument protection on some parts of the riverbanks to install easy access ways to the water and places for lifeguards.

Another problem is the busy boat traffic on the Spree that could endanger swimmers. However, for the time being, the Fluss Bad Berlin group only wants to open up nearly 2-kilometer-long (just over a mile-long) canal where there's no boat traffic.

For what it's worth, the German capital, a city of 3.9 million, could definitely need more places where people can cool off in the summer as regular outdoor pools tend to be hopelessly overcrowded on hot summer days.

"The cities are getting hotter," Edler said. "It's also a question of environmental justice to create offers for people who just can't make it out of the city when it's so hot and can enjoy themselves in the countryside."


# Trump says he will decide on Iran attack within two weeks

By Sam Mednick, Natalie Melzer, Jon Gambrell, and Melanie Lidman
June 19th, 2025, 01:44 AM

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BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — Israel and Iran exchanged more attacks on Thursday as U.S. President Donald Trump said he would make up his mind within two weeks on whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the conflict, seeking to keep open the door to diplomacy on Tehran's nuclear program.

"Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks," Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters, reading out Trump's statement.

Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America's "bunker-buster" bombs.

Earlier in the day, Israel's defense minister threatened Iran's supreme leader after Iranian missiles crashed into a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people. As rescuers wheeled patients out of the smoldering hospital, Israeli warplanes launched their latest attack on Iran's nuclear program.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for Thursday's barrage and said the military "has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would "do what's best for America."

"I can tell you that they're already helping a lot," Netanyahu said from the rubble and shattered glass around the Soroka Medical Center in Israel's southern city of Beersheba.

The open conflict between Israel and Iran erupted last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.

Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel's multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.

## Many hospitals have transferred patients underground

Israel's Home Front Command said one of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired Thursday morning had been rigged with fragmenting cluster munitions. Rather than a conventional warhead, a cluster munition warhead carries dozens of submunitions that can explode on impact, showering small bomblets around a large area and posing major safety risks on the ground. The Israeli military did not say where that missile had been fired.

At least 80 patients and medical workers were wounded in the strike on Israel's Soroka Medical Center. The vast majority were lightly wounded, as much of the hospital building had been evacuated in recent days.

Iranian officials insisted that they had not sought to strike the hospital and claimed the attack hit a facility belonging to the Israeli military's elite technological unit, called C4i. The website for the Gav-Yam Negev advanced technologies park, some three kilometers (2 miles) from the hospital, said C4i had a branch campus in the area.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, acknowledged that there was no specific intelligence that Iran had planned to target the hospital.

Many hospitals in Israel, including Soroka, had activated emergency plans in the past week. They converted parking garages to wards and transferred vulnerable patients underground. Israel also has a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors at Soroka said the Iranian missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing an explosion that could be heard from a safe room. The strike inflicted the greatest damage on an old surgery building and affected key infrastructure, including gas, water and air-conditioning systems, the medical center said.

The hospital, which provides services to around 1 million residents, had been caring for 700 patients at the time. After the strike, the hospital closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases.

## Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear program

Iran has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Israel is widely believed to be the only country with a nuclear weapons program in the Middle East but has never acknowledged the existence of its arsenal.

The Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran's enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran's ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict.

On Thursday, anti-aircraft artillery was audible across Tehran, and witnesses in the central city of Isfahan reported seeing anti-aircraft fire after nightfall.

Trump's announcement of a decision in the next two weeks opened up diplomatic options, with the apparent hope Iran would make concessions after suffering major military losses.

A new diplomatic initiative seemed to be underway as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi prepared to travel Friday to Geneva for meetings with the European Union's top diplomat, and with counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

But at least publicly, Iran has struck a hard line.

Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender and warned that any U.S. military involvement would cause "irreparable damage to them."

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Thursday criticized Trump for using military pressure to gain an advantage in nuclear negotiations. The latest indirect talks between Iran and the U.S., set for last Sunday, were cancelled.

"The delusional American president knows that he cannot impose peace on us by imposing war and threatening us," he said.

## Iran agreed to redesign Arak to address nuclear concerns

Israel's military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak heavy water reactor, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, to prevent it from being used to produce plutonium.

Iranian state TV said there was "no radiation danger whatsoever" around the Arak site, which it said had been evacuated ahead of the strike.

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that potentially can be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That work was never completed.

The reactor became a point of contention after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into under the deal.

Israel said strikes were carried out "in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development."

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that due to restrictions imposed by Iran on inspectors, the U.N. nuclear watchdog has lost "continuity of knowledge" about Iran's heavy water production — meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran's production and stockpile.


Triple-A International League Glance

# Triple-A International League Glance

By The Associated Press
June 19th, 2025, 03:44 AM

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## Tuesday's Games

Durham 7, Omaha 1

Scranton/WB 4, Louisville 3

Jacksonville 6, Syracuse 4

Worcester 5, Buffalo 4

Rochester 3, Lehigh Valley 1

Charlotte 6, Gwinnett 3

Indianapolis 7, Columbus 2

Nashville 9, Iowa 0

Norfolk 7, Memphis 5

Toledo 9, St. Paul 8, 11 innings

## Wednesday's Games

Louisville 8, Scranton/WB 1

Memphis 10, Norfolk 7

Jacksonville 5, Syracuse 3

Buffalo 14, Worcester 1

Rochester 4, Lehigh Valley 0

Charlotte 9, Gwinnett 3

Columbus 4, Indianapolis 3, susp. top of 4th

Iowa 5, Nashville 4

Durham 7, Omaha 2

Toledo 6, St. Paul 4

## Thursday's Games

Columbus 4, Indianapolis 3, noon, 1st game, completion of susp. game

Indianapolis at Columbus, 12:05 p.m., 2nd game

Scranton/WB at Louisville, 6:35 p.m.

Jacksonville at Syracuse, 6:35 p.m.

Buffalo at Worcester, 6:45 p.m.

Rochester at Lehigh Valley, 6:45 p.m.

Gwinnett at Charlotte, 7:04 p.m.

Iowa at Nashville, 7:35 p.m.

Durham at Omaha, 8:05 p.m.

Norfolk at Memphis, 8:05 p.m.

Toledo at St. Paul, 8:07 p.m.

## Friday's Games

Jacksonville at Syracuse, 6:35 p.m.

Buffalo at Worcester, 6:45 p.m.

Gwinnett at Charlotte, 7:04 p.m.

Indianapolis at Columbus, 7:05 p.m.

Rochester at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m.

Scranton/WB at Louisville, 7:15 p.m.

Iowa at Nashville, 7:35 p.m.

Durham at Omaha, 8:05 p.m.

Norfolk at Memphis, 8:05 p.m.

Toledo at St. Paul, 8:07 p.m.


# Greece mourns folk icon Petroloukas Chalkias, a master of the mountain soundscape

By Derek Gatopoulos and Petros Giannakouris
June 18th, 2025, 03:36 PM

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is honoring the late clarinetist Petroloukas Chalkias, whose hypnotic, note-bending performances over the course of more than 70 years made him a hero of mountain folk music.

Chalkias, who died at 90 over the weekend, lay in state Wednesday at the Athens Cathedral — a rare honor typically reserved for prime ministers and religious leaders.

As pallbearers emerged through the doors in a chapel next to the cathedral, carrying the coffin, silence descended. Mourners then clapped and shouted "immortal" as musicians played folk tunes. It was a solemn prelude to his funeral which will take place in the rugged highlands of Epirus, in northwest Greece, where he first took up the clarinet as a boy of 11.

Greek President Constantine Tassoulas earlier this week described Chalkias as a "legendary figure."

Epirus' folk music, slowly unfolding and often centered around the clarinet, is steeped in improvisation, with its wanderings inviting comparisons to rural blues and jazz. It's one of the reasons that, while not so distinguished as a recording artist, Chalkias' live performances made him a household name for Greeks young and old alike.

His style evolved after settling in New York as a young man, joining a wave of musicians who emigrated along with other Greeks to escape the hardship of postwar poverty. Chalkias found an unlikely second stage: dimly-lit clubs filled with Greek emigres and curious outsiders. Among those drawn to his performances were jazz legends Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong.

Musicians paying their respects on Wednesday praised Chalkias for his generosity with his time in helping fellow artists. "I was a young woman when I started out and I was incredibly lucky to have him support me," folk singer Giota Griva said. "His influence was immense. He was an artist who will never leave us."

Born Petros Loukas Chalkias, the musician was the son and grandson of clarinet players. He was raised with the region's rich tradition of live music — an essential part of village festivals, celebrations, and mourning rituals.

Discouraged at first by a family wary of the musician's path, the young Chalkias fashioned his own makeshift clarinet from a hollow reed, carving its finger holes. By his early teens, his playing — raw and instinctive, but undeniably gifted — was good enough to earn him a spot on national radio.

Chalkias spent nearly 20 years in the US and raised a family there, but said he always intended to return to Greece. He did so in 1979, performing live across the country and reconnecting with Delvinaki, the red-roofed mountain village of his birth near Greece's border with Albania.

Delvinaki bore deep scars from the devastations of World War II and the civil war that followed. Chalkias, like many of his generation, grew up with interrupted schooling and little formal training. His music was learned by ear and memory, and never performed using sheet music.

"In the hearts of all Greeks, he stands as the foremost ambassador of our folk song tradition," President Tassoulas, also from Epirus, said in a statement. "Though Petros Loukas Chalkias has departed this life, his voice has not fallen silent –- nor will it ever."

Chalkias died in Athens. His family did not announce the cause of his death. His funeral will be held at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Delvinaki on Thursday.

He is survived by a son and a daughter.


# Diamondbacks play the Blue Jays looking to stop road slide

By The Associated Press
June 19th, 2025, 08:01 AM

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Arizona Diamondbacks (36-37, fourth in the NL West) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (40-33, third in the AL East)

Toronto; Thursday, 3:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Ryne Nelson (3-2, 4.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 41 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (5-5, 4.08 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 80 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -138, Diamondbacks +116; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Diamondbacks will aim to end their five-game road losing streak in a matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto has a 40-33 record overall and a 24-13 record at home. The Blue Jays have a 17-7 record in games when they did not give up a home run.

Arizona has a 16-19 record on the road and a 36-37 record overall. Diamondbacks hitters have a collective .441 slugging percentage to rank second in the NL.

The teams meet Thursday for the third time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 15 doubles and nine home runs for the Blue Jays. Ernie Clement is 16 for 43 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.

Josh Naylor has a .305 batting average to lead the Diamondbacks, and has 17 doubles, a triple and nine home runs. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 12 for 37 with a home run and four RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 6-4, .275 batting average, 5.38 ERA, outscored by five runs

Diamondbacks: 5-5, .238 batting average, 5.31 ERA, outscored by nine runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Myles Straw: day-to-day (ankle), Jonatan Clase: day-to-day (knee), Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Nathan Lukes: 7-Day IL (neck), Daulton Varsho: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Anthony Santander: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Max Scherzer: 60-Day IL (thumb), Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (back), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Diamondbacks: Gabriel Moreno: day-to-day (hand), Justin Martinez: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Mena: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Christian Montes De Oca: 15-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 15-Day IL (hip), Corbin Burnes: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Puk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jordan Montgomery: 60-Day IL (elbow), Blake Walston: 60-Day IL (elbow)


# Schneeman hits 3-run homer power the Guardians past Verlander and the Giants, 4-2

By Michael Wagaman
June 19th, 2025, 04:23 AM

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Daniel Schneeman hit a three-run home run to keep Justin Verlander winless in a San Francisco uniform, powering the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the Giants on Wednesday night.

Verlander (0-4) allowed four runs (three earned) in 4 2/3 innings after being activated off the Injured List earlier in the day. The nine-time All-Star gave up seven hits and had six strikeouts in his first start since May 18.

Kyle Manzardo doubled twice and Jose Ramirez added an RBI-single to help the Guardians clinch their first series win in San Francisco since 2005. Heliot Ramos homered for the Giants.

Schneeman's home run, his first since May 27, came on an 0-2 fastball from Verlander in the fourth. Carlos Santana reached on a fielding error by second baseman Tyler Fitzgerald and Lane Thomas singled before Schneeman's homer.

Logan Allen (5-4) gave up two runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings to get the win for the Guardians.

Matt Festa and Tim Herrin each retired three batters, Cade Smith set down two and Emmanuel Clase got Patrick Bailey to strike out looking in the ninth for his 16th save.

## Key moment

After the Giants' Mike Yastrzemski drew a one-out walk in the seventh then advanced to second on a balk by Cade Smith, Smith worked out of the jam and retired Patrick Bailey and Ramos on consecutive swinging strikeouts.

## Key stat

The Giants got their leadoff hitter on base in four innings and failed to score each time.

## Up next

Giants ace RHP Logan Webb (6-5, 2.58 ERA) was set to face Guardians RHP Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.89) in the series finale Thursday.


# Officials arrest 1 of 2 detainees still missing from New Jersey immigration facility

By Mike Catalini
June 17th, 2025, 03:37 PM

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One of the two detainees still missing after escaping from a New Jersey federal immigration detention center has been arrested, the FBI said Tuesday.

Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes, from Honduras, has been taken into custody, FBI spokesperson Amy Thoreson said in an email. Andres Felipe Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, is still missing from Thursday night's escape, the bureau said.

Bautista-Reyes and Pineda-Mogollon and two other men busted out of the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark during reports of disorder there by breaking through a wall and escaping from a parking lot, according to U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, and Homeland Security officials.

All four men were in the country illegally and had been charged by local police in New Jersey and New York City, federal officials said.

Bautista-Reyes was charged in May with aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats and a weapon crime. Pineda-Mogollon, from Colombia, was charged with minor larceny and burglary crimes.

The details surrounding Bautista-Reyes' capture were not immediately clear. Messages seeking information were sent to the FBI and the Homeland Security Department, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that they were grateful to law enforcement for apprehending the men.

The FBI on Monday had increased the reward for information leading to their arrest to $25,000 from $10,000.

Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez, one of the other fugitives, was taken into custody in Passaic, New Jersey, on Friday, the day after the escape in nearby Newark. Then, on Sunday, Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada surrendered to federal authorities in Milleville, New Jersey. Sandoval-Lopez, from Honduras, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun in October and aggravated assault in February, officials said. Castaneda-Lozada, from Colombia, was charged with burglary, theft and conspiracy, authorities said.

It's unclear who may be representing the men. The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender declined to comment on the development.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who has been critical of President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, cited reports of a possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the facility Thursday night and protesters outside the center locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates. Much is still unclear about what unfolded there, but later on Tuesday the FBI released details in a statement charging the four men with escape.

The men broke through an aluminum wall on the second story of the facility and dropped mattresses through an opening, giving them a place to jump, the FBI said. They used bedsheets to cover barbed wire to get over the fence, according to the bureau.

GEO Group, the company that owns and operates the detention facility for the federal government, said in a statement last week that there was "no widespread unrest" at the facility.

Delaney Hall has been the site of clashes this year between Democratic officials who say the facility needs more oversight and the Trump administration and those who run the facility.

Baraka was arrested May 9, handcuffed and charged with trespassing. The charge was later dropped. But U.S. Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was later charged with assaulting federal officers stemming from a skirmish that happened outside the facility. She has denied the charges.


# Pelicans acquire a second 2025 first-round draft pick from the Pacers in exchange for a 2026 pick

By Brett Martel
June 17th, 2025, 07:37 PM

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Indiana Pacers have agreed to trade their 23rd overall choice in next week's NBA draft to New Orleans for a 2026 first-round pick, the Pelicans announced Tuesday.

The deal gives the Pelicans two first-round picks — the seventh and 23rd overall — in the draft, raising the prospect that New Orleans could package both in a deal to move up in the first round next Wednesday.

The Pelicans also will receive the rights to Mojave King, a 2023 second-round draft choice who has played for Indiana's G League affiliate as well as overseas in Puerto Rico and New Zealand.

The Pacers are getting back a 2026 pick they had traded to the Toronto Raptors in a 2024 deal sending Pascal Siakam to Indiana. Last February, Toronto dealt that pick to New Orleans as part of a trade that sent Brandon Ingram to the Raptors.

The Pacers are the reigning Eastern Conference champions and currently trail the Oklahoma City Thunder, 3-2, in the best-of-seven NBA Finals, with Game 6 scheduled for Thursday in Indianapolis.


# Florida officials let public universities free up millions to pay student-athletes

By Kate Payne
June 18th, 2025, 09:46 PM

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida's public universities can free up $22.5 million a year to compensate student-athletes under an emergency rule approved by a state board Wednesday ahead of a landmark legal settlement allowing schools to pay their players through licensing deals.

The sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, going into effect July 1, allows schools to directly pay their pay their players for the use of their name, image and likeness. It's upending the way college sports have been run for more than a century and has sent universities across the country scrambling for new revenue streams in the hopes of gaining an edge — or at least keeping pace — in the rapidly evolving and highly competitive field of college athletics.

Public universities in Florida, which is home to some of the country's most high-profile college sports teams, will now be able to dip into the funding reserves of campus auxiliary programs like bookstores, food service, student housing and parking in order to cut checks to student-athletes. Under the policy approved Wednesday, the funds can be issued as a transfer or a loan.

"Athletic departments are already currently recruiting student-athletes for fall 2025, and they need clarity on the available funding to retain and recruit the best talent for their rosters," said Alan Levine, vice chair of the board of governors, which oversees Florida's state universities. "If the universities cannot react to the settlement immediately, there will be irreparable harm to the athletic programs and to the financial welfare of our institutions."

Florida's emergency rule goes into effect immediately and will last 90 days, at which point the board of governors can reassess the issue.

Other schools are also taking actions because of deficits in their athletic departments. Last week, University of Kentucky trustees approved a $31 million operating loan for the athletics department as it begins making direct payments to athletes.

Meanwhile, Louisiana is poised to hike taxes on sports betting to pump more than $24 million into athletic departments. And Arkansas this year became the first to waive state income taxes on payments made to athletes by higher education institutions.


# Trump installs new flagpoles on White House lawns

By Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville
June 18th, 2025, 09:38 PM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The American flag has long flown from a pole on the White House roof, but that's always been too small for President Donald Trump, who wants everything to be bigger and more beautiful.

On Wednesday, massive new flagpoles were erected on the North and South Lawns of the White House.

"It's such a beautiful pole," Trump said as workers used a crane to install the latest addition to the South Lawn. He returned to the same spot later in the day, saluting as the stars and stripes were hoisted for the first time.

The second pole, on the North Lawn, is close to Pennsylvania Avenue. The two poles are the most notable exterior modification to the White House since Trump returned to the presidency with grand ideas for remaking the building.

He's already updated the Oval Office, adding gold accents, more portraits and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. Workers have begun paving over the grass in the Rose Garden, and there are plans to construct a new ballroom somewhere on the White House grounds. The changes bring the iconic building more in line with Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club in Florida.

The president made time to watch one of the flagpole installations despite the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, plus questions of whether the U.S. would become directly involved.

"I love construction," said Trump, who made his mark as a New York real estate developer. "I know it better than anybody."

He talked about how the pole went down nine feet deep for stability, and the rope would be contained inside the cylinder, unlike the one at Mar-a-Lago. When the wind blows, "you hear that rope, banging."

"This is the real deal," he said. "This is the best you can get. There's nothing like this."


# LSU capitalizes on big break in 9th for a 6-5 walk-off win over Arkansas

By Eric Olson
June 19th, 2025, 02:48 AM

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Jared Jones hit a line drive that glanced off a glove for the winning run moments after LSU got a big break to tie the game, and the Tigers posted a 6-5 walk-off victory over SEC rival Arkansas on Wednesday night to advance to the College World Series finals.

The Tigers (51-15) will play for their second national championship in three years when they square off against Coastal Carolina in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday. The Chanticleers locked up their spot with an 11-3 win over Louisville on Wednesday.

It's been quite a turnaround for Jones, who struck out five times in the Tigers' 4-1 win over Arkansas in their CWS opener. In the last two games, he's 5 for 9 with six RBIs and two homers.

"I've spent so much time and effort in this sport throughout my life," Jones said. "My parents have sacrificed so much to get me to this point. And my teammates, I was up sixth or seventh in the ninth inning, so there had to be a lot that had to go right for us to put me in that position. I'm just super grateful for it all and wouldn't have it any other way."

Arkansas (50-15) took a two-run lead in the top of the ninth on Justin Thomas' tie-breaking single and looked ready to force a second bracket final against the Tigers on Thursday. Instead, the Razorbacks' season ended in heartbreak in Omaha again.

The Tigers beat Arkansas for the fourth time in five meetings this season, including 4-1 last Saturday in the teams' CWS opener. They are 5-0 all-time in CWS meetings with the Razorbacks.

LSU put two men on base with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Cole Gibler (3-2). Steven Milam grounded to short, and Wehiwa Aloy opted to get the lead runner at third rather than try for a game-ending double play.

"I talked to him about it," Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. "He felt he moved too far to his right to turn it."

Luis Hernandez came up and sent a hard liner to left. Charles Davalan slipped as he broke for the ball and it deflected off his right shoulder. Davalan chased the ball down as Ethan Frey and Milam scored easily.

"It was hit hard obviously, and it was hooking and sinking," Van Horn said. "It looked like Charles slipped taking off for it and when he took off he lost sight of it."

Jones, whose team-best 22nd homer of the season had tied it 3-all in the eighth, shot a line drive up the middle that bounced off second baseman Cam Kozeal's glove. Hernandez scored from second ahead of the throw home, setting off an LSU celebration in center field.

LSU coach Jay Johnson said the moment was reminiscent of two years ago when Tommy White's 11th-inning, walk-off homer against Wake Forest sent the Tigers to the finals against Florida.

"I said this literally probably probably two years ago to the day, the walk-off homer, Tommy against Wake Forest, I felt something in my body I've never felt before. Greatest moment in my life," Johnson said. "It now has a tie for first, with the ninth inning with Jared Jones, line drive over the second baseman's head. And Luis Hernandez, hustling around second base."

Jacob Mayers (2-0), the fourth LSU pitcher, worked two-thirds of an inning for the win. Zac Cowan gave the Tigers a season-long 5 1/3 innings in his second start of the season and allowed one run on four hits. He walked none and struck out six.

Gut-wrenching losses in Omaha are nothing new for Arkansas. The Razorbacks were one out away from winning the 2018 national championship in the second game of the finals against Oregon State. What should have been a game-ending pop foul dropped between three Arkansas fielders. Oregon State went on to win that game and the next to take the title.

This was Arkansas' 12th CWS appearance and eighth under Van Horn, and the Razorbacks are tied with Clemson and North Carolina for second-most trips to Omaha without winning the title. Florida State is first at 24.


# Clark leads Indiana against Golden State after 20-point game

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 06:09 AM

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Indiana Fever (6-5, 6-5 Eastern Conference) at Golden State Valkyries (5-6, 4-4 Western Conference)

San Francisco; Thursday, 10 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Indiana Fever visits the Golden State Valkyries after Caitlin Clark scored 20 points in the Fever's 88-71 win against the Connecticut Sun.

Golden State hits the court for the 12th game in franchise history. The Valkyries fell to the Dallas Wings 80-71 in their last game.

Indiana went 8-12 on the road and 20-20 overall last season. The Fever gave up 87.7 points per game while committing 18.2 fouls last season.

INJURIES: Valkyries: None listed.

Fever: None listed.


# Mushfiqur's 163 leads Bangladesh to 484-9 against Sri Lanka

June 18th, 2025, 07:04 AM

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GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Mushfiqur Rahim posted a masterful 163 Wednesday as Bangladesh piled up 484 for nine on a rain-curtailed Day 2 of the first cricket test against Sri Lanka.

Mushfiqur batted for more than eight hours and faced 350 deliveries in innings that blended stout defense with the occasional flourish.

In a post-tea spell Bangladesh lost five wickets for 26 runs, giving Sri Lanka some hope.

Bangladesh has beaten Sri Lanka just once in 26 previous test attempts but is now in prime position to add another victory after tallying its fourth-highest total against Sri Lanka.

On a pitch that's expected to break up, Mushfiqur combined in two crucial partnerships that wrested the momentum away from the hosts.

The first was a record-breaking 264-run partnership with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was in sublime touch during his innings of 148. Shanto, though, fell against the run of play — lured into a false stroke by Asitha Fernando and holing out to mid-off, where Angelo Mathews took a sharp catch.

Undeterred, Mushfiqur forged another valuable stand — this time worth 149 runs — with Litton Das, whose shot-making added zip to the innings. However, both set batters were dismissed within nine deliveries just as they threatened to push Bangladesh past 500.

Sri Lanka resorted to bowling a negative line, peppering the leg-side and starving the batters of scoring opportunities. Das was duly dismissed trying to reverse sweep spinner Tharindu Rathnayake — a top edge ballooning to the wicketkeeper.

The old ball started reverse swinging and brought some late success for the hosts. Milan Rathnayake, the bustling right-arm seamer, picked up three wickets in a spell after the tea interval as Bangladesh lost five wickets for 26 runs — a collapse that gave Sri Lanka some hope.

"It's a tough wicket for the bowlers, but I guess we did a decent job especially in the last hour where we got back into the game with quick strikes," Rathnayake said. "We have a very strong batting lineup and hopefully we will get a lead."

Fernando, fresh off a county stint with Glamorgan, returned three wickets as well. Though not operating at full speed following a recent illness, he showed why he's Sri Lanka's pace spearhead, mixing up sharp bouncers with pinpoint yorkers to good effect.

Tharindu Rathnayake, making his test debut, had three wickets to his name.

Despite Sri Lanka's late rally, the day belonged to Mushfiqur, who revels in the conditions at Galle and has tallied 482 runs in four innings at the venue. Only Pakistan's Younis Khan (497) and Australia's Usman Khawaja (490) have scored more at the ground among visiting batters.

"Mushfiqur is someone who can genuinely inspire the team," said Mohammad Salahuddin, Bangladesh catching coach. "Even though he hasn't been scoring runs in the last few matches, his work ethic, constant desire to improve and the character he consistently shows in the dressing room — these are all qualities you want from a senior player."


# Air India faces disruptions as crash prompts flight delays

By Rajesh Roy
June 18th, 2025, 12:53 PM

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NEW DELHI (AP) — Air India is facing disruptions following last week's fatal crash as additional safety inspections on its Dreamliner fleet have led to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety.

India's aviation safety regulator ordered deeper checks on Boeing 787 aircrafts operated by the airline soon after its London-bound flight crashed during take-off in Ahmedabad city June 12, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew.

The precautionary inspections, as well as the closure of airspace in some Middle Eastern countries, have strained Air India operations across domestic and international routes.

Since the crash, Air India has cancelled operations for 83 wide-body flights, including 66 Dreamliners, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India's aviation safety regulator.

In a statement late Wednesday, Air India said wide-body aircraft service would remain curtailed by 15% until mid-July because of the unfolding conflict in the Middle East and the additional inspections. The airline said it would inform affected passengers and try to accommodate them with alternate flights. The "curtailments are a painful measure to take, but are necessary," the airline said.

The airline is performing an even greater number of checks than required, which has had a cascading impact on operations, a company executive familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. The airline said in its statement that it has decided to also inspect all of its Boeing 777 airplanes in its fleet even though that model wasn't involved in the crash.

The cuts in the flight schedule will allow Air India to keep more planes in reserve to deal with any unplanned disruptions.

The company on Tuesday announced the cancellation of multiple flights, including one from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Another from Delhi to Paris was cancelled when a mandatory pre-flight check raised an issue, the airline said in a statement. The issue was not identified.

In a statement Tuesday, the aviation directorate said surveillance conducted on Air India's Dreamliner fleet so far has found no "major safety concerns."

The aircrafts and their associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards, the directorate said, adding that of the 33 planes, 24 have completed the inspections, while four were undergoing long-term maintenance. The rest were expected to finish the safety checks soon.

The regulator advised the airline to "strictly adhere to regulations," and asked it to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations and ground handling units and ensure adequate availability of spares to mitigate flight delays.

Experts from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the U.K., the U.S. and officials from Boeing.

Some aviation experts see the crash as a temporary setback for Air India as it transforms from a financially troubled state-owned carrier to a privately owned company with ambitions for broad expansion.

"If you ask me whether the accident will derail the ambitious growth plans, no way. There can be no looking back," said Jitender Bhargava, a former Air India executive director.

The company already has placed huge orders for new aircrafts. Its present challenge is to boost the morale of employees and passengers through confidence building measures, Bhargava said.

"The faster you make people forget this one-off accident, the better it is," Bhargava said.

Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. The $2.4 billion deal was seen as the government's effort to sell off a loss-making, state-run businesses. It also was in some ways a homecoming for Air India, which was launched by the Tata family in 1932.

Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes worth over $70 billion, redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines Tata held stakes in. The company additionally has committed millions of dollars to digital overhauls of aircrafts and refurbishing interiors of more than five dozen legacy planes.


# Dallas Wings sign Kaila Charles and Haley Jones to hardship contracts

June 17th, 2025, 05:11 PM

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Wings signed Kaila Charles and Haley Jones to hardship contracts Tuesday because the team had only eight available players before the two were added to the roster.

Charles and Jones were both expected to be available to play for the Wings (1-11) in their home game against Golden State on Tuesday night.

Wings centers Teaira McCowan and Luisa Geiselsoder are away fulfilling national team obligations. Tyasha Harris and Maddy Siegrist are both out with knee injuries.

WNBA teams qualify for hardship exemption when they have fewer than 10 available players.

James has played 11 games this season for Dallas, but she was waived Saturday to create a roster spot after the acquisition of center Li Yueru from Seattle in a trade for two future draft picks.

Jones was with Phoenix for four games earlier this season as a hardship signee before being released on June 8 when Alyssa Thomas and Natasha Mack rejoined the Mercury. Jones spent the past two seasons with Atlanta.


# Rockies try to keep win streak alive against the Nationals

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 07:59 AM

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Colorado Rockies (16-57, fifth in the NL West) vs. Washington Nationals (30-43, fourth in the NL East)

Washington; Wednesday, 6:45 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rockies: German Marquez (2-8, 6.62 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 48 strikeouts); Nationals: Mitchell Parker (4-7, 4.96 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 50 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Nationals -171, Rockies +142; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Rockies will attempt to extend a three-game win streak with a victory against the Washington Nationals.

Washington has gone 15-23 at home and 30-43 overall. The Nationals have hit 70 total home runs to rank ninth in the NL.

Colorado has gone 9-30 on the road and 16-57 overall. The Rockies have hit 71 total home runs to rank eighth in the NL.

Wednesday's game is the sixth time these teams square off this season. The Rockies are up 3-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: James Wood has a .281 batting average to lead the Nationals, and has 18 doubles and 18 home runs. C.J. Abrams is 12 for 37 with a home run and three RBIs over the last 10 games.

Hunter Goodman leads the Rockies with a .285 batting average, and has 16 doubles, three triples, 14 home runs, 14 walks and 46 RBIs. Thairo Estrada is 13 for 44 with a home run and five RBIs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Nationals: 0-10, .229 batting average, 5.42 ERA, outscored by 25 runs

Rockies: 4-6, .273 batting average, 6.95 ERA, outscored by 14 runs

INJURIES: Nationals: Andrew Chafin: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Dylan Crews: 10-Day IL (back), Paul DeJong: 10-Day IL (face), Orlando Ribalta: 15-Day IL (biceps), Derek Law: 15-Day IL (forearm), DJ Herz: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mason Thompson: 60-Day IL (elbow), Josiah Gray: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Rockies: Thairo Estrada: day-to-day (hand), Ryan Feltner: 60-Day IL (back), Kyle Freeland: 15-Day IL (back), Ezequiel Tovar: 10-Day IL (oblique), Tanner Gordon: 15-Day IL (oblique), Kris Bryant: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Jeff Criswell: 60-Day IL (elbow)


# Mets aim to break skid in matchup with the Braves

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 08:00 AM

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New York Mets (45-28, first in the NL East) vs. Atlanta Braves (32-39, third in the NL East)

Atlanta; Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Paul Blackburn (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, six strikeouts); Braves: Chris Sale (4-4, 2.79 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Braves -182, Mets +151; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets enter the matchup with the Atlanta Braves after losing four straight games.

Atlanta has a 32-39 record overall and a 20-15 record in home games. The Braves have a 22-4 record in games when they scored at least five runs.

New York has a 45-28 record overall and an 18-18 record in road games. The Mets have the eighth-ranked team batting average in the NL at .247.

The teams meet Wednesday for the second time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Marcell Ozuna has eight doubles, 11 home runs and 38 RBIs while hitting .257 for the Braves. Ronald Acuna is 16 for 34 with a double and three home runs over the past 10 games.

Pete Alonso leads the Mets with a .296 batting average, and has 22 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs, 35 walks and 63 RBIs. Juan Soto is 14 for 35 with three home runs and six RBIs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 5-5, .244 batting average, 3.36 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs

Mets: 6-4, .261 batting average, 3.75 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs

INJURIES: Braves: Daysbel Hernandez: 15-Day IL (arm), AJ Smith-Shawver: 60-Day IL (calf/elbow), Reynaldo Lopez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joe Jimenez: 60-Day IL (knee)

Mets: Tylor Megill: 15-Day IL (elbow), Brett Baty: day-to-day (groin), Kodai Senga: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brooks Raley: 60-Day IL (elbow), Mark Vientos: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jesse Winker: 10-Day IL (side), Danny Young: 60-Day IL (elbow), A.J. Minter: 60-Day IL (lat), Frankie Montas: 60-Day IL (lat), Sean Manaea: 60-Day IL (oblique), Jose Siri: 10-Day IL (shin), Nick Madrigal: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Drew Smith: 60-Day IL (elbow), Christian Scott: 60-Day IL (elbow)


# Chargers sign offensive lineman Elijah Ellis and waive tackle Tyler McLellan

June 18th, 2025, 01:47 AM

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers signed offensive lineman Elijah Ellis on Tuesday and waived tackle Tyler McLellan.

Ellis started all 13 games at left tackle as a senior at Marshall University last year. He helped the Thundering Herd average nearly 32 points a game and be among the nation's top 20 rushing teams.

He transferred to Marshall after spending his first three seasons at Baylor, where he played nine games from 2021-23.


# Tampa Bay Rays say they are in talks for a potential sale

June 18th, 2025, 05:37 PM

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays say they are in "exclusive discussions" with a Florida investment group for a potential sale of the team.

The Rays are valued at $1.25 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Stuart Sternberg bought the Major League Baseball club for $200 million in 2004.

"The Tampa Bay Rays announced that the team has recently commenced exclusive discussions with a group led by Patrick Zalupski, Bill Cosgrove, Ken Babby and prominent Tampa Bay investors concerning a possible sale of the team," the club said Wednesday while declining further comment.

The potential sale comes at a precarious time for the Rays and their home ballpark. They are playing this season at the spring training home of the New York Yankees in Tampa after the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg was heavily damaged during Hurricane Milton last October.

Before the hurricane, the Rays and the city had agreed on a plan for a $1.3 billion stadium development project next to Tropicana Field. In March, Sternberg said the club was withdrawing from that agreement.

St. Petersburg is spending about $55 million to repair Tropicana Field with a plan for the Rays to return there in 2026. The city and the club have a three-year agreement to play there. Beyond that, the club's future in the Tampa Bay area is uncertain.

When the Rays withdrew from the project, the city noted that it was possible the club would have new owners.

"If in the coming months a new owner, who demonstrates a commitment to honoring their agreements and our community priorities emerges, we will consider a partnership to keep baseball in St. Pete," Mayor Ken Welch said in March. "But we will not put our city's progress on hold as we await a collaborative and community-focused baseball partner."


# This Date in Baseball - Alex Rodriguez homers for his 3,000th career hit

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 02:10 PM

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June 19

1927 — Jack Scott of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched two complete games in a doubleheader. Scott beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 and lost 3-0 in the second game. Scott was the last pitcher in major league history to complete two games on the same day.

1938 - Cincinnati pitcher Johnny Vander Meer coming off two straight no-hitters, extended his string of hitless innings to 21 2/3 against the Boston Bees. Vander Meer gave up a single to Debs Garms in the fourth inning. The Red won 14-1 behind Vander Meer's four-hitter.

1941 — En route to 56, Joe DiMaggio hit in his 32nd consecutive game, going 3-for-3, including a home run, against the Chicago White Sox.

1942 — Paul Waner got hit number 3,000 — a single off Rip Sewell — but the Boston Braves lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6.

1952 — Brooklyn Dodger Carl Erskine pitched a 5-0 no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field.

1961 — Roger Maris' ninth-inning homer off Kansas City's Jim Archer was his 25th of the year, putting him seven games ahead of Babe Ruth's pace in 1927.

1973 — Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collect their 2,000th hits. It is a single for Rose against the San Francisco Giants and a home run for Davis against the Atlanta Braves.

1974 — Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals hurled his second no-hitter in 14 months and gave up just one walk in beating the Brewers 2-0 at Milwaukee.

1977 — The Boston Red Sox hit five home runs in an 11-1 triumph over the New York Yankees. The five homers gave the Red Sox a major league record 16 in three games. Boston hit six homers on the 17th and five on the 18th, also against the Yankees. In the series the Yankees had no homers.

1990 — Gary Carter plays in his 1,862nd career game as a catcher to break the National League mark set by Al Lopez.

1994 — John Smoltz became the 14th major league pitcher to give up four homers in an inning when he was tagged by Cincinnati. The Reds set a team record for home runs in an inning, connecting four times in the first inning. Hal Morris, Kevin Mitchell, Jeff Branson and Eddie Taubensee homered. Smoltz allowed 20 total bases in the first inning, the most given up in the NL since 1900.

2015 — Alex Rodriguez homered for his 3,000th career hit as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 7-2.

2017 — Dodgers rookie Cody Bellinger launched two more home runs, setting a major league record with his powerful start, and Clayton Kershaw became the first 10-game winner in the National League despite giving up a career-high four long balls as Los Angeles held on for a 10-6 victory over the New York Mets. Bellinger reached 21 homers in 51 career games — faster than any other player in big league history.

2019 — One day after fouling a bunted ball in his face during batting practice and breaking his nose, Max Scherzer takes the mound for the Nationals against the Phillies sporting a prominent black eye. He still stymies the opposition with 7 scoreless innings in a 2 - 0 win. "Trust me, this thing looks a lot worse than it actually feels," he explains to journalists.


# A Michigan bear roamed the woods for two years with an awful lid on his neck. Not anymore.

By Ed White
June 18th, 2025, 06:38 PM

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Michigan wildlife experts finally were able to trap a black bear and remove a large lid that was stuck around his neck — for two years.

"It's pretty incredible that the bear survived and was able to feed itself," state bear specialist Cody Norton said Wednesday. "The neck was scarred and missing hair, but the bear was in much better condition than we expected it to be."

The bear first turned up on a trail camera as a cub in 2023 in the northern Lower Peninsula. After that, the Department of Natural Resources was on the lookout for the elusive animal with a hard plastic lid around the neck, Norton said.

The bear appeared again on a camera in late May, still wearing the barrel lid, and the DNR responded by setting a cylindrical trap and safely luring him inside. The bear was immobilized with an injection and the lid was cut off in minutes on June 3. The bear eventually woke up and rambled away.

Angela Kujawa, a wildlife biologist who was at the scene, said she wondered about the bear's ability to climb trees with the uncomfortable accessory.

"And he probably laid more on his back or side when he was resting," she said.

Norton said it's not precisely known how the lid got stuck on the bear's neck. Bear baiting is legal in Michigan, but the hole on a barrel lid typically must be large enough to avoid what happened to this bear.

The bear weighed 110 pounds (49.9 kilograms), which is fairly typical for a 2-year-old.

"We were pleasantly surprised. It was still able to make a living like a pretty typical bear," Norton said.


Michigan Sportswatch Daily Listings

# Michigan Sportswatch Daily Listings

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 04:00 AM

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Pittsburgh at Detroit — FDSN Detroit, SportsNet Pittsburgh, Fubo Sports US, MLB.TV

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive TV listings provided by LiveSportsOnTV.


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

# Brad Lander, NYC mayoral candidate, arrested at immigration court

By Cedar Attanasio
June 17th, 2025, 04:36 PM

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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Comptroller and Democratic mayoral candidate Brad Lander was arrested by federal agents at an immigration court Tuesday after he linked arms with a person authorities were attempting to detain.

A reporter with The Associated Press and other journalists witnessed Lander's arrest at a federal building in Manhattan, the latest confrontation between U.S. agents and a Democratic politician objecting to the Trump administration's mass detention and deportation programs.

Lander was released from custody after a few hours. The U.S. attorney's office said it was investigating his actions and would decide later whether to charge him with a crime. The immigrant Lander escorted out of the courtroom was also arrested.

Lander had spent the morning observing immigration court hearings and told an AP reporter he was there to "accompany" some immigrants out of the building.

His confrontation with agents unfolded quickly. As a group of agents moved in to detain a man who had exited a courtroom, Lander locked arms with the immigrant and demanded to see a judicial warrant. For more than 40 seconds, agents tried to physically separate the two, pulling both men down the hall in a chaotic scrum as photographers snapped photos.

Eventually, the agents wrested the two apart, then grabbed Lander's arms and put them behind his back.

"You're obstructing," an agent told Lander.

"I'm not obstructing. I'm standing right here in the hallway," Lander said as he was being handcuffed.

In a statement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Lander "was arrested for assaulting law enforcement and impeding a federal officer."

After his release, Lander exited the building holding hands with his wife and accompanied by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, to the cheers of a gathered crowd. He told reporters all he was trying to do was hold the arm of the man being detained and "certainly did not" assault an officer.

"I am happy to report that I am just fine. I lost a button," Lander said, adding that he planned to return to the immigration court again as a form of nonviolent way of standing up to Trump's immigration policies.

"I believe it is important to show up and bear witness and accompany people," he said.

He added that the man "ripped" from his arms "doesn't have a lawyer" and will likely sleep in an immigration detention center.

The episode occurred as federal immigration officials are conducting large-scale arrests outside immigration courtrooms across the country. In many cases, immigrants are arrested after a judge grants a government request to dismiss their case, making them eligible for expedited removal.

"They remove any opportunity for due process," Lander had told reporters earlier in the day.

Lander's arrest comes a little more than a month after Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on a trespassing charge outside a federal immigration detention center in his city, though the charge was later dropped. Baraka's fellow Democrat, Rep. LaMonica McIver, was charged with assaulting and impeding federal agents stemming from her role at the same visit as the mayor. She's denied the charges.

Last week, Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as he tried to speak about immigration raids. On Tuesday, he encouraged more Americans to speak out.

Lander is a candidate in the city's Democratic mayoral primary. Early voting in the contest is underway and the election is next week. Other candidates in the race quickly weighed in to criticize the arrest.

"This is the latest example of the extreme thuggery of Trump's ICE out of control — one can only imagine the fear families across our country feel when confronted with ICE," said former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running in the primary.

Zohran Mamdani, the most left-leaning candidate, rushed to the federal building to offer support to Lander, as did Hochul, who condemned the arrest in a post on X by likening it to excrement.

A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a brief statement that the office would prosecute any violation of federal law.

"The safety and security of official proceedings, government officials, law enforcement officers, and all members of the public who participate in them is a core focus of our Office," said the spokesperson, Nicholas Biase.


# Gabriel Arias and Guardians spoil Rafael Devers' Giants debut with 3-2 win

By Janie Mccauley
June 18th, 2025, 04:35 AM

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gabriel Arias hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning and doubled in the ninth on a night when San Francisco celebrated new slugger Rafael Devers at every chance, and the Cleveland Guardians spoiled the fun by beating the Giants 3-2 on Tuesday.

Jung Hoo Lee singled to start the bottom of the ninth against Emmanuel Clase, and Devers singled one out later before Heliot Ramos walked to load the bases for Dominic Smith. He flied out and Casey Schmitt struck out to end it as Clase earned his 15th save.

Devers went 2 for 5 with two strikeouts in his Giants debut after being acquired in a trade from the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. He hit a go-ahead double in the third inning only for the Guardians to answer on Carlos Santana's RBI single in the fourth. Devers struck out in the first and fifth.

Schmitt and Mike Yastrzemski hit consecutive singles to start the eighth against Hunter Gaddis, then Wilmer Flores entered as a pinch hitter. Flores lined out to left fielder Steven Kwan, who fired to second to get Schmitt for the double play.

Arias connected for his fifth homer off lefty Robbie Ray (8-2), who struck out five and walked two, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings. Austin Hedges had a sacrifice fly in the third for Cleveland.

Slade Cecconi (2-3) struck out six over five innings for the Guardians, who were coming off a sweep by the Mariners in Seattle and had lost five of six overall.

## Key moment

Aside from Ramos' rocket throw home from left field to save a run with a double play to end the top of the ninth, for the Giants the best part of the day began long before first pitch when many of Devers' new teammates took time ahead of their pregame routines to attend his introductory news conference.

## Key stat

The Giants came in with a .667 winning percentage (16-8) all-time vs. Cleveland, their best against any opponent.

## Up next

Cleveland LHP Logan Allen (4-4, 4.28 ERA) faces Giants RHP Justin Verlander (0-3, 4.33), who returns from the injured list to make his 11th start this season.


# Three more DeSantis allies to take the helm of public universities in Florida

By Kate Payne
June 18th, 2025, 09:16 PM

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The state board that oversees Florida's public universities has confirmed three more allies of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to become university presidents.

It's a move supporters say will grant the schools the political capital to secure critical state funding and navigate a rapidly shifting legal landscape, and one that critics see as another sign that alignment with the governor's conservative education agenda has become a prerequisite for academic leadership in the state.

The elevation of two Republican former lawmakers and a lobbyist comes after the state Board of Governors rejected the nomination of a longtime academic to lead the University of Florida, amid conservative backlash against his past support for diversity, equity and inclusion programs that board members viewed as unacceptable liberal ideology.

With the appointments approved Wednesday, five of the state's 12 public universities will be led by former Republican lawmakers or lobbyists, a move that will help bolster DeSantis' legacy in higher education that could long outlast his time in office.

Leading a Florida university generally comes with a multiyear contract for a salary of at least six-figures and a plush on-campus residence. The process for picking these leaders happens largely behind closed doors, creating what the state's Republican House speaker has called "a spoil system for a select few."

DeSantis' former lieutenant governor, Jeanette Nuñez. was confirmed as the president of Florida International University in Miami. Meanwhile, telecommunications lobbyist Marva Johnson was tapped to lead Florida A&M University, the state's only public historically Black university. Johnson was previously a DeSantis appointee on the state board of education.

Manny Diaz, a former state lawmaker and state education commissioner under DeSantis, was picked to lead the University of West Florida in Pensacola on an interim basis, mirroring the appointment of Nuñez, who was first named interim president before getting the permanent job at FIU.

Johnson's appointment, in particular, has alarmed FAMU students and alumni, who begged the board not to confirm her on Wednesday, arguing that she failed to meet the job's minimum requirements and that her requested salary far exceeds her predecessor's. Johnson's appointment has stoked longstanding fears that the HBCU could be merged with Florida State University, the predominantly white institution across the railroad tracks.

"I can't decide if her appointment is politically motivated, gross negligence on the part of the board, or just you guys wanting to get rid of FAMU altogether," alumnus Angelo Pettis told the Board of governors.

Board members defended Johnson, her credentials as a telecoms executive and her service on various state boards. Johnson addressed the concerns of FAMU students and supporters, saying she's "ready to lead with boldness" and committed to working alongside them.

"I remain deeply committed to ensuring that the legacy of the university is not lost," Johnson said.


# Joe Biden to attend Juneteenth celebration at Texas historic Black church

By Seung Min Kim
June 18th, 2025, 02:43 PM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Joe Biden will be attending a Juneteenth celebration at a historic African Methodist Episcopal church in Galveston, Texas.

The former Democratic president's plans were confirmed by a person with knowledge of them but not authorized to discuss logistics publicly.

In 2021, Biden signed legislation that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday. The day marks the end of slavery by commemorating June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston.

The event Thursday will be held at the Reedy Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Galveston.

That church, the first and oldest operating AME church in the state, is one of the locations where an order announcing the end of slavery in Texas was announced on that day in 1865, according to the Galveston County Daily News.


# Tampa Bay Sun announce plans for women's soccer stadium

By Anne M. Peterson
June 17th, 2025, 07:59 PM

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The USL Women's Super League champion Tampa Bay Sun announced an ambitious plan for their own 15,000-seat stadium, joining a growing trend of facilities being built specifically for women's sports.

The project announced Tuesday would be the first stadium for a team in the Women's Super League, which sits on the top tier of women's soccer in the United States alongside the National Women's Soccer League.

The expected cost and timeline for the project, which includes the new headquarters for the USL, have not been disclosed.

The stadium would be part of a 33-acre project in Tampa's historic Ybor City district by developer David Shaw, who is also Tampa Bay's majority owner. The area was once considered for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium.

"We believe in the power of sport to inspire, unite, and drive meaningful change," Shaw said in a statement. "By anchoring this historic neighborhood with a vibrant home for women's professional soccer, we're investing in our city's future and honoring the community that makes it thrive."

The Tampa Bay Sun won the Super League's inaugural championship on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over Fort Lauderdale United. The eight-team league, which kicked off last fall, will be joined by a ninth team next season.

The NWSL's Kansas City Current built the first women's soccer stadium, CPKC Stadium, which opened last year.

The expansion NWSL team in Denver, which will begin play next season, has announced its plans to build a stadium. Brighton of the Women's Super League in England won local approval for a stadium in 2023 but there's no current timeline for construction.

Other women's teams are investing in building their own facilities, too. The WNBA's Indiana Fever in January announced a $78 million training facility that will open in 2027, giving the team its own space apart from the NBA's Pacers.


# Juneteenth highlights tribal slavery descendants' citizenship struggle

By Graham Lee Brewer
June 17th, 2025, 05:17 PM

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Juneteenth may mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed, but thousands of people in Oklahoma are still fighting for full citizenship in the tribal nations that once held their ancestors in bondage.

Several tribes practiced slavery, and five in Oklahoma — The Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Muscogee nations — signed reconstruction treaties with the U.S. in 1866 abolishing it three years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. They granted the formerly enslaved, known commonly as Freedmen, citizenship within their respective tribes.

Only one of those tribes, the Cherokee Nation, continues to fully grant the rights of citizenship.

For descendants of people who were enslaved by tribal nations, Juneteenth is both a celebration of freedom for people of African descent and a reminder of their struggle to be fully embraced by the Indigenous communities with whom they share history and in many cases ancestry.

## Muscogee Nation

Traditionally, Freedmen in the Muscogee Nation celebrate emancipation day on August 4, marking when the tribe's council drew up a law to declare them free, said Rhonda Grayson, the founder and director of the Oklahoma Indian Territory Museum of Black Creek Freedmen History.

She traces her lineage to formerly enslaved people listed on a 1906 U.S. census of Native Americans who had been forcibly removed to Oklahoma. Known as the Dawes Rolls, the census created two lists - those who appeared Native and those who appeared Black. Those with African ancestry were put on the Freedmen rolls, although many also had Native ancestry.

Last week, the Muscogee Nation Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by Grayson and Jeff Kennedy, who are fighting for their citizenship rights and recognition within the Muscogee Nation.

"Our ancestors were Muscogee people of African descent," said Damario Solomon-Simmons, an attorney representing Grayson and Kennedy whose ancestor was also a Freedmen in the tribe. "We were transformed into 'Freedmen' by the Dawes Commission."

Their ancestors were also forced on the Trail of Tears, and after the Civil War they were granted citizenship and served in the tribe's legislative bodies, Kennedy said.

"We believe that the (Muscogee) Nation would not be what it is today without the bloodshed and tears of those African people," he said.

But, in 1979, the tribe adopted a new constitution restricting membership to those with Choctaw ancestors "by blood" according to the Dawes Rolls.

Grayson and Kennedy's lawsuit countered that citizenship requirement is a violation of the 1866 treaty, and in 2023 a Muscogee Nation district court agreed. The Muscogee Nation's citizenship board appealed and is asking the Supreme Court to overturn that decision.

"That provision has guided our Nation for decades and reflects the will of the people through a democratic process," Jason Salsman, a spokesperson for the Muscogee Nation said in a statement. "We believe that any change to our citizenship laws must come from our own citizens—not from outside interpretations."

The court's ruling is expected later this year, and it could open the door for thousands of new members to the tribe.

For Grayson, the legal battle is about more than their birthright to citizenship she said, it's also about setting straight the historical record.

"We weren't just slaves," Grayson said. "Our people need to know that. Our young people need to know that."

## Seminole Nation

In 2021, following pressure from Congress and the administration of President Joe Biden, the Indian Health Services began allowing Freedmen citizens in the Seminole Nation to access healthcare at IHS facilities after several reported that they had been denied COVID-19 vaccinations.

While the descendants of formerly enslaved Seminole Nation tribal members had previously been granted citizenship, in 2000 the tribe voted to restrict citizenship to those who had one-eighth Seminole ancestry according to the Dawes Rolls, thereby disenrolling more than 1,000 citizens of African ancestry.

In 2002, a U.S. district court ordered the tribe to reinstate their membership, however, today the descendants of those on the Seminole Nation's Freedmen rolls are only allowed to vote and sit on tribal council and are thereby not full citizens.

"They're using something that the United States used to separate us, and now they're using it to keep us in a very bad position by putting a lot of our people at a disadvantage," said LeEtta Osborne-Sampson, a Freedmen member of the Seminole Nation and one of four who sit on its tribal council. She said members like her are not given access to others services provided by the tribal nation, such as education and housing assistance. There are about 2,500 Freedmen citizens of the tribe today, she said.

Seminole Nation Chief Lewis Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

## Choctaw Nation

Starting in 1885, the Choctaw Nation had given citizenship to Freedmen descendants, but in 1983 the tribal nation adopted a constitution that restricted membership to those with Choctaw ancestors "by blood" according to the Dawes Rolls.

In 2021, the House Financial Services Committee threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in housing funds from the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole nations if they did not honor their 1866 treaty obligations and fully recognize the descendants of Freedmen as citizens. In response, Chief Gary Batton issued an open letter promising to confront the issue.

"The story of Choctaw Freedmen deserves our attention and thoughtful consideration within the framework of tribal self-governance," Batton wrote. "Today our tribal membership is based on the Dawes Rolls — a poisonous legacy from 125 years ago that took root and caused a myriad of membership issues for tribal nations, including Freedmen."

Batton, who remains in office, called for an open dialogue between Choctaw Freedmen, tribal citizens, elected officials, and the federal government. But since then, Freedmen descendants say that dialogue hasn't taken place.

"It became obvious, unfortunately, that it was an empty gesture," said author and genealogist Angela Walton-Raji. Like many Freedmen descendants, Walton-Raji said her ancestors were both Black and Choctaw but were forced to enroll on the Dawes Rolls as a Freedmen only. "It's very clear that there was an anti-Black sentiment then, as there is now," she said.

Randy Sachs, a spokesperson for the Choctaw Nation, said in a statement to The Associated Press that the tribe set up an internal committee and asked tribal members for comment on the issue, but over that two year period they only received about 20 calls - more than half of which were from a single family. "Determining our membership is an essential part of defending our sovereignty, and we will continue to listen to a variety of voices," he said.

There has never been a legal challenge to the tribe's 1983 constitution, and Walton-Raji said many Freedmen descendants either don't know that part of their history, because it is not taught in schools or fully acknowledged by the tribe, or do not have the funds to mount a court case that could last decades.

## Chickasaw Nation

The Chickasaw Nation jointly signed its 1866 reconstruction treaty with the Choctaw Nation. However, unlike the Choctaw, the Chickasaw Nation never recognized the people it held in slavery as citizens of the tribe.

"They broke the treaty, they never gave citizenship to their Freedmen. So up until statehood, Chickasaw Freedmen had no country, they were never citizens of any nation,," said Walton-Raji, who is also a co-founder of the Choctaw & Chickasaw Freedmen Association. Oklahoma became a state in 1907.

The Chickasaw Nation did not respond to requests for comment.

Since they were never granted citizenship, their descendants are at the greatest disadvantage when it comes to any legal claim to citizenship in the Chickasaw Nation, Walton-Raji said.

In 2021, following the Cherokee Nation's amendment to its constitution that granted full citizenship to Freedmen descendants, Dept. of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland encouraged other tribes "to take similar steps to meet their moral and legal obligations to the Freedmen."

Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby responded by saying that the tribe's citizenship is a matter of tribal sovereignty.


# Armenian billionaire appears in court accused of calling for regime change as church feud spirals

By Avet Demourian
June 18th, 2025, 03:10 PM

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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — One of richest men in Armenia has been arrested on charges of making public calls to seize power in the country illegally, his lawyer said Wednesday, as a feud between Armenia's prime minister and the nation's dominant church intensified.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has long had a tumultuous relationship with the Armenian Apostolic Church and billionaire Samvel Karapetyan now seems to have been caught up in it.

Karapetyan, 59, was detained late on Tuesday night and appeared in front of a court in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on Wednesday, according to Armen Feroyan, his attorney.

The lawyer said Karapetyan denied the charges against him. Karapetyan, who also holds Russian citizenship, owns the Tashir Group, a conglomerate that operates residential and commercial real estate as well as the Electric Networks of Armenia.

Pashinyan, the prime minister, told journalists on Wednesday that the power company would be nationalized "soon" following Karapetyan's arrest.

Before his arrest, Karapetyan said in video released Tuesday, that "a small group of people who have forgotten the thousand-year history of Armenia and the church" were attacking the religious institution.

"I have always stood with the Armenian Church and the Armenian people," the billionaire said. "If the politicians do not succeed, we will intervene in our own way in this campaign against the church."

The remarks were seen as a jab at Pashinyan, who on June 8 called for the head of Armenia's church, Catholicos Karekin II, to resign after accusing him of fathering a child while under a vow of celibacy. At the time, the church released a statement accusing Pashinyan of undermining Armenia's "spiritual unity" but did not address the claim about the child.

Pashinyan responded, promising on Facebook to crack down on "depraved" members of the clergy and their benefactors.

"He says 'we will intervene in our own way'," Pashinyan wrote, apparently citing Karapetyan. "Now I will intervene in my own way."

Earlier on Wednesday, the prime minister dismissed the head of the country's national security service, Armen Abazyan. When asked by journalists if the move was linked to the billionaire's arrest, Pashinyan only said the security chief "deserved to rest a little" after a difficult tenure.


2 arrests in hit-and-run at Southern California ‘No Kings’ protest

# 2 arrests in hit-and-run at Southern California 'No Kings' protest

June 18th, 2025, 04:30 PM

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Two people were arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash at a weekend "No Kings" protest in Southern California that left a 21-year-old demonstrator seriously injured, authorities said.

The SUV veered toward marchers Saturday night in Riverside, east of Los Angeles, and struck the woman, according to investigators. She remained hospitalized in critical condition, the Riverside Police Department said in a statement Tuesday.

After a search aided by tips from the public, police arrested the suspected driver, a 58-year-old Riverside man, on Monday, the police statement said. He could face charges including assault with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run causing injury.

Also arrested was a 39-year-old Riverside woman suspected of taking the SUV into an unincorporated area of the Mojave Desert and "intentionally destroying and concealing evidence," the statement said. She could face charges including accessory after the fact and destruction of evidence.

"No Kings" protests swept across the country on Saturday, and organizers said millions rallied against what they described as President Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies.

Confrontations were largely isolated. In Utah, a demonstrator was inadvertently fatally shot by a "safety volunteer" who was trying to stop an alleged gunman at the rally in Salt Lake City, according to police and organizers.

Outside the Arizona statehouse, a social media video showed protesters Saturday jeering at and then skirmishing with a masked man, who eventually pulled out a handgun, causing the crowd to scatter. Another video showed Arizona Department of Public Safety officers taking the man into custody.


# Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre added to the AL staff as an honorary coach for the All-Star Game

By The Associated Press
June 17th, 2025, 11:27 PM

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Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre will serve as an honorary coach for the American League at the All-Star Game in Atlanta next month.

New York Yankees skipper Aaron Boone invited Torre on Tuesday to join his staff at the Midsummer Classic. The 84-year-old Torre, currently a special assistant to the commissioner, won 2,326 games as a major league manager over 29 seasons. He led the Yankees to four World Series titles and six AL pennants in 12 years with the team.

Torre also managed the New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.

In addition, Boone invited Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt to join the AL staff for the game. He will join Yankees coaches in the dugout.

On the NL side, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts asked Braves manager Brian Snitker and Miami Marlins first-year manager Clayton McCullough to serve as coaches. They will join the Dodgers' coaching staff.

The All-Star Game takes place July 15 at Truist Park, three days before Torre's 85th birthday.


# Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tells Lakers akers fans to back off Shohei Ohtani

By Beth Harris
June 19th, 2025, 12:35 AM

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has a playful message for Lakers fans about Shohei Ohtani, now that the baseball and NBA teams will have the same majority owner.

"Hands off of Shohei," he said, smiling. "They got enough superstars wearing the purple and gold. Leave him alone."

Social media on Wednesday was rife with photos of the Japanese two-way superstar's face and body in a Lakers jersey after news broke that Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter is buying a majority interest in the Lakers from the Buss family for $10 billion.

Fox baseball analyst Ben Verlander posted on X: "We're really about to have Shohei Ohtani out here dropping 50 on Christmas Day for the Lakers. What a time to be alive."

Another person suggested Ohtani could be a two-way player for the Lakers, while someone wondered if the Lakers would start Ohtani at the 2 or 3 position. Others thanked Ohtani for deferring most of his $700 million, 10-year contract and, as one person posted, "putting all that money in Mark Walters' pockets so he can buy and save the Lakers franchise."

The Lakers already have a Japanese player in forward Rui Hachimura.

"I think Hachimura is taking care of the Japanese side of things," Roberts said. "We'll have Shohei on the baseball side."

Last December, Ohtani and his wife attended a Lakers game and were presented personalized jerseys. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka played four seasons for the Fujitsu Red Wave of the Women's Japan Basketball League.

Roberts appeared to warm to the suggestion that he might be sitting in the celebrity-packed courtside seats at Lakers games this winter.

"I'm sure a lot of people have hit Mark up," he said, "but I might add myself to the list."


# Iranian missile strikes Israel's premier Weizmann research institute

By Tia Goldenberg and Moshe Edri
June 19th, 2025, 11:15 AM

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REHOVOT, Israel (AP) — For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, hoping to choke progress on Iran's nuclear program by striking at the brains behind it.

Now, with Iran and Israel in an open-ended direct conflict, scientists in Israel have found themselves in the crosshairs after an Iranian missile struck a premier research institute known for its work in life sciences and physics, among other fields.

While no one was killed in the strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science early Sunday, it caused heavy damage to multiple labs on campus, snuffing out years of scientific research and sending a chilling message to Israeli scientists that they and their expertise are now targets in the escalating conflict with Iran.

"It's a moral victory" for Iran, said Oren Schuldiner, a professor in the department of molecular cell biology and the department of molecular neuroscience whose lab was obliterated in the strike. "They managed to harm the crown jewel of science in Israel."

## Iranian scientists were a prime target in a long shadow war

During years of a shadow war between Israel and Iran that preceded the current conflict, Israel repeatedly targeted Iranian nuclear scientists with the aim of setting back Iran's nuclear program.

Israel continued that tactic with its initial blow against Iran days ago, killing multiple nuclear scientists, along with top generals, as well as striking nuclear facilities and ballistic missile infrastructure.

For its part, Iran has been accused of targeting at least one Weizmann scientist before. Last year, Israeli authorities said they busted an Iranian spy ring that devised a plot to follow and assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist who worked and lived at the institute.

Citing an indictment, Israeli media said the suspects, Palestinians from east Jerusalem, gathered information about the scientist and photographed the exterior of the Weizmann Institute but were arrested before they could proceed.

With Iran's intelligence penetration into Israel far less successful than Israel's, those plots have not been seen through, making this week's strike on Weizmann that much more jarring.

"The Weizmann Institute has been in Iran's sights," said Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. He stressed that he did not know for certain whether Iran intended to strike the institute but believed it did.

While it is a multidisciplinary research institute, Weizmann, like other Israeli universities, has ties to Israel's defense establishment, including collaborations with industry leaders like Elbit Systems, which is why it may have been targeted.

But Guzansky said the institute primarily symbolizes "Israeli scientific progress" and the strike against it shows Iran's thinking: "You harm our scientists, so we are also harming (your) scientific cadre."

## Damage to the institute and labs 'literally decimated'

Weizmann, founded in 1934 and later renamed after Israel's first president, ranks among the world's top research institutes. Its scientists and researchers publish hundreds of studies each year. One Nobel laureate in chemistry and three Turing Award laureates have been associated with the institute, which built the first computer in Israel in 1954.

Two buildings were hit in the strike, including one housing life sciences labs and a second that was empty and under construction but meant for chemistry study, according to the institute. Dozens of other buildings were damaged.

The campus has been closed since the strike, although media were allowed to visit Thursday. Large piles of rock, twisted metal and other debris were strewn on campus. There were shattered windows, collapsed ceiling panels and charred walls.

A photo shared on X by one professor showed flames rising near a heavily damaged structure with debris scattered on the ground nearby.

"Several buildings were hit quite hard, meaning that some labs were literally decimated, really leaving nothing," said Sarel Fleishman, a professor of biochemics who said he has visited the site since the strike.

## Life's work of many researchers is gone

Many of those labs focus on the life sciences, whose projects are especially sensitive to physical damage, Fleishman said. The labs were studying areas like tissue generation, developmental biology or cancer, with much of their work now halted or severely set back by the damage.

"This was the life's work of many people," he said, noting that years' or even decades' worth of research was destroyed.

For Schuldiner, the damage means the lab he has worked at for 16 years "is entirely gone. No trace. There is nothing to save."

In that once gleaming lab, he kept thousands of genetically modified flies used for research into the development of the human nervous system, which helped provide insights into autism and schizophrenia, he said.

The lab housed equipment like sophisticated microscopes. Researchers from Israel and abroad joined hands in the study effort.

"All of our studies have stopped," he said, estimating it would take years to rebuild and get the science work back on track. "It's very significant damage to the science that we can create and to the contribution we can make to the world."


Kristi Noem is ‘alert and recovering’ after trip to hospital, official says

# Kristi Noem is 'alert and recovering' after trip to hospital, official says

By Rebecca Santana and Eric Tucker
June 17th, 2025, 10:06 PM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said.

"She is alert and recovering," said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an "abundance of caution." Noem, 53, heads a sprawling department with roughly 260,000 employees handling immigration enforcement, airport security, disaster response and other matters.

She has been among the more high-profile members of President Donald Trump's cabinet, traveling extensively and maintaining a robust social media presence.

She is often the public face of his mass deportation effort, frequently goes out on immigration enforcement operations and has appeared in commercials encouraging immigrants in the country illegally to voluntarily leave the U.S.

She held a press conference last week in California where U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, was forcibly removed as he tried to speak to Noem about immigration raids. Padilla recalled the incident during an emotional speech from the Senate floor Tuesday.

Homeland Security said the Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting the secretary, "thought he was an attacker." They also accused Padilla of "disrespectful political theater." Video of the incident shows a Secret Service agent on Noem's security detail grabbing Padilla by his jacket and shoving him from the room. In the hallway outside he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.

Noem told Fox LA afterward that she had a "great" conversation with Padilla after the scuffle, but called his approach "something that I don't think was appropriate at all."

Before being tapped to head Homeland Security, Noem was a two-term governor of South Dakota, a former member of Congress and a staunch Trump supporter.

She has said she specifically asked Trump for the Homeland Security portfolio because she knew it dealt with Trump's top priorities.

Earlier this year Noem's purse was stolen on Easter Sunday while she was out to dinner with her family. The purse reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys, driver's license, passport and Homeland Security badge. The Homeland Security Department said Noem had cash in her purse to pay for gifts, dinner and other activities for her family on Easter.

A suspect was later arrested in connection with the theft and has been charged in federal court with aggravated identity theft, robbery and fraud.


Sports Betting Line

# Sports Betting Line

By The Associated Press
June 18th, 2025, 04:10 AM

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## NBA

For the latest odds, go to BetMGM Sportsbook