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Citing ‘critical issues,’ SEC, Big Ten withhold support for bipartisan college sports bill

AUSTIN (AP) – The two biggest conferences in college sports released a statement Tuesday saying they do not support the current version of a bipartisan bill designed to regulate an industry struggling for answers in a quickly changing era in which some players make millions.

The Southeastern and Big Ten conferences said the “bill leaves critical issues unresolved,” including not “meaningfully” preempting state laws with a federal one, which has long been considered a key element for a measure to get support from the NCAA and the conferences.

In an interview last week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who drafted the bill with Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., told The Associated Press “the bill is drafted to preempt state laws that conflict with the provisions in this bill.”

The SEC-Big Ten statement came out less than 24 hours before a scheduled hearing about the bill in front of the Senate Commerce Committee. Cruz chairs the panel and Cantwell is the ranking Democrat.

The legislation has received support from the Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conferences, but the Big Ten and SEC, as the two richest leagues that also have decision-making power over the future of the College Football Playoff, hold the biggest cards.

One of the bill’s key provisions would give conferences an option to pool their media rights — an idea the Big Ten and SEC have long claimed would not result in a financial windfall that proponents suggest. The leagues’ statement did not speak to that issue.

A spokesperson for the Commerce Committee that Cruz chairs acknowledged the Big Ten-SEC position.

In brief: ‘Onslaught’ gets official trailer and more

A sequel to War Machine looks to be in the works. Deadline reports that Netflix is moving forward with a second installment with director Patrick Hughes back at the helm. Hughes will produce and co-write the movie with James Beaufort. The outlet reports that star Alan Ritchson is likely to return for the sequel to the original film, which follows the final recruits of a Special Ops boot camp as they encounter a mysterious deadly force ...

You can now watch the trailer for A24's upcoming film, Onslaught. The action movie stars Adria Arjona as an army sniper and a mother who lives in a desert trailer park and fights to protect her family from genetically engineered super soldiers. Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard helmed the film, which also stars Alex Pereira, Drew Starkey, Rebecca Hall, Reginald VelJohnson, Michael Biehn, Eric Wareheim and Dan Stevens. It arrives in theaters on Sept. 4 ...

The official trailer for America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders season 3 has arrived. The Netflix documentary series returns for its third season on June 16. It follows the 2025–2026 squad through auditions, training camp and the NFL season, offering a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the iconic cheerleading team ...

US says it plans extra tariffs of 10% or more for most trading partners after forced labor probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is proposing that tariffs of 10% or more be imposed on products from dozens of major trading partners following a probe into imports of goods allegedly made with forced labor.

The report released early Wednesday by the U.S. Trade Representative said Canada, Mexico, Taiwan and the United Kingdom and some other countries and territories would face 10% additional tariffs for allegedly failing to enforce a forced labor import ban.

A 12.5% additional tariff would be imposed on China, Japan, India, South Korea, Brazil and Switzerland and dozens of other countries.

“The failure of our most important trading partners to address the importation of goods made with forced labor is unacceptable. This creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an unlevel playing field,” USTR Ambassador Jamieson Greer said in a statement.

He added that “each of our trading partners must do more to ensure that trade does not perversely encourage and entrench forced labor globally.”

The USTR said failure to prevent such imports is “unreasonable and burdens or restricts U.S. commerce.”

This latest barrage of tariffs is likely to unsettle key trading partners that have been hit by waves of tariffs since President Donald Trump returned to office early last year.

Just two weeks ago, the European Union approved a tariff deal with the United States to cap tariffs on most EU exports at 15% following intense debates among the EU’s 27 nations and threats by European lawmakers to block the agreement.

Trump recently returned from a visit to China, where he and its leader Xi Jinping discussed expanding market access for American businesses in China and increasing Chinese investment into U.S. industries. The two leaders agreed to set up separate boards of trade and investment — though few details were provided.

A Chinese government spokesperson denied the forced labor allegation and called for resolving economic issues through dialogue, saying a trade war doesn’t serve anyone’s interests.

“There is no such thing as forced labor in China, and we oppose using it as an excuse to engage in political manipulation,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in Beijing.

The new tariffs would not take effect immediately. They are subject to public comment and review. Public hearings on the proposed duties are due to begin on July 7.

The investigation into alleged failure to prevent imports of goods allegedly made by forced labor was conducted under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974. The strategy would enable Trump to skirt limits on his tariffs imposed by the Supreme Court.

It found that 60 countries investigated had failed to enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor.

The report defined forced labor as “work or service exacted from a person under the menace of any penalty for its nonperformance and for which the worker does not offer himself voluntarily.”

It cited an estimate by the UN’s International Labor Organization that as of 2021, 27.6 million people were engaged in forced labor.

Rice imported from Myanmar, tobacco from Malawi, beef from Brazil, and cotton and polysilicon from China were among the many products it said are prone to involving forced labor.

The U.S. has long said imports of goods that include material from China’s far-western Xinjiang are at risk of using forced labor. Beijing denies allegations of forced labor in the Muslim majority region.

The Supreme Court ruled in February that Trump had overstepped his authority by using a different law – the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 – to impose sweeping tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

The Trump administration has said it would appeal a federal judge’s order making all companies that paid the duties on those earlier tariffs eligible for refunds.

Earlier this week, the administration separately proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, charging that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable’’ and that “burden or restrict U.S. commerce.’’

The USTR said its investigation showed Brazil had lax anti-corruption enforcement and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.

In its nearly 100-page report on forced labor, the USTR said that even if a country enforces a ban on forced labor domestically, importing goods made with forced labor violates the rules of fair trade.

It said some key items would be exempt from the additional tariffs or subject to lower tariffs, including certain textiles, tomatoes, bananas, coffee and some metals.

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AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed to this report.

The basketball-crazed Philippines will have a champion when these NBA Finals are over

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — No matter what, the basketball-crazed Philippines will have a champion to celebrate when these NBA Finals are over.

New York’s Jordan Clarkson and San Antonio’s Dylan Harper — who’ll face off in the Finals that start Wednesday — were both born in the U.S., but both have links to the Philippines through their mothers. And Clarkson raved about Harper, whose rookie year has been nothing but impressive.

“He’s been really good throughout the whole year,” Clarkson said. “I’ve been watching him, keeping up with him, as well. Him being so young and having so much poise throughout this whole playoffs, it’s a great sight to see a young star coming in this league and doing what he’s doing.”

The significance of this isn’t lost on Harper either.

“I think me and him get to do something really special, representing our country, where we’re from, represent everything on the biggest stage in basketball,” Harper said. “I feel like over there in the Philippines, basketball is probably the biggest thing. I think we’re very excited for that and we’re just very blessed and grateful to be in this position.”

Not a lot of Finals history

Only six players on the Knicks and the Spurs have appeared in previous NBA Finals games.

San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes played in 13 for Golden State, Luke Kornet played in six for Boston and Kelly Olynyk played in five for Miami.

For New York, Mikal Bridges played in six for Phoenix, Dillon Jones played in three for Oklahoma City and Jordan Clarkson played in two for Cleveland. Another member of the Knicks — OG Anunoby — was with Toronto for its run to the 2019 NBA title, but did not play in any of those six games.

Combined, those six players with past Finals experience have scored 265 points in the title round.
Don’t expect overtime. Or a lot of close games.

The last 44 NBA Finals games have all ended in regulation, the longest run without overtime in the title series in league history. There was a 34-game stretch without an overtime game from 1984 through 1990.

Of course, it’s tough to have a shot at going to overtime when games aren’t close down the stretch. Out of the last 81 Finals games, 50 have been decided by double figures.
The division champion stat

An annual reminder: Division championships mean nothing anymore … until the NBA Finals.

If San Antonio wins the NBA title, it will mark the 14th time in the last 15 seasons that a division champion has wound up winning.

The only exception in that span was Golden State in 2022. Before that, the last team to not win their division but win the NBA title was Dallas in 2011.

The Knicks were second in the Atlantic Division behind Boston this year, so they’re trying to buck this trend.

Welcome back, Mike Brown

It’s been 19 years, but Mike Brown is back in the NBA Finals as a head coach. The New York coach took Cleveland to the title round in 2007 — getting swept by San Antonio that year.

Just by getting here this year, Brown joins an exclusive club of coaches to take multiple franchises to the NBA Finals.

Pat Riley (Los Angeles Lakers, New York, Miami) and Alex Hannum (St. Louis, Philadelphia, San Francisco) took three franchises to the Finals. Brown joins Rick Carlisle, Phil Jackson, Larry Brown, KC Jones, Bill Fitch, Gene Shue, Bill Sharman and Red Auerbach on the list of those to take two different franchises to the title round.

Wemby’s amazing year

San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama has had a postseason like no one in league history, and his totals are only going to get more impressive.

So far in these playoffs, Wembanyama has 394 points, 183 rebounds, 100 made free throws, 60 blocked shots and 30 3-pointers.

That’s just the playoffs. Only 19 players — him included, of course — had those totals over the entirety of this regular season. (No Spurs player has ever had a regular season with all those numbers, except Wembanyama.)

And since 3-pointers came into play, nobody in NBA history has ever done all that in the same postseason, until now.

If this goes 7 games …

If this NBA Finals goes the seven-game distance, Spurs players Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie might tie an NBA record.

Or break it, depending on how you count.

Johnson and Champagnie both enter these NBA Finals with 100 games played so far this season. That’s seven shy of the NBA record for games played in a season — shared by Charles Oakley and Tayshaun Prince.

They both played 107. But Johnson and Champagnie also played in the NBA Cup title game, which means they would have technically played in 108 games this season — though the league doesn’t recognize the Cup final in any statistics.
Money matters

The Spurs and Knicks are playing for $5,157,417 in bonus money. That’s the difference between winning and losing the NBA Finals out of the league’s playoff pool, which topped $35 million this season.

The Spurs have already secured $6,594,508 out of that pool this season. The Knicks have clinched $6,438,024.

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

As NYC’s Tribeca Festival turns 25, co-founder Robert De Niro wants it to go on ‘forever’

Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal speak during the 25th Tribeca Festival Bloomberg reception on June 1, 2026 in New York City. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

The 25th anniversary edition of New York's Tribeca Festival kicks off Wednesday night with a screening of a new Earth, Wind & Fire documentary, followed by a performance by the legendary band. The festival, which runs through June 14, features TV, movie and documentary screenings, plus premieres, panels, reunions and stars galore. Not bad for an event that started as a one-off.

The festival was founded in 2002 by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal as a way to revitalize downtown New York City after the 9/11 terror attacks. "It was only, how could we bring people back downtown, how we could give our neighbors something to look forward to. As far as I was concerned, it was one and done," Rosenthal told ABC Audio. "Bob always believed we were gonna do it again, though."

"I felt very positive about it once it happened," De Niro said. "My feeling was it'd be great if it could be part of the fabric of New York, a New York tradition that just goes on forever, you know?"

De Niro will also appear at one of this year's special events: a 50th anniversary Taxi Driver screening and conversation with him, director Martin Scorsese and co-star Jodie Foster. De Niro said celebrating any of his films — even a classic like Taxi Driver — after the fact isn't something he ever thought would happen.

"When you're doing a movie, a project, you don't ever think that it would be received in the way you're saying Taxi Driver's been received, ever," he told ABC Audio. "You just don't think that. So it's nice, but you just don't ever expect it ... it's just, you do the project and that's it."

The festival will close with the documentary Alicia Keys: Girl from Hell's Kitchen; Keys will appear after the screening.

Browns trade 2-time AP Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to Rams

Myles Garrett finally got his wish — to be a part of a consistent winning team instead of one in perpetual rebuilding.

The Cleveland Browns traded the two-time AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year to the Los Angeles Rams for pass rusher Jared Verse and three draft picks in a blockbuster deal on Monday.

Garrett was the unanimous choice for Defensive Player of the Year last season after he had 23 sacks and broke the NFL single-season record. He is expected to report to the Rams’ facility on Tuesday and have a news conference to discuss the trade.

Garrett’s addition marks the first time the reigning AP NFL MVP and Defensive Player of the Year will be teammates. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford won his first MVP award last season.

General manager Andrew Berry was able to make a deal after the Browns and Garrett agreed to modify the contract and defer option payments over the 2026-28 seasons in March. The first payment of around $10 million was due on March 28, but was moved to near the start of the regular season.

Garrett demanded a trade at the end of the 2024 season, but signed a four-year contract extension last March with a total value of $204.8 million that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. The contract also included a no-trade clause.

Berry had long said that Garrett would play his entire career in Cleveland, but Garrett’s lingering frustrations over the franchise’s direction and the chance to start anew meant it was time to move on.

Cleveland is 8-26 the past two years after making the playoffs in 2023.

“As discussions intensified we were stuck at a legitimate crossroads: do we hold on to a truly generational player who has become the identity of our team, or do we make the difficult decision that we think is best for the organization over the long run?,” Berry said after the trade was announced.

The Browns get Verse — the 2024 AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — a 2027 first-round selection, a second-round pick in 2028 and a 2029 third-round selection.

Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement that they met with Garrett on Saturday to discuss the trade.

“Trading Myles was never our intent, but we also recognize that certain opportunities demand serious consideration, and we believe this is the right move for our team. Adding a young defensive star like Jared Verse, along with valuable draft assets, are necessary to strengthen a talented young core and align with the youth of our team,” the Haslams said.

Garrett was not seen at the Browns’ facility during offseason workouts even though he made a couple of visits to Cleveland during the Cavaliers’ NBA playoff run. Garrett has a minority stake in the Cavaliers.

Coach Todd Monken said two weeks ago he had not had a face-to-face meeting with Garrett since being hired in late January. Defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg said last week he had some conversations over the phone with Garrett about the direction of the defense.

Garrett supported defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz being promoted to head coach before ownership opted for Monken. Schwartz ended up resigning after three years in Cleveland.

The 30-year old Garrett is the first player in NFL history with at least 12 sacks in six consecutive seasons (2020-25) and the only player with double-digit sacks each of the past eight years. His 125½ career sacks are tied for 20th on the league list.

Garrett, who was part of five double-digit losing seasons during his nine years in Cleveland, finally gets a chance to contend for a Super Bowl title.

“Nine years. It’s hard to put into words what that really means when so much of your life has been shaped in one place, around one team, and with one community behind you … Cleveland made me tougher. You challenged me. You taught me about perseverance, about showing up even when things aren’t easy, and what loyalty really looks like. Through the highs, lows, setbacks, injuries, expectations, inclement weather, and difficult seasons, you all kept showing up. I never took that for granted,” Garrett said in a social media post Monday night addressed “To Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, and every Browns fan.”

The Browns have the sixth-lowest win percentage since 2017 and are 58-90-1. By comparison, the Rams have the fifth-best record over that span at 92-57, including seven playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title in 2021.

The trade also elevated the Rams to Super Bowl favorites.
Another huge trade by Rams

The trade is yet another blockbuster deal swung by Rams general manager Les Snead, whose eagerness to use his draft picks in trades for star veterans has kept the Rams among the NFL’s top teams during coach Sean McVay’s decade on the sideline.

Snead notably acquired star cornerback Jalen Ramsey from Jacksonville in 2019 in a deal that included two first-round picks, securing the cornerstone of the secondary for a team that won a Super Bowl. But the Rams only won it all after they acquired Matthew Stafford in early 2021 in an even bigger trade for Jared Goff and two first-round picks.

Just a couple of months ago, Snead acquired star cornerback Trent McDuffie from Kansas City in a deal for four draft picks, including a first-rounder, to rebuild the secondary that was the weak link of last season’s team.

Before Snead shocked the NFL by picking quarterback Ty Simpson this spring, the Rams had made only one first-round selection over the previous nine years. That pick was Verse, who quickly became a star during his two seasons as the anchor of the Rams’ rebuilt pass rush in the wake of Aaron Donald’s retirement.

Verse had 4½ sacks while being selected as the NFL’s top defensive rookie in 2024, and he had 7½ sacks last season along with three forced fumbles. Byron Young led the Rams with 12 sacks and interior lineman Kobie Turner contributed seven sacks, and both young stars are heading into the final year of their rookie contracts.

With his Rams in title contention in November 2021, Snead acquired vaunted pass rusher Von Miller from Denver in a trade for LA’s second- and third-round picks. Miller contributed nine sacks in 12 games, providing exactly what they needed alongside Donald to win it all.

The current Rams are among the preseason Super Bowl favorites after winning 12 games and reaching the NFC championship game last season. Stafford, the reigning league MVP, is returning at the head of the NFL’s most potent offense last season along with a retooled defense featuring McDuffie and fellow ex-Kansas City star Jaylen Watson as its new cornerbacks — and now they’ve added the most feared pass rusher in the league.

The Rams’ roster in 2026 now includes last season’s NFL leads in yards passing, TD passes, total receptions (Puka Nacua), receiving touchdowns (Davante Adams) and sacks (Garrett).

After the Rams won the Super Bowl in February 2022 and then crashed out of the playoff picture in an injury-filled 2022-23 season, Snead briefly discarded his usual draft philosophy. He rebuilt his roster through a series of key selections in 2023 and 2024, drafting an entirely new defensive line with Verse, Young, Turner and Braden Fiske — along with All-Pro receiver Nacua.

With his rebuilt roster looming as a Super Bowl favorite again, Snead used his depth on the defensive line to make it even better.

Verse’s acquisition gives the Browns the past two AP Defensive Rookies of the Year. Carson Schwesinger won last season after leading NFL rookies with 156 tackles and 11 tackles for loss.

“We receive a young, elite player at a premium position who will only continue to improve in his third NFL season. Jared’s passion and relentless style of play will be embraced by our fans. He will fit right in with the established identity of our defense,” Berry said.

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AP Pro Football writer Rob Maaddi also contributed to this story.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Astros get a major bullpen boost as closer Josh Hader returns from the 60-day IL

HOUSTON (AP) — All-Star closer Josh Hader was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday by Houston after sitting out all season, giving the Astros bullpen a major boost.

The left-hander had been out with left biceps tendinitis. He made nine minor league rehabilitation appearances to prepare for his return.

Hader, who is in his third season with the Astros, had a 2.05 ERA with 28 saves in 48 games last season. He was named to his sixth All-Star game last season.

In other moves on Tuesday, the Astros recalled outfielder Zach Cole from Triple-A Sugar Land and placed infielder Braden Shewmake on the 10-day injured list with a right adductor strain retroactive to Sunday.

They also transferred infielder Carlos Correa, who is out for the season after left ankle surgery, to the 60-day injured list.

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

Curtis Blair, for the 1st time, is among the 12 referees set to work the NBA Finals

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Curtis Blair spent all day Friday checking his email. And Saturday. And Sunday. The list of referees that were selected to work the NBA Finals was about to be revealed by the league, and the waiting was brutal.

“Every two minutes, I’d check,” Blair said.

Friday, nothing. Saturday, nothing. Sunday was mostly gone and Blair was driving home from a weekend visit to his parents’ home in Virginia. As he pulled into his driveway, he realized that he had missed a phone call.

The caller was Albert Sanders Jr., the executive vice president and head of referee operations for the NBA. Turns out, that call was the email that Blair had waited years to get.

Blair called Sanders back and got the news: For the first time, he’ll work a game in the NBA Finals. He’s the only first-time selection in this year’s group of 12 referees who will officiate the title series that starts Wednesday between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks.

“Very emotional moment, very emotional moment for me, because I’ve been right there on the doorstep for so many years,” Blair said. “Yeah, very emotional. This is my 18th year and one thing I had to realize going through this journey is that everybody has their own journey. Everybody has their own timetable. You become a referee, become an umpire, you get to the first round, the second round, third round. You just have to worry about yourself and your journey.”

The league released the full list of selections on Tuesday. Scott Foster was picked to work his 19th finals, the most among current referees. The other selections besides Foster and Blair: Tony Brothers (15th finals), Marc Davis (15th), James Capers (14th), Zach Zarba (13th), John Goble (10th), Josh Tiven (7th), James Williams (6th), Courtney Kirkland (5th), Sean Wright (3rd) and Tyler Ford (2nd).

The league typically reveals the crew that will work each game around 9 a.m. EDT on game day.

“Being selected to work the NBA Finals is the highest honor for an NBA official, and I congratulate them on an outstanding and well-earned achievement,” said Byron Spruell, the NBA’s president for league operations. “We are grateful for their unwavering dedication to the game and pursuit of excellence in their craft.”

Blair was a second-round pick by the Houston Rockets in 1992, though never played a regular-season game in the league. He played internationally before starting his referee career and has worked more than 1,000 NBA games since 2008.

Finals referees get special white warm-up jackets, only given to those selected to work the title series. Blair already has two of those from 2021 and 2022 when he was an alternate, but the one he gets this time will have much more meaning.

“This is so funny,” Blair said. “One referee called me and he said, ‘I know you got two other white jackets, but they had an asterisk on it. So, you can throw those away. Now you got a real one.’”

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

Nijaree Canady and Texas Tech face familiar foe Texas for Women’s College World Series title

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Nijaree Canady and Texas Tech have performed well under pressure at the Women’s College World Series.

The 11th-seeded Red Raiders won three elimination games, including two against top-seeded Alabama on Monday to earn a return trip to the finals.

Canady saved her best for last, pitching a complete-game two-hitter as Texas Tech defeated Alabama 2-0 in the second semifinal matchup of the day.

“I don’t have any doubt that was her best performance of the year, and that’s a great confidence builder for our team and NiJa to go into the finals with that effort,” Texas Tech coach Gerry Glasco said.

Canady is the only active pitcher in college softball with more than 100 wins and 1,000 strikeouts and the first with multiple shutouts at multiple schools (Stanford) in NCAA history.

The only achievement eluding the senior right-hander is a national championship.

Texas Tech (61-8) will play No. 2 seed Texas (51-12) on Wednesday at Devon Park to begin a best-of-three series. The Longhorns won the 2025 national championship after beating the Red Raiders in three games. It will be the first championship series rematch in WCWS history— with the previous rematches coming in one-game finals.

Texas and ace Teagan Kavan traveled a similar path to the final series by winning four elimination games — two of them coming against seventh-seeded Tennessee on Monday.

Kavan pitched a complete-game two-hitter and the Longhorns advanced to the championship series by defeating the Volunteers 4-0 on Monday in their second matchup of the day.

The Longhorns needed two wins against Tennessee and accomplished the feat with a 5-2 win in the first game, then followed with Kavan’s dominating win. Texas will be making its third consecutive appearance in the final series.

“I think that we’ve had our ups and downs without a doubt,” Texas coach Mike White said. “We had that last year as well. To be able to fight through it and trust in one another and pull the big games out when it really matters.

“Tech’s done the same thing. Their back’s been against the wall, and they’ve been able to pull it through. That’s what good teams do. I think that’s the main thing I’ve seen from this program is their resilience.”

Canady wore down against the Longhorns in the 2025 championship series, but she won’t be shouldering the load this time around.

Prior to Monday, Canady (29-6) only had two seven-inning complete games all year, with the last coming on March 20. She shares time in the circle with junior left-hander Kaitlyn Terry, who won 41 games in two seasons at UCLA before joining the Red Raiders.

Terry, who also plays in the outfield, has added 24 wins and valuable postseason innings for Glasco. She drove in the go-ahead run against her former team in Sunday night’s extra-inning victory.

Glasco hasn’t hesitated to replace one ace with another if warranted.

“Obviously this postseason hasn’t gone the way I wanted it to go,” Canady said. “I feel like I haven’t been my best. But like Coach Glasco said, it’s about when you peak. I don’t know, if I’m going to be good, at least it’s towards the end of the year.”

Kavan, meanwhile, led the Longhorns to the national title last season. She went 4-0 with a save at the World Series and was named most outstanding player after throwing 31 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run. She was an NFCA second-team All-American last season after finishing with a 28-5 record and a 2.16 ERA. She has a 48-8 career record heading into her junior season.

“I think I’ve grown a lot mentally and then also physically with the implementation of more confidence in my other pitches to complement my rise ball that we all know,” Kavan said. “But, yeah, I think just the confidence in that piece. I think last year at the World Series was the first time I really trusted my drop ball and was able to use it more. And so I think I carried that into this whole season. It made me a better pitcher. I think the experience is huge, and experience always helps, and our team is super experienced.”
Bugged out

The Women’s College World Series is decorated in superstition. But Texas softball player Hannah Wells takes it to another level: She eats Lady Bugs because it brings her good luck. “I’ve done that since I was a little girl,” she told ESPN.

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AP Softball: https://apnews.com/hub/softball

Andreeva and Kostyuk set up Russia-Ukraine clash in French Open semis. Mensik ends Fonseca’s run

PARIS (AP) — Marta Kostyuk, the best player on clay this season and a vocal supporter of Ukraine amid the war with Russia, will play her first major semifinal at the French Open against a Russian.

Kostyuk won an intense all-Ukraine quarterfinal against Elina Svitolina 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on Tuesday. That set up Kostyuk against Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who thumped Romanian veteran Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3.

In men’s play, 20-year-old Jakub Mensik ended the run of Brazil’s Joao Fonseca with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3) victory.

“It was one of my best performances so far,” Mensik said.

The 19-year-old Fonseca beat 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in five sets in the third round and then eliminated two-time runner-up Casper Ruud in the fourth round.

Mensik collapsed to the clay with cramps upon edging Mariano Navone in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the second round and also needed five sets to advance in the fourth round against Andrey Rublev.

For a place in Sunday’s final, Mensik will face second-seeded Alexander Zverev, the 2024 runner-up, who beat rising Spanish player Rafael Jodar 7-6 (3), 6-1, 6-3.

Kostyuk leads Andreeva 2-0 on the tour; the second win in the Madrid final a month ago. Kostyuk didn’t shake hands at the net, following protocol for Ukrainians with opponents from Russia and its ally Belarus since the war started four years ago.

“We had a very difficult night again in Ukraine, especially in Kyiv, so many people dead,” Kostyuk said. “I want to give this match to Ukrainian people and to their resilience. Slava Ukraini! (Glory to Ukraine!)”

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities overnight, killing at least 18 civilians and wounding more than 100 others, authorities said Tuesday.

“I texted my family if they were OK. This is pretty much all I can do,” Kostyuk said. “The biggest thing I can do is sit here and talk about it so more people can find out about it so they don’t get used to this terrible life.”

Svitolina said friends in Ukraine told her about the attacks just hours before the match.

“Just very sad that we all have to really put up with this heaviness and pain every single day, and scared moments not knowing what’s going to bring the next day,” Svitolina said.

She will leave Roland Garros to look after the daughter she has with French tennis player Gael Monfils, but will be cheering on Kostyuk.

“Hopefully she can get the title,” Svitolina said. “It’s going to be massive for Ukraine.”

No. 7-seeded Svitolina got off to a slow start but worked her way back, matching No. 15 Kostyuk’s power from the baseline. Kostyuk was better on the important points in the decider and improved her impressive 2026 record on clay to 17-0.

She’s the first Ukrainian woman to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros in the Open era since 1968. Svitolina has reached the semis at the other three Grand Slams but failed for the sixth time to win a French Open quarterfinal.

Andreeva will appear in her second French Open semifinal, two years after the first. She was asked about the challenges of playing a Ukrainian in wartime.

“Well, for me it doesn’t matter who I play,” Andreeva said. “I really try to play against the ball that is coming at me. Usually it doesn’t matter to me who I’m playing against, so I’m trying to really focus on the game and on the game plan.”

Asked whether she found it frustrating to hear Russian opponents avoiding the issue, Kostyuk said she wished “there was some more clear stance on what’s going on.”

“Especially when your country is killing other people,” she added. “I don’t know how you can sleep at night peacefully when you know that this is going on, and you have nothing to say about it.”

After a week of hot weather, rain arrived in Paris and play started and finished under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier. Competing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 17 years, Cirstea struggled to find her rhythm against her 19-year-old rival.

The 36-year-old veteran, playing the final season of her career, immediately dropped her serve. She didn’t hold serve or win a game until the first game of the second set. Andreeva’s deep, accurate groundstrokes and charges to the net took a toll on 18th-seeded Cirstea, whose attempt to come back was shortlived.

“I felt like it was one of my best matches so far this tournament,” Andreeva said. “Super happy to be back in semis.”

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

NHL’s Dallas Stars plan move to suburbs in 5 years, with NBA’s Mavs also leaving downtown then

PLANO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Stars are planning to move north, out of downtown and to the suburb of Plano in five years after the lease is up at the NHL team’s current home arena.

Stars officials announced Tuesday the signing of a nonbinding letter of intent to build a new hockey-specific arena and entertainment district about 20 miles north of the downtown American Airlines Center, which they have shared with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks since it opened in 2001.

The leases at the AAC for both teams expire in 2031. The two franchises have been in a legal dispute about their partnership agreement and management of the building.

The Stars made their intentions known a day after the Mavericks said they have a preliminary agreement on a site for their own new arena about 10 miles north of downtown, but still within the Dallas city limits. The NBA’s team deal is for 104 acres on the former site of Valley View Mall, which was demolished three years ago.

A new arena for the Stars is expected to be part of a large-scale redevelopment project at The Shops at Willow Bend, where the last enclosed mall built in Texas is set for demolition.

The Stars submitted their letter of intent to the city of Plano, which placed it on the City Council agenda for consideration at its next meeting Monday. The letter includes plans for the mixed-used project as well as design and construction of the arena.

“This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” Stars owner Tom Gaglardi said in a statement. “We eagerly await the vote by the Plano City Council and look forward to continuing the conversation to be part of the redevelopment of The Shops at Willow Bend.”

That mall on about 90 acres opened in 2001, and there are open restaurants and parking garages in the area. The new arena would anchor the redevelopment that could include sports, entertainment, retail, dining and public gathering spaces.

The NHL franchise was known as the North Stars before moving south from Minnesota and beginning play in Dallas for the 1993-94 season. The Stars in 1999 became the first of hockey’s Sun Belt teams to win a Stanley Cup title.

The Stars won that championship while still playing at Reunion Arena, a building they also shared with the Mavericks after first moving to Dallas. The site of that downtown arena, which was fully demolished in 2009, is about a mile from the AAC.

The NFL’s Cowboys were in Dallas during the franchise’s first 11 seasons at the city’s Cotton Bowl (1960-70), but moved to Texas Stadium in Irving in 1971, the season of their first Super Bowl title. They have played since 2009 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, which is halfway between the downtown areas of Dallas and Fort Worth.

Arlington is also home to the MLB’s Texas Rangers, the franchise that began as the Washington Senators in 1961. The Rangers are in their third stadium in Arlington since moving there in 1972. Globe Life Field, their retractable-roof stadium adjacent to AT&T Stadium, opened in 2020.

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

Parks awarded $300,000 to improve trails

SMITH COUNTY – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department awarded $6.17 million in statewide recreational trails grants to improve 21 parks and trail projects across the state. According to our news partner, KETK – $354,000 is set to be distributed between parks in East Texas. The parks will receive the grant money for much needed upgrades. Continue reading Parks awarded $300,000 to improve trails

New details released on Texas Children’s Hospital’s planned detransition clinic

Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston has to create a detransition clinic for transgender patients by this summer and keep a list of “potential” gender affirming care patients, according to new details released Monday by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

According to a 10-page list of settlement terms, requested by The Texas Tribune, Texas Children’s has 90 days from the effective date of the settlement to set up the detransition clinic. The attorney general announced the settlement two weeks ago but because a final settlement has not been signed there is no effective date agreed upon yet.

The $10 million settlement, first announced on May 15, is the result of a 2023 investigation by the attorney general’s office into Texas Children’s. That same year, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 14 that bars transgender children from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapies. Previously, all that was known about the settlement was that the hospital agreed to pay $10 million to the state and permanently revoke the medical privileges of three current doctors and two former ones.

The settlement terms released Monday are the first details about the unusual agreement between the nation’s largest pediatric hospital and the attorney general that would set up the nation’s first “detransitioning clinic.” Detransitioning is the stopping or reversal of transitioning care by social, medical or legal means, and it is rare for people to regret transitioning after taking hormone therapy and surgical interventions.

Common reasons for detransitioning include lack of family support, financial barriers and social pressure.

Per the settlement, Texas Children’s must also create a website for the detransition clinic and create a donate page so those individuals wanting to donate money toward the detransition clinic’s efforts, can do so. The hospital must keep a “Potential GAC Patient List” that includes all diagnostic codes detailed by the AG and conduct an internal review of the list to confirm compliance with state and federal laws and the settlement agreement.

According to Texas Children’s, they have not been asked to share the list and noted to do so would not be legally permissible. “We abide by HIPAA and protecting patient privacy is one of our top priorities,” the hospital said in a statement.

The attorney general’s office released to the Tribune a “Settlement Term Sheet” and not the complete settlement document between the two parties, as originally requested because one has not been signed. “We’ve aligned on a term sheet and the next step is to finalize the settlement agreement per standard practice,” Texas Children’s said in a statement.

Other requirements include the removal of all hospital press releases from the Texas Children’s website related to gender transition services. The clinic will provide multiple services including access to endocrinology, surgery, primary care, fertility counseling, psychiatry and psychotherapy.

As previously announced, TCH must bar any gender-affirming care procedures, what the Texas attorney general’s office calls “sex-rejecting” procedures in the settlement, defined as pharmaceutical or surgical interventions that “attempt to align an individual’s physical appearance or body … that differs from the individual’s sex.” This includes puberty blockers and hormone treatments. Also previously announced was the permanent revoking of medical privileges to three current doctors and two former ones.

The hospital previously issued a statement insisting it complied with all laws and decided to settle to close a legal chapter that has been, in their words: “wrought with falsehoods and distractions.” The hospital also noted earlier that the services demanded as part of the settlement were already offered at the hospital. Late Monday, they emphasized that fact. “The detransition clinic will formalize the supportive, multidisciplinary services we already deliver to all patients who need our care,” the hospital statement said. “This simply provides structure and a name for the services we currently provide.”

A 2024 study of private insurance by Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that less than 1% of minors are transgender and received puberty blockers or hormone treatments.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

Artist suing FIFA over destruction of Dallas whale mural before World Cup

DALLAS (AP) – The artist who painted a giant mural on a building in downtown Dallas of life-sized swimming whales has filed a $25 million lawsuit against soccer’s international governing body and others, saying they illegally painted over his work to promote the city’s upcoming World Cup matches.

The artist Wyland says he hand-painted the sprawling mural that covered roughly 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) across two of the building’s walls.

The mural stood for nearly three decades before workers began painting over it last month, causing an uproar among residents who admired the mural’s grand scale and message of ocean conservation.

The area’s World Cup organizing committee said in a statement that, in place of Wyland’s mural, new artwork is planned “that captures this current historical moment and reflects the energy, unity, and global spirit surrounding the World Cup 2026.” It said a portion of Wyland’s mural would be preserved.

Wyland filed suit Monday in U.S District Court in Dallas saying that World Cup organizers, along with the building’s owner and management company, painted over his mural without his consent or even notifying him. He says their actions violated a 1990 federal law passed to protect visual artists from destruction of publicly displayed works.

Wyland is seeking at least $25 million in damages. His lawsuit says world soccer’s governing body, FIFA, and other defendants “hastily and irrevocably destroyed a civic landmark” to promote the World Cup.

“Though FIFA claims they were working to develop art for the host city, in truth, they defaced an historic fixture of the host city,” the artist’s lawsuit says.

A FIFA spokesperson said Tuesday the federation “has no involvement in this whatsoever” and referred a reporter to the tournament’s local organizing committee.

A spokesperson for the North Texas FWC Organizing Committee declined to comment. The committee isn’t named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Slate Asset Management, which manages the building where the mural was painted over, said in a statement that local World Cup organizers asked Slate in March to donate the mural space for “a new public art installation.”

“Slate is not being compensated in any way for the use of the wall space and was told by the local groups that Mr. Wyland had been notified,” the management company’s spokesperson said in an email.

Dallas is hosting more World Cup matches than any of the other sites in the event co-hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with nine matches set to be played at AT&T Stadium in suburban Arlington, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Wyland’s Dallas mural, titled “Whaling Wall 82,” was finished in 1999 and is among more than 100 similar murals known as Whaling Walls the artist painted around the world to promote the conservation of ocean life.

An online petition protesting the mural’s destruction and calling for protecting of public artwork in Dallas has received more than 2,600 signatures.

Wyland’s lawsuit alleges violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act, a 1990 federal law that protects artwork of “recognized stature” even if someone else owns the physical artwork.

A judge cited that law in 2018 when he ordered a property owner to pay a group of New York graffiti artists $6.7 million for whitewashing dozens of their spray-painted murals on buildings that once housed a factory in Queens. The ruling was upheld on appeal.

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Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia.

Toll 49 extension to reduce travel time

TYLER– A public meeting was held in Tyler on Tuesday to discuss the proposed extension of Toll 49, a project designed to relieve congestion and provide shorter travel times. According to our news partner KETK, during the meeting in Tyler community members had the opportunity to review project layouts and data detailing the potential positive impact on drivers.

The proposed extension would stretch from State Highway 110 to US 271 and aims to provide shorter travel times for both local and regional traffic. NET RMA Project Consultant Randall Dillard explained why he believes the extension is needed.

For those unable to attend the recent Tyler session, another public meeting is scheduled for next Thursday, June 9. This upcoming meeting will take place in Longview at the Maude Cobb Convention Center. If the project is approved, construction for the Toll 49 extension is expected to commence around 2033.