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Vegas and Carolina put on a show to get the Stanley Cup Final off to a terrific start

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Colton Sissons smiled widely and raved about how much fun it was to play in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday night.

He and the Vegas Golden Knights traded chances, goals, saves and counterpunches with the Carolina Hurricanes, getting the championship series off to a terrific start. Vegas won a high-scoring, entertaining 5-4 affair that usually would drive an old-school coach like John Tortorella crazy.

“I think he enjoyed it,” Sissons said. “Obviously the result.”

It was a game so good even Torts enjoyed it.

Game 1 had a little bit of everything, from Nikolaj Ehlers scoring 25 seconds in for the Hurricanes and lifting an already riled-up crowd to its feet to each goaltender making big saves to keep the puck out of the net. The only thing missing was the lockdown defense that got these teams to this point, but that only made for a more exciting opener.

“Both teams played good defense for certain minutes, other times not,” Tortorella said. “You just never know what’s going to happen.”
The goals

What happened was a lot of scoring from two of the best defensive teams in the playoffs. It was the first Cup final game in history with a goal in the first 30 seconds of each of the first two periods.

Ehlers scored his first off the rush and second on a breakaway. The two-goal lead lasted all of 80 seconds before Shea Theodore scored, and Ivan Barbashev and William Karlsson put Vegas ahead, rallying from another deficit.

“It was great from our group to kind of battle back,” Theodore said.

Jordan Staal scoring his first goal at this stage of the playoffs since 2009 and breaking older brother Eric’s record for the longest gap between Cup final goals brought the crowd back to life. So did Shayne Gostisbehere tying it with under nine minutes left in regulation.

With time ticking closer to overtime, the Golden Knights made one more highlight-reel play in a night full of them. Colton Sissons’ backhand pass set up Tomas Hertl — who also had a rough go the first couple of rounds — for the go-ahead goal with 3:34 left in regulation.

Long before Sissons and Hertl teamed up on the winner, each guy was denied on a Grade-A scoring chance by Carolina’s Frederik Andersen. At the other end of the rink, Carter Hart made some 10-bell saves of his own.

Logan Stankoven got in all alone on a breakaway in the first with a chance to break the game open.

“That could’ve been a dagger,” Sissons said.

Instead, Hart made that save and kept Vegas in the game throughout. His best came with under four minutes left and the score tied, flashing his glove to rob Seth Jarvis, Carolina’s top-line right wing whose snakebit struggle of a run continued.

“He gives us so much confidence,” Sissons said. “When we needed him most, he was there.”
The drama

The start of the Cup final quickly got the NHL past a lackluster third round, when Vegas swept Colorado in the West and Carolina bounced back from a rough start against Montreal, winning four in a row to blow through the East final roadblock that had been an issue for so long.

Fans were buzzing from pregame warmups, and the two teams put on a show worth the hefty price of admission.

“I thought it was a great game from both sides,” Theodore said. “That’s a loud building to play in front of.”

After a ton of excitement between two hockey powerhouses, viewers can only hope for six more six more games just like this one.

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka ‘just want to quit tennis’ after French Open quarterfinal defeat

PARIS (AP) — After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible.

“Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.”

Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory when serving for the match at 5-4. What followed was a complete collapse as as she lost 12 of the last 13 games against a player appearing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, looking increasingly frustrated and forlorn in the windy conditions.

Just like her loss to Coco Gauff in last year’s final, when she also won the first set before becoming undone with a slew of unforced errors, this one will take some time to get over.

“You know those rooms where you just go in and you smash everything,” Sabalenka said. “Probably I will spend a whole day tomorrow over there destroying stuff. Maybe it will help, maybe not.”

Sabalenka stood still and screamed loudly after losing a point to fall 0-30 down in the sixth game of the decider and, although she saved two match points at 0-40 down, she lost when she sent a shot into the net.

“I just think it’s combination of everything,” Sabalenka lamented. “You overthink, then you make easy mistakes, then you miss opportunities.”

Shnaider next faces Maja Chwalinska, who extended her remarkable Roland Garros run by beating No. 22-seeded Anna Kalinskaya 7-6 (3), 6-3.

But for Sabalenka, her struggles were reminiscent of the match against Gauff, when she remonstrated loudly, shouting to herself and glaring at her team box.

“I just have to sit back and openly think about what’s going on in my head in those tough moments,” Sabalenka said, recalling that match. “Because I’m quite an experienced player. I have been through so many things, and I overcome so many things.”

Sabalenka had already looked agitated when serving for the first set but still looked in control as she served for the match in the second, holding a 30-15 lead.

But Shnaider, who was already on her best run at a major, broke Sabelenka before taking complete control.

“Well, honestly I am speechless. Super happy,” Shnaider said. “I feel like I was trying to focus point by point. Not thinking about the score. She is the world No. 1, so I just trying to do my best. I just had to fight for every point.”

Sabalenka looked increasingly frustrated as the third set wore on, and when she missed a volley at the net in the fourth game of the decider she crouched and rested her head on her racket.
Another upset

It was another big upset in a tournament where defending champion Gauff (third round) and four-time winner Iga Swiatek (fourth round) already tumbled out.

Defending men’s champion Jannik Sinner served for the match in a second round defeat, and 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic wasted a two-set lead in a third round loss.

That opened things up for lesser-known players. According to Opta, this is the first major without a former champion in either the men’s and women’s semifinals since the French Open in 1977.
From qualifier to contender

The unseeded Chwalinska came through three qualifying rounds to become only the second Polish woman to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros, along with Swiatek.

Chwalinska said British player Emma Raducanu’s run to the 2021 U.S. Open title as an 18-year-old qualifier had inspired her.

“It was such an impressive run, you know,” Chwalinska recalled. “Also, she was so young.”

When Kalinskaya’s big forehand from the back of the court went out, the 24-year-old Chwalinska had her biggest win, having never been beyond the second round at any major before this tournament.

Chwalinska’s total prize money heading into Roland Garros was $864,030 and reaching the last four here earns her 750,000 euros (about $872,000).
Windy conditions

After they traded early breaks of serve amid blustery conditions with the roof open on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I don’t know why would they keep the roof open when it was crazy windy,” Sabalenka said. “It was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could actually just sit there and watch me play.”

Kalinskaya also struggled.

“I feel like I was fighting against the wind,” she said. “It was cold today, so the ball was going slower. I couldn’t use my speed, my power.”
Men’s matches

In remaining men’s quarterfinals, No. 4 Felix Auger-Aliassime took on No. 10 Flavio Cobolli before unseeded Italians Matteo Berrettini and Matteo Arnaldi faced off.

All of Wednesday’s matches were held on Chatrier.

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev and No. 26 Jakub Mensik won their quarterfinals Tuesday and will meet in the semifinals.

Game 1: Spurs and Knicks set to open the NBA Finals on Wednesday night in San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — For the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks, Game 1 of the NBA Finals might feel like old times.

It’s the Knicks’ ninth time in the title series, and the eighth time they’ve played Game 1 on the road. It’s the Spurs’ seventh time in the title series, and the sixth time they’ve played Game 1 at home.

Granted, a good amount of time has passed for both teams since they’ve been on this stage: The Knicks haven’t played in the finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999, and the Spurs haven’t been there since beating the Miami Heat in 2014.

“I think we’re just locked in and focused on the task at hand,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “Then we can look back when everything is all said and done and really embrace this process and this run. It’s an honor, but can’t focus too much on the outside world and the run so far.”

The run the Knicks are on coming into this series is without compare: 11 straight wins by a total of 262 points, the most lopsided 11-game run — regular season or playoffs — in NBA history.

The Spurs have a different kind of streak going into Wednesday night. They’ve never lost Game 1 of the NBA Finals, going 6-0 in openers when they make the title round.

Most players on both teams are making their finals debuts in this series. Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said it’s still going to be important for his team to remember how they got to the finals in the first place.

“This is a hard thing to do. It’s hard to get back to these places,” Fox said. “Don’t change anything that we’re doing. There’s a reason that we’re in the finals. There’s a reason that we won (62) games. There’s a reason we didn’t lose three games in a row the whole year. So, we don’t want to get to this place and then start changing the way we play.”

Nick Saban lends support to college sports bill as SEC, Big Ten push back

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and other college sports figures testified Wednesday in support of a bipartisan bill aimed at overhauling a system where players can increasingly earn millions of dollars while moving freely between schools.

The leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee held the hearing as they push legislation unveiled last week that supporters hope can break the congressional gridlock over how to regulate college athletics.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., would regulate payments to athletes, limit them to one “free” transfer during their careers and create a “Lane Kiffin Rule” restricting coaches from leaving programs during the season. Cruz touted the proposal as “the last, best hope we have to save college sports.”

“If you had the biggest, baddest Ferrari that you could ever have and it was going 150 miles an hour toward the Grand Canyon, somebody needs to tap the brakes. And I think that’s what we all need to do here,” Saban said in his opening remarks.

Notably absent from the the witness list, which included Notre Dame’s athletic director and the commissioner of the PAC-12 conference, was any representative from the Southeastern Conference, where Saban won seven national championships between Alabama and Louisiana State University

The SEC and the Big Ten, the two most powerful conferences in college sports, oppose the bill, arguing it “leaves critical issues unresolved.”

Cantwell said the legislation is intended to restore competition to college athletics by ensuring success is determined by how universities “build a team, and not because they have a billionaire in their back pocket.”

She also addressed the conferences’ opposition directly, suggesting they fear “that somebody’s going to come in and rearrange the deck chairs of those conferences, steal the eyeball schools, and then basically leave everybody with everything else.”

Oil prices climb back toward $100, and the record-breaking rally for US stocks stalls

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are rising Wednesday following the latest flare-up in fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and U.S. stocks are stalling near their records.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 339 points, or 0.7%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% lower.

Weighing on the market was a climb of 1.1% for the price of a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, which brought it back to $97.07. It rose after the U.S. military said Iran fired missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain, which failed to hit their targets. The United States said it then struck an Iranian military ground control station on an island in the Strait of Hormuz.

The war with Iran has already sent oil prices and inflation higher, cranking up the pressure on the global economy. But oil prices remain below their peaks from earlier in the fighting, and hope seems to be remaining on Wall Street that the United States and Iran will ultimately agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers. That would improve the global flow of crude and hopefully lower its price.

Such hopes, along with strong profit reports from U.S. companies, have helped launch the U.S. stock market on a tremendous rally. If the S&P 500 can turn around and finish the day with a gain, it would be the 10th straight for the index, which would be its longest such streak in more than three decades.

Medtronic climbed 5.3% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It also increased its dividend payout going to investors.

GameStop jumped 7.7% after the video-game retailer said its revenue in the latest quarter grew 14% from a year earlier. It also announced a program to send up to $2 billion to its investors by buying back its own stock.

Macy’s swung from an initial gain to a loss of 0.9% after the iconic New York department store reported profit for the latest quarter that blew past analysts’ forecasts. The retailer said said an overhaul of its merchandise and better customer service is resonating with customers.

Also on the losing side of Wall Street was Palo Alto Networks, which fell 6% despite topping analysts’ expectations for profit in the latest quarter. Investors may have been looking for even more after its stock came into the day with a surge of 61.3% for the year so far, more than quintuple the S&P 500’s already big 11.2% rise.

In the bond market, Treasury yields rose with the price of oil, which put downward pressure on the stock market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.48% from 4.46% late Tuesday and from just 3.97% before the war began.

High yields worldwide recently have threatened to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks and all kinds of other investments. They have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level in nine months, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

More expensive loans can hurt smaller companies in particular because many need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of the smallest U.S. stocks fell 0.9%, more than the rest of the market.

Reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed. One from the Institute for Supply Management said that growth for U.S. construction, agricultural and other services businesses accelerated by more last month than economists expected.

That’s an encouraging signal for the economy, but the survey also showed businesses are feeling the pinch of higher prices caused by tariffs and more expensive oil. “This is the definition of inflationary pressure starting to affect us,” one company in the accommodation and food services industry said in the survey.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes dipped following a mixed finish in Asia.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.6%, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% to another record as computer chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron soared 13.4%.

Excitement around the boom created by artificial-intelligence technology has been a huge engine for stock markets worldwide. On Wall Street, Marvell Technology rose another 7.1% following its best day on record, a surge of 32.5%, after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggested at a conference in Taiwan that Marvell could be “the next trillion-dollar company.”

The last company to enter the expanding club of behemoths was Micron Technology, which is likewise riding the AI wave.

Comedian Marcello Hernández to host 2026 ESPY Awards

Marcello Hernandez attends the 2025 Night of Too Many Stars at Beacon Theatre on March 31, 2025 in New York City. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The 2026 ESPY Awards are almost here and this year, the annual awards ceremony honoring the best in sports will feature a new host.

Comedian Marcello Hernández will present the star-studded evening, which is returning to New York City this year. Hernández is taking over duties from comedian Shane Gillis, who hosted last year from Los Angeles.

"It is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYS this year in New York," Hernández said in a statement Wednesday. "I'm sure the energy is going to be great."

Hernández is described by ESPN as an "avid sports fan" who played soccer at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio.

The ESPYS, which first began at New York City's Madison Square Garden in 1993, will take place on Wednesday, July 15 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

The 2026 ESPYS will air live at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and stream on the ESPN app. The awards ceremony will also be available to stream on Disney+, Hulu, the ESPN App, and ABC Video on Demand on July 16.

Craig Lazarus, executive producer of the ESPYS, called Hernández a "natural fit" to serve as this year's ESPYS host.

"Marcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year's ESPYS," Lazarus said in a statement. "We are excited to partner with him to celebrate the best moments in sports and look forward to the fresh take he'll bring to the show."

The Walt Disney Co. is the parent company of ABC News, "Good Morning America," and ESPN.

Hostages released, suspect dead after hours-long standoff at bank: Police

Yellow police tape says "police line do not cross" is set against blurry background. (Sheila Paras/Getty Images)

(BAKERSFIELD, Calif.) -- All 10 hostages have been released, and a suspect is confirmed dead on Wednesday after an hours-long standoff at a bank in California, according to the Bakersfield Police Department.

The hostage situation ended at about 4:20 a.m. on Wednesday after an FBI officer-involved shooting, police said.

All hostages were found "unharmed" and received medical evaluation and treatment at the scene, according to police. They have since been reunited with their loved ones, Jeremy Blakemore, assistant chief of the Bakersfield Police Department, said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The suspect, identified by the FBI as 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles-Harris, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The suspect does not appear to have targeted the bank or bank employees in the attack, but he had concerns related to how a previous case of his had been handled and his sentencing, officials said Wednesday.

During the standoff, the suspect demanded to see his daughter, but no communication was made between him and his daughter, Blakemore said.

The suspect barricaded himself on the second floor and attached explosives to himself and additional explosives to some of the hostages, Blakemore said. The suspect also tied up five of the 10 hostages.

The standoff began after a reported bomb threat at a Chase bank in downtown Bakersfield at around 12 p.m. Tuesday, Blakemore said.

Two hostages were first released after hours of ongoing negotiations with a suspect, according to authorities.

As the hostage situation continued, negotiations stalled, according to Blakemore.

Crisis negotiators were in contact with the individual over the phone, according to police. Investigators were also in touch with a hostage who had their phone until the phone died, officials said.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are assisting, and other resources are coming in from throughout the state, police said.

Investigators revealed the suspect had requested the involvement of the FBI, according to officials. The FBI assumed control over the situation at 9 p.m. Tuesday, Blakemore said.

FBI personnel made entry into the building after making an assessment, taking into consideration that one of the hostages was diabetic and needed medical attention and the erratic behavior of the suspect, Sid Patel, the FBI special agent in charge at the Sacramento Field office, said at a press conference Wednesday.

The suspect was killed at around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Patel said

Several buildings in the surrounding area were evacuated, police said. The Chase Bank is located at Chester Avenue and 17th Street.

"This is a horrific event," Patel said.

Searles-Harris served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2007, before being dishonorably discharged for going absent without leave, Patel said.

In 2014, Searles-Harris was charged with sex acts with a child under 14 years old and is a registered sex offender, Patel said.

The investigation remains ongoing with a significant law enforcement presence to remain in the area for the next several hours, police said Wednesday morning.

Patel applauded the work of the Bakersfield Police Department, calling them one of their "strongest allies."

"Bakersfield PD did an amazing job with this," Patel said. "They have an amazing workforce here."

Motorists are encouraged to avoid the area, with traffic closures currently in effect between Truxtun Avenue and 18th Street, and between H Street and K Street, police said. Delays are expected into the afternoon local time.

Sexual abuse conviction upheld

HENDERSON COUNTY – A Scurry man who was found guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing a child in Henderson County, and given a life sentence, was upheld by an appeals court. Manuel Lynn Tijerina, 42, appealed his conviction to the Twelfth Court of Appeals, claiming the trial court had improperly admitted testimony from the victim’s relative, according to the Henderson County District Attorney’s Office. Testimony revealed Tijerina exposed the victim to pornography, touched her inappropriately, and made sexual remarks to her. Continue reading Sexual abuse conviction upheld

Supreme Court allows Alabama to use GOP-friendly election map

Steps to the United States Supreme Court, Washington DC, America. (joe daniel price/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Alabama Republicans to use a contested 2023 congressional map that a lower court last week called "intentional race-based discrimination" in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.

The move is a significant win for the GOP, allowing the state to eliminate one of two majority-Black districts occupied by Democrats, even as election experts and state administrators have warned of major confusion for voters with the late change.

Civil rights groups lamented the decision as a stark example of the impact of the court's historic April decision in Louisiana v. Callais which rolled back longstanding voting rights protections for minority voters.

In an unsigned opinion Tuesday, the court's conservative majority said the unanimous three-judge panel -- which included two Trump appointee -- in the Alabama dispute failed to apply "updated" standards the justices issued in the Callais decision for proving a political process is not equally open for minority voters.

The court said the panel "did not heed the presumption of legislative good faith" by concluding state lawmakers had "discriminatory animus."

The court's decision concluded that the judges also erred in blocking the 2023 map even though the minority voters challenging it could not provide an alternative map that offered the same political advantages sought by Republicans.

Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey praised the decision, and her office confirmed the state would hold a special primary using the new maps with redrawn districts on Aug. 11.

"The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed what I have said all along and that is that Alabama knows our state, our people and our districts best," Ivey said in a statement. "Today's decision is a win for the people of Alabama and our elections.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a lengthy dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, accused her colleagues of "unleashing chaos" and "confus[ing] voters."

The map change will require state officials to change the voter registrations of hundreds of thousands of voters in a matter of days and educate them on where to cast new ballots.

"Just as Alabama doubled down on racial discrimination, the Court today doubles down on chaos," Sotomayor wrote. "Because I choose to defend the rule of law and the right of all Alabamians to participate equally in democracy, I respectfully dissent."

In 2024, Alabama had been required to use a map with two majority-Black districts, one of which was won by Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures.

The new map could allow Republicans to flip Figures' seat.

The NAACP slammed the Supreme Court's decision as discriminatory.

"The Supreme Court continues to unleash chaos in our democratic process, and with this latest action, gives Alabama approval to use a congressional map that had previously been found to be intentionally discriminatory," NAACP General Counsel Kristen Clarke wrote in a statement. "This is a Court that is stripping Black voters of power and voice at a speed that would put Jim Crow jurists to shame. Our message to communities remains the same -- the best way to express dissent is by showing up at the ballot box this election season."

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

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.

___

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