MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Brazil star Vinícius Júnior knew what his critics were saying coming into this World Cup, that he just can’t score on soccer’s biggest stage the way he can at Real Madrid.
He clearly didn’t listen.
Vinicius has four goals now in this tournament — only Lionel Messi, with five, has more — and the flashy Brazilian got two on Wednesday night in his team’s 3-0 win over Scotland.
“Faith that I was going to improve, for the talent that I have … I was sure that at the right moment I would shine again with the Brazilian team shirt,” Vinícius said.
He wasn’t wrong and is tied for second with France’s Kylian Mbappé and Norway’s Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race, right behind Messi.
“Nothing is better than going back to the World Cup, to the place where I always dreamed of being,” Vinicius said. “To be able to represent my family, to be able to represent a country as important as Brazil, I believe that there is nothing better.”
He also became the fifth member of an exclusive club of Brazilians to score in all three group stage games, and the first to do so since Ronaldo and Rivaldo both did so in 2002.
“There were always times when I couldn’t show my football,” Vinícius said. “It brings a certain relief.”
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti coached Vinícius at Real Madrid from 2021 to 2025. While guiding Vinícius to global stardom along the way, Ancelotti — who Vinícius calls the best coach in the world — won two Champions Leagues, two La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey in that span.
And while wearing Brazil colors for Ancelotti, Vinícius has been completely reinvigorated. In 39 games for Brazil under previous coaches, Vinícius netted just six goals. In just 13 under Ancelotti, he has scored seven.
“I had no question in my mind of how far or well he’d come to this World Cup,” Ancelotti said. “It makes him happy to play for the national team. He’s doing a brilliant job.”
After his goal against Haiti in Brazil’s second World Cup game, Vinícius joked that he needs to listen to Ancelotti more.
“For sure when we get to the dressing room, he’ll say he knows a lot about football,” he said.
But so does Vinícius. And he promises to get even better.
“I will also evolve and improve in the competition,” he said. “And the hope only increases between us, between our fans and between our family.”
PANOLA COUNTY – Authorities confirmed that an 18-wheeler crashed in Panola County on Thursday morning, killing two people. Around 4:20 a.m., the collision occurred in Panola County at the intersection of Highway 79 and FM 31. The driver and passenger in the 18-wheeler were confirmed dead by the Texas Department of Public Safety. They are both from Missouri. According to the Panola County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Transportation is present and attempting to reopen the road. An investigation is ongoing.
IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — Christian Pulisic says he feels “great” now after missing one World Cup match with a calf injury, and he hopes to play for the U.S. in its final group match against Turkey on Thursday night.
Pulisic played a dynamic first half in the Americans’ historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay to open their home World Cup nearly two weeks ago, but the AC Milan midfielder came off at halftime after an injury from training stiffened up.
Pulisic said he nearly played in the U.S.’ 2-0 victory over Australia last Friday but was held out to get closer to full fitness for the games ahead. He has returned to practice with his teammates this week after working out on his own last week before the trip to Seattle.
“I’m hoping to play a part in (the match against Turkey), for sure,” Pulisic said before the U.S. training session Wednesday at Great Park. “I’ll discuss that with my coaches and the medical staff. Obviously not a good chance I’ll probably go and play 90 (minutes) right away after you come back and miss a game, but we’ll see.”
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino didn’t reveal his plan Wednesday for Pulisic in the match against Turkey, which is meaningless for both teams. The Americans are locked into first place in their group, while Turkey has been eliminated from knockout-round contention.
“Pulisic is talking with the medical (staff),” Pochettino said in an afternoon news conference at SoFi Stadium. “We have to decide if it’s possible to play from the beginning, or maybe play from the bench and play the second half.”
Pochettino did indicate that his players who have already received yellow cards — Folarin Balogun, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson and Tyler Adams — are unlikely to play, at least as starters.
“For the guys that have yellow cards, it’s not necessary to take another yellow card and not be available for the next stage,” Pochettino said. “It’s a normal, easy answer not to play with them from the beginning.”
Pulisic hopes the plan includes at least some playing time for him as the U.S. ramps up for its Round-of-32 match in Santa Clara, California, on July 1. While Pulisic’s calf injury robbed him of one chance on the World Cup stage, he felt certain he wouldn’t be out for long.
“I never feared anything worse,” Pulisic said. “I was pushing, and I was really close to trying to be available for the last game, for sure. I did feel a little something (against Paraguay), but I definitely was able to push through in the first half and just get me through. But yeah, it wasn’t quite ready, but it wasn’t anything where I feared anything worse than what it was.”
With no stakes for the U.S. against Turkey, Pochettino seems likely to provide some rest to key players in his starting lineup while giving a few of his reserves possibly their only opportunity to hit the field. That sounds great to Richards, who thinks some time off wouldn’t be a hindrance.
“Our trainings are pretty intense,” Richards said. “I think fitness won’t be an issue. I don’t think sharpness will be, either. Obviously it’s good to keep into some sort of rhythm, but I think these guys deserve it if they get the chance (Thursday). I think we’ll be fine when it comes to the next game.”
Pulisic was visibly excited as a spectator during the Americans’ win in Seattle, celebrating along with his teammates as they capably handled a second straight opponent for their team’s first consecutive World Cup victories since 1930. The U.S. offensive performance without its most accomplished attacking player, particularly in the first half against Australia, pleased Pulisic greatly.
“It’s not surprising to me,” Pulisic said. “I see what this team can do. We have depth. We have really strong players in a lot of positions. I don’t need to do everything. It’s such a strong team. These guys, everyone has each other’s backs. That’s what so fun about it, and to see the way the team performance that we’ve put in, especially the way we’ve started the games, has been fun to watch.”
NEW YORK (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder were thinking big. Darius Acuff Jr. and Mikel Brown Jr. might be a matchup to watch among smalls.
And the one-and-done era is far from done.
Those were some of the things that stood out from the two-day NBA draft in Brooklyn, which started with the Washington Wizards taking AJ Dybantsa on Tuesday night with the No. 1 pick and continued with a number of trades in the second round Wednesday night. Among the things that stood out in between:
Spurs vs. Thunder on the court and in the draft
The Thunder had trouble with Victor Wembanyama in the Western Conference finals. The Spurs had trouble when Wembanyama wasn’t in the game in the NBA Finals.
Both teams took steps to address those big problems.
Oklahoma City took 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara from Michigan with the No. 12 pick. Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in 2022, struggled badly in the series that ended the Thunder’s title reign and the 260-pound Mara, the Big Ten defensive player of the year from Spain, could provide more of the physical presence they need.
“I’m excited to play against him, obviously, to play in the NBA,” Mara said about Wembanyama. “But I feel like I’m going to play against him a lot. If it’s not NBA, it’s going to be on the national team.”
The Spurs fell to the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals and Wembanyama at times looked exhausted, perhaps overworked because the Knicks were dominating when backup Luke Kornet was in the game .
Perhaps they can handle Wembanyama’s breaks better now after drafting 6-9 Jayden Quaintance from Kentucky and acquiring the rights to Tarris Reed Jr., the rugged big man who powered UConn to the national title game. Sizing up the small scoring guards
One of the pre-draft debates was who would go first when it came time for teams to start choosing among the smaller scoring guards in the class.
That moment arrived at the No. 6 pick. The Brooklyn Nets went with Mikel Brown Jr. from Louisville, a pick that seemed well received judging by the cheers in their home arena that hosted the draft.
“I think something that we saw with Mike was just how anxious and excited he was at getting out there in the NBA. ‘I got something to prove.’ It’s hard to measure,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “I think that’s something that will translate when you have a chip on your shoulder, you’re an extreme competitor.”
There were arguments for Darius Acuff Jr., and critics of the pick will only grow louder if Acuff looks like a better pro. He went with the next pick to Sacramento.
“I was good wherever I went,” Acuff said. “It wasn’t like a bad reaction on it.”
But there was from those who felt like he had a better body of work in his season at Arkansas.
Both have shown explosive scoring ability. The 6-4 Brown set an ACC freshman record when he scored 45 points in a game, making 10 3-pointers. But a back injury forced him to miss 14 games.
Acuff averaged 23.5 points, third in the nation, and led the SEC in scoring and assists. He was the SEC Tournament MVP after leading Arkansas to the title.
One-and-dones aren’t done
The one sure thing in the NBA draft for years was that it would begin with a college freshman. From 2010, when Washington took John Wall, to 2022, when Orlando selected Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick was a player who spent one year in college.
That ended in 2023 when San Antonio took Victor Wembanyama. When Atlanta took fellow Frenchman Zaccharie Risacher with the No. 1 pick in 2024, it was the first time that an international player who did not play at a U.S. college was selected first in consecutive years.
The one-and-dones have regained their place in a big way. The first eight picks were college freshmen, matching the record set last year, as were nine of the top 10 to match another record.
“We don’t know each super personally, but we spent some a good amount of time around each other. So we know each other kind of well,” said Darryn Peterson, the No. 2 pick by Utah. “We’re going to continue to compete. I’m coming for these guys like I’ve been coming for them my whole career.” The Knicks appear serious about savings
There was some skepticism when owner James Dolan said in an interview with WFAN Radio in New York that he wanted to avoid going into the second apron. After winning a championship for the first time in 53 years, would the Knicks really not spend whatever it took for the best chance to repeat?
Time will tell, but they were cautious with the draft.
The Knicks traded back from their original No. 24 spot and eventually out of the first round entirely. They came into the draft with the No. 31 pick, the first spot in the second round. They traded back from there as well.
First-round picks come with guaranteed salary slots, and high second-round picks are paid well. And the Knicks need to leave themselves as much room as possible if they want to pay key role players such as Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado and Deuce McBride.
They eventually left the draft with the Nos. 39 and 47 picks, German guard Jack Kayil and Vanderbilt forward Tyler Nickel. If Kayil ends up playing for the champions, he said they will find a player with their type of mentality.
“I think also one of my strengths is that I love winning and I give everything for that, and to come in this organization shows that they also want winners,” Kayil said. “So I think it’s a good fit.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball is the latest NBA star with a new home.
The Charlotte Hornets agreed to trade Ball, their starting point guard, and Josh Green to the Minnesota Timberwolves for power forward Naz Reid, a 2033 unprotected first-round draft pick, three first-round pick swaps and three future second-round picks, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal, first reported by ESPN, has yet to be approved by the league.
The three first-round pick swaps will be in 2028, 2029 and 2030. The Hornets also get three second-round picks in 2029, 2032 and 2033.
The 24-year-old Ball, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, had three years left on a franchise-record five-year, $203.9 million designated rookie contract.
An All-Star in 2022, Ball has struggled with ankle and foot injuries during his career, but he played in 72 games last season and averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game, helping the Hornets win 44 games before being blown out in the play-in tournament by the Orlando Magic.
Ball finished second in the league in 3s made last year with 272, one behind rookie teammate Kon Knueppel.
Ball is considered an exceptional offensive player, but his shortcomings on the defensive end were at times a source of irritation for coach Charles Lee.
Still, Ball’s ability to create opportunities for his teammates off the dribble, his exceptional passing and unique knack for getting off 3-pointers — with shots often coming off one foot — via a stepback move, make him one of the league’s most dynamic scoring point guards.
But Ball was never able to get the Hornets to the playoffs in his six seasons with the club, with injuries playing a role. Before this season, Ball missed 141 games over the previous three seasons.
This trade is expected to be included as part of the transaction in which Minnesota agreed to send Julius Randle to Brooklyn in a deal that involved the Chicago Bulls, a second person with knowledge of the agreement told the AP. It will create an NBA-record trade exception of nearly $41 million for the Hornets.
The deals cannot be finalized until July 6, when the league moratorium on such moves is lifted.
It’s another blockbuster for the league, which has seen Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded by Milwaukee to Miami for a package that includes Tyler Herro, a move that followed the Randle deal before the draft.
The Hornets are expected to re-sign unrestricted free agent Coby White to serve as their starting point guard.
White, the all-time leading scorer in North Carolina high school basketball history, averaged 15.6 points and 3 assists per game while shooting 39.1% from 3-point range last season for the Hornets after being acquired in a trade with the Chicago Bulls.
Reid, 26, has spent all seven of his NBA seasons with the Timberwolves.
After reaching the Western Conference finals in 2024 and 2025, the Timberwolves stagnated at times last season and were ousted in six games in the second round of the playoffs by the runner-up San Antonio Spurs.
President of basketball operations Tim Connelly has never been shy about aggressive pursuit of roster improvement, from the package of draft picks he sent the Utah Jazz in 2022 for defensive ace Rudy Gobert shortly after taking the job in Minnesota, to the stunning trade of franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks two years ago.
To make this work, the Timberwolves had to give up one of the most popular players in their history in Reid, the 2023-24 NBA Sixth Man of the Year who would’ve been in line for a starting spot after the departure of Randle.
The 6-foot-11 Reid, who went undrafted out of LSU in 2019, worked his way into an excellent offensive player with a shooter’s touch from the outside who has the quickness to get to the rim. Playing through a painful shoulder injury this season, Reid appeared in 77 regular-season games while averaging 13.6 points and a career-best 6.2 rebounds per game.
Their five-game loss in 2025 to the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder and their defeat by the Spurs last month made clear to the Timberwolves that they’re not yet at the championship level they’ve been chasing since building their roster around 2020 first overall pick Anthony Edwards. Now they’ll have the third pick in that draft to play next to Ball, one of the few remaining pure point guards in a league that has evolved toward more volume scorers serving as the primary initiators of the offense.
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch lamented after the season his abrupt decision to make Edwards the starting point guard, a move Finch said last month set the whole team back.
Trusty veteran Mike Conley will be a free agent and is now more of a limited-role player, leaving Minnesota’s front office looking outward for ball-handling options. The agreement to bring back Ayo Dosunmu went a long way toward solidifying the backcourt for the long term, but he’s more of a combo guard who can thrive off the ball.
Connelly even hinted at a move like this on Tuesday night after the first round of the draft.
“We have to ensure that we’re creating as many good shots as possible, specifically for Ant, and whether that’s on our present roster or whether it’s looking outside of our team, it’s something that we certainly have to address,” Connelly said.
Hornets general manager Jeff Peterson is expected to address the deal at a Thursday news conference in which the team is scheduled to introduce first-round draft picks Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Caitlin Clark left the Indiana Fever’s 111-109 loss to Phoenix with a back injury in the third quarter Wednesday night.
The All-Star guard has been dealing with a back issue this season and left with 5:15 remaining in the third quarter. She went back to the locker room and didn’t return.
Clark appeared to tweak her back in the second quarter when she was fouled shooting a 3-pointer in the second quarter. She fell to the ground and was rubbing her back as she stood up. In the first quarter she went back to the tunnel and returned to the bench wearing a wrap around her back.
She finished the game with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes.
The two teams met Monday night and there were six technical fouls called and one ejection. Clark picked up her fifth technical in that game. The team is petitioning the league to have it rescinded. The physical play continued on Wednesday. On one play in the second quarter, Clark fell to the court as she drove and as players went for the loose ball, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas appeared on video to put her fist into Clark’s neck.
No foul was called on the play, but the league could review it for a flagrant foul.
“It was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call … You got to call it,” said Fever coach Stephanie White. “You’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable.”
Clark has been listed on the injury report for most of the season with a back injury after she missed one game because of it. The Fever hadn’t given her any injury designation for the game she didn’t play and were warned by the league for not doing that.
Clark is currently second in All-Star fan voting that was released Wednesday behind teammate Aliyah Boston.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading Thursday after several artificial-intelligence stocks veered back up the roller coaster, while Apple dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% after erasing an early gain of 0.8%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 228 points, or 0.4%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.2% lower.
Micron Technology helped lead the market after jumping 9.7%. The maker of memory chips for computers reported much stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and it gave a stronger growth forecast for the current quarter than Wall Street expected. That helped allay worries a bit that its stock had grown too expensive after coming into the day with a surge of 267% so far this year.
Micron and AI stocks broadly have been under pressure recently because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the tremendous rallies for their stock prices. But beyond Micron, Qualcomm said late Thursday that the acceleration of the AI era is forcing it to upgrade forecasts for its own growth in upcoming years.
The chip company said it expects its revenue outside of handsets, including data centers, to hit $40 billion in its fiscal year of 2029, roughly double its prior target. Qualcomm’s stock rose 3.1%.
But all the strong demand for computer memory and storage that’s driving producers higher also means higher prices for customers. Apple on Thursday raised prices for many of its products, including increases of 15% to 20% for Mac computers, according to analysts. Its stock fell 4.8%.
The broad U.S. stock market also got a lift from easing Treasury yields in the bond market. They regressed after a report showed inflation is behaving pretty much as economists expected.
The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, slipped 0.1% to $73.81 and is near its roughly $72 price from just before the war with Iran. It’s come well off its highs above $100 caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz because of the war, which slowed the global flow of oil.
That jump in oil prices earlier this year sent inflation sharply higher, and a report showed that a measure of inflation hitting U.S. consumers accelerated to 4.1% last month from 3.8% in April. But that wasn’t any worse than economists expected, and the hope is that inflation may ease because of the drop-off in oil prices.
That helped the yield on the 10-year Treasury slip to 4.36% from 4.41% late Wednesday and from 4.56% earlier this month.
High yields in bond markets worldwide caused by worries about inflation are threatening to slow economies, and they have already sent rates higher for mortgages and other kinds of loans. High yields also hurt prices for investments, particularly those seen as the most expensive. That raises the pressure on AI winners.
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi jumped 5.4% after its own AI winners shot higher, including a 13.1% surge for SK Hynix.
Other markets also rallied, including gains of 4.6% for Japan’s Nikkei 225 and 0.6% for the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100. A 1.4% drop for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was an outlier.
S. President Donald Trump attends a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on June 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can cancel the temporary protected status (TPS) for thousands of Haitians and Syrians, concluding that the Department of Homeland Security has broad discretion with little-to-no judicial oversight to decide when they must return home.
The ruling is likely to have a sweeping impact on the approximately 1.3 million people who rely on TPS to live and work in the United States legally, and advocates said they fear it will have devastating and possibly deadly long term costs for those refugees.
Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Samuel Alito said that courts cannot override the federal government's determination about TPS status in most cases.
TPS status, established by the Immigration and Nationality Act, provides work authorization and protection from deportation -- as long as the Homeland Security Secretary certifies that a foreign country is unsafe because of armed conflict, natural disaster, or "extraordinary and temporary conditions."
Alito concluded that the law establishing the TPS program did not give courts the authority to second guess the DHS's determinations about which countries merit the protected status, which was created to shield immigrants from countries ravaged by war or national disasters.
"The TPS statute plainly bars consideration of respondents' non-constitutional claims. It allows 'no judicial review of any determination ... with respect to the ... termination of a TPS designation," Alito wrote.
Though the ruling centered on the TPS of Haitians and Syrians, the ruling effectively gives the Trump administration the green light to carry out similar terminations, which they have already done for 13 countries.
James Percival, the Department of Homeland Security's General Counsel, praised Thursday's ruling.
"The T in TPS stands for TEMPORARY, yet many of these designations became de facto amnesty. This is a win for the rule of law and common sense," he said in a statement.
Attorneys for the Haitian plaintiffs said in a statement Thursday that the ruling "will directly result in thousands of innocent people dying violent, needless deaths."
"This decision will endanger Haitian TPS holders who fled their homeland in pursuit of what generations of immigrants yearned for when they made the painful decision to leave all they have known. to live in safety," Geoffrey Pipoly and Andrew Tauber told ABC News in a statement.
"It's a very sad day, not only for Haitian TPS holders but for anyone who believes, as we do, that immigrants are one of America's greatest strengths," they added. "The responsibility to save these lives is now with Congress--and we urge the Senate to pass the extension of TPS now pending in that chamber. "
It is unclear if Congress will vote on an extension, however, Trump has repeatedly called for the end of TPS protections and would not likely sign off.
The court's liberals also lambasted the decision, arguing that the statements made by President Donald Trump about some of the countries whose status was cancelled -- including making baseless claims that Haitians eat dogs and cats during the 2024 presidential race -- demonstrate that race played a role in the decisions.
"The evidence they have offered includes statements by the President so repellent and racially inflected that the majority declines to put them in print," wrote Justice Kagan. "The references--of filth, disease, and primitiveness--are shot through with racial stereotypes and tropes."
The court's liberals also argued that the statute creating TPS does allow courts to review if DHS carried out legally-required procedures to cancel the status -- something the plaintiffs allege did not happen.
"It does nothing to stop courts from reviewing things other than the Secretary's 'determination[s]' concerning TPS designations," Kagan wrote.
Immigrant advocacy groups have warned about the possible sweeping consequences of this ruling, saying it will open the door for an "astonishing human tragedy."
Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake in 2010 and has since been hit by subsequent natural disasters, political unrest following a presidential assassination, and waves of rampant gang violence.
More than 113,000 Haitian TPS holders work in Florida alone, which is home to a high proportion of America's seniors, according to the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
Syria devolved into civil war around 2011 and has been considered by the U.S. government a hotbed of terrorism and extremism for nearly two decades. A major earthquake in 2023 plunged the country into a deeper economic and humanitarian crisis.
"This is an awful harbinger for what we expect this administration to try to do for other TPS designations. Hundreds of thousands of people who have lived here for decades now see heartbreaking chaos ahead," FWD.us President Todd Schulte said in a statement Thursday.
Then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, in separate acts last year, moved to terminate TPS status for Haiti and Syria by certifying that, in her estimation, conditions on the ground in those countries were sufficiently safe for immigrants to return.
Those decisions were blocked by lower courts, which concluded that Noem did not follow proper procedures for cancelling TPS and may have also unlawfully discriminated against the immigrants on the basis of race.
Pastor Carl Ruby, a prominent community leader in Springfield, Ohio, who has sought to stand up for Haitians there after Trump's false comments about them eating pets rattled the community and preceded numerous bomb threats.
"This is the worst possible outcome," Ruby told ABC News through tears. "I had always held out hope that we would get a good decision and can't believe that we're here now."
Ruby contended that there was racial motivation behind the administration's actions.
"If you look at the history of the president's comments about Haiti and Haitians, it's clear that this wouldn't be happening if these were refugees from Norway. I just feel like we have failed as a country and I don't think I've ever been as disappointed in our country as I am right now," he said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican who has defended the Springfield community, said deporting Haitians "is a mistake."
"As a result of today's ruling, the over 10,000 Haitians who have been living in Ohio (mostly in the Springfield area) legally through TPS will now be here illegally and will be subject to immediate deportation," the governor said in a statement.
"This also means that while these Haitians were working and contributing to our community and economy yesterday, today it is now illegal to employ them," he added.
"The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse. The violent gangs run most of the country. The government barely functions. And, the economy is in shambles," DeWine said.
-ABC News' Laura Romero, Armando Garcia and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
The FBI said it is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of Oscar Sanchez-Munoz. (FBI)
The man wanted by the FBI in a string of shootings in the Kansas City, Missouri, area is believed to have been found dead, according to police.
Oscar Sanchez-Munoz, 22, allegedly shot at a car in Wyandotte County, Kansas, on June 11, authorities said, and then on June 16, he allegedly shot at five cars along Interstate 70 in Kansas City, Missouri. The June 16 shootings killed one person and wounded four, police said.
On the night of June 16, Sanchez-Munoz barricaded himself inside a house in Independence, Missouri, east of Kansas City, and engaged in a standoff with police, authorities said. In the middle of the night, the house went up in flames, and once firefighters put out the blaze and police entered the house, Sanchez-Munoz was not there, authorities said.
The manhunt for Sanchez-Munoz had been underway ever since, with the FBI offering a $25,000 reward.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sanchez-Munoz's relatives, who were going through the damage at the house in Independence, called detectives to say they noticed the smell of decomposition in the basement, and when they moved some items aside, they saw what they thought was a body, police said.
Responding officers found a body in clothes consistent with what Sanchez-Munoz was wearing the night of the shootings, police said.
"Based on clothing description, and last known location, detectives preliminarily believe this deceased person in the residence is Sanchez-Munoz," police said in a statement.
The medical examiner will confirm the identity and determine the cause and manner of death, police said.
Cherry blossoms at the Supreme Court on a windy morning in Washington, D.C. (John Baggaley/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a Hawaii law that prohibits the carry of a firearm onto private property that is open to the public unless the property owner gives express consent.
In a 6-3 decision by Justice Samuel Alito, the court's conservative majority said the law imposed "severe restrictions on the daily activities" of lawful gun owners in violation of the Second Amendment.
"Rather than allowing all to enter private property open to the public unless specifically prohibited, these new laws provided that no one carrying a firearm may enter without express authorization," Alito wrote.
"The Hawaii law at issue here violates the constitutional right to keep and bear arms," the opinion said.
The ruling, which likely also invalidates similar laws in California, Maryland, New York and New Jersey, is a setback for gun control advocates that had argued the measures were necessary for public safety in places like shopping malls, bars, restaurants, theaters, farms, arenas and private beaches.
Hawaii had argued that there is no such thing as a right to armed entry onto private property without consent, pointing to a handful of historical examples of similar laws since America's founding.
But the court's conservatives concluded that those analogues were "outlier legal rules adopted in a few locales."
"Overwhelming evidence shows an enduring American tradition permitting public carry," Alito wrote.
While private property owners may still prohibit firearms on their premises, the onus now falls entirely on those owners to post signage banning guns. The default rule, in essence, is that lawful gun owners may carry their weapons unless told otherwise, according to the decision.
Forty-five states presume that it is okay to carry guns on private property open to the public unless property owners make their contrary wishes clear.
In dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said the ruling "only further binds the hands of modern legislatures attempting to balance and protect their residents' interests."
"Today's decision makes one thing clear: The Court's objective is protecting guns, not consistently preserving any principle of law," Jackson wrote.
The National Rifle Association, which backed the challenge to the Hawaii law, praised the majority decision in a statement on X.
"Law-abiding gun owners will no longer be forced to beg for special permission simply to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms in public places," wrote NRA-ILA Executive Director John Commerford.
Brady, a gun safety group, slammed the court's decision as "deeply dangerous" and one that "privileges guns over everything and all people in society."
"This common-sense law is what the people of Hawaii wanted, but the court has complete disregard for that community will. Ultimately, the court makes it clear that it cares little about the threat of gun violence posed to the American people," said Kris Brown, the group's president.
(WASHINGTON) -- Hours after President Donald Trump blasted Sen. Bill Cassidy for supporting a war powers resolution that narrowly passed the Senate on Tuesday, Cassidy helped to deliver Trump a victory by voting with the majority of Republicans late Wednesday to block a separate resolution aimed at reining in the president's war powers in Iran from advancing.
The Senate voted 47-50-1 late Wednesday to block a war powers resolution led by Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine from moving forward. The resolution, which aims to limit Trump's ability to wage war in Iran but does not have the force of law, had narrowly advanced in a previous procedural vote.
It was a remarkable departure for Louisiana Republican senator who, just hours previously, was in a shouting match with the president during a lunch between Trump and the GOP conference.
Cassidy said he later received a briefing from Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Iran.
"I want to thank Vice President Vance and Special Envoy Witkoff for the thorough briefing this afternoon on Iran. I appreciate the quick invitation to the White House to address many of my concerns," Cassidy posted.
Cassidy wasn't the only Republican who changed his vote on the latest war powers vote.
Sen. Rand Paul voted 'present' instead of voting to support the resolution as he had previously been doing.
"Tonight I will vote present on the War Powers resolution. My opinion on the debate over war and executive power has not changed and I have voted that way several times," Paul posted on X ahead of the vote. "But since hostilities seem to be over and the President asked me to give consideration to his negotiating position, I will do so. My vote of present is a way to give the President more space and leverage to negotiate a lasting peace."
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of the resolution, as they have in the past. All other Republicans voted against it.
Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against the resolution. All other Democrats voted for it. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Michael Bennet were absent during Wednesday night's vote.
Trump celebrated Wednesday's vote in a post on his social media platform.
"Wow! The Senate just changed its vote on Iran from 50-48 against, to 50-47 for," Trump said in the post. "Rand Paul and Bill Cassidy changed. Thank you to Leader John Thune, Lindsey Graham, Bernie Moreno, and all. This vote puts Iran on notice!
The earlier clash between Trump and Cassidy came as the president met with Republican senators on Capitol Hill.
At one point, Trump called Cassidy a "lunatic," according to multiple sources. Cassidy did not dispute that when asked by ABC News.
After the meeting, Cassidy acknowledged that he lost his temper with Trump.
"He asked why would anybody vote for the War Powers Act? As he continued, I said, 'is that a rhetorical question, or would you like to really know?' He said, 'I'd like to know.' I stood and said, 'You have not told the American people what's going on. It was supposed to last four weeks. It's lasted four months. Our original objectives have not been achieved, and I want to know what's going on,'" Cassidy said.
The White House had dismissed the earlier Senate vote on the resolution, saying it was of "no significance."
OVERTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that a single-vehicle collision in Overton on Thursday morning has left one person dead. According to officials, the collision occurred on State Highway 323 close to County Road 125 at around 6:00 a.m. No further information regarding the collision has been made public as of yet. The Overton Police Department is advising people to take a different route and stay away from the area. Additionally, they requested that people offer prayers for the affected individuals and their families.
MARION COUNTY – Following an officer-involved shooting in Marion County on Wednesday night, a man was transported to a hospital in Shreveport. Around 7:15 p.m., deputies responded to a domestic incident in the 2700 block of Highway 49, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. When the deputies arrived, they encountered a man who then fired a rifle, striking a patrol car belonging to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. Continue reading Officer-involved shooting investigated
The search for the new James Bond seems to be shaking (not stirring) up. Deadline reports that Denis Villeneuve, who is set to direct the next James Bond film for Amazon MGM Studios, has started informing the talent who have made it to the next round of auditions. According to the outlet, Villeneuve has been calling the talent directly, with the next round of auditions set for the month of August ...
Invincible is coming back for more. Prime Video has renewed the adult animated TV series for a sixth season. This renewal comes just after season 4 finished its run and months ahead of season 5's debut. The show's official Instagram posted a graphic to announce that season 6 was confirmed. It was captioned, "Mark, this is good news!!!!!!" ...
The trailer for season 15 of King of the Hill has arrived. All 10 episodes of the 15th season are set to stream to Hulu on July 20. This new season finds Hank and Peggy settling "into retirement life on Rainey Street while attempting to keep their neighbors from going off the rails," according to its official synopsis. Its voice cast includes Mike Judge, Kathy Najimy, Pamela Adlon, Stephen Root, Lauren Tom and Toby Huss ... Disney is the parent company of ABC News and Hulu.
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Venezuela and other regions in the Caribbean on June 24, 2026, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Photo by Edilzon Gamez/Getty Images)
(CARACAS, Venezuela) -- When the first of two massive earthquakes hit Venezuela, American tourist Jason Wang said he was on a mountaintop outside Caracas, about to get on a cable car to head down.
It was just after 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday when a 7.2 magnitude jolted the South American country's coastal region, followed 39 seconds later by an even stronger 7.5 magnitude tremor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
High up on El Ávila mountain, about 7 miles outside the capital city, the 39-year-old Wang of Las Vegas said he was caught in a scene of confusion and panic, unsure what had just occurred.
"I was about to board the cable car. I started recording myself going in, and the whole building just started shaking. The floor under me was shaking, and then all of a sudden everyone started panicking," Wang told ABC News on Thursday morning.
He said he and other tourists charged toward the exit of the cable car building.
"We were just rushing for the door to exit the building, and none of us knew what was going on until a few minutes afterwards," Wang said. "We realized we got hit with a massive earthquake."
Videos that Wang posted on social media showed him and others walking down the mountain back toward Caracas on a road blocked by numerous toppled trees. Wang said that as the sun was setting, he managed to get a ride back to his hotel in Caracas.
"I saw some people like cutting down trees that fell on the road to create a tunnel for us to get past," Wang said.
He said that when he finally reached his hotel and was able to get a WiFi signal, he learned that the twin tremors were the biggest earthquakes to hit Venezuela in a century, causing massive destruction and widespread death across Caracas, a city of more than 2 million people.
"Once I got back on WiFi, I was able to contact my family and friends and tell them I was OK," said Wang, adding that he was traveling out of the city to the jungle on Thursday morning to escape the danger being caused by numerous aftershocks.
Jorge Rodriguez, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, said that at least 188 people were killed in the earthquakes, and nearly 1,520 more were injured.
But the death toll is expected to grow. The USGS said there is a risk of more than 10,000 deaths, though official casualty tolls have been slow to be reported.
President Donald Trump said there could be a "devastating number of deaths," as Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that the U.S. is deploying rescue teams to Venezuela to help search for victims.
In Caracas, the scenes of devastation and desperation were evident in all directions. Online videos showed apartment and commercial buildings lying in heaps of rubble, houses knocked off foundations and thousands of people in the streets, shellshocked and watching as emergency crews searched for survivors.
At one point, more than 25,000 people were unaccounted for, officials said.
During the earthquakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street.
"It's like a horror movie," one frantic woman who escaped her damaged building said.
One Caracas resident, Armando Nori, posted a video on social media from inside an apartment building that began to shake violently during the earthquakes. The footage showed Nori and others in the building fleeing as walls and shelves collapsed, and items, including what appeared to be a water container, crashing to the floor.
Another Caracas resident, Gabriel Higuera, told ABC News that he lives on the top floor of an apartment building with his girlfriend, and described their harrowing race to escape. He said his girlfriend almost fell from one of the floors due to the violent tremors.
"The shaking made it impossible to move," Higuera said.
Another video verified by ABC News showed people in an apartment building in Junquito, west of Caracas, falling to the floor and holding onto each other as the building started to collapse around them. The man filming the video was heard in the footage screaming for his mother as he started to run for cover.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said numerous buildings had been brought down in Caracas, and that the cities of Trujillo, Yaracuy, Carabobo, Aragua, and Miranda had also been affected.
There were reports of widespread power outages and cell phone disruptions throughout the country. Gas to many buildings was turned off to prevent fires, officials said.
Rodriguez declared a state of emergency, saying the earthquakes had turned the coastal state of La Guaira into a "disaster zone."
"Dozens of buildings have collapsed there, about 30 kilometers north of Caracas, and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives," Rodriguez said in a televised address to the nation, according to The Associated Press.
She said Metro and rail services are suspended in the city and that the heavily damaged Maiquetía "Simón Bolívar" International Airport is closed.
Video posted online and verified by ABC News showed people at the airport running for their lives as part of its roof collapsed, creating a cloud of dust. In the footage, people could be heard screaming as the sound of crashing glass and chunks of falling concrete echoed in the background.
Amid the devastation came reports of heroic efforts to rescue people trapped in the rubble. Eighteen people were rescued from one of the two buildings that collapsed in the Chacao municipality, about 7 miles east of Caracas, authorities said.
Dozens of aftershocks have been reported following the initial tremors, forcing many people to sleep on the street on Wednesday night out of fear of more buildings collapsing.
Following the quake, a tsunami advisory was issued, with the potential for hazardous tsunami waves possible for coasts within 300 kilometers, or about 186 miles, of the earthquake epicenter. However, the tsunami advisory later expired.
ABC News' Will Gretsky, Shannon Kingston, Victoria Beaule and Aicha El Hammar Castano contributed to this report.
Beachgoers in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Georg Wendt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(LONDON) -- Countries across Europe were on Thursday in the middle of one of the most brutal heat waves within the last 50 years, with temperatures breaking June records in the United Kingdom and France.
Weather officials in the United Kingdom said temperatures on Wednesday rose in some areas to 35.7 degrees Celsius, or about 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit, topping a June 1976 record of 35.6 C.
The Met Office updated its Red Extreme Heat Warning, spreading the warning along most of the southern and western areas of the United Kingdom.
"This is exceptional heat for June with temperature records expected to be broken this week," Met Office Chief Forecaster Matthew Lehnert said in a statement. "Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we’re expecting significant impacts from this heatwave, with health issues likely, even beyond those who are more vulnerable to the heat."
The Met also set Amber Heat Warnings for Friday and Saturday.
Warnings were still under review and constantly being updated, with the Met Office predicting that Friday could be the peak of the heat wave here in the United Kingdom, with temperatures soaring up as high as 100.4 F.
In France the north, west, and half of the southern areas of the country were on Thursday under red heat warnings, under which residents were being told to stay "Absolutely vigilant."
French authorities said on Thursday they expected that the heat to stay in the red for many hours ahead.
The country on Wednesday notched its highest-ever temperature, according to weather officials at Meteo-France, the national weather service. They said the country’s national heat index -- a daily average including regions around the country -- hit 30 C, or about 86 F.
"Another exceptional day is expected in terms of temperatures, with the peak of this historic heatwave anticipated," Meteo-France said in a bulletin on Thursday.
The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower were closing early for a third day in a row.
To stay safe in the heat everyone is being encouraged to stay hydrated, avoid the sun during peak hours, around midday, and staying home to keep cool.
They have recommended keeping curtains, blinds and windows closed during the day and opening windows at night to keep your house as cool as possible.
Rescue worker carry an injured man after an earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — At least 164 people have died and 971 were injured after a pair of powerful quakes rocked Venezuela, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said Thursday, adding that rescue teams are rushing to the hardest-hit areas to free people trapped under rubble.
Wednesday evening’s 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes were among the strongest to strike Venezuela in more than a century and could be felt throughout the region. The country’s main airport was damaged and closed, while buildings were evacuated in places as far away as Brazil’s Amazon, about 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) from Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
Television broadcasts Thursday showed rescue workers using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood. Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles.
Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state, which Rodríguez described as a “disaster zone” and one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings.
Rodríguez said authorities were shifting rescue teams from other parts of the country to La Guaira, which sits north of Caracas on the coast. She said officials were trying to make the most of the daylight hours to speed up efforts to rescue people believed to remain trapped under the rubble.
“Dozens of buildings have collapsed there … and we are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives,” Rodríguez said.
Video shared online appeared to show dozens of people, some lying on the ground and others on hospital beds, being treated outside a hospital in La Guaira.
While Venezuela sits near multiple fault lines, its position straddling the South American and Caribbean plates makes strong earthquakes much less common than in other parts of Latin America.
Rodríguez appealed to businesses to make heavy construction equipment available for rescue operations, adding that search and rescue teams certified by the United Nations were on their way to Venezuela to assist.
Residents fled their homes in panic
During the quakes, people ran from swaying buildings in Caracas, many visibly shocked when they turned back to see destroyed walls that left furniture visible from the street. Columns of dust rose in two typically busy neighborhoods in the capital.
“It started off gently and then gradually grew, and in the end, we all had to leave our houses, go outside and gather together,” Caracas resident Hector Ricci said.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello urged people to remain outside as aftershocks could further damage structures, and many people stayed on the streets for hours, some sitting on the ground hugging pets as dust gathered around them. Others spent the night in parked cars, subway stations and other public places.
Parts of the capital lost power and cellphone coverage, and the earthquakes damaged and closed Simón Bolívar International Airport, the country’s main airport, Rodríguez said.
In Caracas, subway services were suspended and natural gas shut off, she said. Classes will also be canceled for several days, and the Ministry of Education said some school buildings would be used as shelters and donation centers.
Roberto Gamas, another Caracas resident, said the building he was in “shook from side to side. Unreal. The force was incredibly strong.”
The lack of cellphone signal in parts of Venezuela deepened the distress of many families, particularly those among the more than 7.7 million people who have left the country during its protracted crisis and who struggled to reach relatives inside the country.
On Thursday, scores of people took to social media asking for help finding loved ones, posting pictures of missing relatives and their last known location.
Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado, herself in exile, sent wishes on X for “strength, serenity, and solidarity.”
Venezuela was hit twice by large quakes
The U.S. Geological Survey said the first earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.2, hit west of Moron on the Caribbean coast, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Caracas. It had a depth of 22 kilometers (about 14 miles).
The USGS reported a 7.5 magnitude earthquake just a minute later, with a depth of 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) and an epicenter 16 kilometers (10 miles) southwest of Moron.
Several governments offered assistance
Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in an address to the nation late Wednesday. She said the government was creating a $200 million reconstruction fund for hospitals and homes damaged by the earthquakes, and had instructed the economy and finance ministers to oversee the effort.
Offers of help poured in from countries around the world.
U.S. Secretary of State Rubio said in a post on X early Thursday that the United States is “immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”
Rodríguez — who became acting president after an American military operation captured her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, and brought him to the U.S. to stand trial — thanked U.S. President Donald Trump. She said in an X post later that she spoke with Rubio by phone without sharing details. She also expressed thanks to the leaders of various nations who have sent messages of support and offers of help.
Ecuador ordered the delivery of humanitarian aid, and Rodríguez said Qatar, Mexico and El Salvador had already sent rescue personnel.
“We send you all our solidarity and our prayers. Stay strong, Venezuela,” El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, once diametrically opposed to Venezuela’s government, wrote in a post on X.
Earthquakes impact the region
Buildings in Manaus, Belem and Macapa in Brazil’s Amazon were evacuated, according to reports on TV Globo. The quakes also were felt in Colombia’s Caribbean and northeast regions.
The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued several tsunami alerts that were quickly lifted.
While uncommon in Venezuela, earthquakes are frequent along the Pacific coast, including in Mexico and Chile, which both sit along the seismically active tectonic belt known as the Ring of Fire, an area that the USGS says is responsible for 90% of earthquakes.
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Garcia Cano reported from Bogota, Colombia. Associated Press writers Clara Preve in Buenos Aires; Astrid Suarez in Bogota, Colombia; Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo; Anna-Catherine Brigida, Megan Janetsky and India Grant in Mexico City; Cristina Fuentes in Madrid; and Maria Teresa Hernandez in Beijing contributed to this report.
Senator Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, during a hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Photographer: Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) -- Under a newly proposed rule, the U.S. Postal Service will refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand over a list of approved voters to the Trump administration, Postmaster General David Steiner told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Democrats lambasted the proposed policy during the hearing, arguing the rule was unconstitutional and "another backdoor way of trying to influence this election."
"Yes or no -- if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?" asked Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
"Under our proposed regulation, no. We would tell the state that we need the manifest," Steiner said.
The proposed rule puts the Postal Service at the center of President Donald Trump's push to increase federal oversight of elections, though Steiner argued the policy is routine and an attempt to make sure ballots are delivered "securely, efficiently, and accurately."
According to the proposal, states would need to provide to the Postal Service the names, addresses and ballot barcode numbers for individuals to receive a mail-in ballot.
That list of information is less than what's included on a state's voter roll -- which often include voter registration data and other sensitive data -- but in line with an executive order Trump signed in March to increase federal oversight of elections.
At least five lawsuits have challenged that executive order, but some of those cases have stalled because the policy has not yet been enacted. The comment period for that proposed rule is open for the next week.
"It really is trying to help the state make sure that the ballots that they send to the voters actually get there and get to those voters, and so it's strictly a manifest for us to make sure that the right ballots are going to the right people," said Steiner, an attorney who previously served as the CEO of Waste Management.
However, Senate Democrats argued the policy is a veiled attempt to increase federal control over the election.
"Just because President Trump wants to do this does not make it law, doesn't make it right, doesn't make it constitutional. There is certainly a massive difference between general mail requirements and regulating elections," Peters said.
"The U.S. Postal Service is now part of this bigger story of this president desperate to federalize our elections. He has tried every which way to say that if he and his party don't win in these November elections, they were rigged," said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.
When pressed on whether the Postal Service would refuse to send ballots to states that refuse to turn over that information, Steiner repeatedly deflected but acknowledged that under the proposed rule, the Postal Service would withhold the ballots.
"If you don't get Michigan's voter rolls for the general election in November, will you move those ballots in your mailboxes?" asked Slotkin.
"Remember, right now we only have a proposed rule, so there are no new rules," Steiner answered. "We will move those ballots in accordance with whatever rule is in effect at that point in time."
Tom Holland and Zendaya attend the 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' Rome premiere evening photocall at Ponte Sant'Angelo on June 23, 2026, in Rome, Italy. (Franco Origlia/WireImage via Getty Images)
Tom Holland referred to his wife, Zendaya, by an unexpected name at the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere in Rome.
While the pair were talking to different reporters on the red carpet at the premiere, Holland called out to Zendaya to ask her a question, as seen in a video shared by People.
"Maree!" Holland shouted, to which Zendaya responded back, "Yeah?"
Holland then asked her where they were going after the premiere, to which she said, "Giolitti's." Zendaya added more context to the reporter she was speaking with, telling them, "That's where I'm going after this."
Zendaya's full name is Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, meaning Holland used one of her middle names to refer to her on the carpet.
Holland also posted photos of him and Zendaya at the premiere to his Instagram on Tuesday.
The first photo in his carousel is a black-and-white picture of him and Zendaya walking hand-in-hand across the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome. Zendaya is dressed in a vintage Giorgio Armani web dress.
The second photo was taken in color and features the couple looking up at the sky as a Spider-Man: Brand New Day graphic is displayed on Castel Sant'Angelo behind them. Many other black-and-white and color photos follow in the rest of Holland's post.
"When in Rome! Spider-Man Brand New Day," Holland captioned the carousel.
NEW YORK (AP) — Some of New York’s biggest basketball heroes were second-round draft picks.
Like Jalen Brunson, the guy marching through Manhattan with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in his arms last week during a joyous championship parade celebration. And Willis Reed, the guy who limped onto the floor before and during the early minutes of Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals to lift the Knicks to their first championship.
So when the NBA draft resumed on Wednesday night in Brooklyn with the Knicks on the clock with the No. 31 pick, every team had hope of finding someone who can be a key piece of a title team.
They drafted Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton, but had already agreed to trade the rights to the pick to Houston by the time NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced the selection.
Thornton was given a Knicks hat when his name was announced. He was wearing a Rockets one by the time he arrived for his interviews and said he was just happy to get to the NBA, even if it was in Texas and not with the new champions.
“Somebody said I got the wrong hat. I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’” Thornton said. “Then I heard it’s the Houston Rockets. I’m like, no state tax, so that’s even better.”
The first round, which began with Washington selecting AJ Dybantsa, finished late Tuesday night.
The end of it and the second round has become a process of wheeling and dealing, with teams like the Knicks, who traded back from the No. 24 spot and eventually out of the first round entirely, sometimes moving multiple times. That was part of the reason teams wanted to stop doing the entire draft in one night and break it into two, given them more time for evaluation.
That makes things hard for players such as Duke’s Isaiah Evans, who was in the green room at Barclays Center on Tuesday but wasn’t selected. He didn’t return Wednesday to hear his name called with the No. 33 pick that is owned by Minnesota after a trade with Brooklyn.
It’s not as bad for players who weren’t expecting to be selected on the first night or understood patience, something Meleek Thomas said he learned playing for John Calipari at Arkansas.
“The most important lesson I learned from Coach Cal this year was: Your time is coming. Don’t worry about when. Don’t worry about how,” said Thomas, who was selected by Sacramento with the No. 34 pick and dealt to Cleveland.
In a much different NBA with a different draft format, Reed was the No. 8 pick in the 1964 draft, which made him the first pick of the second round. The Hall of Famer went on to lead the Knicks to championships in 1970 and 1973 and was the NBA Finals MVP both times.
Brunson was the No. 33 pick in the 2018 draft, taken early in the second round by the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks signed him as a free agent in 2022 and the franchise has been on the rise ever since, culminating with their five-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs earlier this month when Brunson was MVP of the series.
German guard Jack Kayil, whose rights were acquired by the Knicks with the No. 39 pick, not surprisingly named Brunson as the player he was hoping to learn from.
“We play kind of in a similar position,” Kayil said. “We are also in kind of the same position of the draft. He was also second round. So I think I can learn a lot of stuff, how he started getting into the NBA, into the league, getting in touch with that.”
The Knicks also acquired the rights to Tyler Nickel, the No. 47 pick from Vanderbilt, with their moves.
Among the other well-known names taken in the second round Wednesday were Richie Saunders, Dybantsa’s BYU teammate who was selected at No. 32 by Memphis; Purdue’s Braden Smith, the NCAA’s career assists leader who was taken at No. 38 with a pick belonging to Indiana; Kentucky’s Otega Oweh, with the No. 41 pick acquired by Oklahoma City; and Emanuel Sharp from Houston at No. 45 to Sacramento.
The Wizards also had the 60th and final selection of the draft but dealt it to Milwaukee. The Bucks took Malique Lewis, a forward from Trinidad and Tobago who was playing most recently in Australia.
DENVER (AP) — The usually stoic Darryn Peterson couldn’t mask his feelings after being taken by Utah with the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft on Tuesday night.
His grandfather was crying. His mom was crying. So the Kansas standout got a little emotional, too.
“It was surreal,” Peterson said, “to hear my name.”
Now, the real work begins as Peterson tries to help the Jazz turn the corner inside a deep and competitive Northwest Division. Utah finished 42 games behind Oklahoma City last season — and the Thunder only got bigger (taking Michigan 7-foot-3 center Aday Mara) and acquired more shooting (picking up Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz).
Peterson becomes a complement to emerging Jazz star Keyonte George.
“He’s a really talented player and really hard worker,” Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge said of Peterson on the team’s website. “He’s a culture fit, a talent fit and a game fit with our organization.”
Denver, another team trying to keep up with the Thunder, took UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. at No. 26 on Tuesday night but sent his draft rights to the San Antonio Spurs as part of a deal to acquire more draft assets.
There’s a back story behind that pick, too. Nuggets President Josh Kroenke was caught on camera briefly clapping in the team’s draft room before suddenly holding his arms out.
It looked as if he was mad. Turns out, he was just mystified. The Spurs were using up most of the clock before committing to the pick. The Nuggets were growing more and more concerned that time might run out.
Hence, the look by Kroenke in a video that went viral on social media.
“It was like, ‘Hey, what did they decide?’” Nuggets executive vice president of player personnel Jonathan Wallace said Wednesday night after the draft. “It was one of those type of issues. It wasn’t an internal issue by any means.”
Difficult decisions loom for the Nuggets heading into the summer. Everyone not named Nikola Jokic may be up for trade discussions. The biggest dilemma is how to keep Aaron Gordon healthy and on the court after another injury-riddled season. The biggest decision is what to do about Peyton Watson, the talented, high-flying guard/forward who’s going to command a lucrative contract to stay in town.
“We feel good about where that’s at,” executive vice president of basketball operations Ben Tenzer said. “We hope Peyton’s here a long time.”
Meanwhile, Jokic is in line to sign a supermax extension this summer. Confident that will go as smoothly as possible?
“You’ve heard what he’s said about his happiness here,” Tenzer said. “We feel really comfortable with that relationship.”
Portland fortified its team Tuesday, not through a first-round pick — the Blazers didn’t have one — but by hiring Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as its head coach. He takes over for Tiago Splitter, who left for Chicago. Splitter was the fill-in coach for Chauncey Billups following Billups’ arrest in an alleged gambling scheme.
The Blazers feature a talented core of young players in Deni Avdija, Shaedon Sharpe and Toumani Camara. Damian Lillard will be back after missing last season due to an Achilles injury. Lillard played for the Blazers for the first 11 seasons of his career before spending two seasons with Milwaukee.
Minnesota made a splash on the eve of the draft by trading Julius Randle and a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a three-team deal that also included the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the terms said. The Timberwolves sent the draft rights of the 28th pick — Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson — to the Nets and received the 33rd selection, which was used to take Isaiah Evans, the floor-spacing guard out of Duke.
“You know what your team needs,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “So it’s a balance of being able to fill those needs but also be able to get the best talent available.”
Denver Nuggets
Needs: Dependable depth at a reduced price given their cap restraints. Last season, they brought in Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. on friendly one-year deals.
Who they drafted: At No. 35, the Nuggets went with Arkansas forward Trevon Brazile. The 6-10, 226-pound Brazile projects as a rim runner and lob threat. Denver went with forward Bryce Hopkins out of St. John’s with the 49th pick.
NBA comparison: Obi Toppin of Indiana for Brazile and Charlotte’s Grant Williams for Hopkins.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Needs: A point guard and backup center depth behind Rudy Gobert.
Who they drafted: Minnesota acquired the draft rights of Evans, who had a seat in the green room Tuesday — an honor designated for likely first-round picks. The Timberwolves took Trey Kaufman-Renn, a forward from Purdue, with the 59th pick.
NBA comparison: Evans resembles Brandon Ingram of Toronto, while Kaufman-Renn is likened to Montrezl Harrell.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Needs: They’re already loaded. But maybe even more height and 3-point shooting because, well, a team can never have enough.
Who they drafted: Mara and then moved up in a trade with the Grizzlies, who selected Stirtz at No. 16 and dealt his draft rights to the Thunder for two second-round picks. The Thunder selected Louisville guard Ryan Conwell with the 37th pick, before reportedly sending him to Miami for pick No. 41 (Kentucky guard Otega Oweh) and cash.
NBA comparison: Mara resembles 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein. With Stirtz, it’s Payton Pritchard. Oweh is a lot like Thunder guard Lu Dort.
Portland Trail Blazers
Needs: Stability. New Blazers owner Tom Dundon has ruffled some feathers by letting Splitter go and laying off numerous members of the staff.
Who they drafted: None.
Utah Jazz
Needs: When the Jazz can’t get out and run, they get bogged down in the half-court so they need more outside shooters.
Who they drafted: Peterson.
NBA comparison: Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
___
AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writers Anne M. Peterson and Dave Campbell, and AP freelancers Matthew Coles and Tyler Mason contributed to this report.
MIAMI (AP) — Otto López homered, Xavier Edwards had an RBI single in the fifth and the Miami Marlins beat the Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday.
López’s two-run shot in the eighth off reliever Cole Winn gave him a 33rd multi-hit game and raised his major league-leading batting average to .340. López also had a single.
The Marlins improved to a major league-best 16-5 in June. Miami is 42-39 at the halfway point and has won five consecutive home series.
Edwards snapped a 1-1 tie with his RBI against Jacob deGrom (6-5). Owen Caissie hit a leadoff single and Leo Jimenez followed with a walk. Both advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Edwards then hit a grounder to right that scored Caissie.
John King (5-1) pitched an inning of relief for the win. Anthony Bender and Michael Petersen combined for seven outs before Pete Fairbanks closed around Joc Pederson’s leadoff homer in the ninth for his 12th save.
DeGrom struck out eight over six innings of two-run-ball. The right-hander allowed four hits and walked two. He ended his outing by striking out the side.
Wyatt Langford put Texas ahead 1-0 with a solo homer in the fourth. He drove the first pitch from Miami starter Eury Pérez over the wall in center for his seventh homer.
The Marlins tied it in the bottom half on Griffin Conine’s RBI double.
Pérez, who allowed three hits, was on a limited pitch count in his first appearance since coming off the injured list and his outing ended after 4 2/3 innings and 68 pitches. The right-hander had not pitched since he sustained a right thigh strain against Toronto on May 27.
Marlins catcher Brian Navarreto threw out two base runners after successful video appeals overturned original safe calls.
Up next
Rangers: Begin a four-game series at Toronto on Thursday with LHP MacKenzie Gore (4-6, 4.07) scheduled to start the opener.
Marlins: Have not announced a starter of the opener of a three-game series at St. Louis on Friday.
TORONTO (AP) — Joey Loperfido scored the tiebreaking run on Jeff Hoffman’s errant pickoff throw in the eighth inning and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Wednesday night for their sixth victory in eight games.
Loperfido tripled off the center field wall with one out and scored when Hoffman’s pickoff throw sailed past third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. Okamoto was standing well wide of the base.
Loperfido beat his former team Tuesday with a tiebreaking home run in the 11th inning of Houston’s 9-7 win.
Hoffman (5-5) lost for the first time since May 30 at Baltimore.
Isaac Paredes had an RBI double in the first and Jeremy Peña’s infield single scored an insurance run in the ninth as the Astros won with only four hits.
Steven Okert (1-0) pitched one inning for the win and Josh Hader finished for his sixth save in six chances.
Toronto’s Luis Urías hit a one-out single off Bryan King in the eighth and advanced on a passed ball. The threat ended when Urías got doubled off second base after Cam Smith made a leaping catch at the wall on George Springer’s deep drive.
Houston’s Mike Burrows allowed one run and two hits in six innings. Nathan Lukes hit a one-out homer in the first but Toronto didn’t score again.
Lukes’ homer was his third.
Toronto starter Trey Yesavage allowed one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings. Yesavage threw a career-high 105 pitches. He walked five and struck out five.
Up next
Astros RHP Tatsuya Imai (4-3, 6.15 ERA) was scheduled to start at Detroit on Thursday against Tigers RHP Troy Melton (4-0, 2.56). Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (4-5, 4.04 ERA) was set to start Thursday against Texas RHP MacKenzie Gore (4-6, 4.07).
Isaiah Evans arrived at the NBA draft expecting to become a first-round pick after a two-year stay at Duke. Instead, he sat through a difficult Tuesday night in the green room without hearing his name called by the league commissioner to join him on the stage in New York.
That means the floor-spacing guard will join Arkansas guard Meleek Thomas and North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar on the list of top talents still available entering Wednesday night’s second round.
Evans had a seat in the green room — an honor designated for likely first-round picks — and was shown on the ESPN broadcast at a table featuring a gold basketball sporting his name. He wore a dark double-breasted suit featuring millions of dollars in diamonds between a broach and a chain, according to the New York Post.
He was considered a first-round prospect before he elevated his game last year, averaging 15 points while shooting 38% on 3s in two seasons. He had a highlight moment with a clutch final-minute winner to beat reigning national champion Florida, and the most pressing concern was a need to add strength to a 6-foot-6, 186-pound frame to handle physical play.
Unfortunately, Evans was left waiting.
Here’s a look at other top prospects available when the two-day draft resumes with the NBA champion New York Knicks on the clock:
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Thomas was the No. 2 scorer (15.6) for the Razorbacks as wingman to eventual No. 7 overall pick Darius Acuff Jr.
Notably, the 6-3, 190-pound freshman guard shook off a slow start from outside to shoot 47.9% from 3-point range (56 of 117) after Christmas, a 25-game stretch spanning the Razorbacks’ run to the SEC Tournament title and the Sweet 16.
Henri Veesaar, North Carolina
The fourth-year junior from Estonia had a breakout year (17.0 points, 8.7 rebounds) for the Tar Heels after transferring from Arizona.
Veesaar has a desired skillset by NBA execs: a big man (6-11, 227) with range. He shot 42.6% on 3s (40 of 94) at UNC, coming after shooting just 31.6% (19 of 60) from behind the arc in two seasons at Arizona. He earned “Excellent” rating from Synergy for his catch-and-shoot jumper and runs the floor well.
Richie Saunders, BYU
The 6-5, 205-pound senior wing is known for his outside shot after shooting 37.6% on 3s last year and 43.2% as a junior. Synergy rates his jumper as “Excellent” (89th percentile), with spot-ups accounting for 35.2% of his possessions last year.
The most pressing concern for Saunders has been his recovery from a knee injury (torn ACL) suffered in February.
Baba Miller, Cincinnati
The senior forward from Spain has intriguing length with a 6-11, 208-pound frame featuring a nearly 7-2 wingspan. He was one of eight combine players with a standing reach of 9-3 or better.
Miller played at Florida State and Florida Atlantic before averaging 13.0 points and ranking ninth nationally in rebounding (10.3) with the Bearcats.
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
The 6-3, 208-pound redshirt senior thrived in a system built around defense and toughness under veteran coach Kelvin Sampson. The guard averaged a career-best 15.5 points and made the Big 12’s all-defensive team last year.
He also shot 38.1% on 3s over the past three seasons as a full-time starter.
Jack Kayil, Alba Berlin (Germany)
The 6-5, 185-pound combo guard is an international prospect who originally signed with Gonzaga.
He averaged 12.5 points and 3.4 assists in Germany’s Bundesliga top league last season. He worked as the ballhandler in pick-and-rolls on 33.9% of his possessions last season, according to Synergy.
Braden Smith, Purdue
The senior is an elite playmaker who was a second-team AP All-American and broke the Division I career assists record held by former Duke star Bobby Hurley since 1993.
Smith ranked second nationally in assists as a sophomore (7.5), junior (8.7) and senior (8.8). And he’s a career 38.5% 3-point shooter. The major concern with Smith is size; he was the shortest (5-10) and lightest (167) player measured at the combine.
Others of note:
— Ryan Conwell: The 6-4, 215-pound senior guard averaged 17.3 points over his last three seasons, including a career-best scoring average (18.8) last year as a second-team AP all-ACC pick at Louisville. He has 347 career 3-pointers made.
— Bruce Thornton: The 6-0, 223-pound senior guard is Ohio State’s all-time scoring leader. He averaged 19.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists while shooting 55.4% last year, and he shot 41.2% on 3s over the last two seasons.
— Felix Okpara: The 6-10, 237-pound senior from Tennessee projects as a rim-running lob threat and defender. He was named to the SEC’s all-defensive team, has a 7-2 wingspan and ranked fourth at the combine for standing reach (9-4).
— Trevon Brazile: The 6-10, 226-pound fifth-year senior from Arkansas also projects as a rim runner and lob threat. He averaged 13.0 points, 1.6 blocks and 1.5 steals last year. He also ranked third at the combine in standing vertical leap (36.0 inches) and tied for fifth in max vertical (41.5) to go with a nearly 7-4 wingspan.
— Ugonna Onyenso: The 6-11, 237-pound senior center from Virginia could be worth a flier as an elite rim protector with a nearly 7-5 wingspan. Notably, he hounded top pro prospect Cameron Boozer of Duke to 13 points on 3-for-17 shooting while blocking four of his shots in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title game.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL took the first step toward expansion in Texas earlier this week, agreeing to terms with billionaire Dan Friedkin and his family to explore the feasibility of putting a franchise in Houston or Austin.
Far enough from the Dallas Stars, who relocated from Minnesota in 1993, a new team would not interfere with their territorial rights. And the league has shown no fear of adding one team at a time, so No. 33 does not have to come with No. 34.
“Symmetry I don’t think should necessarily govern expansion,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said Tuesday. “You expand if you think it makes sense and enhances what the league has.”
What is behind the NHL’s interest in Texas
Money is the obvious answer. Bettman said the total investment of the project would be some $3.5 billion, which would include expansion fees paid to established owners along with the cost of building a new arena.
The Houston Rockets’ arena downtown is publicly owned but controlled by team owner Tilman Fertitta’s Clutch City Sports and Entertainment group. The home of the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars, in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park, has a capacity of 8,000 that is a little over half the size of the NHL’s smallest current rink (Winnipeg).
“I would be surprised if the NHL would be OK with an expansion team that does not have a new arena,” said Brian Mills, an associate professor at the University of Texas who teaches courses on sports economics and strategy. “The revenue potential with the luxury boxes and the way that they set those up and the money that they like to extract from the local cities is way too large to pass up.”
They are also huge markets. Houston at nearly 2.4 million is the fourth-most-populated U.S. city; Austin at just over 1 million is in the top 12.
“Obviously it makes sense if you’re a sports league to have a franchise in the nation’s fifth-largest metro area and one that is growing rapidly,” said Holy Cross professor Victor Matheson, an expert in sports economics. “Houston obviously makes sense in general as a destination for any league.”
Austin is smaller but has doubled its population since the mid-1990s and has seen an infusion of people over the past five years. Only eight of the NHL’s existing markets are bigger.
“It’s becoming more and more of a tech city, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s more hockey fans here than there used to be,” Mills said. “I would imagine there’s some market for the NHL here in Austin, particularly more than when it was a sleepy, small town capital of Texas 30 years ago.”
History of hockey in Houston and Austin
When hockey was picking up in popularity in the 1960s and ‘70s and the NHL went from six teams to 18, the rival World Hockey Association was founded and Houston got a franchise when the one in Dayton, Ohio, failed to get off the ground.
The Aeros’ inaugural season was in 1972-78, and they were best known for “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe playing for them along with sons Mark and Marty. They won four Avco World Trophies as WHA champions before folding.
An AHL team using the same name existed in Houston from 1994-2013. The Texas Stars have played in Austin since ’09.
“There’s some interest of hockey,” University of Houston economics professor Steven G. Craig said. “Houston is full of immigrants from around the country and around the world. And Austin is sort of similar in the sense of a pretty heterogeneous population.”
Pros and cons of a Houston or Austin NHL franchise
Growing the sport in another so-called non-traditional spot is a big benefit. Smashing successes in places like Las Vegas and Tampa, Florida, show what hockey can do across the Sun Belt when strong ownership is involved.
“Southern cities have been doing pretty well now these days in the NHL: the Lightning and the Panthers,” Mills said of the two teams in Florida. “You’ve got some pretty good hockey teams after some pretty miserable failures with some earlier expansion to the South.”
Abandoning the second try in Atlanta (the Thrashers from 2000-11) was more a failure of ownership than the market. The same could be said in Arizona, where a revolving door of owners led to arena miscues and eventually the Coyotes being sold and moved to Salt Lake City in 2024 to become the Utah Mammoth.
A 33rd team also means 20-23 more NHL players and hopefuls in the minors. The changing landscape of hockey development at the junior and college levels has the potential to churn more talent through the pipeline in North America than ever before, along with players coming from Europe.
“You do have a pretty big pool of players,” Matheson said. “I’m not particularly worried about diluting the talent there because I think there’s a lot of skill.”
What’s next and where the 34th team may be
After this six-month exploratory phase is complete, recent history suggests a season-ticket drive would be one of the subsequent steps. Ticket drives validated interest that led to the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken.
The Board of Governors would need to approve moving forward in the process. No vote has yet been held, though the executive committee supported exploring Houston and Austin.
And while the NHL is comfortable with unbalanced Eastern and Western conferences, getting to 34 teams seems inevitable if it goes to 33. Bettman said the board on Tuesday was updated on situations in Atlanta and Arizona, and it would be no surprise if one of those places got another crack at it.
Residents swim in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz as a small motorboat passes cargo ships and other commercial vessels offshore near Bandar Abbas, Iran, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Liberian oil tanker made its way out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday despite threats to shipping from Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and using a new route close to Oman’s shore that has been promoted by a U.N. maritime agency.
The transit of the Stoic Warrior and the threats come as tensions rise between Iran and the United States over the terms of their interim accord aimed at permanently ending the Iran war.
From getting ships through the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf to the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the two nations are increasingly debating the terms of the deal signed last week.
Through the signing of the memorandum of understanding, the U.S. and Iran agreed to a 60-day period to iron out these and other details. Until that happens — during private talks — leaders from both countries will also continue to negotiate in public, raising the risks of derailing the shaky ceasefire in the region.
On a trip to the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke Thursday with Gulf Arab officials in Bahrain, the island kingdom in the Persian Gulf home to the Navy’s 5th Fleet, trying to assuage their concerns.
The flareup of fighting in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah has threatened the deal. On Wednesday, Israel launched an airstrike that killed two people in southern Lebanon, the country’s state-run news agency said. It was Israel’s first airstrike on Lebanon since the latest ceasefire took effect on Saturday.
Tanker sails through Strait of Hormuz
The Stoic Warrior — signaling that it planned to transit the Strait of Hormuz — took off early Thursday morning along the coast of the United Arab Emirates and then Oman.
The vessel then traveled around Oman’s Musandam Peninsula fairly close to the shore, part of a route that Oman laid out alongside the International Maritime Organization, an agency of the United Nations that oversees shipping at sea.
North of the route is the Traffic Separation Scheme, the route in the center of the strait that for decades ships moved through freely. The route is used for transport of about a fifth of all the world’s oil and natural gas.
However, there has been the report of at least one mine sighted in the water after the Guard said that it mined the passage during the war that started on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The threat of mines shut off the route.
The naval arm of the Revolutionary Guard, apparently reacting to the new IMO’s route, issued an angry warning Thursday, carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“A few hours ago, without notice or coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, some authorities announced a new route for ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, which is unacceptable and completely dangerous,” the Guard said.
“It is hereby notified to all that the only authorized route for passing through the Strait of Hormuz is the one declared by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Iranian force said. “Vessel traffic outside these routes is extremely dangerous and prohibited.”
“Violators will be dealt with,” it added, without elaborating.
There were no immediate reports of any incidents in the strait as the Stoic Warrior passed. Several ships trailed behind it, according to ship-tracking data.
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, warned Iran on Thursday over trying to impede the strait or put fees on vessels plying its waters.
“New geopolitical facts cannot be imposed on the Arab Gulf states as a result of a treacherous aggression against them,” Gargash wrote on X. “It sows new seeds of discord and conflict for the future. And this is precisely what applies to the Strait of Hormuz.”
Rubio holds talks in Bahrain
The U.S. secretary of state met with foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, trying to assure them their interests would be protected in any agreement reached with Iran, including when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz.
“We want to ensure that in any decisions that are made throughout this negotiating process, the interest of our partners and our allies in the region are always taken into account,” Rubio said. “There is no part in this deal that’s undertaken that in any way undermines the security, the stability of the prosperity of any of our partners in the Gulf region.”
The GCC countries have expressed reservations about the limitation of the U.S.-Iran deal signed last week, including conflicting claims over the strait and the fact that the memorandum of understanding does not specifically cover Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile programs.
Thursday’s meeting in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, came ahead of an expected meeting in Oman between the GCC and Iran to discuss maritime security and safety in the strait.
Speaking on behalf of the GCC, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani thanked the U.S. for its support, saying that because of the agreement, “today we see a glimmer of hope for our region” but stressed that Iran must comply with its commitments.
“While this progress is encouraging, it is critically important that Iran adheres to its obligations,” al-Zayani said.
Lebanon remains a flashpoint
Israel’s military said on Thursday that a reservist soldier was killed and another hurt in southern Lebanon, where troops are occupying swaths of the country. At least 37 soldiers have been killed in Lebanon or northern Israel during the fighting, as well one civilian defense contractor. Two civilians in northern Israel have also been killed.
Over 4,000 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes since this latest Israel-Hezbollah war began in March, two days after the Iran war started and when the Lebanese militant group fired at Israel.
Iran has insisted that fighting in Lebanon be stopped and that Israel give up the land it occupies there to reach a permanent deal with the U.S. on the Mideast war. Israel insists it must maintain a freehand to counter Hezbollah attacks as pressure from the U.S. on its campaign grows.
___
Lee reported from Manama, Bahrain. Associated Press writer Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
People walk past a monitor showing Japan’s Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mostly higher Thursday, led by tech-driven gains in Japan and South Korea as major computer chipmakers’ stocks surged following upbeat earnings reports from U.S. giants like Qualcomm and Micron Technology.
Oil prices slipped closer to where they were before the war with Iran began.
Qualcomm’s share price surged nearly 7% in afterhours trading after the company announced it had raised its forecast for revenue this year to $40 billion from $22 billion. It also announced a new computer chip for data centers called Dragonfly C1000 CPU that Meta plans to use.
Micron Technology’s shares jumped 18.5% in afterhours trading after it upgraded its forecast and exceeded analysts’ estimates.
The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.8%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% higher.
Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5% to 24,859.99. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2% to 8,398.21 and Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.1% to 10,473.69.
In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index surged 4.6% to a record close of 72,366.34 as traders snapped up shares in technology companies. Chipmaker Tokyo Electron’s shares gained 7.8%, while chip testing equipment maker Advantest’s shares soared 15%.
South Korea’s benchmark, the Kospi, hit a new record, surging 5.4% to 8,930.30 after briefly topping 9,000. Samsung Electronics’ shares gained 5.3% and SK Hynix leaped 13%.
Elsewhere in Asia, gains were more modest.
Taiwan’s Taiex climbed 0.5% and the Sensex in India was up 0.7%.
The Shanghai Composite index picked up 0.2% to 4,120.28, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.4% to 23,090.27.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.7% to 8,748.70.
On Wednesday, stocks wavered to a mixed close on Wall Street as losses for several tech giants including Microsoft weighed on the market. The S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is less weighted with tech stocks, rose 10.4%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%.
Microsoft lost 2.3% and Oracle slumped 4.6%.
Many large tech companies have been behind Wall Street’s record-setting run throughout the year, but analysts have warned their valuations may have become stretched.
Google’s parent company Alphabet slipped 0.2%. The company is replacing Verizon in the Dow on Monday. Its inclusion in the S&P 500 means more to investors, however, because 401(k) accounts are much more likely to include an S&P 500 index fund than anything tied to the Dow.
Alphabet will become the fifth Magnificent 7 tech company to join the Dow. The others are Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia.
Oil companies had some of the biggest losses as prices fell while the U.S. and Iran negotiate a possible end to their war. Exxon Mobil fell 2% and Chevron lost 2.6%. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.8% to $73.87 a barrel. It has been trading below $80 in recent days but is still above the roughly $70 per barrel it was trading at in late February before the war began.
U.S. crude prices fell 3.9% to $70.34 a barrel.
Early Thursday, Brent was down 0.8% at $73.32 a barrel, while U.S. benchmark crude lost 0.5% to $69.88 a barrel.
Some of the bigger winners on Wall Street included homebuilders following approval of legislation beneficial to the industry. KB Home surged 16.7% and D.R. Horton jumped 6.7%.
The Federal Reserve will get an update on inflation later Thursday, when its preferred measure for prices is released. Economists expect the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, or PCE, to show that prices rose 4.1% in May. That would be the highest level in three years.
Inflation has been rising as tariffs raise costs for many goods. It worsened as the war pushed energy and shipping prices higher and that impact is expected to linger even as oil and gasoline prices fall.
In other dealings early Thursday, the U.S. dollar rose to 161.81 Japanese yen from 161.79 yen. The euro rose to $1.1362 from $1.1359.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – A giraffe named Gracie is missing in Texas, and the search for her has become a tall order.
Gracie, who is about 3 years old, has been missing for nearly two weeks after escaping her enclosure at Cedar Hollow Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, said Vic Jones, who owns the remote property about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of San Antonio. He said Wednesday that Gracie had wandered into a part of the privately owned preserve that other giraffes previously avoided.
Jones said he has sent up helicopters to look for Gracie, a few sightings have trickled in, and a $5,000 reward is on the table.
But the giraffe, which stands roughly the height of a tree, hasn’t turned up.
“She wound up going up and feeding in an area on the hillside and the rocky ledges that none of the other giraffes had ever gone on before,” Jones said. “And when she came down off of there, she came down on the wrong side of the gate.”
The ranch is in rural Real County, where its roughly 2,700 residents were put on alert to be on the lookout for a missing giraffe. Jones said the search area is extremely remote, and the likelihood of Gracie encountering any humans is low.
“People are not in danger of her because she’s not around people,” Jones said. ‘She’s out in very, very rough, heavily wooded lands.”
The Texas Hill Country has one of the largest concentrations of exotic captive animals in the country. Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson said the mild climate and rugged terrain seems to serve as a good stand-in for most of the animals’ native African environments.
He rattled off a list of animals that have gone missing over the years, especially after floods, but said this was his first giraffe.
“I’ve had wildebeests, I’ve had water buffalo, I’ve had monkeys, I’ve had zebras, all go missing,” Johnson said. “Sometimes we recover them, and sometimes we don’t.”
While the middle of Texas is not a giraffe’s native environment, Jones said Gracie should be able to find plenty of leaves and other vegetation to eat. He said other animals were not likely to bother her.
Jones said he initially had helicopters searching an area of about 7,500 acres (3,000 hectares) with no luck. A few days later, there was a report that Gracie was spotted to the south.
But by the time they could search the area, Jones said, she was already gone.
“We’re always two three days late for where the information is coming from, so that makes it tough,” Jones said.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas would make Bible stories required reading for more than 5 million public school students under a proposal that has reignited debate over widening efforts in the U.S. to put more religion in classrooms.
A final vote by the Republican-controlled Texas State Board of Education on whether to approve the plan is set for Friday. Last year Texas became the largest state to require every classroom to display the Ten Commandments.
The proposed list has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that it violates the constitutional separation of church, lacks diversity and favors Christianity over other religions. Supporters say Judeo-Christian traditions were fundamental to the nation’s founding and that should be reflected in the public school curriculum.
Here’s what to know about the proposal and the broader fight over religion in public schools:
Republicans and Trump have pushed more religion into classrooms
President Donald Trump has pledged to protect and expand religious expression in public schools nationwide, and Texas — a red state that is home to about one in 10 of all U.S. public school students — often sets the agenda.
In 2023, Texas became the first state to allow the hiring of chaplains to counsel students, and the following year, the board narrowly approved an optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools. Last year, Republican lawmakers required public schools to display the Ten Commandments, a measure recently upheld by a federal appeals court.
Texas has about 5.5 million public school students from kindergarten through high school. If approved by the board, the required reading list would take effect in 2030.
“We need to focus on what our nation was founded on and not apologize for that,” Susan Perez, founder of Citizens for Education Reform, told the education board during testimony this week. “It is the truth and we should not be afraid.”
List requires Bible readings from elementary to high school
Picture-book stories for elementary students including “Noah’s Ark,” “David and Goliath” and “Daniel and the Lion’s Den” are on the required reading list. By fourth grade, students would encounter passages about Jesus in the New Testament.
By middle school, students would be expected to read several passages about Jesus, including passages from his most famous sermon, and another where he instructs people to cast aside earthly anxiety and seek the kingdom of God. Another would connect a reading from the Book of Lamentations and its themes of the destruction of Jerusalem with readings about the Holocaust.
In high school, students would read the parable of the prodigal son, portions of the Book of Job, and the story of Adam and Eve.
Some education observers said Texas may be the first state to enact a required reading list, with the added layer of mandated religious text.
Antero Garcia, president of the National Council of Teachers of English and a Stanford University professor, said he doesn’t know of any other state that has such a list. Educators at the district and school level usually choose what texts their students will read, Garcia said.
Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program, said she believes such a mandated reading list would be “unique” to Texas.
“I think there’s lots of state lists that exist that are like advised readings, suggested readings,” she said.
Critics say the proposal favors Christianity over other religions
The required readings rely heavily on the King James Bible, one of the most popular translations, and more recent evangelical translations that critics argue lean too heavily on Christian interpretations of the texts.
Other critics question whether religious stories should be taught at all in schools attended by thousands of children of Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and other faiths, and others who identify as atheist or agnostic.
“I do think that it’s disturbing that there are no texts from other religious traditions that are included,” said Frank Strong, an English and journalism teacher and co-founder of the student advocacy group Texas Freedom to Read.
ANGELINA COUNTY (KETK) — A Lufkin man was pronounced dead on Monday afternoon after his vehicle reportedly drove off U.S. Highway 59 and into the Neches River, officials said.
According to a preliminary report from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the crash occurred at around 1:43 p.m. near the Polk and Angelina County line. A 2022 Ford Bronco was traveling north on the highway before reportedly traveling off the road, down an embankment and into the Neches River.
Mount Pleasant ISD mourns 2 students killed in car crash
DPS identified the driver as 71-year-old Theodore Fajen III of Lufkin, who was pronounced dead on the scene by a justice of the peace.
The investigation remains ongoing and no information is available at this time, DPS said.
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is drifting in mixed trading Thursday after several artificial-intelligence stocks veered back up the roller coaster, while Apple dropped after hiking prices on many of its products.
OVERTON – The Texas Department of Public Safety reports that a single-vehicle collision in Overton on Thursday morning has left one person dead. According to officials, the collision occurred on State Highway 323 close to County Road 125 at around 6:00 a.m. No further information regarding the collision has been made public as of yet. The Overton Police Department is advising people to take a different route and stay away from the area. Additionally, they requested that people offer prayers for the affected individuals and their families.
