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Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship, rejecting Trump’s proposed limits

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The justices relied on a long-settled understanding of the 14th Amendment, adopted after the Civil War, and more recent federal laws in ruling that anyone born in the country, with very limited exceptions, is a citizen.

The Republican president’s restrictions had been blocked by several lower courts and had not taken effect anywhere in the U.S.

During arguments in April, both conservative and liberal justices questioned the order’s legality in a momentous case that was magnified by Trump’s unprecedented attendance in the courtroom.

The case framed another test of Trump’s assertions of executive power that defy long-standing precedent for a court with a conservative majority and a robust view of presidential power that has largely ruled in his favor. In the notable exceptions when the court has not, Trump has responded with starkly personal criticisms of the justices.

The justices ruled on Trump’s appeal of a lower-court ruling from New Hampshire that struck down the citizenship restrictions.

The birthright citizenship order, which Trump signed on the first day of his second term, is part of his administration’s broad immigration crackdown.

Birthright citizenship was the first Trump immigration-related policy to reach the court for a final ruling. The justices previously struck down global tariffs Trump had imposed under an emergency powers law that had never been used that way.

Trump reacted furiously to the late February tariffs decision, saying he was ashamed of the justices who ruled against him and calling them unpatriotic.

He also seemed to recognize the court was likely to rule against him on birthright citizenship, too, using his Truth Social platform to criticize “dumb judges and justices” and wealthy pregnant women from China and elsewhere who come to the U.S. to give birth so their newborns will have American citizenship.

Trump’s order would have upended widely held views that the 14th Amendment confers citizenship on everyone born in the U.S., excluding only the children of foreign diplomats and those born to a foreign occupying force.

The amendment was intended to ensure that Black people, including former slaves, had citizenship, though the Citizenship Clause is written more broadly. “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside,” it reads.

In a series of decisions, lower courts have struck down Trump’s executive order as illegal. The decisions have invoked the high court’s 1898 ruling in Wong Kim Ark, which held that the U.S.-born child of Chinese nationals was a citizen.

The Trump administration argued that the common view of citizenship is wrong, asserting that children of noncitizens are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and therefore are not entitled to citizenship.

More than one-quarter of a million babies born in the U.S. each year would have been affected by the executive order, according to research by the Migration Policy Institute and Pennsylvania State University’s Population Research Institute.

While Trump has largely focused on illegal immigration in his rhetoric and actions, the birthright citizenship restrictions also would have applied to people who are legally in the United States, including students and applicants for green cards, or permanent resident status.

Supreme Court upholds state bans on transgender girls in girls’ sports

The U.S. Supreme Court building stands in Washington, D.C., U.S. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

(WASHINGTON) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state bans on transgender girls from participating in girls' and women's competitive sports, reversing a pair of lower court decisions that had blocked the bans as violations of Title IX and the 14th Amendment.

The 6-3 decision came from Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The ruling in a pair of cases from West Virginia and Idaho effectively upholds laws in those two states, plus 27 others that block trans girls from teams consistent with their gender identity.

The decision marks the first time the high court has weighed in on the heated national debate over transgender athletes.

The court's ruling is a major setback for the estimated 122,000 transgender American teenagers who participate in high school sports, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA.

For trans teens and their families, the dispute has involved a matter of immutable identity and equal opportunity.

For many states and top U.S. athletic organizations, including the U.S. Olympic Committee and NCAA, the inclusion of trans athletes has been seen as creating an unfair and unsafe playing field.

The competitive advantage boys and men have physically over girls and women has been well established in physically demanding sports by medical research and serves as a primary basis for distinctions between the sexes in athletics.

Studies have shown testosterone produced during male puberty does lead to more muscle mass, larger hearts and lungs, greater body height and longer limbs on average for boys and men, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.

Many transgender teens who have received gender-affirming medical treatment from a young age argue that they lack any physiological advantage because they have not undergone male puberty.

Twenty-one states allow transgender girls to compete on girls' sports teams, including California and New York, which have laws explicitly protecting the right of trans girls to play.

Becky Pepper Jackson, the only known openly transgender athlete in West Virginia in any sport, sued her state in a bid to continue competing on her high school track team where she throws discus and shot put. Jackson recently won the state championship in girls shot put.

"I've been a girl forever, and playing on the guys' team is going backwards," she told ABC News in an interview last year.

When West Virginia's law takes effect, she will no longer be allowed to participate in girls competitive sports leagues. Competing with boys, she said, would "go against who I am."

Becky, who has openly identified as a girl since third grade, said she has never undergone male puberty, thanks to puberty-blocking medication.

Idaho college student Lindsay Hecox, a former track and cross-country runner who was barred from trying out for her school teams, sued over her state's ban in 2020. Last year, she asked the Supreme Court to drop her case because she no longer wished to compete in sports and didn't want to be in the spotlight. However, Idaho fought to keep the case alive.

Lower courts concluded separately that the state bans discriminate "on the basis of sex" in violation of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that has promoted equal opportunities for women and girls in athletics, and the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority reversed those decisions and reinstated the laws.

Last year, the same majority upheld a Tennessee law banning some gender-affirming medical treatments for transgender minors, rejecting claims that the law discriminated "on the basis of sex" and saying that states should have leeway to regulate health care in an area of scientific uncertainty.

In 2020, however, the high court concluded in a landmark decision that a Michigan transgender woman fired by her employer for being transgender was discriminated against "on the basis of sex" under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Justice Neil Gorsuch explained in his majority opinion at the time that her termination was "for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex."

Sixty-nine percent of Americans believe transgender girls should only be allowed to play on boys' teams, consistent with their gender assigned at birth, according to a June 2025 Gallup survey.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Supreme Court upholds state laws banning transgender girls and women from school athletic teams

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams, in another setback for transgender people.

The court’s conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled against transgender Americans in the past year, ruled that state bans in Idaho and West Virginia don’t violate the Constitution or the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

More than two dozen other Republican-led states have adopted bans on female transgender athletes, and the decision seems certain to extend to them as well.

Left unresolved by the outcome are lawsuits challenging state laws and regulations in Connecticut, California and elsewhere that permit transgender athletes to compete consistent with their gender identity.

Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 16-year-old high school sophomore in Bridgeport, West Virginia, has been taking puberty-blocking medication, has publicly identified as a girl since age 8 and has been issued a West Virginia birth certificate recognizing her as female. She is the only transgender person who has sought to compete in girls sports in West Virginia.

Pepper-Jackson has progressed from a back-of-the-pack cross-country runner in middle school to statewide champion in the shot put. She beat the second-place finisher by two feet in last month’s West Virginia championship meet.

In the Idaho case, Lindsay Hecox sued over the state’s first-in-the-nation ban for the chance to try out for the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State University in Idaho. She didn’t make either squad because “she was too slow,” her lawyer, Kathleen Hartnett, told the court during arguments in January, but she competed in club-level soccer and running.

Prominent women in sports have weighed in on both sides. Tennis champion Martina Navratilova, swimmers Summer Sanders and Donna de Varona and beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings are supporting the state bans. Soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn and basketball players Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart back the transgender athletes.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled LGBTQ people are protected by a landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace, finding that “sex plays an unmistakable role” in employers’ decisions to punish transgender people for traits and behavior they otherwise tolerate.

But last year, the six conservative justices on the nine-member court declined to apply the same sort of analysis when they upheld state bans on gender-affirming care for transgender minors.

The states supporting the prohibitions on transgender athletes argued there is no reason to extend the ruling barring workplace discrimination to Title IX.

Idaho’s law, state Solicitor General Alan Hurst said, is “necessary for fair competition because, where sports are concerned, men and women are obviously not the same.”

Lawyers for Pepper-Jackson argued that such distinctions generally make sense but that their client has none of those advantages because of the unique circumstances of her early transition. In Hecox’s case, her lawyers wanted the court to dismiss the case because she had forsworn trying to play on women’s teams.

NCAA president Charlie Baker told Congress in 2024 that he was aware of only 10 transgender athletes out of more than half a million students on college teams. But despite the small numbers, the issue has taken on outsize importance.

Baker’s NCAA and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committees banned transgender women from women’s sports after President Donald Trump, a Republican, signed an executive order aimed at barring their participation.

The public generally is supportive of the limits. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll conducted in October 2025 found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favored requiring transgender children and teenagers to compete only on sports teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth, not the gender they identify with, while about 2 in 10 were “strongly” or “somewhat” opposed and about one-quarter did not have an opinion.

About 2.1 million adults, or 0.8%, and 724,000 people ages 13 to 17, or 3.3%, identify as transgender in the U.S., according to the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.

Ukraine hits Moscow satellite center in large overnight drone attack

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the G7 summit on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Isabel Infantes - Pool/Getty Images)

(LONDON) -- Ukraine struck a satellite communications center in the Moscow region in an aerial attack on Tuesday, Kyiv said, as Moscow claimed to have shot down hundreds of drones launched into its territory overnight.

Ukrainian President Volodymry Zelenskyy said Ukraine struck the site, the "Dubna" space communications center, for the second time.

"This is a specialized satellite communications facility used, among other things, for intelligence gathering and coordinating the activities of Russia’s occupying forces in Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on social media on Tuesday.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a morning update on its official Russian-language Telegram channel that air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed at least 419 Ukrainian drones since late Monday evening.

Those drones were shot down in at least 16 regions, including Moscow, along with Russian-occupied areas in Crimea, the ministry said.

Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, said early on Tuesday that at least 61 Ukrainian drones had been shot down in the capital region overnight.

Zelenskyy in announcing the Ukrainian strike on the satellite communications center noted that the facility was more than 500 km, or about 310 miles, from the Ukrainian-Russian boarder.

"Recently, our Defense Forces of Ukraine already reached four such Russian centers, not only in the Moscow region but also in the Vladimir region," he said on social media.

He added, "Step by step, we are implementing our plan of long-range sanctions and making it as difficult as possible for the aggressor state to carry out its invasion operations against Ukraine and the occupation of our territories."

Sen. Ruben Gallego under investigation for suspected campaign finance violations

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) talks to reporters as he heads for a vote at the U.S. Capitol on June 01, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego is under federal investigation for suspected campaign finance violations, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

According to multiple reports, Gallego, a Democrat, used campaign funds to fly his family to the Caribbean, Miami, Nantucket and Puerto Rico. He also allegedly used funds to pay for childcare.

Campaign funds may be used to pay for a candidate’s childcare expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activities, according to the Federal Election Commission.

On Monday, the Senate Ethics Committee closed its inquiry into allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations after finding no evidence that Gallego violated Senate rules or applicable law, according to a letter released by his office.

In regards to the federal investigation, a Gallego spokesperson told Axios that "it's the least surprising news of the week that this comes immediately after the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Senator Gallego of right-wing smears pushed by the administration."

ABC News has reached out to Gallego's office for comment on the investigation. The Department of Justice has not yet commented on the probe.

Doug Band, former aide to Bill Clinton, to be questioned about Clinton’s interactions with Epstein

Doug Band, a former adviser to Bill Clinton, is seen with Ghislaine Maxwell in this undated photo. (U.S. Justice Department)

(WASHINGTON) -- Doug Band, a former close adviser to President Bill Clinton, is on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a closed-door interview with the congressional committee probing the government's investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Band, who began his tenure with Clinton as an intern in the mid-1990s, is expected to be questioned by the House Oversight Committee about the former president's interactions and travels with Epstein in the years after Clinton left the Oval Office in 2001.

Often described as one of the architects of Clinton's post-presidential endeavors, including the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative, Band can also expect to be pressed about his own communications with Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, which were made public earlier this year by the Justice Department as part of the release of files mandated by the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

"We know that Mr. Band set up several meetings between Clinton and Epstein," House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., told reporters on his way into the hearing room. "We know Mr. Band accompanied Mr. Clinton on several flights on Epstein's jet. We know that Mr. Band also had a lot of communication with Ms. Maxwell, so that'll be a topic of several questions."

Emails between Band and Maxwell included talk of meetings with Epstein and numerous exchanges containing suggestive innuendo and cheeky nicknames for each other like "babycakes" and "booboo," according to files released by the DOJ.

The bulk of the messages were exchanged between 2001-2004, before Epstein first faced criminal charges in Florida in 2006.

Band, 54, has not been accused of any wrongdoing. An attorney expected to accompany Band to the interview did not reply to a message seeking comment in advance of Band's appearance in Washington, D.C.

Earlier this year, Band told The New York Times that his messages with Maxwell occurred when he was in his 20s and unmarried -- and he denied any romantic involvement with Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex-trafficking and other offenses.

"There was absolutely no physical relationship that occurred between us. Ever," Band said in a statement to the Times, in which he referred to Maxwell as "a monster."

The committee is also expected to query Band about his explosive claim -- reported by Vanity Fair in 2020 -- that the former president had visited Epstein's private estate in the U.S. Virgin Islands in early 2003. The article, which centered on Band's contentious split with the Clintons, did not detail how Band knew about the purported island trip or if he had any evidence to bolster his claim.

Records created by Epstein's pilots made public through civil litigation show Clinton -- and an entourage that typically included Band -- aboard Epstein's plane on more than two dozen flight legs in 2002-03, but none of those flights went to the island, according to the pilot's logs. Clinton, Epstein and Maxwell have all denied that the former president had ever been to Little St. James, as Epstein's island was known.

"He never, absolutely never went. And I can be sure of that because there's no way he would have gone," Maxwell told then then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a recorded interview last summer.

"I've never been to that island," Clinton said in his own interview with the Oversight Committee in February.

The former president has not been accused of any wrongdoing in connection to his association with Epstein. He has said he stopped interacting with Epstein before any criminal allegations surfaced and has denied knowledge of any of Epstein's crimes.

Clinton told the committee that he and Band were once "close," and that Band had been one of the people he tasked to "operationalize" plans to develop the Clinton Global Initiative in his early post-presidency years.

"He worked for me for years," Clinton said. "[H]e arranged airplane flights and things like that and was doing work on the first Clinton Global Initiative in 2005. And I know that he knew both Epstein and Maxwell. I do not know to what extent he was in contact with them."

In her interview with Blanche, Maxwell said she began spending time with Clinton after he left the White House in 2001, as he was forging his post-presidential path through the establishment of the Clinton Foundation and, later, the Clinton Global Initiative.

"I was part of the beginning process of the Clinton Global Initiative. And that was something that I helped with and that was me, and Epstein may have helped me help them," she said, according to a transcript of the July 2025 interview.

"I started spending time with the former president and with Doug and his team," Maxwell said. "I had no purpose, really, other than I had -- obviously offered something. I don't know, ideas."

Band's appearance before the Oversight Committee is voluntary and will not be recorded. The committee has typically released transcripts of interviews after they are reviewed for accuracy and redacted to remove any potential references to alleged victims.

In recent weeks the committee has heard from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and two of Epstein's former assistants, Sarah Kellen and Lesley Groff.

Later this summer, interviews are scheduled with former Obama White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, former Epstein attorney Alan Dershowitz, and Epstein's former private banker at JPMorgan Chase, Jes Staley.

Comer has indicated that a report on the investigation's findings will be issued by the end of the year.

Procession held for fallen fire chief

EAST TEXAS — Mabank Fire Chief Charlie Woodard was fatally struck by a pickup truck while directing traffic after the Mabank Rodeo on Saturday.

According to the Mabank Police Department, of which Woodard was also a member, a procession was held Tuesday morning. It exited U.S. Highway 175 onto State Highway 198, traveling south to Mason Street.

Woodard had served with the City of Mabank since 2018. He also worked as the community’s Fire Marshal and as a Mabank Police Department officer. He was recognized as one of the city’s employees of the month in Feb. 2025.

“Thank you for the overwhelming love, prayers, and support you have shown the Woodard family, Mabank Fire & Rescue, and the Mabank Police Department during this difficult time,” the department said.

Funeral arrangements for Woodard will be announced in the near future, the department said.

Uncertainty clouds next step in US-Iran negotiations

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House on June 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- The United States and Iran are sharing conflicting messages about the prospects of a meeting between key negotiators in Qatar this week, injecting even more uncertainty into a peace process that is supposed to be focused on addressing Iran’s nuclear program but has so far been dominated by the Strait of Hormuz.

Talks between the countries were originally scheduled to take place in Switzerland this week and center on nuclear issues, but the venue and agenda for the planned high-level and technical meetings changed following a fresh round of tit-for-tat strikes between the U.S. and Iran over the strategic waterway, a U.S. official and another source said.

While the Trump administration is pushing for direct talks, it is still unclear whether Iranian and American officials will meet face-to-face or communicate solely through Qatari mediators, they added.

President Trump announced on Monday that a meeting would take place in Qatar’s capital on Tuesday at Tehran’s request.

"IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING. IT WILL TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA!” Trump said in a social media post on Monday morning.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said the U.S. would be represented by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, adding that both high-level and technical talks with Iran were expected to take place.

Esmail Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, painted a different picture of the upcoming meetings. He said that while an Iranian delegation would travel to Doha to discuss the implementation of the interim deal between the U.S. and Iran, their trip bore no connection to Kushner and Witkoff’s visit.

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Baghaei asserted.

The Iranian regime’s apparent hesitancy to resume in-person talks is a significant step back from the high-level talks that took place in Switzerland earlier this month following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the countries. After that meeting, Vice President JD Vance reported that lengthy conversations with senior Iranian officials had resulted in a "good foundation for a successful final deal,” and said they made progress towards the creation of a “mechanism” to ensure the Strait of Hormuz would remain open.

The interim deal stipulates that Iran should "make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa.”

But Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, and on Thursday, it attacked a container ship transiting the waterway--setting off a four-day exchange of strikes with the U.S. that stymied ship traffic.

Trump administration officials are eager to restore conditions in the Strait of Hormuz to their pre-war norm, but sources told ABC News that recent intelligence reports predict Tehran will continue threatening to resume its chokehold on the waterway -- a reality that gives Iran significant leverage over the global economy.

The memorandum of understanding also calls for Iran and the U.S. to hammer out a sweeping agreement within 60 days. Almost a quarter of that time has now expired.

While the interim deal says that period can be extended by mutual agreement, Trump has repeatedly declared he wouldn’t let Iran draw out the negotiations.

"We're negotiating from a position of pure strength, pure strength. They know that,” Trump said on Thursday.

Democratic socialists hope to build on NYC wins in Colorado primaries

Melat Kiros participated in a League of Women Voters Congressional District 1 candidate forum at Montview Presbyterian Church on May 28, 2026, in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) -- After victories in New York City, democratic socialists are taking their fight against the Democratic establishment to Colorado.

On Tuesday, Rep. Diana DeGette will face her toughest reelection fight yet, against 29-year-old attorney and democratic socialist Melat Kiros, who was born months after she won her seat in Congress, 30 years ago.

Kiros, who was fired from her law firm in 2023 after writing an open letter criticizing her employers’ response to pro-Palestinian protests, told ABC News she hopes to build on the movement’s momentum from last Tuesday in New York and channel voters’ anger with the political system.

“Ultimately, folks are really tired of the party failing to meaningfully represent the values and policies that are extremely popular with our base,” she said. “And we're looking for leaders that are unbought and unafraid to stand up to a lot of these corporations and special interests that have gotten us into this mess in the first place.”

While Kiros has netted the endorsement of progressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and some left-leaning groups, the race does not break down evenly along ideological fault lines. DeGette is a leading member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus who has led Democratic messaging on abortion rights and served as a House impeachment manager during President Trump’s second impeachment trial.

Unlike some incumbent Democrats facing primaries, she has criticized Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and voted against additional U.S. military aid to Israel.

“Denver knows I don’t back down. That’s why I’m taking on Donald Trump to protect our reproductive freedom, abolish ICE, and pass Medicare for All. Together we’ll win and deliver on our progressive values,” DeGette said in a statement to ABC News.

In a recent interview with ABC affiliate KMGH-TV, DeGette argued that her time in Congress is an asset to her constituents.

But that long record has also made her a target for frustrated progressives, who sense momentum after democratic socialists Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez defeated establishment-backed Democrats in two New York City primaries - including the chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus - last week, with the help of democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

“They see Melat as someone who has put up a fight - not just against Republican fascism, but also against the Democratic establishment that has failed voters,” Usamah Andrabi, communications director for Justice Democrats, told ABC News.

The group has helped Kiros and her allies knock on tens of thousands of doors and make more than 200,000 calls to potential voters since last week.

DeGette’s record “is very progressive, and she's not a moderate,” Doug Friednash, an attorney who was chief of staff to former Gov. John Hickenlooper, told ABC News. “A lot of young voters are demanding change … they look at rising health care costs, gas prices, and there’s a view that the establishment hasn’t done enough.”

Outside of Denver, the Democratic establishment faces tests in primaries for governor and Senate.

Hickenlooper, now serving as Colorado’s junior senator, faces progressive state senator Julie Gonzales in the primary.

And Sen. Michael Bennet is locked in a competitive race against Attorney General Phil Weiser to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Jared Polis.

Weiser, who served in the Obama administration and as Colorado’s attorney general since 2019, has positioned himself as the insurgent in the race against Bennet, linking the longtime senator to Washington.

And in Colorado’s 8th district, a battleground seat currently held by a Republican, Democrat Manny Rutinel, a 31-year-old state representative, is vying for the Democratic nomination against former state lawmaker Shannon Bird.

How Mamdani-aligned House candidates say they plan to fight wealth inequality

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez embrace during a primary-night watch party, June 23, 2026, in Brooklyn. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) -- A trio of progressive Democrats sharply criticized billionaires on their way to victory in House primaries in New York City.

The clean sweep for candidates endorsed by far-left New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday drew attention to economic populism as affordability remains a top issue for voters ahead of the midterm elections.

In Manhattan and Brooklyn's 10th District, incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman lost in a landslide to former comptroller Brad Lander, who vowed to "put working people first – not billionaires."

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a community organizer, defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York's 13th District, which covers upper Manhattan and the Bronx. Claire Valdez, a one-term state assemblymember, beat Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the primary race for New York's 7th District.

Valdez and Chevalier, both of whom are democratic socialists, called for a four-day work week and a pause in the construction of AI data centers, among other measures.

To be sure, center-leaning candidates won Democratic primaries on Tuesday in upstate New York and Utah. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who are both Democrats, won general elections last year with moderate campaigns touting their own plans to ease price woes.

Here's what to know about economic proposals put forward by Lander, Chevalier and Valdez:

Tax on billionaires

All three of the victorious progressive House candidates support a tax on wealthy individuals.

Lander "strongly supports" the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, a bill proposed by Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren that would tax the net wealth of households with over $50 million, according to Lander's website.

Lander also backs an ultra-wealth tax on individuals worth over $1 billion, as well as the Equal Tax Act, which matches tax rates for capital gains and ordinary income over $1 million.

Chevalier supports the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act and the Equal Tax Act. Similarly, Valdez has voiced support for taxing billionaires as means of funding social programs.

The top opponents in each of the three primary races held similar positions. Both Espaillat and Goldman had signed on to the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act and the Equal Tax Act. Reynoso said he would "fight to tax the rich – a lot."

Proponents say wealth taxes could raise tax revenue from affluent Americans in a position to spare funds. Critics, on the other hand, warn wealthy individuals may move assets abroad or prove less likely to start businesses or other ventures.

For his part, Mamdani sought a two-percentage-point tax increase for residents making more than $1 million, which would have raised the tax rate for high earners in New York City from roughly 3.9% to 5.9%.

Instead, New York enacted a tax on second homes in New York City valued at $1 million or more.

Pause on construction of AI data centers

All three progressive House candidates back a moratorium on the construction of AI data centers.

Many of the nation's largest companies have poured funds into the chips and data centers necessary to operate AI.

The data center projects have drawn ire from critics who say they drive up residential water and electricity bills in some areas, while offering limited job gains. Proponents of the sector point to its role in fueling economic growth and ensuring the competitiveness of U.S. tech firms.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y, have proposed the AI Data Center Moratorium Act, which would pause the development of data centers until the federal government imposes industry regulations.

Goldman, Lander's opponent, signed onto the AI Data Center Moratorium Act. By contrast, Espaillat – Chevalier's opponent – has not supported the bill. Reynoso's position on a data center moratorium could not be immediately found.

On her campaign website, Valdez said she would "fight to hold major technology corporations accountable, protect our workforce from the harms of AI, and ensure that new technologies benefit communities, not just corporate executives."

Four-day work week

Chevalier and Valdez support shifting from a standard workweek of 40 hours spread across five days to one lasting 32 hours across four days.

Such an approach, Valdez says, would reclaim the "economic gains of automation for workers."

Spain, Iceland and South Africa are among the nations that have implemented a trial of the four-day workweek for select companies and workers.

In California and the U.S. House, lawmakers have introduced bills that would set the standard workweek at 32 hours.

The Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act, introduced in the U.S. House in March 2023, garnered support from eight members. Neither Goldman nor Espaillat was among the backers.

Reynoso's position on a four-day workweek could not be immediately found, though last month he spoke in support of unionized Kickstart employees seeking a four-day workweek as part of their labor contract.

Some experts previously told ABC News that a combination of escalating market pressure and legislative activity could ultimately bring a nationwide four-day workweek standard; others said such an outcome would prove nearly impossible, at least anytime soon.

Labor law reform

The share of unionized workers has fallen nationwide in recent decades. All three of the New York City progressives say they want to reverse that.

Lander, Valdez and Chevalier each support the PRO Act, a labor law reform measure with strong backing among U.S. labor unions.

The legislation would ease the path toward forming unions and winning labor contracts. The latest version of the bill, known as the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act, boasts the support of 215 House members, including at least one Republican.

Both Goldman and Espaillat signed onto the PRO Act. Reynoso, meanwhile, vowed to "champion the PRO Act."

On her campaign website, Chevalier calls for passage of the PRO Act, so that "everyone who wants a union can form one."

Nursing gains ‘professional’ label for student loans after judge’s ruling

WASHINGTON (AP) — Students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy and several other fields will be eligible to take out higher federal student loan amounts — at least for now — after a federal judge blocked part of a Trump administration rule that held them to lower limits.

The U.S. Education Department issued a revised rule on Monday designed to follow the judge’s order from last week, officials told The Associated Press. Agency officials called it a temporary change while they fight in court to keep the original rule, which defined medicine, law and other fields as “professional programs” but excluded fields such as nursing.

The department disagrees with the judge’s order but will comply, even as officials plan to prevail in the case over which degrees are defined as “professional,” Undersecretary Nicholas Kent said in a statement. “We will continue to make the case that the definition is both lawful and appropriate,” he said.

The change represents a short-term win for groups that sued to stop the rule. Eight groups challenged the department’s definition in court, representing nurse practitioners, therapists, speech language pathologists and more.

But in strictly applying the judge’s order, the department is now striking some degrees from the list of professional programs, meaning those students will face lower loan limits. Theology studies programs are among the biggest to shift from professional to non-professional degrees in the shuffle, subjecting theology students to a lower student loan limit. The master of divinity degree — a common degree for pastors and ministers — remains on the professional list, with a more generous student loan limit.

The new rule, which takes effect Wednesday, comes from a student loan overhaul passed in President Donald Trump’s tax bill last year. Programs designated as professional degrees face federal loan caps of $200,000, while other graduate programs are capped at $100,000.

Previously, graduate students had been able to take out federal loans up to the full cost of their degree. Trump officials pushed for new loan caps to rein in student debt and lower tuition prices that they said had grown out of control.

The groups that brought the lawsuit said the rule would require students to forgo their studies or take out riskier private loans. Although many graduate nursing degrees fall within the lower loan limits, some can cost more than $100,000, including in high-demand fields like nurse anesthesia.

In a notification to universities on Monday, the Education Department said it’s confident the Trump administration’s initial rule will ultimately be upheld in court. The amended rule is expected to remain in effect during the judge’s preliminary stay, but the department warned that it “may change as litigation in the case proceeds.”

The original rule included about a dozen programs that were deemed professional, which Trump officials had said was not a judgment on their importance but part of a technical definition dating to the 1960s. Along with law and medicine, that list also included theology, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, clinical psychology and more.

The temporary rule expands that list to 29 specific degree programs, including master of science in nursing, doctor of nursing practice, and doctor of nurse anesthesia practice. Others newly added to the professional list include degrees for physical therapy, athletic training, speech-language pathology, physician associates and anesthesiologist assistants.

The department’s communication listed about 25 programs that are now considered non-professional degrees. Along with theology, that list now includes applied psychology, pharmaceutical sciences and others. (The doctor of pharmacy degree remains professional.)

Last week’s court ruling blocked parts of the Education Department’s definition that were added in a federal rulemaking process. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington called it a “misguided” interpretation that strayed from a longstanding definition created by Congress.

The department’s definition laid out several criteria used to weigh if degrees count as professional programs. It said those degrees generally take six years to complete and require licenses to begin practicing, among other requirements.

It also said professional degrees cannot lead to employment that must be “be supervised by another professional” with “more education, training, and qualifications.”

A separate lawsuit filed by a coalition of Democratic-led states challenging the loan caps is still pending.

In brief: ‘The Devil’s Mouth’ trailer and more

Alicia Vikander has joined the cast of the upcoming Netflix series Enigma Variations. The show is based on the bestselling novel by André Aciman. Vikander is set to play Claire in the series. Aaron Taylor-Johnson was previously announced to star as Paul in the show, which tells the story of "a man remade by the lovers who ignite and undo him over the course of six transformative years," according to its official logline ...

The summer I turned into all the boys I've loved before. Prime Video has shared the official trailer for the thrilling new movie The Devil's Mouth. The summer shark film features two stars of the Jenny Han-verse as part of the ensemble — Lana Condor and Gavin Casalegno. Also starring are Kathryn Newton, Nico Hiraga, Tommi Rose and Tayme Thapthimthong ...

Are you 100% ready to learn the new stars of the upcoming Netflix comedy series A Hundred Percent? Good. The show, which has started production in LA, has added Diane Lane, Tiffany Boone and Lisa Gilroy to its cast. The previously announced ensemble includes Nick Kroll, Sam Richardson, Jason Mantzoukas and Vanessa Bayer. The show follows a group of friends who are stars in the world of wellness and self-optimization ...

Supreme Court is set to rule on Trump’s challenge to birthright citizenship

WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court on Tuesday will rule on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.

The decision comes on the final day of a Supreme Court term that has centered on Trump’s expansive claims of presidential power — and largely ruled in his favor.

The court on Monday handed Trump a major win by upholding his firings of independent federal agency heads at will, with the exception of Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook, who will retain her job while she fights the president’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud.

Here’s the latest:

How do most countries decide a child’s citizenship?

Outside of the Americas, most countries follow the legal principle of jus sanguinis, or “right of blood,” with a child’s citizenship inherited from its parents, no matter the place of birth.

In the European Union, for example, no member states grant automatic, unconditional citizenship to children born to foreigners.

But American legal practice is descended in many ways from English common law, which had long provided for citizenship based on a child’s place of birth, the legal concept of jus soli, or “right of soil.”

The UK, though, abandoned jus soli with the British Nationality Act of 1981.

Under the new rules, people born in the UK get citizenship only if at least one parent is a British citizen or has “settled status” under the law.

The justices will read summaries of their opinions

The court will dive right into the remaining decisions when the justices take the bench at 10 a.m. ET.

The opinions are typically read in ascending order of seniority so that the most junior justice with an opinion goes first. Chief Justice John Roberts, who may well have the decision in the birthright citizenship case, would go last.

Monday’s ruling on federal agencies dramatically expanded presidential power

Other than at the Federal Reserve, with its role of setting interest rates, the court held that presidents have free rein to fire agency heads at will, despite federal laws that require a cause for such dismissals and a 91-year-old decision that had limited executive authority.

The justices allowed Fed governor Lisa Cook to stay in her job while she fights Trump’s effort to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, which she has denied.

With the six conservative justices in the majority, the nine-member court jettisoned its unanimous decision in Humphrey’s Executor that had limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision-making free of political influence.

“We hold that such protection from removal is contrary to the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the court.

The court will also rule on trans athletes and campaign finances

In separate cases, the court will also decide:

Whether states can prohibit transgender athletes from playing on girls’ and women’s public school and college teams.

Whether to uphold a federal law more than 50 years old limiting how much political parties can spend in coordination with candidates for Congress and the president.

The court seemed poised to reject Trump’s birthright citizenship limits during arguments in April

Oral arguments for the case lasted more than two hours in a crowded courtroom that included Trump, the first sitting president to attend arguments at the nation’s highest court, and, in seats reserved for the justices’ guests, actor Robert De Niro.

Trump heard his administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, Solicitor General D. John Sauer, face one skeptical question after another. Justices asked about the legal basis for the order and voiced more practical concerns.

“Is this happening in the delivery room?” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked, drilling down into the logistics of how the government would actually figure out who is entitled to citizenship and who is not.

Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that Sauer was relying on quirky exceptions to citizenship to make a broad argument about people who are in the country illegally. “I’m not quite sure how you can get to that big group from such tiny and sort of idiosyncratic examples,” Roberts said.

Justice Clarence Thomas sounded the most likely among the nine justices to side with Trump.

FDA panel on peptides will include experts who promote the unproven chemicals favored by RFK Jr.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When U.S. health officials meet next month to reconsider a list of controversial peptide drugs, they will hear from a new set of voices: doctors and pharmacists with deep financial ties to the burgeoning industry of unproven chemicals.

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday released its list of participants for an upcoming meeting to reconsider the safety and effectiveness of several popular peptide injections, including some that have been praised by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Previous FDA panels on the topic have been composed of academics and researchers. The agency’s new group mainly includes health professionals who prescribe, produce or promote peptides, which have become a wellness trend among athletes, influencers and celebrities.

The two-day meeting is the latest example of how Kennedy and his deputies are trying to reshape U.S. health policy in the mold of the Make America Healthy Again movement. Some of the biggest supporters of the movement sell peptide formulas, though many pharmaceutical industry experts consider them illegal, unapproved drugs.

The substances are sold online and promoted by wellness clinics as a means to build muscle, heal injuries and look younger, though there’s little evidence behind those claims. Peptide sellers often skirt U.S. regulations by labeling their products as “for research use only,” since the FDA doesn’t regulate research chemicals.

FDA has raised safety concerns about peptides

Many of the injectable peptides sold in the U.S. are produced by compounding pharmacies, which mix custom medications that aren’t available from traditional drug manufacturers.

For several years, the FDA has warned Americans about the risks of injecting chemicals with names like BPC-157 and TB-500, which have not been extensively studied in humans. Both drugs are considered doping substances by international sports authorities. They are among seven peptides set for review in July.

Previous versions of the FDA’s panel on drug compounding — the group that will meet next month — have voted against a string of peptide ingredients brought forward by compounding pharmacies, declaring all of them too risky to be offered to patients. Those panels were mostly composed of experts from universities including Duke, Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

New FDA panel includes peptide proponents

The FDA’s new group includes more than a half-dozen panelists who run clinics, online businesses or pharmacies specializing in peptides, which are often given alongside other unapproved therapies, including vitamin infusions.

For example, panel member Dr. Haleem Mohammed runs clinics in Florida that sell injections of peptides, vitamins, testosterone and weight loss medications. The business is part of a national chain of clinics dubbed Gameday Men’s Health. The company’s website states, “compounded medications offered through our services are not FDA-approved, and the FDA does not verify their safety.”

Another panelist, Dr. Gabriel Alizaidy, charges $500 for “peptide and hormone” consultations, including advice on “where to safely get each peptide or compound.” Alizaidy promotes BPC-157, GHK-Cu and other peptides to thousands of followers through his accounts on Instagram and TikTok.

His website contains the disclaimer that each consultation “is educational in nature and does not constitute medical care, diagnosis, or treatment.”

Another member is Bobby Harshbarger, a Tennessee state senator who has multiple connections to the industry. Harshbarger is a pharmacist at his family’s business, Premiere Pharmacy, which sells compounded medications for weight loss, longevity, pain and other conditions.

His mother, Rep. Diana Harshbarger, is also a pharmacist and a Republican member of U.S. Congress from Tennessee. Last year she sent a letter to Kennedy calling on him to relax FDA restrictions on a half-dozen peptides.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly praised Harshbarger’s support of his “Make America Great Again” agenda. Last year, the president pardoned her husband, Robert Harshbarger Jr., who pleaded guilty more than a decade ago to substituting an unapproved drug from China for one used by patients on kidney dialysis. He was stripped of his pharmacy license and sentenced to four years in prison, which he served.

Mohammed and Alizaidy did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press Monday afternoon. A spokesperson for Harshbarger could not immediately provide comment when reached by phone.

Kennedy and his allies previously criticized government panels

The FDA has more than 30 panels of experts who advise the agency on various drugs, vaccines, food ingredients and other products.

Advisory meetings are subject to strict government transparency rules in terms of panel composition and financial disclosures. Experts who have a financial stake in a company or industry are permitted to serve on the panels, but the relationship must be disclosed and regulators are supposed to explain why the person’s expertise outweighs their potential conflict of interest.

Kennedy and his allies have been highly critical of federal expert panels, often alleging that they are riven with conflicts of interest, despite federal data showing otherwise.

Last year, Kennedy fired the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s entire 17-member vaccine panel and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices. A federal judge later said that action likely violated federal rules.

Kennedy told podcast host Joe Rogan earlier this year that he is “a big fan of peptides,” and described using them to recover from injuries.

Former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary — who resigned in May — was also highly critical of FDA advisory panels, complaining that they were expensive, time-consuming and subject to too many financial conflicts.

The number of such meetings plummeted during Makary’s tenure. Instead, the FDA held a number of ad hoc meetings with handpicked experts on topics favored by Kennedy, including the risks of talc powder and antidepressants.

Scoreboard roundup — 6/29/26

Amanda Batula to exit ‘Summer House’ after nine seasons

Amanda Batula attends the 'Summer House' season 10 reunion. (Clifton Prescod/Bravo)

Amanda Batula is saying goodbye to Summer House.

The reality TV star is exiting the Bravo series and will not appear in its upcoming season 11 after nine seasons as a full-time cast member, according to Deadline.

ABC Audio has reached out to Bravo for confirmation.

The 10th season of Summer House captured the zeitgeist due to a scandal that has been given the colloquial name "Scamanda."

After months of rumors, Batula and West Wilson confirmed they are in a relationship in posts made to Instagram on March 31. Batula is married to Summer House cast member Kyle Cooke, although they are divorcing. Wilson is fellow Summer House star Ciara Miller's ex-boyfriend, and Batula was considered one of Miller's close friends.

Wilson will also not return to Summer House for season 11, according to the outlet.

Although Batula is exiting Summer House, that doesn't mean she's fully out of the Bravo-verse quite yet. She currently stars in the Summer House spinoff series In the City. That show has yet to be picked up for a season 2.

Detroit Lions release cornerback Terrion Arnold following the NFL player’s arrest on kidnapping and robbery charges

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Lions release cornerback Terrion Arnold following the NFL player’s arrest on kidnapping and robbery charges.

Viktor Hovland wins Travelers in Monday playoff when Scheffler misses short birdie putt

CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Viktor Hovland got all the validation he needed Monday that his game was on track again, and a whole lot more.

He beat Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the Travelers Championship, had both parents from Norway watch him win for the first time and even did the “row” with the Norwegian soccer fans who cheered him all the way to the surprising end.

Hovland capped off a gritty rally when he made a 7-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole and won the Travelers when Scheffler missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

“Winning in the playoff against Scottie — best player in the world — that was pretty satisfying,” said Hovland, who won for the first time since the Valspar Championship in March 2025.

The surprise was Scheffler going from a big advantage — an 8-iron to 4 feet on the 18th on the first playoff hole — to missing a hard-sliding putt on the high side that made Hovland a winner.

“Maybe I hit it a little firmer than I intended to,” said Scheffler, whose putt caught the left edge and rolled out some 7 feet by the hole. “It looked like it got pretty far by the hole and I was playing it outside the hole, so I hit it down my line, just maybe the speed was a touch off.”

It was a big disappointment for Scheffler, who made Monday possible by making an 8-foot par putt on the 72nd hole in near darkness to force the playoff.

He was first to hit from the 18th fairway and some 3,000 fans on the hillside around the green erupted in cheers. Hovland responded, just like the 28-year-old Norwegian had done on the back nine Sunday when he rallied from a two-shot deficit.

Hovland’s birdie putt was snapping off to the right when it curled in the right side and he let out a big fist pump.

“It’s one of those putts that if I make mine, his gets significantly tougher, and if I miss, he probably will make his,” Hovland said. “Yeah, it was definitely no gimmies there, so to put the pressure on him was awesome.”

It was the first Monday finish on the PGA Tour since The Players Championship in 2025, which involved a three-hole aggregate playoff won by Rory McIlroy. This turned out to be one hole and 15 minutes, but it did not lack for drama, or atmosphere.

There was lively banter for the playoff. A group of Norwegian fans, who had been in Boston for the World Cup, wore their soccer jerseys and chanted, “Hov-land!” as he approached his golf ball in the fairway. The Americans began the “Scot-tie Scheff-ler!” chants to drown them out.

The Norwegians also brought the “row,” which has gone viral in the stadium and subway stations and wherever they go. They sit shoulder to shoulder, arms out and then forcefully pull them in. Hovland had never seen it in person until Saturday.

When it was over, he sat with his people and they showed him how it’s done.

“You definitely get adrenaline from it,” he said.

Hovland had plenty of that Sunday afternoon when he returned from a 90-minute rain delay and made three straight birdies to catch up to Scheffler and eventually get into the playoff. He closed with a 69, while Scheffler had a 68. They finished at 21-under 259.

Hovland is rarely satisfied with a swing that has given him a reputation for making solid contact. He felt it gaining momentum with a third-place finish in Canada, and even in the U.S. Open despite missing the cut. There was always one bad swing that allowed doubts to creep in.

Those were gone at the TPC River Highlands, particularly at the end. He was first to hit in the playoff and drilled it down the middle, just as he had done all week.

“I’ve been playing golf with Viktor for a long time. We’ve had some good battles in college and out here as a pro,” Scheffler said. “He’s a guy that has a lot of talent and works really hard. So those are the types of guys you like to see have success.”

For Scheffler, it was his fourth runner-up finish this year after opening his season with a victory at The American Express in the California desert. But he felt a little momentum, even in a playoff loss, as he gets ready a three-week stretch that includes the British Open, the final major of the year.

“Ball striking is definitely in a good spot. That was some of the best I hit it all season,” Scheffler said. “Obviously I think just a little disappointed with the results of today. But, yeah, I did a good job of keeping myself in the tournament last night, made the nice putt to close out last night, and so trying to remember that one.”

Hovland headed home for Norway with his parents. As for his throng of flag-waving, rowing supporters? Norway plays Ivory Coast on Tuesday in Dallas, the hometown of Scheffler.

“That was probably more coincidental,” Hovland said with a laugh. “That should be a good game.”

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

Spurs sign starting forward Julian Champagnie to a 3-year, $45 million contract after Finals run

The San Antonio Spurs signed starting forward Julian Champagnie to a new three-year, $45 million contract on Monday, securing a key piece of the core that led the club to the NBA Finals this season.

The compensation was confirmed by a person familiar with the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms have not been released. The Spurs declined their $3 million option on Champagnie left from the contract he signed with them in 2023 to create some future salary cap flexibility and reward a player who has flourished in their system after arriving as a waiver claim.

Undrafted out of St. John’s in 2022, the 6-foot-7, 215-pound Champagnie signed a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers and was let go after appearing in only two NBA games. He finished his rookie year with the Spurs and became a starter in 2023-24. Champagnie played in all 82 regular season games in 2024-25 and 2025-26, improving each year in almost every statistical category. His streak of 185 consecutive regular-season games played is the second-longest active streak in the league.

Champagnie averaged 11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Western Conference champion Spurs last season while shooting 38.1% from 3-point range. He set the franchise single-season record with 195 made 3-pointers — and the single-game record with 11 against the New York Knicks on Dec. 31. Champagnie had a career-high 36 points in that game while setting the NBA record for made 3-pointers by an undrafted player and also became the first player in league history to score at least 36 points without attempting a two-point field goal.

The 25-year-old native of New York contributed valuable floor spacing, hustle and leadership from his spot on the wing for the Spurs over 23 playoffs games while shooting nearly 40% from 3-point range.

Champagnie’s twin brother, Justin Champagnie, also went undrafted out of Pittsburgh and has played for three NBA teams, including the past three seasons with the Washington Wizards.

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AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed.

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

Cameron Cauley makes splash in big league debut as Rangers top Guardians 6-3 for 5th straight win

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cameron Cauley tripled in the seventh inning for his first hit in his major league debut before scoring the go-ahead run on a single by Nicky Lopez to help the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians 6-3 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.

Justin Foscue followed with a two-out double that scored Lopez from first to make it 4-2. That chased Guardians rookie Parker Messick (7-5), who allowed four runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Foscue’s two-out double in the ninth off Erik Sabrowski accounted for the final two runs, the second one scoring when Steven Kwan overran the ball in left field for an error. Kwan had just thrown out Alejandro Osuna at home plate on a single by Evan Carter to keep it 4-3.

Jacob Latz closed it out with two perfect innings for his 17th save.

Tyler Alexander struck out two in a scoreless first inning for Texas to become the first pitcher to post a save in two straight games and then start the next one since saves became an official statistic in 1969.

Chris Paddack replaced Alexander in the second after signing a one-year deal earlier in the day. The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits in four innings. He left after a leadoff single by Kahlil Watson in the sixth, and Robby Ahlstrom (3-0) got three outs to keep it tied at 2.

Jake Burger’s RBI groundout staked the Rangers to a 1-0 lead in the fourth, and his two-out single tied it 2-all in the sixth.

Gabriel Arias hit the first pitch from Paddack in the fifth for his third home run and Chase DeLauter added an RBI double to put the Guardians up 2-1.

Brayan Rocchio singled off Jakob Junis in the seventh and later scored on a wild pitch to cut it to 4-3. Junis came out for the eighth but left for an undisclosed reason without throwing a pitch. Latz entered and retired the side on eight pitches.

Texas called up Cauley from Triple-A Round Rock before the game and designated outfielder Jarred Kelenic and right-hander Joe Ross for assignment.
Up next

Rangers RHP Jacob deGrom (6-5, 3.55 ERA) starts Tuesday opposite Guardians RHP Tanner Bibee (2-8, 3.78).

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

Twins hit 3 homers to back Matthews, then hold off Astros rally in 9th for 5-4 victory

HOUSTON (AP) — Royce Lewis and Victor Caratini hit back-to-back homers, Zebby Matthews pitched seven stingy innings and the Minnesota Twins held off a late rally by the Houston Astros for a 5-4 victory Monday night.

Josh Bell launched a two-run shot for the Twins, who led 5-1 before Travis Adams gave up a two-run homer to Taylor Trammell with two outs in the ninth.

Yoendrys Gómez entered and immediately served up Cam Smith’s second home run of the game before retiring Joey Loperfido on a grounder for his ninth save.

Houston had won five of six.

Matthews (4-5) limited the Astros to one run and four hits while striking out seven and walking one.

Peter Lambert (6-5) held Minnesota hitless until Lewis and Caratini went deep in the fourth. Bell’s drive made it 4-1 in the sixth, and Kody Clemens added an RBI groundout in the seventh.

Lambert allowed four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He had won four straight decisions.

Smith pulled a hanging slider onto the train tracks above left field for a solo homer in the fifth.

Astros reliever Miguel Ullola made his major league debut, striking out four in two scoreless innings.

Houston returned home from a 5-2 trip and entered Monday an AL-best 15-10 in June.

Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña sat out with left leg discomfort.

Minnesota placed left-handed reliever Anthony Banda on the 15-day injured list with a left lat strain. The Twins recalled right-hander Cody Laweryson from Triple-A St. Paul.
Up next

Twins RHP Joe Ryan (5-4, 3.18 ERA) faces Astros RHP Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.48) in the middle game of the series Tuesday night.

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

Sportsbooks say World Cup betting has surged past expectations, with US hype driving action

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sportsbook operators anticipated this year’s World Cup would set betting records because the major elements were aligned.

The world’s most popular sporting event is being played in North America, so U.S. audiences can see the games live while the sun is out or in the early evening. The U.S. also has a team that may be its most talented in history.

And then the U.S. went out and won its first two matches to capture its group.

“I think it has exceeded our expectations,” said Mark Bickerdike, Caesars Sportsbook’s head of soccer trading, said of the money being bet.

DraftKings Sportsbook director Johnny Avello said the wagering on the 48-team World Cup, which opened the knockout stage on Sunday, is putting itself in the same company as the always popular NCAA Tournament in college basketball.

“It could be the biggest event of the year when it’s all said and done,” Avello said. “March Madness takes place over the course of three weeks, and it rakes quite a bit of money. This is getting there.

“It blows the Super Bowl away. One game, one day. This thing here is way bigger than that.”

Christian Cipollini, BetMGM Sportsbook’s trading manager, said the enormous interest in the U.S. team has only grown. The Americans open the single-elimination phase of the tournament on Wednesday night against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Santa Clara, California.

“I expect that to be BetMGM’s most bet-on soccer game of all time,” Cipollini said. “In this World Cup, all three of our most bet-on games have been the three USA games. This game is leading up to be a perfect storm where the USA looks very good. There’s a lot of hype around the team.”

France and Argentina on a collision course?

The three sportsbooks list Kylian Mbappé-led France as the favorite to win it all, with Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina not far behind. They are on opposite sides of the bracket, so if they face each other, it would be in the final, a rematch of four years ago.

At BetMGM, 15.3% of tickets have been on France, the most of any country, and it has received 20.4% of the money. That is slightly below Spain, which has taken in 20.5% of the handle, much if not most of it before the tournament.

Longtime handicapper Bruce Marshall cautioned against assuming France and Argentina would meet in the final.

“I could see seven or eight teams winning this thing,” Marshall said. “So any favorite at this stage, I don’t know that there’s great value there.”
Bettors look for long shots

Americans like a good underdog story, and wagers are coming in on some teams with exceptionally long odds.

“Bettors like to take a shot for a small amount of money and put it on those teams,” Avello said. “Of course, that risk is high for us because it doesn’t take much. A $5 bet on Congo, it’s $5,000 (in a payout). You take quite a few of those and the liability gets up pretty high on them.”

Marshall said it would make sense to take a look at Colombia (33-1 at BetMGM) or Switzerland (66-1) as teams with great value.

“Colombia looks really dangerous, and they’re getting a lot of support,” Marshall said. “They played their first couple of games in Mexico, which were like home games for them.

“The one nobody’s talking about is Switzerland, and they’re one of these teams that remind me a of a club side. I say that in positive terms because they’re very familiar with one another. A lot of these World Cup teams are sort of thrown together and haven’t played much with each other. Switzerland’s got guys who’ve played, 80, 100 games together.”

Sportsbooks aren’t necessarily hoping for a US win

Should the Americans pull off the nearly unthinkable and win the World Cup, the sportsbooks would be feeling financial pain.

The U.S. has gone from a 50-1 long shot to 25-1 at BetMGM, and the Americans are 30-1 at Caesars and 33-1 at DraftKings.

“If the U.S. would’ve limped into the knockout round, our liability probably wouldn’t be as high as it is,” Cipollini said. “But the fact that they’ve looked good, there’s a lot of people that are, ‘They do have a chance.’ It’s on home soil. It’s easy to talk yourself into something we all kind of want to happen.”

‘The Simpsons’ drives some betting

A 1997 episode of “The Simpsons” featuring a match between Mexico and Portugal is causing some fans to believe the long-running TV show forecast that meeting in this year’s World Cup.

That’s not the case. Neither the World Cup nor the year 2026 were mentioned.

But those details apparently doesn’t matter to some bettors, causing a notable uptick in wagering on that matchup taking place.

“We have got a liability on that,” Bickerdike said.

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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here

US and Iran pause strikes but disagree over next steps on talks

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States and Iran on Monday separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the U.S. “at any level” after attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend challenged negotiations to end the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the Islamic Republic had requested a meeting with U.S. counterparts and that they planned to convene Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.

But one of Iran’s senior negotiators denied talks had been scheduled. And the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Tehran was sending its delegation to Qatar, a key mediator in the negotiations, to discuss terms of the interim deal without involving the U.S.

Hostilities mounted in recent days in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil had been shipped before war began. After four days of trading strikes, both sides appeared to pause their attacks Monday.

The U.S. and Iran agreed to an interim deal earlier this month that calls for Tehran to dilute its stockpile of enriched uranium. It also waives U.S.-backed oil sanctions on the country, calls for free traffic through the Strait of Hormuz and gives each side 60 days to hammer out broader agreements.

Confusion mounts over next round of Iran-US talks

After Trump said Monday morning on social media that the U.S. and Iran planned to meet, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, were flying to Qatar.

Pakistan, also a key mediator, had said talks between Iran and the U.S. would resume Tuesday.

But Kazem Gharibabadi, a senior negotiator for Iran, said in comments published by Iranian state media that no talks had been confirmed. And Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said that its delegation was traveling to Qatar this week to discuss the planned release of frozen Iranian assets and other issues related to the deal.

“There are no negotiation meetings with the U.S. side at any level scheduled in the coming days,” Baghaei said.

However, that left open the possibility messages being passed to the Qataris between the two sides.
Increased tension in waterway vital to world energy supplies

During the war that began Feb. 28, Iran’s attacks and threats stopped cargo ships and tankers from moving through the Strait of Hormuz, creating a global energy crisis.

In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels in the strait — including a tanker filled with Qatari crude — following efforts to open Oman’s territorial waters to both inbound and outbound traffic from the Persian Gulf.

The attacks drew retaliatory American airstrikes and raised concerns that negotiations to reach a formal end to the war could be disrupted. Iran launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday.

The strait has long been considered an international waterway despite being in Iran and Oman’s territorial waters.

The Trump administration was operating Monday on the understanding that the U.S. and Iran are standing down after the recent back-and-forth strikes and that vessels can move freely through the Strait of Hormuz, said a U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations.

Iran’s president, U.S. official say $6 billion coming to Iran

The U.S. official also said that Qatar planned to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets that would be used to purchase U.S. food products for the Iranian people.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had announced the expected release of funds earlier Monday in comments published by the state-run IRNA news agency.

Pezeshkian, a reformist within Iran’s theocracy, is the highest-ranking official within Iran to reference the release of the funds held by Qatar.
Oman, Iran discuss possible fees for ships transiting the strait

Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said Monday that Oman and Iran are considering charging service-related fees for commercial ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

Al-Busaidi said services could include water safety measures, pollution prevention, navigational assistance and preparedness for incidents such as fires. He told Radio Monte Carlo that Oman does not support imposing transit fees on ships.

“This is internationally forbidden,” he said, “and we are abiding by these rules.”

But there had never been any fees charged in the strait — and other Gulf Arab states and the U.S. firmly oppose the imposition of any costs for transit.
Iran and France clash over clearing mines from strait

An Iranian official warned France against “provocations” Monday after French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that France and others were coordinating efforts to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz.

Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian deputy foreign minister, said on X that under the interim deal “demining is carried out solely by Iran and by no other country.”

Macron’s post came after he greeted Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman ahead of high-level diplomatic talks in Paris.
Lebanon’s president says it will deploy troops as part of deal with Israel

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun separately said Monday that Lebanon is determined to deploy troops along its entire southern border as part of a framework agreement with Israel signed Friday. He made the remark while meeting with Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East.

The deal was rejected by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, which triggered the latest war with Israel on March 2 when it fired rockets across Lebanon’s southern border and into northern Israel.

The Israel-Lebanon deal calls for Hezbollah to be disarmed before Israel will withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon. Israel agreed to withdraw initially from a couple of “pilot zones” where the Lebanese army would then deploy, but no details have been shared about how that will work in practice.

Hezbollah officials have warned that attempts to implement the plan could lead to civil war.
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Boak reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut; Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.

Asian shares follow Wall Street higher, while the Japanese yen hits a 39-year low against the dollar

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains, while the Japanese yen was trading near a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar.

Shares in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan rebounded from earlier losses spurred by selling of technology companies due to concerns over the sustainability of the boom in artificial intelligence.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.9% to 70,062.32. Chip equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 3.3%. SoftBank Group, an investment holding company that invests in OpenAI, was up 1.2%.

South Korea’s Kospi index, which has performed strongly during the global AI frenzy due to growing demand for memory chips from major chipmakers like SK Hynix, gained 1 to 8,476.48.

Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 3.4% and those of SK Hynix rose 0.8% after the two companies and the government jointly announced plans for over $500 billion of investments in the country’s chipmaking and AI.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.6% to 22,879.87 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5% to 4,094.40. Taiwan’s Taiex picked up 2.5%.

China reported its factory activity slightly picked up pace in June, mainly due to exports and demand generated by expanding use of AI. The survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics said the manufacturing purchasing managers index, or PMI, expanded to 50.3 in June from 50 in May. That’s better than had been expected.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.5% to 8,778.70, while India’s Sensex was nearly unchanged.

The dollar rose to nearly 162.42 yen early Tuesday in Tokyo, its highest level since late 1986, and was trading at 162.16 yen by late afternoon.

The yen’s prolonged slump against the dollar, largely due to a gap between interest rates in the U.S. and Japan, has spurred speculation that Tokyo might intervene to prop up the currency. However, Japan’s finance minister said only that the government was ready to “respond appropriately whenever necessary.”

Earlier interventions appeared only to slow the dollar’s rise against the yen.

The dollar to yen rate “has spiked above 162 as everyone is holding their breath to see when Japanese officials intervene,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a commentary. “Intervening now would change nothing about the underlying market direction, but would cost dearly. Unless we see an aggressive sell-off in the yen, the Japanese authorities seem willing to remain on the sidelines.”

The euro fell to $1.1409 from $1.1422.

U.S. futures edged higher.

On Monday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 added 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.1%.

Intel gained 2.7%, Micron Technology climbed 1.1%, Nvidia rose 1.3% and AMD, or Advanced Micro Devices, was 3.4% higher.

Oil prices fell modestly early Tuesday as traders monitored developments in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on ending their four-month war.

Crude prices have stabilized following attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend after the United States and Iran separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the United States “at any level.”

Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.7% to $73.40 a barrel. It was trading near $72 per barrel before the war began to disrupt transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.

Benchmark U.S. crude declined 0.8% to $70.22 a barrel.

The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will restore full access to the strait, allowing tankers to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing wave of inflation around the world.

Infant in medically induced coma

SMITH COUNTY — Records reveal new details leading up to the arrest of three Smith County women for child endangerment, after a two-month-old was placed in a medically induced coma.

According to our news partner KETK, medical staff at a local Tyler hospital alerted Child Protective Services after Sidney Whitt, 21, came in with her two-month-old, stating “she hadn’t had a wet diaper in three days and she was fatigued,” a Smith County affidavit revealed. While at the hospital, the baby reportedly began having seizures, lasting about an hour, and had visible bruises on her face, cheek and jawline. Hospital staff believed that seizures may have been caused by having been violently shaken.

The infant was then transported to a hospital in Dallas for further medical care.

In a later interview, a report revealed that Whitt had left her children locked in a bedroom when leaving to meet with Jacqulyn Morales, her roommate, and her boyfriend at a hotel where they consumed alcohol and drugs. Whitt’s and Morales’ children were left under the care of Shelby Munoz, Morales’ 18-year-old sister. Continue reading Infant in medically induced coma

Screwworm preventing dog rescue

KILGORE – There are now 27 confirmed New World Screwworm cases in the United States, 26 of them in Texas. A ripple effect of the worm’s spread is already being felt Rusk County, where ‘That Crazy Dog Lady’ has been forced to stop intake of dogs until 20 are transported to New York, which is one of the states now restricting dogs coming from Texas.

“Our major partner is in the state of New York which has banned entry from any Texas dogs,” owner of ‘That Crazy Dog Lady’ Vanessa Cogswell said. “So, we were supposed to have 20 puppies leaving on Monday to our partner in New York, and unfortunately, they will not be able to travel.”

Her non-profit provides rescue and foster services in rural communities without animal control services. Continue reading Screwworm preventing dog rescue

Second arrest in Whataburger shooting

MARSHALL – Police and other investigators made a second arrest in connection with the early Saturday morning shooting in Marshall that left two people dead and two others injured. The shooting happened outside a Whataburger restaurant.

Jamarrio Dominique Epps, 21, of Longview, has been arrested and charged with murder. Epps was taken into custody by Longview Police Department’s SWAT team, after Marshall police issued an arrest warrant. Previously, Marshall Police arrested Davion McDale Brown, 19, who was charged with capital murder in connection with the same incident. Continue reading Second arrest in Whataburger shooting

Gabriel Martinelli scores late in injury time to help Brazil beat Japan 2-1 at World Cup

HOUSTON (AP) — Gabriel Martinelli scored the winning goal late in injury time to give five-time champion Brazil a 2-1 win over Japan in the round of 32 at the World Cup on Monday.

Martinelli, who had come on as a second-half substitute, scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time as the match appeared to be headed to extra time.

“Above all else we wanted to freshen up the field because Martinelli has a lot of intensity as a player,” Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said through a translator. “When he goes in the match he’s always on his top game.”

Brazil will next face either the Ivory Coast or Norway on Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the round of 16.

“We can never be content with what we’re doing,” Ancelotti said. “We’re doing a good job. We are performing. But you can never be content because we want to play better. We want to play at the highest level.”

Casemiro had earlier equalized for Brazil on a header in the 56th minute off an assist from Gabriel Magalhães after just missing another chance two minutes earlier. The shot sailed just out of reach of the outstretched hand of Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and into the net.

Kaishu Sano stole a misplaced pass at midfield and took it down the field before a right-footed shot from above the half circle put Japan ahead in the 29th minute.

“There is not not making mistakes because nobody is perfect,” Ancelotti said. “But you have to overcome it and you have to push it forward. The team did a good job of that in the second half.”

Vinícius Júnior, who has scored four goals so far in this year’s tournament, had a chance to put Brazil on top in the 58th minute but his shot from the left box was deflected by Suzuki and went off the far post.

Casemiro left in the first minute of second-half stoppage time with what appeared to be a leg injury.

Brazil had two chances to even the score early in the second half before breaking through. On the first one, Suzuki blocked a header from Bruno Guimarães in the 52nd minute. Soon after, Casemiro’s header bounced off a defender’s head and Suzuki’s face. Suzuki finished with four saves.

Brazil great Neymar didn’t play Monday after making his first appearance for the team since 2023 in the last game against Scotland. He played only 14 minutes in that 3-0 win after missing the first two group matches at the World Cup with a right calf injury.

“I was seriously considering putting him on the pitch,” Ancelotti said. “In the end, we did not need him.”

Japan has never won a knockout match at the World Cup, going 0-4 in the round of 16 — including also taking the lead the last two times in 2018 and 2022 before losing.

The win was Brazil’s 12th in 15 games against Japan. The teams have also played to two draws while Japan got its first win in the series in a friendly in Tokyo in October.

This was a matchup between two countries with deep ties, with Brazil being home to about 2.7 million Japanese descendants, which is the largest Japanese population outside of Japan.

Those ties extend to soccer where Brazil superstar Zico moved to Japan in 1991 to play for Kashima Antlers and help build Japan’s professional soccer network. He coached the Japan national team from 2002-06, leading the team to the World Cup in 2006.

That team lost to Brazil 4-1 in the only previous meeting between the teams at the World Cup.

Brazil won Group C after a draw with Morocco and victories over Haiti and Scotland. Monday’s victory came on the anniversary of their first World Cup championship in Sweden in 1958, when a 17-year-old Pele scored two goals in the final against the host country.

Japan reached the round of 32 as runner-up in Group F after a draws with the Netherlands and Sweden and a win over Tunisia. The loss snaps a 10-game unbeaten streak dating back to a 2-0 loss to the United States in September.

US stocks rise and recover some of their losses from a rare losing week

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday and recovered some of their losses from a rare losing week.

The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% and broke a five-day losing streak. It was coming off just its second losing week in the last 13. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.1%.

Several stocks boosted by the artificial-intelligence boom rose after Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said they will invest roughly $518 billion in a new chipmaking hub in South Korea, as its president hopes to capitalize on surging AI demand.
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AP AUDIO: US stocks rise and recover some of their losses from a rare losing week

U.S. stocks are recovering some of their losses from a rare losing week.

Applied Materials, whose equipment helps make semiconductors, rallied 10.8% to vault its gain for the year so far above 170%.

AI stocks have been on a roller-coaster ride recently after soaring to tremendous heights. They’re under pressure because of worries that their profits can’t possibly keep pace with the huge gains for their stock prices. And the moves have an outsized effect on investors because AI stocks have become some of Wall Street’s largest and most influential, giving them more weight on indexes than others.

Nvidia was one of the strongest forces lifting the S&P 500, for example, after its stock rose 1.3%. That’s because it’s Wall Street’s biggest stock with a total value of more than $4.7 trillion.

SpaceX, which owns the xAI business along with rockets, has already become worth more than $2 trillion after its stock’s ballyhooed debut on the Nasdaq earlier this month, with sharp rises and falls along the way. It’s become big enough that Nasdaq said Elon Musk’s company will join the Nasdaq 100 index before trading begins on July 7, which will force funds tracking the index to buy the stock.

SpaceX climbed 7.2%.

Outside of AI, Comcast rose 4.5% after saying it will split off its NBCUniversal media business and Sky from its broadband and wireless business. Its stock came into the day with a loss of 17.3% for the year so far.

That helped offset a 5.2% drop for Verizon Communications, which said it’s paying $625 million as part of a deal to combine its international wireline connectivity and managed network services business with some of London-based BT Group’s subsidiaries in a joint venture.
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All told, the S&P 500 rose 86.41 points to 7,440.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 306.63 to 52,182.74, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 522.53 to 25,820.14.

The gains for the stock market came even though oil prices rose. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8% to $73.91, pulling back above where it was before the war with Iran began. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery rose 2.2% to settle at $70.75 per barrel.

Following attacks across the Persian Gulf over the weekend, the United States and Iran on Monday separately announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the United States “at any level.”

The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will give oil tankers full access again to the Strait of Hormuz, allowing them to exit the Persian Gulf and deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing wave of inflation around the world.

If oil prices do recede and stay low enough, it could keep enough pressure off inflation to allow the Federal Reserve and other central banks to keep interest rates steady or even cut them instead of hiking them.

Higher interest rates can keep a lid on inflation, but they also slow the economy and hurt prices for all kinds of investments. High yields worldwide have been rattling investors after oil prices burst above $100 per barrel because of the war.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury edged down to 4.37% from 4.38% late Friday and from 4.56% early this month.

In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped modestly in Europe following mixed performances in Asia.

Stocks jumped 1.6% in Hong Kong and 1.2% in Shanghai for two of the world’s biggest gains, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.2%.

Van student dies in ATV accident

VAN – The Van ISD community is in mourning this week after a 16-year-old student was found unresponsive in a four-wheeler accident, the Smith County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to our news partner KETK, the school release a statement, “It is with profound sadness that Van ISD shares the passing of one of our own, Kayden Palmer, following a tragic accident,” Van ISD said on Saturday. “Kayden was a beloved member of the Vandal family whose infectious smile, kind heart, and servant spirit left a lasting impact on everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. Having recently completed his freshman year at Van High School, Kayden was known for his energy, intelligence, and willingness to lend a helping hand whenever it was needed.” Continue reading Van student dies in ATV accident