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Category: AP News Feed

  • Republican senators warn surveillance program may lapse after Trump intel pick backlash


    WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are warning the White House that a critical surveillance authority is likely to lapse this week amid bipartisan backlash over President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the nation’s intelligence community.

    Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sounded the alarm over the weekend after a failed procedural vote to extend the program.

    The senators in a letter urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare “for a potential significant gap in foreign intelligence collection” if the authority expires. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, set to lapse June 12, allows agencies including the CIA, National Security Agency and FBI to collect communications from foreign targets overseas without a warrant.

    “We have a deadline ahead of us. We need Democrat votes,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday.

    Efforts to secure a long-term extension of the program already faced hurdles because of bipartisan concerns that the program can incidentally collect Americans’ communications. Privacy advocates and some lawmakers have been pushing to create a new warrant requirement before those communications can be searched.

    Senate leaders from both parties appeared to be nearing agreement on a long-term extension. But the effort collapsed after Trump selected federal housing finance regulator Bill Pulte to serve as acting director of national intelligence.

    “Why the president would throw this live hand grenade of Bill Pulte in 10 days before this is due to expire, I’m not sure,” Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on ABC’s “This Week.”

    Pulte pick upends bipartisan deal

    Early Friday morning, after senators spent the night debating separate immigration legislation, seven Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in blocking a long-term extension of the surveillance authority.

    Democrats and several Republicans registered their opposition to Trump’s selection of Pulte, arguing the federal housing finance regulator lacks the experience needed to oversee the nation’s 18 intelligence agencies.

    “The naming of Pulte to that position, although the timing arguably wasn’t the best, I still don’t think it ought to derail something that’s this important,” Thune said Friday.

    Thune has expressed concern over Pulte’s pick, saying the nation’s top intelligence post should not be “weaponized” and that the job should be filled by “professionals.” Cotton, who rarely strays from supporting Trump and is a leading advocate for the surveillance authority, declined to endorse Pulte, saying only that he had “no observations on the matter.”

    “He’s not qualified for the long-term position,” Republican Sen. James Lankford, another member of the Intelligence Committee, told “Fox News Sunday.” “That’s been clear on this. He has no national security background.”

    Both Republican and Democratic senators skeptical of Pulte pointed to his record at the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In the role, he’s been linked with criminal referrals over allegations of mortgage fraud by public officials Trump sought to punish, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat; Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.; and Lisa Cook, a board member of the Federal Reserve.

    Republicans will need to garner some Democratic support to pass any extension of the surveillance authority in the Senate, and likely the House as well. But a breakthrough appears difficult so long as Pulte remains in the position, which Trump said last week would only be temporary.

    “Clearly to get to good-faith negotiations the effort to elevate Bill Pulte as the acting director of national intelligence should be reversed. Immediately,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

    A key surveillance tool

    The current reauthorization debate is hardly the first time that lawmakers have grappled with the fate of the surveillance program, particularly after a flurry of revelations about government misuse of the vast trove of intelligence it collects.

    The topic in recent years has scrambled predictable partisan alliances, with Democratic critics of the Trump administration uniting with skeptics of government power on the right in voicing concerns about Section 702’s renewal.

    In 2024, for instance, those divisions nearly caused the program to lapse. The Senate barely missed its midnight deadline that year before approving by a 60-34 margin legislation to reauthorize Section 702 that was subsequently signed by then-President Joe Biden.

    A spokesperson at the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment Monday about the national security concerns that would be created if the program lapses. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence referred inquiries to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    “America faces real threats from foreign adversaries, terrorists, cyber actors, and hostile intelligence services,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media Sunday. “Section 702 remains one of our nation’s most effective tools for identifying and disrupting those threats before they reach our shores.”

    Cotton and Grassley said they believed Democratic leaders would not support another short-term extension of the surveillance authority and urged Rubio to prepare contingency plans. They said Trump should consider an executive order to prevent a disruption in intelligence collection.

    Cotton and Warner had said they were close on a bipartisan deal on a long-term extension and could still move quickly should a change occur before Friday. Still, the bill would likely need to go through the House — and the two chambers so far have disagreed on a separate issue regarding central banking digital currency.

    Republicans leaders are already warning of the consequences if Congress fails to act.

    “If it goes dark, then it would be a calamitous situation for the country,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.



  • The Kennedy Center drops ‘Trump’ branding as Bill Maher’s Twain Award guests are revealed


    NEW YORK (AP) — John Mellencamp, Jay Leno and Whitney Cummings will be among the guest speakers when Bill Maher receives the Mark Twain Award for American Humor during a June 28 ceremony at the Kennedy Center.

    The center disclosed the list Monday in an email sent to members, who were offered packages ranging from $99 for a seat reservation to $1,500 and more for seating and admission to pre- and post-show receptions. The announcement also marks a notable change in how the center is identifying itself: The news came from the Kennedy Center, not the “Trump Kennedy Center,” a switch that also appears on the center’s home page.

    Last month, a federal judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s handpicked board of trustees had acted illegally when they voted to add Trump’s name to the venue, which Congress in 1964 named for the recently assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

    “The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so. Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” wrote U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper.

    Although a Kennedy spokesperson suggested the venue might appeal the decision, the center received an email last week from its general counsel that laid out steps for cooperation, including the removal of Trump’s name. After mostly ignoring the Kennedy Center during his first term, Trump soon made the center a key part of his overall mission to purge federal cultural institutions of so-called “woke” influences. He ousted the leadership, filled the board of trustees with supporters and presided over such signature events as the Kennedy Honors ceremony.

    In response, numerous performers cancelled planned appearances at the center, including Issa Rae, Bela Fleck and Renée Fleming.

    Maher is the 27th recipient of the Twain Award, which has previously been given to Leno, Steve Martin and Tina Fey among others. Trump and Maher have publicly feuded in recent years, but the HBO host is otherwise the kind of comedian that many Republicans have found palatable — a self-styled independent who regularly attacks Hollywood as “woke” and has interviewed everyone from liberal stalwarts like Jane Fonda to conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk to such “cancelled” cultural figures as Woody Allen.

    Other guests expected at the Twain ceremony include the comedian Louis C.K., who has been touring regularly since allegations of sexual misconduct briefly upended his career after they were reported in 2017, and the controversial ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, whose blunt comments on sports and beyond have led to fierce exchanges with NBA star Jaylen Brown and commentator Keith Olbermann among others.


  • Carson Hocevar accused of ‘creating a lot of enemies’ in NASCAR after 9-car crash at Michigan


    Carson Hocevar sat on the Michigan International Speedway pit wall with a blank look and calmly waited as Bubba Wallace laid into him with an animated lecture.

    As Wallace did nearly all the talking, Hocevar nodded and offered a few smiles. The one-sided conversation ended with Hocevar patting Wallace on the shoulder — defusing the tension while offering little remorse.

    The third-year Cup Series driver, whose aggression has earned him the nickname of “The Hurricane” in rubbing the NASCAR establishment the wrong way, left a trail of wreckage in his wake Sunday at Michigan.

    With a fifth place in the No. 77 Chevrolet, the Portage, Michigan, native earned his best career Cup finish at his home-state track. He also triggered a nine-car crash on a midrace restart by bumping John Hunter Nemechek as the cars ahead of him were slowing down.

    “I was like, ‘Man, I didn’t mean to do that,’ ” Hocevar said. “I obviously feel bad that I wrecked them and everything, but my intention wasn’t to wreck anybody, really. So next time I’ll know what to do a little differently.”

    Many of his peers believe the Spire Motorsports driver should be doing everything differently.

    “Well, you can count on Hocevar to always do dumb (stuff),” Nemechek radioed his team. Josh Berry jokingly referred to Hocevar as “The Intimidator,” the moniker of seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt.

    “I hope at some point (Hocevar) figures it out, but I know I’m not going to show anything to him for a long time,” said Austin Dillon, who finished 36th after his No. 3 Chevy was trashed in the wreck.

    In their pit-wall discussion, Wallace told Hocevar he was jealous of his speed.

    “He’s one of the fastest in the field, and that’s his natural ability,” Wallace said. “I’ve got to give respect to it. But at the same time, Kevin Harvick told me four or five years ago, ‘Stop hitting (stuff), and your finishes will show.’ And that’s what I simply tried to tell (Hocevar), man. He’s going for every move, every second. Not worth it.

    “He’s creating a lot of enemies. I just told him, ’You’re fast. A lot of us are jealous of what you’re able to do. But we’re beating you because we can put a race together better than you.”

    An unfazed Hocevar essentially shrugged when asked about Wallace’s criticism.

    “I get his point and everything,” he said. “I’m just racing really hard, and there were times where I tried to make a move and get two spots when I probably should have just got one, and it cost me.”

    The 23-year-old upstart did show some acquiescence toward the end of the race when he waved by the faster cars of Wallace, Erik Jones and Kyle Larson.

    But there’s an incentive to stick to his hard-charging ways.

    It’s a NASCAR rite of passage for the old guard to scold young stars who threaten their results, and it’s been effective in blunting their progress. Three years ago, Ross Chastain dramatically tailed off after being targeted for scorn from several veterans who tangled with him.

    If he shows restraint, Hocevar might lose his grip on a top-16 spot in the Chase (he is ranked seventh with 11 races left in the regular season). Yet his recalcitrance also runs the risk of costly retribution.

    Amazon Prime analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr. believes Hocevar should stay the course for his own good — and for NASCAR, which thrives on colorful personalities and rivalries.

    “I don’t want him to really change what he’s doing,” Earnhardt said of Hocevar on the postrace show. “As a fan and as a broadcaster, what he did today made this race unique. If he cleans it up, I’m not sure I’m going to like what I’m going to see. I kind of like the drama that he brings. He’s got a hat to wear, and he wears it well. He doesn’t seem interested in changing, and I don’t want him to change.”

    Hamlin ponders future

    With his second consecutive victory and third this season, Denny Hamlin now trails Tyler Reddick by only 51 points, chopping 78 points off the margin in the past three seasons. Team owner Joe Gibbs is still hoping Hamlin will reconsider his decision to retire from full-time driving after the 2027 season.

    Hamlin left the door slightly open (“I told (Gibbs) just check with me in six months”) but said he wants to go out on top before his skills diminish.

    “I feel as though there’s three things that happen,” Hamlin said. “You lose your eyesight. You lose your reaction. And your body hurts. The body hurts are there during the week. I’m not recovering as quick. But the other two things are still sharp. So I want to go out like this.”

    In-Season Challenge

    Sunday at Pocono Raceway will set the field for the second year of the In-Season Challenge. The top 32 drivers in the points standings will complete for $1 million in a bracket-style tournament contested over five races (Sonoma Raceway, Chicagoland Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway).

    Connor Zilisch is unlikely to be eligible. The Trackhouse Racing rookie is ranked 34th in the standings (two spots behind Alex Bowman, who missed four races) after becoming the sixth driver in NASCAR history with three consecutive last-place finishes.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing


  • Victor Wembanyama carries Spurs to 115-111 win that cuts Knicks’ NBA Finals lead to 2-1


    NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama has his first NBA Finals win — and the New York Knicks suddenly have a lot of work left to end their 53-year championship drought.

    Wembanyama had 32 points, eight rebounds and six assists, carrying the San Antonio Spurs to a 115-111 victory Monday night that cut the Knicks’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

    San Antonio is trying to make a first-of-its-kind NBA Finals comeback, and the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, with his array of skills, makes anything look possible.

    “I’m sure Victor has numerous sources of motivation,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “I don’t think any of us are surprised or expect anything different than a strong performance.”

    The Spurs handed the Knicks their first loss in 46 days and potentially salvaged their season in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd that included President Donald Trump.

    The Knicks had their 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA postseason history, snapped and missed a chance to move to the brink of their first title since 1973. Their previous loss occurred on April 23 in a one-point defeat to the Atlanta Hawks. They won the next three against Atlanta, swept Philadelphia and Cleveland and took the first two games against the Spurs.

    The run stirred New York into a frenzy, with raucous watch parties, fans paying outrageous sums of money for tickets and “Knicks In Four” becoming a daily greeting on streets, subway cars and in workplaces.

    But Wembanyama and the Spurs ended the streak and ruined the Knicks’ first home NBA Finals game since 1999.

    “At home, it really feels like playing six against five. Here, it feels like five against six,” Wembanyama said. “It really shows what teams are made of.”

    Knicks coach Mike Brown complained about the Spurs’ 24-8 advantage in free throw attempts in the second half.

    “I tell the guys, it’s a seven-game series for a reason,” Brown said. “They are a great team. They are well-coached. They have an iconic player. It’s not going to be easy.”

    Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox hit big shots late as the Spurs avoided falling into a 3-0 hole, which no NBA team has escaped. Now they can tie the series Wednesday night and are guaranteed another game at home, with Game 5 scheduled for Saturday.

    Castle finished with 23 points as the Spurs got started in their quest to become the first team to win the NBA Finals after losing the first two games at home.

    Jalen Brunson scored 32 points and OG Anunoby had 28 for the Knicks.

    Fans who endured long lines to get in with the extra security measures in place — and some who paid five-figure sums for the chance to do so — were treated to a back-and-forth game as the NBA Finals returned to Madison Square Garden for the first time in 27 years.

    Wembanyama, whose turnover late in Game 2 cost the Spurs dearly, didn’t make many mistakes Monday. He had 10 points in the final quarter, helping San Antonio build just enough of a cushion to withstand Brunson’s latest comeback attempt.

    Minutes after Trump was booed loudly when he was shown during the national anthem, the Spurs got off to an ideal start. Wembanyama dunked for their first two baskets and they had a double-digit lead 4 1/2 minutes into the game. San Antonio made nine of its first 11 shots, with the Knicks and their fans frustrated by the referees and the home team’s sloppy play, and led 33-22 after one.

    The Garden crowd didn’t really start to rock until Anunoby’s 3-pointer capped an 11-2 surge that cut it to 40-38. The Knicks got their first lead of the night on Brunson’s 26-footer as part of a big burst to finish the half. New York led 64-57 at the break.

    But the Spurs went back ahead in the third quarter and led 111-104 on Castle’s 3-pointer with 1:53 to play. Castle then closed the scoring with two free throws with 6.8 seconds left after Anunoby’s 3-pointer cut it to two.

    The Knicks had piled up massive scoring margins while romping through the Eastern Conference playoffs, then were just good enough in the two games in San Antonio. This time, a horrible start to the fourth quarter put them too far behind.

    A star-studded crowd that included Derek Jeter and Eli Manning, champions of New York teams in other sports, was hoping to see the Knicks move closer to a third NBA title. But with Karl-Anthony Towns limited to 11 points and Mikal Bridges saddled with foul trouble, a team that had been so potent in the postseason struggled for long stretches.

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


  • Knicks say the winning bid for 2 celebrity row seats for Game 3 of the NBA Finals is $1 million


    NEW YORK (AP) — In the NBA Finals, celebrity row property is worth $1 million.

    The New York Knicks announced that was the winning bid in an auction for two seats for Game 3 on Monday night, the first NBA Finals game at Madison Square Garden since 1999.

    The winning bid was split by the law firm Gibson Dunn and private equity firm Veritas Capital. The fundraiser benefited the Garden of Dreams Foundation, and the Knicks said it was the largest single donation in the history of the foundation, which works with MSG’s companies to assist children at need in the tristate area.

    The seats are located in section VIP 10, row AA, seats 25 and 26, right off center court. It’s impossible to know what they would usually cost, because the team doesn’t sell them. Instead, they are given to the celebrity fans such as Tracy Morgan and Timothée Chalamet who are courtside fixtures.

    Seats everywhere in the building are expensive. The cheapest upper-deck seats available Sunday night were going for more than $6,000 on secondary markets like StubHub, SeatGeek and VividSeats. The experience of being courtside went for more than $75,000.

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


  • A watchdog report flags security risks in the IRS-ICE taxpayer data-sharing deal


    WASHINGTON (AP) — A new Treasury inspector general report raises concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to safeguard taxpayer information, after ICE and the IRS agreed in 2025 to share taxpayer data for the purpose of immigration investigations.

    The recently released report provides the first official accounting of the scale of the IRS-ICE information transfer and documents security concerns surrounding an arrangement that has been the subject of multiple lawsuits and significant controversy inside both agencies.

    Also known as TIGTA, Treasury’s inspector general found that the controversial 2025 data-sharing agreement crafted between ICE and the Treasury, which allowed ICE to submit names and addresses of immigrants inside the U.S. illegally to the IRS for cross-verification against tax records, resulted in inconsistent formatting in ICE’s data and the IRS’ matching criteria which led to errors.

    The deal led the then-acting commissioner of the IRS to resign.

    The report states that after the agreement was signed, ICE requested address information on more than 1.2 million people, and the IRS ultimately provided last-known addresses for about 47,000 people.

    TIGTA concluded that the IRS’s automated matching process was flawed. Inconsistent formatting in ICE’s data led to questionable matches, including in cases where incomplete or inaccurate addresses were labeled as valid, the report says.

    Representatives from Treasury and the IRS did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment.

    The plan to cross-verify tax and immigration data is part of President Donald Trump’s agenda to secure U.S. borders and his larger nationwide immigration crackdown, which has resulted in deportations, workplace raids and the use of an 18th century wartime law to deport Venezuelan migrants.

    However, this is not the first time it’s been revealed that tens of thousands of taxpayers’ information was revealed to ICE.

    In February, a federal judge said that the IRS broke the law by disclosing confidential taxpayer information to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, referring to the same 47,000 disclosures that TIGTA points out.

    U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found that the IRS had erroneously shared the taxpayer information of thousands of people with the Department of Homeland Security as part of the agencies’ controversial agreement to share information on immigrants for the purpose of identifying and deporting people illegally in the U.S.

    No recommendations were made in the new TIGTA report, according to a letter written by Nancy A. LaManna, deputy inspector general for inspections and evaluations.

    “However, we plan to share some concerns we identified during our review with the DHS Office of Inspector General,” her letter states.


  • Judge clears QB Brendan Sorsby to play for Texas Tech despite NCAA ban for gambling


    A Texas judge granted Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby a temporary injunction that clears the way for him to play this fall despite being declared ineligible by the NCAA for wagering on college sports, including bets made on his own team while he was at Indiana.

    The decision sent shock waves across college sports since bans for gambling are a bedrock rule of the NCAA and in many professional sports.

    The NCAA said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and “is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports.” There was no immediate word on an appeal, though one is expected.

    Sorsby, whose school said he has a gambling problem that he is addressing through treatment, will miss the Red Raiders’ first two games next season under a judge-approved penalty that had been proposed by his attorneys. The NCAA, which usually handles such punishments, was not involved.

    The ruling by Judge Ken Curry prevents the NCAA from being able to block the transfer QB’s eligibility for what will be his final college season with a team among the favorites to win the Big 12 Conference and return to the College Football Playoff for a second consecutive season.

    Texas Tech opens the season on Sept. 5 at home against Abilene Christian. The Red Raiders then play Oregon State before their Big 12 opener at home on Sept. 18 against Houston.

    “I’m very grateful for the endless support I have received throughout this entire process,” Sorsby posted on social media Monday. “I am also grateful for the chance to rejoin my teammates. This opportunity comes with the responsibility to remain focused on my personal growth, the ability to learn from this experience, and to be able to use my situation to help others going forward.”

    The judge’s ruling

    Curry held a two-hour hearing last week in the 99th District Court in Lubbock County, where Texas Tech is located. In his decision, he wrote that he agreed Sorsby would suffer “a probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he cannot practice or play for the Red Raiders.

    The injunction comes with conditions that Sorsby must continue counseling for his gambling and to participate in peer support through Gamblers Anonymous or a similar group. He also must continue treatment to address “the underlying anxiety that served as the primary driver of (his) gambling behavior.”

    Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said a comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring and compliance checks, will remain fully in place for Sorsby during his time at the school.

    “As we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan’s case warranted permanent ineligibility,” Hocutt said. “As he returns to our football program, we remain committed to supporting Brendan’s recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court’s order.”

    Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor told Yahoo Sports he was disappointed by the ruling.

    “It is absolutely devastating for him to be able to play when every other sport, no matter the level, deems an athlete ineligible or they are punished severely for betting on their team,” he told the outlet.

    “I think there needs to be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech in any sports,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, told Yahoo Sports. “If a state court wants to dictate eligibility rules, they can play themselves. … We’ve officially reached the point of no return.”

    A significant setback against the NCAA

    NCAA attorney Taylor Askew had said during the hearing that allowing Sorsby to play another college season would provide “reputable harm” to the governing body.

    “Saying the NCAA is now the first league in America that allows you, without punishment, to bet on its own contests, that’s a reputable harm to the NCAA,” Askew told the court. “This would be the first league in America that does that. … We should not say for the first time serial gambling is OK.”

    Court records show that Sorsby has acknowledged making thousands of impermissible bets totaling at least $90,000 during his time at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech. That included 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman there in 2022, though none on any of the games he played in with the Hoosiers.

    While some guidelines for penalties related to gambling have changed in recent years, NCAA rules still call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team.

    Sorsby was at Indiana for two seasons before the past two at Cincinnati.

    The Texas native transferred in January to Texas Tech for a reported multimillion-dollar deal. The Red Raiders brought him in to be the starting quarterback when trying to defend their first Big 12 title and return to the CFP.

    What led to the NCAA investigation

    According to court filings, on March 11 the NCAA received a tip about Sorsby’s gambling activity from an online gambling book, which had been informed by law enforcement. Texas Tech was notified April 14 that an investigation was underway by the NCAA.

    Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who negotiated the $2.8 billion House settlement against the NCAA and now represents Sorsby, told the court that the 22-year-old quarterback has a diagnosed addiction and anxiety-driven compulsion. Sorsby recently completed a monthlong stay in a residential treatment program in Arizona that he entered after the start of the NCAA’s investigation.

    According to a clinician who treated Sorsby, Kessler said, not allowing the quarterback to play would hurt his mental health and hamper his recovery.

    The NCAA in its statement Monday said it is “committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one’s own sport.”

    The lawsuit and NCAA appeals

    The injunction came in Sorsby’s lawsuit filed May 18 against the NCAA seeking the restoration of his eligibility. That case was initially assigned to District Judge Phillip Hays, a Lubbock native and Texas Tech graduate who later recused himself. Curry is a retired judge from Tarrant County, nearly 300 miles away.

    Since the filing of that lawsuit, the NCAA has twice denied Texas Tech’s petition to restore the quarterback’s eligibility.

    When the school on May 26 revealed the first denial and its intent to appeal, university president Lawrence Schovanec wrote in a letter to the Texas Tech community that the school felt “the NCAA’s ruling should be reversed or modified.”

    That comment illustrates the difficult landscape for the NCAA, which has lost multiple court cases challenging rules that were put in place by the very schools that make up its membership. Many focus on eligibility, with athletes contending they should be allowed to play and continue to earn money that was made available under the House ruling.

    The NCAA is on the verge of approving a new eligibility model following meetings among stakeholders and even President Donald Trump. The NCAA continues to also seek limited antitrust protections from Congress in hopes of eliminating or at least smoothing the state-by-state rulings that have thrown the industry into chaos.

    “There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said on social media after Monday’s decision. “When you have schools and deep-pocketed supporters willing to look the other way on the glaring integrity threat of betting on your own team — and judges whose rulings effectively strip away our ability to stop them — only Congress can equip the NCAA to apply this common sense rule to everyone fairly and consistently. The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules including the gambling restrictions — it’s needed now more than ever.”

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    AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football


  • Testimony ends after 4 days, closing arguments set in trial of fatal Texas track meet stabbing


    MCKINNEY, Texas (AP) — A teenager who fatally stabbed a competitor at a Texas high school track meet was upset after the confrontation and said he had warned the victim “not to touch me,” one of the last trial witnesses testified Monday.

    Karmelo Anthony, now 19, is charged with murder in the death of Austin Metcalf, 17, at a school stadium in Frisco, a Dallas suburb, in April 2025.

    After a midday break that lasted three hours, the prosecutor and defense lawyers said they had no more evidence to offer on the fourth day of trial. Anthony did not testify in his own defense, and closing arguments were set for Tuesday.

    Prosecutors say the stabbing of Metcalf was an unjustified attack related to a dispute over whether Anthony could be under the tent of Metcalf’s team during a rainy track meet. Defense attorneys insist Anthony felt threatened and believed he needed to defend himself when physical contact was made.

    One of Anthony’s teammates, testifying Monday for the defense, said Anthony was “distraught” after the stabbing.

    “I was hearing him say, ‘I told him not to touch me,’” the witness said.

    Judge John Roach Jr. has said young witnesses can’t be publicly identified.

    Metcalf’s death drew wide attention, in part because of social media posts that amplified the case in racial terms. Anthony, who attended Frisco Centennial High School, is Black, while Metcalf, who attended Frisco Memorial High School, was white.

    Prosecutors rested their case Saturday in Collin County court. Jurors last week heard from a number of people who were at the track meet, including students who said Anthony had been asked to leave the tent and was the aggressor in the confrontation.

    The courtroom was packed again Monday with spectators, including the parents of Anthony and Metcalf, and younger people.

    The jurors will be sequestered in a hotel if they don’t reach a verdict Tuesday and return to court Wednesday. The judge told them not to discuss the case with anyone, and “for God’s sake do not go on social media.”


  • A 7.8 magnitude quake in the Philippines kills at least 35, collapses buildings and sparks tsunami


    DAVAO, Philippines (AP) — An offshore earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 hit the southern Philippines on Monday, killing at least 35 people, injuring more than 200 others mostly in ruined buildings and sending a 1-meter (3-foot) tsunami into nearby coasts.

    Several mostly low-rise buildings collapsed or sustained heavy damages in the hard-hit city of General Santos. Tsunami damage was reported in at least one southern coastal village. Smaller waves were measured in Indonesia and Palau and as far away as southern Japan.

    The quake also triggered a landslide in Glan, a municipality in the province of Sarangani, that killed 13 villagers, Rene Punzalan, a provincial disaster-mitigation official, told the DZBB radio network. Four other villagers died in Sarangani, he said.

    The major earthquake was the strongest to hit the Philippines this year, Teresito Bacolcol, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, said. He warned people to seek advice before returning to damaged buildings and houses, which could collapse due to aftershocks.

    The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, said it was coordinating with Manila and was ready to support Philippine response efforts. France, Japan and New Zealand also expressed support.

    “Our pickup truck suddenly jerked and I thought we had a flat tire,” Rod Sosmeña, a regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, told The Associated Press from General Santos, where he was traveling when the quake struck at 7:37 a.m.

    “The shaking was very strong and people dashed out of houses into the streets,” Sosmeña said.

    Epicenter in sea off Mindanao

    More than 100 students in uniforms and a dozen teachers had gathered for a flag-raising ceremony in a coconut tree-ringed grade school compound in the rural town of Malita in Davao Occidental province when the ground shook, turning the first day of school after a two-month summer break into chaos.

    “Their excitement on the first day of school turned to trauma,” school principal Rosavel Cachuela told the AP.

    Some of the young students screamed in panic and wept but most remained seated and still, preventing any injuries, Cachuela said, adding that a motorcycle was damaged when a shed crumbled to the ground.

    At least four people remained missing in General Santos, a port city of more than 700,000 people and a regional hub for the tuna export industry. Search and rescue teams worked to find people who may have been trapped in a supermarket, a warehouse, a grade school, and other small buildings that either collapsed or were severely damaged, officials said.

    The international airport in General Santos was temporarily shut due to the earthquake and 17 domestic flights were canceled, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.

    The quake was centered at sea off Mindanao, the second most populous island in the Philippine archipelago. According to Bacolcol, the quake occurred at a depth of 33 kilometers (20 miles), about 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of Maasim town in Sarangani province.

    Assessing damage and casualties

    President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the cancellation of classes and directed disaster-response agencies to immediately get to work in quake-hit provinces, saying “the national government is moving and we will not leave Mindanao behind.”

    The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the threat of a tsunami largely passed about five hours after the quake. Philippine officials also lifted a tsunami warning by mid-afternoon. Six shanties on stilts were damaged in a coastal village in Zamboanga del Sur province due to the quake and taller waves, officials said.

    Aside from the landslide in Sarangani, most of the other deaths were caused by collapsing buildings and falling debris, including in a damaged mosque, in the southern provinces of South Cotabato and Davao Occidental, and on Balut Island, according to Sosmeña and another disaster-mitigation official, Ednar Dayanghirang.

    The DZRH radio network in Manila reported that a four-story commercial building where its provincial station was located partly collapsed and staffers dashed to the ground floor without injuries.

    Tsunami waves near 3 feet measured

    Waves of 1 meter (3 feet) were monitored in the provinces of Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani. A 1.4-meter (4.6-foot) wave hit at one time in Kiamba town, Bacolcol said.

    The quake was also felt in Malaysia’s Sabah state on Borneo island. Sabah is just a boat ride away from southern Philippines. An 83-centimeter (2.7-feet) tsunami was measured by a gauge off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, and the PTWC said 30-centimeter (1-foot) waves were measured in Palau.

    Waves up to 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) were detected on the remote Japanese island of Chichijima and the central Japanese town of Kushimoto, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

    The Philippines is often hit by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of seismic faults around the ocean.

    The archipelago is also battered by about 20 typhoons and tropical storms each year, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

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    Gomez reported from Manila, Philippines. Associated Press writers Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and global executive producer Kiko Rosario in Bangkok contributed to this report.


  • Roger Federer will return to the US Open to take part in an exhibition event


    NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Federer will play in an exhibition at the U.S. Open this year, returning to the Grand Slam tournament that he is the only player to win five consecutive times.

    Days before being enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Federer will play in New York on Aug. 25. The event, titled “Roger Federer: An Icon Returns to New York,” also will include Andy Roddick, John McEnroe and Andre Agassi. It was announced Monday by the U.S. Tennis Association.

    Roddick won the 2003 U.S. Open, the year before Federer started dominating the event. He won every one from 2004-08 as part of his 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

    Federer last played the U.S. Open in 2019.

    “So many unforgettable moments of my career happened in New York, and Arthur Ashe Stadium is a place that means a great deal to me,” he said in a statement. “I’ve missed being part of that atmosphere and feeling the incredible energy that the fans bring every year.”

    The Hall of Fame induction ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 29 in Newport, Rhode Island.

    The USTA said there will be further announcements about the lineup for the event, which is during the week before singles play in the tournament begins.

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