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  • Hurricanes fans jam into downtown Raleigh for team’s Stanley Cup parade, celebration


    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes brought their Stanley Cup celebration to downtown Raleigh on Saturday, with thousands of fans arriving hours early to line sidewalks for the team’s victory parade or packing in near the rally stage where the Hurricanes were set to cap off the festivities.

    The team boarded double-decker buses to start the parade, which was set to weave by the State Capitol building. And the Hurricanes players were greeted by fans screaming, chanting, waving flags and wearing Carolina jerseys, still buzzing from the franchise beating the Vegas Golden Knights last weekend to win the Cup for the second time, the other coming in 2006.

    Carly Goodman, 35, of Raleigh, was hard to miss in the front row behind barricades in front of the stage where the parade would end with a rally. She sported a red Sebastian Aho jersey, waved a large Hurricanes flag and was blinged out with a silver “Stanley Cup” chain necklace.

    She was drinking from a “beer skate,” the novelty mug shaped like a Hurricanes skate that sold out immediately during the Game 1 of the second-round series against Philadelphia. She got up at 5 a.m. — “Let my dogs out, they were mad to get up,” she said — and made sure to head straight downtown hours in advance to ensure a prime spot.

    “It’s been something special ever since 2006,” Goodman said. “Raleigh’s a small market. We’ve got college sports, but this is epic. It’s a team that everybody can get behind. It breaks down all the barriers. Everyone just comes together and smiles, no matter if you’re a Duke fan, Carolina fan, whatever — it doesn’t matter.”

    It was a longer trek for Scott Stiles, 60, and his son, Joey, 24. They weren’t about to miss the celebration even though they live in Concord, a city outside of Charlotte known for its ties to NASCAR and other motorsports. So they hopped in the car around 3 a.m. to make the 2 1/2-hour drive, arriving more than five hours before the parade was scheduled to start and finding fans like Goodman already waiting closer to the City Plaza stage.

    The duo — Scott in an Andrei Svechnikov jersey, Joey wearing a Seth Jarvis one — had chairs plopped in the middle of Fayetteville Street straight back from the stage, their spot marked by a giant Hurricanes flag.

    “When’s the next time they’re going to win a Cup?” Scott said, pausing as a “Let’s go Canes!” chant wrapped up. “They might win it again next year, who knows? But we wanted to be a part of it.”

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


  • Russia strikes an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and 1 person is killed


    KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian bombs struck an apartment building on Saturday in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, killing at least one person and wounding nine, including a 6-year-old child, authorities said.

    A body was pulled from the rubble hours after the attack, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. He said that the bombs slammed into the low-rise building in Kharkiv’s Kholodnohirskiy district in the early hours. The head of the regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that at least nine people were wounded, five of whom were hospitalized.

    Elsewhere in Kharkiv, a Russian drone struck a civilian vehicle on Friday evening, killing a man and wounding the woman who was driving the car, Syniehubov said.

    Later on Saturday, Russia again launched guided bombs at Ukraine, striking the outskirts of the northern city of Sumy, according to local administration head Oleh Hryhorov. The attacks killed a male civilian and damaged at least 20 private houses, Hryhorov reported on Telegram.

    Russian strikes on the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia killed at least four people and wounded six others, according to regional administration head Ivan Fedorov. Guided aerial bombs were used in the attacks.

    Moscow didn’t immediately acknowledge or comment on the attacks.

    Ukraine’s air force said that it shot down 92 of 99 Russian drones launched overnight and that seven struck targets in three locations.

    Meanwhile, Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on an oil refinery in Tyumen in Western Siberia, Gov. Alexander Moor said Saturday. He said that there was no damage to the refinery and staff members were evacuated.

    Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian oil facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion. Some areas have reported fuel shortages.

    In one of the biggest drone attacks since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on Feb. 24, 2022, Ukraine on Thursday struck a major Moscow oil refinery for a second time in a week, sending huge plumes of black smoke over the capital and disrupting hundreds of flights.

    Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that its forces shot down 177 Ukrainian drones during the night. It didn’t say how many reached their targets. Two drones were shot down on approach to Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.

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    Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine


  • Dolce & Gabbana imagines a Mediterranean escape in menswear built for the heat


    MILAN (AP) — Dolce & Gabbana pitched a menswear wardrobe built for both Milan’s punishing heat wave and a Sicilian beach escape, sending models down a seaside-inspired runway in laser-cut suits, short shorts and breezy knitwear during Milan Fashion Week on Saturday.

    Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana created the backdrop with a video image of a rocky coastline at sunset, as models walked among columns evoking a Mediterranean terrace in swimwear and silk pajamas.

    The collection kicked into high gear as the sun rose, with laser-cut suits, tunics and loose trousers designed to stay cool in the heat while transitioning from the workweek city to a weekend seaside getaway. The standout accessory was an oversized travel bag in leather, suede and raffia.

    Short shorts showed off muscular legs, while loose-knit tops did the same for torsos. Suit jackets featured unusual upright lapels and unexpected details on the back, including back panels that could unbutton for added ventilation.

    The brand’s craftsmanship was most evident in woven leather jackets, echoed in woven footwear.

    The design duo incorporated its signature embellishments, including rhinestones on denim and more delicate coral beading on suits, shirts and trousers. The collection also featured religious-inspired motifs, including cross necklaces resembling rosaries and icon-style prints on T-shirts.

    To close, the runway teemed with models in a sea of all-white looks, crisp and distinctly summer.

    Front-row guests included Polish soccer great Robert Lewandowski, two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard, Italian actor Michele Morrone of Netflix’s “365 Days” and K-pop singer Soobin.


  • Warsh’s gamble: A quieter Federal Reserve could mean volatile markets, higher rates


    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has for decades moved steadily from a remote, opaque government agency that shared little about what it did or why to a more transparent institution willing to explain how it makes decisions and what it thinks about the economy.

    But in his first press conference Wednesday, new chair Kevin Warsh began to reverse some of those steps. Warsh, like many economists, thinks the financial markets have become too dependent on Fed guidance, and that such direction is more effective in financial crises or economic downturns.

    Warsh quickly made changes: The Fed’s statement on its interest-rate decision was slashed to 132 words, from 341 in April. And Warsh pointedly noted that the statement excluded any hints, or “forward guidance,” about what the Fed’s next moves might be.

    In short, Warsh rapidly delivered on a promise to slash the Fed’s communications, particularly the guidance it gives to financial markets about its next interest-rate moves. Yet such an approach carries the risk of more violent swings in stock and bond prices, analysts say, and ultimately could lead to higher interest rates for consumers and businesses.

    “Forward guidance in general has served to suppress volatility and anchor market expectations,” said George Pearkes, global macro strategist at Bespoke Investment Group. “And that has led to lower borrowing rates, relative to alternatives.”

    Still, the impact on consumers is likely to be modest, Pearkes added, with mortgage rates perhaps a quarter-point higher than they would be otherwise.

    Financial markets see-sawed, then fell Wednesday after the statement and news conference. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which strongly influences mortgage rates, jumped Wednesday to 4.49% from 4.43%, though it fell back in Thursday trading. The yield on the 2-year Treasury, which closely tracks expectations for Fed action, was 4.16% Thursday, up sharply from 4.05% before the Fed’s meeting. The broad S&P 500 stock index dropped 1.2% Wednesday.

    Warsh may be headed back to 1990s

    Such swings could be a sign of things to come. Previous chairs have signaled the Fed’s next moves clearly enough that financial markets have largely anticipated the central bank’s actions. But Warsh has frequently cited as a model former chair Alan Greenspan, whose circumspect comments often kept investors guessing.

    Greenspan, who served as chair from 1987 to 2005, did usher in the statement the Fed now issues after each meeting announcing its decision. The first statement was issued Feb. 4, 1994, and said the Fed would increase its key rate for the first time in five years. The move caught investors off-guard and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2.4% that day.

    The paring back of Fed communications is part of a larger package of potential reforms to the central bank’s operations that Warsh signaled Wednesday. He announced that the Fed will set up five task forces to examine the Fed’s communications, its balance sheet, how it analyzes and gathers economic data, the impact of AI on productivity and jobs, and the frameworks it uses to analyze inflation.

    Warsh said the communications task force would consider changes to the quarterly economic projections the Fed issues as well as look at other recent innovations, including press conferences. Former chair Ben Bernanke was the first to hold them, though he did so only after every other Fed meeting. Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, shifted to holding them after every meeting.

    Such steps are a sharp contrast with the 1990s, when Greenspan never explained a Fed decision, on the record, to reporters. Warsh could ultimately dial back some of the Fed’s increased transparency.

    “This is a big change in how the Fed has conducted itself since the (2008-2009) global financial crisis,” Matthew Luzzetti, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, said. “Since then there has been a one-way train to greater communication, more transparency, and more forward guidance. Warsh has now put that train in reverse.”

    Fed chairs have seen benefits to forward guidance

    Previous Fed chairs, starting with Bernanke, have seen a clear benefit to more communication: It helps guide the markets in the direction the Fed wants. Fed officials control a short-term interest rate, but the rates that affect the economy — such as the yield on the 10-year Treasury — are heavily influenced by investors’ expectations for inflation and economic growth. By telegraphing their next moves, policymakers can cause those longer-term rates to change even before the Fed adjusts its own benchmark rate.

    Yet Warsh’s view is that financial markets have become too dependent on Fed guidance. Instead, he wants investors to gauge where the Fed may move next by examining economic data and making their own judgments, which the Fed can then consider as part of their assessments of where the economy is headed.

    “Financial market prices are probably the most important source of information to guide central bankers,” Warsh said at Wednesday’s news conference.

    Guidance can help with unexpected events

    David Andolfatto, an economics professor at the University of Miami and former economist at the St. Louis Fed, said he agreed with Warsh that forward guidance has flaws. It can be easily upended by unexpected events, he said, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or the Iran war.

    But the chair should set out guidelines for how the Fed will react to unexpected events, Andolfatto said, or to challenges such as the persistent inflation it is grappling with now, yet Warsh so far hasn’t done so.

    “I’m with him on dispensing with forward guidance, but you have to replace it with a contingency plan,” Andolfatto said. “It’s not enough to say, trust me, we’ll keep inflation at target.”

    Ironically, Warsh’s decision to drop forward guidance may empower the other 18 members of the Fed’s rate-setting committee, Pearkes said. Those officials — six members of the Fed’s governing board, plus the presidents of the 12 regional Fed banks — frequently give public speeches, and their remarks will get even more attention as financial markets seek clues about what the Fed may do next.

    A big challenge to Warsh’s approach will come if there is a sharp financial downturn or economic crisis, as occurred during the COVID pandemic. In those circumstances, economists said, forward guidance can play an important role calming markets.

    “Whether it will stand the test of time and he will behave this way for five years is a very different question, but one that we’re going to have to wait for events to unfold to get an answer to,” Pearkes said.


  • Utah marks a year of battling measles, with no clear end in sight


    Utah has spent the past year fighting measles outbreaks — a grim milestone that could affect whether the United States can keep its measles-free designation.

    More than 680 people have gotten sick since the state’s first outbreak began on June 20, 2025.

    Unlike measles outbreaks in Texas, South Carolina and Arizona, the spread in Utah has been tough to contain to one region — infecting undervaccinated communities in nearly every county.

    Measles popped up in healthcare settings, big-box stores and restaurants, and youth sporting events. In February, an exposure at a state high school wrestling championship sparked at least 46 cases among attendees.

    Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to medicine. It causes a tell-tale rash, high fevers, strong cough, ear infections and diarrhea.

    While most recover, some — including young babies, pregnant people and those with weak immune systems — are at higher risk of developing dangerous complications like pneumonia, brain swelling, blindness or even dying. Even healthy people can develop issues years down the road, including a rare but fatal degenerative brain disease that manifests about a decade after infection.

    The measles vaccine is safe and 97% protective after two doses.

    Though Utah’s spread has slowed in recent weeks, state epidemiologist Leisha Nolen sees little opportunity to rest. She’s worried the start of school and arrival of colder weather in the fall will cause measles to surge again.

    “It’s still here, it’s still transmitting,” she said. “We just need those few cases to hit the wrong community and it could flare up really big again.”

    Utah sees the impacts of dropping vaccination rates

    The worst spread has been in the southwestern part of the state, where 265 people have fallen ill with the vaccine-preventable disease since last summer. Overall, measles infections hit 22 of the state’s 29 counties.

    In the state’s rural northeast, the conditions were also ripe for measles to spread. Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah counties — collectively dubbed the “tricounty” health region — has seen the second-largest decline in childhood vaccination rates in the state.

    More than 16% of the region’s kindergarteners were missing their measles vaccines in the last school year, according to state data. Statewide, 12.8% were missing their vaccine, putting the state far short of the 95% vaccination rate needed to prevent measles outbreaks.

    The TriCounty Health Department logged 74 cases of measles this spring, after people who got sick at the youth wrestling tournament spread the virus in school and later within their households.

    The frontier region had seen a rise in vaccine hesitancy for some time, said Sydnee Lyons, the health department’s public information officer.

    Despite the large number of cases, local and state health officials consider TriCounty’s measles response a success.

    Health officials focused efforts on mitigating the inevitable spread. Unvaccinated students were excluded from in-person school and people who were sick were told to isolate themselves. And their appeal to care for one’s neighbors led to more people coming in to get vaccinated, officials said.

    TriCounty’s infectious disease specialist Cyndie Mattinson recalled a parent who told a school nurse she didn’t want to talk to the health department because “she was worried that we would be angry with her and be judgmental because her children were unvaccinated.”

    The nurse vouched for the health department staff, and told the mom to let her know if she felt judged. Mattinson ultimately had a great conversation with the mother.

    “The perceptions were changed that we weren’t out there to police, we were there to be a help and a resource to the community,” Mattinson said.

    Health experts will meet to decide on US measles status

    Utah’s lengthy battle with measles will likely affect whether the U.S. can keep its measles-free designation. Public health officials consider measles to be eliminated from a country when it shows it stopped continuous spread within local communities for at least a year.

    The national measles case count was 2,104 as of June 18, nearly surpassing last year’s record total.

    Utah has fought measles for a year, but it’s not clear if the earliest clusters are connected with the major outbreak on the Utah-Arizona state line, which was detected in August, Nolen said.

    But since then, most of the state’s measles cases have come from within Utah, not from other parts of the country.

    International health experts will gather in November to determine if the U.S. and Mexico have lost their measles elimination status. Canada lost its status last year after ongoing outbreaks.

    In Utah, doctors continue to reassure scared patients and lobby for better public health policy.

    Dr. Ellie Brownstein, president-elect of the state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician in Salt Lake City, spent the height of the outbreak opposing a bill that would have made school vaccine waivers easier to get. It failed, but she says there hasn’t been a clear cultural reckoning over measles’ resurgence.

    “I don’t know that we get it to end,” Brownstein said. “I don’t know that we’re going to get this genie back in the box because there’s enough people out there to spread it.”

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    The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.


  • A top banker tried to sway Pope Leo XIV on rare earth mining


    ROME (AP) — The head of Latin America’s top development bank made a pitch to Pope Leo XIV this week in the face of the Vatican’s call to divest from the mining industry: that the mistakes of the past can be avoided in extracting rare earth minerals to supply a global tech boom.

    Ilan Goldfajn, head of the Inter-American Development Bank, met privately with the pope on Friday and asserted the potential of rare earth mining, saying it could be a boon to Latin America provided there are safeguards and value is added locally.

    It’s probably not an easy sell. The Vatican for years has taken a firm stand against multinational mining corporations, especially in Latin America and in favor of the Indigenous peoples, whose lands and livelihoods are often ravaged when mining projects come to town.

    Goldfajn’s visit, which followed one earlier this year by mining executives, suggests that he recognizes the weight of the pope’s words in the majority-Catholic region, and a desire to sensitize him to the possibility of a better way of doing business. Whether Leo can be swayed is another matter, given his own experience in the region and criticism of the often corrupt deals mining companies ink with governments in the developing world.

    Countries have identified dozens of minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, as critical because they are essential for new technologies. The 17 rare earth elements are a subset of them. They’re used in a wide range of products, including smartphones, semiconductors, electric vehicles and jet engines.

    “It’s a unique opportunity for the region, but you need to do it in the right way with the standards, the labor conditions, with the environmental conditions, the governance,” Goldfajn said in an interview in Rome on June 18, one day before his meeting.

    “We have exactly the tools to do that,” he added, noting the IADB has a roughly $4 billion pipeline of critical mineral projects in the region, mostly in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, and three-quarters of that amount with private companies. He had just delivered a presentation on rare earth minerals at a finance conference, with an eye on potential European investors.

    A pope who knows Peru

    Mining has a checkered, centuries-long history in Latin America, from forced labor and displacement of Indigenous peoples to deforestation, poisoning of waterways and deadly dam collapses. Foreign companies withdrew much of the wealth from the earth without enriching local populations. In colonial times, silver and gold made its way across the ocean to adorn Catholic churches.

    Leo, who spent two decades working as a missionary in Peru, would be intimately familiar with the plight of Indigenous peoples in mining areas and the environmental impact of extraction industries on the land. He ministered in Chulucanas, in the archdiocese of Piura, which has huge copper mining projects, and in Trujillo, known for its gold deposits. His final Peruvian posting, Chiclayo, is a big logistical hub for northern Peru’s extraction industries.

    “He must have seen both sides: the promise, the future, but also the challenges,” Goldfajn said of Leo’s time in Peru. He noted that Leo held a private audience with a group of top mining executives in January, which he heard from them had been “very constructive.”

    But two months later, the Vatican launched a campaign to encourage divestment from mining companies. At a Vatican news conference, top officials held up an ecumenical Christian network, known as the Church and Mining Network, that is active in particular in Latin America. The campaign seeks to encourage local churches to review their investment strategies and divest where needed, and to share information especially with Indigenous groups about the types of extraction occurring on their lands.

    Leo is expected to visit Peru in November, including places where he ministered. In each of the three sub-Saharan countries he visited during his April trip to Africa — Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea — he blasted the “colonization” of Africa’s minerals by mining companies.

    It makes sense for people like Goldfajn to try to engage Leo, even if the pope alone won’t move investment decisions, Bryan Harris, managing partner at Sabio, a Latin America-focused strategic advisory firm, wrote in an email.

    “The decades he spent in Peru give him personal credibility and his messaging on mining sets the tone for how dioceses and parishes across the continent will engage with mining companies and projects,” said Harris, who consults for international mining companies in the region. “These groups are often the basis of local opposition movements to mining, so the Pope has considerable sway on whether relations are confrontational or conciliatory.”

    Harris noted that processing of rare earths can be extremely dirty, involving heavy chemical use that can contaminate water resources without close monitoring of companies’ sustainability commitments and enforcement by federal regulators.

    Mining as colonization in modern day

    Leo’s predecessor, Pope Francis, a native of Argentina, singled out the toll of mining in his 2015 environmental encyclical “Praised Be,” noting the pollution of underground water systems as a result of runoff, the mercury pollution in gold mining or sulfur dioxide pollution in copper mining.

    Francis said it was “essential” for Indigenous communities to be the principal dialogue partners when large projects affecting their land are being considered.

    The Vatican didn’t provide any readout of Leo’s private audience with Goldfajn. In a separate audience Friday, Leo met with participants in a conference at the Vatican’s environmental educational center named for Francis’ 2015 encyclical. He denounced the profit-at-all cost mentality of those who seek to plunder the earth “at the expense of the most vulnerable and enhances the risk of dehumanization.”

    There are 75 million tons (82.7 million U.S. tons) of rare earth oxides around the world, more than half in China, and with Brazil home to the second-largest reserves, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s most recent estimate.


  • Jacob Misiorowski wasn’t content being MLB’s hardest-throwing starter. Now he also might be the best


    MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski isn’t content with merely being the game’s hardest-throwing starting pitcher.

    He’s intent on becoming the best. He already may be there.

    The 24-year-old is hitting unprecedented velocities for a starter in MLB’s pitch-tracking era that began in 2008. Over the last month, he’s dominated unlike any pitcher in the last century.

    Misiorowski has allowed just one earned run over his last eight starts heading into his Friday matchup with the Atlanta Braves. He says he can’t come up with a specific moment or decision that sparked this surge.

    “It’s more that it finally clicked,” said Misiorowski, who is 8-2 with a 1.34 ERA and 131 strikeouts to lead the majors in the latter two categories. “Everything started settling in and feeling good.”

    The fact Misiorowski used the word “finally” to describe an emergence in his first full major league season underscores his exacting standards.

    Misiorowski’s rise has Brewers manager Pat Murphy comparing him to Forrest Gump, which prompted a social media post by the pitcher his own face over the Tom Hanks movie character’s body.

    “It’s for sure meant to be a compliment for a guy who didn’t put in limits on himself and his naiveté,” Murphy said. “It was a factor in a positive way, where he went out and achieved whatever he set his mind to, and didn’t let the outside forces, weren’t even aware of the outside forces, and didn’t let anything hold him back.”

    Misiorowski was selected to the All-Star Game last season after only five starts. He struggled late last year before producing a 1.50 postseason ERA during Milwaukee’s run to the NL Championship Series. Now he’s a Cy Young Award favorite.

    Misiorowski is more than just a hard thrower

    The eye-popping numbers most associated with Misiorowski come from the radar gun. He reached 104.5 mph — the fastest velocity by any starter in the pitch tracking era — and got to 100 mph on a record 58 pitches during the Brewers’ 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

    He’s thrown 460 pitches at least 100 mph this season, already surpassing the record for a starter set by Cincinnati’s Hunter Greene with 337 such pitches in 2022.

    But his most impressive statistics have more to do with results than velocity.

    According to MLB.com, Misiorowski’s 0.17 ERA since May 1 is the best in an eight-start stretch for any pitcher since earned runs became an official statistic in 1913. Against Philadelphia, he became the third pitcher since 1900 to throw a shutout while striking out 15 and allowing no more than one baserunner.

    Opponents are batting just .140 against Misiorowski this season. SportRadar says no starting pitcher has allowed an opponent batting average of .166 or below over a full non-pandemic season since at least 1910. Boston’s Pedro Martinez had batters hitting .167 against him in 2000. Opponents hit .168 against Cleveland’s Luis Tiant in 1968.

    Misiorowski’s development into a complete pitcher should come as no surprise, considering who he grew up watching.

    The pitchers Miz admires most aren’t necessarily smoke throwers

    The list of pitchers he admired growing up includes Adam Wainwright, Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. While Sale is a hard thrower and Kershaw also had outstanding velocity early in his career, Wainwright and Greinke succeeded without overpowering fastballs.

    They had one thing in common.

    “Every game, you felt like they could trust them to get a win,” Misiorowski said. “That was the big thing. You looked at those guys and they were going out there and going to perform for seven or eight innings to secure the team a win.”

    His appreciation for baseball history includes a baseball card collection he says numbers in the thousands, though he probably owns even more Pokemon cards.

    “Since I was a kid, my dad got me into it,” Misiorowski said of his baseball card collection. “It’s huge right now. I think I need to downsize it a little bit, but it’s fun.”

    His enthusiasm shows on the mound and in his work ethic. He devoted the offseason to upgrading his leg strength to withstand the rigors of a full season and results are showing in his improved endurance and command.

    “He could rest on his laurels. ‘Hey, I was an All-Star in my first year. I pitched in the playoffs. I pitched well. I can do it. I’m fine. I’ll be all right,’“ Murphy said. “Or you can say, ‘I’m going home. I’m going to get stronger. I’m going to do whatever I can do to come back and dominate.’ That’s what he’s done.”

    He’s stabilizing an injury-riddled rotation

    Misiorowski’s growth has helped the Brewers overcome numerous pitching injuries to build a comfortable NL Central lead. With Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison (8-1, 2.47) leading the rotation, the Brewers rank fourth in the majors in ERA.

    Over his last eight starts, Misiorowski has struck out 80 while allowing nine walks and 14 hits over 54 1/3 innings.

    The low walk totals are notable after Misiorowski battled control issues as a rookie. He walked 31 batters in 66 innings last year, but now constantly gets ahead of hitters.

    “He’s winning the 0-0 and the 1-1 (counts) a lot,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “When he doesn’t, it stands out to be like, ‘Oh, God, he didn’t win the 0-0. He didn’t win the 1-1.’ Like that’s weird, for him to go to a two-ball count.”

    Once hitters fall behind in the count, they have little chance.

    After facing him for the first time last month, New York Yankees slugger and three-time MVP Aaron Judge noted that “he’s almost basically releasing it in the catcher’s glove” due to the extension Misiorowski gets with his 6-foot-7 frame.

    MLB Network analyst and two-time All-Star pitcher Ryan Dempster says Misiorowski reminds him of 6-10 Hall of Fame lefty Randy Johnson in that regard because their hands seem right in front of the plate to the batter when they let go of the ball.

    “You can tell yourself to swing, but your brain doesn’t quite compute until it’s out of the hand,” Dempster said. “By the time it’s out of his hand, it’s already on you. I haven’t seen a fastball like this since Kerry Wood.”

    Wood’s career was derailed by injuries, leading to worries of hard throwers being susceptible to blowing out pitching arms. Dempster notes Misiorowski is playing in an era with lower pitch counts. Misiorowski also produces elite velocity without overthrowing.

    “He sure is repeating his delivery, and when you repeat your delivery, you tend to stay healthy,” Dempster said. “Guys who don’t repeat deliveries and get out of whack and something’s a little off, they struggle with that. I really think he will stay healthy, just me personally.”

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    This story was first published on Jun. 18, 2026. It was updated on Jun. 20, 2026 to clarify that Misiorowski only allowed one earned run over an eight-start stretch referenced in the fourth paragraph.

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    AP freelance writers Jack Albright and Rich Rovito contributed to this report.

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


  • Paraguay beats Turkey 1-0 at the World Cup despite being down a man to clinch Group D for US


    SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Matias Galarza scored 65 seconds into the game for the fastest goal at this year’s World Cup and Paraguay held on for a 1-0 win over Turkey on Friday after playing a man down for more than half the match.

    The win assured the United States would win Group D and eliminated Turkey from any chance of advancing to the knockout round with its second straight loss. Paraguay will face Australia in the final match of the group stage next Thursday with second place in the group on the line. Paraguay will need to win to finish second.

    “It’s unforgettable,” Galarza said. “This is the most beautiful stage in the world, playing amongst the best. I’m so proud. I hope that Paraguay is happy.”

    Paraguay was short-handed after Miguel Almiron was issued a red card late in the first half for violating a new rule banning players from covering their mouth during a confrontation.

    But goalkeeper Orlando Gill made several key saves to preserve the lead in a game when Turkey 32-7 edge in shot attempts at goal.

    “It was very hard,” midfielder Andres Cubas said. “These games are very tough, especially one man down. We have to highlight the great group effort and commitment we showed as a team to keep fighting and do this until the end.”

    Paraguay bounced back from a 4-1 loss in the opener against the U.S. team thanks in part to a lineup change made by Gustavo Alfaro. Galarza, who plays for Atlanta United of the MLS, was put into the starting lineup after sitting out the opener and rewarded his coach when he sent a left-footed shot from about 25 yards into the net just 1:05 into the game.

    Turkey nearly got the equalizer later in the first half but Mert Muldur’s header off a free kick hit the cross bar and goal post.

    Muldur was in the middle of the confrontation in stoppage time in the first half that led to Galarza’s ejection.

    Almiron and Mulder exchanged words following a foul near midfield. Almiron covered his mouth while saying something to Mulder, who immediately appealed to referee Ivan Barton for punishment.

    Barton went to video review and quickly ruled that Almiron would be given a red card and ejected under a new rule put in place for this year’s World Cup.

    Turkey dominated possession for a second straight match but once again it wasn’t enough as the Turks followed up the 2-0 loss to Australia with another defeat that assures they will have a short stay in their first World Cup appearance in 24 years.

    Turkey qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2002 and had high hopes after reaching the quarterfinals of the European championships two years ago but was unable to advance despite entering the tournament as a favorite to advance from the group.

    Turkish midfielder Arda Guler called his team’s performance at the World Cup “embarrassing.” The 62 shots in two games for the Turks are the most in any two-game span without scoring as far as records go back to 1966, according to Opta Stats.

    “We should have scored some goals,” Guler said. “We should have won these games so apologies to the Turkish people.”

    Orlando Gill made a save on a tricky deflection on a shot by Merih Demiral early in the second half and again on a long range attempt from Abdulkerim Bardakci midway through the half to preserve the lead. Gill then stopped Can Uzun from in close late in the half and Deniz Gul sent the rebound wide.

    Merih Demiral’s header late in stoppage time went wide, ending Turkey’s last hope.

    “I’m sad,” Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella. “I’m sad but I’m also very proud of my players. They gave absolutely everything right up until the final whistle. That’s what football is like. … We came very close to equalizing but you also need to accept situations like this.”

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    AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup


  • US reaches World Cup knockout round and wins its group with 2nd straight victory, 2-0 over Australia


    SEATTLE (AP) — Christian Pulisic’s injury absence didn’t hurt the United States one bit.

    The Americans advanced to the knockout round of the World Cup without their injured star forward, beating Australia 2-0 on Friday for their second straight victory in the expanded 48-team tournament. The U.S. then won Group D when Paraguay beat Turkey 1-0 early Saturday morning.

    “C.P. is a fantastic player — the quality and the leadership that he gives us,” said Folarin Balogun, who scored two goals in the 4-1 victory over Paraguay on June 12. “We didn’t have him today, but I think you saw we’re still capable to go out there and get a result and put up a performance.”

    As the Group D winner, the U.S. will play a round-of-32 match on July 1 in Santa Clara, California, against a third-place group finisher.

    Pulisic, who plays for AC Milan and has 33 goals in 87 international appearances, missed Friday’s match because of a calf injury.

    Playing without a talent like Pulisic could have derailed previous American World Cup teams. But much has changed since the last time the U.S. hosted the World Cup in 1994, when it advanced by being one of the best third-place teams. The Americans lost to eventual champion Brazil in the round of 16.

    The U.S. has won consecutive games at a World Cup for the first time since 1930. The Americans have scored six goals, one off their record for a World Cup, and received contributions throughout their roster.

    Alex Freeman, the youngest player on the team at 21 and the son of former NFL wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Antonio Freeman, made it 2-0 in the 43rd minute off a set piece. Freeman headed in a deflected shot by Sergiño Dest for his first career World Cup goal. The goal was confirmed after a video review.

    “(He) is doing a fantastic job,” coach Mauricio Pochettino said of Freeman. “The evolution is massive. He’s so humble. He wants to learn. He always listens. He’s a player that you really enjoy being with him. Not only coaching, but being with him.”

    The U.S. took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute after a run down the left sideline by Balogun.

    He directed a centering pass toward striker Ricardo Pepi, who started in place of Pulisic. The ball never reached Pepi, deflecting off Australia defender Cameron Burgess and into the Socceroos’ net for an own-goal.

    “I want to be dangerous, I want to create opportunities,” Balogun said. “It might not always be myself that scores, but if I can force an error that gives us the lead, then for me it’s like a goal as well. It was a special start to the game to give us the momentum.”

    The Americans did not score after halftime, but the way they so thoroughly dominated Australia in the opening 45 minutes left an impression on Socceroos coach Tony Popovic.

    “It did not surprise us because their quality is clear,” Popovic said. “Their power is clear. Their athleticism is clear. They are not surprising in what they did.”

    Expectations will only increase for the U.S. as momentum builds around the team. The Americans’ start to the tournament has not changed Pochettino’s perception of his squad and its potential.

    “I think it’s much better when you show good performances and win the games,” Pochettino said. “I think that makes it easier, everything. But, at the same time, it’s (important) to keep believing.”

    The U.S. learned it can get out of the group stage without Pulisic. And it has the roster to make a deep run.

    “We know how vital Christian is to the team and how much he can contribute in the game,” Freeman said. “For us it was, we have Ricardo Pepi, who came in and had an amazing game. I think that just shows how (good) our roster is.”

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    AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup


  • Matheus Cunha scores 2 goals as Brazil eliminates Haiti from World Cup with 3-0 win


    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Matheus Cunha struck the back of the net and struck a pose, bringing scoring — and a dash of surfing — to the World Cup stage for Brazil.

    Vinícius Júnior scored and assisted on one of Cunha’s two goals as five-time champion Brazil eliminated Haiti from the World Cup with a 3-0 victory on Friday night.

    “To be at a World Cup, to imagine that, it can be so wonderful,” Cunha said. “It’s a dream fulfilled.”

    Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation that qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1974, became the first team guaranteed not to reach the knockout round of the expanded 48-team tournament. Meanwhile, the Seleção got the decisive performance they needed.

    “It was what I expected from this match,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

    Ancelotti also said Neymar is expected to return from a right calf injury and play for Brazil next week against Scotland in its final group match. Neymar, Brazil’s career scoring leader with 79 goals, missed the first two games.

    Brazil got plenty of scoring punch from Cunha on Friday.

    The Manchester United standout got the start and showed with every surf-and-slide goal celebration why he should have been in the starting lineup in Brazil’s listless 1-1 draw against Morocco. Ancelotti made the surprising decision in the opener to instead insert Cunha as a late substitute.

    Cunha thrilled the Brazilian fans who made up the bulk of the 68,324 spectators at Lincoln Financial Field when he tapped in a rebound for his first career World Cup goal. He then sent a left-footed strike into the upper left corner for a 2-0 lead in the first half against the overmatched Haitians.

    Brazil forward Raphinha, who was subbed out with an injury in the first half, had an early goal disallowed on an offside call that only temporarily muted the yellow-clad Seleção fans in an otherwise festive atmosphere at the home of the two-time Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles — whose cheerleaders did their part to rally the crowd.

    Haitian fans danced and sang “Grenadye Alaso” (“Grenadiers to the Attack”), the traditional battle cry of the national team. Brazilians chanted back with reminders that their country is a five-time World Cup champion and the home of the king of soccer: “A thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals, a thousand goals! Only Pelé, only Pelé!”

    Cunha added to the frivolity in Philadelphia, home to nearly 6,000 Brazilian immigrants, when he flashed his familiar surfing celebration.

    Vinícius, whose 32nd-minute goal helped Brazil earn the draw against Morocco, helped Brazil get on the board when his shot was stopped by goalkeeper Johny Placide and Cunha was there to slam home the rebound to make it 1-0. Cunha extended both arms as if trying to catch some tasty waves and was mobbed his teammates.

    Vinícius slid a pass through the defense to find Cunha and he powered one high into the net that Placide never had a chance to stop to make it 2-0. Cunha slid on his stomach on the Kentucky bluegrass and mimicked a swimming motion that all but put Haiti in the drink — and validated the Brazilians’ fans decision not to tempt fate and dress the Rocky statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art in team gear.

    Vinícius closed the half with a goal and that was enough to keep Brazil — seeking its first World Cup title since 2002 — happy before it closes Group C play with Neymar expected in the lineup against Scotland on Wednesday in Miami Gardens, Florida.

    “He’s a very important player; he’s my idol,” Vinícius said. “He always gave me tons of support. And we just hope he can play the next game and help us win the World Cup.”

    Brazil kept pace with Morocco atop the group, with Scotland one point behind.

    “Our first game was totally different because we had the pressure of being our first one,” Vinícius said. “Everyone was feeling lighter today and the field was also in a better condition, so we were able to do our soccer.”

    For Haiti, just making the World Cup for the first time in 52 years was a satisfying accomplishment.

    “What was positive was that we didn’t give up,” coach Sébastien Migné said. “The morale was there for the second half. They showed that they deserved to be here at the World Cup. Unfortunately, today we played against Brazil. There was too much of a gap.”

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    Associated Press writer Luis Andres Henao contributed to this report.

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    AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup