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  • A grand jury indicts Louisiana’s attorney general in a fight over changes to New Orleans courts


    Louisiana’s attorney general was indicted Thursday over accusations she threatened the jobs of New Orleans leaders who fought a Republican-led overhaul of local courts in the heavily Democratic city.

    The 16-count indictment against Republican Liz Murrill, handed up by a New Orleans grand jury, charges Louisiana’s first female attorney general with intimidation and malfeasance. At the center of the case are deepening rifts between state leaders in Louisiana, which is heavily Republican, and Democrats who control the state’s most prominent city.

    Republican Gov. Jeff Landry promised a swift pardon, saying Murrill would not have her reputation tarnished by an “Orleans Kangaroo court.” Mayor Helena Moreno, a Democrat, was among those who had accused the state’s top law enforcement official in May of making threats against public officials.

    Murrill called the case against her “retaliatory, meritless, and unconstitutional.” Late Thursday, Murrill said she had filed for an emergency stay with the Louisiana Supreme Court.

    “I will not back down. I will continue enforcing the law, fighting corruption, and doing the job the people of Louisiana elected me to do,” she wrote on X.

    For months, political tensions intensified between Louisiana Republicans and New Orleans officials over a new law that abolished a court clerk office won by an exoneree, Calvin Duncan, who spent nearly three decades in prison. The change consolidated that job with another clerk’s office, which Republican supporters said would make the local judicial system more efficient.

    The change was staunchly opposed by New Orleans leaders, and in May, the city council set a special election that would have given Duncan a chance to win the newly combined job. Murrill responded by warning local officials in letters that they could lose their offices for violating state “usurper” laws, which forbid support for an unauthorized officeholder.

    “We’re very interested in elected officials in New Orleans not being intimidated or threatened by letter or any other way,” special prosecutor Laurie White told reporters.

    Bond set for Louisiana attorney general

    Bond for Murrill was set at $400,000 on Thursday, according to court records.

    Landry said he was ordering state police to investigate what he called “alleged improprieties” of the grand jury and those who ran it.

    “The criminal justice system is a circus at its finest in Orleans and we will not have any of that!” he wrote on X.

    The Republican Attorneys General Association said that making statements to local officials — in writing — was simply “issuing a legal opinion and warning public officials about the law” as part of her official duties. It called the indictment “as outrageous as it is dangerous.”

    Moreno, who was elected in January and was defiant after Murrill sent the letters, on Thursday called it a “matter for the courts” and did not directly address the allegations.

    “My focus, as always, remains on fulfilling the responsibilities the people of New Orleans elected me to carry out,” Moreno said.

    Elected clerk says state targeted him

    Duncan has said he believes state officials were retaliating against him in eliminating the job he won with 68% of the vote. Murrill and Landry have long refused to acknowledge his innocence, though he’s listed on the National Registry of Exonerations.

    Republicans have said the change was not personal and supporters have noted that the offices of criminal and civil clerks of courts are combined in other parishes.

    Duncan was a jailhouse lawyer who later graduated from law school. He founded a nonprofit dedicated to expanding incarcerated people’s access to the court system and was the driving force behind a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended nonunanimous jury convictions.

    Duncan spent more than 28 years in prison over a fatal shooting during a robbery in 1981.

    The night before a 2011 hearing to consider new evidence, prosecutors offered to reduce Duncan’s sentence to the time he’d already served in prison if he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and armed robbery. Duncan took the deal and was freed but didn’t give up on clearing his name.

    In 2021, a judge agreed that Duncan had been unjustly convicted and vacated his sentence altogether. Landry and Murrill have pointed to the 2011 plea deal in objecting to Duncan calling himself exonerated.

    ___

    Associated Press reporter Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed.


  • ‘The tale of KAHO,’ a Haruki Murakami novel with a female protagonist, goes on sale


    TOKYO (AP) — Haruki Murakami’s new book went on sale in Japan on Friday, but dozens of enthusiastic fans marked the release at a countdown event at a major Tokyo bookstore to get their first copies as soon as the clock struck midnight.

    “The Tale of KAHO” is the Japanese author’s first full-length novel featuring a lone woman protagonist, according to Shinchosha Publishing Co.

    “Kaho, a picture book author, is just an average young woman. But truly bizarre things start happening around her,” Murakami said in a brief message posted on the publisher’s campaign website. “I wrote this novel as I put myself in her shoes.”

    His statement drew the attention of many fans, because most of Murakami’s protagonists are young or middle-aged men.

    “I’m excited about finding out how the story evolves around a female main character,” said Naoyuki Yamano, the first customer to buy the new Murakami novel.

    Initially, the novel started as a short story titled “Kaho,” which Murakami rehearsed at a book reading event two years ago at Waseda University, his alma mater in Tokyo, with Mieko Kawakami, a renowned female author and fan of his work. The story was published in the June 2024 edition of Shincho magazine.

    Takumi Hashimoto, a 33-year old office worker who attended the launch event with three fellow members of a Murakami book reading club, said he hopes to read a story from a female protagonist’s perspective and find out how the story evolved from a series of magazine stories into a full-length novel.

    His companion, Mizuki Shirota, 33, said she was struck by the way Murakami portrayed the female protagonist’s emotions in the magazine version.

    “The story was written in a way that makes you very aware of lookism, or how I, as a woman, am perceived by men … there were parts that I even felt startled a bit,” Shirota said. “So I want to read that again in the book.”

    Beaming and in all smiles, the group headed to a coffee shop open all night to immediately start reading the book.

    One day, 26-year-old Kaho goes on a blind date arranged by her book editor. Over dinner, her date tells her that, although he has dated a number of women, “I’ve never seen one as ugly as you.” Baffled rather than outraged, curious Kaho tries to uncover the meaning of his words. Soon, bizarre things begin happening to her, including encounters with other mysterious characters, such as an anteater and a jaguar.

    Murakami has since released three subsequent “Kaho” stories in Shincho magazine, most recently in the March edition. He weaves the four stories into a 352-page new novel with four chapters: “Kaho and the Motorcycle Man,” “The Anteater of Musashi-sakai,” “Kaho and the Termite Queen” and “The Guardian Angel, Elephant Egg and Scarlett Johansson.”

    The magazine version of the first “Kaho” story has been published in English in The New Yorker, but the novel for now is available only in Japanese. Translation plans have not been disclosed.

    The new book comes out three years after his previous novel, “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” which follows a male protagonist navigating love, loss and the boundaries between real and subconscious worlds.


  • World shares are mixed after Dow hits a new record, as some AI shares bounce back


    BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed Friday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average set another record, as some key AI related stocks rose while others extended losses.

    The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.3% while that for the Dow slipped 0.2%. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

    In European trading, Germany’s DAX rose 0.4% to 25,667.73 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.1% lower, to 8,471.19. Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 0.4% to 10,613.55.

    In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi, which sank nearly 8% on Thursday, gained 5.8% to 8,088.34. Samsung Electronics, the country’s biggest company and a major maker of computer chips, gained 8.2%, while its smaller rival SK Hynix jumped 10.9%.

    In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 1.5% to 69,744.07. Chipmaker Tokyo Electron rose 0.4%, while memory maker Kioxia jumped 9.2%.

    Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 1.3% to 23,350.03 and the Shanghai Composite index added 0.4% to 4,043.64.

    Taiwan’s Taiex edged 0.1% higher, while the Sensex in India rose 0.4%.

    In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 picked up 1.4% to 8,844.40.

    “Asian stocks found some footing after two bruising tech-led sessions, with the Korean market once again showing how quickly a stretched rubber band can snap back when everyone leans the same way,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

    On Thursday, most U.S. stocks rose as the Dow snagged another record, gaining 1.1% to 52,900.07.

    Drops for computer chip companies and other winners of the artificial-intelligence boom kept indexes mixed.

    The S&P 500 finished the day virtually unchanged and edged up by less than 0.1%, even though seven out of every 10 stocks within the index rose. It closed at 7,483.24.

    The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8% to 25,382.67.

    Stocks broadly got some help from a report showing U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. That’s good for the economy, but it was also short of the 100,000 jobs that economists expected and a slowdown from May’s hiring pace.

    The weaker-than-expected result could relieve pressure on inflation, which has been accelerating worldwide because of jumps in oil prices caused by the war with Iran. Now that oil prices are back below where they were before the war, if inflation slows in upcoming months, the Federal Reserve may feel less need to raise interest rates several times this year.

    That would be a boon for investors, who tend to love lower interest rates because they make it less expensive for U.S. households and businesses to borrow money and spend. Lower rates also tend to push upward on prices for stocks and other investments.

    Stocks of companies in the crypto industry were also strong after the price of bitcoin rose roughly 2%, a day after dropping near its lowest level since 2024. Robinhood Markets rose 3.8%, and Coinbase Global gained 3.9%. Bitcoin rose 0.9% early Friday.

    Selling of computer chip companies’ shares has weighed on indexes. They’ve come under pressure because of worries that their stock prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI and that all the spending on chips and data centers may not yield as much profit and productivity growth as hoped.

    Memory maker Micron Technology erased an early gain to drop 5.5%, a day after plunging 10.6%. Nvidia fell 1.4%, and Lam Research sank 10.2%. They were some of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500 because they’ve grown so huge in size amid AI mania.

    Nvidia has a total value of nearly $4.7 trillion, so its stock’s movements have more weight on the S&P 500 than any other.

    In other trading early Friday, Brent crude, the international standard, shed less than 0.1% to $71.76 a barrel. U.S. benchmark crude gave up 0.2% to $68.48 a barrel.

    The dollar rose to 161.14 Japanese yen from 161.11 yen. The euro rose to $1.1451 from $1.1431.


  • Croatia vs. Portugal: What happened in those final, chaotic minutes


    In the 109th minute of a wild, pulsating, nerve-shredding World Cup match for the ages, referee Espen Eskås finally called time.

    Portugal advanced to the round of 16 after a 2-1 win against Croatia at Toronto Stadium on Thursday.

    That doesn’t even begin to tell the story of the most dramatic of clashes that relentlessly swung back and forth and ended in the cruelest way for Croatia when Josko Gvardiol’s would-be game-saving equalizer 13 minutes into added time was ruled out for offside after video review.

    Croatia legend Luka Modrić, age 40 and likely playing for the last time at a World Cup, looked crestfallen at the final whistle.

    The 41-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo lives to fight another day and couldn’t hide his relief when just moments earlier he stood helplessly on the sidelines in anguish, believing Portugal had blown it.

    Here’s how it all happened:

    The First Goal in Added Time

    After 90 minutes of play, the electronic board signaled 10 minutes of added time, and it was difficult to imagine at that point just how much drama would be packed into the coming minutes.

    At the 94-minute mark, Rafael Leao sends a curling cross, and substitute Gonçalo Ramos rises highest to meet it, powering a header beyond the dive of the Croatian goalkeeper.

    Cue wild celebrations from Portugal’s players. They now had to just ride out the final minutes and advance to the next round.

    Croatia Strikes Back

    As the clock ticks into the 103rd minute, Croatia knows it is nearly out of time.

    From the left wing, Ivan Perisic hits a right-footed, in-swinging cross into the box.

    Igor Mantanovic makes the slightest of glances with his head — and this is crucial — to flick the ball on. It bounces off the thigh of Mario Palasic and rolls across the face of goal.

    Gvardiol lunges and sends the ball crashing into the back of the net.

    Now it’s time for Croatia’s players and fans to go crazy. Ronaldo, meanwhile, shakes his head in disbelief.

    But wait …

    While celebrations are ongoing, replays show Palasic was in an offside position when the ball came to him. However, it hit Portugal defender Renato Veiga on the way, which raises the possibility of him being onside because a Portugal player made the last touch.

    VAR quickly starts to review the footage. Croatia’s hopes lie in the hands of the video assistants.

    Portugal’s staff, meanwhile, have seen replays on the sideline and are convinced it’s offside.

    The crucial question is whether Mantanovic actually made contact with the ball before it hit Veiga.

    This is because Palasic was standing in an offside position when a Croatia player last played the ball forward.

    Sensors inside the World Cup ball can detect the slightest of touches and Eskås was instructed to go to the sideline monitor where he confirmed contact by Mantanovic.

    “Croatia player number 20 touched the ball … final decision: offside,” he announced over the stadium speaker system.

    Portugal’s players cheered as if they’d scored a goal. There were tears in the eyes of Croatia players. Perisic dropped to his knees. Modrić threw his hands in the air.

    In fury, Croatia fans threw bottles onto the field, delaying the restart by a couple of minutes.

    What happened up to that point …

    There was nothing to separate the teams after a first half that failed to catch fire, but that all changed after halftime with Perisic firing Croatia in front in the 53rd minute.

    Leao almost leveled for Portugal with a long-range curling shot that came back off the bar. Ronaldo then thinks he has scored for the first time in a World Cup knockout game, but his is ruled out for marginal offside, something that would become a theme of the match.

    Portugal makes lots of changes. Ronaldo stays on

    Portugal coach Roberto Martinez makes four substitutions at once in an attempt to turn the game. Crucially, he keeps Ronaldo on despite the veteran forward’s struggles to make an impact.

    From a Portugal corner, giant defender Veiga tumbles to the ground under the challenge of Nikola Vlasic for a penalty. Ronaldo steps up to fire down the middle of the goal, level the game and finally score in the knockout round of the World Cup.

    Heroic goalkeeping by Diogo Costa

    Croatia, which reached the final and the semifinals of the last two World Cups, has a slew of chances. Portugal keeper Diogo Costa blocks Matteo Kovacic’s long-range shot and then stops another effort from the same player. He then makes a sprawling save to block Igor Matanovic from close range.

    Petar Sucic does beat Costa, but his celebrations are cut short by the offside flag.

    In the 81st, Portugal made another change, taking off Ronaldo for what could have been the last appearance at the World Cup.

    At some point after leaving the contest, Ronaldo donned a jersey of Diogo Jota, the former teammate who died in a car crash exactly one year ago. He and his teammates basked in the emotion of the win and thought of their dear friend.

    Meanwhile, Croatian coach Zlatko Dalić was left wondering what could have been, and he had some harsh words for the video replay rules and decisions.

    “All these decisions take the joy out of football. I’m not saying VAR can’t sometimes be of help, but it kills the emotion of the game. It kills everything within you. It kills what you are experiencing in the moment. Football should be fair. We’ve gone too far about VAR.”

    ___

    James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Trump got the Senate candidates he wanted. How much will he spend to help them?


    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump reshaped this year’s U.S. Senate map by sidelining some Republican incumbents and promoting loyalists to replace them. Now the question is whether he’ll put his money where his mouth is.

    With four months to go until November’s elections, it’s still unclear how much MAGA Inc., the country’s largest political war chest with $382 million in the bank as of last month, plans to spend on key races. The silence has persisted even as Senate Republican leaders have urged Trump’s team, both privately and publicly, to pick up the tab for the president’s decisions.

    Front and center is Texas, where Trump successfully endorsed fiery conservative Ken Paxton over Sen. John Cornyn, a choice that some Republicans grumble has turned a safe election into a toss-up that will drain resources away from other battlegrounds. Democratic nominee James Talarico, a state lawmaker, has made Paxton’s history of corruption allegations a central target of his campaign.

    “The president picked Paxton, and he’s got $350 million dollars,” Cornyn recently told Semafor. “I think he can spend his money.”

    Another challenge has emerged in North Carolina, where Sen. Thom Tillis declined to run for reelection after feuding with Trump last year over healthcare spending. Trump backed Michael Whatley, his former handpicked chair of the Republican National Committee, to run instead, and Democrats hope to flip the seat with former Gov. Roy Cooper.

    Some in Republican campaign leadership are expecting MAGA Inc. to pitch in for Whatley in North Carolina, where the state’s several metro media markets can be pricey.

    Republicans will likely be able to count on generous support from well-funded official party committees, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this week should be allowed to make unlimited direct contributions to candidates’ campaigns. But even that sum falls short of what Trump has stockpiled in MAGA Inc. Even though the president is constitutionally barred from running again, he began raising money shortly after winning a second term, and he’s regularly held fundraisers at his resort properties where tickets cost $1 million per person.

    James Blair, the former White House political director who left his government job to coordinate the president’s midterm efforts, was evasive in an interview with Sean Spicer, a former Republican spokesman who hosts a podcast.

    “The president is going to expend substantial resources to win the midterms,” said Blair. “He cares deeply about the party winning.”

    As a super PAC, MAGA Inc. can raise unlimited money from individuals and corporations. However, it is barred from coordinating with individual campaigns or national Republican committees, which adds to the sense of mystery surrounding its plans.

    It’s been more than two months since Blair, along with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, pollster Tony Fabrizio and political adviser Chris LaCivita huddled at Washington’s Waldorf Astoria to discuss MAGA Inc.’s strategy.

    The huddle was focused on assembling teams of vendors, such as advertisers, canvassing providers and digital media company leaders who had worked with the Trump team in key states during previous elections and who would be dispatched once plans were in place.

    The president has spent much of the year waging a war of retribution against Republicans who have crossed him. He viewed Cornyn as insufficiently loyal, held a grudge against Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana for voting to convict him in an impeachment trial and assailed Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky as the “worst Republican Congressman in history.” All of them lost their primaries to Trump-backed challengers.

    Cornyn’s loss weighs heavily on Senate Republicans, who suggest that Paxton could cost the party an extra $100 million to defend the seat.

    Senate Leadership Fund, the principal super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, is still expected to spend money on advertising in Texas but not play a central role given its obligations elsewhere.

    Democrats must net four seats to take the majority, and they see Alaska, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio as their best opportunities. The Senate Leadership Fund has already committed to spending $342 million across these four states, plus Iowa, Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.

    When Paxton came to Washington after winning the nomination on May 26, he had a cordial meeting with Thune focused on moving forward together, according to people with knowledge of the conversation who were not authorized to speak publicly.

    Later that day, Thune suggested that Trump should be putting up money for a candidate whom Senate Republicans hadn’t asked for.

    “We will do what we need to do to make sure the state stays red,” Thune told reporters. “But I’m certainly hopeful the president and the resources he can bring to bear will be engaged.”

    “It’s going to be an expensive race,” he added.

    ___

    Associated Press White House correspondent Seung Min Kim contributed from Washington. Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.


  • Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce marry in front of famous friends at Madison Square Garden


    NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce married Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where actor Adam Sandler was the surprising officiant at a ceremony and Stevie Nicks performed among a crowd packed with stars of sports and entertainment. The deep secrecy that surrounded the buildup to the nuptials lifted when a marquee outside the Midtown Manhattan arena proclaimed “JUST&T MARRIED” once the deed was done.

    The couple did not have bridesmaids or groomsmen, instead having Swift’s younger brother Austin Swift serve as her man of honor with Kelce’s big brother and podcast co-host Jason Kelce his best man, Swift’s publicist Tree Paine said in an email.

    The bride and groom’s outfits came from Christian Dior Haute Couture and its designer Jonathan Anderson with shoes custom-made by Christian Louboutin. She wore Cartier jewelry.

    An almost-royal wedding

    The long anticipated union of sports and song brought hype to new heights at a venue made more for historic NBA games and bucket-list concerts. The Kansas City Chiefs’ superstar tight end and the music megastar married as fans and spectators gathered outside in blistering heat, eager to be part of the occasion, even though the event was almost entirely hidden.

    Actors Bradley Cooper, Zoë Kravitz, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke; models Gigi Hadid and Karlie Kloss; comic Chris Rock; director Steven Spielberg; singer Camila Cabello and author Jenny Han were among the guests from the world of arts and entertainment. Kelce’s coach Andy Reid and Chiefs teammates including running back Kareem Hunt were among the sports figures in the arena, along with retired NFL superstar Tom Brady, Seattle Seahawks receiver and recent Super Bowl champ Cooper Kupp, New York Giants receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and ESPN personalities Joe Buck and Stephen A. Smith.

    In a culture obsessed with famous couplings it may have been the apex celebrity wedding, with perhaps only royal unions getting more attention. Holding such a ceremony in a huge, iconic space that sits at the center of the U.S. media universe while keeping all the details secret made for a surreal scene, but it was a mix of hype and hush that is not out of character for Swift.

    A shrouded ceremony headed by Happy Gilmore

    An Associated Press camera outside the arena showed a long line of black SUVs dropping off wedding-goers in tuxedos and evening gowns, surrounded by New Yorkers in shorts and Swifties amassing for the occasion. Rain briefly cut the heat shortly after the marriage was announced.

    There was a seemingly total lack of social media posts from guests once they had entered the arena, with phones apparently banned.

    However, on Saturday, hosts of Good Morning America who had been invited to the wedding, confirmed that Nicks performed and described the space as “intimate.”

    “As intimate as it could possibly be given it was Madison Square Garden. Really this garden inside the garden, just so beautiful,” said George Stephanopoulos. “It’s hard to imagine a place that big and a wedding with such stars could feel so personal and so intimate.”

    Robin Roberts added that both Swift and Kelce wrote their own vows.

    Weddings have been a constant subject in Swift’s songs since she was a teenager, and her actually walking the aisle for the first time at age 36 added to the drama. It was also the first marriage for the 36-year-old three-time Super Bowl champ Kelce, who could have been one of the jock characters in Swift’s early hits.

    Sandler, star of “The Wedding Singer” and many other hit comedies, can’t have been high on anyone’s betting list for who would marry the couple, though he’s become an increasingly warm and paternal cultural figure with age. The email announcing the marriage described him as “a friend” of the couple. Kelce was one of the many athletes who appeared in “Happy Gilmore 2,” Sandler’s 2025 sequel to one of his first hits, and Sandler appeared last year on the Kelce brothers’ “New Heights” podcast.

    Welcome to New York — Taylor’s version

    The Swift-Kelce relationship has thrilled and fascinated millions around the world — particularly the Swifties, the pop star’s enormous and ardent fan base — ever since the pair first started dating in 2023 after he showed up at her Eras Tour concert at the Chiefs stadium.

    Happy fans mixed with frazzled tourists outside the arena.

    Lori Powers, who lives an hour north of Manhattan and rode the train in to be near the nuptials, said Swift’s “music is the soundtrack behind so many amazing moments in my life. Relationships, friends, like my husband and my kids.”

    She stood outside the arena before the marriage was announced with her friend Cecily Hall.

    “Just being here and witnessing all the energy and the excitement, it’s so much fun,” Hall said. “The combination of sports and music makes perfect sense as to why they’re at Madison Square Garden today.”

    ___

    This story corrects that it was Robin Roberts who said the couple wrote their own vows.

    ___

    Dalton reported from Los Angeles. AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno and AP Associated Press video journalist Emily Wang Fujiyama contributed from New York.


  • Mariners pitcher Bryce Miller loses his no-hit bid in the 7th inning against the Angels


    SEATTLE (AP) — Bryce Miller took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night before Nolan Schanuel led off with a bloop single to right field for the the Los Angeles Angels.

    The right-hander struck out seven and walked none through six innings, throwing 50 of his 69 pitches for strikes. The only baserunner for the Angels had come when Denzer Guzmán reached second on a throwing error by Mariners third baseman J.P. Crawford with two outs in the fourth.

    Guzmán followed Schanuel with a single of his own in the seventh, but Miller got through the inning with a 1-0 lead.

    The 27-year-old Miller took a 3-2 record and 1.97 ERA into the game. His season debut was delayed by a strained left oblique muscle sustained in spring training, but he joined the rotation in mid-May.

    Angels rookie Walbert Ureña also had a no-hitter going through five innings, before Crawford led off the sixth with a double.

    James Paxton pitched the most recent no-hitter for Seattle in a game at Toronto on May 8, 2018. Paxton was born and raised in Canada.

    The Angels haven’t been no-hit since Sept. 11, 1999 — the longest active streak in the majors. In that game, they lost 7-0 at Minnesota, shut down by Twins left-hander Eric Milton.

    ___

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


  • Ramos, Ronaldo score as Portugal rallies to beat Croatia 2-1 and advance to round of 16


    TORONTO (AP) — At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo will get another match in a Portugal uniform, thanks to a penalty he scored, a stoppage time header by Goncalo Ramos, and a VAR ruling the Croatia team still doesn’t understand.

    Ramos headed in the winner as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in a wild finish that also included a Croatian goal disallowed for offside just before the final whistle in a World Cup round of 32 match on Thursday night.

    The game featured a matchup of 40-somethings — Ronaldo, in his sixth World Cup, and Croatia’s Luka Modrić, making his fifth bid for a tournament title.

    Ronaldo tied things up in the 68th minute on a penalty kick that gave the megastar his first knockout stage goal at the World Cup before being subbed out in the 81st minute.

    “I never felt any of that (fear),” he said. “Yes, nervous. But as always, you have to be very positive for things to go well.”

    Still, it was Ramos who gave Portugal the victory and a berth in the round of 16.

    “I love that type of moment, I love that type of games,” he said. “I want to play every game like that.”

    Portugal moves on to face Spain on Monday.

    “First half we dominated the game. In second half after the goal we get a little bit panic, but this is football,” Ronaldo said. “After the penalty, I think it was a little bit better for us. We created a few chances and I think at the end of the day we deserved to win the match.”

    In a postgame interview with Fox, Ronaldo proudly turned around to show that he was wearing a Diogo Jota jersey and his No. 21, one year after his teammate died in a car crash. “We knew this before the game. It was a so special moment. We speak today to our group, the coincidence of life. It’s unbelievable.”

    Things got weird after Ramos scored. With Portugal and its fans still enthralled with his goal, Croatia thought it had tied things up 2-2 in the very last moments. But after a 2 1/2-minute delay, Mario Pasalic was called offside as VAR ruled no goal. Croatia fans threw bottles on the field and whistled in protest.

    Croatia midfielder Petar Sucic said, “the referee said he didn’t see (anyone) touch the ball, he said that he had a sensor in that ball,” that caused the offside ruling. “For me, it’s a regular goal.”

    Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said it was, indeed, the chip in the ball that triggered the decision.

    “I need to tell them (Croatia fans) the message is very clear: The balls now have a chip, and it’s very clear that’s why the VAR intervened,” he said. “It’s not a subjective opinion.”

    Croatia opened the scoring in the 53rd minute when Ivan Perisic scored off a cross from Josip Sanisic.

    Ronaldo, booed loudly by Croatia fans every time he touched the ball, got his chance from the spot after Nikola Vlasic was called for a holding foul inside the box. Portugal’s megastar hitched his step and converted down the middle as the goalkeeper went to his right.

    Modrić led Croatia to second- and third-place finishes in 2018 and 2022, and the match carried the weight of the two aging stars each trying to realize the dream of winning the World Cup. Modrić is 40.

    The men, who were teammates at Real Madrid, shared a few smiles and an embrace ahead of the coin toss before the match. The two met on the pitch after the match, hugged and exchanged a few words.

    “I played with Luka so many years,” Ronaldo said. “We’re nearly the same age. I think he’s a legend of football. He’s still a legend of football.”

    Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić said this was “probably” Modrić’s last World Cup, but added, “only God knows what will happen in the next four years. We’ll see. We’ll talk about it in Croatia.”

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    Lexie Linderman is a student in John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Mikel Oyarzabal’s 2 goals send dominant Spain past Austria 3-0 and into round of 16 at the World Cup


    INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Although Spain arrived at this year’s World Cup as a championship favorite and then went unbeaten through group play, those first three matches weren’t overly impressive.

    When the knockout rounds finally arrived Thursday, this star-studded team turned on its full talent and served notice that Spain can be just as good as everybody thought — and it’s probably getting better.

    Mikel Oyarzabal scored two goals and Spain beat Austria 3-0 for its first World Cup victory in a knockout match since winning the title in 2010.

    Pedro Porro added a goal in the second half as La Roja put on its most impressive performance of the tournament while demonstrating offensive creativity and defensive rigor throughout its vaunted lineup.

    “The great teams step up when it’s needed,” Spain coach Luis De La Fuente said. “We played a great match. We came close to perfection, but we must keep improving.”

    While Oyarzabal, fullback Marc Cucurella and winger Lamine Yamal all had sensational moments in attack, Spain also has yet to allow a goal at this year’s World Cup. Austria failed to get a shot on target, so Unai Simón didn’t have to make a save while keeping his fourth consecutive clean sheet and setting a World Cup record with 519 consecutive shutout minutes dating back to the last tournament in Qatar.

    Everybody in a red shirt was happy after a dominant day in the Los Angeles area — but nobody was satisfied, either.

    “I’m happy to have helped the team for us to go through another round,” Oyarzabal said. “Now just rest and get ready for the next one. It was a complicated match. We knew that it was going to be difficult against a very physical team, but we had a very good day and played a good match.”

    La Roja will next face Portugal, a 2-1 winner over Croatia, in Dallas on Monday in the round of 16.

    Yamal had four of Spain’s 10 shots on goal while getting wild cheers from the pro-Spanish sellout crowd at SoFi Stadium. The 18-year-old Barcelona sensation played his longest stretch of the tournament before coming off in the 85th minute, moments after Austria defender David Alaba deflected Yamal’s hard shot off the goal line.

    Spain got its marquee offense from Oyarzabal, the Real Sociedad captain who has four goals at this year’s World Cup by opening the scoring in the 36th minute and clinching the victory in the 89th. Cucurella had assists on both of Oyarzabal’s goals, demonstrating an excellent connection from the left side.

    “Our only focus is to remain thinking that we need to exceed our own expectations,” De La Fuente said. “Today’s match is just the prelude to what’s next, because in the next match we will try to play even better. We have wonderful players. Their behavior, their attitude, their talent is insurmountable.”

    Goalkeeper Alexander Schlager made six saves in an outstanding performance for Austria, which reached the knockout rounds of its first World Cup since 1998 by squeaking out a late draw with an injury-time goal against Algeria. Coach Ralf Rangnick’s team hasn’t won a knockout match at the World Cup since 1954.

    “I cannot remember any unforced error they made,” Rangnick said of Spain. “I think they showed us their best performance. I would dare to say we did not only meet the European champion, but possibly the next world champion. If you want to win it, you need to win against Spain. But if we had a lucky punch, we could have had a chance.”

    Spain is firmly back in World Cup contention for the first time since winning it all in South Africa 16 years ago. La Roja lost two knockout matches and got eliminated in the group stage over the past three World Cups.

    But Spain is now unbeaten 35 straight competitive matches since March 2023. La Roja won the 2023 Nations League and the 2024 European Championship in that stretch, but also lost the 2025 Nations League final on penalties to Portugal.

    Following a cautious start against Austria, Spain unleashed its full attack after the first-half hydration break. Three minutes after Schlager made a diving fingertip save on Oyarzabal’s low shot, the Spain player came unmarked in the penalty area and coolly converted Cucurella’s pass.

    Spain kept up its pressure after halftime, playing some of its most creative soccer of the tournament. It was rewarded when Álex Baena broke in on the left side and lifted a pass to an unmarked Porro, who banged home an emphatic header for his first international goal.

    “People have their opinions, (but) we’ve been doing our job since Day 1,” Porro said. “We believe in ourselves, and whatever people on the outside say is fair enough.”

    Oyarzabal wrapped it up by converting another sharp pass from Cucurella.

    Simón has only had to make four saves in his four straight shutouts. His World Cup shutout streak of 519 minutes broke the tournament record set by Italy great Walter Zenga at the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

    Marko Arnautović came on as a second-half substitute for Austria. Rangnick said afterward that the 37-year-old striker had played his final international match.

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • ‘Right under our noses and nobody was able to help them.’ 16 kids found in squalor shocks Ohio town


    HAMDEN, Ohio (AP) — Just days after authorities removed 16 siblings from a squalid home and arrested their parents and grandparents, the question looms over their southern Ohio village: How could this have happened, for years, unnoticed, right here?

    Neighbors of the family in tiny Hamden, employees at local stores where they shopped and even the investigators who responded to the scene have been left to wonder that aloud and to themselves, and the limited information shared by investigators doesn’t offer a full answer.

    The children weren’t enrolled in school, the family moved around over the past two decades, and neighbors said they’d never spotted the kids. The children remained mostly confined to a small room in the house, investigators said, under deplorable conditions.

    “Right under our noses and nobody was able to help them sooner,” said Emily Collins, 27, owner of VC Farm & Floral in nearby McArthur, as she lamented how the case goes against the grain of the tight-knit community.

    “It’s just crazy with all the wonderful things going on in our little Hallmark town and this is what puts us on the radar. It’s really sad,” said the mother of three, who pulled out her chalk and decorated the sidewalk in front of her shop with bright flowers and stars drawn for the Fourth of July to cheer herself up.

    Authorities said they had gone to the home Tuesday on an unrelated investigation and discovered the children — ages 1 1/2 to 18 years old — some of whom were unable to speak.

    Seven were taken to hospitals, including one who was in critical condition, investigators said. Their current conditions weren’t immediately known Thursday. Child welfare officials have temporary custody of the children.

    Lawyers: Let the case ‘play out’

    Four people who are the children’s parents and grandparents were arrested on child endangerment charges. Gary Siders Jr., 36, Gary Siders, 73, Elizabeth Siders, 33, and Christina Siders, 67, pleaded not guilty to child endangerment. Bond was set at $300,000 each.

    The children’s mother, Elizabeth Siders, married their father Gary Siders Jr. when she was 15, and all of the children are theirs, her attorney, Thomas Stolly, told The Associated Press. She was “crying and exhausted” when he met with her on Thursday, Stolly said.

    “In fact, my client’s first question to me when I walked into the jail and introduced myself was about her kids. She asked if her children were OK, she asked if I knew where they were, and she asked when she’d be able to see them again,” Stolly said.

    He wasn’t able to answer those questions, “but I thought it was telling that her first concern was not, ‘When can I get out of jail,’ but was ‘Are my children OK.’”

    Stolly said his client told him that all of the children were born in area hospitals and she considers herself a full-time mom. She left high school after the 11th grade, he said, and Gary Siders Jr. was driving for Door Dash and looking for another job, he said.

    Stolly said the prosecutor’s office has not yet shared their evidence with him, but so far he hasn’t seen anything that supports Ohio Attorney General Andy Wilson’s description of the family as “pure evil.”

    “Evil requires malice, and I did not see any malice in Elizabeth,” Stolly said.

    He added: “I think that this is more so a case of isolation than a case of evil, and I think that there’s an important distinction there. Because if that’s all you know — and you have to think someone at 15 years old doesn’t know a whole lot about being an adult, about being a mother, about being a wife — and that’s been your worldview for the past 17 or 18 years, you get shaped by that.”

    Stolly said Elizabeth didn’t characterize herself as a victim, but “I think it may be too early to actually determine what was going on there.”

    “While the headlines may be sensational, there’s a real human component to this and so I would ask people to give this process time to play out,” Stolly said.

    An attorney for the elder Siders also urged the public to wait before passing judgment.

    “We ask that the community at large, as well as anyone who might have an interest in this case, to take a deep breath, step back, and let the case play out and the facts play out,” Dorian Baum told The Associated Press.

    Attorneys for Siders Jr. and Christina Siders declined to comment.

    Little traffic on home’s rural road

    A man who lives three houses down from the Siders family said he had seen “no kids at all” there.

    “It’s a sad situation,” said Joseph Stewart, 60, who has lived in the “quiet neighborhood” for six years.

    Authorities wouldn’t publicly share the nature of the other investigation that led them to the house Tuesday. However, court records show a warrant was issued for Siders Jr. that day on misdemeanor indecent exposure charges related to alleged incidents on four days in May. He has pleaded not guilty.

    On Thursday, windows and doors at the formerly wide-open home, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Columbus, had been boarded up. Police tape and piles of refuse remained.

    The previous day, a door was ajar and heaps of trash and children’s toys were visible inside. A wood deck and the backyard were filled with discarded tires, a high chair and other debris.

    The house sits on a road tucked alongside a steep railroad embankment, where tracks carry rumbling trains to a rail yard in the village of fewer than 1,000 residents. The closest neighbors are separated by trees and thick brush, but the house is easily visible from the road.

    Kids not seen in schools

    Investigators said members of the family had moved around southern Ohio over the past two decades and that it looks like they avoided creating a medical or governmental paper trail. The Vinton County Local School District, the only district in the area, said it has no records indicating that any of the children were ever enrolled.

    “These folks were pretty good at hiding these kids,” Wilson, the state attorney general, said Wednesday.

    The children’s absence from school, and the apparent lack of regular visits with medical professionals, likely contributed to keeping the dire situation unknown, said Jacqueline Yahn, an associate professor at Ohio University.

    “When kids are isolated or not participating, you don’t have someone who’s trained to know the clues,” said Yahn, who specializes in rural education and poverty. “A well-check is called that for a reason: They’re checking for well-being and development.”

    Investigators were reviewing whether the family was reported to any children’s services agencies in the past.

    The children spent most of their time in a room that was roughly 12 feet by 12 feet (3.5 meters by 3.5 meters), according to investigators, who noted that human waste was all around.

    “They looked like almost feral animals. It was terrible,” Wilson said.

    ___

    Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed.