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  • Jaylen Brown set to form All-Star trio with Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey in Philadelphia


    PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Reeling from an early exit in the NBA playoffs, Jaylen Brown was still a Boston Celtics star when he dissed Joel Embiid and called him a flopper on a livestream.

    “Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

    Did someone say breaking news?

    Brown might have to make amends with Embiid now that they are teammates on the 76ers in the wake of an out-of-nowhere trade that rocked the NBA and again positions Philadelphia as an instant contender for the franchise’s first NBA title since 1983.

    You know, because trying to win it all with a hired gun worked so well for the Sixers with Paul George. And James Harden. And Jimmy Butler.

    All flops of the postseason kind in Philly.

    The Sixers have another star to pair with Embiid — and the true franchise cornerstones in All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey and second-year standout VJ Edgecombe — after new team president of basketball operations Mike Gansey pulled off a whale of a move in his first month on the job.

    Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Sixers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.

    Boston is getting George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.

    “I’m still processing how this all went down,” Brown wrote in a statement released Thursday. “I’m excited and disappointed at the same time. I earned my respect from this city. I never asked for shortcuts or special treatment. I simply showed up every day, put my head down, and accepted every challenge.

    Without a game played, the Sixers are the early winners in this deal.

    Gansey somehow shed the two years and $110 million left on the oft-injured and aging George’s deal for a bona fide superstar who was sixth in the NBA MVP voting this past season. The 36-year-old George — who was suspended 25 games for flunking a drug test — played in only 78 total games for the Sixers and has played more than 56 in a season only one time since 2019.

    His contract seemed immovable.

    Suddenly — as they say in Boston — anything is possible in Philadelphia.

    Gansey continued his summer shopping spree on Thursday when the Sixers agreed to terms on a two-year, $12.3 million deal with guard Anfernee Simons, adding him to a list this week that includes former Knicks center Ariel Hukporti and veteran Cavaliers forward Dean Wade, a person with knowledge of the agreements told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deals cannot be signed until the league’s offseason moratorium is lifted on Monday.

    The Celtics had to move on from Brown after they dangled him as trade bait to Milwaukee in a failed bid to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee.

    Following the first round of the NBA draft, Boston president of basketball operations Brad Stevens declined to say how close the team got to executing a trade for Brown. But he said he still viewed Brown as part of the Celtics’ future. It’s why the team sat down recently with Brown recently, who currently overseas.

    “Jaylen Brown is a big part of us. I don’t want to predict the future. I look at it as this is our team,” Stevens said.

    He’s now a big part of the plan in Philadelphia, a franchise that seemed stuck in the mud after it was swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round — after rallying from 3-1 down to topple Boston in the first round — and was third among sportsbooks late Wednesday night to win the Eastern Conference.

    Gansey said last month that he wasn’t concerned the Sixers were traveling on two timelines — a win-now mode while Embiid and George were nearing the end of their deals versus dealing with the long term of trying to find pieces that can contribute in the future while Maxey is the undisputed leader of the team and Edgecombe is entering his prime.

    “They’re our four guys,” Gansey said. “They’re under contract. We’ve got to do the best to get them to their best selves. I think every night, at 7 o’clock, we’ve got to get them to their best to help us.”

    They’re going to get Brown at his best — and with a proverbial chip in his shoulder — trying to prove Boston wrong. With Jayson Tatum playing in just 16 games during the regular season while he rehabbed from a ruptured Achilles tendon, the 29-year-old Brown averaged career highs in points (28.7), rebounds (6.9) and assists (5.1).

    Brown still has three seasons and about $182 million left on what was then a record, five-year, $304 million supermax deal he signed in 2023.

    Before Antetokounmpo was ultimately dealt to the Heat, Brown posted a video on Twitch in which he described his mood.

    “To all the people that’s doubted me, that want me to do this, or want me, you’re turning me into a monster,” Brown said.

    He’ll have his opportunity in Philly to unleash the beast with Embiid routinely sidelined big chunks of the season with injuries. Maxey had lamented how difficult it was to try and carry the Sixers without a 1B when Embiid was sidelined and now the Sixers have a sort of guardrail in Brown to steady the team during those absences.

    The Sixers are transformed — just as they thought they would be when they traded for Harden, Butler and signed George, only to fail and fail again in the playoffs.

    Now it’s up to Brown and Embiid and Maxey to form an All-Star trio that can do the improbable just as the Knicks finally did this season in winning their first title in 53 years.

    Speaking of improbable, anyone in Philly have a number for LeBron James?

    ___

    AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.

    ___

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


  • UPS never required detailed inspection of part that failed before engine flew off plane that crashed


    UPS never required the detailed inspections needed to spot the problem that led to an engine to fly off one of its planes before it crashed even after Boeing recommended it years earlier, according to new documents posted Wednesday by crash investigators.

    But UPS said in its own submission to the National Transportation Safety Board that the reason it never required those enhanced bearing inspections inside the pylons that hold the engines to the wings of its MD–11 freighters is because Boeing said incorrectly that the failure of those bearings wouldn’t jeopardize the safety of flight. And the enhanced inspections were never required.

    The plane crashed last fall while accelerating down the runway at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, killing killed all three pilots and 12 people on the ground. Twenty-three more were injured.

    The failures that kept mechanics from taking a close look at the key parts securing the engines to the wings were highlighted at two days of investigative hearings on the crash in May, but the documents released Wednesday provide additional details.

    The NTSB might not publish its final report on the cause of the fiery crash that happened as the UPS plane was trying to take off in Louisville, Kentucky, last November until late this year or possibly early next year. But UPS said it’s clear “once the pylon separated from the aircraft, the crash was inevitable.”

    Boeing and Federal Aviation Administration officials acknowledged during the hearings that they misunderstood the risks related to the potential failure of a steel bearing and metal sheath in the engine mount before the crash, not realizing that it could lead to the lugs that secure engines to an MD-11’s wings breaking. The bearings are tucked deep inside near the pylons, so problems are hard to spot without removing each engine for detailed inspections.

    Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the actions of Boeing, UPS, FAA and the maintenance company STE San Antonio Aerospace all contributed to this crash.

    “There’s just lots of subtleties and semantics that these four entities are using. But in the end, this got missed and to some degree, all four have some role to play in that,” said Guzzetti, who used to investigate crashes for both the NTSB and FAA. “Safety is a shared responsibility, and I think the NTSB’s task now is to apportion that responsibility.”

    Failure of key part securing the engine never identified

    Chris Hentz, who is Vice President of STE San Antonio Aerospace, said UPS only required its mechanics to check for corrosion and not for signs of bearing failure. But Hentz and UPS both pointed out that even as Boeing said “changes to the inspection requirement of the spherical bearing were warranted” the planemaker said in the same letter that the existing inspection requirements were sufficient.

    Hentz said in his letter that Boeing “stated that while the MD-11 inspection intervals and requirements for an inspection of the aft bulkhead were sufficient, changes to the inspection requirements of the spherical bearing were warranted to ensure that the migration of the outer race would be reliably detected and identified during inspection.”

    UPS said that even though Boeing developed an enhanced inspection procedure that it added to the MD-11 maintenance manual, the planemaker never added that procedure to its federally approved maintenance schedule that would have required it.

    “Relying on Boeing’s representations that the issue was not safety-of-flight and that existing MPD inspections were sufficient, UPS determined that no additional changes to its maintenance program were necessary beyond what was already being performed.” the package delivery giant said.

    Past problems didn’t trigger alarm

    At one point, Boeing even successfully petitioned the FAA to extend the schedule for required inspections from once every 19,900 cycles of takeoffs and landings, to once every 29,260, so that airlines could complete more of the major maintenance tasks simultaneously, with less down time.

    The planemaker sought the change even after receiving reports about seven of the flaws in the bearings well before the planes had reached their original inspection limits. In the years after the schedule was relaxed, three more instances were discovered before the crash.

    The UPS plane that crashed after losing its engine had flown 21,043 cycles, so it should have been thoroughly inspected under the original schedule. There has been only one other crash, decades earlier, involving a similar plane model losing an engine, but that one was blamed on improper maintenance and not the same flaw.

    FedEx and other operators of these MD-11s reported at least 10 other instances of failures of these bearings or the parts that hold them in place over the years before the UPS crash. But it’s not clear what these other operators might have been doing differently in their maintenance.

    FedEx resumed flying its MD-11s in May after the FAA approved Boeing’s plan to ensure their safety. The engine mounts were closely inspected following the November crash, and going forward the spherical bearings will be replaced regularly, after every 4,000 cycles of takeoffs and landings. UPS decided to retire all of its MD-11s early after this crash.


  • U.S. beats Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 to advance to round of 16 and keep its World Cup dreams alive


    SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Malik Tillman stepped up for a free kick with a bloody sock and a new right boot after being stepped on by an opponent as the United States scrambled to protect a one-goal lead, down a man in a World Cup knockout round.

    Tillman delivered the goal of his life, and one of the biggest ever by a U.S. man at the World Cup, sending this American soccer fairytale into the round of 16.

    “I’ve been dreaming about this game,” Tillman said after scoring the final goal in a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday night. “I’ve been dreaming about maybe taking a free kick and scoring a free kick. I’ve practiced this in training and I think today I showed what I can do.”

    The round of 32 win set up a Monday matchup in Seattle against Belgium as the U.S. hopes to make a deep run on home soil. The Red Devils beat the Americans 2-1 in extra time at 2014’s round of 16.

    “It’s about to keep dreaming,” said U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino, who belted out “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as it played over the public-address system after 10 minutes of stoppage time. “In football all is possible if you believe.”

    Folarin Balogun put the Americans ahead in the 45th minute with his third goal of the World Cup, then was sent off in the 64th for a red card.

    Star Christian Pulisic had a goal disallowed for offside in the 78th, and Tillman helped seal the win when he curled in a free kick that got over the wall and on target from just outside the box in the 82nd. The ball went off diving goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj’s right hand and in despite the pain in Tillman’s bloody right foot from being stepped on.

    Balogun dominated the first half and scored in the 45th minute. The Americans had to scramble after his foul for awkwardly stepping on Tarik Muharemovic and preserved the shutout despite playing short-handed for more than 30 minutes.

    “It felt so comfortable, even down to 10 men,” captain Tim Ream said. “That’s the way you want to feel. You don’t want to have that panic set in. You want have that calm and focus and we had that.”

    Pochettino became the first U.S. coach with three World Cup victories, and the Americans gained just their second World Cup knockout round win. They made it to the semifinals in the first tournament in 1930 by winning their group and won a round of 16 matchup against Mexico in 2002.

    Balogun leads the U.S. with three goals, but will miss the Belgium match because of an automatic suspension for the red card, assessed by Brazilian referee Raphael Claus after a video review. Balogun stepped on an ankle of Tarik Muharemovic, apparently not intentionally.

    “Obviously the ref made a decision that he made, but I think it’s questionable,” midfielder Weston McKennie said. “I think there’s been many other plays like that throughout the tournament on other players that a card wasn’t given at all. It’s disappointing.”

    Balogun matched Landon Donovan in 2010 for the second-most goals by an American in a World Cup, behind only Bert Patenaude’s four in 1930.

    “Of course he’s a great player,” Tillman said. “We have great players who can replace him, and give the best they can, and hopefully score some nice goals as well.”

    The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for the U.S. against European teams dating to a tie against England in the 2022 World Cup. The Americans had lost seven games and tied six against European nations in World Cup play since beating Portugal in their 2002 opener.

    The U.S. had started fast in the group stage matches by scoring in the first 15 minutes of all three games but it was Bosnia that had the better chances early. Matt Freese needed to make two saves early to stop Ermedin Demirovic following a deceptive goal kick that caught the U.S. defense napping and then again on the ensuing corner kick that Kerim Alajbegovic almost scored on directly.

    Balogun took over from there. He had an apparent 31st-minute goal called off for offside and was knocked down in the box on two other opportunities before finally delivering. Ream intercepted a Bosnia goal kick at midfield and passed to Tyler Adams, who flicked to Tillman. The ball, with the help of an errant Bosnian clearance attempt and a deflection, found Balogun in the box. Balogun slid the left-footed shot past Vasilj.

    Balogun punctuated the goal with his version of the LeBron James Silencer celebration, drawing a positive reaction from King James himself.

    Balogun nearly scored again in first-half stoppage time but his shot from in close deflected off the crossbar and out of play.

    Bosnia’s second World Cup trip was a success with a draw against Canada in the opener and a win over Qatar that helped the team advance to the knockout round for the first time. But it ended in disappointment.

    “We had our moments after the red card,” Vasilj said. “You could feel that there was something. The only thing that was missing was a goal. And then in the worst moment, out of nothing, I would say, a free kick and we conceded a second goal. After that it was really difficult.”

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • The Dow hits a record as most of Wall Street rises, but slumping AI stocks keep indexes mixed


    NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied to another record, but more 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. The Dow jumped 594 points, or 1.1%, while the Nasdaq composite dropped 0.8% after erasing an early gain.

    Stocks broadly got some help from a report showing that U.S. employers added 57,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. That’s growth, which is 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 bright side of the weaker-than-expected result is that it could keep pressure off inflation, which has been accelerating worldwide because of jumps in oil prices caused by the war with Iran. And 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 relief for investors, who tend to love lower interest rates because they can give the economy a boost by making 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.

    The yield on the 10-year Treasury got to 4.50% in the morning, up from 3.97% just before the war. But after the release of the U.S. hiring data, it immediately fell back to 4.46% before drifting to 4.48%.

    Traders now see an 82% chance that the Fed and its new chairman, Kevin Warsh, will not raise the federal funds rate at its next meeting later this month. That’s up from the 71% chance seen a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

    “The labor market isn’t overheating,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economic strategist at Annex Wealth Management. He said the data could allow the Fed to wait through the summer to get more clues about how inflation is behaving before having to decide on hiking rates.

    On Wall Street, the company behind LaCroix sparkling waters climbed 7.5% after National Beverage said it will pay a special dividend of $3.25 for each share that investors hold.

    Dollar Tree rose 2.4% after the retailer said it approved a program to send up to $2.5 billion to its shareholders by buying back its stock.

    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%.

    But more drops for computer chip companies 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 result in 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, for example, which means that its stock’s movements have more weight on the S&P 500 than any other.

    All told, the S&P 500 rose 0.01 to 7,483.24 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 594.83 to 52,900.07, and the Nasdaq composite sank 207.36 to 25,382.67.

    In stock markets abroad, continued drops for chip companies sent indexes sharply lower in several Asian markets. South Korea’s Kospi index sank 7.9% due to losses for companies like SK Hynix. That’s its worst drop since a 10% plunge a little more than a week ago.

    Indexes also fell 2.5% in Tokyo and 2% in Shanghai.

    European indexes were stronger, and France’s CAC 40 rallied 1.7%.

    In the oil market, prices dropped in the morning but pared their losses as the day progressed. Brent crude, the international standard, settled at $71.80 per barrel, up 0.3%.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.


  • The Onion debuts new parody of Alex Jones’ Infowars, will send $100,000 to Sandy Hook families


    The satirical news site The Onion isn’t waiting to take possession of Infowars to launch a parody of Alex Jones ’ conspiracy platform.

    More than a year after first trying to buy Infowars, The Onion on Thursday debuted a send-up under its own website with plans to give some of the revenue to families of the victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

    The families have still received no money from Jones since courts ordered him to pay more than $1 billion for falsely calling the 2012 shooting a hoax.

    The webpage launch was accompanied by a YouTube live premiere video, “Welcome to the Real Infowars,” with comedian Tim Hedeicker doing an impression of Jones while introducing viewers to the page.

    “Today we reclaim the standard of truth and deliver the first salvo in the final battle for your mind,” a note on the site read.

    The Onion plans to send Sandy Hook families $100,000 from merchandise sales that combine the conspiracy empire’s brand with the The Onion’s logo in rainbow colors, according to CEO Ben Collins, whose company is still in court trying to take control of Infowars.

    “Don’t give comedy writers a grudge for 18 months,” Collins said.

    The parody will include a series of shows and other content under Infowars branding that spoof Jones’ aggressive mashup of conspiracies linking major news events, dubious scientific claims, attacks on people suffering in tragedies and sales of supplements and survival gear.

    Spoof advertisements on the site beckon: “Win a chance to become a car” and “Send $10 to your grandson! For just $50.”

    Jones’ claims that the 2012 shooting that killed 20 first graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut is a hoax have no truth, but Jones continued to amplify them. His followers started to harass victims’ families, suggesting they were “crisis actors” and even making death threats.

    Jones’ Infowars empire had 10 million visitors a month and generated more than $50 million in annual revenues at its peak, according to the company. But the $1.4 billion judgements in defamation cases in Connecticut and Texas, where Jones is based, forced him into bankruptcy and broke Infowars apart.

    “All he’s been left with is an iPhone and a fancy microphone,” said Chris Mattei, an attorney for nine of the Sandy Hook families.

    Jones has moved his show to a different website. An email sent to an address to request interviews went unanswered.

    The families knew they could never stop Jones from getting his message out, and he has managed to avoid paying the judgement so far. But they could expose what he said and assure he can never profit again, Mattei said.

    “Every dime Alex Jones makes from here until the end of eternity is going to be claimed by the families,” Mattei said.

    The Onion stepped in when Collins saw Infowars’ assets were going to be sold at auction.

    Collins spoke to Sandy Hook families, who said they were briefly skeptical, but then saw how The Onion’s staff could use the Infowars style and branding to take the moral high ground and make fun of the people who not only caused them so much pain but they felt also poisoned society.

    The new Infowars will maintain The Onion’s sharp satire sprinkled with shock value. Collins said there will be a section selling a penis flattening device, a fake “pro oxygen” supplement pill that the host claims can replace breathing, as well as an extended debate on how many Bozo the Clowns there are.

    “It’s old-fashioned Infowars — using the tricks that they use to get people addicted to outrage and, I would say, addicted to anticipation, trying to find the thing that’s around the corner that’s going to save your life,” Collins said.

    The Onion will keep chasing Jones’ property. Collins thinks they will soon get control of the Austin, Texas, studio Infowars once used.

    Some families can’t wait for that day. Collins said that Robbie Parker, whose daughter died at Sandy Hook, plans to read his book about fighting Jones while dealing with so much grief in the place Jones once sat.

    The families at first wanted Infowars shut down forever and Jones never heard from again. But they are now looking forward to seeing what The Onion has planned, attorney Mattei said.

    “The idea that it could be turned to some social good. I think it’s even better,” Mattei said. “So, yeah, I think the families are both pleased and amused with what they’ve been able to achieve here.”


  • The Knicks. The World Cup. Taylor Swift’s likely wedding. It’s the Summer of New York


    NEW YORK (AP) — It is a city bathed in the orange-and-blue afterglow of a Knicks championship, gushing with the joy of World Cup fans jamming its bars and its streets, enjoying a singular confetti-raining, fireworks-bursting, parade-rolling, smile-inducing moment that seems to make this place feel even more like the center of the universe it has always claimed to be.

    So if a certain pop idol were to choose this island, at this moment, for her vows, could anywhere be more fitting?

    “This city has always known how to celebrate big moments. But this summer, so many of them have collided at once,” says Rabbi Yael Buechler, 40, of the Riverdale section of the Bronx, who is preparing a “Swiftie Shabbat” this weekend with friendship bracelet cookies and a bedazzled challah bread she says is inspired by her “Chuppah Era.” “When I look back on the summer of 2026, I won’t remember just one event. I’ll remember a season when New York felt united in celebration.”

    New York is always a city whose seduction battles its struggles, where the thrill of finding a subway car with an open seat meets the realization that it’s empty because its lone passenger is hurling trash across it. The schlepping, the waiting on line, the $9 boxes of cereal and $32 burgers and microscopic apartments with titanic rents, the sidewalk mounds of trash, the gutted rat you nearly step onto in the street. All of it can congeal into too much, separating New Yorkers for a season from New Yorkers for life.

    But then there are those days when the streets are a storybook, with all the eclectic, utopian splendor Richard Scarry could muster, where you step out of an impossibly tiny, immeasurably cute cheese shop to find an impromptu classical concert on a front stoop. Neighbors exchange knowing looks at whatever absurdity unfolds before them, parks unfurl like paintings, a kaleidoscope of humanity seems in sync, lights twinkle, dumplings are cheap, pizza is perfect, bagels are fresh from the oven, dreams are all fulfilled.

    Optimism emerges for summer in the city

    In the battle between the slog of metropolitan life and its many daily gifts, some felt the recent arrival of a thumb on the scale.

    The city’s trademark cynicism faded a bit. And in a place where celebrity passersby and visiting monarchs typically get the same collective shrug, a certain exuberance appeared. The beaming young mayor, fresh off an announcement that a swath of New York’s tenants would see no rent hike, was even found jumping into a city pool in a suit and tie.

    This town has known seasons of many stripes, from that autumn of grief after 9/11 to that spring of solitude and trepidation as COVID-19 first emerged. They always pass. The city moves forward. But however long this Summer of New York stretches and the city pulsates with positivity, locals are relishing it.

    “It’s easy to feel alone in the big city, but we all feel a bit closer right now,” says Dallas Short, a 38-year-old publicist who lives in the Two Bridges neighborhood of Manhattan. “Anything seems possible and attainable right now.”

    More than anything, the Knicks’ fantastic run fueled today’s New York temperament, with its underdogs-coming-out-swinging, constantly-rallying-from-behind, Jalen Brunson methodically delivering, OG Anunoby tipping in an impossible shot, and millions of onlookers unsure of what they just witnessed as they slid into a warm bath of delight.

    Spike Lee, a sideline fixture for decades and quintessential New Yorker, captured the city’s darker side with his film “Summer of Sam,” set in the city’s long-remembered summer of 1977. This year, he oozed joy even before victory was sealed.

    “This is truly Fun City,” he proclaimed in The New York Times, “born again!”

    Then there were those soccer games

    Before the thrill of that even wore away, the world’s soccer fans descended, turning Times Square into a Viking longship and points across the city into flag-waving, drum-beating celebrations. In a city whose most iconic statue is a testament to its openness to newcomers, teams from Cape Verde to Paraguay to Congo found local fans and international visitors found compatriots.

    “There is electricity in the air,” says Steven Gottlieb, a real estate agent and born-and-bred New Yorker who lives in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan. “Many of us have a love-hate relationship with New York City, but there’s a lot to love right now.”

    Which brings us to none other than Taylor Swift.

    After moving here over a decade ago, she penned “Welcome to New York,” which called the city a “true love” and portrayed it as an “ever-changing,” “drives you crazy,” “keeps you guessing” paramour.

    Asked about her new home at the time, she told Rolling Stone, “In terms of being happy, I’ve never been closer.”

    Swift was spotted courtside at Madison Square Garden in Game Four of the Knicks’ run. And if rumors and reports bear out, she’ll return to the arena this week to celebrate a marriage to football player Travis Kelce. It would arrive on a week capped by all the revelry the city can serve up for the 250th anniversary of the country’s independence, in a fireworks-blasting, tall ships-sailing spectacle.

    In this city scarred by terror, darkened by blackout and flooded by storm, no New Yorker would be so naïve as to think it all will last. The rents will rise. The kvetching will return. The smells and the crowds will again grow too much.

    Let it be remembered, though: For a blissful moment in the summer of 2026, joy reigned here.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct the part of the Bronx where Rabbi Yael Buechler is from. Matt Sedensky can be reached at msedensky@ap.org and https://x.com/sedensky


  • Toronto Maple Leafs land prized free agent, signing goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to 3-year, $21M deal


    New general manager John Chayka’s transformation of the Toronto Maple Leafs isn’t dependent on youth alone.

    Days after selecting play-making 18-year-old forward Gavin McKenna with the first pick in the NHL draft, Chayka added veteran depth — with Stanley Cup Final experience — in a series of moves highlighted by the signing of goalie Sergei Bobrovsky to a three-year, $21 million contract as free agency opened on Wednesday.

    At nearly 38, Bobrovsky is a two-time Cup champion and leaves Florida to fill what’s been a long-unaddressed need in Toronto.

    “Sergei’s a real game-changer for us in terms of the stability, the consistency, the durability,” Chayka said. “We think he’s really motivated to come into the largest hockey market in the world, and it’s important to him that he finish his career strong.”

    Among the other more active teams were the San Jose Sharks. They signed free agent defenseman Jacob Trouba and forward Mason Marchment, while also acquiring defenseman Darnell Nurse in a trade with Edmonton.

    Utah, coming off its first playoff appearance, signed former Islanders captain Anders Lee to a three-year, $16.2 million contract and acquired Vincent Trocheck from the Rangers as the Mammoth muscled up their front line.

    Aside from Lee, and with veteran forward Patrick Kane and defenseman John Carlson still available, Bobrovsky was considered among the most prized free agents on the market.

    “A sincere thank you to Sergei Bobrovsky for all he did for this organization,” said Panthers general manager Bill Zito, who this past week had traded for goalies Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid. “Things happen where decisions get made and people move on. It’s part of our game. We have nothing but appreciation for Sergei.”

    Though nearly a decade removed from winning the Vezina Trophy for a second time as the NHL’s top goalie with Columbus in 2017, Bobrovsky represents an upgrade for a Leafs team that’s gone through a carousel of netminders, including five alone last season. Toronto is attempting to retool on the fly with a new coach after finishing last in the Atlantic Division standings to snap a nine-year playoff run.

    The Leafs also signed center Teddy Blueger, who won a Cup in 2023 with Vegas, center Colton Sissons and center Jack Roslovic.

    More than 11 hours into free agency, Tampa Bay signed defenseman John Carlson to a two-year, $17 million contract, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it had not been announced. Carlson chose the Lightning over other interested suitors including Carolina and Washington.

    Rangers whe
    el and deal

    The Rangers made four trades in a five-hour span, most notably sending Trocheck to Utah for defenseman Sean Durzi, prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round pick in the draft next year. They also acquired Marcus Pettersson from Vancouver for a conditional 2030 first-rounder, shipped fellow defenseman Will Borgon to Boston for picks and made an additional trade with the Bruins to get backup goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

    New York also signed former Tampa Bay forward Oliver Bjorkstrand to a one-year, $4.5 million contract.

    Sharks stock up

    The fast-improving Sharks are suddenly a destination. They acquired Nurse in a deal that sent defensive prospects Shakir Mukhamadullin and Zack Sharp to Edmonton. Trouba signed a four-year, $33 million deal and Marchment signed a five-year, $33.75 million contract.

    After the Sharks enjoyed a 19-win jump in the standings and barely missed the playoffs, Trouba called being part of a team on the rise behind Macklin Celebrini one of the biggest reasons he signed in the Bay Area.

    “You want a team that you feel like you can grow with and make an impact and help these young guys,” Trouba said. “It’s important to get into where everybody wants to be is on a contending team, and I think we have a good opportunity in San Jose to do that.”

    Goalies on the move

    The Oilers shuffled goalies by acquiring Buffalo’s minor league prospect Devon Levi in a trade and added veteran Frederik Andersen on a $2.8 million contract for next season. Andersen was Carolina’s goaltender on the way to the Cup final before getting injured and exiting the series.

    Winnipeg signed Stuart Skinner to a two-year, $7.5 million contract with Winnipeg. The Jets’ goaltending depth could be in flux with the team listening to trade offers for three-time Vezina Trophy-winner Connor Hellebuyck. Minnesota signed Calvin Pickard, while Tampa Bay got Denis Hildeby from Toronto for forward Nick Paul.

    Free agent signings

    — Washington, still waiting on Alex Ovechkin’s decision about whether he’ll return for a 22nd NHL season, signed Columbus forward Boone Jenner ($23 million) and San Jose defenseman Vincent Desharnais ($16.8 million) to four-year contracts.

    — The Los Angeles Kings signed Nashville forward Erik Haula to a two-year, $7.2 million contract. And Mats Zuccarello left Minnesota to sign with L.A.

    — Chicago got veteran defenseman Ian Cole (Utah) for next season at $4.75 million.

    — Colorado signed former Seattle winger Jaden Schwartz to a three-year, $9.75 million contract.

    — Detroit signed Swedish winger Viktor Arvidsson (Boston) to a two-year contract worth $10 million.

    Staying put

    In the meantime, teams were also busy retaining players.

    — Vegas re-signed defenseman Rasmus Andersson to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract.

    — Florida signed rugged defenseman Radko Gudas, who just turned 36, to a six-year deal worth $1.5 million annually for a total of $9 million. The 36-year-old Gudas played in Florida for three seasons from 2020-23 and acquired in a trade with Anaheim on Monday.

    — New Jersey locked up captain Nico Hischier by signing the Swiss center to a five-year extension worth $58.5 million with an annual cap hit of $11.7 million from 2027 through 2032.

    — Montreal re-signed Ivan Demidov to an eight-year, $73 million contract after the 20-year-old Russian forward led all NHL rookies with 62 points (19 goals, 43 assists) last season.

    — Philadelphia got two extensions done, signing forward Tyson Foerster to an eight-year, $56.8 million contract and extending goalie Dan Vladar for five years at $27.5 million.

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    AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.

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


  • NBA free agency: Norman Powell to Chicago in another All-Star move as teams continue shaping rosters


    MIAMI (AP) — Add Norman Powell to the list of this past season’s All-Stars who are changing addresses this summer in NBA free agency.

    Powell has agreed to a two-year deal that could be worth up to $45 million with the Chicago Bulls, a person with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. Powell also had received some interest from the Detroit Pistons, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot be finalized until July 6 at the earliest.

    ESPN and Chicago Sports Network were among those who first reported the agreement between Powell and the Bulls, who will hold a team option for 2027-28. Powell spent this past season in Miami, where he became an All-Star for the first time and averaged 21.7 points in 58 games with the Heat.

    Miami will have a very different look this coming season, after the acquisition of Giannis Antetokounmpo in a trade that sent Tyler Herro and others to Milwaukee. Powell will be joining his fifth team, after past stints with Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto and the Heat.

    All-Stars on the move

    Powell is among six — and there likely will be more — All-Star selections from 2026 alone to be on the move this offseason.

    He joins Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee to Miami), Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram (the headliners of a trade that brings Leonard back to Toronto and sends Ingram to the Los Angeles Clippers), LeBron James (who is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers for a yet-to-be-decided team), and Jaylen Brown (traded by Boston to Philadelphia for Paul George and draft picks).

    Of the 62 players with at least one All-Star selection in the last five years, just over half — 33 of them — have changed teams at least once in that span.

    Nikola Vucevic returns to Orlando

    Nikola Vucevic has signed a deal to return to the Orlando Magic, agreeing on a one-year deal for just under $4 million, a person with knowledge of those talks confirmed.

    Vucevic is second all-time on the Magic list in rebounds, third in points and fourth in games played. The 35-year-old center has been in the league for 15 seasons, nine of those with Orlando — and now joins a young core led by Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

    Orlando needed another post option after losing Moritz Wagner in free agency to Brooklyn — and Vucevic, who still has a home in central Florida, was the natural fit.

    Moritz Wagner, the brother of Franz Wagner, is signing a two-year deal with the Nets.

    Vucevic averaged 15.1 points this past season for Chicago and Boston.

    Also Wednesday, the Magic re-signed forward Jonathan Isaac. He was waived last week in a procedural move, only to be brought back as expected for what will be his 10th season with the club (including two he missed with injury).

    Mitchell Robinson, Mike Conley Jr. to Boston

    Mitchell Robinson just won a title with New York, and now the center will chase another in Boston.

    The Celtics agreed to a $47.4 million, three-year deal with Robinson, a person with knowledge of that agreement told the AP. And veteran guard Mike Conley Jr. also is headed to the Celtics on a one-year deal, a second person with knowledge of that agreement said.

    Robinson’s deal includes a third-year option. Conley is set to play a milestone 20th season in the NBA.

    Marcus Smart to Houston

    Marcus Smart, the NBA’s defensive player of the year in 2022, is about to join his fourth team in a span of 17 months after agreeing with the Houston Rockets on a two-year deal worth about $12.7 million, a person with knowledge of those talks told the AP.

    Smart was with Memphis as recently as February 2025, then was sent to Washington to complete that season and spent this past season with the Lakers.

    He averaged 9.3 points and started 54 games for the Lakers in 2025-26.

    Tobias Harris to San Antonio

    The Western Conference champion Spurs got another veteran, adding Tobias Harris on a two-year deal worth about $15 million this coming season and about $16 million in 2027-28, a person with knowledge of the agreement told the AP.

    Including playoff games, Harris has played in 466 victories over the last decade — the sixth most of any player in the league over that span. Harris, who turns 34 later this month, averaged 13.3 points this past season for Detroit.

    John Collins to Detroit

    Forward John Collins is changing teams again, after agreeing to a three-year contract with the Pistons, a person with knowledge of those negotiations told the AP.

    ESPN reported the deal is worth $51 million.

    The Pistons will be Collins’ third team in as many seasons. He started his career in Atlanta, then spent two seasons in Utah (until 2024-25) and played for the Clippers last season.

    Lakers reload

    The Lakers are thoroughly retooling their roster following James’ decision and Smart’s departure. After agreeing to a major trade to acquire center Walker Kessler from Utah, they added forward Sandro Mamukelashvili and guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton in free agency, a person with knowledge of those talks told the AP.

    Mamukelashvili, a bulky power forward with an outside shooting touch, played his way into a multiyear deal with the Lakers by scoring a career-high 11.2 points per game and hitting 38.9% of his 3-point attempts for Toronto last season and then opting out of his contract.

    Grimes is a former Dallas teammate of Luka Doncic who provides strong on-ball defense and versatile offensive skills. Grimes posted a photo of himself as a child wearing Lakers gear on social media Wednesday.

    Sexton has been a consistent scorer throughout his first eight NBA seasons with four teams. He averaged 15.4 points and 3.3 assists per game last season for Charlotte and Chicago.

    Kelly Oubre Jr. to Indiana

    The Indiana Pacers, who played in the NBA Finals in 2025 and expect to be a playoff contender again this coming season, have agreed to terms with Kelly Oubre Jr. on a two-year deal. ESPN and The Indianapolis Star reported it to be worth around $17 million.

    Oubre averaged 14.1 points for Philadelphia this past season.

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    AP Sports Writers Kyle Hightower in Boston and Greg Beacham in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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


  • Another blockbuster: Jaylen Brown getting traded by Celtics to 76ers for Paul George, draft picks


    Jaylen Brown’s time in Boston has come to a surprising end, with the Celtics deciding to trade him to one of their most storied rivals.

    Brown — the 2024 NBA Finals MVP, a five-time All-Star and the league’s fourth-leading scorer this past season — is getting traded by the Celtics to the Philadelphia 76ers, a person with knowledge of the deal’s terms said Wednesday.

    Boston is getting Paul George, along with a slew of draft capital that could become two first-round picks and two second-round picks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade does not yet have the required league approvals.

    ESPN first reported the trade agreement, and the terms were later confirmed by The Boston Globe.

    Add this move to the list of blockbuster moves across the NBA so far this offseason. LeBron James is leaving the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent, and now this trade joins a long list of moves that involve All-Star-caliber players — like Giannis Antetokounmpo going from Milwaukee to Miami, Kawhi Leonard and Brandon Ingram headlining a swap between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, and Ja Morant getting traded to Portland by Memphis.

    Now, this.

    “Welcome to Philly, JB!” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on social media. “Sixers get way better and, as a bonus, the Celtics got worse!”

    It’s a move that breaks up what has been one of the league’s most successful 1-2 punches in Brown and Jayson Tatum, who helped carry the Celtics to the 2024 NBA title.

    Tatum missed most of this past season while recovering from an Achilles tear that happened during the 2025 playoffs, meaning Brown had to carry even more of the load for Boston — and he wound up with career-best averages of 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.

    It seemed, though, that Brown has felt underappreciated, especially after it became known that Boston had included him in trade talks with Milwaukee when Antetokounmpo was on the market.

    “Nobody has won more combined regular-season and playoff games since I entered the league 10 years ago,” Brown posted on social media over the weekend. He’s right: The Celtics have won 523 games with Brown in the lineup, including playoff contests, which is six more than Denver has won with Nikola Jokic over that span.

    Brown now gets to be part of a squad in Philadelphia alongside guard Tyrese Maxey and center Joel Embiid — someone who Brown recently called a flopper on a livestream.

    “Joel Embiid is a great player, one of the best bigs in (expletive) basketball history,” Brown said. “Flops. He know it. This ain’t breaking news.”

    Brown, Maxey (the league’s No. 5 scorer this past season) and Embiid (a two-time NBA scoring champion) could become a positively frightening trio in Philadelphia, and the Celtics deciding to play a role in creating such a triumvirate only adds to the intrigue surrounding why they wanted to trade Brown in the first place.

    The trade ends a tremendously disappointing two-year stint for George, who was traded with two years left on a four-year, $212 million free-agent contract. The 36-year-old George never approached his nine-time All-Star form in Philadelphia and his tenure was marred by a 25-game suspension last season for flunking a drug test.

    He averaged just 16.7 points in his two seasons in Philadelphia after topping the 20-point mark in nine straight seasons with Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers.

    Brown is the latest big name brought in to team with All-Stars and franchise cornerstones Embiid and Maxey. Brown can try and lead the Sixers to their first title since 1983; a feat a steady string of stars from Ben Simmons to James Harden to George failed to do when paired with Embiid and Maxey to make a Big Three.

    George cited mental health reasons as to why he failed a drug test and was suspended in late January for violating the terms of the NBA’s anti-drug program. His first year in Philly was marred by knee and adductor injuries that resulted in the forward having one of the worst years of his NBA career.

    George averaged 16.2 points in just 41 games, easily his lowest scoring average in a full season since he averaged 12.1 points for Indiana in his second NBA season. He then had surgery in July on his left knee after he was injured during a workout and missed the first 12 games of this past season.

    This was the first blockbuster pulled off under new team president Mike Gansey, who replaced the fired Daryl Morey.

    Morey was fired after the Sixers failed to advance out of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in his tenure and they were swept by the eventual NBA champion Knicks in the second round last season — but only after erasing a 3-1 deficit to oust Boston in Round 1.

    “Philadelphia is a good basketball team,” Brown said after the Game 7 loss to the 76ers, surely not knowing at that time that he would be joining them a couple months later.

    His job now will be to make that good basketball team even better.

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    AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston in Philadelphia contributed.

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


  • Belgium comes back from two goals down to beat Senegal 3-2 in extra time at World Cup


    SEATTLE (AP) — Belgium overturned a two-goal deficit and scored from the penalty spot deep into extra time to beat Senegal 3-2 on Wednesday in the biggest comeback of the World Cup so far.

    Senegal held a 2-0 lead with just 5 minutes of regulation time remaining but late goals by Romelu Lukaku and Youri Tielemans pushed the round of 32 match into extra time.

    Tielemans completed Belgium’s comeback by converting a penalty in the 125th minute of the game – the latest goal in World Cup history.

    “Being part of this comeback is a proud moment because I scored the last two goals to give the team the win today. I’m very proud of that to be able to help the team to score goals and bring us over the line,” Tielemans said.

    He was fouled with only seconds to go and with a penalty shootout looming, and the referee awarded the spot kick after a video review, ignoring protests from the Senegal team.

    “I do not want to interpret the decision. We all have different interpretations when it comes to awarding a penalty,” Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said. “I’d rather not comment, not interpreting the referee’s decision.”

    The win for Belgium marked the second time in the last 11 World Cups that a team trailed by two or more goals in the knockout round and advanced. Belgium also did so in a 3-2 victory over Japan in the round of 16 at the 2018 tournament.

    “Senegal deserved to win,” Belgium coach Rudi Garcia said. “But, I am happy it was us.”

    Many of the key players from the Belgium team that finished in third place in Russia in 2018 were instrumental to Wednesday’s victory. Lukaku, who leads his nation in goals scored, came off the bench to get Belgium back into the match by scoring in the 86th minute, setting the scene for Tielemans to force extra time.

    “It is a cruel loss, as we were good in the game,” Thiaw said. “We had the advantage. We were leading 2-0. However a football match is not an 85-minute one. Belgium came back, and we were not able to deal with that … We must congratulate Belgium as they progress.”

    Belgium is back in the round of 16 for the third time in four tournaments. The team reached the quarterfinals in 2014 and the semifinals in 2018 but failed to get out of the group stage four years ago in Qatar.

    The Belgians will next face the United States on Monday in Seattle.

    Senegal long appeared to be heading toward the round of 16. Habib Diarra scored in the first half and Ismaïla Sarr made it 2-0 at the start of the second. It was his fourth goal of the World Cup, and one of the most beautiful of the tournament. Sarr made a perfect first touch off his chest on a long ball from Moussa Niakhaté and then sent his shot past Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

    Courtois, who was playing in his fourth World Cup, then made three key saves to keep Senegal from increasing its lead.

    Senegal defender Krépin Diatta said Belgium should not have been allowed to get back into the game.

    “It shouldn’t have happened. You have to defend your box and you have to be the boss of your box,” he said. “We suffered, but we have to go on. It’s a pity.”

    Lukaku said Belgium showed character with its late comeback.

    “This Senegal side is one of the best teams in the tournament,” he said. “Technically, physically and tactically, it was really tough. But when we stepped up the intensity of our pressing, when we were there for the second ball, our team spirit shone through and we won the match.”

    Senegal headed to the World Cup as the second-highest ranking team in Africa, behind Morocco. It won a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final on Jan. 18 against Morocco, but the result was overturned by the governing body of African soccer because Thiaw had temporarily pulled his players off the pitch.

    Senegal advanced to the World Cup knockout phase as one of the best third-place finishers after losing to France and Norway and beating Iraq.

    “It’s the best African nation. It’s as simple as that,” Garcia said. “They showed that even against France, they dominated in the first half. They came out of a difficult group. I would have preferred not to play against them.”

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here