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  • Trump filing shows he took in about $1.2 billion from crypto businesses last year


    NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump took in nearly $1.2 billion dollars from his crypto businesses last year, a federal filing released Tuesday shows, locking in profits while his investors were socked with losses.

    Mere startups when he took the oath of office, the new ventures have now eclipsed in revenue much of his vast property portfolio that took him decades to accumulate. Fueling their rise were billionaire investors and Trump’s own move to quash a federal crackdown on the industry.

    Trump got more than $500 million from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products, including “governance tokens,” according to the required annual disclosure report with the Office of Government Ethics. It also showed another crypto business, CIC Digital LLC, took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his face.

    Both the tokens and the coins have plunged in value since the sales.

    Trump also took in millions last year from selling Trump-branded bibles, sneakers and other small items in another unprecedented move for the presidency. The sale of Trump-branded watches alone brought in $4.7 million.

    The 927-page disclosure form paints a stark, if incomplete picture of the massive growth of the president’s wealth since taking office last January through a web of business interests — many that have benefited from the policy moves of Trump’s own government. Trump has insisted that his sons direct his finances but the arrangement rejects the conflict of interest protections that his recent predecessors in office had instituted.

    Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2024.

    The Trump business is growing abroad

    The rise of crypto relative to Trump’s property is especially noteworthy because he first rode to office boasting of his property wins. It’s also remarkable because that mainstay business also boomed last year. Trump took in tens of millions in fees from a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas that amounts to the biggest property expansion ever in the century since the family business was founded.

    Many of those countries were negotiating with the U.S. over tariffs, military aid and other important matters while the family business was striking the deals.

    A property in the United Arab Emirates generated $10.4 million for the Trump business last year. One in Saudi Arabia being built by a real estate developer close to the ruling family sent the president’s company $9 million. And one in Bucharest, Romania, and another in Qatar sent him $5 million each.

    One of his prominent domestic properties, Mar-a-Lago in Florida, notched big growth last year, too.

    Trump took in $77 million from the property, a 50% jump from the year earlier when he was just another citizen, as heads of state and business people flocked to it in his new term.

    The disclosure report doesn’t give profit figures, just revenue, so it’s impossible to know how much he is earning.

    Trump is now the billion dollar crypto man

    After taking office last year, Trump reversed the Biden administration’s tough stance on the crypto industry and pushed policies friendly to the industry.

    But regulators still had some concerns. Before Trump’s World Liberty began selling “governance tokens,” they issued warnings about this new kind of crypto asset, saying that unlike stocks, the tokens offer no ownership stake in the issuing company, just voting power on certain corporate polices, and are difficult to value.

    Buyers pounced anyway, including a Chinese billionaire who spent $75 million on the tokens and $200 million on the souvenir coins. In February last year, a federal lawsuit charging him with duping investors was paused before being settled for a $10 million fine.

    The billionaire, Justin Sun, has repeatedly denied his spending on Trump businesses had anything to do with his federal case, while World Liberty has dismissed the notion of a conflict of interest.

    Meanwhile, investors have seen the value of their Trump-tied holdings drop significantly.

    The price of World Liberty tokens has fallen 80% since they started trading in September. And the Trump souvenir coins that spiked to more than $74 in the days after launching in January 2025 now sell for $1.68.

    The White House says Trump only acts in the public interest

    The White House has repeatedly said Trump put his business in a trust managed by his sons and is not involved in its decisions and that there are no ethics issues to discuss.

    “Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. “All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people.”

    The Trump umbrella company, the Trump Organization, has said its deals overseas were with private companies, not with governments.

    Still, it is difficult to know what is truly private in countries ruled by authoritarians, royal families and one-party governments.

    For a new Trump resort in Vietnam, the report shows Trump took in $5 million last year after the ruling Communist Party sent its deputy prime minister to sign off on the deal and, according to The New York Times, pushed farmers off the land to make way for the construction.

    Whether the deals played any role in changing U.S. policies in ways these countries sought is nearly impossible to know but the countries did get what they wanted.

    Vietnam got tariff relief. Qatar got access to advanced U.S. technology previously off limits, and Saudi Arabia got U.S. fighter jets it had coveted for years.

    ___

    An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that the disclosure form was released Monday.


  • Guardians rookie OF Ingle loses track of outs, tosses ball into the stands to give Rangers lead


    CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookies are prone to mistakes. Cooper Ingle made a big one he may never forget.

    Cleveland’s left fielder lost track of the number of outs in the seventh inning and threw the ball into the stands, allowing the Texas Rangers to score the go-ahead run in a 4-2 victory over the Guardians on Tuesday night.

    “Obviously, I feel terrible,” Ingle said, his face flushed red on a warm, humid night. “It’s a pretty embarrassing feeling.”

    With a runner at second base and one out in the seventh, the 24-year-old Ingle, making just his second major league start as an outfielder, caught a routine fly ball hit by Rangers left fielder Alejandro Osuna off Cleveland starter Tanner Bibee for the second out.

    Thinking it was out No. 3, Ingle briefly glanced at the ball in his glove before throwing it over the protective netting to fans as a souvenir.

    The umpires immediately ruled the ball was dead and Osuna was awarded home plate.

    It wasn’t until then that Ingle realized his mistake and he walked back to his position in shocked disbelief. He was charged with an error.

    “Yeah, honestly when I threw the ball out, I heard a bunch of yelling,” Ingle said. “Happens sometimes, but just got to learn from it and not make the same mistake.”

    Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who has had to plug rookies into his starting lineup all season, offered his unwavering support to Ingle.

    “These things happen,” Vogt said. “Rookie. Non-rookie. It’s happened to Hall of Famers. They’ve done it. We’re going to keep learning. We’re going to keep getting better.”

    Vogt was proud of the way Ingle’s teammates quickly rallied around him following the bone-headed play.

    “It’s a mistake. Lost track of the outs. Pretty big spot,” he said. “We’ll learn from it and can’t control it once it happens. That’s why I was like, flush it. And I just want to give a credit to the dugout. Every one of his teammates, when he came back in, same messaging.”

    One of the first to talk to Ingle was Guardians catcher Austin Hedges, who told him to keep his chin up.

    “I’ve made so many mistakes,” Hedges said. “I can’t even remember half of them. I’ve embarrassed myself a billion times on the field. I mean, just check my offensive numbers for my career. It’s not super easy to go through that, but that’s the big leagues.”

    After his mistake, Ingle said he immediately apologized to Bibee (2-9), who battled Jacob deGrom for seven innings. Bibee’s response to his teammates was to try and make things right.

    “I just told him to go tie the game right back up,” Bibee said. “Obviously, we all make mistakes. Everyone in this locker room has made multiple mistakes in the big leagues, whether you’re (rookie) Khalil (Waston) or me or Hedgie. It’s tough.”

    Ingle was only brought up from Triple-A Columbus last week. He made his big-league debut on June 26 and got his first major league hit the next day, a two-run single against Seattle.

    After his fielding foible, Ingle came up in the bottom of the seventh and grounded out. He got another chance to avenge his gaffe in the ninth, but struck out looking for the game’s final out.

    What’s most important now is that he move forward.

    “Obviously learn from it and think about it,” he said. “It’s not something that makes you feel great, but things like that happen for a reason and learning from those things and moving on and getting better from them, it’s pretty much the only thing you can do.”

    Vogt said the mistake doesn’t affect his belief in Ingle.

    “We’re going to help him through it. That’s what we’re here for,” he said. “You’re playing in your second game in the outfield in the big leagues and a mistake like that. Let’s learn. So what? It’s over. Flush it. We’re not going to be mad at him.

    “We’re not going to hold it against him. He’s going to be right back out there the next time it’s his turn to play outfield. This was a mistake. This isn’t a judgment or anything like that, but we know how good of a player Coop is and we’re going to stick with him and we’re going to keep helping him.”

    ___

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


  • Mbappé scores twice to tie Messi for World Cup lead with 6 goals, France beats Sweden 3-0


    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Kylian Mbappé and France are sizzling — and not just because of MetLife Stadium’s broiling conditions.

    Mbappé had his third two-goal game of this World Cup and set a career scoring record for the tournament’s knockout rounds, leading Les Bleus over Sweden 3-0 on Tuesday to set up a round of 16 match against Paraguay.

    “I personally haven’t seen a better team,” Sweden coach Graham Potter said. “The quality they have all over the pitch and then the options for them off the bench are very, very strong, so they’ve got as good a chance as anybody, I would suggest.”

    France’s 27-year-old star scored the go-ahead goal with a brilliant crossover step in the 45th minute and added his sixth goal of the tournament in the 74th to tie Lionel Messi for the tournament scoring lead. He has 18 goals in 18 World Cup games, one behind the Argentine’s career scoring record of 19 in 29 matches.

    In between, Bradley Barcola had a 53rd-minute goal for France, which became the first nation to score three or more goals in five consecutive World Cup matches.

    “I’m very aware of who I am, how I play, what I shall do, but it’s not just about me,” Mbappé said through a translator. “The entire team is aware of what should be done. It is a new competition that has started today. We did play well, but we were timid. We could have done better at the beginning.”

    Mbappé’s 10 knockout round goals are two more than the previous high by Brazilian greats Leonidas and Ronaldo.

    France coach Didier Deschamps bowed when Mbappé came to the bench after he was substituted in the 85th minute.

    “We’re on a mission — so am I with them,” Deschamps said through a translator.

    France has outscored opponents 13-2. Michael Olise has five assists, the most in a World Cup since Germany’s Thomas Hassler had five in 1994.

    “They are skilled at knowing when to change the pace and increase it, when to possess the ball, went to fall back,” Sweden captain Victor Lindelöf said through a translator.

    Seeking to reach its third straight World Cup final, France plays Paraguay on July 4 in Philadelphia. The winner advances to a quarterfinal against Canada or Morocco five days later at Foxborough, Massachusetts.

    It was 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius), sunny and humid at the 5 p.m. kickoff with poor air quality at the site of the July 19 final. Many fans in the club areas stayed inside their air-conditioned suites.

    France outshot Sweden 25-7 in the first World Cup meeting between the nations, including 15-3 in the first half.

    Mbappé hit a post in the 32nd minute, raising both hands in disgust, and France nearly went ahead four minutes later on Olise’s spectacular bicycle kick from just inside the penalty area, which also clanked off a post.

    “I said I think we needed a couple of miracles. We had a couple, but we ran out of them,” Potter said. “So we needed a few more.”

    Mbappé scored after goalkeeper Jacob Widell Zetterström tipped Olise’s shot just outside the post.

    Olise played a short corner kick to Ousmane Dembélé, who passed to Mbappé near the byline. Mbappé took a crossover step to get around Viktor Gyökeres and from just outside the 6-yard box sent a diagonal shot inside the far post.

    Mbappé ran up the center of the field to celebrate, colliding with Dembélé, and jogged to the bench to hug Deschamps, who returned for the match after going to France for his mother’s funeral.

    “He knows that he will never be alone with us, and we will support him,” Mbappé said.

    Gustaf Lagerbielke lost the ball ahead of France’s second goal. Aurélien Tchouaméni passed to Olise, who nutmegged Lagerbielke, and Barcola took a centering touch and sent the ball past Zetterström’s outstretched right hand.

    Mbappé entertained the crowd with a backheel pass to Barcola in the buildup to France’s third goal, the 62nd of his international career. Barcola passed to Olise, who sent the ball forward as Mbappé sprinted into the penalty area, took a touch and fired the ball inside the far post.

    “We continue to deliver great performances,” Mbappé said.

    A crowd of 80,663 raised the record total for the expanded 104-match tournament above 5 million. A majority of fans wore France’s blue, with a pocket in Sweden’s yellow at one end.

    “I have no complaints to the players whatsoever. I said to them after the game I don’t think it’s a disgrace to lose to France,” Potter said. “For us it’s about using this as a foundation to go forward and to be proud of what we’ve done so far.”

    Speaking just after the final whistle, Mbappé wasn’t quite ready to turn his attention to Paraguay just yet.

    “I’m looking forward to the changing room and the AC,” he said.

    ___

    AP Sports Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this report.

    ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Abdul Ahad Momand, an Afghan air force pilot who served on the Mir space station, dies at 67


    KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan ’s first citizen in space, has died at age 67, his family and friends said.

    A national hero, Momand died from cancer on June 21 in a hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, where he had lived since leaving Afghanistan in 1992 during the civil war.

    “I am deeply saddened by the sudden death of Afghanistan’s first and only astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand,” former President Ashraf Ghani wrote on X. “I pray to God to grant Momand a high place in heaven, and I extend my deepest condolences to his wife, children, and other family members.”

    In 1988, Momand — then a 29‑year‑old air force pilot — was selected to join a Soviet space program designed to send representatives from aligned nations into orbit, at a time when Afghanistan was under Soviet control.

    After months of training, he flew aboard Soyuz TM‑6 with Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Polyakov, spending nine days in space and conducting scientific research on the Mir space station. His return aboard another spacecraft, the Soyuz TM‑5, was delayed by a day due to technical problems, leaving him and Lyakhov stranded in cramped conditions and at risk of being left without food and oxygen.

    An Associated Press report at the time noted that Momand, whose surname was then spelled Mohmand, highlighted his prior role in a joint Soviet‑Afghan military effort to end an insurgency in his homeland. The report cited him as saying he had flown hundreds of attack missions.

    Before launching, Momand told Sovietskaya Rossiya that his space mission would help identify Afghanistan’s mineral resources, assess hydroelectric potential and study glaciers and earthquake risks, according to the AP report.

    The AP said he addressed his fellow citizens in a televised message from orbit saying that violence cannot be seen from outer space.

    “I would like to believe that such will be the situation on the land inhabited by my brothers and sisters, on the land of our fathers and mothers who have suffered so much during the years of the war,” he was quoted as saying.

    He also carried and read from the Quran during his mission, which Ghani described as a moment that introduced Afghanistan to the world “with national colors and national words” and presented its Islamic identity to the cosmos.

    “His nine days on the Mir space station made Afghans forget the bitterness of the civil wars of 1988 and the rest of that decade,” Ghani added.

    Momand was born in Ghazni province’s Andar district, in southeastern Afghanistan. He trained in military academies in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.

    His death was met with sorrow in Afghanistan among people who remembered him as a hero.

    Zahir Ammar, a 35-year-old Jalalabad-based blogger on cosmology, paid tribute to Momand, emphasizing the historic significance of his mission for Afghanistan.

    “Abdul Ahad Momand is the first Afghan astronaut in the entire scientific history of the country to go into space, he took the Holy Quran with him into space and added Pashto to the list of languages spoken in space,” he wrote.

    “Now, astronauts’ trips to (international space stations) have become commonplace, but during the time of the late Abdul Ahad Momand, this was a great achievement for Afghanistan,” he said.

    Ammar also expresses regret that Momand died in exile, wishing he could have shared his experiences with the younger generation in Afghanistan.

    Funeral and memorial arrangements were not announced. Momand is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son.

    ___

    Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.


  • Shohei Ohtani skipping pitching start Wednesday against Athletics to get extra rest


    WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani will skip his scheduled pitching start Wednesday against the Athletics to get some extra rest, manager Dave Roberts said.

    The Dodgers are in the midst of playing 13 games in 13 days, and Roberts wanted to make sure that the Japanese sensation got a break. Ohtani is slated to pitch in San Diego on Friday.

    “If there’s any opportunity to give him some extra rest, we’re going to try to take advantage of it,” Roberts said. “So pushing him to Friday allows us to have him still take two starts before the break and get on two division opponents. In that vein, there’s just no downside. This made too much sense.”

    Ohtani is 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA in 13 starts this season. The four-time MVP has 82 strikeouts and 24 walks in 79 2/3 innings this season.

    Roberts indicated that Ohtani will be the Dodgers designated hitter for the series finale against the A’s on Wednesday.

    “It’s mostly schedule-driven,” Roberts said. “We talked to Shohei and he was agreeing to whatever we felt, knowing it’s best for him. There’s no downside with him losing starts, get more rest. That was the whole driver.”

    Roberts said the Dodgers will go with a bullpen game in Ohtani’s absence on Wednesday.

    ___

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


  • Hawaii displays historic photos of Martin Luther King Jr. wearing flower lei during Selma march


    HONOLULU (AP) — Photographs of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. adorned with flower lei from Hawaii residents who traveled to Selma, Alabama, to join him on a pivotal Civil Rights march went on public display Tuesday in the state Capitol in Honolulu.

    The Selma-to-Montgomery marches galvanized passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with most barriers such as poll taxes and other forms of voter discrimination targeting Black Americans in the Deep South.

    A delegation of five people brought dozens of flower lei with them from Hawaii to Alabama in March 1965. Images of King wearing lei, garlands that are synonymous with Hawaiian culture, have been previously published — but most of the photos displayed in Hawaii’s new exhibit have never been seen before. Some photos have subtle variations, while others include figures who may have been deemed unimportant at the time. The exhibit runs through July 7.

    One of the lei-bearers was Charles Campbell, a high school teacher and chairman of the Hawaii Civil Rights Conference, who a March 20, 1965 article in The Honolulu Advertiser quoted as saying: “Selma has the capability of becoming a real sore that could affect the entire nation.”

    King was photographed wearing lei about two weeks after the event known as Bloody Sunday when state troopers violently attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965.

    The photos were taken by Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, whose widow donated them to Hawaii’s Department of Accounting and General Services for the state’s archives.

    After the photos were unveiled, Steven Springel stared at a photo of his mother, Nona Ferdon, who was a divorced mother of two children and a graduate student when she traveled to Selma.

    Springel remembers he was just about to turn 7 and only realized as an adult how important her trip was. Growing up in Hawaii, “we never experienced segregation or racial inequality,” he said of his and his sister’s childhood. Ferdon died in 2021.

    The exhibit, part of Hawaii’s programming to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, is a reminder people from the Aloha State participated in an important event in history, said Keith Regan, who oversees the department as the state’s comptroller and presided over the photo unveiling as acting governor while Gov. Josh Green is out of state.

    The small delegation traveled thousands of miles “to be a part of the Civil Rights movement, to show ‘aloha’ to the world that Hawaii was there holding hands with our fellow brothers and sisters to ensure equality and justice were heard throughout the nation,” he said.

    The Hawaii members also wore lei during first day of the 50-mile (80.46-kilometer) march. Mothers of Kawaiahaʻo Church in Honolulu strung together fragrant plumeria plucked from church grounds to assemble the lei.

    Giving lei, a word that is both singular and plural in the Hawaiian language, continues to be a way to share the “aloha” spirit. People in Hawaii give and receive lei for all kinds of reasons, including to celebrate birthdays and promotions, or to show appreciation or recognition.

    Tomi Knaefler, who had traveled with the delegation as a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, planned to attend Tuesday’s news conference. But at 96 years old, she wasn’t feeling up to it, said her daughter, Pamela MacDonald, who did attend.

    MacDonald said she was 14 when her mother went on the assignment, “the one that she holds dearest to her heart.”

    The exhibit comes at the end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2026 term, which included a ruling gutting the remaining piece of the Voting Rights Act, setting off a wave of partisan gerrymandering in states in the South and endangering generations of gains in Black political representation.

    ___

    This version corrects that the number of people in the Hawaii delegation was five, not four.


  • Los Angeles medical examiner says former child actor Daveigh Chase died of AIDS


    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former child actor Daveigh Chase’s death on June 16 was due to AIDS, the office of the County of Los Angeles Medical Examiner reported.

    The cause of death for Chase, 35, was acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, according to online medical examiner records from this week that listed her last name as Schwallier. “Chronic polysubstance abuse” was listed under “other significant conditions.”

    Chase was known for voicing the lead role of Lilo in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and her performance in the 2002 horror film “The Ring.”

    After her death in a Los Angeles hospital, her father John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times that she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. She was homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend, he said.

    Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier told the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.

    In a text message to The Associated Press on Tuesday about AIDS being the cause of death, her father said, “I know with her lifestyle that was probably the conclusion so I’m not surprised.”

    Calling her death tragic, he added, “It would’ve been nice for all of you to find her and try and help her that would’ve been a nicer story than this.”

    Chase auditioned for Lilo at age 8. For her role as the long-haired Samara in “The Ring,” she won an MTV Movie Award for best villain.

    Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to her profile page on the internet movie database IMDb.com.

    She was born in Las Vegas and raised in the small town of Albany, Oregon. She began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.


  • World Cup what to know: US looks to win first knockout match in 24 years against Bosnia-Herzegovina


    The United States national team has grown tired of hearing about its traditional shortcomings in World Cup knockout matches.

    The Americans will look to change that narrative on Wednesday as they attempt to win their first World Cup elimination game in 24 years when they face Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, California.

    The Americans last, and only, knockout win came on June 17, 2002, when they defeated Mexico 2-0 in the round of 16 in South Korea.

    The good news for the Americans is they should have a healthy Christian Pulisic after the star missed the second game with a calf injury and played only 33 minutes as a sub in the final group match against Turkey.

    “I feel good and ready to go for tomorrow,” Pulisic said.

    The U.S. will once again play a knockout round match at a home World Cup in the San Francisco Bay area. The 1994 team made it out of group stage and faced Brazil at Stanford Stadium — less than 15 miles away from the site of this year’s game in Santa Clara — only to lose 1-0 to the eventual champions.

    Since that round of 16 win over Mexico in 2002, the U.S. is 0-3 at that stage but are favored to advance against Bosnia, according to oddsmakers.

    “We understand what it means, you win or you go home. There definitely needs to be a lot of focus and attention detail this week,” Pulisic said. “But I think the vibe feels good. We’ve still kept it light and we still are going to be ready to battle once the whistle blows.”

    The U.S. has one win in 21 games against European teams with seven draws and 13 losses since making it back to the World Cup in 1990 for the first time in 40 years.

    England will face Congo and Belgium will play Senegal in the other elimination games on Wednesday.

    The round of 32 continues on Thursday with Spain playing Austria, Portugal taking on Croatia and Switzerland facing Algeria, and then concludes on Friday with Australia up against Egypt, Cape Verde playing Argentina and Colombia facing Ghana.

    The eound of 16 begins on Saturday.

    What to watch on June 30

    — England vs. Congo, noon EDT in Atlanta (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

    — Belgium vs. Senegal, 4 p.m. EDT in Seattle (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

    — United States vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina, 8 p.m. EDT in Santa Clara, California (Fox/Telemundo/Peacock)

    England battling mounting injuries entering round of 32

    Injuries are mounting for England, which is missing its first- and second-choice right backs for the round of 32 game against Congo.

    Reece James is out with a hamstring injury and backup Jarrell Quansah twisted his ankle in England’s 2-0 win over Panama on Saturday.

    It could see Djed Spence move over from the left to cover, but coach Thomas Tuchel is confident James and Quansah will both soon return — so long as England can advance beyond Congo.

    “They’re getting closer and closer,” Tuchel said. “The race was close even to make it into my squad this time. So we need to make sure that we have more matches. That is the main focus, and then that will be very soon.”

    Congo is playing in the knockout round of the World Cup for the first time. It already held Portugal to a 1-1 draw in the group stage and beat Uzbekistan to advance.

    “It is true we are looking at a difficult match, but in no way insurmountable. We have proven this against teams that were supposed to be superior to us, that we could actually put in a good performance,” Congo coach Sébastien Desabre said. “So we are focusing on our strengths, we are walking our path and once you get to this point in the competition, it’s difficult for everyone.”

    Bukayo Saka, who came into the tournament carrying an injury, is fit to start, Tuchel said.

    US coach Mauricio Pochettino apologizes for curt tone to media after loss

    U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino opened his news conference on Tuesday by asking the media to forgive him for his curt tone following the U.S. team’s 3-2 loss to Turkey.

    The loss came after the U.S. had clinched the top spot in the group.

    “I want to apologize to the guys that were in my last press conference,” Pochettino said. “I was so frustrated. I was disappointed. I thank you and am sorry. It was my problem, not your problem. I was upset after the defeat.”

    Pochettino called out the media in the post-match news conference last week for not praising him and his team for having already won the group before the loss to Turkey.

    “For you not say congratulations that we won the group, that is a little bit sad,” Pochettino told reporters after the game.

    Belgium looks to return to 2018 glory when it faces Senegal

    By advancing to the knockout round atop Group G, Belgium has already improved upon its woeful performance at the World Cup four years ago.

    After a historic third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Belgium did not advance past the group stage in Qatar. With its 5-1 victory over New Zealand on Friday night, Belgium has already achieved what coach Rudi Garcia expected at the bare minimum from his team.

    Ahead of Wednesday’s knockout round match against Senegal, Garcia expressed satisfaction, as well as desire for more. Belgium won one game and played to two draws in group play.

    “We wanted to finish first in the group stage and we succeeded,” Garcia said in French. “Of course we wanted to win more — we know the story of our World Cup so far. Now it is time for the knockout phase. Senegal is a big team. But, you have to beat them, too, if you want to go far in a World Cup.”

    More World Cup news

    — France forward Kylian Mbappé scores his 17th and 18th World Cup goals, one back of Lionel Messi

    — Haaland scores deciding goal as Norway wins its 1st World Cup knockout game, beating Ivory Coast 2-1

    — Netherlands coach Koeman resigns after penalty shootout loss marked team’s quickest World Cup exit

    — Iran heads home after a heartbreaking World Cup knockout, but fans say players should be proud

    — False hope and schadenfreude: Familiar feelings for Germany after another World Cup flop

    — World Cup in photos, Day 20

    Stat of the day

    — Prior to Monday’s loss to Paraguay on penalty kicks, Germany had been 17 for 18 in World Cup shootouts and had converted 15 in a row. In the 1982 semifinals, Uli Stielike was blocked by France goalkeeper Jean-Luc Ettore with Germany’s third shot. But Germany made its next three and won 5-4. Germany was 4-for-4 in the 1986 quarterfinals against Mexico, 4-for-4 in the 1990 semifinals against England, and 4-for-4 in the 2006 quarterfinals against Argentina — winning all of those contests.

    ___

    AP Sports Writers Josh Dubow, James Dobson and Andrew Destin contributed to this report. ___

    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Judges strike down Trump administration’s overhaul of student loan forgiveness program


    WASHINGTON (AP) — A pair of federal judges struck down a Trump administration overhaul to a public service forgiveness program for student loans, ruling Tuesday in separate cases in favor of advocates who said the program risked becoming a tool for political retribution.

    U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Massachusetts vacated the U.S. Education Department’s changes, saying they overstepped the agency’s power and threatened to violate First Amendment protections for free speech. The ruling came in response to a pair of lawsuits filed by more than 20 states along with a coalition of nonprofit groups and cities.

    In Washington, D.C., District Judge Amir Ali in Washington issued a similar ruling in a case brought by nonprofit organizations. The rulings came a day before the new rules were set to take effect.

    Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the department was evaluating next steps.

    “The Department stands behind this commonsense policy to ensure that taxpayer dollars are never used to subsidize illegal activities,” Kent said in a written statement.

    Congress created Public Service Loan Forgiveness in 2007 to encourage college graduates to work in government and nonprofit jobs. It promised to forgive their federal student loans after they worked in public service jobs for 10 years.

    Last year, the Trump administration moved to add new eligibility rules that would strip the benefit from workers whose employers are deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose.”

    The overhaul targeted nonprofits and government organizations that support causes at odds with the Trump administration’s priorities.

    It gave the education secretary power to exclude groups from the program if they engage in the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration or supporting terrorist organizations. Its definition of “chemical castration” included using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty.

    The overhaul amounted to a major reworking of a program that has canceled loans for more than 1 million Americans. Nonprofits and government groups said it undercut an important benefit that helped attract college graduates to jobs that traditionally pay less than the private sector.

    “This decision is a win for the communities that depend on local nonprofits and for the workers who serve them,” said Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, one of the plaintiffs in the Massachusetts case.

    One of the plaintiffs in the Washington case, Student Defense, said the judge’s ruling is a victory for student loan borrowers.

    “Public servants should not have to worry that the federal government will punish them because of their employer’s mission or perceived political views,” said Aaron Ament, Student Defense’s president.

    Joun said the new rules threatened to impose the administration’s policy views on employers. The judge also faulted the department for failing to connect its definitions of illegal activity to criminal statutes.

    “The Department cannot create new criminal prohibitions through rulemaking,” he wrote.

    The judge also questioned the department’s stated rationale for proposing the new rules, drawing on its own estimates that fewer than 10 employers would be barred from the program per year.

    “The Department offers no explanation for why a Final Rule with such sweeping consequences is necessary to address the possibility that, at most, ten employers each year may be engaging in illegal activity,” Joun wrote.

    In his ruling, Joun noted that more than 100 supporting briefs were filed on behalf of the groups challenging the rules, while none were filed in support of the Trump administration’s change.

    ___

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.


  • OpenAI film ‘Artificial,’ dropped by Amazon, finds a new home with Neon


    NEW YORK (AP) — “Artificial,” Luca Guadagnino’s starry film about Sam Altman and OpenAI, has been acquired by the indie distributor Neon after it was dropped by Amazon MGM Studios.

    Neon said Tuesday that it bought the film following a bidding process. Amazon dropped the nearly complete $40 million film, starring Andrew Garfield as Altman, earlier this month, a surprise move that came just months after Amazon announced a $50 billion investment in OpenAI.

    Amazon said then that “Artificial” would “be better served if it were released by a different studio.”

    Neon said Tuesday that it will release “Artificial” this year and “compete in this year’s Oscar race.” The film, which chronicles the days leading up to the 2023 firing and reinstatement of Altman as OpenAI chief executive, also stars Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov and Academy Award winner Mark Rylance. Ike Barinholtz plays Elon Musk.

    In late February, Amazon signed an expansive multiyear partnership with the artificial intelligence startup. Then earlier this month, Amazon MGM said it would put the film up for sale to find it a new home.

    Neon has established an enviable awards-season track record with Oscar winners like “Parasite” and “Anora.” The specialty label has backed the last seven Palme d’Or winners at the Cannes Film Festival. The studio declined to disclose how much it paid for the worldwide rights to “Artificial.”

    “The acquisition underscores Neon’s commitment to partnering with visionary filmmakers, and bringing ambitious cinema to audiences around the world,” the studio said in a statement.