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  • US riding wave of confidence to World Cup knockout rounds after strong start to home tournament


    IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — U.S. captain Tim Ream says his teammates all recognize the golden opportunity in front of them to make their nation’s best World Cup run in their home tournament over the following days — and hopefully weeks.

    Yet instead of feeling amplified pressure under the raised expectations created by their strong group round and a groundswell of national support, these Americans appeared to be energized by the opportunity to make history as they broke camp Monday at their training base in Orange County.

    “Would it be weird if I told you I don’t really feel too much pressure at this minute?” Ream said with a grin.

    “I think we felt more pressure for that first game against Paraguay than anything, and that’s coming from ourselves, not from anything on the outside,” Ream added, referring to the Americans’ impressive 4-1 win in their World Cup opener on June 12. “We just have to put in a performance the way we have in the group stage, and then we see where that takes us.”

    The U.S. faces Bosnia-Herzegovina in the round of 32 in Santa Clara, California, on Wednesday night. The Americans are significantly favored — which is sort of an achievement in itself, given that this team has won exactly one knockout-round match in its entire World Cup history.

    But these Americans are on the international stage with more optimism and likely more talent than nearly all previous editions of this team. Whether that translates into a deep run is still to be decided, but the Americans’ confidence and excitement is undeniable.

    “The game is going to be about us and what we’re prepared to do, and what we have to do to advance,” U.S. striker Folarin Balogun said. “It’s crunch time. This is the business end, and this is the stage where, in my opinion, the big players step forward and the big players carry the pressure and make things happen.”

    Although the Americans reached the semifinals at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 by winning their group, their only knockout victory came at the 2002 tournament when they beat Mexico in the round of 16.

    Tim Ream says the US team felt more pressure at the last World Cup in Qatar

    The 38-year-old Ream believes the Americans felt more pressure four years ago in Qatar, when they muddled through group play before getting blasted 3-1 by the Netherlands in the first knockout round.

    Those Americans weren’t led by accomplished Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino, who has made strong tactical advancements and clearly instilled many of his players with a new kind of confidence after previous U.S. cycles were spent under more parochial coaching.

    They also didn’t have Balogun, the elite goal-scorer who made a major impact on the Americans’ victories over Paraguay and Australia by a combined 6-1, clinching their group in style and rendering their third match meaningless.

    Folarin Balogun taking in American culture during the World Cup

    Balogun’s impact is undeniable on the field, but the Brooklyn-born, London-raised forward is also a focal point away from the field. This World Cup cycle has been his first significant exposure to U.S. culture, and that’s an endless source of amusement and insight for his teammates.

    “He says America is a simulation quite often,” defender Mark McKenzie said with a laugh. “We’ll be driving down the road and he’ll see something and be like, ‘What is that? Why is an individual dressed like that, or why are they throwing a sign up in the air on the corner? What is Bojangles?’ It’s stuff like that, where he’s like, ‘Bro! America! What is going on?’”

    Many of the top Americans now play their club soccer internationally — another obvious factor in this team’s improved competitiveness in this World Cup. Defender Chris Richards, an Alabama native who plays in London for Crystal Palace, says his team is more mature and more tested than most previous editions of the U.S. roster because of its experience at all levels of the sport.

    And count Richards among those who find Balogun’s culture shock to be a hilarious distraction during the down time on international breaks and this World Cup cycle.

    “I think (Balogun) still has this notion that he says Americans aren’t real,” Richards said. “There’s some stuff that we do that doesn’t fly back in London. It’s a lot to learn and especially when you’re only here for a few weeks at a time. It’s been cool (for Balogun) being able to see different pockets of America.”

    Cristian Roldan and Auston Trusty do modified training ahead of round of 32

    NOTES: Injured players Cristian Roldan (quadriceps strain) and Auston Trusty (ankle) did modified training while their teammates went through a full workout Monday, but McKenzie (foot irritation) remained sidelined for a second straight day. Roldan hasn’t played at this World Cup, while Trusty scored in the Americans’ 3-2 loss to Turkey before he rolled his ankle late in the match. Roldan was on the field doing drills for the second straight day. McKenzie is getting treatment away from practice. None of the three injured Americans was expected to play a major role in the knockout rounds.

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Sweltering Midwest heat cancels outdoor plans as cooling centers open and the East braces


    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Summer camps and other outdoor activities were canceled Monday as tens of millions of people across the Midwest endured a heat wave that is expected to spread eastward this week. Communities opened cooling centers and urged people to take it easy and stay hydrated.

    Forty-seven million people across big chunks of the Midwest and parts of the Ohio Valley are under an extreme heat warning through at least Tuesday. Temperatures are forecast to reach the 90s, with heat index values, or “feels-like” temperatures, expected to top 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) in the region, according to the National Weather Service.

    Visiting Des Moines with family, Rachel Washburn searched for things to do with kids during a heat wave. They landed at a water sprayground before lunch Monday, where her children played tag in the cool water.

    “My kids were quite shocked at the heat and humidity,” said Washburn of her seven children ages 18 months to 17 who had been used to more temperate weather farther north in Bemidji, Minnesota. “We were hoping for some good weather, but we’ll make do.”

    About 56 million Americans are under an extreme heat watch as hot and humid weather is expected to move farther east later in the week, with some of the worst conditions expected by Thursday and Friday in the Ohio Valley, the Mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast. Some areas could experience record-high temperatures, said Scott Kleebauer, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

    On Monday, cities and event planners were already announcing adjustments for or calling off events later in the week, including a farmer’s market scheduled for Tuesday in DeWitt, Michigan; a movie screening Wednesday in Fairfield, Ohio; and Thursday’s food truck festival in Warwick, New York.

    The heat wave will also likely coincide with the Fourth of July holiday weekend, providing additional risk as more people have cookouts or watch fireworks outside for the 250th anniversary of American independence.

    Kleebauer said the center recommends people stay hydrated and ensure access to shady areas and air conditioning.

    Emergency workers were out in Nashville on Monday to offer water and check on people during the hottest time of the day.

    Mike Russell, a captain at the Nashville Office of Emergency Management, said he saw many empty areas where people typically sleep outside, which he said was a good sign that they found someplace cool to escape the heat for a while.

    Logan King, 29, brought a cart to fill up on cold water and snacks when the emergency workers came out to a patch of woods behind a Walmart where he and others sleep outside. The trees where people have pitched tents offer some cover from the direct sun, but not much relief.

    “It’s just miserable honestly, but this helps so much,” King said. “Even with the shade and a tent … it gets hot.”

    Extreme heat has also taken its toll in Europe, where temperature records were set and many heat-related deaths were reported in France.

    People can be caught off guard by the first heat wave of the year, said Dr. Roy Elrod, chief of staff at DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital.

    “You’re happy winter’s gone, you’re ready to enjoy the summer, you’ve just been aching for it,” Elrod said. “And so, I think we slip into kind of a position where we think it’s got to be OK.”

    Heat-related injuries can happen in a matter of minutes, he said, especially to those who don’t prepare for the weather by hydrating, wearing light clothing, avoiding the hottest times of the day and minimizing exposure to the sun.

    The University of Wisconsin-Madison said it was closing 23 buildings to the public starting Tuesday, allowing only limited access to 11 others. It was relocating some summer classes after a broken water line at its cooling plant earlier this month severely reduced the ability to provide air conditioning across campus.

    Temperatures approaching 90 degrees and high humidity didn’t stop Toni Kreutzer, 28, from taking a walk Monday along the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin, with her 13-year-old dog Chester.

    “I like it hot,” Kreutzer said. “I just don’t like the humidity.”

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    McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press reporters Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, Kristin M. Hall in Nashville and Haya Panjwani in Washington, D.C., contributed.


  • A marriage proposal and Bad Bunny steal attention from Novak Djokovic’s opening Wimbledon match


    LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic witnessed a marriage proposal in the crowd at Centre Court during his Wimbledon first-round match Monday and was quick to ask for an invitation to the wedding.

    After Djokovic won the first set against Wu Yibing of China, one man in the crowd took the opportunity to pop the question to his girlfriend.

    The seven-time Wimbledon champion clearly took notice, coming back out on court and making a heart gesture and then two thumbs up toward the couple before shouting out: “I want an invitation to the wedding.”

    If he gets one, he could bring a pretty decent wedding singer along.

    Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny was in the player’s box on Centre Court, two days after Djokovic appeared on stage during the artist’s concert in London.

    Bad Bunny has experience with weddings — there was a real one performed during his Super Bowl halftime show this year.

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


  • A rare dinosaur fossil from Antarctica is found tucked away in a drawer


    NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have stumbled on a rare dinosaur fossil from Antarctica, tucked away for decades in a drawer.

    The bone comes from the tail of a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur called a titanosaur. Scientists haven’t yet identified the species it belongs to.

    It was discovered in 1985 during an expedition to Antarctica’s James Ross Island and collected by geologist Mike Thomson. Working with the British Antarctic Survey, Thomson was mapping the area’s rock layers and collected marine reptile fossils to help with future dating efforts. He recorded the find as a large reptile.

    Decades later, paleontologist Mark Evans spotted the bone in the British Antarctic Survey’s collections and wondered whether it might be a dinosaur. He and other researchers analyzed the shape of the bone and compared it to other more complete dinosaur remains, confirming their discovery. The findings were published on Monday in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

    Dinosaur fossils are rare to find in Antarctica because of the unforgiving ice caps. But millions of years ago, when this dinosaur lived, the region was populated by lush forests — a “rather different and much more hospitable place than we think of today,” said study co-author Paul Barrett with the Natural History Museum in London.

    At about 23 feet (7 meters) long, the dinosaur was small for its group and may have been young when it died. Scientists don’t know how the creature met its end, but they think its body floated away from the coast and sank to the sea floor, becoming fossilized in marine rock.

    Technology has come a long way since the dinosaur tail bone was first found, allowing researchers to peer inside bones and gain even more detailed information about ancient creatures. Thomson died in 2020 before the fossil was identified as belonging to a dinosaur.

    “If he were still with us, he would be delighted to know what this was,” Evans, a study co-author, said.

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    An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified paleontologist Mark Evans as Mike Evans in one reference.

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    AP video producer Havovi Todd in London contributed to this report.

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


  • Supreme Court ruling gives a reprieve to states with grace periods for receiving mail ballots


    States that allow mail ballots to be counted after Election Day reacted with relief Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Republican effort to outlaw the practice.

    A decision favoring the state of Mississippi over the Republican National Committee delivered an immediate reprieve to the 14 states with grace periods for regular mail ballots, as well as heading off what was expected to be a scramble to alter the practice and inform voters just months ahead of the midterm elections.

    At least one state, Ohio, had preemptively changed its law in anticipation of a different result from the high court, and 15 other states have such grace periods specifically for military and overseas voters.

    Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said the ruling means “the thousands of voters whose ballots are postmarked on time but received after Election Day still have their voices heard.”

    Mail ballots, also called absentee ballots, have been the source of conspiracy theories from President Donald Trump, who groundlessly blames them for his loss in the 2020 election. The RNC and Libertarian Party had sued to overturn a Mississippi law that permits the counting of mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive up to five days later, on grounds that it violated federal law.

    Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee, wrote for the majority that the practice is legal.

    “Nothing in the federal election-day statutes requires ballots to be received by Election Day,” she wrote, adding that the court considered that very narrow question without wading into more sweeping declarations about absentee voting in general or the authority of Congress versus states over election law.

    In Illinois, where mail-in ballots accounted for up to a quarter of this year’s primary vote, the state elections board had budgeted $300,000 for a television and radio ad campaign to educate voters about potential changes to the mail ballot deadline. Spokesman Matt Dietrich said that campaign will be called off after the court’s ruling. Illinois allows mail ballots to be counted if they are postmarked by Election Day and received within 14 days.

    “Anytime you have a change in the administration of elections that affects voters, it is a big challenge to us to make sure that voters understand what that change is,” he said.

    California, which has a seven-day grace period, has been a regular target of Trump and other Republicans who criticize the state’s slow-counting of late-arriving ballots and have used the gap to spread conspiracy theories about voter fraud.

    California Secretary of State Shirley Weber called Monday’s ruling “a win for voters, for the rule of law, and for the future of our democracy.”

    Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson called the decision a victory for states’ rights, including the ability to set election rules as long as they don’t conflict with federal law.

    In addition to California, Illinois and Mississippi, the other states that count regular mail ballots received after Election Day are Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.

    Data shows that mail ballots are popular options across all 50 states for both Republican and Democratic voters.

    Although the RNC was party to the case and not the Trump administration itself, national party committees of a sitting president’s party typically operate in concert with the president’s political strategies. Trump also has effectively taken over operations of the RNC, the GOP’s main fundraising and political operation.

    Calling Monday’s ruling “a tremendous loss,” Trump used it as a way to push his sweeping election law bill that has stalled on Capitol Hill despite Republican control in both chambers of Congress.

    In a Truth Social post, the president declared it “more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” his name for legislation that would require voters nationally to document their U.S. citizenship to register to vote, show certain photo identification to cast ballots and limit who can vote with a mail ballot. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters issued a statement aligning with Trump, saying Monday’s ruling was justification to pass the congressional proposal.

    Lower federal courts have issued rulings blocking the Trump administration’s efforts to impose new restrictions on mail ballots and to create a national voter list, among other proposed changes. Judges in those cases have consistently said the Constitution vests authority for setting election rules with Congress and the states, not the president.

    While Barrett framed Monday’s opinion on the narrower question of the mail ballot deadline, the decision could bolster hopes among Democrats that the high court will look skeptically on the president’s assertion of power over elections if other cases land before it.

    Massachusetts Secretary of State Bill Galvin said he was relieved because the ruling was a potential sign that other cases could go Democrats’ way. But he accused the president and RNC of trying to disenfranchise voters and said he was alarmed by the narrow 5-4 decision in the case.

    “What’s troubling was that so many of the other justices were willing to sacrifice the rights of voters,” said Galvin, a Democrat.

    Perhaps nowhere was the case being watched more closely than Alaska, where Native and rural communities dotted across a vast landscape rely on the state’s grace period to ensure their ballots get counted. Planes are often the only way ballots can get from polling locations to counting locations.

    Jacqueline De León, a senior staff attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, was among the attorneys who filed a brief with the Supreme Court on behalf of Alaska Native and Native American groups. The brief highlighted the challenges they face, in particular where many communities are accessible only by air or water and rely on air service for mail.

    “For many Native communities, voting by mail is shaped by long distances to election offices, no home mail delivery, unreliable postal service, lack of access to transportation, and the realities of living in rural and remote areas,” she said. “Ballots cast by election deadlines should not be discarded simply because substandard service or weather delays cause them to arrive after Election Day.”

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    Associated Press writers Bill Barrow and Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Becky Bohrer in Juneau, Alaska, John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, Josh Kelety in Phoenix, Ali Swenson in New York and graphic artist Kevin Vineys in Washington contributed to this report.


  • Authorities end a takeover at a North Carolina jail hours after inmates overpowered the guards


    WINDSOR, N.C. (AP) — Inmates overpowered correctional staff and took over parts of a jail in eastern North Carolina early Monday, but the siege ended hours later when law enforcement officers entered the facility and seized control.

    Three guards and 88 inmates were inside the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center in Windsor when the takeover began at about 5 a.m., prompting an immediate response from local, state and federal authorities, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said in a statement posted on social media.

    By early afternoon, the Bureau of Investigation and the FBI had “cleared the facility,” the state bureau said in a statement. ”All inmates and staff are safe and accounted for, and those who sustained injuries have received treatment.”

    The facility will remain secured while the damage is assessed, and inmates have been transferred to other facilities, the Bureau of Investigation said. Windsor is about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of Raleigh.

    Inmates took two guards captive and the third guard escaped. Negotiations led to the release of the two guards along with 80 inmates, leaving only eight inmates inside, Bertie County Sheriff Tyrone Ruffin said at a news conference.

    Ruffin said the two guards who were released are undergoing medical treatment but he had no details about their injuries.

    There was no threat to the general public, Ruffin said in a statement.

    Authorities have not addressed why there were only three guards overseeing the jail at the time of the takeover.

    Ruffin did not indicate what caused the takeover.

    “Right now we have a lot going on that we’re trying to get under control,” he said. “I will release that information to the public as soon as I can.”


  • New Mexico governor says state could seek billions after DEA let fentanyl hit streets


    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor said Monday that state officials could pursue billions of dollars in civil damages after revelations that U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents repeatedly allowed shipments of fentanyl to flow into drug-plagued communities as investigators sought to build bigger cases.

    Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham vowed to take her outrage “right to the White House and Congress” to seek assurances the DEA is no longer using the risky law enforcement strategy in New Mexico — and that it is not being replicated elsewhere. Overdoses have surged in New Mexico, even as fentanyl deaths declined in other states.

    “This is a stunning failure by the federal government,” the governor told reporters at a news conference in the state medical examiner’s office in Albuquerque, joining a host of state and local law enforcers and officials demanding answers. “It’s disgusting and despicable.”

    The White House and DEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Lujan Grisham’s remarks came a week after The Associated Press reported that DEA agents repeatedly monitored — but did not seize — shipments of fentanyl as part of an effort to build bigger criminal cases between 2023 and 2025.

    Current and former DEA agents, including whistleblower David Howell, told AP the strategy amounted to a gamble with public safety and may have violated U.S. Justice Department rules intended to safeguard the public.

    The DEA initially denied Howell’s allegations in a statement to AP. But the agency later called upon the Justice Department’s independent watchdog to conduct its own investigation.

    The fentanyl went unseized amid the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history and as the DEA led a public awareness campaign — “One Pill Can Kill” — emphasizing that even a few milligrams of the substance can be lethal.

    New Mexico has responded swiftly to the revelations. Last week, the state’s attorney general announced a criminal investigation to determine whether any federal officials broke state law by knowingly exposing New Mexico residents to the synthetic opioid.

    “We’re going to protect the rest of the United States from this kind of foul, ‘I need a big case’ effort no matter what the consequences,” Lujan Grisham said. “We’re angry because it’s immoral.”

    Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said fentanyl represents his city’s “No. 1 challenge,” driving crime and homelessness and straining health care resources.

    “Using us in some sort of uninformed, undisciplined experiment that’s literally killing our people — that’s what this is,” he said. “This should outrage every single New Mexican.”

    Trump last week shared a link on his Truth Social page to an article attributing the scandal to the “Biden-run Justice Department.” In a statement to AP last week, the Justice Department similarly said “the alleged conduct occurred under the Biden Administration’s disastrous open border policies.”

    Howell first came forward during the Biden administration in 2023 — and was sidelined for doing so — but he continued to flag unseized fentanyl shipments as recently as last year, and the largest he documented happened two months into Trump’s second term, a 1.8-million pill haul DEA learned about but did not intercept in March 2025.

    Lujan Grisham has criticized both administrations as not doing enough to stem the tide of fentanyl in New Mexico, and pointed to the death last year of a 15-month-old girl who reportedly swallowed some of her mother’s drugs in Española, a town ravaged by grinding poverty and addiction.

    It is not clear whether any fatal overdoses in the state can be directly attributed to the DEA strategy. While overdose deaths nationwide fell 14% last year, government data show New Mexico tallied a 21% spike.

    “Somebody must pay for the damage to the state, the public safety risks that will be shared by everyone here for a decade or more, and pay to try to right the wrongs and put people’s lives back together,” she said.

    Lujan Grisham, who will leave office at year’s end after two terms as governor, said the worst part of being an elected leader is having to face the victims of what she called “senseless” devastation and loss.

    “There are no words that can take away that pain,” she said, adding their experiences cannot be dismissed by politics as usual. “Whatever we can do to prevent the next loss for the next family, is the work that we’re all collectively doing.”

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    Mustian and Goodman reported from Miami.


  • Liberty and Aces chase history in Commissioner’s Cup final, with a 2nd title at stake


    NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty or Las Vegas Aces will make history on Tuesday in the Commissioner’s Cup championship as the winner will become the first franchise to win the in-season tournament twice.

    There have been five different winners in the five years of the tournament. Las Vegas was victorious in 2022 and the Liberty beat the Aces the next season on the road.

    Amazon Prime will broadcast the game and analyst Swin Cash feels that New York’s win over Las Vegas three years ago will help both sides.

    “If I’m (Breanna Stewart), we went to Vegas and won it in Vegas, we can’t take this lightly,” she said. “They can do the same thing to us. If you’re a leader of the team I would be using that. I wouldn’t want someone coming on our home floor and be able to do that.”

    New York will host the game on Tuesday, coming off a West Coast road trip that saw the team drop its last two games to Seattle and Golden State. The Liberty beat Las Vegas last Tuesday.

    “The toughest part is that we fly cross-country (Monday) and have to play the next day,” Liberty star Breanna Stewart said after a loss to the Valkyries on Sunday. “But we’re very familiar with Vegas’ game, obviously knowing there’s gonna be some tweaks and changes to their scout and also ours.”

    The Aces played in Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

    The winning team will make $500,000 in prize money to be split amongst the players. Even with the increased salaries that WNBA players make, the average near $600,000 and the minimum at $270,000, the extra $30,000 they’ll make by winning the Cup still means something to the players.

    “$30,000 is still $30,000,” Liberty forward Jonquel Jones said smiling.

    The Liberty and Aces also are raising money for their chosen charities through the Commissioner’s Cup. New York made $18,000 for the African American Policy Forum while Las Vegas earned $19,000 for the Public Education Foundation.

    This is the second time that New York is hosting the championship game. The Liberty lost to Minnesota in 2024 with the game played at UBS Arena since Barclays Center wasn’t available that night. This time it will be at the Liberty’s normal home.

    “That place is always rocking, they will have energy in the building,” Cash said.

    Power poll rankings

    Minnesota remained atop the power poll this week while Las Vegas fell to second after the two teams were tied last week. Golden State climbed three spots to third with New York and Atlanta next. Dallas, Indiana and Washington followed the Dream. Toronto was ninth with Phoenix 10th. Seattle jumped up to 11th with Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland and Connecticut rounding out the poll.

    Marathon game

    Washington and Portland matched the longest game in WNBA history when the Mystics won in four overtimes on Sunday. The Mystics also were part of the only other four OT game back in 2001. They won that one too.

    Encore performance

    Marina Mabrey will look to follow up her record-tying 53 point game on Sunday when the Toronto Tempo host the Dallas Wings. Mabrey matched the record held by A’ja Wilson and Liz Cambage when she had 53 points against Los Angeles last Thursday. She warmed up before the team played Phoenix on Saturday, but neck spasms caused her to miss the game.

    Player of the week

    Dominique Malonga of Seattle was the AP player of the week. She averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks to help the Storm go 2-1. Olivia Miles of Minnesota, A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas and Gabby Williams of Golden State also received votes.

    Game of the week

    Minnesota at New York, Friday. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve will try and become the all-time victories leader in WNBA history by breaking a tie with Mike Thibault at 379 wins. The Lynx have the best record in the WNBA at 15-4. New York has dropped four of its past five games.

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    AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball


  • Serena Williams’ return at Wimbledon is ‘the ticket to have’ for the grass-court Grand Slam


    LONDON (AP) — Anticipation is building at Wimbledon for Serena Williams’ first singles match in nearly four years.

    The 44-year-old Williams is scheduled to play an opponent less than half her age, 20-year-old Maya Joint of Australia, in the third match Tuesday on Centre Court — the patch of grass where the American standout won seven of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

    “I think everyone’s feeling the same way: Cannot wait to be watching Serena back on Centre Court again,” Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, said Monday.

    Wimbledon organizers took the unusual step of holding up an eighth and final wild card spot for Williams until she accepted the invitation at almost the last possible moment the weekend before qualifying began.

    “We were all sitting there sort of quietly keeping our fingers crossed that that’s what would happen,” Bolton said when asked by The Associated Press how anxious the club was while Williams pondered her decision.

    “She is such an icon of the sport and particularly here at the championship she’s one of our most special champions,” Bolton added. “So it really will be the ticket to have tomorrow when she walks back on Centre Court.”

    Whether it was related to Williams or not, the queue (line) of would-be-spectators camping out overnight for the daily batches of Wimbledon tickets on offer had reached 10,000 people by Monday morning.

    “We are advising people if they haven’t already set off to travel, not to travel because the queue is effectively full,” Bolton said. “By comparison to last year, it is really busy.”

    Williams will also play doubles with older sister Venus Williams later in the week.

    Since Serena last won Wimbledon a decade ago, eight different women have won the title.

    “It was needed a wee bit to kind of reinvent the women’s game,” said Lauren Byrne, a 26-year-old spectator at Wimbledon from near Dublin. “She’s definitely going to bring a bit more excitement back.”

    Added Byrne’s father, Anthony: “It’s just great to see her. She still has the appetite, hasn’t she, to play at this level? … Age isn’t a barrier.”

    Gibran Chenia, a London resident who described himself as “50-plus,” called Williams “a legend.

    “And if she’s half as good as she was, she is going to be great for tennis,” Chenia said. “It’s great to have legends back.”

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


  • The NFL’s Detroit Lions have released cornerback Terrion Arnold, who is charged over kidnappings


    The NFL’s Detroit Lions on Monday released cornerback Terrion Arnold, only days after his arrest over allegations that he orchestrated the abduction and beating of three men who prosecutors believe he wrongly suspected of having stolen luxury goods and $100,000 in cash from him.

    The team made the announcement on the X social media platform. Arnold had two years left on his four-year rookie contract, worth $14.3 million.

    The team did not give a reason, but the announcement came the same day that a Florida judge set Arnold’s bail at $1 million. Prosecutors say the three victims, including a man who worked as a driver for Arnold, were robbed while being held at gunpoint in a Tampa apartment in February.

    Prosecutors had wanted Arnold held without bond on the eight felony charges he faces. But Chief Circuit Court Judge Christopher Sabella granted bond to him.

    The judge did not require Arnold to wear an ankle monitor because it would have prevented him from taking the field for games and training. The judge also said Arnold already has a “paparazzi monitor,” referring to the photographers who have been watching his movements.

    “If he shows up on a beach in Tahiti, he’ll be on social media,” Sabella said at the end of the bond hearing in Tampa.

    Sabella said that although the charges are serious — each could bring a life sentence if Arnold is convicted — prosecutors are “not there yet” in having a strong case for Arnold’s guilt.

    The judge did order Arnold to remain at his home in Tallahassee except for when he’s playing, training and traveling with the Lions. He also said Arnold cannot have any contact with other people tied to the case and must surrender his passport within 48 hours.

    Arnold, 23, was a first-round pick in the 2024 draft after playing at the University of Alabama. He had 31 tackles and an interception last season as part of the Lions’ defense.

    According to prosecutors, the victims were abducted three days after cash and luxury items, including Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton bags, were reported stolen from Arnold at an Airbnb rental in the Tampa area. Prosecutors allege that six of Arnold’s associates actually carried out the crimes, holding, beating and pistol-whipping the victims, and that Arnold wasn’t there at the time.

    None of Arnold’s co-defendants had bond set for them. Two female co-defendants have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with authorities. Their statements tie Arnold, who was not at the apartment, to the crimes, according to prosecutors.

    Prosecutors argue that Arnold is as responsible for the crimes as his co-defendants because he told his associates that he thought he knew who had stolen from him and said he wanted to confront them, setting events in motion.

    “Our office remains committed to seeking justice for the three victims in the case who were beaten, robbed, and held against their will,” said Erin Maloney, a spokesperson for the state attorney’s office.

    But Harvey Steinberg, an attorney for Arnold, argued in court Monday that prosecutors are “not even close” to showing that Arnold that he knew or directed what his associates would do.

    Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management, which represents Arnold, said before the Lions announced they were releasing Arnold that the judge’s ruling “confirms that there is very little evidence to even suggest any criminal involvement by Mr. Arnold.”

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    This story was updated to correct that among the charges Arnold faces are four robbery-related counts, not four assault counts.

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