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  • Final stretch: NYC’s last horse track, Aqueduct, ending live races


    NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s last horse racing track, where Seabiscuit, Man O’ War, Secretariat and other legendary thoroughbreds graced the winner’s circle during the sport’s heyday, is on its final stretch.

    After more than 130 years, the once grand Aqueduct track is set to run its last live races this weekend. The final race, appropriately titled, “It Was a Good Run,” is posted for Sunday at 5:44 p.m.

    The track, located next to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, will remain open for betting on televised races — known as simulcasting — through Sept. 7.

    “There’s a lot of history here. Just so many good horses,” said David Donk, a veteran horse trainer, in between afternoon races at Aqueduct earlier this month. “It’s had its use. But, you know, times change. Everything changes in life.”

    Racing is a contracting industry

    The end of the “Big A” comes amid increased competition for gambling dollars. Slot parlors, casinos, state lotteries and, more recently, legalized online and sports betting have all steadily eroded the allure of what once was dubbed the “sport of kings.”

    There are roughly 75 thoroughbred tracks nationwide, compared to the more than 300 facilities offering some form of horse racing during the sport’s Gilded Age peak in the late 1800s, according to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, an industry trade group.

    Among the other major tracks that have closed in recent years are Arlington Park in Illinois, which was purchased by NFL’s Chicago Bears for a potential new stadium, and Golden Gate Fields in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    “For over 100 years, thoroughbred racing was one of very few sports outlets you could legally bet on,” said Tom Rooney, the association’s president. “With the expansion of sports gambling, our sport will naturally condense and coalesce around a more pragmatic number of marquee tracks and locations, similar to other sports.”

    Indeed, a large chunk of Aqueduct’s hulking site, where a crowd of 75,000 celebrated Mass with Pope John Paul II in 1995, has for years been home to a Resorts World casino. The gambling hall began offering live table games like blackjack, poker and craps earlier this year after winning a lucrative state license to operate a Las Vegas-style resort, and has plans for a glitzy, multibillion dollar expansion.

    Some 9 miles (14 kilometers) east, just over the city line on suburban Long Island, the famed Belmont Park racetrack — home to the third leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes — is set to reopen in September after a roughly $550 million renovation. State funding for that project was contingent on the New York Racing Association, which operates the tracks, returning Aqueduct’s more than 100 acres (40 hectares) to the state for future redevelopment and consolidating thoroughbred races at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course upstate.

    “We couldn’t have gotten the money to rebuild Belmont and continue to race at Aqueduct. You have to make these choices,” said Andy Serling, the track’s longtime television analyst and race handicapper. “I don’t think you’ll find anybody here that’s not gonna tell you they’re gonna miss Aqueduct, but we’re also incredibly excited to be opening this beautiful new building at Belmont.”

    Aqueduct had humble beginnings

    Originally opened in 1894, Aqueduct took its name from an old aqueduct running through the property that brought fresh water from Long Island to New York City.

    It was a relatively modest operation until a dramatic reinvestment in 1959, which brought a dedicated subway stop, air-conditioned restaurants and lounges along with a roughly 35,000-seat grandstand complete with escalators, elevators and other amenities. The Associated Press, at the time, declared the transformed track “the world’s most modern and luxurious horse plant.”

    Legendary Triple Crown winner Secretariat won the first race of his storied career at the track in 1972, then trotted out for a final farewell the following year.

    Seattle Slew’s big win at Aqueduct in 1977 served as the final tuneup en route to sweeping the Triple Crown later that year. And in 1994, Cigar launched his historic, 16-race winning streak at Aqueduct.

    Top jockey remembers track fondly

    Taking a break between races on a recent Friday afternoon, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez recalled how his decorated career began at Aqueduct.

    The 54-year-old native of Puerto Rico said it took weeks going up against some of the top horse riders of the time for him to win his first career race. Velazquez has since notched more than 6,700 victories and holds the most purse earnings of any jockey in North America.

    “This is where I developed my craft, where I learned everything that I know,” Velazquez said after winning his first race of the day. “The years that I spent here made me the jockey that I am today.”

    Inside the cavernous grandstand, longtime gambler Roy Brown reminisced how he tried getting into the business himself after one big win at the track.

    The 68-year-old retiree from Queens said he hauled in around $60,000 on a “pick-six” in the late 1980s — a difficult bet in which a gambler has to pick the winning horse for six straight races.

    The native of Jamaica, who had no experience in the industry outside of gambling, used some of his profits to buy two horses. But he and the thoroughbreds ended up having brief racing careers.

    “It’s best to bet on them, not own them,” Brown said with a laugh. “If you’re really passionate about it, it’s your best two minutes. Nothing’s sweeter than seeing your horse coming down the stretch or coming from behind and at the wire, knowing you got it.”

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    Follow Philip Marcelo at https://x.com/philmarcelo


  • States seek to lower drug prices by targeting the companies that manage them for health plans


    TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As consumers worry about medication costs, states are trying to lower drug prices by reining in big companies that oversee prescription coverage for health insurers.

    Some of those companies, called pharmacy benefit managers, also own pharmacies, and one of them, CVS, has spent millions of dollars fighting the regulations.

    Affordability is a key issue ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Legislators in at least a dozen states passed laws this year to limit compensation to the companies, set minimum payments from the companies to pharmacists and require the companies to disclose more information to their clients, states and the public.

    A Tennessee law will bar pharmacy benefit managers from operating retail pharmacies as of July 1, 2028, though CVS Health Corp. has filed a federal lawsuit to avoid having to close its 136 pharmacies there.

    About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said in a poll conducted earlier this year by healthcare research nonprofit KFF that they were at least somewhat worried about being able to afford their prescriptions. About 4 in 10 said costs had led them not to take medications as prescribed within the previous year, either by taking less than the prescribed dose, using over-the-counter substitutes or not filling prescriptions.

    Dozens of proposals emerge across the US

    Pharmacy benefit managers, particularly CVS and two other large companies, handle most U.S. prescriptions.

    Lawmakers in at least 26 states introduced more than 120 bills this year on PBMs, according to an Associated Press search using the bill-tracking software Plural, with about a quarter of the bills clearing at least one chamber.

    The companies manage pharmacy claims for health insurers and negotiate with manufacturers over drug prices and what medications will be covered. Critics concede that the size of the top companies gives them leverage that health plans wouldn’t have on their own.

    The benefit managers argue that they’re the only player in the drug supply chain created to help push drug costs down and they claim credit for an increased used of less-expensive generic drugs, now 90% of U.S. prescriptions.

    “If PBMs already didn’t exist, you’d need to invent one,” said Prem Shah, president of the CVS Health group overseeing its pharmacy and PBM operations, in a recent interview. “Blaming PBMs for high drug prices is like blaming umbrellas for the rain.”

    CVS fights restrictions in Tennessee

    Drug companies, PBMs and their allies have spent at least $24 million on opposing broadcast and digital advertising since the start of 2025 to influence public opinion, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. CVS spent $4 million this year on ads opposing Tennessee’s new law.

    CVS sued Arkansas last year after it enacted similar legislation, and a federal judge blocked its law. CVS also settled three lawsuits in which Louisiana accused it of unfair trade and deceptive practices in lobbying against legislation there last year, agreeing to pay $45 million without acknowledging wrongdoing.

    The CVS lawsuit in Tennessee alleges that the company, which operates 9,000 pharmacies nationwide, is facing “naked protectionism” from lawmakers who operate independent pharmacies — including the law’s main sponsor, state Sen. Bobby Harshbarger and co-sponsor Sen. Shane Reeves.

    Independent pharmacies say they’re being squeezed

    In Knoxville, Seth White, who manages a CVS pharmacy, will have to find a new job if the Tennessee law stands, and he’s also worried about hundreds of its customers having to go elsewhere for their medications.

    Some 900 miles (1,400 kilometers) away in Coldwater, Kansas, Lisa Gales is on the opposite side of the debate. She and her husband operate the Main Street Pharmacy, and she said they rely heavily on sales of non-pharmacy items to offset low reimbursements from pharmacy benefit managers.

    Gales calculates she lost money on 86% of the prescriptions she filled last year. A new Kansas law will require PBMs to pay a $10.50 dispensing fee per prescription. Gales called it a “great win,” even though, “It’s still way under what it’s costing us.”

    A new Louisiana law imposes an $11.81 dispensing fee. Another says PBMs must operate for the benefit of their health-insurer clients and people enrolled in health plans.

    Critics deride each mandatory dispensing fee as an extra “pill tax” that will drive up consumers’ costs. Backers dispute that, saying the laws also limit what PBMs charge health plans for the cost of medications themselves — so that it’s often well below wholesale prices.

    Pharmacy benefit managers push drugmakers to give big discounts on those wholesale prices but face criticism for keeping any portion of them. Some states now require PBMs to pass along all discounts.

    Patients are watching the debate

    It all worries consumers, particularly in small towns, who fear it could become harder to get their medications if PBMs squeeze independent pharmacies on reimbursements to the point of endangering their businesses.

    In southeastern Kansas, Faith Sanders, a 79-year-old retired nursing home administrator, said the pharmacy in her hometown of Cedar Vale is important because without it people would have to drive 35 miles (56 kilometers) “to go out of town to get anything.”

    For her many elderly neighbors, she said, “We get to the point where it’s hard for us to get out of town.”

    Meanwhile, even some PBM critics question whether states can effectively regulate them. In Tennessee, state Rep. Robert Stevens, a Nashville-area Republican, told colleagues during a debate that cracking down on PBMs “needs to be done by Congress and not by us.”

    Congress did pass new PBM regulations in February. One law will prevent PBMs from keeping any rebates they’ve negotiated on drug prices for health plans that supplement federal Medicare coverage for Americans over 64.

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    This story has been updated to correct the name of CVS executive Prem Shah, not Prem Shaw.


  • US Rep. Julia Letlow, endorsed by Trump, wins the GOP primary for Senate in Louisiana


    BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Louisiana on Saturday, giving President Donald Trump a win after he backed her to replace GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy.

    Letlow, who was endorsed by Trump, defeated state Treasurer John Fleming in the two-candidate runoff after they finished ahead of Cassidy in the GOP primary May 16.

    Letlow pledged her loyalty to Trump in a race where Cassidy, who voted to convict the president on impeachment charges in 2021, spent a year working to keep Trump from going after him. She has promised to work in lockstep with Trump to advance his agenda.

    “I am so filled with gratitude for the greatest president this country has every had, Donald J. Trump,” Letlow told supporters at her election night watch party in Baton Rouge. “I am also so incredibly grateful for your endorsement.”

    Letlow’s victory caps Trump’s early 2026 effort to back Republican challengers to GOP lawmakers who have disagreed with him and replace them with ones more loyal. Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, Texas Sen. John Cornyn and five Indiana state senators all lost reelection bids last month to GOP challengers he endorsed.

    However Trump-backed candidates lost in two June GOP gubernatorial primaries: Rep. Randy Feenstra on June 2 in Iowa, to businessperson Zach Lahn; and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones of Georgia on June 16, to billionaire Rick Jackson. Both winners were outsiders competing with establishment favorites.

    Letlow is now the immediate favorite to succeed Cassidy in a state Trump carried in 2024 by 22 percentage points. Letlow would become Louisiana’s first female Republican senator if elected.

    Her supporters cheered as she stepped to the stage in Baton Rouge. One attendee let out a shriek a few minutes earlier after seeing on TV that The Associated Press had called the race.

    Letlow has been in the House since 2021. Her husband, Luke Letlow, died from COVID-19 complications after being elected to Congress in 2020, and she won a special election to fill the seat.

    It was Gov. Jeff Landry, whom Letlow also thanked, who began advocating for her to Trump last year. The president took until January to endorse her, however, making his announcement before she declared her candidacy.

    She finished first in last month’s voting with nearly 45%, compared with about 28% for Fleming and nearly 25% for Cassidy. Letlow and Fleming advanced to Saturday’s runoff because nobody won a majority that day.

    For some voters, Trump’s endorsement was all that mattered.

    “Trump’s lady all the way,” said Barbara Dufrene, 67, of Marrero. She added that she knew little about Letlow but was counting on the president to lower her healthcare costs and increase her social safety net. “I always vote whatever Trump wants.”

    Letlow had spending advantages

    Letlow’s success on May 16, campaign spending on her behalf and support from prominent Republicans had her well positioned in the runoff. She was also endorsed by Landry and U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

    Fleming, a founder of the conservative House Freedom Caucus while in Congress, later worked in Trump’s first administration. He reminded voters that he did not resign after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.

    On the campaign trail, he directed his appeals to those who identify most closely with the president’s “Make America Great Again” movement, saying his voting record was more conservative than Letlow’s. His ads described him as MAGA “long before it was cool.”

    Fleming told voters he was blocked from reaching Trump to seek his endorsement by White House allies of Landry. Fleming said he finally got on the phone with Trump and reminded the president who he was.

    “I said nobody has been more loyal to you than me,” Fleming recounted during a June campaign stop. “He said, ‘You’re fantastic! Why didn’t you call?’”

    The two campaigns spent comparably on advertising, roughly $1 million each, since the May 16 primary. But a super PAC that supports Letlow led all spending, accounting for $4.1 million in the past six weeks, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

    Fleming attacked Letlow on DEI, and she criticized him over an AI video

    Fleming ads highlighted Letlow’s previous public support for diversity, equity and inclusion policy, which Trump has tried to eliminate. Letlow, a former college administrator, said she supported DEI while interviewing for the position of president of the University of Louisiana-Monroe in 2020, but said this year she opposes it.

    Fleming reposted an AI-generated video on the social platform X this month that purported to show Letlow saying she supported DEI because she “didn’t know any better.” The fake image of Letlow also referenced her husband, who died from complications of COVID-19.

    Fleming said he did not create the video “but it’s getting passed around Louisiana for a reason.”

    Letlow condemned the sharing of the video as “disgraceful and indefensible,” chiefly for its mention of her husband. She thanked her late husband Saturday and also introduced her fiance, Kevin Ainsworth, a Baton Rouge lobbyist. The pair were engaged at the White House in December.

    Despite the rancor of the campaign, Letlow thanked Fleming and said they had a pleasant phone conversation after the race was called in her favor.

    “The contest for this primary is over, and now it’s on to the general election,” Fleming told his supporters. “And we want to continue to make America strong by sending the best of the best there.”

    Letlow emphasized key priorities for social conservatives, notably her support for national legislation barring transgender women and girls from competing in school sports.

    Fleming staked much of his campaign on opposition to carbon capture and sequestration, the process for injecting carbon dioxide waste underground to reduce industrial pollution. The technology’s build-out, included planned pipelines, has sparked backlash in rural Louisiana communities and divided the state GOP.

    Fleming said such projects infringe on private property rights and federal government subsidies for the technology are wasteful.

    Democrats pick Davis as their Senate nominee

    In the Democratic primary, Jamie Davis, a northeast Louisiana crop farmer, defeated Gary Crockett, a Navy veteran and business executive. Both promoted addressing the cost of living and protecting social safety nets.

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    Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa.


  • Winds hamper crews as fast-moving fire in Utah, the largest in the US, burns through forests


    MARYSVALE, Utah (AP) — The largest wildfire in the United States marched through canyons and over mountainsides Saturday, blackening an already parched landscape in Utah as residents on the flanks of the blaze watched smoke billowing when the winds picked up.

    The Cottonwood Fire, burning in rugged terrain in southwest Utah, severely damaged the Eagle Point ski resort and destroyed summer cabins in sparsely populated Beaver County. Authorities conducted damage assessments but did not yet have estimates of how many homes burned.

    Gov. Spencer Cox, in a social media post, asked for prayers for firefighters and “the rains we desperately need.”

    “It’s as bleak as it’s ever been … and yet there were several miraculous stops and saves,” Cox said, referring to the work of the hundreds of firefighters assigned to the blaze.

    They were among the crews that have poured into Utah as more wildfires in the arid state gained steam thanks to consecutive days of what forecasters called critical fire weather, or dangerously low humidity levels, warm temperatures and gusty winds.

    There was little relief from the strong winds Saturday, but crews fighting the Cottonwood Fire were treated to higher humidity levels than the single digits that were expected, said Alyssa Mason, a spokesperson assigned to the blaze.

    “That was good news for us today,” Mason said.

    Utah is coming off a record-low snowpack and the warmest winter on record, which has elevated fire danger. Much of the West is grappling with similar conditions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

    From Alaska to Florida, crews worked to corral dozens of fires, including three dozen that were classified as large and uncontained.

    Nationally, nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) have burned since the start of the year, pushing the U.S. ahead of the 10-year average.

    Firefighters grapple with more wind

    Helicopters took to the skies hoping to put a dent in the Cottonwood Fire before afternoon winds kicked up again and grounded them. Air support also was grounded the previous afternoon as conditions deteriorated.

    The fire ballooned to more than 144 square miles (373 square kilometers), and roughly 1,300 residents in the towns of Marysvale, Junction and Circleville remained on notice that they should be prepared to leave if conditions worsened.

    Cox declared an emergency, and the state has restricted fireworks citing one of the most severe wildfire seasons in recent history and saying the blazes were stretching wildland firefighting capabilities.

    “These fires are starting closer to homes and communities,” State Forester Jamie Barnes said. “One human-caused fire is one too many.”

    The cause of the Cottonwood Fire has not been determined, but officials said the majority of those sparked so far this year have been human-caused. Forecasters also noted that lightning strikes around the West have resulted in fires.

    Elsewhere in Utah, evacuations were in place for several small communities southwest of Salt Lake City, including Eureka, with a population under 1,000, and the Vernon Reservoir area. Highways running through the area were closed.

    Two wildfires in that area — the Iron and the Cherry — covered a combined 112 square miles (290 square kilometers), fire officials said.

    Visitors undeterred by wildfires

    The towering column of smoke from the Cottonwood Fire was visible Friday from miles away, even from Bryce Canyon National Park to the south and Colorado to the east. It was hazy Saturday as the smoke drifted to the northeast, leaving air quality unaffected in places like Bryce and other popular vacation spots to the south.

    Bob Miller of Yucaipa, California, who was staying at an RV park in Marysvale, was prepared to evacuate if needed. The evenings especially have been smoky, Miller said, but he and his family have still been able to enjoy the area, where they have vacationed for almost two decades.

    “It’s still gorgeous,” Miller said.

    “Fires happen around here. When you come every year, you kind of get used to that,” he added.

    “After you’ve been through burned areas a few times, you look at it and you understand what nature can do.”

    Red flag warnings issued around the West

    The warnings stretched from California to Arizona to New Mexico, where firefighters battled several blazes amid windy conditions. That included a new one reported south of Grand Canyon National Park.

    Authorities said the flames were moving away from Grand Canyon Village and the nearby community of Tusayan. The area was without power as the utility serving the area initiated a safety shut-off earlier in hopes of lessening the wildfire risk.

    Park visitors could still purchase park passes at entrance stations as long as backup power systems remained operational, but officials said people should come prepared. That meant downloading maps before arriving and ensuring that phones and other devices are fully charged.

    Power shut-offs have become more common in the West as wildfire risk has expanded. It is usually a last resort after utility forecasters weigh factors like sustained wind and gust speeds, available fuels and topography.

    With extreme fire conditions persisting in Utah, Rocky Mountain Power also shut off power lines serving Beaver County and other areas.

    ___

    Montoya Bryan reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.


  • Spain wins its World Cup group, beating Uruguay 1-0 as Muslera’s error sends 2-time champion home


    GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Spain defeated Uruguay 1-0 after another goalkeeping mistake by Fernando Muslera, advancing to the knockout stage of the World Cup and eliminating the South American powerhouse on Friday.

    Uruguay, a two-time champion, will go home without any victories in its three Group H games. Spain, the European champion, won the group with seven points and will face the second-place team from Group J — either Austria or Algeria — on Thursday in Inglewood, California.

    Álex Baena scored in the 42nd minute after Muslera couldn’t fully swat away his shot from inside the area. It was the third blunder of the tournament by the 40-year-old Muslera, who asked coach Marcelo Bielsa to substitute him at halftime. Sergio Rochet came in to start the second half.

    “He is the one who decided to leave,” Bielsa said.

    The veteran Argentine coach said he feels like Uruguay deserved better luck considering its performances, and should have earned seven points instead of two from its group matches. But he took full responsibility for the team’s failure.

    “No one wants to listen to explanations now,” Bielsa said. “The blame is on me, I’m the one responsible for the disappointing work that I did. I had a group of quality players.”

    At 19th in the FIFA rankings, Uruguay is the highest-ranked team to be eliminated so far.

    “Every match is different and you have to win every type of match,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “This was a game with maximum difficulty.”

    De la Fuente said midfielder Yéremy Pino likely suffered a broken collarbone that would sideline him for the rest of the tournament. Pino, who entered the match in the 66th minute, stayed on until the end despite the injury because Spain had already made all five substitutions.

    Cape Verde, which played Saudi Arabia to a 0-0 draw in the other group game on Friday, finished second in the group with three points, one more than both Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. Uruguay finished third but without enough points to be among the best eight third-place teams that will advance.

    A few Uruguay players cried on the field after the final whistle. Many fans booed the team as it left.

    The match was one of the most anticipated of the group stage, but it featured few significant scoring chances by either team.

    “I’m very proud of all the work that we have done,” Baena said. “We competed very well.”

    Uruguay players loudly advocated for a penalty in the final minutes after Federico Viñas went down inside the area.

    There was some tension near the end. Uruguay’s Agustín Canobbio was sent off in stoppage time for a tackle on Spain defender Paul Cubarsi. His teammates had to escort him off the field, and after the final whistle he returned to try to talk to the referee.

    Uruguay, the World Cup winner in 1930 and 1950, came into the final group match in turmoil after draws against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde. Uruguayan media said there were reports of players not being happy with Bielsa.

    Spain, seeking its second World Cup title, opened with a shocking 0-0 draw against Cape Verde but was coming off a 4-0 win over Saudi Arabia. La Roja haven’t made it past the round of 16 since winning their lone title in 2010.

    Spain striker Lamine Yamal, who entered the tournament nursing a left hamstring injury, had a lackluster outing and again didn’t play the entire match, being replaced by Ferran Torres in the 76th minute. The 18-year-old Yamal was replaced at halftime against Saudi Arabia and came off the bench in the second half against Cape Verde.

    Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte had to replaced because of an apparent knee injury near the end of the first half. He was on the ground seeking medical assistance when Spain opened the scoring, and was eventually taken off the field on a stretcher.

    King Felipe VI of Spain was among the crowd of 45,065 at Estadio Akron.

    A moment of silence was observed before the match in memory of those who died when back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela late Wednesday.

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    Associated Press writer Maria Verza contributed to this report.

    ___

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


  • Cape Verde’s dream run continues, becoming smallest country into World Cup knockout round


    HOUSTON (AP) — Tiny Cape Verde defied odds to become the smallest country to earn a spot in the World Cup knockout round behind the stellar play of Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who embodied the grit of his nation.

    “We are small,” he said. “But we have big hearts and we are fighters.”

    Cape Verde completed an improbable run through the group stage with a third straight World Cup draw, a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia on Friday night to advance in the tournament.

    The small island nation off the western coast of Africa, which is making its debut on soccer’s grandest stage, already held 2010 champion Spain to a 0-0 draw and then came from behind to get a 2-2 result against Uruguay.

    “The team was very eager to show this to the whole world,” Cape Verde coach Bubista said while draped in his country’s flag. “We are proud of having arrived at this stage. We have shown that we are a small country, but that we fight for the things that we want to achieve.”

    Cape Verde’s three points put the team in second place behind Spain, which beat Uruguay on Friday night and won the group.

    Cape Verde will play reigning World Cup champion Argentina in Miami on July 3.

    Drawing all three group matches doesn’t guarantee advancement at major soccer tournaments. But several teams have done it in the past, including Wales in 1958, Ireland and the Netherlands in 1990, and Chile in 1998. New Zealand, however, also got three draws at the 2010 World Cup and was eliminated.

    On the eve of the match, Bubista mused, “everyone is entitled to dream and nothing is impossible.”

    The Blue Sharks proved him right, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds as this country of just more than 500,000 reached the round of 32.

    A woman, her face painted with a flag of the archipelago, held a sign that read: “Small Islands, Big Dreams.”

    A dream that these underdogs have made reality as they continue their charmed run on the world stage.

    They did it with another strong game from Vozinha, whose tournament success has helped him amass more than 16 million Instagram followers.

    He had a save in first half stoppage time, grabbing a header from Mohamed Kanno to keep Saudi Arabia scoreless. Another save came in the 66th minute when he leaped to deflect a shot from Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat.

    A third came in the 92nd minute when he stopped a shot by Abdullah Al-Hamdan.

    “There is a lot of quality in our national team,” Vozinha said. “Maybe for many of you, you think the Cape Verdean player is not good enough. But we came here to show that we have a lot of quality and we are here to compete and our players can play everywhere in the big competition, in the big leagues.”

    A group of shirtless men in the crowd each painted one letter of his name on their chests as they cheered Cape Verde.

    But Vozinha had a much bigger fan among the crowd of 68,278 as his mother Ana Candida Evora watched from a luxury suite, waving a tiny Cape Verde flag. It was her second match of the tournament after missing Vozinha’s epic seven-save performance against Spain because of visa issues.

    Cape Verde had a chance to score in the 50th minute, but Kevin Pina’s shot from distance was just above the crossbar. Another chance came in the 74th minute when Laros Duarte’s shot from the middle of the box was stopped by goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais.

    A last chance to score came in the final seconds when Nuno da Costa sent a shot from the middle of the box wide left.

    But it didn’t matter because a couple of minutes after the final whistle, Spain completed its victory over Uruguay and set off a joyous celebration among Cape Verde’s players and fans, many of whom cried as they rejoiced.

    Having led his squad to new heights, Bubista was asked if he could have imagined such a run entering the tournament.

    “I’ve always said that sooner or later Cape Verde would be on such a stage,” he said. “Of course it’s hard to have such a forecast, but I always knew.”

    Saudi Arabia was eliminated after finishing with two points in the group stage.

    “We were very poor in terms of creating things, controlling the game and creating actions,” coach Georgios Donis said. “And one cannot win a game this way. It would be very difficult.”

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Rangers acquire Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas, Boston gets JJ Peterka from Utah at the NHL draft


    Pavel Dorofeyev is heading to the New York Rangers as part of a trade at the NHL draft on Friday night, as they hope the high-scoring winger helps supercharge their retooling effort.

    The Rangers acquired Dorofeyev from Vegas for the Nos. 26 and 92 picks this year, plus a conditional first-rounder in 2028. The 25-year-old is coming off scoring 12 goals on the Golden Knights’ run to the Stanley Cup Final.

    On their way there, they defeated the Utah Mammoth, who also made a big subtraction by sending a winger to the Eastern Conference. JJ Peterka is going to the Boston Bruins for the No. 23 pick and Florida’s top-10-protected ’28 first-rounder.

    Peterka is changing places for a second consecutive offseason following his move from Buffalo just over a year to the day ago. The 24-year-old from Germany now gets to play for the league’s only German coach, Marco Sturm.

    “I would like to thank JJ for his commitment to our organization,” Utah general manager Bill Armstrong said. “JJ is a great person and will be a dynamic player for Boston.”

    Midway through the first round, the St. Louis Blues acquired forward Mason McTavish from Anaheim for the Nos. 15 and 29 picks, getting a player entering his prime at 23 who’s signed through 2031 at a salary cap hit of $7 million.

    The Mammoth flipped the 23rd pick to Detroit for 23-year-old restricted free agent goaltender Sebastian Cossa.

    Pre-draft trades aplenty

    Getting Dorofeyev was New York GM Chris Drury ‘s second move of the day after sending forward Brett Berard to Montreal for defenseman William Trudeau, who has been in the minors and is still awaiting his NHL debut.

    Also Friday, Buffalo got defenseman Olen Zellweger, who also needs a new contract, from Anaheim for the 45th pick and forward prospect Anton Wahlberg. Zellweger, who turns 23 in September, replenishes depth for the Sabres after they traded Bowen Byram to Chicago earlier in the week.

    Chicago sent winger Andre Burakovsky to Ottawa for a 2027 sixth-round pick. Burakovsky joins the Senators more than three decades since his dad, Robert, played 23 games for them in the 1993-94 season.

    The Blackhawks clear his $5.5 million salary cap hit off the books for next season, while the Senators get a 31-year-old winger who has twice won the Stanley Cup.

    General manager Steve Staios said the Senators were happy to add a player of Burakovsky’s pedigree because he “adds skill and playmaking ability to our forward group.”

    Staios was busy in the hours before adding Burakovsky, acquiring the rights to goaltender Samuel Ersson and re-signing another pending restricted free agent, defenseman Jordan Spence. Ottawa sent a 2027 fifth-rounder to rival Toronto for Ersson, whom the Maple Leafs got along with Emil Andrae in a cap space-clearing trade with Philadelphia for Joseph Woll and Simon Benoit.

    Spence, 25, signed a four-year, $20 million contract. He was a big part of the team enduring injuries at the position and still making the playoffs, scoring a career-high seven goals and finishing with 31 points while skating an average of nearly 19 minutes over 73 games.

    “Jordan was an excellent addition to our hockey club and proved to be a valuable asset on our blue line and stepped up when it counted last season,” Staios said. “We’re excited to have him as part of our core group.”

    Teams take care of in-house business

    Colorado re-signed defensemen Brent Burns and Brett Kulak, fresh off winning the Presidents’ Trophy and losing in the conference final to Vegas.

    Burns, 41, signed for next season, his 23rd in the league, at the veteran minimum of $850,000 and can make up to $3 million in incentives, according to a person familiar with the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because financial terms were not disclosed.

    Burns has skated in 1,007 consecutive regular-season games and is 58 away from passing Phil Kessel for the longest ironman streak in NHL history.

    Kulak got a five-year contract from the Avalanche worth a reported $22.5 million. President of hockey operations and franchise great Joe Sakic is reshaping the roster after reclaiming GM duties when Chris MacFarland left for Nashville.

    The Islanders re-signed defenseman Tony DeAngelo to a two-year contract worth $9 million. He will count $4.5 million against the salary cap through the 2027-28 season.

    DeAngelo, 30, is returning to the Islanders for a second full season after joining them upon returning to the NHL from a stint in the Russia-based KHL in January 2025.

    “Tony has been great since he’s been here,” GM Mathieu Darche said on a video call with reporters after the draft. “It’s tough to find puck-moving defensemen, never mind a right-shot puck-moving defenseman, so Tony’s a big part of our team. We’re excited to have him back.”

    Los Angeles re-signed defenseman Brandt Clarke for $37 million over the next five years.

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


  • Angels fire GM Perry Minasian midway through a 6th straight disappointing season in his tenure


    ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels fired general manager Perry Minasian midway through their sixth consecutive disappointing season under his leadership.

    The last-place Angels appointed former Cardinals GM John Mozeliak to be their interim general manager and baseball operations consultant Friday. Mozeliak will oversee day-to-day baseball operations while assisting the search for the next GM, team president Molly Jolly said in a news release.

    “Perry has been a valued leader who worked tirelessly over the last six years to strengthen our baseball operations department,” Jolly said. “I am grateful for his dedication, insight and many contributions to our organization.”

    The Angels were informed of the move in a meeting with Jolly and manager Kurt Suzuki about two hours before their 9-3 loss to the Athletics on Friday night.

    “I was surprised,” catcher Logan O’Hoppe said after the game. “You play the game long enough, and things that are unexpected happen. He brought me here. I’m appreciative of that. It’s just a tough situation.”

    Minasian took over the Angels’ front office in November 2020, but the long-struggling franchise has made no discernible progress during his tenure under mercurial owner Arte Moreno.

    Los Angeles’ streaks of 10 straight losing seasons and 11 straight non-playoff seasons are both the longest in the majors, and its farm system is still considered to be among the majors’ worst, just as it was when Minasian arrived.

    The biggest transaction of his tenure occurred when Shohei Ohtani left the Angels after six seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers in late 2023, the Angels failing to trade Ohtani for prospects before Ohtani became a free agent.

    Minasian’s flurry of moves before and after the 2023 trade deadline seemed chaotic. The Angels kept Ohtani — a decision Moreno had a big hand in — and dealt away several prospects in an attempt to push for the playoffs.

    But the Angels went 8-19 that August and fell so far out of contention that they placed several players on waivers in order to bring their payroll under the luxury tax threshold.

    After holding the majors’ worst record for much of the current season, the Angels are tied for last in the AL standings at 34-48 heading into their game against the Athletics on Friday night at Angel Stadium. Los Angeles lost a franchise-record 99 games in 2024, its first season after losing two-time AL MVP Ohtani.

    The Angels never won more than 77 games or finished higher than third in the AL West during Minasian’s tenure.

    Minasian clashed with respected manager Joe Maddon early in his tenure, eventually leading to Maddon’s firing amid an epic losing streak in the 2022 season. After Phil Nevin and Ron Washington also failed to hold the managerial job for more than two seasons, Minasian hired first-time manager Suzuki from his own front-office staff last fall, giving him a one-year deal with the acknowledgment that their fates were tied.

    Ray Montgomery served as interim manager in 2025.

    A reduction in payroll forced Minasian to supplement this year’s team with low-cost players — several returning from major injuries — such as pitchers Alek Manoah, Jordan Romano, Drew Pomeranz, Kirby Yates and Brent Suter, outfielder Josh Lowe and infielders Yoan Moncada and Adam Frazier.

    Most of the moves didn’t pan out, as Romano and Pomeranz were released, and Manoah, Lowe and Moncada have been busts.

    The largest free-agent deal signed by Minasian was a three-year, $63 million contract for left-hander Yusei Kikuchi before 2025. Kikuchi was an All-Star last season but has been sidelined since late April because of a shoulder injury.

    Minasian also signed reliever Robert Stephenson to a three-year, $33 million deal before 2024, but the right-hander is out for this season because of another elbow injury.

    Jolly and Mozeliak are scheduled to speak at a news conference on Saturday.

    Minasian is a former Rangers clubhouse attendant who rose to positions in the front offices of the Atlanta Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays as a protege of Alex Anthopoulos.

    Minasian had never interviewed for a GM job before he was chosen to replace Billy Eppler by Moreno, who has repeatedly hired GMs with little to no prior experience in the job during his two decades of ownership.

    Mozeliak left the Cardinals last fall after three decades with St. Louis, including the past 18 in charge of baseball operations.

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


  • Lionel Messi won’t start Argentina’s group finale, but World Cup scoring record holder could sub in


    ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Lionel Messi, the top scorer in World Cup history, will not start when defending tournament champion and Group J winner Argentina plays Jordan on Saturday night in its last match before the knockout stage.

    Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni said Friday, two days after Messi’s 39th birthday, that the team’s captain will begin the match on the bench, but also indicated through an interpreter that he “will come in a little bit later.”

    Scaloni didn’t say when Messi might substitute in to the game, or what his lineup would be against first-time World Cup participant Jordan, which lost its first two matches.

    Messi scored all five goals for Argentina in the first two group matches, and now has 18 goals overall in his six World Cups. He had his first-ever hat trick in the tournament in a 3-0 win over Algeria to tie the career scoring record at 16 goals that had been held by Miroslav Klose of Germany. He broke that mark with the goals in a 2-0 win over Austria on Monday at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys — where the group finale will be played.

    Klose played in 24 World Cup matches for Germany, which wrapped up his fourth tournament by winning the 2014 final 1-0 in extra time over Messi and Argentina. Kylian Mbappé matched Klose at 16 with two goals in France’s 3-0 win over Iraq later Monday. Mbappé, who has four goals in the tournament, didn’t score in a 4-1 win over Norway on Friday in his final group match.

    Considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, Messi has made 201 international appearances for Argentina, including a FIFA-record 28 World Cup matches. He has scored in six consecutive World Cup games, joining France striker Just Fontaine and Brazil great Jairzinho as only players to do that.

    Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami of Major League Soccer that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup.

    While there have been no indications of any issues since, Argentina has a lot of games left if it is going to get to another World Cup final. The knockout round for La Albiceleste begins next Friday in South Florida, and in this expanded 48-team tournament that would be the first of five matches in 17 days if they make it to the final on July 19.

    Even with Argentina trying to go undefeated in group play for the fifth time, and first since 2014, Messi isn’t the only starter expected to get a break.

    Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez could be the only regular starter in a lineup that could feature several new faces. Nicolás Paz, who made his World Cup debut subbing in for Messi late in the opener against Algeria, is now expected to start in his place.

    “The hope is that the team will play the same way. That’s what we’re going to try to do,” Scaloni said. “Jordan is a good opponent, and we’re not taking anything for granted. We’ll try to tweak some aspects of the last match, but with the same intention of controlling the ball and dominating the opponent.”

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    Associated Press writer Débora Rey contributed to this report.

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Ina Yoon widens her Women’s PGA Championship lead to 5 strokes


    CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Ina Yoon stretched her lead at the Women’s PGA Championship with a 3-under 69 that put her five strokes up on the second-place pack after another strong South Korean showing Friday.

    Yoon, who shot a record 63 in the first round at Hazeltine National Golf Club, had two bogeys with one birdie on the back nine to reach 12 under. The 23-year-old is seeking her first LPGA Tour victory.

    “The remaining two days will obviously be nerve-racking, but being nervous is human nature, and I think I want to embrace that and focus on what I can in my shots,” said Yoon, who missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open this month after tying for fourth at the first major of the season at The Chevron Championship.

    Nasa Hataoka, Brooke Henderson, A Lin Kim and Hae Ran Ryu were tied for second. Ryu shot a 64 for the best score of the day, three strokes better than Hataoka. Henderson finished with three straight birdies for a 68. Kim shot a 70. They all left the course in good spirits, yet trying to figure out how to make up five strokes.

    “It’s halfway done. She had a great first half, so hopefully I can just have a great second half to try to make up the difference,” said Henderson, the Canadian who won the Women’s PGA Championship at age 18 in 2016 at Sahalee Country Club in Washington. “I feel like overall the way I’ve been playing the course has been really solid, so just hopefully I make a few more birdies and climb the board.”

    LPGA Tour leader Nelly Korda, who opened her bid for a third straight major title this year with a quiet 70, had a 68 to climb into a tie for sixth place with Dongeun Lee at 6 under.

    After rallying from a slow start to win the U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, Korda put herself in a viable position.

    “It is hard to have a big lead going into the weekend. I was there at Chevron and you do feel a little bit more pressure, like everyone is hunting you down. I’m just going to focus on, as boring as it is, one shot at a time and see where that takes me,” Korda said. “I know the wind will be higher this weekend so it’s going to play probably a little bit more difficult, and I’m sure that the pins will be tricked up.”

    Yoon, Kim, Ryu and Lee gave South Korean four of the top seven at the midpoint of a tournament that has so far enjoyed calm, dry and comfortable conditions with high temperatures in the mid-70s. The 36-hole average score is the lowest for this event since 2008 at Bulle Rock in Maryland.

    “I think I like this kind of grass, and the course fit my eye as well,” Yoon said. “Yeah, I think I like this course.”

    Yoon became the fourth player in the history of the Women’s PGA Championship, which dates to 1955, to lead by five or more strokes through 36 holes, following Mickey Wright (eight, 1958), In Gee Chun (six, 2022) and Cristie Kerr (five, 2010).

    Korda again had hundreds of fans following her every shot, streaming from hole to hole as she traversed the lengthy 6,700-yard course in suburban Minneapolis.

    After birdies on four of her first nine holes, Korda faded a bit down the stretch and finished with six straight pars as she fought a hook with her tee shots. She hit into the rough along the treeline to begin her back nine before two-putting for bogey on the first hole.

    Projecting confidence and humility as the sport’s most dominant and popular player at the moment, Korda couldn’t help but laugh with caddie Jason McDede at the difference in layouts from the last major to this one.

    “At Riv it’s a dead right and now it’s left,” Korda said. “I would’ve killed for this shot at Riv. But, yeah, it’s just golf. It’s funny, right? It always kind of humbles you, and you’re always kind of scratching your head a little bit in some ways.”

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    AP GLF: https://apnews.com/hub/golf