WASHINGTON — The head of the FBI’s Chicago field office is abruptly leaving his position, according to a resignation message he sent to colleagues and multiple people familiar with the situation who said he was told to retire.
Douglas DePodesta has served as special agent in charge in Chicago, one of the FBI’s largest offices, for nearly two years and has been with the bureau since 2002.
He told colleagues that his last day would be Monday, according to a message seen by the Associated Press. Multiple people familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel move, said DePodesta had been pushed to retire.
The events leading up to his departure were not immediately clear, but DePodesta alluded in his farewell note to a conflict that he suggested had precipitated it.
“I’ve never backed down from a fight, as long as it meant our personnel could continue serving the FBI’s mission,” DePodesta wrote in the message. “Unfortunately, that has proved unpopular over time and my departure is a consequence of that.”
The move is part of a broader upheaval in the FBI’s workforce as Director Kash Patel has sought to force out line agents and supervisors alike who are perceived as not supporting the Trump administration’s agenda. It also comes amid prolonged tumult in the law enforcement community in Chicago, whose top federal prosecutor, Andrew Boutros, described this week a sweeping review of more than 1,000 grand jury presentations made by Illinois prosecutors following the dismissal of a high-profile case over misconduct.
The FBI declined to comment Thursday, but the bureau’s “rapid response” social media account on X responded to a separate post about DePodesta’s departure by saying: “It’s simple: Anyone who is not on board with THIS FBI under the leadership of President Trump — which has achieved the lowest murder rate ever — is free to leave.”
DePodesta also quoted in his note from a farewell message from Patel’s predecessor, former Director Chris Wray, who reminded the workforce that “you have been who the American people have turned to in their darkest moments” and praised them for having “stayed true to the values that define who we are, and to the qualities for which we stand: Fidelity, Bravery and Integrity.”
DePodesta joined the FBI in Chicago in 2002 and worked drug investigations. He later held senior roles at FBI headquarters in Washington and in Detroit and Memphis before being named top agent in Chicago in August 2024.
Tucker and Richer write for the Associated Press.
Arthur Fery grew up just a short walk away from Wimbledon but there is much more to his story than simply the confines of SW19.
The British men’s number three was born near Paris to his French parents before the family moved to Wimbledon when he was still in nappies.
After coming through the Lawn Tennis Association system, the 23-year-old then moved to Stanford University in California to study for a degree in science, technology and society – and sharpen his game in a tennis scholarship.
Now Fery is back on his doorstep and enjoying the biggest success of his career.
The world number 114 is left carrying British hopes at the All England Club this year after becoming the sole home player to reach the third round of the singles.
“I grew up coming to the tournament, watching the players and that definitely contributed to my development,” Fery told BBC Sport.
“I was trying to imitate players – like you do when you’re a kid. Now I’m here winning matches. It’s awesome.”
Fery’s mother, Olivia, is a French former Fed Cup player, who used to work for the LTA as a business development manager, while father Loic is an asset manager who owns Ligue 1 football club Lorient.
Many summer holidays were spent at the family’s second home near La Rochelle on the west coast of France, while he also spent time with other relatives near Nice – an area packed with courts and academies – to hone his tennis talent.
Fery briefly represented France when he was about 10 before starting to play for Britain shortly after.
After that, he says, there was “no question” that he would go on to represent Britain in the professional ranks.
“By that point, there was really no decision to make. I was living here, I was training at the National Tennis Centre. I was in the system here,” he said.
“I feel completely British now. Maybe 10 years ago if you’d asked me the question, it would be a bit different. Now I feel very British at heart.”
On June 25, the United States Supreme Court decision allowed President Donald Trump and his administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians, paving the way for their legal immigration status to be removed.
Trump has pushed to end TPS for several groups, as part of his efforts to restrict immigration into the US.
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But lawmakers from both political parties have argued that stripping Haitians of their TPS status could create a caregiving crisis, given their presence in key industries like healthcare.
“Of the 350,000+ lawful Haitian TPS holders, roughly 1/3 work in our healthcare system. Immediately shutting off TPS will create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes, and in the [intellectual disabilities] community,” Republican Representative Mike Lawler wrote on the social media platform X.
Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley echoed that sentiment in a statement.
“Seniors will lose their caregivers when we already have a caregiving crisis, and seniors will lose their ability to age in community with much-needed assistance,” she wrote.
The Temporary Protected Status programme allows nationals from countries experiencing crises, such as natural disasters or armed conflict, to live in the United States for up to 18 months. The federal government had previously renewed the designations, making them effectively permanent, before President Trump took office for a second term in 2025.
Lawler’s estimates about how many Haitians with TPS work in the US healthcare system are within the range of what the data show.
The Trump administration decision — and Supreme Court ruling — affect about 330,000 Haitians whose TPS-related work authorisations expire on July 10. They face deportation unless they qualify for another status. The ruling also applies to Syrians and Venezuelans.
About 158,000 Haitians in Florida have TPS, the majority of whom are in South Florida. The Sunshine State has the largest population of TPS recipients in the US: nearly 404,000 people. More than half are from Venezuela and about one-third are from Haiti, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
With an ageing population and an existing caregiver shortage, healthcare experts say the end of TPS for Haitians will have a significant effect on the US healthcare industry.
Of the 330,000 Haitian TPS holders, about 13,000 work daily as nursing assistants, caring for 65,000 patients, The Boston Globe found. Another 8,000 Haitian caregivers serve 12,000 children and ageing people, according to Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Miami-based nonprofit law firm that provides free representation to low-income immigrants.
Experts said the TPS healthcare workforce exodus will be felt most acutely in New York, Massachusetts and Florida.
With its high populations of older people and immigrants, Florida is expected to be particularly hard-hit.
David Grabowski, a Harvard Medical School healthcare policy professor, said the decision will “have a major impact on nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home care agencies”.
Healthcare researchers say deporting Haitian recipients of Temporary Protected Status will add pressure on a strained system.
Immigrants who have TPS are more likely to work in healthcare, with one 2025 study finding that recipients represent 15 percent of all noncitizen healthcare workers. (TPS recipients make up about 2.1 percent of the total immigrant population.)
Immigrants make up a large share of direct care workers — people who are home health aides, personal care aides and nursing assistants.
There is already a national shortage of home health aides, personal care aides, nursing assistants and other long-term care and eldercare workers, but the US will need even more in the future. The US 65-and-up population is expected to rise from 58 million to 82 million by 2050 — a 42 percent increase.
Nearly half of US nursing homes report limiting admissions due to staffing shortages, and 19 percent recently met the minimum staffing levels set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In 2023, shortages of nurses and other employees caused about two-thirds of US hospitals to operate below capacity.
“People who run nursing homes, chronic care hospitals and home care agencies – they are all saying this is a crisis,” said Dr Steffie Woolhandler, a distinguished professor of public health at City University of New York’s Hunter College. “There has long been a shortage of folks who are willing to do direct care work as nursing aides, and there’s still a shortage now, so, of course, if the US deports them all, it’s just going to make it worse.”
Drishti Pillai, the director of immigrant health policy at the research nonprofit KFF, said, “The long-term care industry is already facing shortages prior to these immigration policy changes, so I think it’s accurate to say that this is going to further exacerbate the situation.”
Healthcare experts pointed to several reasons for TPS holders’ high numbers in direct care, including job availability, an easier certification process compared with other healthcare jobs, and prior experience caring for family members.
“We do not have sufficient native-born workers to fill all the caregiving jobs,” Grabowski, the healthcare policy professor, said.
These positions also typically have lower barriers to entry for licensure, or no English language requirements, experts said. Refugee settlement organisations often recommend the work to immigrants for those reasons.
The positions are “extremely difficult to fill” because they’re physically and emotionally demanding, with low pay and with little or no employee benefits, said Priya Chidambaram, senior policy manager with KFF’s programme on Medicaid and the uninsured.
Some Haitians also have experience caring for sick family members in their homes, given the lack of nursing home infrastructure in their home country.
In the end, experts said there will be many more people who need this care than people who will be able to provide it.
“This was true before the ruling,” Chidambaram said. “Now, the impact will only be worse.”
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has announced felony charges against a former Olympic athlete for allegedly harming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC.
At a news conference on Thursday, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro accused professional canoeist David Hearn, 67, of deliberately vandalising the pool.
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“Today, a grand jury has returned a felony indictment against a defendant, David Hearn, for felony destruction of property, for which he faces 10 years in prison,” Pirro, a Trump appointee, said.
She proceeded to call the destruction of national monuments “one of the most offensive images” she has ever seen.
“This unchecked vandalism and civil disorder turns into criminal behaviour, and that’s why we’re here today,” Pirro said. “They are an affront to the dignity of our shared history.”
But in media interviews, Hearn has denied any vandalism, saying that, like many Americans, he was simply curious about the Reflecting Pool when he visited on June 19.
The Reflecting Pool had been the subject of a renovation effort Trump began in April, as part of a wider initiative to reshape Washington, DC, through controversial construction and maintenance projects.
Trump awarded a no-bid contract to a firm to seal and resurface the granite pool in a colour he dubbed “American flag blue”. But observers noted that, as soon as the pool reopened in early June, it suffered an algae bloom, and blue paint began to peel from its bottom.
Faced with criticism about the $13.1m renovation contract, Trump countered that vandals had sabotaged the Reflecting Pool.
At least seven people, including Hearn, have been arrested on allegations they may have harmed the pool’s blue-painted bottom.
Hearn has maintained his innocence. He says he was cycling by the Reflecting Pool when he stopped to look at the peeling paint, and he reached in the water to feel it. He denies removing any part of the pool.
Pirro, however, described a different scene. She said National Park Service employees observed Hearn “forcefully and violently pulling up and removing the bottom liner with both hands”, damaging roughly 2 square feet — or around 0.18 square meters — of pool sealant.
“A parks employee actually told Hearn to stop his behaviour and stop what he was doing. Hearn reacted by shouting at that parks employee,” Pirro alleged.
Reporters confronted Pirro with questions about whether charging Hearn with a felony was disproportionately punitive, since similar cases have been considered misdemeanour offences.
One journalist asked Pirro if her decision to seek a felony indictment was influenced by Trump, who wrote on Truth Social that a 10-year prison sentence should “be fully enforced” for any attempted damage to the Reflecting Pool.
“I didn’t charge anything harshly. I charge according to the evidence,” Pirro replied. She argued that Hearn caused damage exceeding $1,000, thereby necessitating a felony charge.
She also dismissed comparisons with the millions of dollars in damage caused by Trump supporters during the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Nearly all of those defendants were pardoned on the first day of Trump’s second term.
“Are you really talking about January 6th? I’m not,” Pirro told one reporter. A hearing in Hearn’s case is scheduled for July 9.
On Thursday, preparations for the July 4 fireworks show began at the Reflecting Pool, with large nets spread across the entire structure.
According to a police officer on the site, the nets are intended to catch the debris that could fall into the pool during the show. The site remains fenced off to visitors.
Still, many have come to look at the pool and see the controversial renovations firsthand.
Brian Williams, a 31-year-old from Roscoe, Georgia, praised Trump for his efforts to beautify the city. He said that algae was normal for a pool full of still water in the heat of summertime.
“I don’t think people have any business vandalising anything,” Williams added. “If you have something that you dislike about the president, don’t take it out on the people’s pool.”
But others were more sceptical of Trump’s claims. Jon Delgado, a 40-year-old Navy veteran from Collierville, Tennessee, expressed frustration at seeing the Reflecting Pool in its current state.
“I came here with my wife and my family to show them the beauty of America, the spirit of what we fought for,” he said. “To see it trashed like this, it just makes me angry.”
Delgado called Trump’s accusations about vandalism at the site “really crazy”.
“We have just got to ask ourselves: Is this where we’re at, in the state of America, that we’re believing something like this? You can look for yourself: This thing has pond scum all in it, and it stinks. There’s no vandalism,” he said.
OLLY Murs left talkSPORT hosts Andy Goldstein and Gabby Agbonlahor in stitches after impersonating Ross Kemp’s emotional reaction to England playing during the World Cup.
The singer was asked if he had seen the moment EastEnders star Ross went wild watching the Three Lions play DR Congo and whether he would be willing to replicate the moment.
The Heart Skips A Beat singer pulled out all the stops to deliver an equally passionate performance, as Andy asked: “Is there any way you could deliver us a Ross Kemp style rallying cry for England against Mexico?”
Scrunching up his face and changing his voice to sound more like Ross, Olly dived right into the task, yelling: “Come on England, we can do this.
“Stop doing this to me, stop it. I’m telling ya, we can do it. He’s coming home.”
Olly then dramatically walked out of frame, leaving Andy in stitches while asking where he had gone.
EastEnders fans and celebs alike were cracking up after Ross’ reaction to England winning flooded the internet.
The 61-year-old – who recently returned to the BBC soap as Grant Mitchell – shared a video of himself online passionately praising Harry Kane.
Ross filmed himself wearing an England shirt in his living room, shouting at the camera: “Yes! Yes! Harry Kane! Harry Kane!
“That’s what we’re talking about. Great changes made – a massive difference. Come on, England! Close it down. Close it down!”
Punching the air in triumph, he went on: “Four minutes! Four minutes! Plus extra time!”
Looking out of breath, the actor added: “My God, why do you do this to me? Come on, England!”
He captioned the Instagram video, “Harry Kane,” with football and England flag emojis.
A slew of celebs flooded the comments with their amusement, with actor and presenter Adil Ray joking, “Watch the ticker Grant!!!!!” while presenter Rav Wilding posted, “Love you Ross!” and Sky Sports host Adam Smith commented: “Legend.”
Fans also shared their appreciation, with one asking: “Please can I come and watch the next match with you?”
“Grant Mitchell shouting down his phone has made me feel more patriotic than when I was watching the game,” someone else joked.
A third user suggested Ross should join the England coaching team, declaring: “Get him on the team as assistant manager.”
Harry scored two goals in nine minutes during Wednesday’s match, delivering England to a 2-1 win and sending the Three Lions to Mexico City.
You can listen to all FIFA World Cup 2026 matches for free on the talkSPORT app, with live commentaries via talkSPORT’s YouTube and TikTok.
WASHINGTON — President Trump and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the midterm elections: They’re communists.
In just the past week, Trump has issued dark warnings that members of the Democratic Party’s ascendant left are communists who want to “completely destroy the traditional American way of life” and even engage in assassinations. Vice President JD Vance has similarly called out communism as a political shift that is “something we haven’t seen in the U.S.” House Speaker Mike Johnson has decried “radical candidates” who are “self-described, self-identifying Marxists.”
The GOP’s ideological focus conflates democratic socialism, which often centers on securing universal healthcare, higher taxes on the wealthy and stricter corporate regulation, with communism, under which private ownership is largely eliminated. It has been building since Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor last year.
But it’s kicked into a higher gear recently after democratic socialists won several New York City congressional primaries last week. The primary victory on Tuesday by another democratic socialist, Melat Kiros, for a Denver congressional seat suggested the trend may extend beyond Manhattan liberalism.
“The Democrats are making this easy for us,” Rep. Richard Hudson, the North Carolina Republican who leads the House GOP’s strategy and fundraising arm, said in an interview. “They’re nominating extreme liberals, leftists who are out of touch even with mainstream Democrats.”
The messaging effort comes as Republicans scramble to hold onto threadbare congressional majorities in the November midterms. It risks overlooking public frustration, particularly among younger voters, with unfettered capitalism at a time of growing income inequality and rising costs.
But it also gives Republicans a much-needed opportunity to shift the conversation back to territory that is more comfortable for them after their party has spent much of the year on defense over the fallout from Trump’s decision to launch a war against Iran, which contributed to widespread price spikes.
Ralph Reed, the longtime conservative activist who hosted Trump last week at a Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, acknowledged that Republicans are facing steep headwinds this year. But the recent string of wins by democratic socialists, he said, allows Republicans to present a contrast between “common sense and crazy.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally at Kings Theater on June 18, 2026 in New York City. Sanders joined Mayor Zohran Mamdani ahead of next week’s primary, and the start of early voting on Saturday, as the pair campaigned for Brad Lander, Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who are challenging incumbents in Democratic primary contests.
(Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)
The renewed push could tug at tensions among Democrats who are largely united in their loathing of Trump but are divided over the party’s direction. This year’s primaries are shaping up as a referendum between centrists who are eager to course correct from what they see as progressive overreach earlier in the decade and a left-wing pushing for even more sweeping change.
“A lot of this anger has been boiling under the surface,” said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, which was founded by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats. “It’s coming to the fore in this moment in a very powerful way.”
But Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a centrist New Jersey Democrat, called the victories in Colorado and New York “aberrations.”
“We’ve got to fight like hell to keep our party from being hijacked by socialists,” he said. “Most of them are bomb throwers, not problem solvers.”
Nevada Atty. Gen. Aaron Ford easily dispatched a more progressive rival earlier this year in his Democratic bid for governor in a state Trump carried in 2024. As he eyes a general election challenge to Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, he insisted candidates like those who won in New York don’t represent all Democrats.
He said the Democratic Socialists of America “is not the face of our party.”
Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the House Democratic campaign committee, said in a statement that Republicans were “resorting to desperate attacks that aren’t actually about the pocketbook issues.”
Trump and fellow Republicans risk missing the mark when the public’s embrace of capitalism might not be as strong as it was decades ago.
About half of U.S. adults, 54%, have a positive view of capitalism, according to an August poll from Gallup, a slight decline from 61% in 2010. Democrats have driven some of the shift, but favorable opinions of capitalism have fallen among independents as well.
Only 42% of Democrats viewed capitalism favorably, while 66% had a positive view of socialism. The poll found that both younger and older Democrats have warmed slightly on socialism since 2010, but Democrats under age 50 are much less likely to view capitalism favorably. Democrats age 50 or older didn’t shift meaningfully.
“Young voters, who I would argue are driving a lot of the electoral energy that we’re seeing, came of age politically in a post-Soviet world,” Geevarghese said. “The attacks don’t land in the same way when Donald Trump was politically of age.”
Hudson, who is running the House GOP campaign committee, acknowledged the communism line might not resonate in the same way with all voters, particularly younger people. That’s why, he said, it’s important for Republicans to tailor their message to the needs of individual districts.
“I’ve never run cookie-cutter campaigns where we just say one thing over and over everywhere,” he said.
Still, the argument was high on Trump’s mind again on Wednesday as he visited the newly built Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota. He called the former president a “ferocious opponent of a thing called communism.”
“It’s the biggest threat to our country, including World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, September 11,” he said. “It’s a bigger threat, potentially a bigger threat than that, because it’s like a cancer that spreads, and you better stop it fast.”
Beverly Gage, a history professor at Yale University who has written on the rise and fall of Sen. Joe McCarthy, said earlier eras of anti-communism politics took hold because there was a large and active Communist Party in the U.S. and the Soviet Union was the country’s primary foe. But she said Trump’s focus on the issue is notable given his ties to Roy Cohn, a onetime confidant of Trump who earlier worked for McCarthy.
“It’s not very many steps to get from McCarthy to Roy Cohn to Donald Trump,” she said.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, shrugged off Trump’s communism focus as “bunk.” In an interview, he said the direction of the party isn’t all that different from the dynamics he’s navigated for decades in California politics.
“I governed in an environment where the DSA was otherwise known as progressives,” he said. “This dialectic is so deeply familiar to me, and I don’t over read any of it.”
Sloan writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
For much of an international career that began a decade ago at the age of 19, Oyarzabal has not enjoyed much of the limelight.
He missed out on the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
But four years later – and before a World Cup debut – he was in the form of his life with 12 goals in 12 international appearances.
The double against Austria extended that run to 17 in his last 16 starts, with four goals at this tournament.
“His last two seasons, since he recovered, are the best of his career,” added Balague.
“Four goals in the World Cup – our most decisive player, no doubt.”
Spain memorably played without a recognised striker at Euro 2012, but Oyarzabal is now very much the focal point of their attacks with two excellent finishes against Austria.
“Sometimes people are in doubt about Spain because of the centre-forward, but Oyarzabal is doing the job,” former Spain defender Cesar Azpilicueta told BBC One.
“A few years ago, Oyarzabal was playing a bit more on the right wing and he has transitioned more into the middle.”
Since the start of last year, the only European player with more international goals than Oyarzabal is Norway striker Erling Haaland with 22.
He also became the first Spanish player to score twice in a World Cup knockout match since Emilio Butragueno against Denmark in the last 16 of the 1986 tournament.
The statistics are impressive, but it is not to say he is overshadowed by Lamine Yamal, with the 18-year-old playing a key role in Oyarzabal being able to shine.
The Barcelona forward’s excellent ball control and dribbling skills clearly unsettles defences and pulled the Austrian defenders towards him to create more space for Oyarzabal.
“When you have someone in your team like Lamine Yamal who attracts so much attention, you know you will get more space,” said former Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.
“Oyarzabal uses that space, gets the ball, and scores goals.”
Dakar, Senegal – The silence came before kickoff. Not from fear but anticipation, a nation holding its breath.
Across Dakar, radios crackled from open windows. Men gathered shoulder to shoulder in cafes, their eyes fixed on flickering television screens. Families crowded into living rooms. Friends leaned over phones, tea growing cold as conversation gave way to concentration.
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The city’s usual rhythm horns, its markets, its arguments, its laughter – did not disappear. It simply yielded to something larger.
Senegal were in the first knockout round of the World Cup, playing against Belgium.
On the 25th-minute mark of the game, the boy from the suburbs of Dakar, Habib Diarra, delivered the nation from its anxiety, sweeping a loose ball beyond the Belgian goalkeeper: 1-0 to Senegal.
Eight thousand kilometres away from the game in Seattle, the United States, Dakar became the stadium. The celebrations only grew after Senegal scored a second goal early in the second half. Confidence turned into complacency. Five minutes from full-time, car horns blared and firecrackers echoed through the night. Victory was near.
But the celebrations came too early.
Belgium scored once. Then again. All in the space of five minutes, completing an astonishing comeback. And then, in the final minutes of extra-time, Senegal gave away a penalty: 3-2 to Belgium.
A day later, the silence remains.
Not quite mourning, but more disbelief.
“It’s incomprehensible,” says former Senegal international footballer Ferdinand Coly. “When you control a match with such quality until the 85th minute, you have to finish it. But psychologically, everything changed.”
Coly believes the turning point was not Belgium’s resurgence, but the Senegal coaching team’s decisions.
“The substitutions completely changed the midfield. There was no reason to make them. Once Belgium scored, they gained the psychological advantage. Senegal became fragile. They retreated, played with fear, and never recovered.”
Coly was part of Senegal’s 2002 World Cup squad, the team that famously stunned France in the tournament’s opening match.
“It’s never over… until the final whistle,” he said, reflecting on Belgium’s dramatic comeback.
Since retiring, Coly has swapped his football boots for farming. He has also worked with the Senegalese Football Federation, and believes the national team has lost sight of the basics.
For him, the problem is not talent but preparation.
He criticises what he sees as an over-reliance on data, statistics, and performance apps, instead of building a coherent team identity and developing a clear tactical strategy.
As Belgium searched for an equaliser, their coach was still scribbling notes on a sheet of paper, adjusting and reacting until the very last minute.
“What a contrast!” Coly said. “We’re relying on technology when football is still about reading the game, adapting and thinking.”
Coly’s analysis echoes that of supporters still trying to process a defeat that slipped away in the closing minutes.
Ibrahima Diop is a die-hard fan of the Lions of Teranga. He travelled to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. He was even jailed in Morocco after trouble during the Africa Cup of Nations Final earlier this year.
In that controversial final – played against the hosts, Morocco – Senegal’s coach controversially called his players off the pitch after a disputed penalty decision. Senegal went on to win the match, but later lost the title over the incident.
For Diop, the lesson was the same as against Belgium.
“It comes down to concentration,” he says. “For 85 minutes the team was organised and united. Then it disappeared. European teams are prepared psychologically to fight until the very end. We still struggle in those final minutes.”
Diop also believes Senegal were missing something impossible to measure.
“The team played without its supporters. Visa restrictions and the economic crisis meant many fans could not travel. The players know what that atmosphere gives them. Mentally, it made a difference.”
US President Donald Trump signed a proclamation in December declaring that no visas would be given for business or tourism to nationals of Senegal, and several other countries. This meant that fans with only Senegalese nationality were unable to travel to the tournament.
Diop sees a pattern in this World Cup. Ivory Coast, DR Congo, and now Senegal led until the closing minutes, only to watch victory slip away in stadiums empty of their fans.
Football is rarely just football. This World Cup – meant to unite – has revealed the deep inequalities beyond the stands. A nation may be united in victory. But when the referee blows the final whistle, another game begins: the blame game.
Football is opium for the masses, says Coly. It has become one of the few moments when political loyalties disappear. For 90 minutes, everyone wears the same colours.
“The national team is a bridge,” Coly said. “When Senegal plays, there is no political affiliation. It’s simply Senegal. Sport has this unique ability to unite people beyond their differences.”
The unity makes defeat feel disproportionately heavy.
Social media quickly filled with frozen moments from the match: missed chances, defensive mistakes, and coaching decisions replayed endlessly.
Under pressure, football often reveals more than just sporting weaknesses.
Babacar Fall, a Senegalese journalist who has closely followed the national team, argues that the problems began long before kickoff.
According to him, uncertainty over the coach’s future, disagreements inside the federation, and unresolved contractual issues created instability during the tournament.
“There were already problems before the Norway match,” he says. “The coach’s contract wasn’t settled. There were disagreements over player selection. Then, 10 minutes from the end against Belgium, one substitution broke the defensive structure completely.”
He draws an even broader comparison.
“The country is paralysed. There was so much hope after the Africa Cup of Nations, just as there was so much hope politically. Today, there is disappointment. In many ways, the team’s collapse reflects the country’s mood.”
Those views capture a feeling repeated by many supporters in Dakar this week. There is frustration, not simply because Senegal lost, but because of how it lost.
The talent was there. The opportunity was there. For much of the match, Senegal looked like the stronger side. That is perhaps why the silence lingers.
This generation has raised expectations. Winning continental titles transformed how Senegal sees itself. Reaching the knockout stages is no longer enough; supporters believe this team should compete with the world’s best.
Ultimately, it is only football. But in Senegal, football has become something larger than sport. It is a source of national pride, a rare moment of collective unity, and a reflection of possibility.
That is why this defeat feels so cruel. Not because a match was lost. But because, for one evening, it felt as though an entire country’s potential had slipped away in the space of just five minutes.
Norton was photographed with his husband Jono McLeod at JFK Airport. Swift previously noted while appearing on his show that she planned to invite him to the big day. Asked by the host when the wedding would be, she said: “Oh, you’ll know. I was going to invite you to it.”
Waller-Bridge was also spotted in the city. She and Swift have been known to socialise together., external Waller-Bridge was among the attendees at Swift’s Eras Tour in London in 2024, and hosted US sketch show Saturday Night Live in 2019 when Swift was the musical guest.
Donna Kelce was also spotted disembarking a flight into JFK airport by tabloid reporters but didn’t answer questions about the rumoured wedding festivities or how her son is feeling.
Jack Antonoff, a close friend and frequent creative collaborator of Taylor’s, was also seen out Thursday evening, donning a suit. As was her close friend singer Selena Gomez, who posted to social media a video of herself in a black gown and diamond earrings in the back of a vehicle.
Singers Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello and close pal Sabrina Carpenter were also spotted recently, along with actress Anya Taylor-Joy.
Longtime friend Ed Sheeran and Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner were spotted together in upstate New York sharing a meal at a restaurant.
NFL San Francisco 49ers player George Kittle, singer Benson Boone and English actress Suki Waterhouse are among other celebrities reportedly attending the wedding.
Swift’s childhood friend Abigail Anderson Berard, who has been in multiple Swift music videos, is also expected to be there. It is unknown if actress Blake Lively, who drew Swift into a bitter legal battle with Lively’s It Ends With Us co-star Justin Baldoni, will be invited. The case was settled in May.
Props including a grand piano, carpets and a box of mirror balls have been seen being taken into the arena, while “no parking” signs have been placed around the vicinity.
A forklift truck operator has also been spotted wearing a Swift t-shirt while working at the venue.
Neither Swift nor Kelce has confirmed details of the wedding. The BBC has contacted their representatives.
However, the couple announced on Thursday that they had donated $26 million (£19.5 million) to charities in the US, including food banks, children’s hospitals and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
It’s the 250th birthday of the United States of America and how better to celebrate than with a big-screen hagiography of America’s first president, George Washington? “Young Washington” arrives in theaters just in time for the Fourth of July with a chiseled, hot young actor in the lead role and the sheen of a prestige HBO drama, though the result isn’t really big-screen spectacle or appointment television. It feels more like something to be watched on the AV rig in a middle school social studies class. At least there won’t be a quiz at the end.
But there could be, because the plot of “Young Washington” plays out with all the thrill of a textbook chapter. It takes place mostly around 1753-55, at the advent of the French and Indian War. We open in medias res when the 23-year-old Col. Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) lurches from a dysentery-riddled nap directly into battle in the Pennsylvania woods, his battalion on the back foot, surrounded by gore and gunpowder. Another officer describes how dire the situation is while George ponders saving his men and asks, “What could be worth the risk?” Washington steels his gaze and we cut to black. You can almost hear the eagles scream, guitars riff and engines rev.
“Young Washington” is produced and distributed by Angel Studios, the faith-based movie studio that churns out films based on true stories that either feature freak accidents, strange illnesses or, more recently, unique stories from the past in which faith in God is a factor. Apparently, our nation’s founding also falls under this umbrella.
The film is directed by Jon Erwin, one of the in-house Angel Studios mainstays, who also helmed “Jesus Revolution,” “I Still Believe” and “I Can Only Imagine.” Erwin gives the whole project a kind of gritty, visceral approach — very “Game of Thrones” in red coats. It’s violent, muddy, the contrast is high and too many drone shots soar over the forest treetops.
Though it opens with a bang, this 1755 battle framing device gives way to the George origin story, starting with his father’s death 12 years earlier, when the 11-year-old George is bereft that he’ll have to sacrifice his education in order to become a tenant farmer and provide for his family including his mother, Mary (Mary-Louise Parker, doing a bizarre accent).
His older half-brother Lawrence (John Foss) takes him under his wing and teaches him, and the young George grows into a smart, bright, ambitious young man, whose dreams of becoming a British officer are dashed because he doesn’t have formal education, a fortuitous marriage or his own land. But he’s bootstrapped himself into intelligence and with savvy networking and know-how, he becomes indispensable to the British, volunteering as a major to survey land and negotiate treaties with the Native tribes and French army. It’s all a bunch of politicking and petty disputes until it escalates into all-out war thanks to an ill-advised ambush.
Sir Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammar (who starred in “Jesus Revolution”) and Andy Serkis play the British officers who begrudgingly, at times, believe in George and his capabilities, though a lot of the film is about a young man getting rebuffed by snobbish British officers.
He’s the kind of character who always makes the noble choice, does and says what’s right, and sees everyone as equals (including enslaved African men and Native American allies). He inspires his brother and others that the world can change and takes inspiration from his mother, who encourages him to continue his path and do it as God’s servant.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t make for a character that’s in any way complex or interesting at all. Franklyn-Miller is certainly pretty, serving as a fine face for this story, but the screenplay (by Erwin, Diederik Hoogstraten and Tom Provost) flattens his character into a basic cookie-cutter hero. Audiences, including the middle school social studies students, deserve better and more nuanced stories about this country and the values it was built upon.
“Young Washington” is propaganda in the form of a history lesson wrapped in a summer blockbuster. If only it were even slightly entertaining — maybe they’ll tackle that in the inevitable sequel.
‘Young Washington’
Rated: PG-13, for sequences of strong war violence and some bloody images
Running time: 2 hours, 5 minutes
Playing: Opens Friday, July 3 in wide release
WASHINGTON — Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 10,000 people over a five-day period at the end of June, marking a major push by the agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda.
The arrest numbers, obtained from a person familiar with the information who spoke anonymously to discuss data that has not been publicly released, comes after the agency shifted its approach from high-profile arrest sweeps in major American cities to quieter ways to reach President Trump’s deportation goals.
The figures indicate that while the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, the arrests continue and are surging.
The total number of arrests during the five-day period starting Friday and ending Tuesday translates to roughly 2,000 arrests per day. It was not clear where the arrests had taken place.
The spike in arrests was first reported by The New York Times.
“Since Day One, DHS law enforcement has been delivering on President Trump’s promise to the American people to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists,” said the Department of Homeland Security in a statement. “Our message is clear: if you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”
The arrests news also comes as the number of people entered into ICE detention facilities climbed in June to roughly 39,000 after hovering near 30,000 per month since February, according to information obtained by the Associated Press.
ICE doesn’t publicly release arrest data, making exact comparisons with previous periods difficult. But according to data provided to UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project and analyzed by The Associated Press, 2,000 arrests per day would mark a sharp increase over previous periods.
December had the most ICE arrests since the beginning of the Trump administration, and that month only averaged 1,283 arrests per day nationwide.
In January, at a time when the administration flooded the streets of Minneapolis and surrounding regions with hundreds of immigration enforcement officers, arrests averaged about 1,212 per day across the country.
But that proved to be a turning point in the Trump administration’s mass deportations agenda after two American citizens were killed by immigration officers while protesting the crackdown in Minneapolis.
Border advisor Tom Homan started drawing down the number of officers in Minnesota as the agency stepped back from the flashy surge operations that had been common during the tenure of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Operations under Noem, headed by former Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, were marked by frequent clashes between immigration enforcement officers and protesters in footage that was often splashed across the Department’s social media channels.
In February, immigration arrests fell to 1,057 a day, according to information from the Deportation Data Project. The Project sued through the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the ICE arrests data, and it is only current through February.
After Noem was fired, her successor at Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, suggested he’d be taking a more low-profile approach to immigration enforcement and he aimed to get the department out of the headlines. But Mullin was expected to adopt Trump’s priorities on immigration.
Santana writes for the Associated Press.
Former NFL running back Chris Johnson has issued a challenge to his family, friends and fans — one that could quite literally send a chill down the spine of those who remember a certain viral trend from more than a decade ago.
A quick refresher: A social media sensation went viral in 2014, involving people posting videos of themselves having a bucket of ice water poured over their heads and challenging others, by name, to do the same.
The trend was often referred to as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge because many folks used the videos to raise awareness for and funding to help fight the degenerative neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Johnson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who holds the NFL record for most yards from scrimmage in a single season, on Tuesday revealed on “Good Morning America” that he has been diagnosed with ALS. Soon after, former Utah basketball player and sports content creator Hunter Mecum posted a video on Instagram in which he dumped a large bowl of ice water on himself in Johnson’s honor.
That video inspired Johnson to bring the movement back.
“Man… the love y’all have shown me these last few days really [means] more than you know. Me and my family appreciate every prayer, message and every bit of support,” Johnson wrote on Wednesday on Instagram.
“After seeing @huntermecum video, I’m asking y’all to help me with something. Let’s bring back the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Grab a bucket, challenge 3 people and if you can, donate to help fund ALS research.”
Johnson included a link in his bio to a fundraiser for ALS research set up in his honor. As of Thursday morning, it had raised more than $32,000.
The retired player known as CJ2K also called on three people to accept the ice bucket challenge — ex-Tennessee Titans teammate LenDale White and fellow former NFL greats Marshawn Lynch and Adam “Pacman” Jones.
So far, White and Lynch have accepted Johnson’s challenge. Lynch, the former star running back for the Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders, obliged by getting hailed on by a bucket of ice.
White, who was Johnson’s “Smash and Dash” counterpart in the Titans backfield, took the traditional ice water route and nominated former NFL players Deion Sanders, Vince Young and Michael Sims-Walker, who was on hand at the time and accepted the challenge in a separate video.
Johnson also posted a video of his daughter Honey Love taking the challenge, with White handling the ice-bucket duty. She nominated her brothers and former Lakers superstar LeBron James.
James hasn’t yet responded, but he was one of the many celebrities who took part in the original challenge 12 years ago. Others included Kobe Bryant (who submerged himself in an ice tub), Shaquille O’Neal (who humorously poured one drop of water on his head) and Donald Trump (who joked he was nominated because “they want to see whether or not it’s my real hair, which it is”).
1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney is shown in a photo provided by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. McKinney’s remains were identified May 15, nearly 82 years after his plane vanished on a mission. Photo courtesy of the DPAA
July 2 (UPI) — A young World War II pilot who disappeared during a flight in1944 has been accounted for, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Thursday.
The remains of 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney, 21, of the U.S. Army Air Forces were identified May 15, nearly 82 years after his plane vanished on a mission, the agency said.
McKinney was a pilot with the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 14th Air Force, the announcement said. On Nov. 5, 1944, he left a U.S. base on a reconnaissance mission from Yunnanyi, China, over Burma and Thailand.
“Photo reconnaissance work by the 35th and the intelligence derived from it helped turn the tide of the war in China,” an Air Force article on the squadron noted.
McKinney, who was flying an F-5 Lightning aircraft, failed to return from the mission. Personnel from the American Graves Registration Service searched along his planned flight path to the Chinese/Thailand border, but found no sign of a crash, the DPAA report said.
His remains were not recovered immediately after the war, and his name was engraved on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
McKinney’s personnel profile on the DPAA website says that a wartime report from the Royal Thai Air Force Museum later led researchers to new information. The report said that a plane was hit by lightning, exploded and crashed in a wooded area in Lampang Province, Thailand, near the time McKinney’s aircraft vanished.
In 2018, the profile said, third-party researchers found a crash site in the region that they matched with McKinney’s plane. In 2022, a recovery team excavated the site and found human remains. Modern forensic techniques eventually identified them as McKinney’s.
The pilot’s family will be briefed by the DPAA, CBS News reported. A rosette will be added next to his name on the Tablets of the Missing. McKinney will be laid to rest with full military honors.
McKinney’s home of record is listed as Rhode Island. This does not necessarily mean he from the state, but that he joined the service there, the DPAA said.
The agency is a department within the U.S. Department of Defense. It identifies its mission as providing “the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel to their families and the nation.”
Mikel Oyarzabal’s brace allows the European champions to dominate Austria and move on to the round of 16.
Published On 2 Jul 20262 Jul 2026
Spain coasted past Austria and into the FIFA World Cup last 16 on Thursday, thoroughly outclassing their opponents in a 3-0 knockout win, with a brace from Mikel Oyarzabal and a Pedro Porro header.
The European champions controlled possession and sliced through the Austrian defence in a typically dominant performance in Los Angeles, as Hollywood stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem and singer Rosalia cheered on.
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The win, which could have been by a greater margin – with a disallowed goal and a free kick off the woodwork – sets up a tantalising round-of-16 clash with either Portugal or Croatia.
“I’m happy to help the team and get through to the next round. Now we need to rest,” said Oyarzabal directly after full-time.
“They were a physical side and difficult to play against, but we played a good match. We’re happy to qualify,” he added.
As to whether he would prefer Portugal or Croatia in Monday’s last-16 match-up, Oyarzabal remarked: “It doesn’t matter who we face in the next round; I have friends in both teams.”
Los Angeles Stadium was a sea of red and excitement over the first visit by a bona fide World Cup favourite to the US’s second city.
Spain ratcheted up the pressure gradually through the first half, creating a string of chances after the first hydration break.
Marc Cucurella thought he had scored from a Lamine Yamal corner, but Pau Cubarsi was judged to have encroached on Austria’s goalkeeper.
Alexander Schlager then made a superb diving save, pushing Oyarzabal’s low shot around the post.
Austria’s defence finally buckled in the 36th minute. Pedri pinged a ball wide, left to Cucurella, whose cross to Oyarzabal was calmly side-footed past the goalkeeper.
Spain’s dominance grew further, with Yamal tormenting the Austrians, mainly from the right flank.
An Alex Baena free kick hit the crossbar, and Yamal’s close-range follow-up shot was well saved.
Austria spurned a rare chance at the other end. Romano Schmid played in a late-arriving and unmarked Stefan Posch, but a terrible first touch meant he lost the ball before even attempting a shot.
After the break, Spain continued knocking on the door without quite putting the game to rest.
Austria sent on two giant strikers, Sasa Kalajdzic and Marko Arnautovic, and immediately went long, with Kalajdzic putting a header over the bar.
But in the 66th minute, Spain struck again. Baena lifted a cross onto the head of Pedro Porro, who nodded in his first goal for Spain.
Some dogged defending kept the scoreline respectable, including a goal-line clearance by David Alaba from Yamal, who was substituted off to rest moments later.
Spain sprayed passes around the pitch as the final minutes ticked down, eliciting “Oles” from the crowd, as attention turned to a sterner test on Monday in Dallas.
In the 89th minute, a pinpoint Cucurella cross found a completely unmarked Oyarzabal in the penalty area, who slotted the ball home to seal the victory in style.
On Sunday, Mexico will take on England at Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca for a round of 16 World Cup match in one of the most hotly anticipated contests of the tournament so far.
But days before anything goes down on the pitch, Mexico and England fans have already started bickering with each other online — from cheeky jabs to heated debates about which country does beans on toast better.
Joining in on the soccer smack talk are two of the biggest rock stars from the countries — Liam Gallagher of Oasis fame and Maná frontman Fher Olvera.
The beef kicked off Wednesday morning when Gallagher replied to a fan question on X about the possibility of England playing Mexico on their home turf before the Three Lions sealed their win against DR Congo.
“Liam how do you feel about England being crushed at the azteca,” the X user @angelchilddemo asked.
Gallagher answered by writing, “I think we’ll beat Mexico 5-0.”
The “Wonderwall” singer’s prediction was so audacious that Olvera took it upon himself to publicly respond with an Instagram video Wednesday evening.
“The singer of Oasis said that Mexico will lose to England 5-0,” Olvera said in Spanish with a giant grin on his face while draped in a Mexican flag. “No way! Check yourself dude! 5 to 0? Calm down! We’ll see you Sunday to see how it goes, dude. Don’t play with me.”
By Thursday morning Gallagher amended his prediction for the match.
“[L]et me just clear someting up I was obv kidding when I said England will beat Mexico 5-0,” the English rocker wrote in an X post. “I reckon it’ll be more like 3-0 to England.”
While Olvera and Gallagher will be at odds over the next few days, the two singers shared parallel experiences as Maná was one of the bestselling Mexican rock bands of the ‘90s and Oasis was the bestselling British rock group of the ‘90s.
Maná already made its mark on this year’s World Cup when it played its 1992 hit “Oye Mi Amor” at the tournament’s opening ceremony in Mexico City ahead of the Mexico-South Africa match on June 11.
Sunday’s contest between England and Mexico also marks the first time the English side will play at Estadio Azteca since the 1986 World Cup when they lost to eventual-champions Argentina in a quarterfinal game infamous for Diego Maradona‘s “Hand of God” goal.
The last time Mexico and England squared off in a World Cup setting was during the 1966 World Cup in England where the Three Lions beat El Tri 2-0 in a group stage match at Wembley Stadium.
monsitj/iStock via Getty Images
Gold futures gained Thursday after a weaker-than-expected June employment report pressured the U.S. dollar and cooled near-term expectations for rate-tightening from the Federal Reserve.
Only 57K non-farm jobs were added in June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, well below analyst forecasts
WASHINGTON — A former Olympian was indicted Thursday on a felony charge in what President Trump has called vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where a renovation project he launched has been riddled with problems.
David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, was indicted on a single count of property destruction in a Washington, D.C. court.
District of Columbia U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro said Hearn ripped up recently installed sealant on the pool in “a deliberate act” that caused more than $1,000 in damage. She accused him of “forcefully and violently” pulling up the bottom liner “with both hands” and acting belligerently toward an employee who told him to stop.
“This is a case with tremendous evidence,” she said, adding that authorities have made about six other misdemeanor arrests.
In a statement, Democracy Defenders Fund co-founder Norm Eisen and Mary Dohrmann, senior counsel at Washington Litigation Group, said that they represented Hearn and that the charges were “outrageous and should be alarming to every American.” Eisen and Dohrmann construed the case as representative of “the misuse of government power against an ordinary citizen based on a concocted narrative.”
Hearn didn’t immediately return a phone call seeking comment. He previously told the Associated Press that he reached into the pool on June 19 to examine the newly peeled coating. He said he briefly touched a chunk that was still attached to the side of the pool, then let go shortly after a park worker told him to.
“I’m a curious citizen,” Hearn said in a telephone interview last month. “I reached down to see what it felt like. It was very rubbery.”
Hearn, 67, of Bethesda, Md., owned a company that made composite materials used to build watercraft.
Saying that he stopped by the pool during a 64-mile bike ride, Hearn said he was detained by National Guard troops and U.S. Park Police for five hours before being released.
Trump said last month that federal authorities made “multiple arrests” of people he accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool as he struggled to explain why the $16-million rehabilitation project he launched for the nation’s 250th anniversary seemingly backfired. Without providing any substantiation, he also said vandals dumped fertilizer into the pool and slashed the coating with a box cutter.
In subsequent days, National Guard members and the park police patrolled the deck around the Reflecting Pool as Trump’s administration faced a self-imposed deadline to fix a botched renovation before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration. Contractors and federal workers used chemicals and ozone nanobubbles to combat an algae bloom, and Trump has said that the problems probably require draining the pool again for liner repairs.
Whitehurst and Kinnard write for the Associated Press. Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C.
OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. — In the pre-dawn chill of the Sierra Nevada, Christina Klayko bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to keep warm and calm before one of the planet’s most punishing competitions.
Surrounding her at the starting line for the Western States Endurance Run — a lung-busting 100-mile race over towering mountain ridges and through deep, sun-scorched canyons — were some of the most elite athletes in the world, including former champions, record holders and an Olympic marathon medalist.
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Klayko, a 48-year-old mother of three, had no illusions about winning — she was just relieved to be there. She is a two-time cancer survivor, and a year earlier, she was lying on an operating table enduring a full hysterectomy, followed by months of radiation treatment. She was terrified she might die.
Spectators trekked to Emigrant Pass before dawn to cheer at the first significant milestone the Western States Endurance Run.
“I was in a very dark place,” she said. “I would have given anything just to be able to walk my dog around the block.”
But Klayko, a former software engineer from Los Altos, has never been a quitter. In her twenties, following a breast cancer diagnosis and a full mastectomy, she finished an Ironman triathlon. Last Saturday, she was hoping to complete an even more miraculous comeback.
To do so, she would have to run almost half the width of California, from the shores of Lake Tahoe to Auburn, a former mining town in the foothills above Sacramento, along remote, rock-strewn paths that rise and fall like a roller coaster.
In all, she would have to propel herself up more than 18,000 vertical feet, or three times the elevation hikers climb to the summit of Mt. Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S. And she’d have to endure relentless jack-hammering from nearly 23,000 feet of descent.
Hard things are nothing new to her, Klayko said. And unlike cancer, running is a choice. You can walk away when you’ve had enough.
There’s no prize money for doing well in the Western States 100, but finishers get a commemorative belt buckle and, more importantly, membership in one of the most exclusive clubs in all of sports. More than 11,000 runners entered a lottery for fewer than 400 spots this year. Many had waited for more than a decade for their chance.
But there’s a cruel twist — not everyone who crosses the finish line wins the bragging rights.
There’s a strict 30-hour time limit. Which means, most years, dozens of competitors struggle over snow-capped mountains, push themselves to the brink of heat stroke in the sweltering canyons and endure a long, dark night in the wilderness, only to show up at the finish line a few minutes late.
Eric Strand, 65, of Wildwood, MO, center, runs in front of the Granite Chief Wilderness at the start of the Western States Endurance Run.
They’re not acknowledged as finishers. As far as the official record is concerned, they didn’t make it.
So as Klayko waited for the ceremonial shotgun blast that signals the start, she wasn’t worrying about cancer, or mortality, or even the hours of torture that lay ahead — she was dreading the cutoff.
“I knew I could just push and push as long as I had to,” Klayko said. But she couldn’t escape the looming fear of “running out of time.”
The first major obstacle was Emigrant Pass, a high ridge that is four miles, almost straight uphill, from the start at the Palisades Tahoe ski resort.
Half an hour after the start, the sun peeked over distant summits, turning the horizon orange, and the first runners approached the top.
In the lead pack was Jim Walmsley, a four-time Western States champion and holder of the course record — an astonishing 14 hours, 9 minutes and 28 seconds. Spaniard Kilian Jornet, arguably the greatest ultra runner of all time, was right there with him. That was no surprise. In addition to having won Western States and almost every other notable ultramarathon, Jornet famously summited Mt. Everest twice in one week — without supplemental oxygen.
Among the women was Molly Seidel, perhaps the most recognizable name after Jornet. Seidel had been a 27-year-old barista and babysitter before the COVID-delayed Olympics in 2021, when she shocked the running world by winning the bronze medal in the marathon. It was only the third marathon she had ever run.
These battle-hardened pros barely flinched when they crested the ridge and ran headfirst into bitter, gale-force winds gusting to 65 mph. Their bare, muscled legs kept pumping steadily and carried them down the other side, where the gusts quickly subsided.
The rest of the pack didn’t make it look so easy.
Spectators watch the sunrise before the start of the Western States Endurance Run.
Many were hunched and gasping as they struggled toward the crest. One woman bent over and started retching violently. Locking eyes with a reporter, she shouted, “I’M OK!” — apparently unaware that she was screaming over the wind and whatever was playing in her headphones. “I JUST SWALLOWED TOO MUCH SPIT!”
Then she straightened and staggered into the howling gale: only 96 more miles to go.
Seven hours later, at mile 56, the lead runners climbed out of the course’s deepest and hottest canyon, onto a dusty promontory called Michigan Bluff.
The first few looked almost as fresh and fast as they had at the ridge. But the punishment was starting to show on everyone else.
Jornet, who had been nursing a knee injury before the race, was concerned about the canyons. He didn’t make it through them, dropping out at mile 38.
Walmsley, who had been among the leaders for the first 30 miles, was fading by Michigan Bluff. Persistent hip pain would force him from the race at the next aid station. At this point, most of the other runners, including Klayko, were hours behind.
Justin Grunewald, a 40-year-old Colorado doctor, who some picked as a dark horse contender to finish in the top ten, looked exasperated as he emerged from the canyon. He went straight to his support team, who started dumping water down the back of his shirt and tying an ice bag around his neck.
“I’m totally fine,” he told them, “but my knee is killing me because I keep eating s—.” That’s runner shorthand for falling.
His knee was bleeding, but the real problem was his vision. He pulled off his sunglasses, and his eyes were a scary shade of red. He leaned his head back while a friend squeezed drops into them and reminded him to keep wearing his glasses. Obvious advice — but what else do you say to someone hellbent on running another 44 miles?
“Ultra runners are a strange breed,” said Amanda Basham, Grunewald’s wife. She was on his support team this year, but she has twice finished the race in fourth place.
Jacob Banta, of Mill Valley, pushes up the trail near Michigan Bluff during the Western States Endurance Run.
As Grunewald composed himself and trotted off into the distance, it seemed like a good time to ask the obvious: why does anyone put themselves through such an ordeal?
Basham laughed and said most people would probably brush the question aside with something safe and trite, like, “I just love running!” But the truth, she said, is that “almost everyone here has an intense story.”
Grunewald’s first wife and running partner, Gabe, died after fighting a rare cancer for 10 years, Basham said. Other competitors have lost a child, struggled with mental health or battled addiction. Running long distances on secluded trails can be a coping mechanism. For some, showing up at big races to commune with their tribe is like group therapy.
“We all come together for this common thing, and it doesn’t really matter if you went to rehab 10 times,” Basham said. “You’re here trying to get better, and it’s cool.”
Minutes later, Seidel hobbled out of the canyon clutching her thighs. When her crew offered her a chair, she tried to settle but started panting in pain, apologizing that she was in too much agony to sit.
This was her first attempt at 100 miles. She would explain later that she hadn’t eaten enough during the race and had developed excruciating skin lesions from chafing. It looked like her day was done, but she refused to quit.
The women’s winner, Jennifer Lichter, might have the most intense story of them all. Born in Bogota, Colombia, she was a nine-year old orphaned by cartel violence when a couple from Wisconsin adopted her.
In her first 100-mile race, she shaved a minute off the women’s course record, finishing in 15 hours, 28 minutes and five seconds.
The men’s winner, Vincent Bouillard, smashed the overall course record by more than 20 minutes, sprinting across the line in 13 hours, 46 minutes and 15 seconds.
Klayko, who never imagined herself involved in the chase for records, emerged from the canyon eight hours behind the leaders.
For most of the race, she hovered between hiking fast and running slow. She subsisted mostly on energy chews and gels, indulging in a baked potato sprinkled with salt at one point, and luxuriating in a cup of broth with rice at another.
Was attempting the race wise, given her health? Had she told her doctors she was planning to do this?
“That’s, um, a good question,” she said with a chuckle. “They know I’m a serious runner but … I don’t think I actually told them I was running the Western States.”
Probably for the best.
Like a lot of the runners, Klayko said she got a jolt of much needed energy at mile 78, on the bank of the American River, where the run suddenly turns into an obstacle course.
Racers grab a thin nylon rope and gingerly wade into the freezing water. Volunteers offer life vests and stay close to prevent drownings, but offer no assistance.
A racer crosses the American River during the Western States Endurance Run.
Near the middle of the crossing, the water got so deep that many runners submerged completely, pulling on the rope to haul themselves to the far bank.
“It definitely woke me up,” Klayko said of her crossing in the dark at 3 a.m. “It was a lot colder than I expected.”
On the other side — soaked to the bone, with wet clothes and shoes — she crawled back onto the dusty trail and started running again. Soon after, the trouble set in.
It began with a burning sensation on the bottom of her left foot. As the pain intensified, she started hobbling, leaning on the trekking pole in her right hand to take pressure off the blister that was growing bigger than a golf ball.
With just miles to go, her husband, Chris, who ran beside her — after the halfway point, competitors are allowed to have a companion for safety — kept checking the time. They were falling behind.
What do you say to someone you love in such a situation? You don’t want them to suffer, but you don’t want them to fail.
“We need to hustle,” he told her.
In the last few hundred yards, the race enters the football stadium at Placer High School. Seidel had finished hours earlier, at 5:29 a.m., when the stadium was relatively empty.
But the last 60 minutes before the notorious cutoff — known as Golden Hour — attracts a huge crowd.
Cameras film from every angle as one battered body after another circles the track. Some jog, some hobble, some openly sob. Whatever they do, it’s fully public and likely to go viral on social media.
Christina Klayko pushes for the finish at Placer High School with just minutes to spare in the Western States Endurance Run..
Klayko said she was coached to visualize her finish during training. In her head, it looked nothing like this.
When she came around the final bend with the clock ticking down, gasps arose from the media gaggle behind the finish line.
Desperate to compensate for the enormous blisters on both feet now, she leaned forward and to the right at almost 90 degrees — wobbling and weaving on her heels, relying on trekking poles to stay upright and claw forward.
It was hard to watch but impossible to look away.
When she was finally in stumbling distance of the line, Chris bounced up and down and thrust his arms in the air. The crowd roared.
She finished with 18 minutes to spare.
Christina Klayko nearly collapsed after crossing the finish with minutes to spare in Western States Endurance Run.
July 2 (UPI) — The couple who climbed to the top of the Empire State Building’s spire to hang a flag and get engaged was arraigned and released Thursday morning.
Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov were charged with burglary, reckless endangerment, criminal mischief and criminal tampering for trespassing in a nonpublic area of the building and scaling the spire, ABC News and the New York Daily News reported.
The couple has made a name for themselves with a series of dangerous climbs around the world, but making it to the top of the Empire State Building gained national attention — and they were arrested when they climbed down.
“These activities continually create a risk to their own lives, as well as the lives of New Yorkers and first responders,” Assistant District Attorney Anthony Giliberti told reporters.
Prosecutors told the court that they believe the duo observed a security door to the building’s 104th floor with a broken lock, accessed it and climbed to the top of the spire.
Although Kuznetsov’s father said that they had already been officially married — and that the proposal at the top of the building was just a stunt — after hanging a flag at the top of the spire, Ivan got down on one knee and asked Nikolau to marry him.
Nikolau and Kuznetsov have been released on supervised bail ahead of their trial.
T20 World Cup, The Oval
England 169-5 (20 overs): Sciver-Brunt 75 (47), Knight 58 (47)
South Africa 129-8 (20 overs): Brits 51 (45); Bell 2-28
England won by 40 runs
England roared into Sunday’s T20 World Cup final against Australia with a superb 40-run victory against South Africa at The Oval.
On a brilliant night under the lights in front of a jubilant and expectant crowd, England overcame their recent struggles in pressure matches in the biggest sign of improvement under coach Charlotte Edwards to date.
They wobbled early on, faltering at 23-3 in the fourth over, but captain Nat Sciver-Brunt hit an immaculate 75 from 47 on her return from a calf injury which threatened to rule her out of the tournament.
She shared a partnership of 133 from 90 balls with England’s other wise head, Heather Knight, lifting England all of the way to 169-5. Knight, equally as impressive as Sciver-Brunt, made 58 from 47.
And while those two provided almost all of the runs, England’s excellence in the field was an all-round effort.
Their fielding – for so long a glaring weakness – was outstanding.
Sophie Ecclestone took a leaping catch to see off Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt and break an opening stand of 43, and took a second tough chance later to dismiss Sune Luus. Danni Wyatt-Hodge also ran out Sinalo Jafta with a direct hit.
As for the bowlers, Lauren Bell and Charlie Dean took two wickets apiece, Ecclestone, Linsey Smith and Freya Kemp one each, as South Africa’s hopes were snuffed out.
Their wait for a World Cup win goes on but England, though second favourites against their oldest rivals at Lord’s, have a real shot at a first trophy since 2017.
NEW YORK — A skyscraper-scaling daredevil told police that he and his girlfriend climbed the Empire State Building’s antenna and unfurled a banner about love and peace because he wanted to “do something special” for their engagement, prosecutors said Thursday at the couple’s arraignment on felony reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges.
The couple, who go by Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, said little as they left court, though Beerkus responded to a journalist’s question about the stunt by saying, “We believe in love.”
Authorities said the two — who were the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story ” about their “rooftopping” exploits and budding romance — created not only a spectacle but also a danger by ascending the famed skyscraper’s broadcast antenna Wednesday.
After reaching the top, 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the climbers displayed a black banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” news helicopter video showed.
Then they collected the banner and descended to a slightly lower ledge, where an apparently successful marriage proposal unfolded. Nikolau posted images of the escapade on her social media accounts, including a photo that modeled an engagement-style ring above a bird’s-eye view of Manhattan.
Police waited about half an hour for the antenna to be powered down before Emergency Services Unit officers started ascending and eventually intercepted the climbers on their way down, according to the court complaint, which noted the danger to officers who climbed about 1,250 feet above the ground. The court document identified the two by their formal names, Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov.
“Skywalkers: A Love Story” follows Beerkus, now 32, and Nikolau, 33, as they make often unauthorized ascents of tall structures, sometimes posing as construction workers to sneak in.
The court complaint said police found a broken lock on a security door on the Empire State Building’s restricted-access 104th floor, which provides access to the antenna. The highest public floor is the 102nd, where there’s an observation deck. Going higher requires a key card, according to the court complaint.
The Empire State Building’s management has called the climb “unauthorized” but hasn’t answered questions about what interactions, if any, the daredevils had with security workers. Visitors to the skyscraper are screened and told not to bring large packages, sports equipment, costumes or masks, among other items.
Beerkus and Nikolau were released without bail, in accordance with New York laws that restrict when monetary bail can be set. Their attorney, Jason Krinsky, said outside court that once prosecutors provide evidence, he and his clients would assess it and determine next steps.
“What a way to propose — something you can only dream of,” Krinsky said. “So you’ve got to, you know, give him some credit for that.”
Other daredevils have climbed the antenna and other parts of the Empire State Building. Those ascents have largely been unauthorized, but actor and musician Jared Leto was allowed to climb up to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor in 2023 to promote a tour.
Peltz writes for the Associated Press.
ConocoPhillips (COP) shares snapped six straight sessions of losses, as the stock was up 1.4% at $104.63 on Thursday.
The oil and gas exploration and production company fell 3.5% in the preceding six sessions. COP is down 11% over the past one month.
