Oct. 22 (UPI) — Israel’s Knesset on Wednesday, in a preliminary vote, approved sovereignty in the West Bank for Israel, described as a political ploy by the right-wing opposition during U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s visit to the nation.
President Donald Trump said last month that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank.
The bill, which is called “Application of Israeli Sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, 2025,” passed 25-24 by the parliament, and was transferred to the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. It must still pass three additional votes in the plenum session.
The legislation says that “the laws, judicial system, administration, and sovereignty of the State of Israel shall apply to all areas of settlement in Judea and Samaria.”
A more limited annexation bill passed 32-9, also in a preliminary reading. The bill applies sovereignty to the West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adumim near Jerusalem.
Militant Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip and not the West Bank, said in a statement that the recent bill “reflects the ugly face of the colonial occupation.”
As a “flagrant violation of all relevant international laws and resolution,” Hamas said Israel “insists on continuing its attempts to ‘legitimize’ settlements and impose Zionist ‘sovereignty’ over the occupied Palestinian territories.”
In 2007, the Palestinian territories were split into two separate administrations.
Israel maintains military control of the 2,263 square miles of the West Bank, while the Palestinian Authority, led by the Fatah party, has jurisdiction over civil and security authority in specific zones, based on the 1995 Oslo Accords.
The West Bank has been divided into three zones.
Area C, which makes up about 60% the West Bank, is under full Israeli military and civilian control. Area C includes agricultural land, water springs, quarries and land for future infrastructure for Israelis.
In August, Israel approved final plans for a settlement project in E1 of Area C between East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement. This arrangement would sever the West Bank for a contiguous Palestinian State, which Israel opposes as a two-state solution.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank out of the total population of 4 million.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980 and applies its civil law there, though the international community does not recognize this annexation. About 500,000 Israelis live there.
“By applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, we are correcting a historical wrong that is long overdue,” Avi Maoz, head of the far-right Noam party, said. “Since the government has hesitated, it is our duty as members of Knesset to act.”
All but one Likud minister boycotted the vote, with Yuli Edelstein breaking ranks to cast a decisive vote. Likud then removed Edelstein from his seat on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a spokesperson for the lawmaker confirmed to The Times of Israel.
Maoz denied a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to delay the vote.
Netanyahu’s Likud party said the vote was an attempt to embarrass the government while U.S. Vice President JD Vance visited the country.
“We strengthen settlements every day with actions, budgets, construction, industry, and not with words,” the Times of Israel reported by Likud. “True sovereignty will be achieved not with a show-off law for the protocol, but by working properly on the ground and creating the political conditions appropriate for the recognition of our sovereignty, as was done in the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem.”
The United Arab Emirates said in September that annexation of the West Bank would severely undermine the spirit of the Abraham Accords.
The West Bank was captured during the Six-Day War in 1967, except for East Jerusalem, as a “temporary belligerent occupation.”
The historic city of Bethlehem is in the West Bank and is under Israeli occupation. It has historic ties to the Jewish religion, as well as to Christianity and Islam.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued an advisory opinion that Israel’s presence in the West Bank was unlawful under international law because it is no longer temporary.
Google said it plans to lay off dozens of workers at its Sunnyvale offices, following job reductions at other large tech firms.
Google notified the California Employment Development Department on Monday that it will lay off 50 workers in Sunnyvale, according to a notice obtained by The Times.
Tech companies are cutting jobs in preparation for a possible recession, as well as anticipating efficiencies gained from artificial intelligence, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Oregon-based advisory services firm Enderle Group.
“We’re preparing for a bit of a downturn and companies often like to cut ahead of bad news like that so they can keep their financials solid,” he said.
In August, Salesforce said it cut 4,000 support roles due to AI helping automate tasks. Other tech businesses, including Intel, Microsoft and Meta have also reduced staff while investing more in AI this year.
CNBC reported on Wednesday that Google laid off more than 100 people in design-related roles in its cloud division.
In Google’s notice that it filed with the state, the jobs affected by the cuts included roles in user experience, software engineers and business program managers. The layoffs in the cloud division were first reported by Business Insider.
“AI is pretty good at coding right now and anything to do with design … as long as someone can describe what it is they want, that significantly increases the productivity of the folks you have in design,” Enderle said. “Unless you’re increasing the workload just as dramatically, you’re going to have too many people.”
Google, which is based in Mountain View, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Times staff writer Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
People run for lives from air strikes and explosive-laden ‘robots’, as lifelines collapse in Gaza’s biggest urban centre.
The Israeli army is pushing towards the centre of Gaza City from two directions, “sandwiching” residents and forcing them towards the coast in a bid to drive them out of the enclave’s biggest urban centre.
Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told the Reuters news agency on Thursday that infantry, tanks and artillery were advancing on the inner city, backed by the air force, with the aim of applying pressure on the armed group Hamas.
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Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said that the Israeli military was advancing from the northwest and the southeast, “sandwiching people in the middle” and pushing them to the west of the city, where the al-Rashid coastal road leading south is located.
“The attacks on overcrowded neighbourhoods are causing panic and fear, and pushing people literally to run for their lives. We’re seeing waves of people now doing just that,” he said, reporting from Nuseirat in central Gaza.
People in Gaza City told Al Jazeera about nonstop attacks, including “aerial strikes by drones and fighter jets” and detonations from remote-controlled “robots” – unmanned vehicles packed with explosives that the Israeli army has been deploying to blow up neighbourhoods as it advances inwards.
At least 40 people were killed in Gaza City on Thursday, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Lifelines collapse
Amid the apocalyptic scenes, fleeing families faced the heartbreaking prospect of renewed displacement in a territory devoid of “safe zones”, only this time with the very real possibility that they might never again return home.
Still, many have stayed put. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics claimed that approximately 740,000 people – roughly 35 percent of Gaza’s 2.1 million population – were still in the north of the enclave as of Tuesday.
However, the bureau signalled that numbers could drop, with the continuous Israeli attacks driving more people out and basic services disappearing.
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) warned on Thursday that Gaza City’s last lifelines were collapsing.
OCHA accused Israel of “systematically blocking” efforts to bring aid to people, citing the closure of the Zikim crossing to Gaza’s famine-stricken north and bans on certain food items.
‘Blatant disregard’
Outside Gaza City, at least 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in other parts of the enclave, according to medical sources.
The Israeli military reported that four of its soldiers were killed in the early hours of the morning in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Palestine denounced on social media Israel’s “blatant disregard” for international legal requirements to distinguish between combatants and civilians in its air attacks on Gaza.
The Israeli strikes on internally displaced persons, including as they try to leave Gaza city or seek shelter near hospitals, show the Israeli military’s blatant disregard for the fundamental principle of distinction. Israel has demanded that Palestinian civilians leave Gaza…
As Israel expanded its offensive on Thursday, the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the lifting of restrictions on aid into Gaza, and the return of hostages held by Hamas.
The UK’s permanent representative to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said that “Israel’s reckless expansion of its military operation takes us further away from a deal which could bring the hostages home and end the suffering in Gaza.”
The world tennis No 1 beat Bublik in the round of 16, losing just three games and reversing a shock loss to the Kazakh in June.
Published On 2 Sep 20252 Sep 2025
Defending champion Jannik Sinner said he enjoyed the vibe of playing under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights after he continued his hardcourt Grand Slam run by hammering 23rd seed Alexander Bublik to make the US Open quarterfinals.
The Italian tennis player came into the match on Labour Day, seeking his 25th straight major match win on his preferred surface, and never looked in danger against a tricky rival, bolting out of the blocks to win 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 on his night session debut this year.
“It’s always special to go on Ashe to play,” Sinner said after the match on Monday.
“Night matches, they’re a bit different because there’s a bit more attention, I feel. It’s a different vibe, also, around the court. It’s very loud. It’s also different to play.
“It was the first time for me this year. It was nice. You have the good and the bad if you play in the evening. It’s very special, and you feel very privileged to step onto court in the night on the biggest court we have.”
A mere 81 minutes after the clash began, Sinner was back in the locker room after gaining revenge for a shock defeat by Bublik on June 20, in the Halle Open final – his only loss to a player not named Carlos Alcaraz this year.
“We know each other well. We’ve had some tough battles this year, so we know each other a bit better,” the top-seeded Sinner said.
“He had a tough match last time [against Tommy Paul], finishing late. He didn’t serve as well as he does. I broke him in every set, and it gave me the confidence to play well.”
A double break helped Sinner build a 4-0 lead before Bublik could even get on the board, and the dominant 24-year-old chased down a drop shot to fire home a deep backhand winner that wrapped up the opening set with another break.
Bublik’s attempts to disrupt Sinner’s rhythm with more drop shots proved futile, but it was his service errors that left him trailing by two sets, before Sinner wheeled away to his eighth straight grand slam quarterfinal.
Up next is a meeting with compatriot Lorenzo Musetti. Sinner said it would be a great occasion for Italian tennis.
“It’s great to see. Italian tennis is in great form. We have so many players and different game styles,” he said.
“Lorenzo is one of the biggest talents we have in our sport. I’m looking forward to this one. From an Italian point of view, it’s great to have for sure one Italian player in the semis.
“I know that there are a lot of Italian players in the crowd. It makes everything special.”
Sinner, right, after beating Bublik in the fourth round of the US Open [Robert Deutsch/Imagn Images via Reuters]
The Little League team from Honolulu has a chance to become a three-time world champion.
Winners of the Little League World Series in 2018 and 2022, the team from Hawaii earned a spot in this year’s World Series on Thursday night with a 4-1 win over Fullerton Golden Hill in San Bernardino. They will travel to Williamsport, Pa., where the World Series begins on Wednesday.
Golden Hill’s only two losses came from Honolulu, including a 1-0 loss to start the tournament. It was the first time in the league’s 69-year history that a team had advanced to the West Region final.
Pitcher Bronson Fermahin took advantage of his team scoring three runs in the first two innings by throwing lots of strikes. He had eight strikeouts through the first four innings and finished with 11 in 5 ⅔ innings before Golden Hill pushed across a run with two outs in the sixth.
Fullerton Golden Hill pitcher Lincoln Ploog struck out 10 in a loss.
(Craig Weston)
Lincoln Ploog of Golden Hill was brought in to pitch with two outs in the first inning. He hit three batters but finished with 10 strikeouts in 4 ⅓ innings.
Honolulu scored two runs in the first on an RBI single from Evan Crawford and a bases-loaded hit batter. An RBI double in the second by Kuana Payanal provided a 3-0 lead. Mason Mitani hit a home run in the fifth. Golden Hill scored a run in the sixth. Fermahin had to leave because of pitch count with two outs in the sixth. Mitani came in to get the final out, catching a broken-bat line drive.
Golden Hill showed off two future standouts in Ploog and infielder Gavin Janicke, who came in with four hits in eight at-bats. Janicke struck out 14 in a win on Wednesday and wasn’t eligible to pitch Thursday.
The softball team from Westchester Del Rey Little League won the West Regional in San Bernardino on Friday, beating Tucson 12-2 in a five-inning mercy rule to advance to the Little League World Series in Greenville, N.C.
Pitcher Gabriela Uribe started the game with three scoreless innings and ended up finishing.
Gabriela Uribe pitched Westchester’s softball team to the Little League World Series with a win in the West Regional.
(Craig Weston)
After an early 2-2 tie, Westchester broke the game open. Westchester’s pitching has been very good behind Uribe and Kaylee Braunlich.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič presented EU trade ministers gathered in Brussels for an extraordinary meeting on Monday a list of €72 billion worth of US products to be included in a retaliatory tariff drive, as US pressure ramped up over the weekend with the threat of 30% tariffs on EU imports starting on 1 August.
“We must be prepared for all outcomes, including if necessary, well-considered proportionate measures to restore balance in our transatlantic relationship,” Šefčovič said, adding: “Today the Commission is sharing with the member states the proposal for the second list of goods, accounting of some €72 billion worth of US Imports. They will now have a chance to discuss it.”
The list proposed by the Commission, which has been reduced from €72 billion to €95 billion after consultation of EU industries and member states, still has to be adopted formally by the member states. It targets a wide range of products including US aeroplanes and Bourbon whiskey.
On 12 July, after weeks of negotiations, US President Donald Trump published on Truth Social a letter sent to the Commission threatening to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports if no deal is reached by 1 August.
Last week, negotiations appeared to have entered the final stretch, with the EU having reluctantly agreed to a baseline tariff of 10% on its imports. Sector-specific exemptions were still needing to be negotiated, the EU having managed to secure 0% on aircraft and spirits and some US tariffs just above 10% on agri-products.
“We were very very close to an agreement in principle,” Danish foreign affairs minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen regretted.
The US currently imposes 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all EU imports.
According to an EU diplomat, EU retaliation could also include export controls on aluminium scrap, which the US needs.
But while the EU is flexing its muscles, it continues to prioritise negotiation.
“We remain convinced that our transatlantic relationship deserves a negotiated solution, one that leads to renewed stability and cooperation,” Maroš Šefčovič said before announcing he had a call planned with his US counterparts on Monday late afternoon.
On 13 July, the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a delay in the implementation of an initial retaliatory measure targeting €21 billion worth of American products, which had been suspended until 15 July.
According to the same EU diplomat, a meeting of EU ambassadors had originally decided to postpone it until the end of the year, but Trump’s new announcements have made these countermeasures more urgent. They have therefore been postponed until 1 August.
Anti-coercion instrument
Behind the show of unity displayed on Monday by member states, diplomats are however well aware that complications will arise once a deal with the US is on the table.
“Let’s be realistic we will all have different interpretations,” an official from a member states told Euronews, admitting that once a deal is reached some countries will push for strong retaliation while others will want to avoid escalation, depending on which of their strategic sectors is most hit by the US.
France continues to advocate a hard line toward the US, eager to put all the tools at the EU’s disposal on the table, including the use of the anti-coercion instrument — the “nuclear option” of EU trade defence, adopted in 2023.
“This pressure, deliberately applied by the US president in recent days and weeks, is straining our negotiating capacity and must lead us to show that Europe is a power,” French Trade Minister Laurent Saint-Martin said on arrival at the Council, adding: “Europe is a power when it knows how to demonstrate its ability to respond.”
“The US has escalation dominance,” a second EU diplomat told Euronews.
On Sunday Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen ruled out use of the anti-coercion instrument for the time being.
“The anti-coercion is created for extraordinary situations,” she said, adding: “We are not there yet.”
The tool would allow the EU to withdraw licences and intellectual property rights from foreign companies including US tech giants.
MINNEAPOLIS — Damion Downs scored in the sixth round of a shootout after three saves by Matt Freese, sending the U.S. to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 4-3 penalty-kicks win over Costa Rica after a a 2-2 tie on Sunday night.
The U.S. advanced to a Wednesday matchup in St. Louis against Guatemala, which upset Canada on penalty kicks in the opener of the quarterfinal doubleheader.
Mexico plays Honduras in the other semifinal on Wednesday in Santa Clara. The championship is in Houston on July 6.
The U.S. has reached the semifinals in 17 of 18 Gold Cups, including 13 straight since a quarterfinal loss to Colombia on penalty kicks in 2000.
Diego Luna and Max Arfsten scored in regulation for the U.S., which faced its highest-ranked opponent of the tournament in Costa Rica (54th) after breezing through the group stage with an 8-1 goal differential.
Alonso Martinez scored the tying goal for the Ticos in the 71st minute with a left-footed shot after Carlos Mora split Luca de La Torre and Arsten to take a shot on Freese and seize the rebound to set up Martinez.
CONCACAF changed the rules for this edition of the biennial championship for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, eliminating extra time except for the championship game.
John Tolkin had the first chance to win the shootout for the U.S. Keylor Navas knocked down his try in the fifth round. Freese then denied Andy Rojas with a diving hand, climbing to his feet while nodding his head and sticking out his tongue toward his cheering teammates at midfield. That set up the winner by the 20-year-old Downs.
Missing the tournament for the U.S. are regulars Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Antonee Robinson, Folarin Balogun and Sergiño Dest, due to a variety of reasons from injuries to rest to Club World Cup commitments.
Three of Costa Rica’s six goals during the group stage came by penalty kick, and Francisco Calvo added another one in the 12th minute after a foul by Arsten. Calvo went low to zip the ball just out of reach of a diving Freese.
Malik Tillman, who had three group stage goals, put a 37th-minute penalty kick off a post and Navas knocked away Arfsten’s attempt off the rebound.
Luna picked him up with his first goal in international competition by rocketing a shot off the chest of defender Alexis Gamboa for the equalizer in the 43rd minute.
Tillman made amends for his miss early in the second half by poking a pass ahead for Arfsten, who surged in from the left wing to send the ball into the opposite corner for the lead.
Senate Republicans narrowly advanced a budget bill that is pivotal to President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda ahead of a self-imposed 4 July deadline.
In a 51-49 vote largely along party lines, the Senate has moved to open debate on the bill, a key initial hurdle that Republicans scrambled to overcome. Two Republicans joined Democrats in opposing the move to take up the bill.
Party leadership had been twisting arms for the initial vote on the “Big Beautiful Bill” on Saturday, following the release of its latest version – all 940 pages – shortly after midnight.
Republicans were divided over how much to cut welfare programmes in order to extend $3.8tn (£2.8tn) in Trump tax breaks.
The bill’s fate on the Senate floor remains uncertain, as Republicans in the chamber continue to quarrel over the bill’s provisions. Vice-President JD Vance travelled to the Capitol on Saturday night to offer a tiebreak vote, though party leaders were ultimately able to negotiate majority support without his help.
Meanwhile, Democrats say they will drag out the process in protest at the bill, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying his party will force Republicans to read out the nearly 1,000 pages of text before the Senate can begin debate and potentially take up a final vote.
Separately, some Republicans in the House of Representatives have expressed concerns over the changes in the Senate version of the bill. The sprawling tax and spending measure passed the House of Representatives by a single vote last month.
The Senate’s version of the bill included a series of changes meant to address points of disagreement among Republicans. Still, party leaders struggled to secure enough votes.
In a memo sent to Senate offices, the White House endorsed the latest revisions to the bill and called for its passage.
The memo reportedly warned that failure to approve the budget “would be the ultimate betrayal”.
Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina joined Democrats in rejecting the bill.
As the Senate vote concluded, President Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform, that Tillis was making a “BIG MISTAKE”. He wrote that he would be meeting with candidates who “come forward wanting to run in the Primary against “Senator Thom” Tillis”.
However, the bill did win over some Republicans who had expressed scepticism, including centrist Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin intially voted against it, but changed his vote at the end of the voting session.
The latest version was designed to appease some backbench Republican holdouts.
Other amendments incorporate input from the Senate parliamentarian, an official who reviews bills to ensure they comply with the chamber’s procedures.
It includes an increase in funding for rural hospitals, after some party moderates argued the original proposal would harm their constituents.
There are also changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap), which provides food benefits to low-income Americans.
Under the latest bill, Alaska and Hawaii would be temporarily exempt from a proposed requirement for some states to start footing the bill for the programme, which is currently fully funded by the federal government.
The revision comes after Alaska’s two Republican senators pushed for an exemption.
The legislation still contains some of its core components, including extending tax cuts passed by Republicans in 2017, as well as the addition of new cuts that Trump campaigned on, such as a tax deduction on Social Security benefits and the elimination of taxes on overtime work and tips.
More contentious measures are also still in place, including restrictions and requirements on Medicaid – a healthcare programme used by millions of elderly, disabled and low-income Americans.
Democrats have heavily criticised this piece of the bill, saying it will limit access to affordable healthcare for millions of Americans.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 7.8 million people would become uninsured due to such Medicaid cuts.
Senator Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, took to social media on Saturday to argue the bill contains “the largest healthcare cuts in history”.
Another critic of the bill is Elon Musk, who wrote on X on Saturday that the latest iteration of the bill “will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harms to our country”.
Musk took issue with taxes the bill proposes on solar and wind energy projects.
The bill now needs a simple majority to clear the Senate. With Republicans holding 53 seats out of 100, plus a tiebreaker from Vice-President JD Vance, the party can only afford three defections.
Mexico’s Monterrey advanced to the round of 16 at the Club World Cup by thrashing Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0 on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl in the third and final match of the group stage, while Argentina’s River Plate was eliminated with a 2-0 loss to Inter Milan in Seattle.
As the third-place team in Group E, the Rayados needed to win, scoring as many goals as possible, and then hope for a winner at Lumen Field during the match between River Plate and Inter Milan, because if the match was tied 2-2, Monterrey would be eliminated no matter what happened in Pasadena.
But Inter Milan’s win gave the club first place in the group with seven points, followed by Monterrey with five and River Plate with four points. Urawa did not earn any group points.
“We have to enjoy now, the present,” said Domenec Torrent, Monterrey’s technical director. “I’m very happy for the people who came here and for Mexican soccer in general.”
Torrent added that he was happy to finish unbeaten during three group stage matches, earning one win and two draws.
“We knew it was going to be a complex match. Urawa, despite being eliminated, we knew they were going to play a difficult game,” Monterrey midfielder Óliver Torres said. “In fact, in the first few minutes they made it very difficult for us. After the goal, we started to grow in the match. We knew it was a very important day for all the club’s workers, for all the fans who were here and at home, and well, for all of Mexico.”
Monterrey settled the match in a matter of nine minutes.
Monterrey’s Germán Berterame, front, and Sergio Ramos embrace after winning their Club World Cup Group E match against Urawa on Wednesday at the Rose Bowl.
(Jae Hong / Associated Press)
Colombian Nelson Deossa fired a powerful shot from outside the box at Urawa goalkeeper Shūsaku Nishikawa, who could not block the shot as the ball rolled in for a goal in the 30th minute. Two minutes later, Argentine Germán Berterame fired a low shot on the right side of the Japanese goal and scored. Then, Jesús “Tecatito” Corona fired a long-range missile, extending Monterrey’s lead to 3-0. The fourth goal came in stoppage time when Berterame finished off a diagonal cross from the right.
“I didn’t expect what tonight was like,” said Berterame of his brace, the win and the qualification. “We were coming to win, but I think it was a dream night.”
Monterrey will face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta while Inter Milan will face Fluminense on Monday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., in the round of 16 of the tournament.
Monterrey fans cheer for their team during a Club World Cup Group E soccer match against Urawa Red Diamonds at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday.
(Jae Hong / Associated Press)
“The next game we know is very difficult,” said Torrent, who added Dortmund plays a style very similar to Inter Milan. “It’s another European team that competes very well, they have won things. We already know how they play, I’ve seen them very well.”
“Every game is like a chess match. Getting through the group was not easy. It’s going to be very difficult for them to beat us and if they beat us, let the fans know that we’re going to give everything.”
Sergio Ramos’ Monterrey and Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami are the only two CONCACAF teams to survive the first round, as Pachuca, Seattle and LAFC were eliminated during the group stage.
PARIS — As popular as Coco Gauff is, she knew full well that nearly all of the 15,000 fans at Court Philippe-Chatrier would be against her during the French Open semifinals Thursday. That’s because Gauff, an American, was taking on a French opponent — and one who came from nowhere, 361st-ranked Loïs Boisson.
So the No. 2-seeded Gauff turned to a trick that 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic has talked about using: When the partisan crowd was loudly singing Boisson’s first name, Gauff pretended they were chanting “Coco!” Not that it mattered much, truly, because Gauff was by far the superior player throughout a 6-1, 6-2 victory that earned her a second trip to the final at Roland-Garros.
Three years ago, Gauff missed out on a chance to leave with the trophy when Iga Swiatek beat her. This time, Swiatek won’t be around for the championship match on Saturday because her 26-match unbeaten run at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament ended earlier Thursday with a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 loss to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka vs. Gauff will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years.
Gauff figures to hear at least the occasional “Allez, Coco!” while meeting Sabalenka.
But that wasn’t in the offing against Boisson, who beat No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Mirra Andreeva while becoming the first woman since 1989 to get all the way to the semifinals in her first Grand Slam tournament.
Coco Gauff, left, and Lois Boisson shake hands after their French Open semifinal match on Thursday.
(Aurelien Morissard / Associated Press)
It’s been a quarter of a century since a woman representing France won the singles title at Roland-Garros — Mary Pierce in 2000 — so Boisson became front-page news. The flags flapping in the stands, and the raucous applause and yells accompanying each point Boisson won, were hard to miss.
“I was mentally prepared before the match that it was going to be 99% for her. But I just tried to block it out,” Gauff told the spectators during her on-court interview, laughing as she explained her thought process. “And actually, when you guys were chanting her name, I was saying to myself my name. Just to kind of psych myself out. You have to do that.”
Then she added: “I know you guys would usually root for me if I’m not playing a French (foe).”
Gauff never really allowed the atmosphere to become much of a factor, because she took Boisson out of the match from the get-go, grabbing 20 of the first 30 points to lead 4-0.
As much as Boisson’s game is fit for clay, Gauff is rather adept on the slower surface, too. Her speed and reflexes allow her to track down shot after shot, elongating points and making the player across the net come up with the goods over and over.
Boisson finished with just seven winners while Gauff made only 15 unforced errors, fewer than half of Boisson’s total of 33.
When the exchanges grew longer, Gauff got better. She won 34 of 51 points that lasted five strokes or more.
“Congratulations to her on an incredible tournament,” Gauff said, “but today just happened to be my day.”
Granada Hills has earned the top seed in the City Section Open Division softball playoffs three years in a row, but in that time it has yet to be No. 1 at the end of the season.
The Highlanders will get another chance to do just that — and get a little redemption in the process — when they face their nemesis Carson in the championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Cal State Northridge.
“You’re peaking at the right time,” head coach Ivan Garcia told his team after Wednesday’s five-inning 19-0 semifinal shutout of visiting Venice. “This was the best game we’ve played so far from start to finish, but we have one more. Let’s put a punctuation mark on the season!”
Pitcher Addison Moorman struck out nine of the 16 batters she faced and got plenty of support from the offense as the Highlanders (27-3) batted around in the first inning and scored six runs. They added four runs in the second on RBI singles by Samantha Esparza, Annabella Ramirez and Jasmine Soriano and an RBI triple by Zoe Justman.
In the third, the home side kept pouring it on as Lainey Brown hit a two-run single and Elysse Diaz added a two-run triple. Granada Hills finished with 15 hits — three each by Esparza and Diaz and two each by Soriano, Justman and Brown. The Highlanders’ defense was also on display as center fielder Jocelyn Jimenez made a running over-the-shoulder grab to rob Gondoliers hitter Sandy Carrera of extra bases in the fourth.
Granada Hills senior Addison Moorman tossed a one-hitter with nine strikeouts in five innings in a 19-0 shutout of Venice.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
Granada Hills has outscored its first two playoff opponents 32-0 and only a bloop single in the second inning kept Moorman from back-to-back no-hitters.
“We’ve bonded more since last year and I’ve worked on my changeup,” said Moorman, who signed with Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in November. “We’re playing as a team right now and we know what it’s like to be on the big stage.”
The Highlanders have posted an 80-12 record the last three seasons, their only two defeats in City competition coming in extra innings to Carson in the finals. They get another crack at the third-seeded Colts (22-3-1), who routed San Pedro 11-1 in Wednesday’s other semifinal, and hope the third time’s the charm. Granada Hills will not participate in the SoCal Regionals like it did one year ago.
“Losing in the finals the last two years has helped us with our mindset and will help to eliminate the nerves because we know what to expect,” said Brown, a Manhattan University commit who graduates alongside Moorman on Thursday night. “Our coaches have preached all season ‘next man up’ and go base to base. We’ve all put in a ton of work and we’re extra motivated because of who we’re playing [in the finals].”
Brown is happy the game will be at CSUN instead of in the South Bay, where the previous two finals were played (at Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2023 and at Long Beach State last spring when Carson prevailed 1-0 in 14 innings despite Moorman’s 19 strikeouts).
Samantha Esparza slides home in the third inning of Granada Hills’ 19-0 victory over Venice.
(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I’ve done camps there [at Northridge] and the last two years it’s been long bus rides,” Brown added. “Last year we got there late and couldn’t warm up efficiently, so I’m glad this time it’s right down the street.”
Carson also appears to be rounding into postseason form. The Colts mercied Birmingham 16-5 in the quarterfinals of the eight-team Open bracket and avenged two Marine League losses to second-seeded San Pedro (17-4) on Wednesday for their sixth win in a row.
Carson has won five City crowns, all in the upper division, since 2011. Granada Hills is seeking its first title in 44 years, having won the 4A Division in 1975, 1980 and 1981.
“I’m graduating tomorrow night, yet it’s been hard to focus on school,” Moorman admitted. “It slips my mind. It’s all about Saturday right now.”
UCLA softball is heading to its 33rd Women’s College World Series after rallying from a game down to win the Columbia Super Regional, defeating South Carolina 5-0 in the series decider at Beckham Field on Sunday.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “To be able to be a final eight [team] is a goal, and the ability to overcome day one is because they [players] were so committed to the process and allowed them to take a trip back to OKC.”
After Jordan Woolery kept UCLA’s (54-11) season alive with a walk-off home run in Game 2, she picked up right where she left off with a first-inning RBI single off South Carolina (44-17) starting pitcher Sam Gress. The Bruins failed to tack on runs with the bases loaded, but Kaitlyn Terry made sure the early tally was enough.
Terry threw 5 ⅔ innings of two-hit shutout ball with four strikeouts before giving way to Saturday’s starting pitcher, Taylor Tinsley. She allowed only one runner into scoring position through the first five innings, handcuffing South Carolina’s powerful offense all day. Between Terry and Tinsley over the last two days, the Bruins only allowed four runs and 12 hits, all singles, across their two victories.
“I think honestly it was just spinning the ball and trusting my stuff,” Terry said.
From nine runs given up on Friday to four Saturday and a shutout in the rubber game, UCLA’s pitching only improved as the series went on.
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NBA PLAYOFFS RESULTS
All Times Pacific
Conference finals
Western Conference
No. 1 Oklahoma City vs. No. 6 Minnesota at Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88 (box score) at Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103 (box score) at Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101 (box score) Monday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Wednesday at Oklahoma City, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Friday at Minnesota, 5:30 p.m., ESPN* Sunday at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
No. 3 New York vs. No. 4 Indiana Indiana 138, at New York 135 (OT) (box score) Indiana 114, at New York 109 (box score) New York 106, at Indiana 100 (box score) Tuesday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT Thursday at New York, 5 p.m., TNT Saturday at Indiana, 5 p.m., TNT* Monday, June 2 at New York, 5 p.m., TNT*
Before the game, he faced hitters for the first time since undergoing Tommy John revision surgery in 2023, drawing a large crowd in the visitor’s dugout at Citi Field as he touched 97 mph with his fastball and struck out two batters in five at-bats.
Four and a half hours later, the two-way star dazzled with his bat, as well, belting a second-deck leadoff blast in the first inning against Mets ace and fellow Japanese star Kodai Senga to tie the major league lead with 18 home runs on the season.
“I thought that infused some life into us,” manager Dave Roberts said.
Alas, it wouldn’t last, the Dodgers instead going quiet the rest of the night in a 3-1 rubber-match loss to the New York Mets.
It wasn’t just handling the 40-man roster general manager Perry Minasian assembled. The 73-year-old skipper, in his second season leading the Halos, identified a characteristic missing from last year’s Angels. Washington said his goal was for the Angels to become a family.
Looking back on two weeks ago, when the Angels stumbled to a 17-25 record after a hot start to begin the season, Washington said he felt the buy-in to the family ideology already seeped into the walls of the clubhouse — featuring a roster makeup mixing veterans with postseason success along his young starters across his infield. The results, however, were yet to come.
“My clubhouse was already jelled,” Washington said. “We just had to start playing good baseball.”
The Angels didn’t just play good baseball. They were the best in baseball across the last two weeks. With seven of eight victories coming on the road — a three-game sweep of the Dodgers and a four-game sweep of the Athletics — the Angels riddled off an eight-game winning streak.
After dropping Saturday’s game to the Marlins (21-30) in 6-2 fashion, the Angels (25-27) couldn’t respond Sunday, falling 3-0 to Miami to lose the weekend series. Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera sailed through 5 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 as the Angels’ offense struggled to produce for back-to-back days and tallied just three hits.
From Anthony De Leon: Against the Chicago Sky, the Sparks found themselves in a must-win situation, not in the grand scheme of the standings, but for peace of mind. A win to help with confidence and morale.
After a week riddled with injuries and a three-game skid, Sunday’s matchup carried weight beyond the court — it mattered in the locker room. The pressure was starting to show, with visible signs of frustration from head coach Lynne Roberts down to the end of the bench.
The Sparks were a team searching for anything to swing the momentum back in their favor.
That shift came in the form of their superstar, Kelsey Plum, who took it upon herself to ignite the turnaround with a shooting clinic in the third quarter. Her flurry helped lift L.A. to a much-needed 91-78 win over the Sky at Crypto.com Arena.
Alex Palou took the ceremonial swig of milk in victory lane at the Indianapolis 500. His wife had a sip, she in turn gave a sip to their baby, and team owner Chip Ganassi ended up with the bottle and took a drink, as well.
“Whole milk,” he said before switching to Spanish. “Esta muy, muy buena.”
Then, the first Spaniard to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” took a victory lap with them around Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the back of a pickup truck. At one point, Palou climbed onto its roof and raised his arms in triumph, the winning wreath draped around his neck. He briefly lost his balance and Ganassi instinctively reached out to grab his star driver.
No need.
Palou rarely makes a wrong move.
“All my family around, it’s amazing, honestly,” he said, smiling. “All the team around, they make me look really good on the track.”
Central 2 Dallas vs. Pacific 3 Edmonton at Dallas 6, Edmonton 3 (summary) Edmonton 3, at Dallas 0 (summary) at Edmonton 6, Dallas 1 (summary) Tuesday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ESPN Thursday at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN Saturday at Edmonton, 5 p.m., ABC* Monday, June 2 at Dallas, 5 p.m., ESPN*
Eastern Conference
Metro 2 Carolina vs. Atlantic 3 Florida Florida 5, at Carolina 2 (summary) Florida 5, at Carolina 0 (summary) at Florida 6, Carolina 2 (summary) Monday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT Wednesday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT* Friday at Florida, 5 p.m., TNT* Sunday at Carolina, 5 p.m., TNT*
* If necessary
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1963 — French Championships Men’s Tennis: Australian Roy Emerson beats home favorite Pierre Darmon 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
1963 — French Championships Women’s Tennis: Australian Lesley Turner wins the first of 2 French titles; beats England’s Ann Jones 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.
1972 — Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title.
1982 — 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam.
1985 — Danny Sullivan misses almost certain disaster and holds off Mario Andretti and the rest of the fastest field in auto racing to win the Indianapolis 500. On the 119th lap, Sullivan spins his racer 360 degrees, narrowly avoiding both the wall and Andretti.
1987 — Boston’s Larry Bird steals an inbounds pass from Detroit’s Isiah Thomas and feeds over his shoulder to a cutting Dennis Johnson for the winning basket as the Celtics pulls out an improbable 108-107 win over Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
1988 — The Edmonton Oilers, with MVP Wayne Gretzky leading the way, beat the Boston Bruins 6-3 to complete a four-game sweep and win their fourth Stanley Cup in five years.
1991 — Rick Mears passes Michael Andretti with 12 laps to go and wins his fourth Indianapolis 500, by 3.1 seconds. Mears joins A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only four-time winners.
1993 — 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich.
1994 — Haiti’s Ronald Agenor wins the longest match since the French Open adopted the tiebreaker. Agenor takes the 71st and final game of a second-round match with David Prinosil of Germany. His five-hour, 6-7 (4-7), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4, 14-12 victory involves the most games in a French Open match since 1973.
1999 — 7th UEFA Champions League Final: Manchester United beats Bayern Munich 2-1 at Barcelona.
2000 — New Jersey finishes the greatest comeback in a conference final when the Devils win the last three games of the series, beating the Flyers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Patrik Elias scores his second goal of the game with 2:32 to play for the win.
2004 — Andy Roddick loses at the French Open — to Frenchman Olivier Mutis, who is ranked 125th. With the five-set loss, Roddick joins Andre Agassi and eight other compatriots on the way home, making it the first Grand Slam tournament in more than 30 years without a U.S. man in the third round.
2005 — Americans Andy Roddick, James Blake and Vince Spadea fail to make it through the opening week at the French Open. For the second year in a row — and the second time at a Grand Slam event in more than 30 years — no American man makes it out of the second round.
2008 — Syracuse wins its 10th NCAA men’s lacrosse championship, beating defending champion Johns Hopkins 13-10 behind three goals from Dan Hardy. The crowd of 48,970 at Foxborough, Mass., is the largest to see an NCAA championship outdoors in any sport — the BCS football championship game isn’t an NCAA event.
2009 — NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Carolina Hurricanes, 4 games to 0.
2012 — Toronto FC ends its MLS record nine-game losing streak to open a season with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union on a late goal by Danny Koevermans.
2013 — Tony Kanaan ends years of frustration by finally winning the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan drives past Ryan Hunter-Reay on a restart with three laps to go, then coasts across the finish line under yellow when defending race winner Dario Franchitti crashes far back in the field. The Brazilian finished second in 2004 and twice finished third.
2013 — Senior PGA Championship, Bellerive CC: Kōki Idoki of Japan wins his lone PGA event by 2 strokes from Jay Haas and Kenny Perry.
2015 — Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Eastern Conference.
2018 — UEFA Champions League Final, Kiev: Real Madrid beats Liverpool, 3-1 for third straight title. Zinédine Zidane first manager to win 3 consecutive titles.
2019 — Indianapolis 500: 2016 IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud of France finishes just two-tenths of a second ahead of Alexander Rossi for Team Penske’s record-extending 18th victory in the event.
2019 — Senior PGA Championship, Oak Hill CC: American Ken Tanigawa wins his first career major title by 1 stroke ahead of Scott McCarron.
THIS DAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
1916 — Benny Kauff of the Giants was picked off first base three times by Boston’s Lefty Tyler. The miscues didn’t hurt as New York won its 14th consecutive road victory beating the Braves, 12-1.
1925 — In Detroit’s 8-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, Ty Cobb became the first to collect 1,000 career extra-base hits. He finished his career with 1,139.
1929 — Pinch-hitters Pat Crawford of the Giants and Les Bell of the Boston Braves hit grand slams in New York’s 15-9 victory.
1930 — Joe Sewell of the Cleveland Indians, who fanned only three times in 353 at-bats during the season, was struck out twice in the same game by Pat Caraway of the White Sox.
1937 — Billy Sullivan and Bruce Campbell appeared for the Cleveland Indians as pinch hitters. Each hit a home run, making this the first time two American League pinch hitters hit home runs in the same game. The Indians beat the Athletics, 8-6.
1956 — Cincinnati Reds pitchers John Klippstein, Hershell Freeman and Joe Black combined for 9 2-3 hitless innings, but lost 2-1 in 11 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies.
1959 — Harvey Haddix of Pittsburgh pitched 12 perfect innings before losing to Milwaukee 1-0 in the 13th on an error, a sacrifice and Joe Adcock’s double.
1962 — Sandy Koufax struck out 16 Phillies to lead the Dodgers to a 6-3 victory.
1969 — Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hits his 500th career double, becoming only the third major leaguer to reach 500 doubles and 500 home runs.
1995 — USC and Fresno State combined for an NCAA postseason baseball record of 39 runs in the Trojans’ 22-17 win in the West Regional. USC scored three runs in the top of the ninth to break the record of 37 set by the Trojans and Houston in 1990.
1996 — The Chicago White Sox became the 16th team in AL history to hit four homers in one inning in their 12-1 win over Milwaukee. Frank Thomas, Harold Baines and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers and Chad Kreuter added another in Chicago’s seven-run eighth.
1997 — Chicago’s Sammy Sosa and the Pirates’ Tony Womack hit inside-the-park homers in the sixth inning of the Cubs’ 2-1 win. It was the first time two inside-the-park homers had been hit in the same inning in 20 years.
2004 — Daryle Ward hit for the cycle and tied his career best with six RBIs in Pittsburgh’s 11-8 win over St. Louis.
2006 — Derek Jeter gets his 2,000th career hit, becoming the eighth player in Yankees history to reach the milestone.
2008 — Chase Utley tied the National League lead with his 16th homer and drove in six runs as Philadelphia routed Colorado 20-5. The Phillies batted around three times and had season-highs in hits (19) and runs.
2011 — The hot-hitting Boston Red Sox routed the Detroit Tigers 14-1 in an eight-inning, rain-shortened game. The Red Sox, who beat Cleveland 14-2 the previous day, scored at least 14 runs in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998.
2016 — Major League Baseball hands out a suspension of 82 games to Braves OF Hector Olivera, following a domestic violence incident in April. It is by far the most severe penalty yet handed out under baseball’s new domestic violence policy.
2018 — Mike Trout has the first five-hit game of his career and drives in 4 runs to lead the Angels to an 11-4 win over the Yankees.
2021 — Commissioner Rob Manfred issues his ruling following the completion of the investigation of allegations of improper behavior towards a number of women against former manager and coach Mickey Callaway. Callaway is found guilty of violating Major League Baseball policies and is declared ineligible for the remainder of this season and all of 2022, after which he may apply for reinstatement. For their part, the Angels fire him from his position of pitching coach, from which he has been suspended since the allegations surfaced in February, and the Indians, who were Callaway’s employer when some of the offensive incidents took place, state that they will take steps to ensure a more respectful environment in which employees feel empowered to denounce workplace harassement in the future.
2023 — Craig Kimbrel becomes the eighth pitcher to record 400 career saves in Philadelphia’s 6 – 4 win over the Braves, barely two weeks after Kenley Jansen became the seventh.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
May 20 (UPI) — The U.S. House Rules Committee, after 22 hours of proceedings, late Wednesday advanced President Donald Trump‘s legislative agenda that experts say would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit and negatively affect the poorest of Americans.
Debate on the full House floor began early Thursday.
The House Rules Committee adopted the bill in an 8-4 vote along party lines. They first met shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday to consider the 1,116-page budget that is roughly $7 trillion
The Finance Committee late Sunday approved the legislation 17-16 along party lines with four Republicans who rejected the bill the first time on Friday voting present: Ralph Norman of Oklagoa, Chip Roy of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma.
“What the hell are you guys so scared of, that you guys are holding this hearing at 1 in the morning?” Rules Committee Ranking Member Jim McGovern, D-Mass., said. “If Republicans are so proud of what is in this bill, then why are you trying to ram it through in the dead of the night?”
The full House must also vote to adopt the rule first before taking up the underlying bill. Republicans hope to move the House bill, with no support from Democrats, to the Senate by Memorial Day on Monday.
With the GOP holding a slim majority of 220-212, House Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose more than three GOP votes. Party hardliners and moderates from vulnerable districts have failed to agree on key issues that include Medicaid, federal clean energy programs and tax breaks to states.
Three House seats were held by Democrats who died, including Gerry Connolly of Virginia on Wednesday.
At least five House GOP members considered vulnerable in the 2026 midterm elections — including Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. — have vowed to vote against the bill unless it ups the proposed state and local tax deduction from the current proposed $30,000.
The bill contains a massive overhaul of the tax code and deep spending cuts.
An amendment included speeding up work requirements for Medicaid to the end of 2026 rather than 2029.
It also tightens the definition of a “qualified alien” eligible for the program.
There is a new incentive for states that hadn’t expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. It allows those states to pay 110% of Medicare rates for state directed payments as a way to finance Medicaid.
The Center on Budget and Policies Priorities estimates 36 million Medicaid enrollees could be at risk of losing coverage because of potential work requirements and other factors.
In December, there were 78,532,341 on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.
Also, the bill formalizes the so-called SALT cap, which would allow people to deduct state and local income taxes up to $40,000 for certain income groups. GOP leaders initially wanted cap of $30,000 but key New York, New Jersey and California Republicans vulnerable in the 2026 election, had refused to support it.
Republicans opted to phase out Biden energy tax credits sooner than planned. New projects must break ground within 60 days or be “in service” by the end of 2028 to qualify for the credits.
Earlier, Rep. Chip Roy of Texas,, a holdout, told CNN’s Manu Raju he was “still looking to review more provisions and have more conversations.”
“Yeah, I’m going to vote for it,” Rep. Andy Biggs ,of Arizona, told CNN.
Medicaid changes and a $4 trillion debt limit increase, among other provisions.
The bill includes a $4 trillion debt limit.
Budget plan’s analysis
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released data Tuesday that the House Republican’s budget proposal and its tax provisions would cut federal revenue by around 10% of America’s current national debt over the next decade.
The GOP bill proposal could cost American taxpayers $3.8 trillion over the next 10 years, according to a report this month by the Joint Committee on Taxation, which looked at the effect of tax policies versus spending cuts.
“This bill does not add to the deficit,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed Monday during a press briefing.
On Friday, Moody’s Ratings downgraded the U.S. debt citing the GOP proposal that Moody’s says will tack on $4 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.
As proposed, the bill would extend Trump’s tax cuts largely to the wealthiest Americans and cut personal income tax rates. It also establishes fresh tax reductions on tips, Social Security, overtime payments and loan interest on automobiles produced in the United States.
An analysis Monday by the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Wharton school projects that under the Republican plan, the lowest-income American citizens would end up paying more.
Leavitt said the Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisers claim that there’s $1.6 trillion worth of savings in the GOP bill.
“That’s the largest saving for any legislation that has ever passed Capitol Hill in our nation’s history,” Leavitt continued.
On Tuesday, the president was on Capitol Hill to meet with Johnson and lawmakers in order to push his legislative agenda.
“While I respect President Trump and understand the importance of passing this legislation, I will not do so at the expense of my district,” Lawler posted on X Tuesday afternoon.
Lawler noted that his district was one of only three kept by a Republican that then-Vice President Kamala Harris had won in November’s presidential election in a heavily-taxed Congressional district.
“For over two years, I have been abundantly clear to everyone from the President to House Leadership about the importance of lifting the cap on SALT,” he said about state and local tax deduction caps.
In a rare moment of bipartisan unity, both sides of the aisle came together to pump crypto higher, and the Senate has advanced the Stablecoin Bill, as Coindesk writes. This is the first major and favorable crypto regulation passed by the sitting Senate. It establishes clear regulatory guidelines for stablecoins and allows banks to issue them and interact with crypto.
A massive shift in the Overton window compared to the Biden administration’s approach to crypto. Now is the time to find the best crypto presales to buy before liquidity gushes into crypto and everything breaks ATHs again.
The advance of the Senate crypto bill marks a drastic shift in the United States’s crypto attitude, and this bill acts as a signal to anyone paying attention. Crypto just got the bipartisan green light to accelerate, and the downstream effects will be enormous.
Conditions are ideal now for crypto presales, with an increasing appetite for early-stage ventures and a rapidly improving liquidity backdrop thanks to Trump’s most recent bill, which will increase the deficit and mandate the FED to engage in some type of quantitative easing. Altseason is coming.
Bitcoin Pepe is building meme-native DeFi on Bitcoin and onboarding partners to drive adoption of its PEP-20 token standard before launch—this is the “Solana moment” but on BTC. Mind of Pepe offers an autonomous AI agent that evolves in real-time, and Solaxy is the scalability play for Solana’s next chapter.
Why the Senate crypto Bill is a green light for presales
Monday’s 66–32 Senate vote on the Genius Bill is a political watershed moment, and this has sent a booming signal to lawmakers, institutions, and capital allocators all over the world. Crypto is here to stay, and it is an institutionally friendly asset class. All the banks, capital allocators, and funds that have been sidelined until now can finally play, and crypto presale investors could not ask for better conditions.
Presales historically outperform when the macro is bullish and retail has not yet piled in. Institutions just got the green light; they will pile in and drive prices higher, and then retail wakes up.
The establishment of clear regulatory frameworks for stablecoins will attract institutional investors who have been hesitant due to regulatory uncertainties. Liquidity will be up only for a while as stablecoins morph into TradFi, and this is the moment to pay attention.
Bitcoin Pepe: Meme coin infrastructure built on Bitcoin
Bitcoin Pepe is building a full layer 2 stack on Bitcoin designed specifically for meme coin trading, powered by the PEP-20 token standard. Solana-style velocity is finally coming to the world’s most trusted settlement layer, and the upside potential from the current price of $0.0359 is almost frightening. With the launch on May 31st, early BPEP buyers have everything to play for.
BPEP has been forming real partnerships ahead of its launch, each one expanding adoption, functionality, and visibility for its PEP-20 ecosystem. The partnership with Super Meme brings a community-first launchpad, and the partnership with Plena Finance will mean users on the Bitcoin Pepe layer 2 will enjoy account abstraction from day one.
The rapid rate of iteration highlights clearly that Bitcoin Pepe aims to become the go-to meme coin layer for Bitcoin. With spot BTC ETF inflows totaling billions, this crypto presale could become the perfect speculative outlet for all this trapped capital. The native bridge will unlock $2 trillion in idle capital on day one, and if even 1% of capital bridges, it would trigger a meme coin rally multiples larger than anything ever seen on Solana.
The timing couldn’t be better. BTC is pushing to new ATHs, retail will return soon, and meme coin trading volume is spiking. Bitcoin Pepe positions itself as the narrative and technical bridge for the next era of Bitcoin, and with presale inflows spiking by $1 million since partnership announcements and rumors of CEX listings post-launch. This could be early investors’ opportunity to buy into the ERC-20 moment all over again.
With $10.7m raised to date, presale inflows accelerating, and a launch later this month, BPEP is without a doubt one of the best crypto presales to buy in the wake of the Senate crypto bill.
Mind of Pepe: The meme coin that thinks for itself
Mind of Pepe introduces a meme coin that thinks, posts, and evolves on its own. Built as a self-evolving AI agent, this presale token is supposed to become an autonomous growth engine. It operates on X and across other social platforms, engaging with communities, shaping conversations, and growing its influence with every interaction.
But why is that valuable? Because in the modern economy, attention is capital. As the AI gains traction, the MIND token gains value. The AI is still in its beta phase currently, but the roadmap details plans for it to launch its own projects, and ostensibly, MIND token holders should participate in any upside.
This is a weird trade even by crypto standards, but that’s what makes it powerful. Mind of Pepe is an experiment in what happens when memes become sentient—and tokenized.
Solaxy: Solana’s newest layer 2
Solana is famous as the home of meme coin trading and as one of crypto’s most scalable layer 1s. Nobody thought that Solana would ever need a layer 2. Still, with the emergence of meme coins, DePIN narratives, the Internet Capital Markets meta, and increasingly RWA projects, congestion is starting to become a problem. Solaxy is the first serious Layer 2 built natively for Solana, and its presale positions it perfectly for the next wave of economic activity and adoption.
The logic is simple: if Solana is about to get ETF flows and host tokenized equities, performance must remain consistent. Solaxy helps ensure that. Its hybrid architecture routes traffic off-chain when needed, preserving Solana’s UX even during network spikes, and means all users enjoy an uninterrupted experience.
Solaxy is a pick-and-shovel play on the entire Solana ecosystem, and its early positioning could make it one of the best crypto presales to buy before the market catches on.
Why buying presales as regulation improves is the smart play
The Senate crypto bill signals a new era of legitimacy. Bitcoin is at $100K. Ethereum is flowing off exchanges. And presales are starting to reach terminal velocity. Capital is already flowing from mature assets into emerging ones, and investors want to be ahead of this train.
Bitcoin Pepe is building the meme coin superhighway on Bitcoin—PEP-20 adoption is growing by the day. Mind of Pepe is injecting memes with autonomous intelligence. And Solaxy is scaling Solana before it’s forced to. The market is quite literally telling investors where it wants to go, and all investors need to do is position themselves. This is a classic “sell the news” setup in reverse. Legislation still hasn’t passed, and while institutions are forced to wait, early buyers can jump in now.
FAQs
What does the senate bill mean for crypto presales?
The Senate’s passage of the Genius Bill is a game-changer for crypto presales. With regulatory clarity and institutional green lights, capital is set to flood the space before retail joins in. Presale investors now have the perfect storm: bullish macro, fresh liquidity, and early access before the big money arrives.
What is the best crypto presale to buy now?
The best crypto presale to buy now is Bitcoin Pepe. It has raised over $8.1 million, with its token price more than doubling since launch, and is set for a May 31 exchange listing . Its Bitcoin Layer 2 infrastructure offers Solana-like speed and low fees, attracting significant investor interest.
When is the Bitcoin Pepe listing date?
Bitcoin Pepe is scheduled to launch on May 31, 2025, coinciding with its listing on major exchanges. The presale, which began on February 11, 2025, concludes ahead of this, offering early investors a final opportunity to acquire $BPEP tokens before public trading commences.
Will Bitcoin Pepe sell out ahead of launch?
Yes, Bitcoin Pepe is likely to sell out ahead of its May 31 launch. The presale has already raised over $10.7m, with token prices increasing at each stage and limited supply remaining. Investor demand is accelerating as buyers aim to secure tokens before the final price jump.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not provide financial advice. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and the market can be unpredictable. Always perform thorough research before making any cryptocurrency-related decisions.
WASHINGTON — Republicans advanced their massive tax cut and border security package out of a key House committee during a rare Sunday night vote as conservatives who blocked the measure two days earlier reversed course after gaining commitments on the package’s spending cuts.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) met with Republican lawmakers shortly before the meeting, telling reporters that the changes agreed to were “just some minor modifications. Not a huge thing.”
Democrats on the panel pressed for more details about the changes that Republicans had agreed to in the private negotiations. But Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, said he could not do so.
“Deliberations continue at this very moment,” Arrington said. “They will continue on into the week, and I suspect right up until the time we put this big, beautiful bill on the floor of the House.”
The first time Republicans tried advancing the bill out of the Budget Committee, hard-right Republicans joined with Democrats in voting against sending the measure to the full House. Five Republicans voted no, one on procedural grounds, the other four voicing concerns about the bill’s effect on federal budget deficits.
On Sunday evening, the four voicing concerns about the deficit voted present, and the measure passed by a vote of 17 to 16.
Johnson is looking to put the bill on the House floor before the end of the week.
“This is the vehicle through which we will deliver on the mandate that the American people gave us in the last election,” he said on “Fox News Sunday” in advance of the vote.
The Republicans who criticized the measure noted that the bill’s new spending and tax cuts are front-loaded in the bill, while the measures to offset the cost are back-loaded. For example, they are looking to speed up the new work requirements that Republicans want to enact for Medicaid recipients. Those requirements would not kick in until 2029 under the current bill.
“We are writing checks we cannot cash, and our children are going to pay the price,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a member of the committee. “Something needs to change, or you’re not going to get my support.”
Johnson said the start date for the work requirements was designed to give states time to “retool their systems” and to “make sure that all the new laws and all the new safeguards that we’re placing can actually be enforced.”
Roy was joined in voting no by Reps. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma and Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia. Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania switched his vote to no in a procedural step so it could be reconsidered later.
The vote against advancing the bill had come after President Trump urged Republicans in a social media post to unite behind it.
At its core, the sprawling package permanently extends the existing income tax cuts that were approved during Trump’s first term, in 2017, and adds temporary new ones that the president campaigned on in 2024, including no taxes on tips, overtime pay and auto loan interest payments. The measure also proposes big spending increases for border security and defense.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade.
Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to the measure, which Republicans have labeled “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) called it “one big, beautiful betrayal” in Friday’s hearing.
“This spending bill is terrible, and I think the American people know that,” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union’’ on Sunday. “There is nothing wrong with us bringing the government in balance. But there is a problem when that balance comes on the back of working men and women. And that’s what is happening here.”
Johnson is not just having to address the concerns of those in his conference who raised concerns about the deficit. He’s also facing pressure from centrists who will be warily eyeing the proposed changes to Medicaid, food assistance programs and the rolling back of clean energy tax credits. Republican lawmakers from New York and elsewhere are also demanding a much large state and local tax deduction.
As it stands, the bill proposes tripling what’s currently a $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, increasing it to $30,000 for joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 a year.
Rep. Nick LaLota, one of the New York GOP lawmakers leading the effort to lift the cap, said they have proposed a deduction of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers.
If the bill passes the House this week, it would move to the Senate, where Republicans are seeking additional changes that could make final passage in the House more difficult.
Johnson said: “The package that we send over there will be one that was very carefully negotiated and delicately balanced, and we hope that they don’t make many modifications to it because that will ensure its passage quickly.”
Freking and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.
May 18 (UPI) — The House Budget Committee advanced President Donald Trump‘s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” in a rare Sunday night vote.
They met at 10 p.m. to consider the bill that extends Trump’s tax cuts, increases border funding priorities and requires Medicaid recipients to work.
The measure passed 17-16 along party lines, with four Republicans who rejected the bill the first time on Friday voting present Sunday: Ralph Norman of Oklagoa, Chip Roy of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia and Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma. They voted against the bill Friday, preventing it from advancing then.
Roy said he voted present “out of respect for the Republican Conference and the president,” but doesn’t support the bill as it stands.
He posted on X: “The bill does not yet meet the moment — leaving almost half of the green new scam subsidies continuing. More, it fails to end the Medicaid money laundering scam and perverse funding structure that provides seven times more federal dollars for each dollar of state spending for the able-bodied relative to the vulnerable. This all ultimately increases the likelihood of continuing deficits and non-Obamacare-expansion states like Texas expanding in the future. We can and must do better before we pass the final product.”
He is looking forward to getting the bill way he wants it. “It gives us the opportunity to work together this week to get the job done in light of the fact our bond rating was dropped yet again due to historic fiscal mismanagement by both parties,” he wrote. “This bill is a strong step forward.”
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Ky., said he was pleased the bill advances.
“There’s a lot more work to do, we’ve always acknowledged that towards the end there will be more details to iron out, we have several more to take care of,” Johnson said. “But I’m looking forward to very thoughtful discussions, very productive discussions over the next few days, and I am absolutely convinced we’re going to get this in final form and pass it in accordance with our original deadline, and that was to do it before Memorial Day.
“So this will be a victory out of committee tonight, everybody will make a vote that allows us to proceed and that was my big request tonight.”
The bill for fiscal year 2026, which begins Oct. 1, is 1,116 pages and is worth roughly $7 trillion. The last time Congress passed all 12 regular appropriations bills on time, before the start of a new fiscal year, was in 1996. Since then, Congress has relied heavily on continuing resolutions and omnibus appropriations bills to fund the government.
In fiscal year 2024, the federal government spent $6.8 trillion.
Before the meeting, Johnson said on Fox News Sunday he was optimistic the bill will past the House by the end of this week. Some Republican hardliners and moderates have opposed the bill along with all Democrats.
“We’re on track, working around the clock to deliver this nation-shaping legislation for the American people as soon as possible,” Johnson said. “All 11 of our committees have wrapped up their work, and they spent less and saved more than even we’ve projected initially. This really is a once-in-a-generation opportunity that we have here.”
The bill next gets put before the Rules Committee with a 9-4 Republican majority including Norman and Roy. In the full House, Republicans have just a 220-213 advantage with two vacancies after two Democrats died.
“It’s very important for people to understand why we’re being so aggressive on the timetable and why this really is so important,” Johnson said earlier Sunday. “This is the vehicle through which we will deliver on the mandate the American people gave us during the last election. You’re going to have historic savings for the American people, historic tax relief for American workers, historic investments in border security.
“At the same time, we’re restoring American energy dominance, and we’re rebuilding the defense industrial base, and we’re ensuring that programs like Medicaid and SNAP are strengthened for U.S. citizens who need and deserve them and not being squandered away by illegal aliens and persons who are ineligible to receive them and are cheating the system.”
On Friday, Budget Committee hard-liners blocked the package from moving forward — mainly over when Medicaid work requirements will commence. Under the current legislation, Medicaid requirements will kick in during 2029. Some conservatives want it to start as soon as 2027.
Norman, who voted against advancing the bill, earlier told CNN on Saturday that the earlier date was necessary for his vote.
TheCenter on Budget and Policies Priorities estimates 36 million Medicaid enrollees could be at risk of losing coverage because of potential work requirements and other factors.
In December, there were 78,532,341 on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, according to the agency. That includes 71,275,237 enrolled in Medicaid and 7,257,104 in CHIPS.
“Some of the states have — it takes them some time,” Johnson said. “We’ve learned in this process to change their systems and to make sure that these stringent requirements that we will put on that to eliminate fraud, waste and abuse, can actually be implemented. So, we’re working with them [hardliners] to make sure what the earliest possible date is to put into law something that will actually be useful. I think we’ve got to compromise on that. I think we’ll work it out,” Johnson claimed.”
If the House passes a bill, it goes to the Senate. Johnson said he hopes the Senate won’t alter the bill, which means it goes back to the House.
“The package that we send over there will be one that was very carefully negotiated and delicately balanced, and we hope that they [Senate] don’t make many modifications to it, because that will ensure its passage quickly,” he said.
Holdouts also want to accelerate the phasing out of tax credits for green energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The bill also includes a big increase for the Defense Department and to national security. There are cuts to federal health and nutrition programs and energy programs.
It’s a balancing act for Johnson because some changes may anger House moderates. They are phasing out the tax credits and cuts to Medicaid benefits. Trump has vowed not to cut Medicaid.
Some swing-district House Republicans want to raise the tax rate on top earners to offset the cost of lifting the cap on how much their constituents can deduct in their state and local taxes, known as SALT.
“Allowing the top tax rate to expire and returning from 37% to 39.6% for individuals earning $609,350 or more and married couples earning $731,200 or more breathes $300 billion of new life into the One Big, Beautiful Bill,” Rep. Nick LaLota of New York told CNN on Saturday.
Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Jason Smith, R-MO, in the Longworth House office building in Washington, D.C. in April of 2024. File Photo | License Photo
May 14 (UPI) — The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Republican tax package Wednesday, which followed an all-night hearing during which GOP members rejected attempts by Democrats to alter the plan.
The bill was approved on 26-19 party line, which will next move to the chamber’s Budget Committee, where it will be blended with legislation from other committees and presented as part of what President Donald Trump has dubbed the “One, Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“We are in hour 14 of a markup where Democrats are fighting tooth and nail,” posted Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith, R- Mo. to X at 4:29 a.m. EDT Wednesday,” which followed previous update posts at 2:37 a.m. EDT Wednesday and 11:56 p.m. EDT Tuesday. The hearing began at 2:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
Democrats saw all their proposed amendments, which covered items like the expansion of health care coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and green energy, turned down, while also having stumped against the current tax plan, which it called a giveaway to the wealthy.
Democrats also put forth amendments that would have impacted Trump’s tariffs, blocked tax cuts for high earners and expanded child-care incentives among other suggestions, but none were adopted.
The entire package is projected to cost $3.8 trillion, but could still address state and local tax, or SALT, deductions. The Joint Committee on Taxation reported Tuesday that average earners would see their tax bills decrease by double-digit percentages in 2027 under the plan as it stands.
Democrats have also pointed out that under the plan, taxpayers who earn over $500,000 would see a cumulative tax cut of around $170 billion in 2027, while those who will earn between $30,000 and $80,000 that year would only see a collective $59 billion.
The bill is targeted to pass through the enter chamber by Memorial Day, then on to the Senate which is expected to combine the tax laws with the rest of Trump’s “Beautiful” bill, which together would both extend the life of previously set tax cuts and enable Trump’s financial requests.
