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WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court refused Monday to block an excessive force lawsuit against a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who shot and killed a knife-wielding man whose speeding truck had slammed into several cars near downtown Los Angeles.

The court turned down an appeal petition from the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, over the objections of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr.

Litigation over the six-second shooting incident has extended over six years.

Federal judges in California agreed that Officer Toni McBride had reason to fire four shots at the suspect in April 2020 but not the two final shots that killed him.

Daniel Hernandez was alleged to be under the influence of methamphetamine when he got out of his truck and walked toward the officer. She repeatedly ordered him, “Drop the knife,” as he approached.

But the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, by a 6-5 vote, ruled last year that a jury could decide the officer went too far when she fired two final shots after the suspect had fallen to the ground.

The majority reasoned that in the one-second pause between shots four and five, McBride “could have and should first reassessed the situation” and possibly concluded the suspect no longer posed a danger.

That ruling would have sent the case to a trial.

But the Los Angeles city’s attorney’s office appealed to the Supreme Court in October and urged the justices to review and reverse the 9th Circuit’s decision.

The city’s attorneys said the appeals court failed to consider the “totality of circumstances from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene” and its decision refused “to allow for reasonable mistakes in fast-moving, life-threatening encounters.”

UC Berkeley law dean Erwin Chemerinsky filed a response for the Hernandez family. He urged the court to stand aside and let a jury decide whether the officer’s actions were reasonable.

“The 9th Circuit simply held that it should be for the jury to resolve the factual dispute over what happened,” he said.

The justices had considered the appeal since late February before finally turning it down without comment on Monday.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled police officers may be sued for unreasonable searches and seizures only if they are shown to have knowingly violated clearly established law.

However, this doctrine of “qualified immunity” has divided judges over whether a particular rule or limit has been clearly established.

The 9th Circuit majority said shooting a fallen suspect crosses the line.

“It has been clearly established for more than a decade that when an officer shoots and wounds a suspect, and he falls to the ground, the officer cannot continue to shoot him, absent some indication that he presents a continuing threat,” wrote Judge Jacqueline H. Nguyen.

“A fallen and injured suspect armed only with a bladed instrument does not present a continuing threat merely because he makes nonthreatening movements on the ground. … Under such circumstances, a jury could reasonably find that she employed constitutionally excessive force. If so, she is not entitled to qualified immunity,” she said.

The five dissenters said the officer made a reasonable split-second decision.

Judge Ryan Nelson said McBride “was justified in shooting Daniel Hernandez to alleviate the risk that he posed when he advanced toward her while armed and ignoring commands to stop. … She cannot be reasonably expected or required to reassess her shooting in a tight six second period during an intense and dangerous situation throughout which Hernandez was rising and never stopped moving.”

Judge Patrick Bumatay echoed this concern.

“Judges review police shootings only in hindsight. We review police tapes years after the fact. We get to rewind, pause, fast forward — analyzing the situation frame-by-frame. While the advent of police bodycam videos has been a welcome change, we can’t ignore that real life isn’t in slow motion,” he said.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — On the edge of the greatest collapse in U.S. Open history, Wyndham Clark held his nerve against a charge by Sam Burns and a Shinnecock Hills gallery that never gave him much love Sunday until he captured his second Open title in four years.

Six shots ahead at the start of the final round, Clark’s final act was two putts from just outside 50 feet for par that gave him a three-over 73 and a one-shot victory over Burns.

Clark, who won the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, became the first wire-to-wire winner of the U.S. Open since Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2014.

This sure didn’t feel like that. His lead was down to a single shot after just five holes, and the stress followed him the rest of the way.

The clincher for Clark was one of his worst drives of the day on the par-5 16th. He gouged that out and narrowly cleared a bunker. His eight-iron barely stayed on the back of the green. And he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt that gave him a two-shot lead with two holes to play.

It was a signature moment with muted applause. The gallery rooted against him all day, putting all their support behind Scottie Scheffler and his bid for the career Grand Slam. Scheffler had his own share of mistakes and never got closer than three shots all day.

Clark had the highest final round of a U.S. Open champion since Graeme McDowell closed with a 74 to win at Pebble Beach. No matter. The 32-year-old American has two U.S. Open titles, and two wins in the last month.

Burns closed with a 67, his second chance in as many years to win the U.S. Open. He missed two birdie chances on the final two holes, but what hurt just as much was a three-putt bogey on the 15th when he was trying to catch Clark.

Scheffler, in his first try to get the only major he hasn’t won, was three shots back when he rammed a 30-foot birdie putt some six feet on the 14th and three-putted for bogey and a 71.

Clark capped off quite a turnaround from a year ago. He was playing poor and looking angry, throwing a driver at the PGA Championship that made a marshal flinch, and then bashing in his locker at storied Oakmont Country Club after missing the cut in the U.S. Open last year.

Oakmont banned him until he made good — which Clark did — and he set out to work on his head and his game. Both looked better than ever at Shinnecock Hills.

He finished at four-under 276.

“New York didn’t really like me — I love you guys,” Clark said at the closing ceremony, hoisting the silver trophy. “But I get it. Some of it’s self-deserved. I did some unfortunate things last year that I really regret, and I’ve been sorry multiple times and I’m still sorry, so hopefully I can win you guys over eventually.”

But it was uncomfortable at times, not only seeing a six-shot lead disappear so quickly but a crowd so badly wanting a special day for Scheffler that it turned on Clark. One fan was ejected when he shouted, “Don’t choke, Wyndham” when it was Clark’s turn to hit on the fourth tee.

And there was a loud and instant cheer on the par-three seventh, the kind normally reserved for a shot close to the pin. This was for Clark’s tee shot rolling into a bunker, leading to a short miss for bogey that again trimmed his lead to one shot.

“I get it — they were rooting for Scottie,” Clark said. “Grand Slams only happen a few times. He’s going to get it. He’s the best player in the world. But today it’s my day.”

It almost wasn’t.

But Burns never caught him — he played even par over the last 10 holes. Tom Kim, who like Scheffler celebrated a birthday on Sunday, was on the fringes of seriously contending until he fell back with a bogey on the 17th and shot 70 to finish third.

Clark hit a superb wedge that spun back to four feet for birdie on the 10th to restore the lead to two shots. But then he went long on the 13th with a pitching wedge and couldn’t save par.

Burns last year had to deal with a rain-soaked Oakmont and a couple of shots he missed badly with so much water getting between the face of the iron and his golf ball. This time, it came down to the final two holes.

He made a weak attempt at birdie from 10 feet on the 17th to tie for the lead. His 17-foot birdie chance on the 18th rolled along the right edge of the cup at perfect speed and didn’t drop. Burns let go of his putter and dropped to his knees.

“I honestly thought I made it,” Burns said. ”Just the way it goes sometimes.”

That it went Clark’s way is hard to fathom considering where he was a year ago, where he was a month ago. He was No. 75 in the world, winless in two years, when he shot 60 in the final round to win The CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

Now he goes to No. 8 in the world ranking, and the smile he wore holding that U.S. Open trophy would suggest he feels on top of the world.

Ferguson writes for the Associated Press.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The USGA set up a different golf course at Shinnecock Hills to keep it playable in strong wind. And when the wind subsided late Thursday afternoon, Wyndham Clark looked like he was playing in a different U.S. Open.

Clark seized on a more gentle course — slightly calmer and still soft with receptive greens — by pulling away late to reach six-under-par through 16 holes.

He left in darkness with a four-shot lead over seven players, one of them Oklahoma junior Ryder Cowan, another the surprisingly resurgent Dustin Johnson.

Rory McIlroy thought he had made a fine effort with a 69 in gusts that topped 30 mph in the middle of the day, when the scoring average was well above 74. The afternoon started tough until the wind kept subsiding, and players began taking aim at flags. The afternoon wave was playing at least a stroke easier than the early starters who faced relentless wind.

“Everything was kind of clicking,” said Clark, who came into the U.S. Open playing as well as anyone. “We were definitely fortunate with the wind laying down. Overall a good round.”

Shinnecock was still a brute of a test, but the red numbers on the white scoreboard were an unfamiliar site for this course. When play was suspended by darkness, 17 players were under par.

Xander Schauffele hits his tee shot on the ninth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Friday.

(George Walker IV / Associated Press)

The lowest opening round in the previous five U.S. Opens at Shinnecock is 66, last done by three players in 2004.

Cowan birdied his last hole for a 68 to join former Sooner Max McGreevy and former Oklahoma State player Sam Stevens, the only one of that trio who faced the harsh wind of the morning wave.

Johnson, in his final year of being exempt from the U.S. Open he won at Oakmont in 2016, ran off four straight birdies and was tied with Clark after 13 holes. But Johnson failed to get up-and-down for birdie on the easy par-five fifth, where Clark made eagle. And then Johnson three-putted from short range for double bogey on the sixth to fall four shots behind.

Scottie Scheffler, who needs the U.S. Open to complete the career Grand Slam, battled all day and relied heavily on his short game to salvage a 72. It was his 10th consecutive U.S. Open round without breaking par, but at the time it left him only four shots out of the lead.

Clark, who won the U.S. Open in Los Angeles three years ago, changed the look of the leaderboard. He was to return Friday morning to complete the round, then head out for the second round in wind expected to be not as strong.

One key to his round might have happened some five hours before he even showed up.

Thirty minutes after the round began, play was stopped because of fog so dense it was difficult to see the fairway and the green on the par-three 11th. The two-hour delay pushed back tee times.

The forecast was for the strongest wind of the week during the brightest part of Thursday.

“I would say when I got my tee times on Tuesday, I was like, ‘Oh, could be a tough draw,’” Clark said. “That two-hour fog delay was very helpful, and it was really nice it laid down. So it definitely helped those last six, seven holes we played.”

His golf wasn’t too shabby, either. Clark started on No. 10 and opened with two quick birdies. He went out in 32 to get his name atop the leaderboard. And after missing an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and failing to save par from a bunker on the long par-three second, he took off.

He hit wedge to five feet on No. 3 for birdie, made a 20-foot birdie putt on the next and then from 207 yards with some wind at his back, he hit his second on the par-five fifth to within three feet for eagle.

When Johnson faltered, Clark had plenty of breathing room — and a quick turnaround.

The wind was so strong and the conditions so severe that it took Scheffler’s group nearly three hours to complete nine holes. There was a question the round could have finished even without the fog delay.

Only 27 out of the 77 players from the afternoon wave — Jason Day withdrew because of a back injury — finished the first round.

Dustin Johnson reacts after missing a putt on the sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Friday.

(Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)

Johnson was joined by three other U.S. Open champions — Matt Fitzpatrick (2022), Gary Woodland (2019) and Jon Rahm (2021) — at two under, with all still having holes to play.

Rahm, who had a chance in the final hour at the PGA Championship, was bogey-free and reached two under by making a 60-foot birdie putt on the par-three 17th hole.

Stevens overcame a double bogey to start his round — a hole that took him over two hours to play because of the fog — and strung together six birdies for his 68.

“The greens haven’t been too firm, the fairways haven’t been too firm, so I’ve really felt like it’s pretty scorable,” said Stevens, who had only his second sub-70 round in his fourth U.S. Open. “Obviously, it’s difficult, but overall it’s an awesome place. I think the setup is great right now.”

For half of the opening round, the USGA appeared to have the ideal test. Coming off two Opens at Shinnecock when the course got out of control, it slowed greens to 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter — rare for any major, much less the U.S. Open — and keep plenty of water on the putting surfaces.

It was all because of the wind, which did not disappoint. The sustained wind approached 25 mph, and gusts were even stronger. And if that wasn’t enough, it shifted directions in the middle of the day.

“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard — really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after a 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”

But they played, it became more ideal with each passing hour late in the afternoon.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Three and a half years after its biggest failure on the World Cup stage in half a century, the Mexican national team needed only two games to advance to the knockout round of this year’s tournament as winner of Group A.

Mexico’s defense held off a spirited final push by South Korea, earning a 1-0 win on Thursday night at Guadalajara Stadium in front of a fiery announced sellout crowd of 45,522.

Goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu made a mistake in the 50th minute, failing to stop what appeared to be a simple cross and bobbling the ball. That allowed Mexico’s Luis Romo to easily tap the ball into the net and claim a 1-0 lead.

South Korea put pressure on the Mexican team throughout the game. Late in the scoreless first half, Jae-sung Lee came close to giving South Korea the lead. Mexico coach Javier Aguirre hoped his team would shake off nerves following the emotional opener at Azteca Stadium and show more bite in its second game against South Korea, but his team didn’t have much power behind its attack during the game’s first 45 minutes.

Mexico goalkeeper Raúl Rangel blocks a shot from South Korea’s Son Heung-min during their World Cup match at Guadalajara Stadium on Thursday.

(Natacha Pisarenko / Ap Photo/natacha Pisarenko)

The crowd in Guadalajara grew frustrated and began booing the Mexican national team’s performance at the end of the first half.

Mexico, however, won back their cheers when it capitalized on South Korea’s costly mistake and converted it into a goal.

El Tri earned a win without any other goals thanks, in part, to a great night by goalkeeper Raúl Rangel, who stopped a header by Cho Gue-sung in the 87th minute. Captain Edson Álvarez helped turn away South Korea’s attack late, holding up relatively well despite having left ankle surgery during the past year.

LAFC star and South Korea captain Son Heung-min fired one shot over Mexico’s goalkeeper in the first half, but Álvarez cleared it off the line before the referee ruled Son was offsides.

South Korea finished controlling possession 58% of the time, but it only earned two shots on target.

Mexico was coming off a comfortable 2-0 victory over South Africa, while the South Koreans had defeated the Czech Republic 2-1, marking their first World Cup opening-match win since 2010.

During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Mexico was eliminated in the group stage for the first time since 1978, breaking a streak of seven consecutive appearances in the knockout rounds. However, playing on home soil, the team’s goal is to emulate El Tri’s achievements in 1970 and 1986, when they reached the quarterfinals — the country’s best World Cup finish.

Due to the new 48-team format, Mexico would need to win two knockout-round matches and reach a sixth game to realize its goals.

Mexico’s Luis Romo celebrates with his teammates after scoring during a match against South Korea at Guadalajara Stadium on Thursday.

(Natacha Pisarenko / Associated Press)

After the win over South Korea, Mexico will close out group play against Czechia at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Wednesday. El Tri will get to play the first two games of the knockout round — should it win the first one — at Azteca Stadium, a venue where it has never lost a World Cup game.

South Korea has four points and will be favored when it plays South Africa Wednesday in Monterrey. If South Korea wins the match, it would be the Group A runner-up and advance to play the Group B runner-up on June 28 at SoFi Stadium.

Russian artist Robert Kuzakov, known as Semyon Skrepetsky, was shot dead in Poland just three days after a performance protest in Berlin near the Russian embassy. He was known for his caricatures of politicians including Vladimir Putin and Alexei Navalny.

LAS VEGAS — Carolina spent the first part of the Stanley Cup Final surviving, finding ways to overcome deficits and play a high-scoring game that didn’t fit the Hurricanes’ typical style.

But when it came down to doing what it takes to win the Cup, the Hurricanes’ defense put its stamp on this series, shutting down the Vegas Golden Knights and not letting up.

The Hurricanes held Vegas to five total goals in Games 4 and 5 and used a suffocating defense in a 3-0 shutout in Sunday night’s clinching Game 6 to win their first championship in 20 years.

“That’s a lot of years,” said Carolina center Jordan Staal, who received the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. “It’s amazing. This is something I’ve been going after ever since we got the first one. You want to win it again and again and again. What a feeling, what a battle. The boys were grinding today, my goodness. So many individual efforts just to keep the puck out of our net. It was an amazing ride. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

Carolina Hurricanes players celebrate after defeating the Vegas Golden Knights to win the Stanley Cup on Sunday.

(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

Brandon Bussi, whose entrance late into Game 3 helped turn around the series for Carolina, recorded his first career playoff shutout in stopping 22 shots. Jackson Blake had a goal and assist, and Taylor Hall scored just 3:47 into the game to set the tone. Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-net goal.

“Your mind wanders the last couple of days and wonder what it may be like out here (on ice after winning) and it’s better than I could have expected,” Hall said. “My career has taken a lot of different turns, but to end up here with this group of guys and to do this is amazing.”

The Golden Knights, who made an unlikely run just to reach the final, struggled badly to muster any kind of offense in Game 6 and went 18:37 between shots on goal in the second and third periods. Playing in their third Cup final, this is the first time they have been shut out.

This clinching game was what many observers expected the series to be like between the defensive-minded teams, but each side watched leads of two-plus goals disappear in the first three games.

Now, the Cup belongs to the Hurricanes, led by coach Rod Brind’Amour, who also captained Carolina to its 2006 title.

This was the first game of the series that Vegas goalie Carter Hart didn’t allow four goals in a game. He finished with 20 saves.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers celebrates after scoring an empty-net goal in the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.

(John Locher / Associated Press)

The Hurricanes began to assume control of the series after falling behind by the score of 4-0 in Game 3. They came back force overtime, and though the Hurricanes lost, they outplayed the Golden Knights from there on out.

Reflecting the do-or-die situation for the Golden Knights, they made several lineup changes, with Brett Howden replacing the injured William Karlsson at second-line center. Mitch Marner could have moved there, but remained at right wing.

Original Golden Knight Reilly Smith made his Cup final debut at third-line right wing, and Braeden Bowman made his playoff debut at fourth-line right wing. Kaedan Korczak replaced Dylan Coghlan on the third defensive pairing.

This title is a testament to Carolina’s resilience as a franchise that kept coming close to winning the Eastern Conference, but couldn’t quite get through until now.

Brind’Amour made sure the Hurricanes kept getting back up after losing in the conference final twice in the past three years and three times in their current eight-year playoff run. The talent was clearly there, but there was always a stumbling block.

Not anymore.

After dispatching Montreal in five games to make the final, the Brind’Amour-led Hurricanes then faced perennial power Vegas and took care of business there too. Now, he will get his name on the Cup for the second time.

So will 37-year-old Staal, who also won the title in 2009 with Pittsburgh. He planted himself in front of Hart and dared the Golden Knights to knock him out of the way. Staal scored in each of the first five Cup final games, the first time that has happened.

The Hurricanes got off to a fast start with a goal just 25 seconds into Game 1, only to lose 5-4 on a late goal from Tomas Hertl. And the Golden Knights were on the verge of taking complete control as minutes ticked down in Game 2 while holding a 2-0 lead and appearing as if they would take a two-game advantage back home.

Then, it all changed. Carolina showed a fight that not only brought the Hurricanes back into the series by rallying to win 4-3 in overtime on Seth Jarvis’ one-timer, but would serve as their signature throughout the series.

That was especially true the following game when the Golden Knights took a 4-0 lead into the third period and the Hurricanes seemed to have no answers. Brind’Amour even appeared to wave the white flag by removing goalie Frederik Andersen and replacing him with Bussi.

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour hugs Jordan Staal after the team’s Stanley Cup win on Sunday.

(Ethan Miller / Getty Images)

But the Hurricanes weren’t simply trying to get to Game 4. They sent a message, going on a remarkable rally to force overtime. Though Carolina lost, it was inflection point, with Bussi backstopping a team that was only growing stronger. Carolina then went on to win the next two games and moved within a victory of the championship.

The Hurricanes got it done against the Golden Knights team that was on a heater after John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the regular season. Vegas then went from third in the Pacific Division to first, knocked off Utah and Anaheim in six games apiece in the playoffs and shockingly swept Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado to win the West.

Now, the Golden Knights have some notable questions to ask, including at the top of the list whether to make Tortorella a full-time coach. He didn’t have any guarantees of coaching in Vegas beyond this season, but getting to the Cup final is a good argument to run it back.

Golden Knights management will make the final call on that, and they don’t always follow league norms.

Anderson writes for the Associated Press.

MEXICO CITY — FIFA president Gianni Infantino described Mexico City Stadium as a venue “blessed by the gods” and a “true cathedral of soccer.”

Azteca Stadium, as most people know it, is steeped in soccer history and is now the only venue to host three World Cup opening ceremonies. But the Mexican national team had never much World Cup success at the venue.

On Thursday, spurred on by most of the 80,824 fans in attendance and forwards Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez, Mexico managed to defeat South Africa 2-0 and securing its first opening match victory.

Mexico opened the scoring in the ninth minute when Quiñones capitalized on a defensive error by South Africa and fired a shot down the middle, between the legs of goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. The striker, a top scorer in the Saudi Pro League, immediately ran off to celebrate with the bench, marking the first goal of the tournament. The crowd responded by throwing beer into the air.

Mexico continued to press with numerous chances in the first half, including another shot by Quiñones that hit the post and another great save by Williams, who was South Africa’s best player.

“We were far superior in the first half; we could have been up 3-0,” Mexico coach Javier Aguirre said.

South Africa was reduced to 10 men just as the second half began when Sphephelo Sithole brought down Brian Gutiérrez, who was heading toward the goal unmarked. Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio showed a red card.

“We played well; there were moments when Mexico didn’t know what to do and our organization was very good,” said Hugo Broos, South Africa’s coach.

It seemed the match was going to be easier for the Mexicans with South Africa short-handed, but fans began to boo the Mexican players after they stopped attacking and appeared nervous.

Seeing his players’ lackluster performance on the field, Aguirre responded with substitutions: bringing on 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, a fan favorite, as well as Luis Chávez, to reshape the midfield.

Mexico’s Raúl Jiménez cries while hugging teammate Roberto Alvarado after scoring against South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday to open the World Cup.

(Natacha Pisarenko / Ap Photo/natacha Pisarenko)

“[It was] the start of the World Cup. It’s an intense atmosphere,” Aguirre said.

“In 25 games, we’ve never had players with cramps — today we had three. It was a very intense, emotional state. It shows that the setting weighed on them a little. Not on everyone.”

Shortly after the substitutions, Roberto Álvarado crossed the ball from the right to Raúl Jiménez, who headed it past South Africa’s goalkeeper, Williams, in the 67th minute.

South Africa was reduced to nine men after Themba Zwane struck Álvarado off the ball. After consulting the video assisted referee, the official gave Zwane a red card.

“I think you can accept the first red card,” said Broos. “I think the second one is debatable. It was a bit harsh on the referee’s part. We have two players who won’t be able to play in the next match.”

After the second red card, Mexico took its foot off the gas again and was met with whistles from the crowd, who were hungry for more goals.

Mexico and South Africa faced off in front of 80,824 fans at Mexico City Stadium, more commonly known as Azteca Stadium, on Thursday to open the World Cup.

(David Ramos / Getty Images)

Mexico’s César Montes was sent off in stoppage time for bringing down Khuliso Mudau outside the box as he was heading toward the goal.

With the win, Mexico leads its group with three points and waited to see the result of South Korea versus the Czech Republic in Guadalajara later Thursday. South Africa has zero points. Mexico’s next match is in Guadalajara on June 18 against South Korea, while South Africa faces the Czech Republic in Atlanta.

“We need the next three days to get over the disappointment and fatigue,” Broos said, before addressing his team’s mere two shots on goal. “We have to work on our offense because it wasn’t enough today.”

The match marked the debut of Mora, the youngest player in the World Cup.

“For his first game, he didn’t disappoint,” said Aguirre.

U.S. President Donald Trump says the Iranians shot down the AH-64 Apache that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz overnight and vowed to retaliate. As we noted earlier today, the crew was safely rescued by a drone boat, an unprecedented action, which you can read more about here.

“I have just been informed by our Great Military that last night the Iranians shot down one of our highly sophisticated Apache Helicopters while patrolling over the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump stated on Truth Social. “There were two pilots involved, both are safe and uninjured. Nevertheless, the United States must, of necessity, respond to this attack.”

Trump did not elaborate on how the Apache was shot down.

It’s worth noting that Iran’s small boats are known to be man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) threats and also small FPV drones and loitering munitions, which Iran also possesses, have become a real threat to helicopters.

A U.S. official told Axios an investigation “determined that an Iranian drone hit the helicopter, causing it to crash. The U.S. official said the investigation had not determined whether that was intentional.”

President Trump accused Iran of shooting down a US Apache helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz and said the US will respond out of “necessity.” The Pentagon confirmed both pilots were rescued by a US sea drone and are uninjured. Kimberly Halkett reports from the White House.

MADONNA has landed a host of A-listers to feature in cameos on her new music film.

Last night the Queen of Pop premiered the 13-minute Confessions II — featuring Hollywood’s Benedict Cumberbatch, supermodel Kate Moss and several other celebrities.

The film features six songs from her upcoming album.

During the one unreleased track, Danceteria, the singer slinks through a bathroom where Chelsea football aces Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro are at the urinal, while Richard E. Grant, Gwendoline Christie, Shygirl, Kate and Benedict rave in the toilet disco.

Sabrina Carpenter, who teamed up with Madge on the record’s lead single, the recently released Bring Your Love, also has a starring role.

Julia Garner, who was cast as Madonna in a yet-to-be-filmed biopic, appears in a scene where Madge flies over the crowd.

KATIE’S TRUTH

Watch full chat with Katie Price as The Sun puts ALL Lee Andrews’ lies to her

OH BI-HAVE

Bianca Censori crawls on the floor in a g-string thong for Kanye’s birthday

The superstar’s ­daughter, Lourdes Leon, is in there too.

Other new tracks in the film are I Feel So Free, Good For The Soul, One Step Away and Read My Lips.

I first told in March how the superstar had enlisted her showbiz pals to be part of a four-day shoot at a West London studio for the video — and now she has proved it was worth the wait.

Her Confessions II collection is set to be released on July 3 — 21 years after her original Confessions On A Dancefloor album came out.

I revealed at the weekend that she is now eyeing up plans for potential concerts to celebrate the record’s release — but you are unlikely to see her follow in other stars’ footsteps with a Las Vegas residency.

Name-checking a state-of-the-art 20,000-capacity arena in Paradise,

Nevada, she said, during a Q&A: “Sphere seems cool, but I don’t want to wake up and look at Vegas every day.”

And she’s ready for fans to ditch their phones at any future gigs. She added: “Put your phones down, go out, and connect with people.

ABBA have hatched a scheme to take Mamma Mia! The Party to Manchester after it proved a hit in ­Stockholm and London.

Plans for a new entertainment venue next to the city’s Etihad Stadium have been recommended for approval by council planners.

The three-storey venue, set to be built beside Man City’s new North Stand and close to the Co-op Live, would offer a theatrical dining experience for up to 600 guests.

City have teamed up with entertainment giant Pophouse – founded by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus – for the project, with bosses saying the city’s rich music heritage made it the perfect home for the production.

Pophouse chief executive Jessica Koravos said: “Manchester is known for its innovation in music and entertainment and we cannot think of anywhere better to bring one of the world’s most ­popular and ground breaking theatrical productions.”

TRAITOR STEPHEN’S MUSICAL

TRAITORS winner Stephen Libby fancies himself as the next Andrew Lloyd Webber.

I can reveal the Scottish fashionista has penned a musical that he hopes to bring to the West End in the not-too-distant future.

A source said: “Stephen has the musical all written and ready to go.

“He has always dreamed of his work making it to the West End.

“With The Traitors opening so many doors – both financially and in terms of connections – he feels like the time could be now.

“He’s been having various meetings and things are looking promising.”

Stephen and fellow Traitors winner Rachel Duffy split the hit BBC show’s £95,750 prize money earlier this year.

Since then he has been a regular on the showbiz circuit in London and even landed an ad hoc hosting job on ITV’s This Morning.

NIALL HORAN is on course to catch up with his One Direction bandmate Harry Styles this ­week by scoring his third No1 album.

The Irish singer released Dinner Party on Friday and it is ­currently in the lead to top the charts, after Sir Paul McCartney claimed pole position last week with The Boys Of ­Dungeon Lane.

ACE THEO TACKLES TOXICITY

FORMER England ace Theo Walcott is getting into the World Cup spirit despite hanging up his footie boots.

The Arsenal legend has teamed up with EE to front its new Yes Boys campaign.

The initiative aims to shine a light on the negative online influences shaping boys’ attitudes both on and off the pitch.

It comes as new data reveals 42 per cent of boys aged 11 to 16 encounter outdated phrases like “men shouldn’t show emotion” and “boys need to toughen up” every week.

Progress has been made over the years, but clearly there is still a long way to go.

DOLLS ASH: MY DANCE TRAUMA

PUSSYCAT DOLLS star Ashley Roberts has admitted she was so burned out when the group split in 2010 that even seeing people dance would make her cry.

The girls were known for their intense, choreographed routines but Ashley couldn’t bear to bust any moves after the break-up because of the trauma wrapped up in the group’s original run.

She said: “It was absolutely heartbreaking. I couldn’t even actually watch dancing because I would just be bursting into tears.

“When it first became my job, I was like, ‘Well, this is epic’.

“But then it got wrapped up in this bubble of a major pop group that was a global success.

“I got a bit on the other side and I was like, ‘Well, who am I actually outside of this, right?’

“I just felt very lost, very disconnected to the one thing that actually made me feel like it was like the essence of life to me.

“I just didn’t really recognise myself.

“And it was a really, really tough time.”

Thankfully Ashley has since healed herself, as well as her relationship with performing, and has reunited with Nicole Scherzinger and Kimberly Wyatt for a tour here this autumn.

On how she feels to be back, she told Fearne Cotton on her Happy Place podcast: “Everybody’s like, ‘No, you’re in shape – you got this’.

“I’m like, ‘No, this is a whole other beast’.

“It’s like running a marathon in heels.

“We’re like, ‘Screw it’. You never know when we’re going to be able to do this again.

“We’ve got to just do it – we’ve got to say yes and just go for it.”

Swissh look, Sam

SAM SMITH mixed business with glamour by pairing a shirt and tie with an eye-catching gold corset.

The Stay With Me singer’s snap has been released for the first time as part of a book called The Elegance Of Time, celebrating the 60th edition of Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival.

Sam played at the event – held annually near Lake Geneva – in 2023, and this photo, along with 150 other intimate portraits of artists including Raye, Lionel Richie, Benson Boone and Pulp, will be included in the book, which is out tomorrow.

BBC bosses splashed out on therapy for UK Eurovision act Look Mum No Computer after he came last in the contest and was ridiculed online.

The performer, whose real name is Sam Battle, said the fallout from his quirky entry Eins, Zwei, Drei is ongoing, so he is still seeing a counsellor.

Sam told The Euro Trip podcast: “There was some sort of therapy stuff. The BBC got me a therapist, which is amazing.

“I’ve never really had one before. They were very accommodating. In fact, I’ve still got the therapist because obviously the fallout is another thing. They don’t just leave you.”

Now Sam reckons the only way forward for the UK at Eurovision is to send a hard rock band.

He said: “We went for ‘very good sensible pop songs’ and then for something ‘a little bit left field’. Still didn’t quite work.

“My tip? Metal. Do we have anything to lose?”

Forty-eight days, 16 hours, 57 minutes and 12 seconds after a virus transforms humanity into a blissful symbiotic horde, one of its survivors, Carol (Rhea Seehorn), treats a rooftop as a personal driving range — the golf balls shattering a neighboring building’s windows. “If you’re alone for 40 days, you’re going to go a bit crazy and be lonely,” says “Pluribus” cinematographer Paul Donachie of the series’ aesthetic, which finds surreal beauty in bland desert urbanism emptied of people. “We searched Albuquerque to find the right kind of rooftop and building to frame her in light, but with darkness around her,” he says. “We’re putting her in this box before revealing what she’s aiming at.” Along with a looser framing, shadow and contrast highlight loneliness and emotional ambiguity. As another survivor (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) makes the long journey in search of Carol, “what was interesting about this particular episode was there was no dialogue and we’re telling two little stories of what’s going on emotionally with each person,” Donachie notes. “She is trying to enjoy it and take her mind off it. But I think there’s frustration not knowing what the hell is going on in the world.”

June 6 (UPI) — Several people were shot Saturday afternoon at an outdoor festival in Ohio, with “many victims” sent to the hospital.

At least eight people were shot around 5:30 p.m. at the Old West End Festival in Toledo, Ohio, all of whom were transported to the hospital and all of whom are expected to survive, the city’s mayor, Wade Kapszukiewicz, told WTOL-11.

As of 8:00 p.m., police said that they were still looking for the suspect or suspects that were involved in the shooting.

“The investigation currently includes scenes in the area of Delaware Avenue and Robinwood Avenue,” the Toledo Police Department said in a statement posted to Facebook.

“Residents and visitors are asked to avoid scenes in the area and expect a significant police presence as officers continue their search and investigators work to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident,” the police department said.

The Old West Festival, an event that has been held for more than 50 years, is a celebration of the history of the area, and was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“Summer festivals should be safe spaces for families to spend time together without fear of violence,” Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine said in a statement on social media.

“We are confident that law enforcement will locate the suspects involved in this senseless crime,” he said.

A judge at the Old Bailey has fined UK Athletics £350,000 with £44,000 in costs after hearing how a paralympic athlete died when equipment fell on him at a training ground in east London.

Shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei was killed when a metal cage collapsed as he prepared for the World Para-athletics Championships in 2017.

He had previously represented the United Arab Emirates at the Rio Paralympics when he competed in the javelin and shot put.

Judge Richard Marks KC described Mr Hayayei’s death as “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable.”

He also handed UKA’s former head of sport, 79-year-old Keith Davies, a 175-hour community service order after hearing how he was in charge of the equipment, which had been assembled with vital base plates missing.

The court heard how a strong gust of wind had collapsed the cage and Mr Hayayei had died of head injuries after being hit by a heavy metal bar.

The athlete was a 36-year-old wheelchair user who lived with cerebral palsy.

The court heard from his widow Badriah, who said his death had left her coping alone with five young children.

UK Athletics had pleaded guilty to a charge of corporate manslaughter at an earlier hearing in February. Mr Davies pleaded guilty to a breach of health and safety law at the same hearing.

The investigation and legal process following Mr Hayayei’s death has taken nearly a decade to complete.

Police said their investigation had involved years of meticulous work by detectives which uncovered photos from around a dozen athletics events where the same cage had been used by the UK Athletics officials. They showed the restraints were not being used to secure the equipment.

Sentencing, Judge Marks said Mr Hayayei’s death was an accident which sooner or later was “waiting to happen”.

Earlier in the hearing, Prosecutor John Price KC told the court that in the years following the incident, UKA attempted to blame the athlete’s death on Mr Davies, and even “tried to point the finger” at the Newham venue.

He described a statement later submitted by UKA as “a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

Fining UKA, the judge agreed that it had been “most unattractive” but it was “a stance” that was adopted by their previous team of managers.

It had been disavowed by the current leaders of the organisation who had expressed “sincere regret”.

UKA, he said, is essentially “a club of passionate members” and was aimed at developing elite athletes and sport at a grassroots level.

He noted that the organisation had a turnover of £13.8m in 2025 with a projected loss of £400,000. He granted UKA six years to pay the fine in instalments.

In a statement, UK Athletics said it was “deeply sorry” and that “substantial changes” have been made around safety and governance.

“While nothing can undo what happened, there has been a determined focus on learning from these events and ensuring stronger standards and safeguards are in place throughout athletics,” UK Athletics said.

“We respectfully accept the court’s decision today and remain committed to continuing that work with the seriousness and responsibility this case demands.”

The Strictly Come Dancing star learns of her ancestor’s devastating fate in a new episode of Who Do You Think You Are?

Amy Dowden discovers a shocking family tragedy as she delves into her ancestry.

The Strictly Come Dancing icon has taken part in BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? where she learns about her lineage.

At one point, Amy is left in tears as she hears of a family member who suffered from breast cancer and died at a young age, leaving several children behind.

The Welsh dancer is left devastated, as she reflects on her own cancer battle, having been diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2023 and suffering health setbacks as she underwent treatment.

Elsewhere during the programme, Amy learns of a 13-year-old who was shot dead in an awful accident.

After hearing of a rumour of a murder from her mum’s side of the family, Amy begins her journey in west Wales, where she seeks to find out if her ancestor was the victim or the perpetrator.

“Was there a murder, was one of my family involved? Detective Dowden on a mission,” Amy declares.

She meets her distant cousin Wyn at his home in Ceredigion, where he shows Amy a family Bible that belonged to her three-times great-grandfather.

Inside it, she reads the name Elinor Jenkins, with information revealing that she was shot dead by the “cruel man Offley Owen” in November 1888, when she was just a teenager.

“Why would somebody want to shoot a 14-year-old girl?” Amy wonders, shocked to hear the distressing news of her ancestor’s murder.

“When I heard of this mysterious death, I didn’t think it would be somebody within our family who was killed, I assumed one of our family members shot somebody. I was not expecting this and not expecting a child,” she says.

Elinor was Amy’s three-times great aunt, and was killed at a nearby farm, Berthlwyd, where she worked as a servant.

The dancer meets historian Dr Angela Muir, who confirmed that Elinor was actually aged 13, and was working at the farm with a 17-year-old boy called Offley Owen.

She reads newspaper reports that detail what happened, revealing that Elinor had been sent to fetch water before a witness heard Owen saying “I’ve shot Nelly dead”.

Owen had taken up the gun “with a purpose of showing her”, but was unaware it was loaded, and was supposedly being playful.

He did, however, tragically kill her, with Elinor being shot in the mouth.

“This is awful,” Amy says. “That would have been an instant death.” The historian agrees, saying: “It’s quite horrific.”

However, Amy finds it difficult to believe the death came about as an accident. She wonders: “He obviously had intention to use that gun,” adding: “To me, this was planned.”

Amy hears about the coroner’s inquest that took place after Elinor’s death, leaving her “confused”.

The reports eventually confirmed that Owen was charged with manslaughter, and would have been tried in the assizes court in Carmarthen.

“I’m horrified by what I’ve read, it’s going to take a little time to process it,” Amy admits.

In Carmarthen, Amy meets another historian who explains that Owen pleaded not guilty at court and the prosecution announced they would call no witnesses.

She’s stunned to discover that Owen was discharged, which would often happen in cases like these during those times, as the court took into account that he had never been in trouble with the law before.

“Some part of me is not satisfied with this,” Amy says, hearing that the victim’s family didn’t get justice after the tragedy.

Seeking comfort after hearing of the outcome, Amy travels to a church in Blaenpennal, where Elinor was laid to rest.

She says: “At first when I heard that he was found not guilty, I was like, how did the family move on? How did they start to process the grief? But it does seem like it was an accident and I guess, after time, they started to forgive.”

She learns that Elinor was remembered “as a young person of more than ordinary ability”, and also that a valley near the farm where she lost her life is now named after her.

Amy says: “I never realised that a member of my family has landscape named after her, I think that’s something quite special, really touching.”

Amy Dowden’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesday 2 June at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer

For “Abbott Elementary” costume designer Hachy Mendez-Smith, the fifth season’s Halloween episode — in which Gregory (Tyler James Williams) and Janine (Quinta Brunson) dress up as “Sinners” filmmaker Ryan Coogler and an Imax screen, respectively — had to do more than deliver a punchline. It also had to reflect their characters. “Gregory has always been the more grounded, measured type. And then Janine is naturally more whimsical, optimistic and quirky, so she carried the bigger, more expressive visual in the moment,” she says. “And as his girlfriend, she’s always been supportive of him. So even in costume, it was like she was literally holding space for his story. It felt authentic, not just comedic.” The designer drew inspiration for Gregory’s burgundy coat from a Coogler red carpet moment, tailoring a clean, sophisticated silhouette while playing with the scale of Janine’s costume. “Quinta’s 4-11 in real life, so we had to be mindful yet over the top to land the visual right away,” she notes. The highlight for Mendez-Smith: Coogler’s reaction. “I was honored he even watched and loved that he talked about how much the show means to him,” she says. “And it was hilarious that initially he thought it was AI. He couldn’t believe how spot on it was.” How spot on? Even Janine’s screen matched the correct Imax aspect ratio: 1.43:1.

A Paralympic athlete died “in an accident waiting to happen” when a metal bar fell on him, a sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey has been told.

Abdullah Hayayei, a wheelchair using shot putter from the United Arab Emirates, was killed when a training cage collapsed in a gust of wind at a training facility in Newham, London, as he practised for the World Athletics Championships in July 2017.

UK Athletics, the event’s organiser, is being sentenced for corporate manslaughter.

Keith Davies, 78, UK Athletics’ former head of sport, is being sentenced for a breach of health and safety law. Both Mr Davies and UK Athletics pleaded guilty at a hearing earlier this year.

Prosecuting, John Price KC told judge Richard Marks KC that the equipment that killed Mr Hayayei, 36, was missing key components.

The entire structure collapsed in the wind, and a heavy metal bar weighing 25kg hit the athlete on the head. Mr Hayayei, who had a history of cerebral palsy, died at the scene.

The court heard a victim impact statement from Badriah Rashid Zayed Al-Yahyaei, the victim’s widow, who described how her husband’s death had left her alone with five young children.

“It was a huge shock to me because I was waiting for the news of his victory and success,” she said.

“Suddenly the news reached me. I could not comprehend it at first and refused to believe it, and today that moment is still in my mind.

“What happened was a result of gross negligence that could have been avoided had safety rules been adhered to.

“My husband went out to represent his country, raise the name of the UAE, and returned as a corpse.”

Mr Davies and representatives from UK Athletics listened as the prosecutor explained how key base support components from the heavy shot-putting cage had been missing that afternoon.

The KC said Mr Davies had told investigators that the equipment had been assembled according to the instructions.

“At the very least,” argued Mr Price, the official “ought to have known that it was incorrect”.

He added: “The evidence shows he actually knew it and therefore this was not a truthful statement by him.”

An expert called to the Newham site after the accident said some of the bolts were missing, and the KC claimed there was a “culture and practice” of assembling the cage without key pieces.

“It was an accident waiting to happen,” he told the court.

A legal statement which UK Athletics produced years after the incident was described by the prosecutor as ‘”a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed”.

UK Athletics, said the KC, had attempted to lay all the blame upon Mr Davies “and even appear to have pointed the finger at the Newham venue”.

Representing Mr Davies, Mark Balysz KC said his client had written to the court in advance of the sentencing.

Mr Davies says he has found it “so very hard” to come to come to terms with the athlete’s death.

“I have woken every night thinking about his loss, and his poor family,” he said.

“These feelings have intensified since I found out about the investigation for manslaughter.”

The hearing continues, and Judge Marks is expected to hand down his sentencing decisions on Tuesday.

Maggie Graham scored in stoppage time to lift host Houston past Angel City for the Dash’s first victory in 51 days.

Graham fired a shot from just outside the box after a series of one-touch passes up the middle of the field. Houston (4-5-2) ended a six-game winless streak.

Kat Rader put Houston on the board in the 17th minute. Angel City (4-5-1) tied it nine minutes later on Maiara Carolina Niehues’ penalty kick.

Houston was without goalkeeper Jane Campbell after she sustained a head injury Wednesday against San Diego. In her place, Caroline DeLisle made her first career NWSL start.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Secret Service shot a person near the White House on Saturday, and a bystander also was shot, a law enforcement official said.

Both individuals were said to be in critical condition, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation.

Journalists working at the White House on Saturday reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room.

On X, the Secret Service said it was “aware of reports of shots fired near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW” — one block from the White House — and was “working to corroborate the information with personnel on the ground.”

In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel said officers were responding to shots fired and said he would “update the public as we’re able.”

President Trump was inside the White House at the time.

Evidence of the shooting was visible on a sidewalk just outside the White House complex, where yellow crime scene tape snaked across the pavement and Secret Service officers placed dozens of orange evidence markers on the ground. Medical material, including what appeared to be purple surgical gloves and kits typically used by emergency medical personnel, were also seen.

In a post shared on X, Selina Wang, the senior White House correspondent for ABC News, shared video of the moment she said she heard what “sounded like dozens of gunshots” and ducked for cover. Writing that she had been performing an ordinary task that reporters at the White House do every day — filming themselves on a cellphone, for a social media post — Wang’s video shows her speaking for a few seconds about Trump’s statements earlier Saturday about a potential Iran deal.

As the sounds of gunfire are heard in the background, Wang’s eyes grow wider, and she ducks down in the media tent, which is among those situated in a line along the White House driveway where broadcasters film their reports. On X, Wang’s video had been shared thousands of times as of Saturday evening, and viewed at least 3 million times.

The Metropolitan Police Department said on its X account that the Secret Service was working the scene and cautioned people to avoid the area. The scene is near where a gunman ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard in November.

U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, died from her wounds. Andrew Wolfe, then 24, was critically wounded. Rahmanullah Lakanwal has been charged in that incident.

The gunfire Saturday comes nearly a month after what law enforcement authorities said was an attempted assassination of the president on April 25 as he attended the annual White House Correspondents’ Assn. dinner at a Washington hotel. Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance recently pleaded not guilty to charges that he attempted to kill Trump and remains in federal custody.

Following that scare, Secret Service officers shot a suspect they said had fired at officers near the Washington Monument, also near the White House. Michael Marx, 45, of Midland, Texas, was charged in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in connection with the May 4 shooting. A teenage bystander was wounded in that incident.

Superville and Durkin Richer write for the Associated Press. AP photojournalists Jose Luis Magana and Alex Brandon and writers Gary Fields, Meg Kinnard and Matthew Daly contributed to this report.

The U.S. military has finally released video footage showing an Air National Guard F-16 shooting down an object over Lake Huron back in 2023, which appears to be a balloon. American fighters downed three still-technically unidentified objects over the United States and Canada that month. Only one other image had been released from any of these incidents before now, and questions remain unanswered, including why it has taken so long to share key details with the public.

The video in question, seen below, was included in a new tranche of declassified records that the Pentagon posted online today as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) initiative. UAP here stands for unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), which are also still commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFO). This is the second batch of videos, pictures, and documents to be released through PURSUE, with the first having come back on May 8. Overall, what has been disclosed so far has been underwhelming, to say the least.

Lake Huron UAP engagement by F-16

What has already been well established is that a pair of F-16CM Vipers from the Minnesota Air National Guard scrambled in response to the detection of an unidentified object on February 12, 2023. Authorities deemed the object, which was soaring at approximately 20,000 feet, to be concerning and a potential hazard to civil aviation. One of the F-16s shot it down over Lake Huron, which lies right along the U.S. Canadian border, with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. Canadian authorities subsequently recovered debris, which we will come back to later on.

U.S. Air Force fighters had also downed two other still unidentified objects, one in the skies off the coast of Alaska and another over Canada’s Yukon Territory, on February 10 and 11 of that year, respectively. This all followed the shootdown of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, which came after it had already spent days passing over parts of the United States and Canada.

The official description of what is seen in the newly video, which is titled “USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023,” reads:

“At the 11 second mark, the sensor focuses on an area of contrast in the center of its field-of-view. At the 20 second mark, the footage appears to depict a kinetic interaction between two distinct areas of contrast, with the initial subject of the footage fragmenting in a radial displacement pattern that suggests a high-energy event.”

“This video description is provided for informational purposes only. Readers should not interpret any part of this description as reflecting an analytical judgment, investigative conclusion, or factual determination regarding the described event’s validity, nature, or significance.”

The footage was shot through an infrared camera. The F-16s involved in the shootdown were seen at the time carrying Sniper Advanced Targeting Pods (ATP), which have both electro-optical and infrared video cameras, among other features. From what can be seen, the object is distinctly balloon-like with a roughly spherical shape. It has a single wire or some other kind of line dangling below, but there is nothing readily visible attached to it.

How the object is seen ‘bursting’ apart at the 20-second mark in the video is also very consistent with a balloon.

At the time of the shootdown over Lake Huron in 2023, which was widely publicized, the object was described as “octagonal” and as having multiple “strings” hanging below, but no visible payload.

The description above is in line with unclassified audio recordings of the in-cockpit communications from the two F-16 fighter jets that TWZ published the day after the shootdown.

“I wouldn’t really call it a balloon … I don’t know what … I can see it outside with my eyes,” one of the pilots can be heard saying in that audio. “Looks like something … there’s some kind of object that’s distended… it’s hard to tell, it’s pretty small.”

“I’m gonna call it a balloon,” one of the pilots adds later on.

“In the targeting pod, I can’t tell if it’s metallic or what, but I can see like lines coming down below it, but I can’t see anything below it,” one of the pilots also says at one point.

“The size of it, that would be challenging, it’s so slow and so small, I just can’t see it,” one of the pilots notes, as well.

You can listen to the full 2023 Lake Huron shootdown audio below.

Radio Audio From F-16 Shoot Down Of Object Over Lake Huron

In 2024, Canada’s CTV News also published records that were obtained via a request under Canada’s Access to Information Act, one of which said that a “module” was among the debris recovered after the shootdown and that it was “from a company who sells weather monitoring equipment.” The document in question was an email from Mark Flynn, at the time the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) deputy commissioner for Federal Policing, to Canadian Armed Forces Brig. Gen. Eric Laforest, then-strategic joint staff director of general operations.

“It will be analyzed to determine if there is anything unusual with it but I suspect not given the size,” Flynn’s email added. “Whether or not it is from the shoot down is uncertain.”

“Debris has been recovered from the shores of Lake Huron but after careful analysis, it was determined not to be of national security concern,” the RCMP also told CTV News directly.

The records the Canadian outlet obtained also included a redacted Royal Canadian Air Force report that further suggested the object might have been a weather balloon launched from a U.S. National Weather Service radar station in Michigan. That same report also highlighted the possibility that the object shot down over the Yukon Territory had been a so-called “pico” balloon, which amateur radio enthusiasts regularly launch across North America, a theory that was widely reported at the time.

The newly released video all but closes the case on what was shot down over Lake Huron being an innocuous balloon. This, in turn, adds to the existing and serious transparency questions surrounding all three of the still largely unexplained shootdowns in February 2023.

The only image to be released before now was a single still picture of the object downed over the Yukon Territory, which is seen below. You can find our previous analysis of what that picture shows here.

In an interview with TWZ‘s Howard Altman earlier this year, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Maj. Gen. Chris McKenna also described the object shot down off the coast of Whitehorse in Alaska as a “white balloon” belonging to “either research or a state actor.” McKenna is the commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, operational commander for the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region (CANR), and the Canadian Joint Forces Air Component Commander.

TWZ and others have noted for years now that it has been, at best, curious that the U.S. military had not released imagery and/or video of any of these unprecedented shootdowns that followed the Chinese spy balloon affair. This disconnect is even pronounced given how quickly higher resolution video footage and pictures of geopolitically charged events, often captured through exactly the same kinds of sensors, are routinely released.

“Data release and footage is prioritized based on the geopolitical environment at the time,” Sean Kirkpatrick, then head of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) said in response to a question from TWZ about why video or pictures from the February shootdowns had not been released at a press briefing in October 2023. “So engagements with Chinese fighters, Russian fighters have a much larger priority in getting it through the review process or declassification than UAPs or other similar engagements.”

“We are however, working through those processes, which all exist and we’ve got several of them actually already declassified and ready to update on our website [which] we’ll be doing on the next update to the website,” Kirkpatrick, who left AARO in December 2023, added at that time. “And we’re putting them out as quickly as we can get them through their proper steps.”

The Pentagon established AARO in 2022 to serve as a central manager within the U.S. military for policies and procedures for tracking, reporting, and analyzing UAP incidents, as well as to act as a repository for intelligence assessments and other relevant data. Since then, the office has been a focal point for that criticism, especially from members of Congress on both sides of the political aisle, who have complained about stonewalling on UAP-related matters.

With all of this in mind, it’s interesting to note that the Pentagon’s PURSUE website says the newly released video of the Lake Huron shootdown did come via AARO, but in what appears to have been something of a circuitous route.

“On March 6, 2026, eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives requested access to 51 potentially UAP-related records allegedly held by the Department of War and the Intelligence Community,” according to the entry in the PURSUE archive. “The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) identified a collection of responsive materials held on a classified network. Many of these materials lack a substantiated chain-of-custody.”

“AARO assesses that this video, whose uploader-defined title is, ‘USAF ANG F-16C (callsign [CALLSIGN]) Shoots Down UAP over Lake Huron with [Weapon System], 12 Feb 2023,’ is likely derived from an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform operating within the United States Northern Command area of responsibility in 2023. A user uploaded this video to a classified network in February 2023.”

This is a very odd description, suggesting that AARO was somehow not aware of the origin of the footage and/or could not confirm it. The PURSUE archive simply lists “Department of War” as the source of the video. TWZ reached out to the Pentagon and NORTHCOM for more information. The Pentagon confirmed to us that the video is indeed of the well-publicized shootdown.

As TWZ has noted in the past, there is evidence that U.S. and Canadian authorities withheld the release of certain materials related to the trio of shootdowns in February 2023, ostensibly to avoid confusion and speculation. We have also pointed out that this looks to have had exactly the opposite effect, and the optics of choosing this course of action remain puzzling.

The Chinese spy balloon incident earlier in February 2023 had already become a cause célèbre, highlighting worrisome gaps in air defense sensor coverage over and around North America. At the time, U.S. authorities very publicly scrambled to assure the public it was addressing those concerns. Major changes were subsequently made to various policies, as well as tactics, techniques, and procedures.

There does continue to be questions in this regard, especially when it comes to responding to the ever-growing threats posed by drones. The Pentagon and other elements of the U.S. government have been working to address those issues in recent years, as well. TWZ has long pointed out that many UAP sightings are very likely to be drones, as well as balloons, operated by malign actors, including China and Russia, for intelligence collection or other purposes.

It remains to be seen whether the release today of the Lake Huron shootdown video leads to more disclosures around that incident, as well as what happened in the skies off the coast of Alaska and the Yukon Territory.

Update: 6:58 PM EST –

It has been brought to our attention that former AARO head Sean Kirkpatrick described the objects shot down between February 10 and 12, 2023, as all being balloons during a talk in April. Kirkpatrick, now an adjunct assistant professor of physics at the University of Georgia, was addressing a gathering of an independent organization called the National Capital Area Skeptics (NCAS) at the time. He is a controversial figure to many in the UFO community for his stark refusal that the government has no proof of truly non human intelligence visiting earth.

“We scrambled jets and shot down a bunch of things. Do you know what we shot down? Balloons,” Kirkpatrick said. “You can imagine the response on the Hill when I briefed that.”

Claudine Longet, the French-born star and ex-wife of crooner Andy Williams who became notorious for the fatal shooting of Olympic skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich, has died. She was 84.

Her death was confirmed by her nephew, Bryan Longet, who posted a social media tribute on Thursday. Translated from French by The Times, he wrote, “You have been a true inspiration in my life and you will always be. … Another star in the sky. Thank you for everything, my aunt.”

Born in Paris on Jan. 29, 1942, Longet was the daughter of a doctor and an X-ray manufacturer. From a young age, she showed a knack for singing and dancing and envisioned her name on the marquee. In 1960, when she turned 18, American impresario Lou Walters (father of Barbara Walters) saw Longet dancing on French television and hired the ingénue to join the Tropicana casino’s flashy new production. She bid Paris adieu and sashayed to Las Vegas, where she starred in the Folies Bergère revue.

While working as a showgirl in Sin City, Longet met then-fellow Vegas performer Andy Williams one evening when her car broke down on the side of the road. Williams happened to be passing by as the young dancer was pushing her car down the highway with a friend, and Williams along with his manager stopped to help and was quickly charmed. The two were married on Christmas Day the following year, in 1961.

In 1962, Williams released “Moon River,” and the crooner’s career took off. The newlyweds left Las Vegas and moved into an oceanfront mansion in Malibu where they started a family, and over the next several years welcomed daughter Noelle and sons Christian and Robert, or “Bobby,” who was named after the couple’s close friend Robert F. Kennedy. Also in 1962, Williams’ eponymous variety show debuted and quickly became a hit. Longet was a regular on the show, and the family-oriented Christmas TV specials, often featuring the entire Williams clan, were a ratings juggernaut.

In addition to her regular appearances on “The Andy Williams Show,” Longet acted in television and film. Notably, the chanteuse captivated audiences singing Henry Mancini and Don Black’s “Nothing to Lose” in the 1968 comedy “The Party,” in which she played an aspiring actress. From 1967 to 1972, she released seven studio albums, five with A&M Records, including her debut single and album titled “Claudine,” and two with Barnaby Records. Her music was known for its breathy, lounge-pop quality, and she sang in both English and French.

By 1970, Williams and Longet’s marriage was on the rocks, and the pair separated. They officially divorced in 1975. The Emmy-winning host chalked it up to the pair growing apart. He told CBS’ “This Morning” during a 2009 appearance that he was never home. “It was all my fault, and I just didn’t take care of my marriage,” he said, noting that he regretted the split. The two stayed friendly afterward, and Williams stood by Longet when tragedy and scandal struck a year later, in 1976.

Longet met Olympian skier Sabich in Bear Valley at a celebrity skiing exhibition in 1972. There was an instant attraction between the two, and Longet relocated to Aspen, Colo., and ultimately moved into the pro skier’s ritzy Starwood chalet around 1975. On March 21, 1976, Longet shot Sabich in the abdomen with an imitation World War II .22-caliber German‐made pistol. Her daughter, Noelle, who was in the house at the time, testified that she heard Sabich yell out, “Claudine! Claudine!”

According to The Times’ archives, Longet told authorities that she found the handgun and asked Sabich how to use it. During Longet’s trial, Aspen Det. David Garms testified that Longet insisted the shooting was an accident. Garms said that Longet told him she’d pointed the gun at Sabich and then “jokingly said ‘bang, bang.’” She told investigators she thought the safety was on, and a ballistics expert said the safety did not work.

Longet was with Sabich in the ambulance when he died en route to the Aspen hospital. The “Love Is Blue” singer was subsequently questioned by investigators and charged with felony reckless manslaughter weeks later. She initially faced up to 10 years in prison. But in January 1977, after four days of testimony and 3½ hours of deliberations, Longet was acquitted of the felony charge and convicted of a misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide.

Ex-husband Williams accompanied Longet to her trial and told “This Morning” years later that he supported his ex-wife because he believed in her innocence.

“I did because I thought it was unfair,” he said. “I thought she was innocent. I thought it was an accident.”

During the trial, she testified in her signature French accent that she and Sabich were the “best of friends.”

“There were times over the four years that we would disagree. … [T]here would be times he would be a little bit offended by the attention I got and I would be a little bit offended by the attention he got, but we were the best of friends and we loved each other very much,” she told the court, per The Times’ archives.

Longet was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail “at a time of her own choosing.”

“There is not really much to say,” she told reporters outside the courtroom, per The Times’ archives. “Only that I have too much respect for living things to do that. I’m not guilty.”

The parents of Sabich filed a $1.3-million civil suit against Longet later the same year, but the case was settled out of court two years later. Longet was reportedly forbidden from speaking or writing about the shooting. As for her career in show business, she was finished.

The Sabich case became an absolute sensation in the media, not just in America but also globally, and Longet was internationally labeled Aspen’s femme fatale. Pop culture had its way with the incident as well. The Rolling Stones’ song “Claudine” was withheld from their 1978 album, “Some Girls,” because of legal considerations but was featured on the 2011 reissue of the album.

“You’re the prettiest girl I ever seen / I want to see you on the movie screen / I hope you never try to make a sacrifice of me, Claudine,” belted Mick Jagger in what may have been considered a diss track or a tribute, depending on whom you ask. “Nah ah / Don’t get, don’t get trigger happy with me, Claudine.”

In an April 1976 episode, “Saturday Night Live” also took aim at the deadly affair with a sketch titled “The Claudine Longet Invitational,” in which Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin play sports commentators who offer a play-by-play of a competition in which male skiers are “accidentally” shot by Longet as they race down the slopes.

The producers read an apology on air the following week.

Aspen attorney Ron Austin, who was on Longet’s defense team, left his wife shortly after the trial concluded to be with the embattled starlet. The two married in 1985 and remained in Aspen afterLonget’s conviction but also spent time at their second home in Hawaii. In 2023, the pair listed her $60-million Red Mountain Ranch estate, according to Robb Report.

Longet’s last known public appearance was in 2003 on the A&E channel’s Andy Williams “Biography” documentary, in which she recorded only voice-over. “To this day people stop me in the street and say how much they loved the Christmas show.”

CLEVELAND — Angel Martinez homered and Cleveland’s pitchers struck out 13 as the Guardians kept up their home mastery of the Angels with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday night.

Martinez, Patrick Bailey and Bryan Rocchio drove in runs for Cleveland, which improved to 29-4 against the Angels at Progressive Field since 2015. The Guardians have won the first two games in the series despite being outhit twice.

Vaughn Grissom homered for the Angels, who dropped to 8-17 on the road.

Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi held LA scoreless for four innings while striking out a season-high seven. Hunter Gaddis (1-1) worked 1 1/3 innings and Cade Smith got his second four-out save this season and 12th im 14 chances overall.

Martinez put the Guardians up in the third against Walbert Ureña (1-4) with his sixth homer, a shot into the right-field seats.

He nearly homered again in the fifth, but was robbed by right fielder Jo Adell, who made a leaping catch at the wall. However, the shot advanced Daniel Schneeman to third and he scored on Bailey’s groundout.

The Angels pulled to 2-1 in the sixth on pinch-hitter Oswald Peraza’s triple and a sacrifice fly from Adell.

Los Angeles threatened in the seventh against Eric Sabrowski, who yielded two walks but struck out the side.

Rocchio’s sac fly in the seventh made it 3-1 before Grissom’s second homer pulled the Angels within one in the eighth.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was back in the dugout after missing two games with an upper respiratory issue.

The Guardians announced the death of longtime ballpark public address announcer Bob Tayek. He had been the in-game voice at Progressive Field since 1999 before stepping away this season for health reasons.

UP NEXT

Angels LHP Reid Detmers (1-3, 4.33 ERA) starts the series finale against LHP Parker Messick (4-1, 2.30), who faces the Angels for the first time.