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24-year-old TikToker Cesar Gastelum, was shot dead while livestreaming with friends outside a fast-food restaurant in Culiacan, Mexico. The city is at the centre of a gang turf war between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

July 27 (UPI) — The U.S. Consulate in Toronto was shot at early Monday, according to authorities, marking the second time the facility been targeted by gunfire this year.

Deputy Chief Frank Barredo of the Toronto Police Service told reporters in a press conference that a police security detail at the consulate in downtown Toronto heard what sounded like a gunshot in the vicinity at 4:46 a.m. EDT.

The officer noticed a white late-model Honda Accord with no license plates speed away from the building and radioed the information. Additional officers noticed the suspect vehicle nearby and engaged it in a high-speed chase onto the Don Valley Parkway, heading northbound.

Barredo said the suspect vehicle was driving at speeds in excess of 87 miles per hour, prompting officers to end the chase, in accordance with police procedures because of the danger posed to the public, near the Don Mills Road and the DVP.

At the scene, police recovered a single shell casing, he said. The building’s facade also suffered damage, he added.

While no motive is known, Barredo said police suspect the shooting was premeditated.

“I don’t think it’s just a fluke that there was no license plate on the vehicle,” he said. He also described the shooting as “brazen” and “reckless” given that a police cruiser was parked outside.

Two security officers were inside the heavily fortified building at the time of the shooting, though Barredo said they would not necessarily have noticed the shot.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow mirrored Barredo’s description of the shooting as a “brazen attack” and vowed to work with authorities to get “the illegal American guns off our street” and to bring those responsible to justice.

“I want to say to the person or persons responsible. We will get you. We have apprehended the previous shooters, all three of them, and we will bring you to justice. You will be held accountable,” she said.

UPI has contacted the consulate for comment.

The shooting comes amid fraying relations between Canada and the United States. President Donald Trump‘s combative rhetoric and actions, including threatening to annex Canada and imposing stiff tariffs on it, have angered many across the Great White North and have compelled Ottawa to begin distancing itself economically and militarily from Washington.

In March, multiple shots were fired at the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto.

Last month, Toronto police arrested three people in connection with the March shooting. Constable Marc Pinizzotto was killed in a related police raid.

Police said the shooting was one of at least 27 they believe were carried out by criminals for hire. Authorities have not made public who hired them.

The second shooting at the consulate also occurred as two Jewish-owned bakeries in the city were the targets of vandalism, at least one of which was shot at.

Asked if the second shooting at the consulate was potentially another criminal-for-hire plot or connected to the bakery shootings, Barredo said it was too early to tell.

“We, obviously, would not rule that out as a possibility,” he said.

“We do know that is a phenomenon that has grown in the GTA area. Some criminals simply perform services for hire. They don’t have any personal interest in matter; they simply are hired to carry out a specific act of criminality.”

Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said in an online statement he was “appalled by the brazen shooting” and has spoken with Chow, and offered his full support to the Toronto Police Service.

“Violence of any kind will never be tolerated in Canada,” he said.

Police have previously suggested a link between anti-Jewish attacks in the city and shootings at the US consulate.

At least one shot has been fired outside the US Consulate General in Toronto, in the second such incident in just four months.

Nobody was injured in the attack, police said on Monday, adding that a shell casing was found and the building’s facade had been damaged.

A white sedan was seen fleeing the scene at about 5am local time (09:00 GMT), which police said they briefly pursued before giving up the chase over safety concerns due to its ultra-high speed.

No suspects have been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing.

A US Department of State spokesperson said Washington was working closely with Canadian authorities following the incident.

Toronto police declined to speculate on a possible motive for this weekend’s shooting and whether it was linked to previous incidents.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he expected “all those responsible to be found, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law”.

This is the second time in four months that shots have been fired at the US Consulate in Toronto.

On March 10, several shots were fired at the same building, and one police officer was later killed in an operation to arrest those responsible.

Toronto police claimed in June that young people in the Toronto area were being recruited via encrypted messaging apps to shoot at various targets and record the shootings for payment.

The targets the police mentioned included synagogues, Jewish schools, a waste management company, and the US Consulate.

The police did not provide evidence, only mentioning that investigations were ongoing in cooperation with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the US FBI.

CHICAGO — Azzi Fudd had no idea she was the first rookie to win the WNBA All-Star three-point contest. She put forth a stellar effort in the championship round to do it.

Fudd, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by Dallas, scored 30 points in the finals to top Portland’s Bridget Carleton.

“I was shocked, that’s crazy to be the first is definitely an honor,” Fudd said of being the first rookie to win.

Fudd’s 30-point effort was tied for the second-most ever, equaling Sabrina Ionescu and Allie Quigley’s total. Ionescu holds the record, scoring 37 points in 2023.

Fudd hit her first six shots in the finals to get into rhythm. Carleton, from the expansion Fire, had 29 points in the opening round, but struggled in the finals, scoring 19 points.

Fresh off her victory, Fudd issued a playful request for a rematch with Golden State Warriors guard StephenCurry. The two had a 3-point competition when Fudd went to his camp when she was in high school.

“I mean Steph if you’re listening, I’m asking for a rematch,” Fudd said.

The three-point competition capped off the Friday night festivities. Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and high schooler Jezelle Banks led team Washington to the Shooting Stars championship to tip off the action. The trio scored 31 points to edge Seattle’s three in the finals, with Banks hitting two of the 4-point shots from just inside halfcourt to put the team over the top.

“She carried. She carried,” Austin said of Banks. “You could just tell in her energy, like as soon as we started, like it was confidence and I think that showed in how she hit those tough shots.”

In the three-point competition, Carleton had a stellar first-round, scoring 29 points. She hit 13 of her first 16 shots. Fudd also had a great opening round, scoring 24 points. She made four of her final five shots. That carried over to the finals.

Carleton’s hot shooting in the opening round brought the crowd, which included Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, Dwyane Wade and Sheryl Swoopes, to its feet.

Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd competes in the WNBA All-Star three-point shooting contest Friday.

(Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)

Other players in the three-point contest were Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, who scored 20 points, Golden State’s Janelle Salaun, who had 19 points; Toronto’s Marina Mabrey, who had 18 and Minnesota’s Natisha Heideman, who had 17.

In the Shooting Stars competition, Seattle had 24 points to finish as runner-up after missing all of the team’s four-point shots.

This was the first year that the contest was conducted. A skills competition was done in previous All-Star weekends. The format was a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams had 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition featured shots ranging from a layup to the 4-pointer.

Washington had the highest score in the preliminary round, posting 35 points. Once again, Banks hit four-point shots to help her team reach the championship round.

Seattle’s squad needed to beat the 20 points that the Detroit/Dallas team put up to advance to the finals. High schooler Tatianna Griffin hit two of the 4-point shots to help Seattle reach the finals. Minnesota finished in fourth with 19 points with a team of Courtney Williams, Rebbekah Brunson and Ryan Carter.

Detroit/Dallas had former Shock great Deanna Nolan, Wings All-Star Jessica Shepard and high schooler Morghan Reckley.

The new CBA gave Fudd $20,000 for winning the 3-point contest and each participant received $10,000. That’s about eight-times last season’s prize money.

Each shooting stars winner received $15,000. Each competitor, not including the high school players, will receive $7,500. Last year, the winners of the skills contest each received $2,575 from the WNBA.

In addition Aflac, like it has the past two years, gave extra money to the winners. Fudd took home $40,000 for winning the three-point contest. Carleton received $30,000 for finishing second and Howard got $15,000 for placing third.

Team Washington got $40,000 from Aflac with Seattle receiving $32,500 and Dallas $12,500.

Feinberg writes for the Associated Press.

JENNIFER Lopez sizzled for a naked bathtub snap and suspenders as she celebrated her 56th birthday.

The On The Floor hitmaker was joined by her rarely-seen journalist and TV personality Lynda, who turned 55 last month.

The pop superstar shared a series of snaps on Instagram as she marked her sister’s birthday, while also celebrating her own, as she turns 56 on July 24.

The siblings enjoyed a meal out with friends and a birthday dessert each with a sparkler in it.

Another showed the sisters blowing out multiple candles on a meringue and raspberry pie.

The star then stripped naked as she enjoyed a soak in a bathtub while her sister ate food with her.

READ MORE ON JENNIFER LOPEZ

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Jennifer Lopez poses braless in minidress with Erling Haaland

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Jennifer Lopez rocks sheer dress as she attends PFW with rarely-seen sister

Showing that she’s still got it, Jennifer dazzled in a Dolce and Gabbana black sheer lace bodysuit, fishnet tights and suspenders.

The musician wore a black and gold veil over her head with a huge crown and a gold statement necklace.

She captioned the post: “A double birthday sister trip is always a good idea!! I love you Lynnie!! Happy birthday!!”

Just last week, Jennifer called was called “the most beautiful woman in the world” by fans as she posed braless in a minidress with Erling Haaland.

The singer looked amazing as she posed up a storm while on her travels in Sicily, Italy.

J-Lo showed off her amazing figure and wowed in the plunging number, which she accessorised with a matching bandana and cat eye sunglasses.

She completed the look with a pair of white and black polka dot court show heels.

It comes after the actress attended the Wimbledon Men’s Final in London in a stunning outfit.

She showed off her amazing figure in a cream bodycon maxi dress, oversized Fedora hat and a pair of heels.

And days before J-Lo ditched the bra again in a plunging corset dress at Paris Fashion Week.

The stunning singer was seen strutting her stuff as she headed to dinner with pals.

Jennifer was glowing as she showed off her figure in the plunging halter neck gown, which has a corset-style belt that accentuated her waist.

The Son, as they say, will come out tomorrow.

Bet your bottom dollar that Son Heung-min, LAFC’s $26 million man — the record MLS fee for an incoming player — would peel himself off the mat and clear away the cobwebs and sorrows of the past few weeks and months.

He did it with a sizzling, right-footed goal in the 57th minute of LAFC’s 3-0 victory Friday over the Galaxy in the 27th rendition of El Tráfico and the first this year. Also, the first crosstown showdown of Son’s so-far, so-so tenure in L.A.

His arrival last August from Tottenham Hotspur in England’s Premier League was met with uncommon fanfare. Here came another global soccer icon to Major League Soccer — and to L.A., where the South Korean sensation was welcomed enthusiastically by a Korean diaspora that’s about 250,000 strong.

LAFC forward Son Heung-Min celebrates after scoring a goal against the Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Friday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

The first Asian player to win the Premier League Golden Boot, Mayor Karen Bass spoke at Son’s introductory news conference. The Dodgers invited him to throw out the first pitch on Shohei Ohtani’s bobblehead night (and turned around this season and produced a bobblehead of Son throwing that pitch).

His first LAFC goal — a free kick over the wall in a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas — was named the MLS’s goal of the year. After notching 173 goals across all competitions with Tottenham Hotspur, he finished with nine goals in his first 10 regular-season appearances for LAFC.

Then the scoring stopped. As if someone turned off the spigot.

Before Friday, Son recorded nine assists but no goals over 13 unlucky matches this season. He went 44 shots without striking a goal. And 237 days between goals, according to The Chosun Daily’s tally.

Yeah, just a bit of what his LAFC teammate Mark Delgado described as “a drought.”

Most painfully, Son also was shut out in South Korea’s disastrously short World Cup stay.

South Korea entered the tournament with the expectation that its “golden generation” – led by Son – would reach the knockout stage. But after it opened Group A with a 2-1 win over Czechia, the Koreans lost 1-0 to Mexico and 1-0 to South Africa and failed to qualify for the round of 32 as one of the eight best third-placed teams.

The uproar in South Korea that followed included the country’s president demanding an investigation.

Mexico’s Julián Quiñones and South Korea’s Son Heung-min vie for the ball during a World Cup match on June 18 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

(Ricardo Mazalan / Ap Photo/ricardo Mazalan)

For his part, a heartbroken Son shared a statement on Instagram: “I don’t dare to convey the disappointment and hurt of the fans with a single word ‘sorry.’ So even saying those words feels insufficient.”

It was impossible not to wonder: What the heck?

Where was the version of Son that everyone was celebrating a year ago?

How did the 34-year-old’s game decline so suddenly?

Was this a classic case of overpromising and underdelivering?

It still might be. LAFC — now 8-5-3 and third in MLS’s Western Conference — is going to face tougher competition in the days ahead than the work-in-progress Galaxy.

But on Friday, the center-forward was aggressive and in control. He took two shots in the first seven minutes, both blocked by defenders. He toyed with the Galaxy just before halftime, lining up to take a penalty before turning it over to Denis Bouanga, who scored to make it 2-0.

Then he and Delgado exchanged passes in the second half to set up Son’s first goal in darn near forever.

LAFC coach Marc Dos Santos gave Son 10 days off after the World Cup, but Son said he was eager to return to L.A., because he so enjoys the camaraderie of this club.

Those good vibes were on display when Son’s shot whizzed between two defenders and the outstretched arms of Galaxy goalkeeper Novak Micovic.

Son put his finger to his lips in the universal “shhh” sign and then did his patented camera celebration — click! — miming a snapshot. Because every goal is precious, and let’s be real, you never know when another will come.

LAFC’s Son Heung-Min celebrates after scoring what could be a breakthough goal against the rival Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson on Friday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Around him, the crowd and his colleagues went wild.

Dos Santos did some vein-popping flexing on the sideline. Mathieu Choinière pumped his fists as though he were operating a handcrank. Jacob Shaffelburg and Ryan Hollingshead flanked him on either side as though posing for a family photo. Son’s hair got tousled and nobody wearing black and gold could stop smiling.

“He deserves it, coming back from an emotional World Cup, and joining us right away,” Dos Santos said.

“He’s a great guy,” Delgado said. “He’s been in a bit of a goal drought, and, you know, we all want him to score. We all, he’s always smiling, and in training, he’s always scoring.

“And we’re like, ‘yeah, we need that, we need that!’ Trying to give him confidence,” Delgado continued. “And in games, he finally is getting that confidence back. So to see him score and put the ball in the net and just see his face light up with a smile is awesome. We all want to see him succeed here. We all want him to lead this club like we know he can.”

Now the goal is to keep the goals coming.

“Scoring the first goal of this season, I think it [will] help me,” Son said. “I think, definitely, going forward through the second part of the season. So, let’s keep going, and hope Wednesday [against Salt Lake] I can score another goal.”

Maiara Niehues scored for the fourth straight match and Ary Borges added a goal as Angel City defeated the league-leading San Diego Wave 2-0 at Snapdragon Stadium on Saturday.

After goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo failed to corral the ball, Niehues beat defender Perle Morroni to the ball and headed it home for the 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.

Sveindís Jonsdottir’s long throw into the box in the 26th minute was put away by Borges to make it 2-0 in the 26th minute.

Angel City attacker Jun Endo went down with a non-contact injury in the 33rd minute and was assisted off the pitch visibly shaken.

Borges took down midfielder Kimmi Ascanio in the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Wave (9-5-1) in the 86th minute, but Lia Godfrey’s shot from the spot hit the post.

Angelina Anderson had six saves for her fourth clean sheet of the season for Angel City (6-1-6).

San Diego’s shutout streak came to an end at 242 minutes.

The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.

Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side.

It’s what he’d done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting has outraged Houston leaders and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Four Democratic members of Congress who represent the Houston area said at a vigil Saturday that they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.

“We are never going to forget that his blood is on Donald Trump’s hands,” Rep. Christian Menefee said. “We are not at war. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not a casualty. He was a human being who was murdered by our government.”

ICE was looking for someone else

Federal agents were looking for someone else when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo’s white van, Garcia said, citing a briefing she received from ICE’s acting director. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer fired at the van in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, whom officials described as an “illegal alien,” rammed an ICE vehicle. They have provided no evidence.

After some previous shootings by federal immigration agents, Homeland Security authorities have given accounts that were contradicted by video evidence. No video showing the moment of the shooting this time has emerged, and the agents at the scene were not wearing body cameras.

The three men that Salgado Araujo was driving said he was shot through a passenger window and that the ICE officer who fired was not in front of the van or even in danger, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.

His family has also disputed the account from ICE. They said lawyers, who were helping him apply for a work permit, had explained how he should behave if immigration agents stopped him. Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status when he was killed, they said.

“He knew what to do,” Ronaldo Salgado told reporters this week. “He knew not to sign anything. He knew that the first phone call he should make should be either to myself or to my mom. So that way we can get the process started of getting him out.”

He believes his father may have been scared that he was being followed by unmarked vehicles, worried someone was planning to steal his van or his tools.

The shooting in the largely Latino neighborhood is at least the eighth death connected to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.

A kind, present husband and father

Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife where they raised their three children.

Education was a constant focus in the house, said Ronaldo Salgado, who is now a teacher. One of his brothers is an engineer. The other is in college studying engineering.

Several childhood friends of Salgado recalled that his father was kind and soft-spoken, always inquiring after a long workday about his wife’s day and how his sons’ friends were doing.

“We didn’t really see him until the end of the day when he came home to have dinner, but that just shows how much of a hard worker he was,” said neighbor Jessica Alanis Magdaleno. “Everything they have now is thanks to the dedication to that.”

Josué Flores, a friend of Ronaldo Salgado since their freshman year of high school, said he first saw Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at his son’s football game.

“I think it speaks volumes of the kind of person that he was,” Flores said, recalling how Salgado Araujo showed up for his son even after an arduous day of work.

Salgado Araujo’s wife, a relative said, is “inconsolable.”

“She is very upset … angry, sad, disoriented,” Jose Torres Ramon, a nephew who lives in Mexico, told the Associated Press in a Facebook message.

Ronald Salgado, his oldest son, said at the Saturday vigil that he hoped he was making his father proud.

“I’ll keep fighting for him,” he said.

His brother Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said the shooting of his father was “a hard moment to be an American.”

“Even though my government, my federal government took away my father, we the people will bring justice,” he said. “We the people are America.”

After coming home in the evening, Salgado Araujo liked to listen to music on the porch and pet the family dog. His family has described him as a simple man of routine.

“He did not deserve to die,” Ronaldo Salgado said. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.”

Sullivan writes for the Associated Press. AP reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., contributed to this report.

Everyone knew going in that Lionel Messi would be the narrative centerpiece of the 2026 World Cup. Easily the most recognized name in the competition, Messi is considered by many to be the greatest soccer player of all time and, as the captain of 2022 winner Argentina, he is the reigning World Cup champ. At 18, he scored his first World Cup goal in 2006 and has competed in every World Cup since. He celebrated his 39th birthday before this year’s knockout rounds began, so it’s not unreasonable to assume that this will be his last.

No matter what Messi did, or failed to do, it would be News. Everyone with even a passing interest in the event knew this. Including me.

But I didn’t expect to completely fall for the guy. He’s a professional male athlete, for heaven’s sake, and I don’t emotionally invest in professional male athletes. Admire some of them, sure; watch with bated breath and then scream in astonishment when they pull off some amazing feat or another, absolutely. But the only athletes that have ever touched my heart have been women — Nadia Comăneci; Billie Jean King and the Title IX-sparking stars of women’s tennis; Dorothy Hamill; Brandi Chastain and 1999 Women’s World Cup winners; Venus and Serena Williams; Simone Biles; Caitlin Clark.

But here I am, at age 62, truly, madly, deeply in love with Lionel Messi.

I know, I know, me and half the world. Which normally would serve as an effective prophylactic. I am habitually wary of super-intense fandoms and the men who inspire them; stadiums filled with people chanting a single name inevitably set off internal alarm bells. As I have asked several times in columns throughout the years, how many “heroes” must we watch falter under pressure or be exposed for decidedly unheroic acts before we wise up and get out of the pedestal-placement business?

Yet here I am, stalking him on Instagram, up all hours flicking through interviews and career highlight clips. (I even watched the Apple TV docuseries “Messi Meets America”!) Here I am, literally praying to God, who clearly has more important things to do, for Argentina to advance and screaming Messi’s name every time he scores, assists or pretty much does anything at all.

In a matter of weeks, I have become addicted not just to watching the man play but seeing how he reacts when a shot is made or a game won.

Every World Cup player is happy when they or their team scores, but Messi is delighted. Like a kid seeing a puppy under the tree on Christmas morning. Like he cannot believe this wonderful thing that has just happened even if he was the one who sweat and ran and defied physics to make it happen.

His smile is infectious and even when he is running toward the stands, arms spread wide, after making some impossible shot or other, it never seems self-congratulatory. He is simply filled with joy and wants to spread it around. The field, the stadium, the world.

And his hugs. Long, deep, radiating emotion, utterly unself-conscious. Everyone needs to find someone who hugs them like Messi hugs people — teammates, coaches, opposing players, young fans. I could watch videos of him hugging his mentor and former teammate Ronaldinho or Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni all day long. (I’m not saying I have, nor am I saying I haven’t.)

Sometimes the hype gets a bit nauseating — former teammates who claim he never makes a mistake, commentators who refer to him as superhuman (despite the fact that he has missed as many penalty kicks as he has made in this World Cup). Whether Messi himself agrees that he is the GOAT is none of my business, but he doesn’t act like many sports stars who have received similar adulation. He doesn’t peacock, he doesn’t preen; he is visibly angry with himself when he doesn’t produce. He isn’t perfect — in various past games, he has gotten into heated disputes and shoving matches and famously (and many believe deservedly) taunted Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal during World Cup 2022. But for a man who has been such a star for so long, he presents himself as simply a player among players. The captain, certainly, but not the most important person on the field.

That is the most lovable, and superhuman, thing about him.

It feels pretty basic, not to mention embarrassing, to have a sudden summer crush on Messi, but I don’t care. He’s married to his childhood sweetheart, has three adorable sons and a picture of his mother tattooed on his back. He lets his teammates hoist him in the air and allows sports commentators to regularly (and lovingly) refer to him as “Little Messi.” He gets angry sometimes, but in this tournament he has yet to noticeably hector the refs or rumble with his opponents. He wants to win, obviously, but his joy comes from playing the game well rather than defeating another team.

That’s why, despite my newfound addiction to Messi delight, the moment I loved him best was when he didn’t celebrate at all. In the round of 32, Argentina (No. 2 in FIFA rankings) seemed guaranteed a win over Cape Verde (67). But even with Messi’s early goal, the game was a nail-biter, with Cape Verde scoring two brilliant goals while their goalie Vozinha made eight saves, including four shots (one of them a free kick) from Messi. After Argentina won in additional playing time, there was none of the usual jubilation. Instead, a subdued Messi walked to the midfield to shake hands with his opponents, a sign of exhaustion, no doubt, but also of respect. He hugged Vozinha and told him that his country should be proud of him.

The exuberance was back Tuesday, however, when, after trailing Egypt for most of the round of 16 game, Argentina managed to pull off the comeback of the tournament, going from a 0-2 deficit to a 3-2 win after the 79th minute, with Messi scoring the tying goal.

This time, the smiles, the hugs, the radiant joy filling Atlanta Stadium could have powered the entire state of Georgia. This time, Messi was so happy, he wept.

So did I. The World Cup is over in less than two weeks, and France and Spain are currently the 1-2 favorites to win the thing. My love for Messi is, after all, just a summer romance.

And as with any summer romance, I want it to last forever.

Forty-nine seconds. That’s all it took for the Seattle Storm’s Flau’jae Johnson to fire off a 27-foot three-point jumper to take the lead. In less than a minute, she sank the Sparks’ hopes of beating one of the worst teams in the WNBA, leaving 39 more minutes for the Sparks to consider just how the team got there.

Johnson, already the main act in Seattle, bolstered her WNBA Rookie of the Year case by scoring 23 points as the Storm defeated the Sparks 82-64 Monday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Each time the Storm drove down the court, there was Johnson, her ponytail fluttering as she skirted around the arc before driving into the paint, nonchalantly tossing up layups as if it was still shootaround. Not even the relentless defense chants summoned from the Sparks’ MCs stopped her.

“I don’t know,” coach Lynne Roberts said after the game. “We just weren’t good offensively.”

And while her teammates supplied Johnson with enough passes to at one point secure a 13-point lead, the Sparks (8-11) lost because the team couldn’t build enough momentum.

In the end, Seattle outmaneuvered and outbodied the Sparks, snatching steals and flipping the ball around the perimeter until the Storm fired off a shot. Even when the ball bounced off the rim or backboard, Johnson or Storm center Dominique Malonga, who had nine rebounds, was there, hoisting the basketball away from the closest white jersey.

When asked how the team could’ve compensated defensively, Dearica Hamby kept it short: “Stop them from scoring.”

In comparison, the Sparks, without an offensive rebound until the end of the third quarter, were forced to make perfect shots, though that was far from the team’s grasp. Hamby, who went six for nine, led the team with 17 points, but even she couldn’t go toe-to-toe with Johnson alone. Worse, the Sparks’ abysmal 17.2 three-point percentage all but abandoned that avenue of attack, leaving the team to face Malonga in the paint.

“I’m not trying to let us off the hook at all, but sometimes you just have nights like that, and we all had them at the same time,” Roberts said. “Shooting 17% from three doesn’t help.”

The Sparks struggled to transition to the basket, giving up 19 turnovers resulting in 25 free baskets.

“I don’t think that there is a strong line of playing in transition,” Nneka Ogwumike said. “Sometimes we attribute taking an early shot to transition when in reality, if you’re taking an early, contested shot in transition, it’s probably not the most ideal shot.”

So as the Sparks fell further behind, the holes left by the injured Cameron Brink and Kelsey Plum widened.

In the Sparks’ previous matchup against the Storm a month ago, the two had totaled 34 points in the nail-biting 88-83 win. But in Monday’s game, the Sparks could only cling to the game with clenched fists as the gap widened.

“Credit them,” Roberts said. “They played hard and made shots. We missed them.”

By the end, the Sparks spent the game playing catch-up, never regaining the lead after surrendering it in the first 49 seconds to Johnson.

Tuareg fighters in Mali have released footage claiming to show a Russian Africa Corps Mi-24 helicopter crashing after it was reportedly shot down. The incident comes amid escalating clashes between Malian forces, their Russian allies and armed groups.

July 5 (UPI) — Eight people were shot in Coney Island, N.Y., during a Fourth of July fireworks display Saturday as four children were among the wounded.

Four boys, ages 14, 12, 7 and 6, were shot, as were a 37-year-old man, 33-year-old man, 25-year-old woman and 21-year-old woman. The identities of the victims have not been made public.

“All victims were transported by EMS to local area hospitals where seven people were listed in stable condition, the NYPD said in a statement. “The 21-year-old woman is listed in critical condition.”

The 6-year-old victim was shot in the abdomen and the 7-year-old was shot in both of his legs. Both are expected to recover.

Police responded to the call of a shooting near the Coney Island boardwalk at 10:37 p.m. EDT. They have not named a suspect and have made no arrests as of Sunday morning. The motivation behind the shooting remains unknown.

SAN FRANCISCO — He needed one shot to warm up. Then almost nothing could stop Cameron Carr.

In his unofficial NBA debut, the first-round draft pick flashed the type of three-point shooting that could turn him into a valuable player for the Lakers, scoring 19 points on seven-of-15 shooting in the Lakers’ 104-72 summer league loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Carr missed his first shot, a nearly straight-away three-pointer. But he bounced back quickly by hitting a catch-and-shoot three from the wing on an offensive rebound. He knocked down the next one. He held his thumb and forefinger in a circle over his eye in celebration.

The Lakers spent the first days of free agency addressing their shooting deficiencies. While Luke Kennard signed a two-year contract with Phoenix, the Lakers reloaded with guards Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton and versatile power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili. The three free-agent additions came in a flurry Wednesday after the Lakers pulled off an aggressive sign-and-trade for center Walker Kessler.

The moves were meant to reshape the roster to maximize superstar Luka Doncic, who will take the reins with the departure of LeBron James.

After leading the offense at Baylor, Carr knows his assignment supporting Doncic with the Lakers will be simpler: cut, run and dunk, he said at his introductory news conference.

And, for the guard who shot 37.4% from three at Baylor last year, his job is to knock down shots.

“If you can shoot the ball,” Carr said with a slight smile in New York the day before the draft, “you’re wanted by a lot of people.”

The Lakers wanted the 6-foot-5 guard so badly that they executed a draft-day trade with the New York Knicks to grab the 24th overall pick. Carr was projected to be a mid first-round pick, but slipped down the board in what many projected to be the deepest draft in a generation.

Lakers rookie Cameron Carr shoots a three-pointer over Golden State’s Lachlan Olbrich during the first half of the California Classic on Friday.

(Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)

Any of the top three picks of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Carlos Boozer could have been No. 1 picks in other seasons, analysts predicted. Eleven guards were taken before Carr, who was named third-team All-Big-12 last year after averaging 18.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists with 45 total blocks at Baylor last year.

But ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla estimated that Carr could be the best athlete out of the entire draft.

His 7-foot wingspan was the best among guards at the NBA combine and his 38-inch standing vertical and 10.46-second lane agility test ranked first for his position.

Carr said his top objective is to put on weight. Weighing 184 pounds at the NBA combine, Carr would have been the third-lightest, 6-5 player in the league last year, ahead of only Sacramento’s Nique Clifford (6-5, 175 pounds) and Dallas’ AJ Johnson (6-5, 160 pounds). He may be joining the Lakers at the exact right moment as the team — with the investment and guidance from big brother organization the Dodgers — will expand weight room, treatment and sports science resources in its facility. The 21-year-old guard said he plans to make the weight room his new home.

Building up his strength to handle the NBA will be critical for Carr as he hopes to show “that I’m the best defender here,” he told reporters. Adding another defender became even more important after guard Marcus Smart signed a contract with Western Conference rival Houston.

The Lakers, after trading Deandre Ayton on Friday for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks, could still look for a wing defender and back up center to round out their roster that currently stands at 13.

Lakers re-sign Chris Mañon

The Lakers re-signed guard Chris Mañon to a two-way contract, the Lakers announced. The second-year guard appeared in nine games for the Lakers last year and also played in 33 G League games for the South Bay Lakers, averaging 10.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. With a team-high 1.9 steals per game, Mañon was named to the G League all-defensive team and finished second in defensive player of the year voting.

Spain achieved its primary goal at SoFi Stadium on Thursday, defeating Austria 3-0 and advancing to the World Cup round of 16 in front of a pro-Spain announced crowd of 70,492.

The Spaniards extended their unbeaten match streak to 34 games and their win streak over European teams to 35 dating back to 2023. They have yet to concede a goal this tournament, tying the record for most consecutive men’s World Cup clean sheets with five.

By every metric, Spain controlled the match and won decisively in its best performance of the tournament.

But Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said his team still has room to improve and has yet to play its best soccer.

The team favored to win the World Cup before matches kicked off last month is still ramping up and working to championship standards.

While France’s fearsome foursome led by the electric Kylian Mbappé has bulldozed opponents, Norway’s Erling Haaland is scoring at a rapid pace and Lionel Messi is dancing his way to immortality, Spain superstar Lamine Yamal is still waiting to deliver a multi-goal dominant World Cup performance.

Yamal, an 18-year-old prodigy, showed flashes of his talent and set up his teammates well en route to winning man of the match honors that more than a few Spanish media members questioned. But his efficient teammates carried the scoring load Thursday, with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring two goals and Pedro Porro adding another for La Roja.

Spain has been managing Yamal’s minutes while he recovers from injury, but Thursday was supposed to be an opportunity to unleash his dominance.

“I think we need to keep improving our game, our intensity — everything — but obviously we know the quality we have, and we know we’re not afraid of any team,” Yamal said after the match. “We’re Spain, and we have to prove it on the field, but we believe in ourselves.”

Spain still advanced with ease and will face the winner of the Portugal-Croatia match to be played later Thursday. Their round of 16 match will be played Monday in Arlington, Texas. On July 10, the winner of that contest will face the winner of Monday’s U.S.-Belgium match at SoFi Stadium.

Austria coach Ralf Rangnick is convinced Spain, the European champions, easily could become World Cup champions.

“If you watched the game today, you would recognize it is really difficult to play against this opponent,” Rangnick said of Spain. “… I cannot remember any unforced error they made.”

Spain’s de la Fuente shook his head when he heard Rangnick’s praise, saying he was happy for his players and loves his team but saw many areas that could be improved.

“There’s much to do,” de la Fuente said, noting the competition will only grow tougher. “The defense can still be improved. There have been some situations when we lacked high pressure. … Prior to the first hydration break, the team was still trying to evolve.

”… You need to keep improving all the time.”

Spain forward Lamine Yamal falls after Austria midfielder Florian Grillitsch kicks the ball away from him during the second half Thursday.

(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)

During its round of 32 match on Thursday, Spain handled Austria’s high press and attacked spaces behind the defense.

The Spanish team capitalized on its opponent’s defensive misalignments, found depth down the wings and consistently exposed the Austrians’ defensive weaknesses.

Austria came out quickly looking to pull off an upset, but it ran into a Spain team that was well-organized defensively. The counterattack ended with Yamal firing a shot straight at Austria goalkeeper Alex Schlager one minute into the game.

The Austrians tried to get behind the Spanish defense, but their attacking creativity was limited and they never managed to turn their promising opportunities into goals. One of Austria’s clearest chances came on a play by Marcel Sabitzer, who sent a cross from the left flank to forward Michael Gregoritsch, who wasn’t fast enough to put a head or foot on the well-placed ball before it sailed out of bounds.

The pace of the game favored Spain, as Austria took risks on the attack and left spaces open.

In the 29th minute, Yamal’s corner kick pinballed in the penalty area before falling to Marc Cucurella, who appeared to score. The goal was erased, however, because Spain tackled Austria’s goalkeeper before Cucurella took his shot.

Yamal was dynamic early and a run into the box nearly resulted in another clear scoring opportunity. Schlager barely had time to react and prevented another Spanish celebration in the 32nd minute.

Four minutes later, Cucurella sent a pass to Oyarzabal, who was left unmarked because David Alaba had left a large gap between himself and the forward. Oyarzabal connected with the cross and easily scored to give Spain a 1-0 lead.

Spain had two great chances to extend its lead during first-half stoppage time. The first was a long-range shot by Álex Baena that hit the crossbar; on the rebound, Yamal fired the ball straight into the Austria goalkeeper’s body.

In the second half, Yamal continued to pressure the Spanish defenders and set up Oyarzabal for a shot caught by the Austrian goalkeeper.

Rodri’s dribbling opened more space for Spain, allowing him to create a shooting opportunity that grazed the post in the 54th minute.

Austria was looking to attack more and brought on Sasa Kalajdzic, who responded quickly with a header that sailed over the crossbar.

Spain responded by scoring a few minutes later.

In the 66th minute, Baena won the ball back on the left and sent in a cross for Porro, who headed in his team’s second goal. It was Porro’s first goal for Spain during international competition.

In his final play before being replaced in the 85th minute, Yamal received a pass inside the penalty area and although he struck the ball well to beat the Austrian goalkeeper, another Austrian defender managed to block his shot.

When it seemed both teams were content with the result, Cucurella once again linked up with Oyarzabal off a deep pass into the center of the penalty area. Oyarzabal got behind two defenders and scored, sealing Spain’s 3-0 win.

“The game kind of tells you what you need — whether the team needs more on offense or more on defense,” Porro said. “It’s about staying more focused on that, and surely when you’re more confident in what you have to do, you perform better.”

Israel has rejected a UN Commission report that says its army deliberately targets Palestinian children. But there are cases of children being shot by precision weapons, making it difficult to argue they were accidents.
Al Jazeera’s @emmawithrow explains.

Some kids grow up with video games and summer camp. Sebastian Berhalter grew up with the World Cup.

He was 13 months old when his father, Gregg, played in the tournament for the first time and 5 when his dad was called back. And four years ago, when Sebastian was already a professional in his own right, he went to Qatar to watch his father coach the U.S. to the round of 16.

Yet none of that prepared the younger Berhalter for his own World Cup debut earlier this month.

“It’s ridiculous,” Sebastian said. “Before the game, I just kept chuckling to myself, like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ Literally I couldn’t believe it. Playing for my country, it’s the best feeling in the world.

“I just can’t believe that happened.”

Nor could he believe what happened next. Because after making appearances off the bench in the team’s first two group-play games — both of which ended in U.S. victories — Berhalter started the third game. And with a goal and an assist in a loss to Turkey, he already has more World Cup goals and assists than his dad.

In fact, he’s the only American with a goal and assist in the same World Cup game in the last 96 years. Not bad for your first start in the tournament.

His father still has bragging rights in one category, however, since the 2002 team he played for is still the only American team to win a knockout game in a World Cup. Sebastian can match that Wednesday in Santa Clara when the U.S. plays Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32 of this summer’s expanded tournament.

“They’re a good team,” Sebastian said of the Bosnians. “It’s a round of 32, so do or die. I think you play every game like it’s a knockout game. For us it’s, it’s keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

If Gregg provided the inspiration and the road map that guided his son to the World Cup team, the younger Berhalter had to wait for Mauricio Pochettino before he could take his first steps on that road. That came in the spring of 2025, about 11 months after his dad had been sacked as coach, when Pochettino, the new manager, gave the younger Berhalter his first national team call-up.

He’s gone on to make 16 appearances for the U.S., including three in the World Cup. And that’s something Gregg is convinced couldn’t have happened as long as he was coach.

“I think about it all the time,” he recently told ESPN. “I never could have picked him.”

The scrutiny would have been too fierce, he feared, the whispers of nepotism too loud. Sure, Michael Bradley played more than 50 internationals games for his father Bob, including four in the 2010 World Cup. But he was already on the team when his father took over from Bruce Arena, who gave Michael his first call-up.

So, Sebastian had to wait. He had to play for three MLS teams, win an MLS Cup and three Canadian Championships and become too good to ignore in order to get his first shot with the national team — one which came from Pochettino, not his father.

Neither Berhalter has regrets.

“What I know,” Gregg, now coach and sporting director of the Chicago Fire, told ESPN, “is that everything is in the place it’s supposed to be. This is how life is. It’s his turn. It’s his time now.”

And he’s playing as if there’s no time to waste.

After making his international debut in a friendly with Switzerland last May, Sebastian played five full games in the Gold Cup last summer, then scored his first international goal in a friendly with Uruguay less than three weeks before leading the Vancouver Whitecaps into the MLS Cup against Inter Miami.

So, when the time came for Pochettino to name his World Cup roster last month, it was clear Sebastian, 25, had earned a spot.

“He’s a monster. He’s a monster, in the way of how professional he is,” the coach said. “He’s the type of player who’s going to train, going to train, going to train. I mean, sometimes I have to say [to him], ‘Go inside, no?’“

After stumbling in the group-play final, which Turkey won with a goal deep in stoppage time, the U.S. will have no room for error in its first elimination game. It’s a game in which history may — or may not — be on the Americans’ side.

On one side, the U.S. is winless in its last 13 games against European opponents. On the other, its last win over a UEFA team came in December 2021, in California, over Bosnia and Herzegovina, a team to which it has never lost.

There’s an omen in there somewhere.

“Our goal is to win the World Cup,” Sebastian said. “That’s what we want to do. It’s always been our mission and we’re still taking it one game at a time.”

There’s also the family record book to think about. One more victory and Sebastian will have more World Cup wins than his dad. Two more and he’ll be in the tournament quarterfinals, which is as far as his father went in his first World Cup.

In Qatar, Sebastian was the one in stands, cheering on his dad. In this tournament, the roles have been reversed. And Gregg told his son he couldn’t be happier about or prouder of how things have worked out.

“Four years ago, I was waiting for him to come up in the stands. Now, he was waiting for me to come up in the stands,” Sebastian said. “That was special.

“When you hear words that your dad is proud of you, that’s a cool moment.”

Through the first two games of this summer’s World Cup, the U.S. was about as perfect as a team could be. It won both games, never trailed, gave up just a goal and won its group handily, playing with a verve and confidence that erased all the doubts that had shadowed it coming in.

Then came Thursday.

With Mauricio Pochettino making a record nine changes to a lineup that had given the U.S. its most successful start to a World Cup in 96 years, the B team that closed the group stage at SoFi Stadium with a 3-2 loss to Turkey served to remind everyone how flawed this group can be.

The backline was porous, goalie Matt Turner gave up goals on the first two shots he faced and with the exception of midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who had a goal and an assist, none of the starters really distinguished themselves. Whether any of that matters won’t be known until the U.S. next takes the field in the knockout rounds, facing Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday in Santa Clara, Calif.

For Pochettino, whose contempt for convention has been a hallmark of his team’s World Cup run, clearing his bench and getting a U.S.-record 23 players on the field in the group stage was more more important than the result.

“The objective was to finish first and we are first,” he said. “Now it is the next stage and it is going to be a final. And we are ready. We are much better than before that game because we had players now with 90 minutes in their legs and performing and ready to help if we need from the beginning or from the bench. It’s all positive.”

Maybe. Sure, Christian Pulisic, who hadn’t played since the first half of the first game, got back on the field and looked good in a 32-minute cameo. But other than that the game was meaningless since the Americans had already won the group and qualified for the next round while Turkey was going home no matter the result.

The U.S. came in riding a huge wave of momentum, though, and that’s gone now, erased on Kaan Ayhan’s goal on the last touch of the game.

Does that matter?

“No,” captain Tim Ream said with conviction. “You just turn the page.”

The experience the role players got, he said, is more important than the final score.

“When we say it didn’t mean anything, it’s still a meaningful game, right? It’s a World Cup game,” he said. “So it gives everybody a taste of what life will be like if they are called upon and have to contribute.”

Midfielder Tyler Adams wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t know what it’s going to do,” he said. “I can’t predict the future. I don’t have an eight ball in front of me. We’ll see what happens.”

What Adams can say with certainty, however, is that in the future the U.S. will have no room for error. The games are all elimination matches now and 13 players on the U.S. roster, including Adams, have experienced that first hand, having lost in the round of 16 four years ago in Qatar.

Turner said it’s up to those veterans to impart that wisdom on the 13 who are playing in their first World Cup.

“You need to really take care of the boxes when it comes to knockout round. That’s the biggest lesson that we learned,” said Turner, who started all four games in the last World Cup. “It’s not necessarily how beautiful a style you play. The chances you create is important, [but] the way you defend your box is more important.

“Those games are going to be decided by one goal, they’re going to be narrow, and we’re going to have to be compact and be together, defensively, offensively, and take the chances when they come.”

The U.S. did little of that Thursday.

After a Berhalter corner set up Trusty for the first goal in the third minute, Turkey’s Arda Guler, a Real Madrid midfielder, tied the score seven minutes later, splitting a pair of U.S. defenders and running onto a pass from Kenan Yildiz in the center of the box, then lifting a shot over Turner.

Orkun Kokcu handed the U.S. its first deficit of the tournament when he found another big hole in the U.S. defense, redirecting a cross from Eren Elmali in from the center of the box to give Turkey a 2-1 lead.

Berhalter tied the score again four minutes into the second half, latching onto a loose ball at the top of the penalty area and one-hopping a right-footed shot just inside the near post. The game stayed that way until Ayhan, who came on with two minutes left in regulation, slid between two U.S. defenders to knock in the game-winner eight minutes into stoppage time.

For Berhalter, one of a record 21 Americans to get a start in this World Cup, Pochettino’s decision to clear his bench was not only a reward, it was preparation for what’s to come.

“It’s every little kid’s dream, across the United States of America, to play in a home World Cup. Just in a World Cup in general,” he said. “People made their debuts today, so congratulations everyone. This is what everybody looks forward to.”

More important, he added, “we know everyone’s ready to step up at any moment.”

Which is good because history suggests the road ahead is about the get a lot more challenging. The loss to Turkey was the Americans’ 10^th straight to a UEFA team, running their winless streak against European opponents to 13 in a row.

Guess which continent Bosnia and Herzegovina, who the U.S. faces next, is from?

Sports editor Iliana Limón Romero contributed to this story.

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.