Denis Bouanga scored on a penalty kick and assisted on Nathan Ordaz’s goal as LAFC defeated FC Dallas 2-0 at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
Hugo Lloris made one save as LAFC (9-5-5) recorded its second straight shutout and won for the second time in three games since it went winless during the Club World Cup.
LAFC put 10 shots on goal.
Ordaz took a pass from Bouanga in the penalty box, spun and booted a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal in the 31st minute.
Bouanga made it 2-0 when he converted into the right side in the 45th minute, after he was fouled by Shaq Moore.
LAFC captain and defender Aaron Long was carted off in the 76th minute for an apparent leg injury.
LAS VEGAS — The Thomas & Mack Center public-address announcer called it the “main event” at the NBA Summer League, with Lakers’ second-year guard Bronny James and Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg at the center of it all.
The fans didn’t have to wait long for the moment they all came to see when Flagg, the first overall pick in the draft out of Duke, defended against James from the start of the game.
The atmosphere was electric until the end, with Flagg’s Mavericks pulling out an 87-85 win after James missed a three-pointer seconds before the final buzzer.
“It’s Summer League and everyone is going to come out for the first game,” James said. “Like, it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere, no matter what. So I just try to embrace it.”
Neither put on a shooting exhibition, but the fans didn’t seem to care.
James had eight points, missing six of eight shots. He also had two rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes and 51 seconds.
Flagg had 10 points on five-of-21 shooting, missing all five of his three-point attempts. He had six rebounds, four assists and one block.
Still, James was impressed.
“He’s great,” James said. “I watched him all in college. He’s an amazing player. So I have a lot of respect for him. He’s going to be special.”
Early in the game, James came off a screen with Cooper trailing and arriving too late, giving James just enough time to launch a jumper that settled into the net.
Lakers guard Bronny James, left, controls the ball in front of Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg during the Lakers’ Summer League loss Thursday.
(Ryan Stetz / NBAE via Getty Images)
James struck again, drilling a three-pointer over Cooper, drawing cheers from the fans.
James switched and took on the challenge of defending Cooper in the post, drawing more cheers.
Flagg missed his first two shots, and it was clear the fans wanted him to keep shooting. His first basket was off a breakaway dunk, leaving the fans shaking their heads and cheering.
James and Cooper continued their duel in the second quarter, with a couple of plays showcasing the intensity of their battle.
James, who is 6 feet 3, took on the 6-9 Flagg in the post, Flagg waving his teammates away as he tried to face the challenge alone. James stole the ball but was called for a foul, his look at the referees incredulous as the fans booed.
On the next possession, Flagg scored on a fadeaway over James, drawing more cheers as Flagg slapped hands with his teammates on the bench.
“I’m a pretty small guard,” James said. “So if I get switched down there I have to stand my ground somehow. That’s why I weigh like 215 [pounds] and I got to stand my ground down there and make sure I’m not getting bullied anywhere.”
Late in the game, the Lakers got a scare when Dalton Knecht buckled his knees while trying to score on a layup.
“Both of my legs cramped,” said Knecht, who had 15 points, “and I airballed the layup.”
Flagg shot a late airball, but he blocked a shot by DJ Stewart with 1:09 left.
The game came down to James to win it for the Lakers, but his missed three with 3.7 seconds left sealed the Lakers’ fate.
“Yes, I want him to fill that responsibility at the end of the game,” said Lindsay Harding, Lakers assistant coach and Summer League coach. “I want him to have the ball in his hands and I’m going to live and die with whatever shot he takes. It was the decision he made. It was a good shot. I’ve seen him make it before.”
James made another positive step in his efforts to improve his conditioning.
“I felt good,” James said. “I felt I could have knocked some more shots down, but it is what it is. You’re not going to make them all. I felt my effort on the defensive end was good and that’s what I’m focusing on this year.”
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot nine times by a gunman posing as a police officer who authorities say went on to kill another lawmaker, is out of the hospital and is now recovering in a transitional care unit, his family said.
“John has been moved to a rehab facility, but still has a long road to recovery ahead,” the family said in a statement Monday night.
The family released a photo showing a smiling Hoffman giving a thumbs-up while standing with a suitcase on rollers, ready to leave the hospital.
Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were awakened around 2 a.m. on June 14 by a man pounding on the door of their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Champlin who said he was a police officer. According to an FBI agent’s affidavit, security video showed the suspect, Vance Boelter, at the door wearing a black tactical vest and holding a flashlight. He was wearing a flesh-colored mask that covered his entire head.
Yvette Hoffman told investigators they opened the door, and when they spotted the mask, they realized that the man was not a police officer. He then said something like “this is a robbery.” The senator then lunged at the gunman and was shot nine times. Yvette Hoffman was hit eight times before she could shut the door. Their adult daughter, Hope, was there but was not injured and called 911.
Boelter is accused of going to the homes of two other lawmakers in a vehicle altered to resemble a squad car, without making contact with them, before going to the home of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in nearby Brooklyn Park. He allegedly killed both of them and wounded their dog so seriously that he had to be euthanized.
The chief federal prosecutor for Minnesota has called the lawmaker’s killing an assassination.
Yvette Hoffman was released from the hospital a few days after the attacks. Former President Biden visited the senator in the hospital when he was in town for the Hortmans’ funeral.
Boelter, who remains jailed without bail, is charged in federal and state court with murder and attempted murder. At a hearing Thursday, Boelter said he was “looking forward to the facts about the 14th coming out.”
Prosecutors have declined to speculate on a motive. Friends have described him as an evangelical Christian with politically conservative views.
It will be up to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to decide whether to seek the federal death penalty. Minnesota abolished its state death penalty in 1911.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Lakers dropped their first game of the California Classic at Chase Center to the Golden State Warriors 89-84 on Saturday after leading by double digits in the first half.
The Lakers struggled defensively in the second half, giving up 30 points in the third quarter, when they trailed for the first time.
Bronny James traveled with the team but did not suit up.
Darius Bazley was the Lakers’ only constant on defense, switching on the perimeter while contesting shots at the rim. Perimeter defense was a clear struggle for L.A., forcing late challenges by bigs leading to 25 free throws.
Cole Swider was a bright spot all game for the Lakers, using his ability to shoot from deep to tally a game-high 24 points on seven-for-10 shooting, including, six of eight from three. Swider, entering his fifth year in the NBA, played seven games for the Lakers his rookie season.
DJ Steward also stood out, scoring 20 points on seven-for-10 shooting. Steward’s ability to get to the rim and draw fouls allowed for catch-and-shoot threes for teammates.
“This is a good opportunity to be myself,” Steward said. “There’s a lot of things [the coaching staff] wants me to hone in on, controlling the controllables, picking up 94 feet, communicating, and getting guys involved.”
In his fifth summer league appearance, Steward was the game’s second-leading scorer and assist co-leader with six.
Steward said he will push for a win when the Lakers play their next game on Sunday.
“We got to get the guys together to go out there and play harder than we did today,” Steward said. “We have to make sure we’re picking up 94 feet and being more physical.”
The Lakers’ first round draft pick last season, Dalton Knecht, looked a bit rusty scoring only 10 points on three-for-13 shooting, missing all six shots from deep. Knecht is coming off a season for the Lakers where he averaged 9.1 points on 46.1 % shooting in 78 games.
“It took a while for me to get going; I didn’t get going at all,” Knecht said reflecting on his performance. “I just have to come out ready to play better tomorrow and shake off the rust. My teammates were great, they came out competing, picking up full court, rebounding and crashing the glass, so I’m proud of my team.”
The California Classic will continue tomorrow when the Lakers take on the Miami Heat. Tip off will be at 1:30 p.m.
Joseph Paintsil had two goals, Matheus Nascimento also scored a goal and the Galaxy beat the Vancouver Whitecaps 3-0 on Friday night to snap a three-game winless streak.
The Whitecaps (11-4-5) have lost three of their last four. Vancouver is second in the Western Conference with 38 points, behind San Diego (39).
Edwin Cerrillo flicked a shot from 30 yards outs that was deflected by goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka and Nascimento put away the rebound with a first-touch finish to open the scoring in the second minute.
Paintsil made it 2-0 in the 60th. Gabriel Pec played an long arcing ball to the top of the penalty box, where Marco Reus tapped a first-touch pass to a wide-open Paintsil, who calmly flicked a shot inside the back post from the left side of the area.
Paintsil converted from the penalty spot in the 77th minute for his first career multi-goal game. The 27-year-old forward has three goals and one assist this season after he finished with 10 goals and 10 assists last season, his first in MLS.
Takaoka had five saves for Vancouver. Jayden Nelson was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute and another in stoppage time as the Whitecaps played a man down for the final few minutes.
Novak Micovic had a save for LA. The Galaxy had 55% possession and outshot Vancouver 12-6, 8-1 on target.
The Whitecaps beat the Galaxy 2-1 at home on March 2.
Two firefighters were killed by gunfire while responding to a brush fire in Coeur d’Alene, a lakeside town in the northwestern US state of Idaho.
The local sheriff’s office reported that a shelter-in-place order was lifted on Sunday night after a tactical team found the body of a man with a firearm nearby. The dead man is believed to be the suspect.
Officials did not disclose his identity or specify the type of weapon recovered.
What happened in Idaho, and when?
Officials said crews responded to a fire at Canfield Mountain in the city at about 1:22pm (20:22 GMT), and gunshots were reported about a half hour later at 2pm (21:00 GMT).
Kootenai County Sheriff Robert Norris said the shooter used high-powered sporting rifles to open rapid fire on first responders.
Two firefighters were killed and, according to authorities, a third one came out of surgery and is in a stable condition but “fighting for his life”.
Norris told reporters on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect intentionally started the fire as “an ambush”.
“We do believe he started it and it was totally intentional what he did,” he added.
However, officials have not spelled out any possible motives for why the suspect might have wanted to ambush the firefighters.
According to reports, more than 300 law enforcement officers and FBI agents responded to the emergency, while police snipers searched the area from helicopters.
Video footage from the area showed smoke rising from forested hillsides, with multiple ambulances and emergency vehicles seen arriving at a local hospital.
Multiple heroic firefighters were attacked today while responding to a fire in North Idaho. This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters. I ask all Idahoans to pray for them and their families as we wait to learn more. Teresa and I are heartbroken.
The Canfield Mountain area is on the eastern outskirts of Coeur d’Alene. It is a popular 24‑acre (10-hectare) natural space featuring hiking and mountain‑biking trails.
Coeur d’Alene, a city of about 55,000 people, is located roughly 260 miles (420 km) east of Seattle.
The mountain is densely covered with trees and thick brush, and its network of trails extends into a national forest.
Who was the shooter?
Based on preliminary evidence, the Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office believes there was only one shooter involved in the attack. Initially, authorities had suspected there might be as many as four.
Authorities located the suspect after detecting mobile phone activity in the area and tracing the signal.
There, they discovered a man who appeared to be deceased with a weapon found nearby. They did not say how the man died, or what firearm was discovered. Norris said that authorities believe the dead man was the shooter. However, the police have not yet revealed his identity.
Police said a man called 911 to report the fire but said that it was unclear if the caller was the gunman.
— Secretary Brooke Rollins (@SecRollins) June 30, 2025
What do we know about the victims?
Kootenai County officials said they would not release the names of the two firefighters who died.
“Their families will need support,” Sheriff Norris said.
“This is a heinous direct assault on our brave firefighters,” Idaho Governor Brad Little wrote on Facebook.
Officials said the bodies would be transported in a procession to nearby Spokane, Washington, accompanied by a convoy of official vehicles. One of the firefighters was working with the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department; the other served with Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.
An armoured police vehicle leaves an area where multiple firefighters were attacked when responding to a fire in the Canfield Mountain area [Young Kwak/Reuters]
Is the area now safe? Was the fire controlled?
The shelter-in-place notice was lifted at 03:50 GMT on Monday.
The wildfire on Canfield Mountain scorched approximately 20 acres (81 hectares), Norris said on Sunday, but no structures were lost in the fire, authorities confirmed.
At 03:00 GMT, authorities confirmed that the fire was still burning.
STANFORD — Marco Reus scored in the 70th minute and the Galaxy played the San José Earthquakes to a 1-1 draw on Saturday night in the 104th edition of the California Clásico.
The Galaxy (1-14-5) are unbeaten in their past eight road matches (Stanford Stadium and PayPal Park) across all competitions against San José (7-8-5) dating to June 26, 2021.
San José native Beau Leroux opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a shot into the upper-right corner for his fourth of the season. He settled Mark-Anthony Kaye’s cross with his left foot and curled in a shot with his right from the top of the 18-yard box.
San José goalkeeper Daniel stopped an initial attempt in the 70th, but it bounced right back to Reus for an easy touch home. It was Reus’ first game wearing the captain’s armband.
Daniel made several key saves. He came out of his area to deny Joseph Paintsil on a one-on-one opportunity in the 60th. He also got a hand on Gabriel Pec’s shot on a counterattack in the 88th.
ORLANDO, Fla. — LAFC closed out the Club World Cup by tying Flamengo 1-1 at Inter & Co Stadium on Tuesday night.
Orlando has a large Brazilian community accustomed to cheering on former Orlando City star Kaká and current Orlando Pride star Marta. As a result, Brazilian club Flamengo enjoyed a strong push from the crowd against LAFC.
Flamengo’s Wallace Yan came off the bench and scored the game’s equalizer in the 86th minute. He received a pass from Jorginho, ran at full speed and scored with a right-footed shot from the penalty spot.
The 20-year-old striker’s goal gave Flamengo a draw. The team will face German giants Bayern Munich in the round of 16. That match will be played on Sunday in Miami.
LAFC claimed the lead in the third minute thanks to Denis Bouanga, scorer of the MLS team’s lone goal in the tournament.
Flamengo topped Group D with seven points, one more than Chelsea. Esperance of Tunisia (three points) and LAFC (one) were eliminated.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the guys,” LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo said. “I’m really happy with their effort. … It’s very difficult against a quality side like Flamengo, but I think we did well with the opportunities we had.”
With first place in their group assured, after victories over Esperance (2-0) and Chelsea (3-1), the Rio de Janeiro club took the end of the group stage as a break.
They could have finished it off much earlier, but the goalposts stood in the way a couple of times.
The first came at the 30-minute mark with a fierce shot from Pedro, after a nice combination of passes, which splintered the crossbar of the goal defended by Hugo Lloris.
Uruguay midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta also delivered a shot that was off target in the 70th minute just before heading to the bench.
“We had total control of the match. We created countless chances, especially in the first half. We had a few shots hit the post, other chances that didn’t end up finishing, but we created them,” said Filipe Luís, Flamengo’s coach. “Unfortunately, we were not very good in front of goal.”
It was the first Club World Cup match played in Orlando that was not affected by bad weather. It was also the best attended match in the city, with 32,933 spectators in attendance at a Camping World stadium with a capacity of 60,219.
June 22 (UPI) — An armed gunman who opened fire Sunday inside a Michigan church was shot dead by a security guard, police said.
Police responded to 911 calls of an active shooter at Crosspointe Church in Wayne, about 30 miles west of Detroit, police said in a statement.
“Upon arrival, officers determined that a security guard for the church shot and killed the suspect,” police said. “One victim was shot in the leg.”
A police source told local news station WXYZ that the incident happened around 11:15 a.m. shortly after the start of the10:45 a.m. service.
“Our leadership and support teams are on the ground, at the scene, in Wayne, Michigan providing assistance and investigative support,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a statement after the shooting.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is also reportedly monitoring the incident.
Police encouraged local residents to avoid the area as the investigation continued. Further details about the shooting, including the identity of the suspect, was not provided.
“I watched the game again last week and I walked a lot of that game.
“I wasn’t actually that good, I didn’t have too many involvements – it was probably my third professional game.
“I wanted to look at what the atmosphere was like, how I was as a player then, how I have changed and improved, and just take it in as an experience because I know in a few weeks that is coming.”
Skelton, who moved to La Rochelle from Saracens in 2020, is the only overseas-based player in Australia’s squad for their warm-up Test against Fiji on 6 July.
Standing 6ft 8in tall and weighing nearly 23 stone, Skelton was asked whether his power could be a way for the Wallabies to get on top of the Lions forward pack.
“I will just try and be myself,” he added.
“They have some great players, but we have also got some weapons in this team.
“It is about trying to fulfil that as best we can come those big games.
A retired Nicaraguan military officer who later became a critic of President Daniel Ortega has been killed in a shooting at his condominium in Costa Rica, where he lives in exile.
The death of Roberto Samcam, 67, on Thursday has heightened concern about the safety of Nicaraguan dissidents, even when they live abroad.
Police in Costa Rica have confirmed that a suspect entered Samcam’s condominium building in the capital of San Jose at approximately 7:30am local time (13:30 GMT) and shot the retired major at least eight times.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Organisation identified the murder weapon as a 9mm pistol. Samcam’s wife, Claudia Vargas, told the Reuters news agency that the suspect pretended to be a delivery driver to gain access to her husband.
The suspect allegedly fired on Samcam and then left without saying a word, escaping on a motorcycle. He remains at large.
Samcam went into exile after participating in the 2018 protests, which began as demonstrations against social security reforms and escalated into one of the largest antigovernment movements in Nicaragua’s history.
Thousands of people flooded Nicaragua’s streets. Some even called for President Ortega’s resignation.
But while Ortega did ultimately cancel the social security reforms, he also answered the protests with a police crackdown, and the clashes killed an estimated 355 people, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).
More than 2,000 people were injured, and another 2,000 held in what the IACHR described as “arbitrary detention”.
A forensic technician works a crime scene where exiled former Nicaraguan military officer Roberto Samcam was killed at his home [Stringer/Reuters]
In the months and years after the protests, Ortega has continued to seek punishment for the protesters and institutions involved in the demonstrations, which he likened to a “coup”.
Samcam was among the critics denouncing Ortega’s use of military weapons and paramilitary forces to tamp down on the protests. Ortega has denied using either for repression.
In a 2019 interview with the publication Confidencial, for instance, he compared Ortega to Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the last member of what is commonly known as the Somoza family dictatorship, which ruled Nicaragua for nearly 43 years.
And in 2022, Samcam published a book that roughly called Ortega: El Calvario de Nicaragua, which roughly translates to: Ortega: Nicaragua’s torment.
Ortega has long been accused of human rights abuses and authoritarian tendencies. In 2023, for instance, he stripped hundreds of dissidents of their citizenship, leaving them effectively stateless, and seized their property.
He has also pushed for constitutional reforms to increase his power and that of his wife, former Vice President Rosario Murillo. She now leads with Ortega as his co-president.
The changes also increase Ortega’s term in office and grant him the power to coordinate all “legislative, judicial, electoral, control and supervisory bodies” — putting virtually all government agencies under his authority.
From abroad, Samcam was helping to lead an effort to document some of Ortega’s alleged abuses.
In 2020, he became the chain-of-command expert for the Court of Conscience, a group created by the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, a nonprofit founded by a Nobel Prize-winning Costa Rican president, Oscar Arias.
As part of the group, Samcam solicited testimony of torture and abuses committed under Ortega, with the aim of building a legal case against the Nicaraguan president and his officials.
“We are documenting each case so that it can move on to a trial, possibly before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights,” Samcam said at the time.
Samcam is not the only Nicaraguan dissident to face an apparent assassination attempt while in exile.
Joao Maldonado, a student leader in the 2018 protests, has survived two such attempts while living in the Costa Rican capital. The most recent one, in January 2024, left him and his partner seriously injured.
Maldonado has blame Nicaragua’s Sandinista National Liberation Front — which Ortega leads — for the attack.
