List of All Articles with Tag 'politics'

VIDEO: George Santos is a great pod guest.

NFL player Jordan Poyer of the Buffalo Bills announced that he has cancelled his annual golf event, following pushback and teams and sponsors pulling out of the charity tournament after they learned it would be hosted on a course owned by former President Donald Trump. The Bills safety announced the news on Instagram on Saturday. The event was set to take place next month at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in South Florida. “Unfortunately, the location of the event led to a few sponsors and golfers withdrawing at the last minute due to external pressures,” the 32-year-old wrote. “While it’s disappointing, I respect their decision. Nevertheless, we will persevere.” It remains unclear how many sponsors and teams withdrew because of the location. The event was intended to benefit the ECMC Foundation – the Erie County Medical Center – according to the Buffalo News. While Mr Poyer described them as a “big sponsor,” the foundation said they were simply the beneficiary. ECMC Foundation executive director Susan Gonzalez wrote in a letter to the Buffalo News that the “ECMC Foundation was fortunate to be a beneficiary of Jordan Poyer’s golf tournament in Florida”. “Although the Foundation was not a sponsor, we have had an excellent partnership with Jordan and we respect his decision to cancel his tournament; we hope he will consider supporting us in his future events,” she added. Last year, PGA of America ended its connection to Mr Trump and moved the 2022 PGA championship from his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course as a result of the January 6 2021 insurrection, Yahoo! Sports noted. The R&A revealed earlier this month that it wouldn’t organise the British Open at Mr Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland while Mr Trump is the owner. The course previously hosted the tournament in 2009, about five years before Mr Trump acquired it. Mr Trump came under fire during his time as president when he suggested hosting the G7 summit at Doral. But Mr Trump’s courses have hosted several events organised by Saudi-operated LIV Golf. On Wednesday, the PGA Tour revealed that it would appear before a Senate subcommittee in July. Connecticut Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal has asked executives from the tour, as well as Saudi golf interests to appear before the panel as they probe the deal between the PGA and LIV that shocked the golf world. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing on 11 July to look into the agreement between the PGA tour, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, and the European tour to gather commercial business and rights in a new firm, the AP noted. “Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” Mr Blumenthal said in a statement. “Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be. Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress — and the American people — answers in a public setting.” Read More Pence won’t say whether he’d pardon Trump Trump news – live: Trump named ‘Man of the Decade’ at GOP dinner as NFL star cancels golf event over backlash Trump is funneling 10% of 2024 campaign donations to cover his legal bills Rape accuser files new lawsuit as Trump seethes over 2024 flop – live Where do Donald Trump’s family stand on him running in 2024? Trump revealed to have tweeted classified image from spy satellite

Former President Donald Trump has made plenty of bold claims about his achievements in the game of golf over the years — and he offered another one on Thursday when he claimed he’s made seven holes-in-one during his life. It’s a remarkable number. Rory McIlroy has apparently made just two holes-in-one in his professional golf career, one on the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in 2015 and one on Thursday at the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut. When it comes to world leaders, however, Mr Trump does not yet have the field beat. According to official accounts, Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea, shot 11 holes-in-one in a single round during his first ever golf game at the Pyongyang Golf Course in 1994. Still, seven holes-in-one is no small accomplishment — and it’s not the first time Mr Trump has claimed it. Last year, Mr Trump also told Piers Morgan that he’d shot seven holes-in-one. That interview came just weeks after Mr Trump posed with a group including former PGA Tour professional Ernie Els after supposedly shooting a hole-in-one at a course in Commerce, Georgia. The dates of Mr Trump’s other supposed holes-in-one are less clear, but there is no question that the former president is an avid golfer. He owns courses in multiple countries and plays frequently, a habit that he continued even while serving his four years as president. But Mr Trump has also long been dogged by allegations that he cheats at golf. The former Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly in 2019 published a book titled Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump that delves into the former president’s relationship with the game. “Trump doesn’t just cheat at golf,” Reilly writes. “He throws it, boots it, and moves it. He lies about his lies. He fudges and foozles and fluffs. At Winged Foot, where Trump is a member, the caddies got so used to seeing him kick his ball back onto the fairway they came up with a nickname for him: ‘Pele.’” Reilly also claims that Mr Trump’s boast that he has won 18 club championships in his life — made a decade ago to Mark Cuban — is a lie. Reilly has said that whenever the former president has opened a new golf club he plays the first club championship by himself and declares himself the winner. “Donald’s Trump’s boast about winning 18 club championships is a lie that’s so over-the-top Crazytown it loses all credibility among golfers the second it’s out of his mouth,” Reilly wrote. Mr Trump has bigger issues to deal with than his golf record. He’s running for president again, this time under federal indictment for mishandling classified documents. Read More Trump news – live: Trump pleads for help from Congress as DoJ shares first classified documents evidence Trump, DeSantis interviews show Fox influence on GOP field still strong despite troubled year Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

A staffer for Rep. Brad Finstad was attacked at gunpoint after Wednesday's congressional baseball game, the congressman said in a statement Friday.

The PGA Tour once advertised its brightest stars with the catch phrase "These guys are good." A better slogan might now be "These guys are even richer."

Donald Trump is celebrating the “big, beautiful, and glamorous” merger between the PGA, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour. The former president took to Truth Social on Tuesday as news of the landmark deal broke. Some of Mr Trump’s branded golf courses have recently hosted LIV Golf events. In his usual all-capitalised ebullience, he wrote: “Great news from LIV Golf. A big, beautiful, and glamorous deal for the wonderful world of golf.” He added: “Congrats to all!!!” The three biggest tours in world golf made the announcement out of the blue after 18 months of bitter conflict that has seen players who defected from the ‘establishment’ PGA Tour to the controversial LIV tour, such as Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson, branded as traitors. That has caused feuds with loyalist stars such as Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm – often resulting in a war of words in the press – but the tours appear to have reached a solution. A statement released by the PGA Tour confirmed the merger, which puts an immediate end to all ongoing lawsuits where players and tours have been suing and counter-suing each other. The statement read: “The PGA TOUR, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) today announced a landmark agreement to unify the game of golf, on a global basis. “The parties have signed an agreement that combines PIF’s golf-related commercial businesses and rights (including LIV Golf) with the commercial businesses and rights of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour into a new, collectively owned, for-profit entity to ensure that all stakeholders benefit from a model that delivers maximum excitement and competition among the game’s best players.” The end of the ongoing lawsuits was also highlighted in the statement. “Notably, today’s announcement will be followed by a mutually agreed end to all pending litigation between the participating parties,” it added. “Further, the three organizations will work cooperatively and in good faith to establish a fair and objective process for any players who desire to re-apply for membership with the PGA TOUR or the DP World Tour following the completion of the 2023 season and for determining fair criteria and terms of re-admission, consistent with each Tour’s policies.” Mr Trump came under fire from families of 9/11 victims for working with Saudi-backed LIV Golf when his Bedminster, New Jersey course hosted the tour in 2022. Read More LIV Golf and PGA Tour merger explained: Everything we know so far PGA and LIV Golf news LIVE: Golf’s civil war ends after stunning merger announcement Bitter rivals LIV Golf and PGA Tour announce shock merger to end golf’s civil war Ivanka and Jared split over attending Trump 2024 launch – follow live Why was Donald Trump impeached twice during his first term? Four big lies Trump told during his 2024 presidential announcement

Louisiana State University’s national champion women’s basketball team’s long-awaited visit to the White House was briefly disrupted when a player fainted as President Joe Biden was delivering remarks. As Mr Biden was speaking, the disruption caused by the incident became evident enough that the White House live feed of the event cut from a shot of the podium where Mr Biden was speaking to a wider shot showing the riser next to him where the players were standing. Several people were seen huddled over the stricken player, later identified as star forward Sa'Myah Smith, as Mr Biden was heard saying: “Folks, it’s OK,” and assuring attendees that Ms Smith was being attended to. Ms Smith was quickly attended to by several uniformed military personnel, and LSU coach Kim Mulvey later said the 6’2” Dallas, Texas native was “fine” but “kind of right now embarrassed”. The White House has a full-service medical clinic onsite staffed by military personnel attached to the White House Medical Unit. The LSU team’s visit, a traditional stop for collegiate athletic championship teams, came following a bit of controversy kicked up after first lady Jill Biden suggested that both LSU, the winners of the NCAA “March Madness” tournament and runners-up from the University of Iowa, could both be attended because of the high quality of play at this year’s championship game. The White House later retracted the remark and said only LSU would be invited, but some LSU players balked at the perceived slight before agreeing to attend.

It’s now been one year since moms and dads dropped their children off at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde for the very last time. It’s been one year since 21 of those young students and their heroic teachers were shot dead in their classrooms. And it’s also been one year since Texas Governor Greg Abbott began ignoring the desperate pleas for action from the victims’ families. On 24 May 2022, 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School armed with a legally purchased AR-15 and murdered 19 students aged between nine and 11 years old and two teachers. The massacre horrified the nation, marking one of the deadliest mass shootings in American history. Since then, the families have been begging Texas officials to take action and tighten the state’s gun laws – gun laws that are among the weakest in the nation. But, for the last 12 months, it has all fallen on deaf ears. Despite their desperate pleas, Mr Abbott refused to call a legislative session to even discuss the possibility of introducing gun safety measures all the while he continues to enjoy his longstanding, cosy relationship with the National Rifle Association (NRA). Mr Abbott’s action – or inaction – over the mass shooting fell under scrutiny almost immediately after the 24 May tragedy. When news of the shooting reached him in Abilene, where he was holding a press conference about wildfires, instead of rushing to Uvalde, he continued with his plans to attend a fundraiser to drum up donations for his re-election campaign. Initially, Mr Abbott claimed that he only stopped by the campaign fundraiser in Huntsville to “let people know that I could not stay, that I needed to go”. But this version of events fell apart two months later when campaign finance reports and flight-tracking records, obtained byThe Dallas Morning News, revealed that he actually stayed almost three hours at the event. While devastated parents were receiving the worst possible news, Mr Abbott was raising up to $50,000 in campaign funds. Call logs, released by state Senator Roland Gutierrez, showed that Mr Abbott only accepted three calls from Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw on 24 May, with the two men speaking for less than 30 minutes about one of the deadliest mass shootings in US history on the day of the massacre. In the weeks after the shooting, Mr Abbott also came under fire when he was a no-show at the funerals for each of the 21 victims. When scheduling records exposed his absence, Mr Abbott’s office responded by saying he had sent flowers and condolences to the families and had visited every family who had requested a meeting. Then there was his change in messaging about what happened that day. One day after the massacre, Mr Abbott gave his first public address in which he heaped praise on the “amazing courage” of law enforcement officers on the scene. He told the community that had just lost 21 members that “it could have been worse”. “It could have been worse. The reason it was not worse is because law enforcement officials did what they do,” he said. This turned out to be false. In the days and weeks after the shooting, it emerged that almost 400 officers waited a staggering 77 minutes before breaching the classroom as the gunman continued his murderous rampage and wounded victims bled to death. The police response has now been branded an “abject failure,” one in which officers on the scene prioritised their own safety over saving the lives of the victims. Mr Abbott later fumed that he had been “misled” by unidentified “public officials” before making his speech. Three days on from the shooting, the governor spoke out again – this time giving two vastly different speeches with two dramatically conflicting messages on the topic of gun safety. That Friday, Mr Abbott had been due to speak on stage at the NRA convention in Houston. In light of the shooting, he pulled out of the event – but not before sending a pre-recorded video message to be played on stage. In that speech, he undermined the importance of gun safety laws, claiming they have no impact on reducing gun violence. “There are thousands of laws on the books across the country that limit the owning and using of firearms, laws that have not stopped madmen from carrying out evil acts on innocent people in peaceful communities,” he said. “In Uvalde, the gunman committed a felony under Texas law before he even pulled the trigger. It’s a felony to possess a firearm on school premises. But that did not stop him.” The message – a show of defiance that he had no plans to tighten the state’s already weak gun laws – aired at the same time as he was telling the grieving Uvalde community that he “absolutely” expected new laws to be passed in response to the tragedy. “With regard to a special (legislative) session, let me just say this: all options are on the table,” he said. “Do we expect laws to come out of this devastating crime? The answer is absolutely yes. And there will be laws in multiple different subject areas. There will be committees formed, there will be meetings held, there will be proposals that will be derived, many of which will lead to laws that will be passed in the state of Texas.” Over the next year, Mr Abbott ignored ongoing requests from Uvalde officials to call a special legislative session to at least discuss the possibility of gun reform in the state. State Representative Tracy King and Mr Gutierrez – the two Texas lawmakers who represent Uvalde – urged the governor to call the session. State Democrats said they would support proposals including raising the minimum age to buy semi-automatic assault rifles from 18 to 21, creating red flag laws, introducing a 72-hour “cooling off” period for gun purchases and regulating private gun sales. Grieving family members begged for change, calling — at the very least — for a raise in minimum age to purchase assault weapons. Time after time, their pleas were ignored. Instead of acknowledging that the state’s weak gun laws may have played any part in the massacre (the 18-year-old gunman legally bought two AR-15s just days after his birthday), Mr Abbott pointed the finger at mental illness and school safety and insisted that raising the minimum age to buy would be “unconstitutional”. He claimed he took several other actions to “support the Uvalde community and make schools safer” including providing 30 law enforcement officers to the school district campuses for the new school year, $105.5m in funding for school safety and mental health services – as well as roping in Chuck Norris to front a programme to report suspicious behaviour at schools. None of the actions involved restricting access to firearms. Even during his race to hold onto his gubernatorial seat in the midterms, Mr Abbott refused to move the needle on the gun control debate. Family members who lost loved ones in the Uvalde massacre threw their support behind his Democratic rival Beto O’Rourke – including featuring in a gutwrenching ad campaign. Behind Mr Abbott, of course, was the NRA. Data compiled by Giffords showed that Mr Abbott received $20,700 in career gun lobby contributions – one of the highest of all candidates in gubernatorial races. His close relationship with the NRA was perhaps most evident when in June 2021 – less than one year before Uvalde – he signed a bill into law allowing Texans without a licence to open carry handguns. Standing at his shoulder at the bill signing were NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre and NRA president Carolyn Meadows. In November, less than six months after the state endured the worst school shooting in its history, Texans chose to re-elect Mr Abbott as governor for a third term. In the weeks and months leading up to the one-year anniversary of the Uvalde mass shooting, Texas has been rocked by several more mass shootings. On 28 April, five people – including a nine-year-old boy – were shot dead in a horror attack at a home in Cleveland. Days later, on 6 May, eight people were killed and seven injured when a neo-Nazi gunman went on a shooting rampage at an outlet mall in Allen. And again, nothing changed. Then on the one-year anniversary of the state’s worst mass shooting in history, Mr Abbott did announce some action: A moment of silence. Flags lowered to half staff in Texas. But still no attempt to tackle the state’s problem with gun violence. Read More Uvalde father warns lawmakers not to pay tribute to his son today New video from Uvalde massacre shows police officers vomiting and sobbing after discovering victims Uvalde victim's mother perseveres through teaching, connecting with daughter's memory

Sarah Hughes, who won an Olympic gold medal for figure skating in the 2002 Winter Olympics, is now leaping into the political world as she starts a bid for Congress.

Virginia Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly said two staffers were injured Monday by a man wielding a bat who came into his district office in Fairfax.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan. —————————- TOP STORIES —————————- TITLE-42-IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM — The U.S. turned the page on pandemic-era immigration restrictions with relative calm at its border with Mexico as migrants adapted to strict new rules aimed at discouraging illegal crossings and awaited the promise of new legal pathways for entering the country. By Valerie Gonzalez, Elliot Spagat and Giovanna Dell'Orto. SENT: 910 words, photos. ELECTION 2024-IOWA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump will share the spotlight in Iowa, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans’ leadoff voting state. By Thomas Beaumont and Michelle L. Price. SENT: 890 words, photos. UPCOMING: 990 words after noon event with DeSantis; Trump rally at 8 p.m. CONGRESS-DEBT LIMIT — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal to end the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID era of government spending is giving way to a new focus on stemming deficits. It’s a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed trillions in emergency aid to halt the pandemic and rebuild the U.S. economy. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,090 words, photos. CENSUS-CHALLENGES-BIG-CITIES — Some of the largest U.S. cities challenging their 2020 census numbers aren’t getting the results they hoped for from the U.S. Census Bureau — an effort by Memphis to increase its official population resulted in three people being subtracted from its count during an initial appeal. By Mike Schneider. SENT: 770 words, photos. SCABBY-THE-RAT — For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has been looming over union protests, drawing attention to construction sites or buildings with labor disputes. Over the decades, Scabby the Rat has become an icon at the site of labor disputes and weathered multiple legal challenges. Now Scabby’s challenge is staying relevant in the age of new technology and social media. By Mae Anderson. SENT: 1,090 words, photos, video. This story moved as the Sunday spotlight. G7-JAPAN-FINANCE — The Group of Seven’s top financial leaders united Saturday in their support for Ukraine and their determination to enforce sanctions against Russia for its aggression. By Business Writer Ellen Kurtenbach. SENT: 890 words, photos. ————————————————————————— SPOTLIGHTING VOICES ————————————————————————— BBC-BLACK COLLEGE WORLD SERIES - Players convened in Alabama’s capital city for the Black College World Series seeking a championship and just maybe a pro shot. The event comes at a time when only 6.2% of players on MLB’s opening day rosters were Black and none came from HBCUs. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. ————————————————————————— RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR ————————————————————————— RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Ukrainian military commanders say their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces at the scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, for the eastern city of Bakhmut. It wasn’t clear if this marked the start of Kyiv’s long-expected counteroffensive. SENT: 940 words, photos. —————————- MORE NEWS —————————- FBN-COMMANDERS SALE — A group led by Josh Harris that includes Magic Johnson has agreed to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder and his family. SENT: 530 words, photos, audio. FATAL-SHOOTING-ABORTION — A man who didn’t want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police say. SENT: 330 words, photos. MAYOR MISSING TEXTS-SETTLEMENT — The city of Seattle will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by employees who helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s text messages had been deleted in 2020 amid protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. SENT: 600 words. PHOTO-GALLERY-EUROVISION — The Eurovision Song Contest field has been narrowed to the 26 acts who will sing their hearts out for a chance at glory and national bragging rights. SENT: 300 words, photos. SCI-LAUNCH TO JUPITER — A crucial radar antenna on a spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed. Flight controllers in Germany freed the antenna after nearly a month of effort. SENT: 230 words, photo. DANGEROUS AIR BAGS — A Tennessee company could be heading for a legal battle with U.S. auto safety regulators after refusing a request that millions of potentially dangerous air bag inflators be recalled. SENT: 770 words photo, audio. ———————————————————— WASHINGTON/POLITICS ———————————————————— ELECTION 2023-KENTUCKY-SECRETARY OF STATE — Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams won bipartisan praise for expanding voter access during the COVID-19 pandemic. He now must persuade Republican primary voters who have been bombarded for years with false claims about rigged elections. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. ELECTION CONSPIRACIES-VOTER ROLLS — Virginia’s top election official says she plans to withdraw the state from a bipartisan effort aimed at ensuring accurate voter lists and combating fraud. SENT: 680 words, photos. KARI-LAKE-ELECTION — A judge is hearing arguments over whether to dismiss the only surviving legal claim in Republican Kari Lake’s challenge of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race. SENT: 540 words, photos. —————————- NATIONAL —————————- TRIBES-BORDER-CROSSING — The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has drafted regulations in an effort to formalize the border-crossing process for their relatives in Mexico coming to their reservation in Arizona. Like dozens of Native American nations across the U.S., the Pascua Yaqui Tribe was sliced in two by modern-day international borders. When deer dancers and musicians living in Sonora, Mexico, make the trip into the U.S. for ceremonies, they may be detained or have their cultural objects confiscated. SENT: 920 words, photos. BUFFALO-SUPERMARKET-SHOOTING — It’s hard for Jamari Shaw, 16, to have fun at the park with his younger brothers in their East Buffalo neighborhood. He’s too busy scanning for danger, an aftereffect of a gunman’s attack that killed 10 Black people at a local grocery store. SENT: 700 words, photos. PACIFIC NORTHWEST-HEAT WAVE — Temperatures are expected to start climbing significantly Saturday in parts of the Pacific Northwest as an early heat wave takes hold, possibly breaking records and worsening wildfires already burning in western Canada.. SENT: 670 words, photos, audio. NORTH-CAROLINA-ABORTION — North Carolina’s Democratic governor will veto legislation that would ban nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, capping a week of attempting to generate enough opposition to block the Republican measure he said is much more restrictive than meets the eye. SENT: 290 words, photos. HANDGUNS-YOUNG ADULTS-EXPLAINER — A judge’s ruling striking down a federal law that bans licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 is the latest example of how a landmark Supreme Court decision is transforming the legal landscape around firearms. SENT: 1,110 words, photo. REL-PITTSBURGH-SYNAGOGUE-SHOOTING — The head of security for Pittsburgh’s Jewish community says there has been an “uptick in hate speech” on the internet in the early stages of the trial of the man accused of killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. SENT: 790 words, photos. PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS-CHINA — A Boston man has been accused of working with Chinese government officials to keep tabs on Chinese activists and dissidents in the area. SENT: 540 words. ————————————— INTERNATIONAL —————————————- VATICAN-HERCULES-RESTORED — Vatican Museum restorers are working to remove centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti. The 13-foot-tall (four-meter-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god has stood in the same niche for more than 150 years. It has barely garnered notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired. SENT: 560 words, photos. ————————————————— HEALTH/SCIENCE ————————————————— MED-MENOPAUSE DRUG — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new type of drug to treat hot flashes caused by menopause. SENT: 270 words, photo, audio. ————————————————— BUSINESS/ECONOMY ————————————————- TWITTER-NEW-CEO-INTERVIEW — Elon Musk has announced that NBC Universal’s Linda Yaccarino will serve as the new CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino is a longtime advertising executive credited with integrating and digitizing ad sales at NBCU. Her challenge now will be to woo back advertisers that have fled Twitter since Musk acquired it last year for $44 billion. SENT: 560 words, photo. FEDERAL-RESERVE-INFLATION — Federal Reserve governor Philip Jefferson has said that inflation remains too high and there has been “little progress” made toward bringing it down to the central bank’s 2% target, a pessimistic assessment given signs in a report earlier this week that price increases might be slowing. SENT: 590 words, photo. —————————————- ENTERTAINMENT —————————————- MUSIC-REVIEW-JONAS BROTHERS — Married with kids, the Jonas Brothers are all about love on their new album ‘The Album,” where every lyric hides a nudge to their homes. The brother pop trio bring that carefree vibe they are known for with experimentation into new genres that make it more special and fresh. The Associated Press’ Martina Rebecca Inchingolo writes in a review that the brothers, who broke hearts all over the world as they said, ‘I do,’ reflect in the album about fatherhood and sibling dynamics. SENT: 400 words, photo. ————————— SPORTS ————————— BKN—LAKERS ADVANCE — LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers never trailed in their third home victory over Golden State in seven days. They’re also the first team since 2014 to eliminate Stephen Curry’s Warriors from the playoffs before the NBA Finals. And now they’re in the Western Conference finals. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6 a.m. With BKN-WARRIORS-LAKERS — The Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory in Game 6 of their second-round series (sent). BKN—HEAT ADVANCE — Inside the Miami Heat locker room, now officially halfway to the season’s ultimate goal, Erik Spoelstra stepped onto the NBA championship logo on the center of the floor and gathered his team around him. “There’s been nothing about this season that’s been easy,” Spoelstra said. He’s right, and the Heat aren’t complaining about that, either — since this anything-but-easy season is still going. UPCOMING: 710 words, photos by 6 a.m. With BKN--KNICKS-HEAT — Jimmy Butler scores 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23 and the Miami Heat are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals after topping the New York Knicks 96-92 (sent). BKL—MERCURY-GRINER — Brittney Griner returned to game action for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap in December. The seven-time All-Star, who missed the entire 2022 season because of the detainment, finished with 10 points and three rebounds for the Phoenix Mercury in a WNBA preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks. SENT: 620, photos. —————————- HOW TO REACH US —————————- At the Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Zelenskyy to meet with Pope Francis at Vatican in Rome visit Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue struck by lightning Census Bureau rejects many big-city challenges that claimed the 2020 headcount missed their people

ISLAMABAD Pakistan's top court on Thursday ruled that the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan was illegal,