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Dems fear their own Freedom Caucus Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios House Democrats are preparing for a caucus in 2027 that is expected to be significantly more outspoken and left-wing than the one they have now. Why it matters: It wasn't all that easy to integrate the four-member "Squad" into the Democratic fold. Now, party leadership anticipates it will have to contend with a much larger cohort of rabble-rousers. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) predicted "it will be difficult" to rein in these newly elected democratic socialists: "I think people that follow that [ideology] will cause problems." "If they're actually serious legislators, then they're going to have to be able to work with people," a House Democrat told us. "If not, then they'll just be the Freedom Caucus of the left." Driving the news: The number of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) members in Congress is set to more than double following yesterday's New York primaries. State Assembly member Claire Valdez won the seat of retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.). They join Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a DSA member who won the primary to succeed Rep. Dwight Evans (D-Pa.) last month, along with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Zoom out: Factoring in left-wing candidates broadly aligned with the DSA, the numbers get even more daunting for the party establishment. The primary wins of now-Rep. Analilia Mejia and Adam Hamawy in New Jersey, the Rev. Frederick Haynes III in Texas, Randy Villegas in California and Matthew Dunlap in Maine were all major victories for the left. Several other progressives are seen as well-positioned to potentially unseat incumbent House Democrats: Mai Vang and Angela Gonzales-Torres in California, Melat Kiros in Colorado, Elijah Manley in Florida, former Rep. Cori Bush in Missouri, and Donavan McKinney in Michigan. What we're hearing: These candidates are already communicating and coordinating with each other in various text chains, with several telling us they plan to continue to work together as a bloc in Congress. "We have to deliver something, and whether it's being a part of the Congressional Progressive [Caucus] or maybe doing our own thing, I don't know," McKinney said. "We have to just push and people have to see us fighting." Said Vang: "As a new cohort of progressive elected, we have leverage ... so [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries needs to be aligned with that. And when I get to the halls of Congress, I do look forward to organizing with my colleagues." Jeffries "knows how to pull people together," said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who is a member of Democratic leadership, noting that Ocasio-Cortez "has been a part of our caucus for a long time." — Andrew Solender

🤬 Summer from hell President Trump is making life hell for Senate Republicans, and they're returning the favor. "I make no apologies for standing up to the president," Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) told reporters after he got into a shouting match with Trump today at a Senate GOP lunch. "I made it clear that I wasn't going to be bullied." 🤬 Why it matters: One of the deepest GOP ruptures of Trump's second term has opened over his push for a pre-midterm elections crackdown via the SAVE Act. To his fury, Trump is finding that senators he's written off, alienated or even helped defeat in primaries are choosing Senate traditions over his political demands. In the middle is Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who's been blunt with the reality that Trump doesn't have the votes to get what he wants. "I'm certainly not giving my consent to that," Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters today about ending the filibuster. ‼️ Zoom in: Trump's lunch today with Senate Republicans only seemed to move White House-Senate relations from bad to worse. It became a shouting match with Cassidy over the administration's lack of information-sharing with the Senate on Iran. Trump rubbed Cassidy's primary defeat last month in his face during the closed-door meeting, sources told us. 🛑 Just before the lunch, Trump canceled an event to sign and tout a bipartisan housing package — a bill the White House praised yesterday as "one of the most significant pieces of housing affordability legislation in American history." Trump said he would not sign the bill until the SAVE Act, requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote, is passed. Last week, Trump delayed the Senate confirmation process for Jay Clayton, ensuring Bill Pulte would serve as acting director of national intelligence, at least temporarily. The president has continued his long campaign against the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation in the Senate, and the blue slips process, which allows senators to block judicial nominations in their state. 👎 The other side: The bloc of GOP senators willing to defy Trump has grown. Cassidy and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) have been far more willing to speak their mind since losing recent primaries to Trump-backed candidates. They join Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who are leaving the Senate and have less reason to fear Trump's political blowback. That's on top of the usual suspects like Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Murkowski, who have long been willing to vote against their party. The bottom line: It's a midterm year. Republicans want to talk about affordability and hammer democratic socialists. Instead, they're sitting through presidential rants about the filibuster and legislation with no clear path through the Senate. — Stef Kight Go deeper

Back-to-back powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela, causing widespread damage CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Powerful back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela on Wednesday evening, causing widespread damage, collapsing buildings and sending panicked residents into the streets. https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-earthquake-caracas-7179acaee70a9c543f953852f15d4814?

No Limit Soldier View in browser In an interview with The New York Times early this year, Donald Trump was asked, “Do you see any checks on your power on the world stage? Is there anything that could stop you if you wanted to?” “Yeah, there is one thing,” he said. “My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me, and that’s very good.” The answer was not very reassuring, especially to anyone familiar with Trump’s ethical or cognitive track record. Last week, the reporter Marc Caputo, of Axios, brought the idea up again: “What have you learned about not just the exercise of power but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?” “There are no limits,” Trump replied. “I haven’t learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but, you know, there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily.” To say this after his humiliating defeat in the war with Iran suggests delusion, but it also suggests something about Trump’s view of the presidency as a monarchical office. During his first term in the White House, he pushed back repeatedly against the rule of law. In his second term, he has also raged against restraints from other branches of government, his own aides, and even reality. His administration has clashed with and sometimes defied the courts, grabbed powers from Congress, and attempted to establish vassal states in other sovereign countries—or take away parts of them entirely. This view of the presidency as unlimited doesn’t just go beyond what any other American president has contemplated since 1789, but reaches more than a century earlier, to before Britain’s Glorious Revolution of 1688, which supplanted the old concept of a monarchy guided by divine right and established government by mutual agreement of the people and king. (I have previously drawn parallels between Trumpism and the Jacobite movement, the attempts by supporters of the Stuart family to return them to the throne after William and Mary deposed them in 1688.) Trump’s rhetoric is also striking because usually leaders become more chastened the longer they stay in office. A typical president comes into office with big plans and an idea of how to execute on them, and he usually enjoys a honeymoon period when Congress and the public are supportive, or at least acquiescent. Then, over time, he starts to find the ways in which his power is circumscribed. After Bill Clinton’s 1993 health-care bill failed, his legislative agenda shrank, in part because Republicans took control of Congress and never surrendered it during Clinton’s tenure. George W. Bush’s peak of power came when he launched a war in Iraq in 2003, but that turned out to be a debacle from which his presidency never recovered. Barack Obama joined an international effort to oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, but by 2014, his foreign-policy mantra was the distinctly humble “Don’t do stupid shit.” Trump has gone through this process in reverse. He came into office in his first term without clear plans or methods of achieving his campaign promises and lashed out in frustration when he failed. Congress in particular bedeviled him, and the House took the extraordinary step of impeaching him twice, though neither attempt ended in conviction. In his second term, however, Trump has been far less fettered. He came in with a blueprint, courtesy of Project 2025, and he has blown through traditional restraints on his power, often by simply acting without seeking or waiting for permission. Congress is now stocked with more MAGA loyalists, and so is the administration—which means aides are more eager and willing to do what Trump wants. The president, like the Mean Girl he can sometimes be, now announces The limit does not exist! But limitations are important, and not just as a matter of Rousseauian philosophies of government. I have argued that checks and balances are a method of protecting not only the people but also each branch of government from its own excesses and errors. Reality also has a way of enforcing limitations: As I wrote earlier this week, the Reflecting Pool is inarguably green, no matter what Trump might say. And because Trump has claimed unilateral power to act, he struggles to find a way to blame anyone else for the mess on the Mall. In his heart of hearts, Trump may recognize that limits will eventually have their revenge. “I haven’t learned that lesson yet,” the president told Caputo. Sooner or later, he will. Related: America’s big mistake in Iran Trumpists are America’s Jacobites (from 2021)

📸 Pic to go: Ronaldo record Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal against Uzbekistan yesterday. Photo: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images Portuguese soccer titan Cristiano Ronaldo made history yesterday, becoming the first men's player to score in six different World Cups. The World Cup only comes around every four years, making that number a testament to the 41-year-old's decades of dominance. More from Axios Houston's Shafaq Patel. 🇦🇷 Fellow longtime star Lionel Messi, 39, is off to a hot start for Argentina, nabbing the record for most World Cup goals overall. His five goals through the tournament's first two games have him standing at 18 — so far. 🏛️ Parting shot Photo: Jon Elswick/AP A turtle took a dip in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. yesterday.

🍔 Wendy's is the hot new meme stock, Bloomberg reports. The burger chain's shares shot up over 40% this morning after a viral Reddit post. The now-deleted post implored fans to "save Wendy's before it's too late." Gift link.

🌡️ Tens of millions of Europeans are under extreme heat warnings as record-setting temperatures bake the continent. Mark Sidaway, deputy chief forecaster for the U.K. Met Office, says health impacts are likely "to extend beyond those who are normally more vulnerable to the heat." Go deeper.

🌶️ OpenAI fires up "Jalapeño" chip Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios OpenAI has begun testing "Jalapeño," the first in a family of homegrown computer chips, Axios' Ina Fried reports. It plans to start using the chips to handle customers' AI queries later this year. Broadcom helped with the development. 🤖 OpenAI joins other leading AI companies in designing its own silicon as it races to secure more computing capacity, lower its costs and reduce its dependence on chipmaker Nvidia. Broadcom CEO Hock Tan delivers a chip wafer to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photo: OpenAI 🔋 OpenAI says its chips offer better efficiency and performance per watt of electricity compared to off-the-shelf options. Richard Ho, who leads the company's chip effort, tells Axios: "This gives OpenAI full stack control." Go deeper.

Federal judge bars Trump from implementing proof of citizenship requirement to vote A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing most of his first executive order on elections, part of which sought to require people to show documentary proof of citizenship when they register to vote. https://apnews.com/article/trump-elections-judge-358912bcb6c7223b3d2d36465156fde9? 🗳️ A federal judge barred the Trump administration from implementing most of Trump's first executive order on elections, which sought to require proof of citizenship for voter registration. Go deeper. Trump drops housing bomb Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios The chairs were already in place when President Trump abruptly canceled today's planned signing of a landmark affordable housing bill, Axios' Josephine Walker, Stef W. Kight and Kate Santaliz report. Lawmakers were geared up for a rare moment of bipartisan congressional success when Trump dropped a bomb on Truth Social. 🤳 Trump posted: "Today's Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency." He previously threatened not to sign any other legislation until lawmakers passed his voting bill. 🎙️ Trump's post came just as House GOP leaders were touting the housing bill at their weekly press conference. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.) said: "Let's show the American people how you bring together and do something on a bicameral basis. And we did that, and we did that in conjunction with President Trump and his priorities." The Capitol's Statuary Hall this morning, set up and ready for Trump to sign the housing bill. Photo: Stef Kight/Axios 🏡 The bill, which passed both chambers with overwhelming bipartisan support this week, aims to relax local regulations and encourage homebuilding. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who played a key role in pushing the bill through the Senate, slammed Trump for halting it: "He could be over here trying to claim a victory lap. And instead, he's saying no, no he doesn't want anything to do with it." ✍️ House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters that Trump still plans to sign the bill in the next 10 days. Johnson said: "We're delaying this, as you know, he has a window of time before he has to sign a bill, and he's going to use a little bit more of that window of time, and we're going to go through this together." Under the Constitution, the housing bill becomes law even without Trump's signature 10 days after he receives it — if he doesn't veto it. Trump has not yet received the bill or threatened to veto it. Republican leaders in Congress can hold it indefinitely, if they want. Get the latest.

Soldiers Accuse Pentagon Pete of War Disaster Cover-Up Service members and their families claim injuries sustained during a horrific attack on a U.S. base have been downplayed. Soldiers wounded during the Iran war have accused military officials of trying to downplay the true extent of their injuries. Those on active duty during President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular conflict told CBS News they believe there has been an effort to hide how badly they were hurt through official military designations. In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth assured reporters that “an overwhelming majority, almost 90 percent” of the 400 injured American service members had suffered “minor injuries,” and that many have since returned to duty. Chief Warrant Officer Rodney Bearman, who was blasted by shrapnel after an Iranian drone struck his command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1, is one of those who was listed as “not seriously injured” by the Army. However, medical records reviewed by CBS News revealed that he suffered a concussion, damage to his lungs, and hearing and vision loss as a result of the drone strike, which killed six U.S. service members and injured 20 others. “That assessment is unacceptable,” his wife, Amy Bearman, told CBS News. “I could just hear him breathing, and then he finally said, ‘I’m going to be OK.’ I waited a few moments and then asked if he had returned to duty,” she said. “It seemed like forever before he answered me, and then he said, ‘I can’t go back.’” Sgt. 1st Class Cory Hicks, 37, was also injured in the Kuwait attack, suffering severe shrapnel wounds and requiring multiple operations as part of his recovery. He said his wife was only told by the Army that his injuries were “minor.” “They said your husband was injured, he has a minor jaw injury, and he’s going to be returned to duty,” Hicks told CBS News. He added that he “absolutely” believes the Army and the Pentagon have attempted to downplay the seriousness of the deadly Kuwait drone attack. After initially being treated in Kuwait, Hicks was airlifted to a hospital in Germany before continuing his treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. Hicks said he has spent several weeks at Walter Reed in a soldier recovery unit with a “pretty severe” traumatic brain injury and could remain there for at least another six months. Trump failed to visit any of the 14 injured troops being treated at Walter Reed when he attended the medical center for his physical examination last month. In a statement to CBS News, the Army denied the claims of a cover-up and said the families were confusing the definitions of “not seriously injured” and “combat casualty.” The Army said a soldier is classified as “seriously injured” or “very seriously injured” only when there is a significant risk of death from their wounds within 72 hours. “The care and well-being of our Soldiers is of the highest priority,” an Army spokesperson added. “Any assertion that the Army seeks to downplay a soldier’s injuries is simply not true.” The Daily Beast has contacted the Army for further comment. The Pentagon referred a request for comment to the Army. https://www.thedailybeast.com/soldiers-accuse-pentagon-pete-of-war-disaster-cover-up/?

Kaitlan Collins Humiliates Trump With Brutal Reflecting Pool Receipt The president’s own comments are coming back to bite him. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins has exposed a devastating flaw in President Donald Trump’s claims on his Reflecting Pool fiasco. The star host called BS on Trump’s claim that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned green with algae because “vandals” cut up its new, expensive, “American flag blue” lining. Collins began by playing a clip of the president saying on Tuesday that somebody “went in with a knife and cut it.” “They cut it up good,” Trump said. “And then they cut it 200, 350-foot slips in the form of lots of little slips, a real horrible stuff.” Collins pointed out that Trump has provided no pictures or video to back up his claim. She then reminded the president that he said in May that it would be impossible to cut the lining—chips of which are visible inside the pool—with a knife. “This will last for at least 50 years,” Trump said on May 4. “You’ll never have a leak. It’s very strong. You couldn’t, if you had a knife—I don’t want to give anybody ideas—if you had a knife, you can’t even cut it. So strong, so powerful, it’s like powerful rubber. It is beautiful. Sealed.” Now, the 80-year-old Trump is desperately trying to spin his Reflecting Pool mess as the result of Democrats trying to sabotage him. Collins noted in her segment that Trump is posting about the Reflecting Pool as much as he is about Iran this week. The pool, an iconic part of the National Mall, is now surrounded by National Guard troops, apparently patrolling for vandals. The failed Reflecting Pool renovation cost an eye-popping $16 million in taxpayer money—awarded through no-bid contracts to companies with ties to Trump, including a longtime donor—and now requires additional repairs that will be completed after the Fourth of July holiday. Trump claimed in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that six people have been arrested and seven have been cited “for the damage they did to our Country’s now beautiful Reflecting Pool.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also told Fox News on Monday that six arrests have been made. “The vandalism is very real,” she claimed, referring to the nameless perpetrators as “deranged individuals” who are “longtime donors” to Democrats. It did not take long for the president’s American flag blue pool to turn Kermit-green. Workers have since been photographed dumping chemicals into the pool in hopes of killing the algal bloom. The project now has a waterfowl body count, with a dead duckling spotted floating in the putrid green water on Sunday. Two other dead ducks, one adult and one juvenile, were also found on Sunday at a pond on the Constitution Gardens on the National Mall—about 250 feet from the Reflecting Pool. https://www.thedailybeast.com/kaitlan-collins-humiliates-trump-with-brutal-reflecting-pool-receipt/? ps:It's so pathetic how easy it's been to expose his lies

Trump Humiliates Congress’ MAGA Toadies With Wild Tantrum The president announced he was canceling a bill signing after it was passed with overwhelming support. President Donald Trump threw a huge wrench into Republicans’ celebration of the passage of a key piece of legislation on Wednesday by abruptly canceling the bill signing. “Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” Trump wrote. The move blindsided Republicans, who have been desperate for legislative victories to tout on the campaign trail as they inch closer to the midterms in November. The president was set to sign the bill with Majority Leader John Thune and Speaker Mike Johnson at noon on Capitol Hill. Thune offered a muted reaction when informed of the president’s abrupt cancellation. “I just heard that,” he said, according to Punchbowl News. “I guess I would say, at this point, I don’t have any observations about that.” Republicans, who were in the middle of a news conference touting the housing bill and Trump’s support of it when he made his bombshell Truth Social post, were left stunned by the move. A senior aide to a Republican senator told Punchbowl that it is as if Trump is trying to lose his Senate and House majorities in November. “We saw glimpses of this during Trump’s first administration, but never in my lifetime have I seen a president so deliberately attempt to lose majorities for his own party,” the aide said. Trump has no leverage over Congress when it comes to the housing bill if it is presented to him, but Republican leaders would have to act. Then it would automatically become law after 10 days even if the president does not act on it. If he vetoes it, the legislation has a veto proof majority, but Republicans would have to have the courage to override him. For months, Trump has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would overhaul elections in all 50 states and add new proof-of-citizenship and voter-ID requirements. However, Republicans have been hesitant to advance the legislation, which GOP leadership says lacks even a majority of votes, never mind the necessary 60 votes it needs in the Senate. The housing bill that Trump is holding up was passed by the House and Senate this week with bipartisan support—something Trump seemed bothered by in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, in which he noted that his longtime Democratic foe, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, co-sponsored the legislation. It aims to lower housing costs by making it easier to build more homes and by restricting large investors from buying up single-family residences. The signing ceremony for the housing bill was planned as part of a lunch that Trump was set to have with Republican lawmakers. A spokesperson for Republican Sen. Rick Scott, who invited Trump to the lunch, told NBC News that Trump will still travel to the Capitol on Wednesday and attend their weekly lunch. https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-humiliates-congress-maga-toadies-with-wild-tantrum/?

Did Trump's motorcade drive through newly painted reflecting pool? Claim: U.S. President Donald Trump's motorcade drove through the newly painted and sealed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Rating: True Context Trump's motorcade passed through the empty pool on May 7, 2026, after it was painted and sealed and before it was refilled with water as part of a renovation project. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-motorcade-reflecting-pool/? Iran soccer team's message thanked LA for hospitality after World Cup match Claim: After their 2026 World Cup games at Los Angeles Stadium, the members of Iran's men's soccer team left a note in the locker room calling for peace and thanking the city for its hospitality. Rating: True In late June 2026, after Iran's men's soccer team played a World Cup match against Belgium at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California, an image spread (archived) online purportedly showing a message the team left in the locker room. The photograph showed a handwritten letter on a large sheet of paper calling for peace and thanking the city of Los Angeles for its hospitality. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/iran-thanked-la-world-cup/?

Whistleblowing, a midnight transit drop-off, and why a corporate church hierarchy can't hide from a father who happens to be an expert in institutional accountability. The post Midnight in Toledo: How the Ohio Conference Apparently Abandoned Two 18-year-old Camp Counselors on Father’s Day appeared first on ReligiousLiberty.TV. View the full article

Trump-endorsed de la Espriella declared winner of Colombia’s presidential runoff election BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Conservative outsider Abelardo de la Espriella, a millionaire political neophyte, will be Colombia’s next president after electoral authorities on Wednesday declared him the winner of Sunday’s runoff election. https://apnews.com/article/colombia-election-ivan-cepeda-concedes-de-la-espriella-e0a39ed59a9d432d318e11c1e0735f4e?

Camp Mystic files for bankruptcy after catastrophic Texas floods killed 28 people at the girls’ camp DALLAS (AP) — Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on Wednesday, nearly a year after catastrophic floods killed 25 campers and two teenage counselors at the Christian camp for girls along the Guadalupe River in Texas. https://apnews.com/article/camp-mystic-bankruptcy-61263980faaa31857e6f3da0e83aee41? 🏕️ Texas' Camp Mystic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, nearly a year after catastrophic floods killed 25 girls and two teenage counselors there. Get the latest.

👋 Good morning! Happy Hump Day. It's launch day! Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich, launches today. Subscribe here to make sure the first edition hits your inbox later this morning. In today's edition: The first round of the NBA Draft is in the books, the NCAA's landmark decision, Ronaldo makes history, the PGA Tour introduces promotion and relegation, and more. Yahoo Sports AM is written by Kendall Baker and Jeff Tracy. Let's sports...   🚨 ICYMI HEADLINES 🎓 Landmark decision: The NCAA Division I Cabinet has unanimously approved an age-based, five-year eligibility model to replace the existing structure that has no age restrictions. The historic change, set to take effect in 2027, will see athletes' eligibility clocks start either when they enroll or after their 19th birthday (whichever comes first). 🏈 Sorsby saga update: The NFL delivered a scathing lesson in accountability on Tuesday by denying Brendan Sorsby's request to hold a Supplemental Draft. The 22-year-old, who admitted to betting on his own team and will no longer be playing for Texas Tech this fall, may still enter the standard 2027 NFL Draft. 🏀 Coaching carousel complete: The Trail Blazers have hired longtime Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori as their next head coach, filling the NBA's last remaining vacancy. 🏒 Ditto: The NHL's last remaining vacancy was also filled on Tuesday when the Oilers hired Mike Babcock, who last coached in the NHL in 2019. ⚾️ What a turnaround: The first-place White Sox improved to 41-37 with Tuesday's win over the Guardians, matching their entire win total from just two years ago when they set the modern MLB record for losses in a season (41-121).   🏀 NBA DRAFT DYBANTSA HEADLINES LOADED DRAFT CLASS (Yahoo Sports) BYU's AJ Dybantsa was selected No. 1 overall by the Wizards on Tuesday night in Brooklyn, where nearly every team earned top marks for their selections in the first round of an absolutely loaded NBA Draft. Top 4: Any of these freshman uber-prospects could have reasonably gone No. 1 in most years, so Washington, Utah, Memphis and Chicago should all be thrilled with the young men who are about to join their ranks. Dybantsa (Wizards): The 6-foot-9 athletic freak and scoring machine (he led the NCAA with 25.5 points per game last season) gives Washington someone who could become one of the NBA's most unstoppable shot-creators, and someone who should slot in nicely alongside veteran All-Stars Trae Young and Anthony Davis. Darryn Peterson (Jazz): The 6-foot-5 guard out of Kansas is a buttery-smooth scorer and dynamic playmaker who can shine with or without the ball, and his 6-foot-11 wingspan makes him a high-impact defender, to boot. Utah got a potential superstar as long as he can avoid the cramping issue that hindered his otherwise sensational season in Lawrence. Cameron Boozer (Grizzlies): The most polished player in the class and reigning POY out of Duke made this an incredibly easy choice for Memphis, who get a 6-foot-8 forward that can score from the post with both footwork and power. Plus, second-generation players like him historically outperform their draft slot expectations by 26%. Caleb Wilson (Bulls): The most gifted athlete in the draft class is 6-foot-9 with springs for legs, and when the North Carolina big is flying above the rim, finishing through contact, and chasing down every shot, he looks like a future franchise cornerstone. That sort of defensive anchor with offensive upside is exactly what the Bulls need in the frontcourt. Next up: Those four freshman at the top were followed by four freshman guards who went in succession, as the Clippers got Illinois' Keaton Wagler, the Nets got Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr., the Kings got Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr., and the Hawks got Houston's Kingston Flemings. Consider this: 11 of the 14 lottery picks were freshmen, while the other three were transfers — all of whom won the national championship with Michigan. Morez Johnson Jr. went ninth to the Mavericks (where he'll reunite with Dusty May), Yaxel Lendeborg went 11th to the Warriors and Aday Mara went 12th to the Thunder. (Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports) The Swoosh strikes again: Dybantsa's selection made him the 12th Nike athlete in the last 20 years to go No. 1 overall, or 14th if you include the Nike-owned Jordan Brand. His addition adds young dynamism to an evolving men's basketball roster at Nike, where the future is in uncertain hands. The top of the roster is aging, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant — on the 23rd and 19th iterations of their signature shoes, respectively — near the end of their playing careers. Nike added reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a signature athlete last week, plucking him from Nike-owned Converse to fortify its collection of prime-aged players. Ja Morant and Cade Cunningham headline the tier below SGA, but the former's play has taken a step back, while the latter's marketability remains a source of skepticism. Further complicating matters? The presumed face of the next generation, Victor Wembanyama, is an impending sneaker free agent, per Shams Charania. Depending on the Frenchman's decision, Dybantsa could have size 22 shoes to fill. Dylan Dittrich has a deeper dive on Nike's basketball ambitions (and stock price) in the inaugural edition of Yahoo Sports Biz, our new newsletter launching later today. Subscribe here to start receiving it.   ⚽️ WORLD CUP RONALDO JOINS THE PARTY Siuuu. (Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images) With his fading abilities the subject of question marks and jeers, Cristiano Ronaldo had to watch as his chief rival chased and achieved tournament history through the World Cup's early stages. On Tuesday, the Portuguese icon made history of his own. Two decorated decades: Ronaldo scored two first-half goals in Portugal's 5-0 victory over Uzbekistan, adding to the parade of superstar braces that began on Monday. His first, a characteristically clinical finish in the match's sixth minute, made him the first player to score in six World Cups — a feat that it's hard to imagine anyone ever matching (Lionel Messi was shut out in the 2010 edition). His second, carefully slotted past the keeper in the 39th minute, made him the oldest player ever with a multi-goal game in the tournament (41 years, 138 days), breaking the record set by Messi twice in the past week (38 years, 363 days). More from Tuesday: England and Ghana played to a scoreless draw as the Black Stars joined Mexico, Spain and Argentina as the only teams who have yet to allow a goal; Croatia dismissed Panama from the tournament in a nervy 1-0 win; Colombia booked their trip to the Round of 32, beating DR Congo 1-0. (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) Where it stands: With every team having now played two of their three group stage games, the knockout round picture is beginning to come into focus. Advanced: Mexico, United States, Germany, Argentina, France, Norway, Colombia Eliminated: Haiti, Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, Panama Everything to play for: 36 teams (75% of the field) still have hope of advancing out of the group stage. And though such widespread uncertainty at this juncture is nothing new, the heavy proportion of those teams who will eventually secure passage into the knockouts is. In 2022, 27 of 32 teams (84%) came into Matchday No. 3 facing an uncertain outcome. However, only 13 of those nations (48%) would ultimately advance. In this year's edition — where the top-eight third-place teams will advance alongside the top two teams in each group — those 36 teams are vying for 25 remaining positions, ensuring that more than two-thirds of them will fight on past the group stage. What to watch: The group stage gets kicked up a notch beginning this afternoon, with six games per day until the preliminary round concludes on Saturday. With that in mind, here are five of the most important games to keep an eye on, headlined by Friday's dream matchup between Kylian Mbappé's France and Erling Haaland's Norway.   ⛳️ NEW FRAMEWORK THE PGA TOUR INTRODUCES PROMOTION AND RELEGATION PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp — set to take over as commissioner next year — in March before the Players Championship. (Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) The PGA Tour unveiled a radical new competitive model on Tuesday, featuring a series of changes that will be more substantial than any in the Tour's half-century-long history. Champions and Challengers: Beginning in 2028, the Tour will operate on two tracks — the Championship and Challenger Series — which will run concurrently from February through August and include a promotion/relegation system. Championship: The top golfers' slate includes a baseline of 15 regular-season events, each with about 120 golfers, a 36-hole cut and at least a $20 million purse. Their remaining schedule is filled out with the four majors, The Players Championship, the playoffs and an annual international team event (Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup). Challenger: Larger fields of about 144 golfers will compete in at least 20 events, each with a minimum purse of $4 million. Of note: The exact criteria for which players will slot into each Series has yet to be determined, but to be clear, this is distinct from the Korn Ferry Tour; these will be PGA Tour golfers. Promotion/relegation: The top 20 players in the season-long Challenger standings will be promoted to the Championship, with immediate promotion available to anyone who wins either two events or a major. The top 90 Championship players (at least) will remain on that track, while the remaining ~40 will be eligible for relegation. In the fall, several "last-chance" events will give fringe players an opportunity to play their way into the Championship. Plus: The postseason will be revamped to include match play, and will be contested across a rotation of courses. Further details will be revealed at the Tour Championship in August.   📺 VIEWING GUIDE WATCHLIST: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24 (Yahoo Sports) ⚽️ World Cup, Day 14 You thought four games a day was fun? Let's try six. First up is Canada vs. Switzerland in Vancouver (3pm ET, Fox) and Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Qatar in Seattle (3pm, FS1). Then it's Scotland vs. Brazil in Miami (6pm, Fox) and Morocco vs. Haiti in Atlanta (6pm, FS1) followed by Mexico vs. Czechia in Mexico City (9pm, Fox) and South Korea vs. South Africa in Guadalupe (9pm, FS1). Host nation bump: Mexico has already clinched Group A, while Canada has all but assured its first-ever trip to the World Cup knockout round. They'll clinch Group B with either a win or draw against the Swiss. 🏀 NBA Draft, Day 2 30 more prospects will be selected tonight in Brooklyn (8pm, ESPN) on the second and final day of the NBA Draft. Still on the board: Meleek Thomas (Arkansas), Henri Veesaar (UNC), Richie Saunders (BYU) and Isaiah Evans (Duke) headline our best players still available. More to watch: ⚾️ MLB: Yankees at Tigers (6:40pm Prime) … Tarik Skubal makes his third start since returning (incredibly quickly) from a groundbreaking new procedure to remove bone chips from his elbow. 🏀 WNBA: Mercury at Fever (7:30pm, USA); Dream at Valkyries (10pm, USA) … Five of the top 11 scorers take the floor in Indiana's Caitlin Clark (21.3) and Kelsey Mitchell (20.9), Atlanta's Allisha Gray (19.5) and Rhyne Howard (19.1) and Phoenix's Kahleah Copper (19.2). Got plans tonight? Gametime is the best place to score last-minute tickets to the events in your city. Get tickets now!   🏈 ON THIS DAY NFL TRIVIA A portrait of the Oorang Indians, one of 18 teams to play in the 1922 NFL season. (Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images) 104 years ago today, the NFL got its modern name, rebranding to the National Football League before its third season kicked off in the fall of 1922. Question: What was the league's original name from its founding in 1920? A) American League of Professional Football American Professional Football Association C) All-America Football Conference D) Association of Professional Football Answer at the bottom.   📣 ANNOUNCEMENT LAUNCH DAY IS HERE! Yahoo Sports Biz, our new sports business newsletter authored by Dylan Dittrich, launches today! What to expect: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Dylan and the rest of our growing newsletter team will break down the deals, dollars and decisions shaping your favorite sports. Subscribe here to make sure the first edition hits your inbox later this morning.   Trivia answer: American Professional Football Association

Pentagon Pete Humiliated by Major U-Turn as Air Force Flu Outbreak Explodes The military has quietly reinstated mandatory flu jabs for recruits just two months after Hegseth scrapped the 80-year-old rule. The U.S. military has been forced into a humiliating climbdown over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s flu vaccine rules after an outbreak at a U.S. Air Force base spread to affect at least 222 recruits.Hegseth, 45, made the annual flu shot optional for troops in April, tearing up a requirement that had stood since 1945 in a move that broke with decades of public health guidance. Only about 40 percent of new trainees at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas had been jabbed when the outbreak took hold in early June, down from a previous rate of nearly 100 percent.Now the Army, Navy, and Air Force have all quietly performed a U-turn, once again requiring flu shots for basic trainees, officials told ABC News, which first reported the worsening crisis. The Pentagon has granted the services formal exceptions to Hegseth’s own policy. The numbers are getting worse by the day. As of Tuesday, at least 222 recruits at Lackland Air Force Base had been diagnosed with flu, and four had been hospitalized, two sources familiar with the matter told the network. That is up from 159 cases and two hospitalizations a week earlier. One recruit has died. Keon McDaniel was in his sixth week of basic training when he suffered a medical emergency on June 12 and was rushed to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he died on June 16, according to the Air Force. The cause remains under investigation. It is not yet clear whether the death is linked to the outbreak. Recruits are at particular risk. They live in tightly packed bays, shower communally and spend their days within arm’s reach of one another through drills and inspections—exhausted, stressed and crammed together in exactly the conditions where a respiratory virus can thrive. Hegseth showed no such caution in April. “Our new policy is simple: If you, an American warrior entrusted to defend this nation, believe that the flu vaccine is in your best interest, then you are free to take it; you should. But we will not force you,” he said, branding the old mandate “overly broad and not rational.” Rep. Joaquin Castro, 51, whose Texas district covers about half of San Antonio, including Lackland, was scathing. “After Secretary Hegseth scrapped the military’s flu vaccine mandate, it was only a matter of time before an outbreak occurred,” he wrote on X. “It was a reckless decision that put troops in harm’s way and undermined our military readiness.” The Army is now preparing to further broaden the requirement in the coming weeks—to include troops deploying overseas, first responders, child care workers, healthcare staff, prison workers, and soldiers on large-scale exercises, a spokesperson said. The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Defense for comment. In a statement, spokesman Sean Parnell confirmed that the undersecretary for personnel and readiness had signed off on exceptions for the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency, following what he called “thorough risk assessments” designed to “maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations.” He insisted the Pentagon “remains committed to the health and readiness of our warfighters.” An Air Force spokesperson said the 37th Training Wing had spent three weeks battling the “localized influenza outbreak” alongside the 59th Medical Wing, isolating and treating sick trainees with antivirals such as Tamiflu and monitoring those who had been in close contact. Recruits return to training once medics clear them. https://www.thedailybeast.com/pentagon-pete-hegseth-humiliated-by-major-u-turn-as-air-force-flu-outbreak-explodes/? ps:ibid!!!!!

Pentagon Pete’s Purge Chaos Spirals With Top General’s Shock Exit The increasingly paranoid defense secretary just canned one of the top military officials responsible for helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth forced out another senior military official in his paranoid purge of the Pentagon’s top brass. Four-star General Chris “C.D.” Donahue, 56, who, as the Army’s chief official in Europe and Africa, has been instrumental in helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion, has filed to retire and will leave his post within days. Donahue, a special forces veteran who was famously the very last service member to depart Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal under Joe Biden, had once been tipped to run the entire Army but is now one of the most senior names on a lengthening list of officers shown the door under Hegseth, as The Atlantic first reported. The general had clashed with the secretary before opting to retire, according to CBS News, which said the Army confirmed July 2 as his final day after just a year and a half leading U.S. forces in Europe and Africa. Armed forces officials thanked him for his service in a clipped statement and tapped his deputy, Major General Christopher Norrie, to fill in. Brett McGurk, a former special presidential envoy who steered the campaign against Islamic State under Obama and during Trump’s first term, told CBS that “there are few people more responsible for the defeat of ISIS than Chris Donahue,” and that “he is among the most consequential commanders of his generation.” The exit extends a clear-out that has thinned the Pentagon’s upper echelons since Trump returned to office in January 2025. Hegseth pushed out the Army’s most senior general, Randy George, in the spring—a move The Financial Times reports stirred resentment in the ranks. George’s job had notably been to rebuild air-defense stockpiles that the president’s war with Iran had depleted. The roll call of canned veteran leaders runs long. It includes Air Force General and former Joint Chiefs Chairman Charles Q. Brown, along with Admiral Lisa Franchetti, who was the first woman to run the Navy, as well as ex-National Security Agency chief General Timothy Haugh and former top NATO liaison Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield. Officers are clear-eyed about the danger that Hegseth’s purges pose to national security, having cost the Defense Department decades of combined experience and expertise. “It’s interesting that the guy who says he wants to bring back the warrior culture is expunging the biggest warriors in the Army ranks,” one retired service member told The Atlantic. “This is not a war on woke,” they added. “This is a war on warriors.” Other former top officers told the FT that an increasingly paranoid Hegseth has fostered an atmosphere of fear and intimidation that has reached the highest ranks at the Pentagon. The dismissals have gathered speed since last year’s Signal leak, when Hegseth unwittingly shared sensitive airstrike details with a journalist who had accidentally been added to a group chat with multiple ranking members of the Trump cabinet. That snafu has fed what detractors describe as a hardening bunker mentality at the top of Hegseth’s department. But not all officers dismissed by the secretary have gone quietly into the night. Nancy Lacore, a 35-year Navy veteran cut loose last August as Hegseth removed officials whose intelligence assessments had irritated the president, has since secured a Democratic ticket in South Carolina and is now running for Congress, The New York Times reports. Hegseth’s stewardship has supplied no shortage of oddities to accompany the purges. He has repeatedly joined rank-and-file troops for fitness drills in front of the cameras, ordered a makeup space installed at the Pentagon for touch-ups ahead of press appearances, put up photographs of his wife in official areas, and curbed access for reporters and photographers whose work he finds unflattering. The Daily Beast contacted the Defense Department for comment on this story. The Pentagon deferred questions to the Army. “The Army thanks Gen. Donahue for his leadership of U.S. Army Europe and Africa,” spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said. https://www.thedailybeast.com/defense-secretary-pentagon-pete-hegseths-purge-chaos-spirals-with-top-general-cd-donohues-shock-exit/? ps:What a complete jerk this man is!!

Archaeologists find huge Viking textile production site in Denmark SØFTEN, Denmark (AP) — Archaeologists have discovered a huge Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that dates back more than 1,000 years and underlines the sophistication of Viking society. https://apnews.com/article/denmark-viking-textile-production-site-soeften-54f9b57b5485aa602591185ff3b911cd?

High school senior gets over 5 years in prison for setting homeless man on fire on NYC subway NEW YORK (AP) — A high school senior who admitted to setting a fire that severely burned a homeless man on the subway was sentenced Tuesday in Manhattan federal court to 5 1/2 years in prison. https://apnews.com/article/subway-fire-arson-new-york-city-87dce820960d41011f2e127fcf14c3a2? Ex-chief of staff to former NYC Mayor Eric Adams charged with taking bribes NEW YORK (AP) — A former chief of staff to ex-New York Mayor Eric Adams was arrested Wednesday in a federal bribery case about a lucrative migrant shelter contract, the latest sign that prosecutors continue to scrutinize Adams’ inner circle months after the scandal-bruised Democrat left office. https://apnews.com/article/new-york-mayor-eric-adams-staff-bribery-be06c8266d66b2fa4b9d4e4e48e312e2? 🚔 A chief of staff to former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and several others were arrested amid a probe into an alleged bribery scheme. Go deeper.

COVID-19 vaccine study that was blocked from CDC journal is published elsewhere NEW YORK (AP) — A study on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness has finally been published after being blocked from a government health journal. https://apnews.com/article/cdc-covid-vaccine-effective-study-256e61b5ff4fcf3bfecd48826077e389?

Judge bars immigration arrests at US courthouses in a setback for Trump A judge on Tuesday barred the federal government from making arrests at immigration courts, ordering an end to a practice that took hold shortly after President Donald Trump took office last year. https://apnews.com/article/judge-rules-against-immigration-courthouse-arrests-e99e8e3a27647a716917217cc1c207ab? Federal appeals court allows the Trump administration to resume expanded use of speedy deportations A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to resume carrying out speedy deportations of undocumented migrants throughout the United States, not just near the border. https://apnews.com/article/trump-speedy-deportations-lawsuit-aclu-judge-cd0ffc2dc1df05568952e9149569bbbb? Trump berates Senate Republicans over Iran war vote after calling off bill signing WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump berated Senate Republicans face to face on Wednesday for allowing a vote to block his war in Iran, further escalating a feud that has diverted GOP efforts to focus on election-year affordability issues and brought much of the chamber’s business to a halt. https://apnews.com/article/trump-capitol-republican-senators-968c1454ede461d2db413790670c07df?